Ambient Music

Moya Brennan "An Irish Christmas", Moby "Ambient", Robert Fripp "A Blessing of Tears", Aba Structure "Epic"

2008-02-12T08:53:00.001-08:00

MOYA BRENNAN - AN IRISH CHRISTMAS

Year: 2005

1.Carol of the Bells [4:56]7.6 Mb

2.The Wexford Carol [3:35]4.8 Mb

3.Deck the Halls [3:44]5.1 Mb

4.Do You Hear-Don Oiche Ud I Mbeithil [4:18]5.4 Mb

5.God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [3:33]4.8 Mb

6.Gabriels Message [3:17]4.4 Mb

7.Joy to the World [3:22]5.3 Mb

8.I Still Believe [3:55]5.8 Mb

9.In the Bleak Midwinter [3:57]5 Mb

10.Love Came Down at Christmas [3:26]4.8 Mb

11.In Dulci Jubilo [3:45]5.2 Mb

12.Oiche Chuin (Silent Night) [3:38]4.3 Mb

Download Moya Brennan - An Irish Christmas (mp3)

Moya Brennan "An Irish Christmas" Album Review

Great CD
I simply love Irish versions of the carols and the way she sings it is very ethereal! Love it!

Video Moya Brennan JOY TO THE WORLD

from her album, An Irish Christmas.

MOBY - AMBIENT

Year: 1993

1.My Beautiful Blue Sky [5:18]7.6 Mb

2.Heaven [8:15]11.8 Mb

3.Tounges [5:37]8.1 Mb

4.J Breas [2:44]3.9 Mb

5.Myopia [4:45]6.8 Mb

6.House of Blue Leaves [6:20]9.1 Mb

7.Bad Days [2:26]3.5 Mb

8.Sound [1:10]1.7 Mb

9.Dog [7:34]10.9 Mb

10.80 [2:05]2.9 Mb

11.Lean on Me [3:52]5.6 Mb

Download Moby - Ambient (mp3)

Moby "Ambient" Album Review

White man plays black

I'm giving this album 4 stars not because it has "killer" songs-though it does have good ones-but for the fact that it is very easy on the ear. Moby has a very mellow, rhythmic, black sounding album here. I don't really have the vocabulary to describe his musical influences...maybe you could list them as blues, soul and perhaps gospel. Some of his songs sound sort of school-girly...like maybe the kind of stuff you'd hear black girls skipping along to in America.

Moby melds these African American musical influences with elements of hip-hop and dance music. He also seems to sample material from the source-black men and women. I really can't say whether Moby is doing the originals justice but I can say that I like what he's done with the source material. This is another way of saying that if you are familiar with the source material you may find Moby's treatment annoying. Personally, sometimes I feel the same way about people messing with the originals. One case which changed my mind was Muddy Waters' own revisiting of his blues songs, but with a harder, rock sound [I've reviewed Waters' "Hard again" here. Found it superior to his more "classic" approach, as in "Anthology"].

Anyway, some of my favourite tracks on the album are: "Honey", "Body rock", "Natural blues", "Run on" and "If things were perfect".

"Body rock" might be the most well known song from this album and is the least "black" sounding-well, to my ears at least. It's more of a funk/rock song and thus stands out from the mood of the other songs.

There are some instrumentals on this album-around three. Also, a highlight of the album are the wonderfully poetic, spoken voice songs of "If things were perfect" and "The sky is broken". These tracks are sparse, sensual and soothing.

Overall, the tone of the album is pretty consistent: "black" music but with some modern treatment. You'll hear accoustic guitar, piano and violin, on occasion, along with electronic music-be that synthesiser, or techno beats.

Overall, this album does not overstay its welcome. 18 tracks is quite a lot for a non compilation cd, but it never really palls. Some albums I mark down for having too much padding [e.g. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers' "Blood, sugar, sex, magik"] despite having quality songs on them. This is the perfect cd to "chill out" too, as well as to bop along to, sometimes, with his catchy songs.

P.S. for some reason the rap star Eminem had a go at Moby. In one of his songs he has a lyric along the lines of "Moby you don't know me. Blow me". Not really sure what that is all about! Who started that little tiff?

Video MOBY - CHORD SONGS

I have so many music pieces to put on Youtube... so many... I think after all those Trance pieces i put, i'm going to come again to Electronica... But this does not mean i will not put Trance pieces anymore... I say to myself that i must put what i feel in the moment, and what i have near me lol Moby, i love his music since the "Play" album... There's no piece from him i don't like, and that's not the same for other djs... Perhaps, he's simply the best in Electronica, but i prefer to think that him, Airwave , ATB, Jean-Michel Jarre,Brian Eno,William Orbit, Robert Haig Coxon etc......; are ex-aequo...

ROBERT FRIPP - A BLESSING OF TEARS

Year: 1995

1.The Cathedral of Tears [6:30]7.6 Mb

2.First Light [7:59]10.2 Mb

3.Midnight Blue [6:06]7.6 Mb

4.Reflection 1 [6:06]7.5 Mb

5.Second Light [7:33]8.2 Mb

6.A Blessing of Tears [8:27]10.4 Mb

7.Returning 1 [2:12]3.2 Mb

8.Returning 2 [5:09]4.9 Mb

Download Robert Fripp - A Blessing of Tears (mp3)

Robert Fripp "A Blessing of Tears" Album Review

Startling beauty.
Robert Fripp's "A Blessing of Tears" consists of improvised live performances from Fripp's solo soundscapes tour in the beginning of 1995. Soundscapes is a form of digital guitar looping based on Frippertronics-- tape-based guitar looping that Brian Eno concocted. Fripp performs this in many contexts, in the case of this album, as a solo performer. The music on this album is entirely improvised, with only Fripp's guitar and processing in place. The result does not sound like a solo guitar record, but closer to electronic orchestral ambient music. It is fragile and often of stunning beauty, in particular on this album-- "A Blessing of Tears" is a reflection on the death of Fripp's mother, whose eulogy (by the guitarist) is included in the liner notes.

From the opening track ("The Cathedral of Tears"), the mood is set. The piece is achingly beautiful, suggestive of loss, prodding but in a gentle way, and overall mournful. This theme and feel is developed over the next two pieces ("First Light", whose loops hint at Fripp's solo line in 2003's "The Power To Believe II" and the album's standout track, "Midnight Blue", a piece of such a delicate nature it demands its listener to stop and listen) before sort of resetting on "Reflection I", whose gentle themes provide an openness not found on the previous tracks. Again,there seems to be a trilogy of pieces on this one, as "Second Light" and "A Blessing of Tears" build on this mood and establishment. The couplet at the end of the album, "Returning I" and "Returning II", is actually the same track, only the tape is played in reverse on one of them. It is interesting to contrast the two, as they are evocative in different manners.

This is certainly the best of the 1995 soundscapes series and likely the best of Fripp's ambient catalog. If you are a fan of ambient music, or of Robert Fripp, this is essential, if you are curious, this is where to start. Highly recommended.

ABA STRUCTURE - EPIC

Year: 2003

1.Deep Step [8:34]12.3 Mb

2.Luna dub [6:53]9.8 Mb

3.Houseboats [9:46]14 Mb

4.Scrambling to Stay Ahead [7:42]11.1 Mb

5.Yelo [10:01]14.3 Mb

6.The Internal [9:20]13.4 Mb

7.Erased [16:14]23.4 Mb

Download Aba Structure - Epic (mp3)

Aba Structure "Epic" Album Review

Review
1. Deep Step (8:55)~~~ 2. Luna Dub (6:44)~~~ 3. Houseboats (9:43)~~~ 4. Scrambling To Stay Ahead (7:37)~~~ 5. Yelo (10:32)~~~ 6. The Internal (8:47)~~~ 7. Erased (16:02)~~~

Brian Eno "The Shutov Assembly", Fitz Ellarald "The Very Air Seems Replete with Humming and Buzzing Melodies", Anne Garner "Remaking the Pearl"

2008-02-07T01:24:00.001-08:00

BRIAN ENO - THE SHUTOV ASSEMBLY

Year: 2005

1.Triennale [4:05]5.7 Mb

2.Alhondiga [3:17]5.4 Mb

3.Markgraph [3:41]5 Mb

4.Lanzarote [8:39]11.5 Mb

5.Francisco [4:45]6.8 Mb

6.Riverside [3:51]5.2 Mb

7.Innocenti [4:19]5.6 Mb

8.Stedelijk [5:28]7.7 Mb

9.Ikebukuro [16:07]20.7 Mb

10.Cavallino [3:06]4.4 Mb

Download Brian Eno - The Shutov Assembly (mp3)

Brian Eno "The Shutov Assembly" Album Review

On Land And Floating Above It
A continuation and expansion of many of the moods and textures that made On Land so unusual. Remarkable hypnotic shifting swirling depths and spaces that slowly emerge, coalesce then dissipate - usually around a core sound.
I have been listening to this assembly for over a decade now (Have not yet heard the remastered version), but I can guarantee that if you appreciate On Land you will definitely want to include this marvelous recording in your collection. It just might be Eno's most perfect offering.

FITZ ELLARALD - THE VERY AIR SEEMS REPLETE WITH HUMMING AND BUZZING MELODIES

Year: 2003

1.Hjarta [4:39]7.5 Mb

2.Mole [4:07]5.9 Mb

3.Piagnone [3:56]5.7 Mb

4.Surf [2:31]4.1 Mb

5.Kertenkel [2:38]3.6 Mb

6.Shitataru [2:31]2.7 Mb

7.Ruminant [4:50]7.5 Mb

8.Kun-Fauteuil [4:55]7 Mb

9.Omelia [2:27]3.7 Mb

10.Kaufhaus [4:18]5.2 Mb

11.Baa III [0:39]0.8 Mb

12.Baa I [1:39]2.3 Mb

13.Baa II [0:57]1.2 Mb

Download Fitz Ellarald - The Very Air Seems Replete with Humming and Buzzing Melodies (mp3)

Fitz Ellarald "The Very Air Seems Replete with Humming and Buzzing Melodies" Album Review

Album Description
Russian electornics, sounds like Fennesz by Russian sysths & tapes.

ANNE GARNER - REMAKING THE PEARL

1.Home (Dean Honer mix) [5:10]5.6 Mb

2.She Has (Sub mix) [5:52]8.3 Mb

3.In Slumber (Richard H Kirk mix) [5:43]8.9 Mb

4.That Place (Gocat mix) [3:29]4.9 Mb

5.Home (Decal vs Human mix) [4:59]6 Mb

6.Home (the Last Sound mix) [4:50]6.3 Mb

7.She Has (Sean Quinn mix) [4:00]5.9 Mb

8.Fools (Lackluster mix) [7:17]9.1 Mb

9.Home (Multiplex mix) [5:26]8.2 Mb

10.Here Far Away (the Irresistible Force mix) [6:59]10.3 Mb

11.She Has (the Buddy System mix) [6:31]8.5 Mb

12.Seeds (Ape to Tape mix) [4:47]6.6 Mb

13.Silver Lines (Pylon King mix) [7:43]8.7 Mb

Download Anne Garner - Remaking the Pearl (mp3)

Anne Garner "Remaking the Pearl" Album Review

Album Description
Irish label Psychonavigation Records current release is from talented singer-songwriter Anne Garner. Anne got involved in the electronic music scene in her teens and joined the Sheffield band 'The Screaming Trees' (aka Count Zero, Success) in the late 80s, with releases such as 'Fracture in Time' (produced by former ABC member Stephen Singleton) and 'Count Zero' releases produced by Richard H Kirk.She has recently supported legendary group 'The Orb' at a sell out show in Dublin's SFX theatre! He remixed the classic 'Bodyrock' single by legendary dance act Moby. The All Seeing I are a British electronic music group comprising of Dean Honer, Jason Buckle and DJ Parrot (real name Richard Barratt). They released their first single I Walk in 1997, but it wasn't until the year after that they gained mainstream commercial success with the song 'Beat Goes On'Dean Honer also fronts the similarly styled group, I Monster alongside sidekick Jarrod Gosling. They formed in 1997, though due to Honer already being involved with All Seeing I, it wasn't until 2001 that they released their first single, Daydream In Blue. They released their debut album Neveroddoreven in 2003.

Steve Roach "Dreamtime Return", Nonplace Urban Field "Nonplace Urban Field", Sunn 0))) "Black One"

2008-02-05T02:16:00.001-08:00

STEVE ROACH - DREAMTIME RETURN

Year: 2005

1.Towards the Dream [7:09]11.4 Mb

2.The Continent [4:46]7.1 Mb

3.Songline [3:01]4.2 Mb

4.Airtribe Meets the Dream Ghost [7:07]10.3 Mb

5.A Circular Ceremony [11:18]18.2 Mb

6.The Other Side [13:10]19 Mb

7.Magnificent Gallery [6:01]8.6 Mb

8.Truth in Passing [8:48]12.7 Mb

9.Australian Dawn-the Quiet Earth Cries Inside [6:16]9.4 Mb

10.Looking for Safety [31:16]44 Mb

11.Through A Strong Eye [6:50]9.8 Mb

12.The Ancient Day [6:06]8.9 Mb

13.Red Twilight with the Old Ones [9:49]14.5 Mb

14.The Return [8:50]12.6 Mb

Download Steve Roach - Dreamtime Return (mp3)

Steve Roach "Dreamtime Return" Album Review

Masterful!
Simply one of the best space/newage/ambient works ever pressed, Steve Roach's expanded score lends itself to the ultimate relaxation or chill-party CD. It's an arresting work - the man works miracles with electronics and sheets of sounds. Along with the same decade's "Chronos" by Michael Stearns, and Don Slepian's psycoactive, hypnotic, let's-get-back-to-Nirvana masterpiece, "Sea of Bliss," Roach's two CD epic will take you places few musics can. THIS IS GREAT!

Video Billy Holiday (Dzihan&Kamien remix) vs Steve Roach

Billy Holiday (Dzihan&Kamien remix): Don't Explain. Steve roach: The Other Side. From the Dreamtime Return Album. Actually, this is one of my personal favorites. I have treasured the cd of Steve Roach for years. Wonderful to hear what came out of this... bonding.

NONPLACE URBAN FIELD - NONPLACE URBAN FIELD

1.Unireverse [4:04]5.9 Mb

2.Exurb [10:03]14.5 Mb

3.Holding Hands [4:40]6.7 Mb

4.Mouth Shut [3:12]4.6 Mb

5.Chilled part 1 [0:11]0.2 Mb

6.Chilled part 2 [5:24]7.7 Mb

7.Chilled part 3 [14:26]20.7 Mb

8.Chilled part 4 [0:49]1.2 Mb

9.Chilled part 5 [4:59]7.1 Mb

10.Der Loewenanteil [0:28]0.6 Mb

11.Style Over Substance [6:10]8.9 Mb

Download Nonplace Urban Field - Nonplace Urban Field (mp3)

Nonplace Urban Field "Nonplace Urban Field" Album Review

Bliss
This is one of the best albums I heard from Burnt and this included him and Atom working under the Flanger title. I have a very high end stereo which make listen to this type of music so good. I recommend that you turn down the lights, get your self a good wine and a smoke and crank up the volume, absolutely bliss.

Video Roll over Ehrenfeld

Musicvideo for track "Roll over Ehrenfeld" by Nonplace Urban Field

SUNN 0))) - BLACK ONE

Year: 2005

1.Sin Nanna [2:17]3.2 Mb

2.It Took the Night to Believe [5:56]12 Mb

3.Cursed Realms [10:12]19.6 Mb

4.Orthodox Caveman [9:59]18.1 Mb

5.Candlegoat [8:03]16 Mb

6.Cry for the Weeper [14:39]28.6 Mb

7.Bathory Erzsebet [15:59]27.9 Mb

Download Sunn 0))) - Black One (mp3)

Sunn 0))) "Black One" Album Review

Album Description
Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. 2CD

Video Sunn 0))) - Berlin, Volksbühne 2006 - Part 1

Since the quality of this is that amazing ive recuttet two more clips from the sunnvseurope tour for your pleasure. Recorded on 3th February 06 This is part "ONE" the first 10 minutes with Greg, SOMA & Mark D Part "TWO" is here http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hxp304tivas Part "THREE" is here http://youtube.com/watch?v=JhUXkjCfX0k

The KLF "Chill out", Susumu Yokota and Rothko "Distant Sounds of Summer", Deaf Center "Pale Ravine"

2008-02-04T05:34:00.001-08:00

THE KLF - CHILL OUT

Year: 1990

1.Brownsville Turnaround on the Tex-Mex Border [1:46]2.5 Mb

2.Pulling out of Ricardo and the Dusk is Fallin [1:28]2.1 Mb

3.Six Hours to Louisiana Black Coffee Going Col [3:00]4.3 Mb

4.Dream Time in Lake Jackson [2:34]3.7 Mb

5.Madrugada Eterna [7:40]11 Mb

6.Justified and Ancient Seems A Long Time Ago [1:08]1.6 Mb

7.Elvis on the radio Steel Guitar in My Soul [3:01]4.3 Mb

8.3am Somewhere out of Beaumont [9:23]13.5 Mb

9.Wichita Lineman was A Song I Once Heard [5:55]8.5 Mb

10.Trancentral Lost in My Mind [1:15]1.8 Mb

11.The Lights of Baton Rouge Pass by [3:33]5.1 Mb

12.A Melody from A Past Life Keeps Pulling Me BA [1:40]2.4 Mb

13.Rock radio into the Nineties and Beyond [1:26]2 Mb

14.Alone Again with the Dawn Coming Up [0:16]0.3 Mb

Download The KLF - Chill out (mp3)

The KLF "Chill out" Album Review

Wonderful...
I really don't know how to review this... but this album invokes my mind to produce vivid images for 44 minutes straight. It really is a mesmerising and memorable experience. One of my all-time favourite albums.

Video KLF - White Room (Part 2 of 5)

KLF - White Room original source Promo Video • Part 1 http://youtube.klf-communications.net/m_wWEFx8T_Y/KLF_-_White_Room_%28Part_1_of_5%29 • Part 2 http://youtube.klf-communications.net/tnQjdzVI9Go/KLF_-_White_Room_%28Part_2_of_5%29 • Part 3 http://youtube.klf-communications.net/kZfqOv0ca_o/KLF_-_White_Room_%28Part_3_of_5%29 • Part 4 http://youtube.klf-communications.net/82Rywtj2zvE/KLF_-_White_Room_%28Part_4_of_5%29 • Part 5 http://youtube.klf-communications.net/qe71hDTqS0U/KLF_-_White_Room_%28Part_5_of_5%29 • promo http://youtube.klf-communications.net/i1eecjyb2og/KLF_-_White_Room_%28Promo%29 • all Parts http://youtube.klf-communications.net/A9A77014593B5C38/KLF_-_White_Room

SUSUMU YOKOTA AND ROTHKO - DISTANT SOUNDS OF SUMMER

Year: 2005

1.Deep in MIST [4:32]6.4 Mb

2.Waters Edge [4:30]6.4 Mb

3.Path Fades into Forest [5:58]8.1 Mb

4.Lit by Moonlight [5:39]8.3 Mb

5.Brook and Burn [5:12]7.2 Mb

6.Sentiero [5:16]7 Mb

7.Clear Space [5:23]7.4 Mb

8.Reflections and Shadows [4:59]5.4 Mb

9.Distant Sounds of Summer [5:20]7.6 Mb

10.Floating Moon [2:29]3.4 Mb

Download Susumu Yokota and Rothko - Distant Sounds of Summer (mp3)

Susumu Yokota and Rothko "Distant Sounds of Summer" Album Review

Sounds a little distant, yet it touches me.
A general progression from their 1st collaboration (Waters Edge EP), this one reveals more of the darker side of Rothko. Susumu sounds a little distant here, which I think was delibrate. "Lit by Moonlight" is one of personal favourite. Fans of the cranes might enjoy tracks like "Brook And Burn" Of course, "Distant Sounds And Summer" this track makes this album a must buy for most ambient/Susumu fans. Lastly, "Floating Moon" has a hint of Robin Guthrie's playing, which serves as a good summary to the thoughts of a dreamy summer that is still quite distant.

DEAF CENTER - PALE RAVINE

Year: 2005

1.Lobby [3:00]4.4 Mb

2.Thread [3:38]5.3 Mb

3.White Lake [6:34]9.4 Mb

4.Path to Lucy [4:53]7.4 Mb

5.Stone Beacon [3:29]5.4 Mb

6.Weir [6:33]10.8 Mb

7.Loft [4:14]7 Mb

8.Thunder Night [4:27]6.6 Mb

9.Lamp Mien [3:58]6.3 Mb

10.The Clearing [4:12]6.8 Mb

11.Fog Animal [4:24]6.2 Mb

12.Eloy [2:15]3.1 Mb

Download Deaf Center - Pale Ravine (mp3)

Deaf Center "Pale Ravine" Album Review

Headphone Commute Review
Norwegian based, Erik Skodvin and Otto Totland produce a cinematic album as inspired by the "old silent 8mm film reels and historical architecture". Skvodin's releases should be familiar to you under his Svarte Greiner alias on Type Records, as well as Xhale and Solitaire Albread monikers with numerous releases on Miasmah. Totland has also contributed to Miasmah under Supine alias, and collaborated with Serein netlabel owner, Huw Roberts, as Nest. So it seems that the duo has their hands full, yet Deaf Center already scheduled a 7" in the pipeline for Type Records. Getting back to Pale Ravine - this is a true modern classical marvel, with slight undertones of ambient bliss; an album that excretes melancholy and drenches the soul in sadness; an acoustic phonography reserved for lazy Sunday afternoons, or early morning Saturdays. Either way, for either day, the world of Death Center is not unlike an archive of old and treasured films, left carelessly to age somewhere in the attic, only to be rediscovered once again... and celebrated once again. RIYL : Marsen Jules, Clickits, Goldmund, and Helios. Favorite tracks: White Lake, Thunder Night and The Clearing.

Video Deaf Center - White Lake

Deaf Center's 'White Lake' from 'Pale Ravine'.

Angel of Decay "Covered in Scars", Achillea "The Nine Worlds"

2008-02-01T08:02:00.001-08:00

ANGEL OF DECAY - COVERED IN SCARS

Year: 2005

1.Blood on the Cement [8:35]12.3 Mb

2.Severed Living Dogs Head [7:06]10.6 Mb

3.Sick Time Frame [5:08]8.6 Mb

4.The Crash [13:58]22.7 Mb

5.Her Head was on the Floor [9:31]15.1 Mb

6.JFK Circus [8:39]13 Mb

7.Face Print [9:00]13.1 Mb

8.Covered in Scars [6:41]10.1 Mb

Download Angel of Decay - Covered in Scars (mp3)

Angel of Decay "Covered in Scars" Album Review

Yow - excellent nightmares enclosed
If have never heard of dark ambient music before, imagine your childhood, the first time your parents left you alone, when the the room darkened and you knew that sound at the door wasn't the wind but it was someone who had come for you, and you wish they weren't there. This did happen to me, and I was sure they could look down the hallway from the door to see me. That is what emotion Covered in Scars is portraying. The soundscapes suitable for what you hope you don't hear when you are in a coma, Using Moogs(I think), processing and some bad memories, Angel of Decay evokes the wind poring over all the folks who barely made it into purgatory and know that when their time is up there, they will end up going lower, not rising above it. Heavy tones, lots of texture, plenty of changes and evolutions in the music, what sounds like field recordings of wind and the elements are all manufactured from electronics. Those screams, they are from circuits and bent electronics. Subwoofers recommended!

ACHILLEA - THE NINE WORLDS

Year: 2005

1.Prelude [0:58]1.5 Mb

2.Twilights of the Gods [5:57]8.1 Mb

3.Odins Hill [7:09]10.1 Mb

4.The Monks of Lindisfarne [3:12]4.9 Mb

5.Cape Porcupine [4:38]6.8 Mb

6.The Seeress Prophecy (Daydreaming) [4:26]6.5 Mb

7.Land of the Elves [2:24]3.7 Mb

8.Shears from Scar [4:37]6.6 Mb

9.The Nine Worlds [3:56]5.3 Mb

10.Staraja Ladoga [5:00]6.6 Mb

11.The Rune Masters [3:03]4.3 Mb

12.Exodus [1:19]1.8 Mb

Download Achillea - The Nine Worlds (mp3)

Achillea "The Nine Worlds" Album Review

Amazing music, truly
~I didn't actually listen to Enigma THAT much back in the day (don't throw rocks!) BUT I love this. It's other-worldy and entrancing. The vocals are definitely hypnotic and the beats are beyond anything else I've heard. And the guitar? brilliant. Le Spa Sonique is another that I was recently turned on to and you all might like it too. Angels Voices is another that has some of these amazing sounds and some other cool tracks.

Gentoo "Hyoshi", Renee Fleming "Haunted Heart"

2008-01-31T01:56:00.001-08:00

GENTOO - HYOSHI

Year: 2005

1.Key [5:26]8.3 Mb

2.Noumena [3:22]5 Mb

3.Quip [3:54]6.2 Mb

4.Henslows Sparrow [4:40]7 Mb

5.Catalyst [3:43]6.1 Mb

6.Hyoshi [3:58]6 Mb

7.Glyph [1:32]2.2 Mb

8.Creek [3:47]5.4 Mb

9.A Million Coins [4:38]7.7 Mb

10.Quip (Ed) [4:19]7.2 Mb

11.The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts [4:56]8 Mb

12.Noumena 3 [1:27]2.3 Mb

Download Gentoo - Hyoshi (mp3)

Gentoo "Hyoshi" Album Review

Album Description
Hyoshi: the natural rhythm of all things--literally translated, "child's clap" is the first album from electronic artist Gentoo. Hyoshi is happily organic. With images of rivers, other worlds and ghosts coming to mind, each track takes you on a journey through ambient textures and glitch beats. Analog synths hail from far away galaxies through rich pads. Haunting violins and synthetic currents takes us down a trail of mesmerizing electronica.

RENEE FLEMING - HAUNTED HEART

Year: 2005

1.Haunted Heart [5:22]6.5 Mb

2.River [4:20]5.1 Mb

3.When Did You Leave Heaven [2:53]3 Mb

4.Youve Changed [5:16]6.3 Mb

5.Answe Me [3:49]4.4 Mb

6.My Cherie Amour [3:21]4 Mb

7.In My Life [5:09]6.4 Mb

8.The Moons A Harsh Mistress [4:09]4.8 Mb

9.Wozzeckimprovisationthe Midnight Sun [6:16]7.9 Mb

10.Liebst Du Um Schonheit [2:40]2.8 Mb

11.My One and Only Lovethis is Always [8:02]9.7 Mb

12.Cancao Do Amor [3:46]4.6 Mb

13.Psyche [2:55]3.6 Mb

14.Hard Time Come Again No More [5:48]6 Mb

Download Renee Fleming - Haunted Heart (mp3)

Renee Fleming "Haunted Heart" Album Review

Sublime and ridiculous
The sublime: much of the artistry of this recording is about sound, and the subtle blending/responding of voice with guitar sounds and / or piano sounds. It is in the sensitive musical interplay between the artists where this effort shines. Definitely not recommended for road trips!

The ridiculous: Fleming ended the majority of most phrases in most of the songs with a guttural of some sort which for me becomes irritating to the point of distraction. These punctuations are mostly tasteless, clumsy, and overused big time. Without these ersatz testifyin' noises this CD would be stunning.

So, if you can edit out this garbage from your perception as you listen I think you'll be glad you experienced these artists at work together. (Unfortunately I'm not up to it).

PS: Diction on You've Changed is good for a chuckle: includes "the mammaries we've shared" - it's reassuring to know that both t(.)(.)k part in the fun - "you've change", "we're sthrough" and "you're not the angel I fwonce knew".

Radio Massacre International "Emissaries", Susi Hyldgaard "Blush"

2008-01-28T09:37:00.001-08:00

RADIO MASSACRE INTERNATIONAL - EMISSARIES

Year: 2005

1.Seeds Crossing the Interstellar Void [16:22]24.9 Mb

2.A Priest Crossing Frozen Water [13:22]20.3 Mb

3.Mad Bobs Self Inflected Torment [9:58]15.3 Mb

4.The Emissaries Reveal Themselves [9:08]13.9 Mb

5.The Ice Garden [7:36]11.4 Mb

6.A Promise of Salvation [3:26]5.2 Mb

7.An Interstellar Vacuum is Far from Empty [12:13]17.6 Mb

8.Mobile Star Systems [13:01]20.3 Mb

9.A Piano Wanders the Incandescent Vapours [11:11]16.4 Mb

10.Sympathy for the Bedeviled [9:35]15 Mb

11.The Arrival of the Seeds [16:16]24.6 Mb

12.Deliverance from Nuclear Winter [14:12]22.3 Mb

Download Radio Massacre International - Emissaries (mp3)

Radio Massacre International "Emissaries" Album Review

My great new electronic discovery!
I just recently discovered RMI, well better late than never. Well, I saw a description of RMI on their 2005 American release, Emissaries, and it sounded interesting, and I bought it and I wasn't disappointed.

This album got released on Cuneiform, a label that existed since the 1980s that specializes in progressive rock, experimental, avant garde, RIO, etc. And what a great way for me to get started with RMI than Emissaries, after all, being released on Cuneiform, it obviously would be more readily available than their other releases.

RMI is a British electronic trio consisting of Steve Dindale, Duncan Goddard, and Gary Houghton. Are you, like me, believe that Tangerine Dream hadn't released much anything worthwhile in the last 20 years? Are you sick and tired of hearing of another electronic act coming down the pike claiming they're the best thing since mid 1970s Tangerine Dream, only to end up as another generic New Age act? Well, RMI has came to the rescue. If Emissaries is anything to go by, I will be looking forward to getting their other releases (if they show up, that is, which I'll explain). They have a huge back-catalog, but only available on a small British label, and for every commercially available CD, they issued something like 5 CD-Rs which you can only get from the band. If it keeps going like this, and you include the CD-Rs with the CDs, they'll be quickly overshadowing Tangerine Dream in amount of recorded output within another decade.

Well, I really like this retro-electronic approach. They go for a truly wonderful analog approach, with analog keyboards, like different Moogs (Memorymoog, Source), EMS AKS (although this CD don't mention anyone using one, although the photo shows Duncan Goddard with an EMS synth, you only saw the top part, but I discovered it was an AKS, which is esentially a Synthi A with a membrane keyboard included), Yamaha CS50 and CS30, Roland SH-3, and most of all, the Mellotron, and believe me, this is the real deal, not some digital facsimile! Another keyboard not mentioned, although I do hear it, is the Elka Rhapsody.

Although comparisons are made to Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, Richard Pinhas, Redshift, and even Hawkwind (?), the overall feel I get is that of mid '70s Tangerine Dream. I don't understand the Hawkwind comparison, however, I can understand comparisons to those other acts. These guys tend to use sequencers, and when the sequencers work overtime, they would given them a rest for some really nice, ambient passages. Emissaries is essentially two lengthy pieces ("The Emissaries Suite" and "Ancillary Blooms") divided into six separate parts each. First CD is a studio recording made in England, recorded late 2004, the first, recorded earlier in 2004, is recorded here in America, from a Philadelphia radio broadcast (courtesy of WXPN) called Star's End, originally two hours long, this is the 76 minute excerpt. Don't expect any audience cheering on this live half, but the band sure proves they can hold their own live.

This is an enhanced CD, which you can access a comic done by Matt Howarth through the Acrobat Reader on your computer, and believe me, this ain't the comics you grew up as a kid (Spider Man this is not). It has a post-apocalytic theme involving a nuclear winter, alien flowers coming to Earth, and a priest and a madman. He did this comic to fit the theme to this album. Many of the song titles relate to the comic, like "Seeds Crossing the Interstellar Void", "A Priest Crossing Foreign Water", "The Ice Garden", "The Arrival of the Seeds", etc.

It's great to see new electronic music every bit as good as the best stuff from the 1970s. There is no New Age fluff to be found anywhere, and nothing that reveals this was recorded in 2004! Great stuff I highly recommend!

SUSI HYLDGAARD - BLUSH

Year: 2005

1.Blush [4:25]5.3 Mb

2.Take Your Time [3:38]4.7 Mb

3.Seeking [4:31]5.6 Mb

4.Suck the Bone [4:25]5.6 Mb

5.Follow [3:36]4.3 Mb

6.Sometimes [4:07]5.9 Mb

7.Thai Food Chillilimit [4:37]6.1 Mb

8.This Little Island [4:02]5.2 Mb

9.Could this Be the Reason [4:38]5.9 Mb

10.Sisters in Shame [3:00]4.4 Mb

11.Seeking remix [4:15]5.1 Mb

12.Blush remix [5:57]9.1 Mb

Download Susi Hyldgaard - Blush (mp3)

Susi Hyldgaard "Blush" Album Review

Album Description
Singer and songwriter Susi Hyldgaard has, with the help of Dickon Hinchcliff (Tindersticks) and Steve Argüelles, created a very personal and touching album. Recorded in London, Paris and Copenhagen, Blush is Hyldgaard's fourth recording and the first to be released in North America. While her previous recordings were well received both in and outside her native Denmark, Blush is undeniably her finest and most personal effort to date, and signals the arrival of an innovative new voice in music. The release also offers two bonus tracks, remixes created by DJ Opiate (Björk) and Matthew Herbert.

Tuu "Nick Parkin", Growing "Live", Matt Coldrick and Matt Hillier "Elemental Journey"

2008-01-24T09:01:00.001-08:00

TUU - NICK PARKIN

Year: 1998

1.Djinn [4:43]7 Mb

2.Water Memory [8:44]12.1 Mb

3.Magus [8:21]11.9 Mb

4.Ghosts in the Landscape [8:51]11.7 Mb

5.Terma [5:45]8.1 Mb

6.Plateau [5:17]7.3 Mb

7.Serpent Fire [4:55]6.7 Mb

Download Tuu - Nick Parkin (mp3)

Tuu "Nick Parkin" Album Review

Tuu + Nick Parkin - 'Terma' (Hearts Of Space)
Nice 'innerspace electronica' effort here by Tuu,who is basically one member, Martin Franklin. However,on 'Terma' he had help from composer Nick Parkin. Maybe not a CD I'd play all the time, but since I borrowed it from a friend, at least I know what Tuu has to offer. Tracks I was most impressed with were "Djinn",the true ambient gem "Magus","Ghosts In The Landscape" (has a great Middle-Eastern vibe to it)and "Serpent Fire". Makes for a good meditation CD. Personnel: Martin Franklin-water drones, drum programming, harmonica, samples& synthesizer and Nick Parkin-bass, wind gong, voice effects, pipes and flutes. Might possibly appeal to fans of Loop Guru, The Orb, Lights In A Fat City, System 7 and Aphex Twin.

GROWING - LIVE

1.Untitled 1 [17:26]26.5 Mb

2.Untitled 2 [7:32]10.7 Mb

3.Untitled 3 [6:47]10.5 Mb

4.Untitled 4 [14:06]24.5 Mb

5.Untitled 5 [9:52]19.8 Mb

6.Untitled 6 [8:05]12.7 Mb

7.Untitled 7 [12:31]23.3 Mb

Download Growing - Live (mp3)

Growing "Live" Album Review

CD label misleading, but still a good listen!
Chris Ho has been playing back up for Smokey Robinson on his tours for many years. Now he's ventured on his own with this solo CD. He recorded this album back in 1998. It's a nice mix of different styles of Jazz, with influences from Spyro Gyra and The Yellowjackets. "Dark Heroes" and "Bada Be Bim Bop" are the highlight tracks on this CD. The only problem I had with the CD was the album cover. It says, "featuring Smokey Robinson" right on the cover. That had me thinking there would be plenty of vocals from the Motown legend. Unfortunately, he only appears on one track and that only featured background vocals. It's a let down that the listener should be aware of before getting their hopes up. Despite the shortcoming, the CD is a pleasant listen. Recommended!

Video Growing (live)

Clip of Growing live at the 4th Annual MayDay Music Festival.

MATT COLDRICK AND MATT HILLIER - ELEMENTAL JOURNEY

Year: 2005

1.Terra Firma [12:08]17.9 Mb

2.The Band from Atlantis [12:20]18.6 Mb

3.Fire Dance [14:17]21.8 Mb

4.Where the Evening Meets the Sky [7:24]10.7 Mb

5.Air [23:27]32.6 Mb

Download Matt Coldrick and Matt Hillier - Elemental Journey (mp3)

Matt Coldrick and Matt Hillier "Elemental Journey" Album Review

Album Description
Matt Coldrick (Green Nuns/Absolute Ambient) and Matt Hillier (ISHQ) team up to create an exploration of our relationship with the planet. This album is deeply moving with a definite spiritual nudge in the proper direction that could be described as an aural drug. Features the 5 tracks 'Terra Firma', 'The Band From Atlantis', 'Fire Dance', 'Where The Evening Meets The Sky' and 'Air'. Ambient. 2005.

Amazing Grace "Revival Times", Brian Eno "Another Day on Earth", Lunz "Reinterpretations"

2008-01-23T03:24:00.001-08:00

AMAZING GRACE - REVIVAL TIMES

Year: 2004

1.Os Itighaho [10:10]15.6 Mb

2.Sunday [4:39]7.3 Mb

3.Blind Mans Ears [4:13]6.6 Mb

4.Blind [6:03]9.3 Mb

5.Dreaming Doesnt Make it Go Away [7:31]10.4 Mb

6.Faith Healing (Symbols) [7:24]10.7 Mb

7.Untitled [2:18]4.1 Mb

Download Amazing Grace - Revival Times (mp3)

Amazing Grace "Revival Times" Album Review

Igloo Magazine's REVIEW
Review by: Mark Teppo at igloomag.com
(05.10.05) A collaboration between David Sullivan (Magwheels) and Jason Crumer (Aluminum Noise), Amazing Grace folds the drift of processed guitar into the cavernous expanse of dark ambient echoes. Shards of voices still haunt these drone spaces, diaphanous ghosts floating in the reverberating space, while the elongated peal of metallic chimes rise up from unfathomable depths like time warped ritual noises from forgotten mechanical societies. Heavy waves of sound roll out from Revival Times and, like the tiny piano melodies and the whimper of terrified machinery that scuttles through these tracks, we are captives of the bleak landscape.

"Faith Healing (Symbols)" swells with broadly painted tones, echoes of sound that fill every available space before beginning their gradual decay into silence, while tiny shards of metal fall from high places to ring out against a bedrock of pitted steel. The voices of ancestral workers rise up through a heavy fog, trailing streamers of static. The final track, "---," is filled with machinery that groans like a wounded animal, moans of noise and shivering coughs of static that is the death rattle of the industrial nation. A Morse signal repeats in "Blind," a warning beacon sounding from the depths of a ruined citadel while glacial tones evolve in an elastic melody of sepulchral lamentation. An icy wind blows in a spectral string quartet and a phantom bell tree in "Blind Man's Ears." Hidden deep within the mix is a woman's voice, her words so obscured that she exists only as an instrument, as a textural element.

While Sullivan's guitar is the foundation of every track, it is these many strata of dense sounds that make this record so engaging. Revival Times is the lugubrious miasma of the Industrial Age that still haunts the edge of our dreaming lives. Recommended.

BRIAN ENO - ANOTHER DAY ON EARTH

Year: 2005

1.This [3:32]5.7 Mb

2.And Then So Clear [5:49]7.3 Mb

3.Long Way Down [2:40]3.7 Mb

4.Going Unconscious [4:21]6.5 Mb

5.Caught Between [4:25]6.1 Mb

6.Passing Over [4:25]6.1 Mb

7.How Many Worlds [4:46]6.7 Mb

8.Bottomliners [3:58]5.6 Mb

9.Just Another Day [4:21]7.1 Mb

10.Under [5:19]8.1 Mb

11.Bonebomb [3:09]4.3 Mb

Download Brian Eno - Another Day on Earth (mp3)

Brian Eno "Another Day on Earth" Album Review

FIVE STAR STUFF
Not as good as WARM JETS or TAKING TIGER MTN (how could it be?), but still, some mighty fine Eno-ite stuff here. A few fillers, but most of the tracks pay off on repeated listening.

Video Brian Eno - And Then So Clear

A homemade flight through clouds. Go full screen. Please rate and comment! Artist: Brian Eno Track: "And Then So Clear" Album: Another Day On Earth More info at: http://newyorkercomment.blogspot.com/2007/02/another-day-on-earth.html/.

LUNZ - REINTERPRETATIONS

Year: 2005

1.Lunz [4:19]5.9 Mb

2.Clue [4:57]6.9 Mb

3.Under Mars We were [3:14]4.5 Mb

4.Dew Climbs [4:44]6.9 Mb

5.Carnickel and Pocketboat [5:30]8 Mb

6.Uferlose Sea [1:22]1.9 Mb

7.Something Happened Here [4:32]6.1 Mb

8.Murmuring Mermaids [4:14]5.4 Mb

9.Wobbly Flu Twilight [3:21]4.9 Mb

10.Akimbo [3:20]4.7 Mb

11.Cloud Pull [4:11]5.7 Mb

12.Nevertheless [1:32]2.3 Mb

13.Clue (Alias remix) [5:17]8.2 Mb

14.Akimbo (the Astrid Kane remix featuring Lloyd Cole) [3:48]5.7 Mb

15.Lunz (Faultline remix) [6:36]10.6 Mb

16.Wobbly Flu Twilight (the Chefs Lament A Wobbly Flu remix by Elbow) [4:02]6.4 Mb

17.Lunz (Adems Lunz) [4:54]6.7 Mb

18.Lunz (Ulrich Schnauss remix) [5:08]8.6 Mb

19.Murmerring Mermaids (the Tecil Tempotrope remix by Icarus) [4:58]8.1 Mb

20.Wobbly Flu Twilight (Lux Aeterna remix by Alquimia) [5:04]7.4 Mb

21.Carnickel and Pocketboat (Millenia Nova remix) [3:20]4.4 Mb

22.Dew Climbs (Half Cousin remix) [5:39]9.4 Mb

23.Something Happened Here (Munk Interpretation Courtesy of Gomma) [4:22]6.7 Mb

24.Under Mars We were (Fallen Timber 6371 remix by Arkham) [6:03]7.6 Mb

Download Lunz - Reinterpretations (mp3)

Lunz "Reinterpretations" Album Review

Album Description
Available again! Lunz are composers Hans Joachim Rodelius (Kluster) and Tim Story. This is the duo's highly acclaimed & beautiful 2002 album alongside a remix CD featuring Alias, Astrid Kane featuring Lloyd Cole, Elbow, Icarus and more. Gronland Records.

Tribes of Neurot "Silver Blood Transmission", Twelve Girls Band "Freedom", Chambao "Pokito A Poko", Alio Die and Jack or Jive "Mei"

2008-01-22T02:35:00.001-08:00

TRIBES OF NEUROT - SILVER BLOOD TRANSMISSION

1.Primordial Uncarved Block [6:24]8.5 Mb

2.Wolf Lava [9:07]12.9 Mb

3.Fires of Purification [5:00]8.7 Mb

4.The Accidental Process [6:10]8.2 Mb

5.Fall Back to Stone [7:43]10.9 Mb

6.Manifestation by Modern Means [5:04]7.5 Mb

7.Achtwan [23:56]32.3 Mb

8.Continuous Regression [6:01]8.8 Mb

9.Closing in [5:52]9.1 Mb

Download Tribes of Neurot - Silver Blood Transmission (mp3)

Tribes of Neurot "Silver Blood Transmission" Album Review

Musical Nirvana
From the minds behind Neurosis comes this amazingly different band. Tribes of Neurot is simply one of those bands that cannot be put into any sort of genre, it is there on its own. With an amazing mix of industrial, dark ambient, noise, darkwave, metal, and anything else you can think of, 'Silver Blood Transmission' can best be described as a think wall of bludgeoning sound. After my first listen of this album I was both blown away and at a loss for words, 75 minutes of pulsating depressingly beautiful music. With samples ranging from fairly strange chants and tribal drums ("Manifestation of Modern Means") to some fairly heavy distortion ("Wolf Lava") it is very diverse so it does not get very old at all. My personal favorite track has got to be "Fires of Purification". The song is just pure emotional release, this song alone is worth the price of the C.D. "Primordial Uncarved Block" is another sincerely depressing track that allows aural euphoria to the listener. All in all this is an amazing album that must be obtained at any costs.

TWELVE GIRLS BAND - FREEDOM

Year: 2004

1.Freedom [4:27]7.3 Mb

2.S. D. Garden [5:58]9.6 Mb

3.Pronunciation of Love [5:07]8.5 Mb

4.Jasmine [2:52]4.8 Mb

5.Spring of Dream [4:52]7.5 Mb

6.Spirit Dance [5:14]7.9 Mb

7.Thanks for Living Years [12:22]20.3 Mb

8.Victorias Smile [3:12]5.6 Mb

9.Horse Racing [3:16]5.3 Mb

10.Life on Clouds [4:02]5.9 Mb

11.No Word [4:57]7.5 Mb

12.The Shades of City [3:55]6.1 Mb

13.Chase [3:36]5.4 Mb

14.Hisalute the Bach [3:46]5.8 Mb

15.Miracle [6:05]9.8 Mb

16.Take Five [2:46]4.4 Mb

17.The Song of Salina [3:46]6.3 Mb

18.I Can't Be Your Man [3:32]5.1 Mb

19.Toss [4:37]7.2 Mb

20.Appointing in Mongolian House [2:54]4.4 Mb

Download Twelve Girls Band - Freedom (mp3)

Twelve Girls Band "Freedom" Album Review

Pass the chopstix and get out that game of GO!
My daughter turned me on to these gals when I was looking for music to go with my Mongolian Hot Pot party. They are sort of an Asian Mannheim Steamroller sound. I would love to see them live.

Video Twelve Girls Band - Freedom (Videoclip)

Amazing Video Clip of my favorite chinese band

CHAMBAO - POKITO A POKO

Year: 2005

1.Mi Primo Juan [3:04]4.4 Mb

2.Pokito A Poko [3:26]4.9 Mb

3.Ulere [4:31]6.5 Mb

4.Camino Interior [4:19]6.2 Mb

5.Roe Por la Escalera [4:10]6 Mb

6.Dibujo En El Aire [4:35]6.6 Mb

7.Como la Luz [4:03]5.8 Mb

8.Suenyo Y Muero [3:46]5.4 Mb

9.Como Lo Siento [3:21]4.8 Mb

10.Chicuelo [4:04]5.9 Mb

11.Te la Creio to [3:24]4.8 Mb

Download Chambao - Pokito A Poko (mp3)

Chambao "Pokito A Poko" Album Review

Brilliant
Fantastic sound, great chillout. Pokito a Poko and Sueno y muero (especially) are fantastic!

Video Chambao - Pokito A Poko

Chambao - Pokito A Poko

ALIO DIE AND JACK OR JIVE - MEI

Year: 2005

1.Jyu [9:02]11.9 Mb

2.Fluff of A Dandelion [6:23]8.5 Mb

3.Make an Arc Through the Air [9:29]12.7 Mb

4.Flowing Up from the Core of the Mountain [8:12]11.5 Mb

5.Slow Motion [8:06]11.4 Mb

6.The Place of Reunion [7:23]10.6 Mb

7.Village Envelopped in the MIST [8:11]11 Mb

8.The Space Between [9:41]12 Mb

9.Jyu Reprise [4:53]6.9 Mb

Download Alio Die and Jack or Jive - Mei (mp3)

Alio Die and Jack or Jive "Mei" Album Review

voices & soft drones in the stream
Okay, in writing this review, i will keep from being too meticulous. I have listened to it a few times and would rather articulate in childlike images. Simply stated, i will say that the voice/singing, which occasionally is doubled to make vocal harmony, combined with the sonic landscapes that Alio Die lays down area very gentle, contemplative, exotic... there are even some samples from sea lions barking, just lovely places we get to visit through the sound. Somewhere i was treated to 30 second snippets from each track and that helped to really enroll me in what i could trust to be receiving in what i ordered. If you know Alio Die's sound, you are half way there; i was unfamiliar with Jack or Jive, so the sound snippets gave me a taste of how her vocal approach would sound and mesh with Stefano's sound treatments. Plus, Jack or Jive plays flute, keyboard and piano here and there, which gives the landscape a different shine, like a very informal, soft psychedelic tea ceremony in a Japanese Zen Garden when you have nothing you need to do other than just look around you and listen.

Cities of Foam "A Great Day for the Race", Brian Eno "Music for Films", Ecstasy of St Theresa "In Dust 3"

2008-01-18T02:10:00.001-08:00

CITIES OF FOAM - A GREAT DAY FOR THE RACE

Year: 2005

1.Last Man Standing [5:57]8.5 Mb

2.Barry Can't Do Flat Tops [5:24]7.7 Mb

3.Out of Reach [3:06]4.4 Mb

4.Half Empty [4:32]6.5 Mb

5.Girls in Bars [5:21]7.6 Mb

6.Safe Inside [5:36]8.1 Mb

7.Goldtop [5:56]8.5 Mb

8.Liquid Remedy [5:38]8.1 Mb

9.Le Melomane [4:57]7.1 Mb

10.Without You [4:52]7 Mb

11.Oleambi [4:42]6.7 Mb

12.Under Stars [3:15]4.6 Mb

13.Picking Up Tin Cans [5:57]8.5 Mb

Download Cities of Foam - A Great Day for the Race (mp3)

Cities of Foam "A Great Day for the Race" Album Review

solid album
This, their debut album, is a solid piece of chillout musica. Not every song is a knockout, of course, but at worst the songs are repetitively pleasant. At best, they're infectious and gorgeous! The layered instrumentation is nicely varied, with acoustic instruments and understated vocals appearing often, but also spiced up with plenty of electronic warbles and synth buzzing.

They won't win any awards for originality, but I give 5 stars for immense enjoyability.

BRIAN ENO - MUSIC FOR FILMS

Year: 2005

1.Aragon [1:36]2.1 Mb

2.From the Same Hill [2:59]4.1 Mb

3.Inland Sea [1:24]1.7 Mb

4.Two Rapid Formations [3:22]5 Mb

5.Slow Water [3:16]4.3 Mb

6.Sparrowfall (1) [1:10]1.7 Mb

7.Sparrowfall (2) [1:43]2.5 Mb

8.Sparrowfall (3) [1:23]1.9 Mb

9.Alternative 3 [3:14]4.3 Mb

10.Quartz [2:02]3.2 Mb

11.Events in Dense Fog [3:43]5.3 Mb

12.There is Nobody [1:42]2.2 Mb

13.Patrolling Wire Borders [1:41]2.4 Mb

14.A Measured Room [1:05]1.6 Mb

15.Task Force [1:22]1.9 Mb

16.M386 [2:49]4.2 Mb

17.Strange Light [2:09]3 Mb

18.Final Sunset [4:13]5.4 Mb

Download Brian Eno - Music for Films (mp3)

Brian Eno "Music for Films" Album Review

Okay but not great
I am a big fan of Brian Eno's early abstract work. I like the way he took simple ideas and explored them until they became transformed into something completely different. For example, on "Music for Airports" he recorded women singing single notes, made tape loops of varying lengths from those recordings and let them circulate until many different combinations of notes and silences emerged. The result was beautiful and other-worldly. So, when Eno recorded an album of "soundtrack material" (for non-existant films) it seemed that he had stumbled onto a great outlet for his music. Instead, this is a collection of pieces that sound like floor sweepings from the "Another Green World" sessions. The pieces are short and often sound like passing thoughts that never developed into anything of substance. There are some nice moments on this recording, including some great bass parts and guest appearences by people like Robert Fripp but overall this is one of the weakest of Eno's early recordings.

ECSTASY OF ST THERESA - IN DUST 3

1.Just A Fade [4:01]5.7 Mb

2.Neon [3:07]4.4 Mb

3.Winter 22 [5:17]8.2 Mb

4.Danger [4:48]6.9 Mb

5.Dumb [5:41]8.3 Mb

6.Go [2:33]4.2 Mb

7.Noises of Silence [6:33]9.6 Mb

8.Ikarie XB1 [4:37]6.6 Mb

9.Haunted by Demons [7:08]9.4 Mb

10.1 and 1 (11) [5:39]8.1 Mb

Download Ecstasy of St Theresa - In Dust 3 (mp3)

Ecstasy of St Theresa "In Dust 3" Album Review

Review
The Czechoslovakian ambient group the Ecstasy of St. Theresa comprised vocalist/keyboardist Irna Libowitz, sound designers Jan Muchow and Petr Wegner, bassist Jan Gregar, guitarist John Moore, multi-instrumentalist Misa Klimkova, keyboardist Colin Stuart, flautist Vladimira Jestrabova and percussionist Katie Hecker.

Alio Die and Mathias Grassow "Expanding Horizon", Brannan Lane "Troposphere"

2008-01-17T08:40:00.001-08:00

ALIO DIE AND MATHIAS GRASSOW - EXPANDING HORIZON

Year: 2002

1.Enchanted Land [10:19]15.5 Mb

2.Day of Fulfilment [10:00]14.3 Mb

3.Radiant Clearing [3:32]4.8 Mb

4.Organum [10:08]15.5 Mb

5.The First Bright Light [10:18]15.1 Mb

6.Amithara [14:50]25.3 Mb

7.Dawn [12:04]20.8 Mb

8.Dewdrops [3:26]6.9 Mb

9.The Falcon [11:40]17 Mb

10.The Poetess [13:20]20.7 Mb

11.Serpents Hollow [3:33]5.4 Mb

12.Tuscany [15:34]23.3 Mb

13.The Elves Realm [28:11]43.8 Mb

Download Alio Die and Mathias Grassow - Expanding Horizon (mp3)

Alio Die and Mathias Grassow "Expanding Horizon" Album Review

MUSIC OF RENEWAL
This first collaboration between these two artists is one of the most beautiful ambient recordings I've ever heard. I have a few other cds by Alio Die (Stefano Musso) - every one of them is great, and his work just keeps getting better and better with each release. This album - a 2-cd set containing about 2½ hours of music - is, as another reviewer below stated, perfect for night listening. Night is a time of renewal - and this music has that effect on me. It's relaxing and intelligent - it can be enjoyed ambiently or attentively. There are keyboard-generated sounds, guitars, Indian instruments, and Stefano's trademark natural sounds (water, wind, insects, &c...). According to the notes, Stefano's parts were recorded first, in Italy, then sent to Mathias in Germany for his additions. The result is a very cohesive program - the pieces flow together beautifully, never sounding piecemeal.Some critics write off this sort of music as `noise' or `sonic dabbling' - but in doing so they're simply showing the narrow ruts in which their minds travel. There's a great deal of thought and work that go into works such as this, and these two artists have created something very special and lovely here. I say keep it coming...and I'll continue to be on the lookout for more.

BRANNAN LANE - TROPOSPHERE

Year: 2001

1.Tropospheric part I [5:02]7.7 Mb

2.Tropospheric part II [5:03]7.3 Mb

3.Mesosphere part I [6:07]9.5 Mb

4.Mesosphere part II [4:31]6.2 Mb

5.Odyssea part I [5:45]7.4 Mb

6.Odyssea part II [3:33]4.5 Mb

7.Solar Wind [4:39]6.6 Mb

8.Thermosphere part I [5:30]9 Mb

9.Thermosphere part I [7:22]12.6 Mb

10.Stratosphere part I [4:37]6.3 Mb

11.Stratosphere part II [4:53]6.6 Mb

Download Brannan Lane - Troposphere (mp3)

Brannan Lane "Troposphere" Album Review

An awestruck mood or fascinated mind-set pervades each piece
Lane subtitles this release as a "Soundtrack for Your Head" and indeed as a "sounds collection" - it is rich and varied. If you seek an experience, a journey of imagination, and aural props for some internal story line - do obtain yourself of a copy of Lane's ambient work. Much of this sonic voyage is too interesting to completely relax to, too involving to ignore, and much too mysterious and foreboding to find perfect "peace".And is this music? Much of Lane's ambient art is not. There are places where space music elements come out but things rarely finally lilt into a musicality. This is a head-trip of synths and effects, panned left to right, whirling about, echoes, flanged, phase-shifted, droning, blipping, and ringing. It is very, very professionally handled and extremely effective for setting a mood. But what mood? That is a very difficult call. When relaxation might set in, there still is an edge-of-your-hearing "thing" happening "over there" or suddenly there's a "scene change" and you're off into another sonic scenario. If Lane were to vigorously market his skills as a soundtrack/ effects man to movie production companies, I can guarantee they'd be impressed and within a year or two he'd land a deal somewhere. His stuff is that good, really excellent techniques.As a relaxation device or background ambience - I cannot fairly recommend Lane. At least this release and his other ambient work to date - all evoke an active participation, as they are predominantly mentally involving and keep grabbing your attention. In some places, during a few tracks, you will find a relaxing fugue or two but there's that shadow of "something's about to happen, I better watch out for whatever it is . . ." These are of course, my subjective feelings upon immersing my head in Lane's world. Yet, I feel confident in saying Lane leans towards a dark ambience of subdued tensions. An awestruck mood or fascinated mind-set pervades each piece. This is exactly the type stuff to listen to and find inspiration for writing sci-fi/fantasy/horror adventure stories.So give Lane a spin and experience his strange world of mystery. It's a very cool place to cruise through. ~ John W. Patterson

Eluvium "Talk Amongst the Trees", Brannan Lane "Lost Caverns of Thera", Moby "Hotel", Edgar Froese "Dalinetopia"

2008-01-16T00:27:00.001-08:00

ELUVIUM - TALK AMONGST THE TREES

Year: 2005

1.Hit [10:47]19.1 Mb

2.Hit [4:46]8.6 Mb

3.Hit [0:58]1.8 Mb

4.Hit [5:40]10.8 Mb

5.Light Cloud-Hit [5:30]9.4 Mb

6.Hit [16:55]33.4 Mb

7.Hit [2:09]3.7 Mb

8.Hit [7:43]13.3 Mb

Download Eluvium - Talk Amongst the Trees (mp3)

Eluvium "Talk Amongst the Trees" Album Review

Very good electronica/ambient album
I just discovered this artist and I am very pleased. This album consists of pleasant loops and sounds that form a gently hypnotic whole. The artist finds a groove and sets it loose while coloring it in various ways. Very tasteful stuff.

Video Me playing Eluvium - Prelude for Time Feelers + radio ballet

I remade it since I can do a bit better than the old one :] enjoy I know it's not perfect, I learned it by ear and not by sheet music and didn't actually learn the entire songs...Plus I never took piano lessons, so I can't play properly hence my hands moving oddly :P the strings in prelude were added after recording the piano. This video should be in sync unlike the old one, hopefully.. Go get Eluviums albums now :] These two tracks are on his newest, "Copia" and if you like the piano stuff, get "An Accidental Memory in the case of death" and for a wonderful ambient based album get "Talk amongst the trees." I'm in no way affiliated with him, I just would recommend his stuff :]

BRANNAN LANE - LOST CAVERNS OF THERA

Year: 2000

1.The Mouth [3:29]5.3 Mb

2.Black Air [5:29]8.9 Mb

3.Part II [6:37]10.6 Mb

4.Ancient Art [5:30]8.8 Mb

5.Death from Above [3:31]5.3 Mb

6.Atlantis [4:31]7 Mb

7.Sea in the Dark [4:03]5.9 Mb

8.Lost Souls [5:43]9 Mb

9.Unknown Origins [4:44]7.5 Mb

10.Circle of Darkness [5:49]9.2 Mb

11.Part II [5:06]8.2 Mb

12.Into the Light [11:35]17.8 Mb

Download Brannan Lane - Lost Caverns of Thera (mp3)

Brannan Lane "Lost Caverns of Thera" Album Review

Never judge a book by its cover.
Never judge a book by its cover - a true lesson when it came to giving serious consideration to reviewing this disc. The cover design is just plain busy and unnecessarily gothic, giving away too much before you get to experience the real treasures held inside! OK, that aside, I am pleased to have given this one a comprehensive spin. Nashville's own Brannan Lane couldn't be further from the Grand Ole Opry on the mesmerizing Cavern 1 - Black Air. Multiple dark ambient layers are richly drenched in a continuous flow of multi-tracked fountains. Thera (a volcanic island also known as Santorini), as stated on the cd jacket, is the Greek word for fear, and realizing its somber embrace is Lane's task on this hour long player. We hear angelic swirls, deep tonal gongs reverberating and building with percussive resonance. Having been heard on the radio broadcast show Music from the Hearts of Space, this sound sculptor seems rightly fitted for the task of creating atmosphere. If this were a film soundtrack we see 20 story high cavernous and icy hollows and are surrounded by mystical enchanted haunted kingdoms. This disc renders the listener passive and encircled by its space. Cavern II - Ancient Art continues to build on the growing cinematic harmonies building an arsenal of sound. Spirits rise up high and converge in a twisting iridescence on the short and effective Death from Above. Bodies of water drip, spill and flood throughout this adventure, at times quite stimulating, at other times menacing. Sea In The Dark is like a winding vessel reminiscent of surveying an imaginary alter-world, Atlantis perhaps? The illusions run deep here. Lane's ability to capture stimulant and visionary atmosphere comes from his work in multiple genres, from Caribbean to Country, from Trance to Blues. Some may say this provocative composer may be reaching too far. I can only hope he opts for creating more work in this mode. There are a lot of repetitive sound themes over the generous hour here, but Lane brings us into a trance-like state and then Into the Light. On this final track it is as though we have channeled to the other side of a virtual landscape. We have been released from the mysterious magnetic pull and sail away with a galaxy of wildlife. This, my first exposure, to an artist with a dozen or so recordings in his name, was certainly worth the trip! -- TJ Norris

Video BlackWater - a dark ambient journey for Halloween

At the end of October we celebrate Halloween, the lingering expression of the Celtic pagan festival that marked the final extinction of summer. It's a time when the dead were said to revisit the mortal world, and large communal bonfires were lit to ward off the dark spirits. Today it's devolved into a commercial event for the candy industry, with an unusually grim theme — while the fires, at least in California, are a fearsome, destructive presence. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we wander in the gloomy underworlds, ghostly chambers and haunted caverns, on a program called...BLACKWATER. PRISCILLA HERNANDEZ Facing the Dream ANCIENT SHADOWS www.yidneth.com MICHAEL STEARNS Reky into Dark Territory A STORM OF DRONES [compilation] Asphodel/Sombient 0966; 1995 www.asphodel.com LIGHTWAVE Nachtmusik NACHTMUSIK Erdenklang 90342; 1990 www.erdenklang.de PAUL VNUK JR. & OOPHOI Distance to Zero I DISTANCE TO ZERO Hypnos hyp2649; 2006 www.hypnos.com ANDREW LILES Black Sea - Part II (Danny Buoy) BLACK SEA Beta-Lactam Ring mt130 Black Series negro 10 2007 www.blrrecords.com BRANNAN LANE Black Air - Part II LOST CAVERNS OF THERA World Circle WCR802CD; 2000 www.brannanlane.com

MOBY - HOTEL

Year: 2005

1.Hotel intro [1:56]2.9 Mb

2.Raining Again [3:47]6.7 Mb

3.Beautiful [3:13]5.7 Mb

4.Lift Me Up [3:20]5.8 Mb

5.Where You End [3:22]5.2 Mb

6.Temptation [4:55]6.9 Mb

7.Spiders [3:45]6.5 Mb

8.Dream About Me [3:23]5.1 Mb

9.Very [3:43]6.5 Mb

10.I Like it [3:47]5.7 Mb

11.Love Should [3:52]5.8 Mb

12.Slipping Away [3:40]6.3 Mb

13.Forever [3:39]5.8 Mb

14.Homeward Angel [5:52]8.4 Mb

15.Unknown [5:13]8.5 Mb

16.Swear [6:40]9.6 Mb

17.Snowball [4:27]7.4 Mb

18.Blue Paper [6:07]8.4 Mb

19.Homeward Angel [10:57]16.2 Mb

20.Chord Sounds [7:25]12.4 Mb

21.Not Sensitive [3:10]4.5 Mb

22.Lilly [3:54]5.7 Mb

23.The Come Down [5:19]7.7 Mb

24.Live Forever [6:49]10.5 Mb

25.Aerial [7:15]11.1 Mb

26.Unknown [5:48]8.8 Mb

Download Moby - Hotel (mp3)

Moby "Hotel" Album Review

oh dear
Sorry to say, but this is one (well 2) expensive coasters.
I listened to it all the way through & was more than unthrilled.
The next time, I got as far as the diabolical cover version of New Order's Temptation & threw the discs in the bin.
Moby needs to go back to his punk roots & keep this rubbish to himself.
I had to give it a star or my review can't be submitted, but I can award a star for the cd case which is handy to replace any broken ones I might have.

Video INTRO

video for Moby's song Hotel Intro

EDGAR FROESE - DALINETOPIA

Year: 2005

1.Daleroshima [6:47]9.7 Mb

2.Dalozapata [5:19]7.6 Mb

3.Dalamuerte [5:26]7.7 Mb

4.Dalerotica [6:57]9.9 Mb

5.Daliesquador [5:56]8.5 Mb

6.Daluminacion [9:24]13.5 Mb

7.Dalagalor [6:54]9.8 Mb

8.Daluna [7:13]10.4 Mb

9.Dalysisiphus [7:47]11.2 Mb

10.Dalinetopia [7:48]11.2 Mb

Download Edgar Froese - Dalinetopia (mp3)

Edgar Froese "Dalinetopia" Album Review

Enjoying this one quite a bit
Though this release is not completly free of over used chord progressions, and the typical melodic phrasings that made for a tiresome journey to the land of Ninties Tangerine Dream-- been there done that-- I'm ejoying this one quite a bit. It's the clean shimmering mix firstly. The drum tracks are nice, and coupled with nice electronic pulses. The melodies after a second listen begin to really become clear for the patient listener. There is quite a a gorgeouse soundscape created in Dalozapata, and the lush Dalamuerte. The intricate rythmic complexity of Daleroshima, and better Dalasquadore, make one want to buy a five hundred dollar pair of headphones. Dalaglore is chill, and Daluna is fierce!

Also, Edgar Froese is playing guitar on this album!! No stand ins, Finally. To my disappointment though he has lost his love for great lead runs like those we heard in "Three Bikes in The Sky," or the ending passages of "London."

Oh well. Instead he meanders a bit with a reliance on harmonics and tones, but it's ok because this cd is so effective and damned pretty! It really is. To me it is like Mars Polaris, with a little more focus, and consistency.

Earthlan "Beautiful Collision of Nations", Markus Guentner "1981", Dead Texan "Dead Texan"

2008-01-14T23:59:00.001-08:00

EARTHLAN - BEAUTIFUL COLLISION OF NATIONS

Year: 1997

1.Intro [1:01]1.4 Mb

2.Desert Wind [4:01]6.3 Mb

3.Three Reasons [4:35]6.3 Mb

4.Departure [5:15]6.8 Mb

5.The Embrace [4:21]6 Mb

6.Devotion [4:51]7.4 Mb

7.Rain Rain Rain [5:58]8.4 Mb

8.Double-Edged Sword [4:34]6.3 Mb

9.A Poem About Time [4:35]6 Mb

10.Promise [3:55]5.8 Mb

11.The Fish the Umbrella [6:06]8.4 Mb

12.Dreaming [6:24]7.6 Mb

Download Earthlan - Beautiful Collision of Nations (mp3)

Earthlan "Beautiful Collision of Nations" Album Review

Fantastic !
A dark horse. A true sleeper. This is some of the best World-Dub Mix you'll ever hear. No over-zealous pomp-avant garde pushing for the line but instead deeply sensual, complex and, most of all, imaginative music with a big heart beat. Owning a CD collection of several 1000 titles this is still what I put on if I want to put on something truly special.

MARKUS GUENTNER - 1981

Year: 2005

1.Wanderung [8:30]11.2 Mb

2.Wenn Musik Der Liebe Nahrung Ist [9:18]14 Mb

3.Jellyfish [8:29]12 Mb

4.Hi-Jacked [8:33]11.1 Mb

5.Sommergewitter [8:56]13.5 Mb

6.Umgebung [7:00]10.4 Mb

7.Der Wuestenplanet [8:19]12.8 Mb

8.Hotel Shanghai [6:26]10.1 Mb

Download Markus Guentner - 1981 (mp3)

Markus Guentner "1981" Album Review

Beautiful!
Awesome album. Sweet ambient that does what great ambient music does; take you to another place. If you're an ambient fan and haven't already; check this out!

DEAD TEXAN - DEAD TEXAN

Year: 2004

1.The 6 Million Dollar Sandwich [3:02]4.3 Mb

2.Glens Goo [4:06]5.9 Mb

3.A Chronicle of Early Failures part One [5:43]8.2 Mb

4.A Chronicle of Early Failures part Two [5:47]8.3 Mb

5.Taco Me Manque [2:36]3.7 Mb

6.Aegina Airlines [2:48]4 Mb

7.When I See Scissors I Cannot Help but Think of You [3:59]5.7 Mb

8.Girth Rides A (Horse) [2:33]3.7 Mb

9.La Ballade Dalain Georgee [6:23]9.1 Mb

10.Beatrice part Two [4:03]5.8 Mb

11.The Struggle [5:28]7.9 Mb

Download Dead Texan - Dead Texan (mp3)

Dead Texan "Dead Texan" Album Review

I'm not sure I get it
I bought this Cd based on a review on Popmatters and also seeing it with an almost perfect 100 rating on Metacritic. I'm a fan of electronic music, I dig Underworld, I even like Moby's abient disc included with 'Hotel'.
This Cd is even more sedate than that disc, if you can imagine. I like it Ok, but it functions only as non-challenging background music. I like it fine, but no songs really jump out at you. Disc 2 seems to be a little more 'peppier', if you could use that term.

Video Aegina Airlines by The Dead Texan

Featuring music for a walk in the desert.

Death Cube K "Disembodied", Death Cube K "Tunnel"

2008-01-12T02:23:00.001-08:00

DEATH CUBE K - DISEMBODIED

1.Disembodied [9:17]14.1 Mb

2.Embalmed [5:00]7.4 Mb

3.Terror Tram [9:37]13.8 Mb

4.Hanging Gallows [5:35]7.9 Mb

5.Pre Hack [15:29]23.5 Mb

Download Death Cube K - Disembodied (mp3)

Death Cube K "Disembodied" Album Review

Blah!
I think this cd is just a bunch of noise, and I was listening to it, waiting for some type of guitar to enter, but i was dissappointed when i heard some guitar come in at the third song. I really dont like this cd, unless it was halloween, cause its just creepy and too ambient for my taste. I like buckethead when he plays actual music. Too weird for Buckethead, if that's possible, and definately too weird for me.

Video Death Cube K - Maps Of Impossible Worlds

I noticed there weren't any Death Cube K music videos so I decided to make one. Here is "Maps Of Impossible Worlds" from the Dreamatorium album. Clips are from the film Mirror. Enjoy the video and stay disembodied.

DEATH CUBE K - TUNNEL

Year: 1999

1.Thanatopsis [8:03]12.1 Mb

2.Tunnel [3:10]4.7 Mb

3.Leech [2:25]3.2 Mb

4.Post Mortem [3:32]5.2 Mb

5.Hemloc [3:30]4.4 Mb

6.Scalding Tank [2:13]3.6 Mb

7.Loss Leper [9:47]13.2 Mb

8.Mange [3:35]4.1 Mb

9.4 [8:01]10.9 Mb

10.Gap [3:20]4.9 Mb

11.Depth of the Four Horrors [1:20]1.9 Mb

Download Death Cube K - Tunnel (mp3)

Death Cube K "Tunnel" Album Review

most avant-garde dck album
this one tells more of a story than the others.it really gets into the evil of dck through the stark electronics and haunting guitar repetitions.

The Irresistible Force "Global Chillage", The Irresistible Force "Flying High", Arcana "Le Serpent Rouge", Marsen Jules "Herbstlaub"

2008-01-11T10:39:00.001-08:00

THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE - GLOBAL CHILLAGE

1.Natural Frequency [14:05]20.2 Mb

2.Downstream [10:04]14.5 Mb

3.Moonrise [9:41]13.9 Mb

4.Sunstroke [8:25]12 Mb

5.Snowstorm [8:39]12.4 Mb

6.Waveform [11:59]17.2 Mb

7.Manfesto [2:10]3.1 Mb

Download The Irresistible Force - Global Chillage (mp3)

The Irresistible Force "Global Chillage" Album Review

Aquatic yet Spacy ambient music.
I bought this cd upon hearing their remix of Coldcut's "Autumn Leaves" on the Two A.D. Waveform compilation. The aquatic and bubblely sound of that one song is present throughout this entire album.This cd is almost completely void of any rhythm or beats, yet it isn't typical of motionless ambient or space music either. It's definately a chill-out album - trippy, dubby, with alot of trickling synth effects yet no real melodies - yet gives one the sensation of being underwater.This CD is best played at night at medium volume in a blue lit roon with the lava lamps.

THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE - FLYING HIGH

1.Spiritual High [7:41]11 Mb

2.Sky High [12:00]17.3 Mb

3.Flying High [15:32]22.3 Mb

4.High Frequency [9:38]13.8 Mb

5.Symphony in E [8:46]12.6 Mb

6.Mountain High live [20:03]28.8 Mb

Download The Irresistible Force - Flying High (mp3)

The Irresistible Force "Flying High" Album Review

The Unsurpassable Ambient Album
I had this album the first year it came out and was astounded by its simplicity, yet moving sound. I recently came across the album again and feel just as strongly.

ARCANA - LE SERPENT ROUGE

Year: 2004

1.In Search of the Divine [3:07]4 Mb

2.Le Serpent Rouge [4:37]6.6 Mb

3.Cathar [5:03]8.7 Mb

4.Under the Sun [5:45]8.1 Mb

5.Amber [5:33]8.1 Mb

6.Seductive Flame [4:39]7.7 Mb

7.Serpents Dance [4:39]6.3 Mb

8.The Passage [2:00]2.7 Mb

9.The Nemesis [5:27]7.7 Mb

Download Arcana - Le Serpent Rouge (mp3)

Arcana "Le Serpent Rouge" Album Review

Relax and sway
I had met one of the members of this band on an art site and decided to check it out. It's a very well put together and relaxing complilation. I really wanted an older CD but I'm very glad I got this one.
I play it when I'm cleaniing, going to bed, or driving.
Enjoy!

MARSEN JULES - HERBSTLAUB

Year: 2005

1.Fans Dautomne [6:08]9 Mb

2.De la Mort Dun Cygne [5:29]10.3 Mb

3.Aurore [7:39]11.8 Mb

4.Aile Daigle [7:32]12.1 Mb

5.Tous Les Coeurs de Cette Terre [7:22]10.7 Mb

6.Chanson Du Soir [5:19]7.7 Mb

Download Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub (mp3)

Marsen Jules "Herbstlaub" Album Review

a symphony from beneath the seas
I'd never heard the name Marsen Jules before listening to Herbstlaub, but if this release is any indication of his talent level, I think that ambient music fans in general will be hearing a lot more from him in the future. Over the course of six tracks and just under forty minutes running length, Jules floats the ghostly cloud of strings and dense washes of ambience that recall in part everyone from William Basinski to Colleen to Gavin Bryars.

Much of the above references come from what is obviously a very orchestral foundation with which Jules has created this release. Although very few instruments come through the mix unfiltered, one can hear the sweeping grandeur of strings, the delicate and precise tones of piano, as well as chimes and other organic beginnings that are then turned into massive washes of sound. The opening track of "Fanes D'Automne" pushes forth slowly with epic sweeps of filtered strings while single piano notes sail through the fog like the slight wink of a lighthouse off the coast.

On "De La Mort D'Un Cygne," the track opens with a filtered wall of sound that reminds one of hearing a harpsichord reverberating around on the inside of an abandoned silo before more filtered strings roll into the mix and make the track feel like the channeling of Wolfgang Voight's (aka Gas) amazing textures on Zauberberg, Konigsforst and Pop. "Aurore" is a little more pastoral, drifting along with lighter sounds that could be the soundtrack to an idyllic countryside jaunt before "Aile D'Aigle" again brings back powerful lower end sounds and another dense arrangement that lets some pretty string melodies slip through nearly untouched.

The rest of the album follows the same sort of patterns, with heavily reverbed harps, strings, and chimes that exhale like they're being breathed out of your own body. There's something about the sounds of classical instrumentation that seems to translate well to ambient electronic music, and while Jules is by no means the first one to do this sort of thing, this is one of the better pure ambient releases that I've heard in awhile and easily the best I've heard this year so far. For fans of all of the aforementioned artists, as well as hazy Touch label artists like Biosphere. Really lovely.

(from almost cool music reviews)

Video Marsen Jules & Johannes Braun - Brouillard

A cooperation of musicians Marsen Jules and visual artist Johannes Braun.

Bill Douglas "Stepping Stones", To Rococo Rot and I-Sound "Music is A Hungry Ghost", Chuck Wild-Liquid Mind VII "Reflection"

2008-01-10T04:05:00.001-08:00

BILL DOUGLAS - STEPPING STONES

Year: 2004

1.Azure [3:13]4.5 Mb

2.Leap [2:22]3.5 Mb

3.Elegy [3:21]4.7 Mb

4.Fool on the Hill-Julia [4:00]5.6 Mb

5.In Lovely Blue [2:22]3.2 Mb

6.Folk Song [3:05]4.3 Mb

7.Prelude [3:21]4.6 Mb

8.Riverrun [2:25]3.4 Mb

9.Home [3:04]4.2 Mb

10.Karuna [3:13]4.4 Mb

11.Jewel [3:31]5 Mb

12.Caroline [3:39]5 Mb

13.Everywhere [3:25]4.7 Mb

14.She Walks in Beauty [3:46]5.1 Mb

15.Lullaby [3:05]4.3 Mb

Download Bill Douglas - Stepping Stones (mp3)

Bill Douglas "Stepping Stones" Album Review

The Great Masters are not all dead
Bill Douglas is one of the most creative, talented, and multi-faceted composers of our time. Listening to greats such as Flow Gently, Sweet Avlon and the Autumn Song are almost spiritual experiences. His music is innovative. Note the extraordinary sound produced when he involves both piano and flute in playing the melody. It is remarkable in that I would never have expected it to work and produce such a moving effect. The subtle rythm sounds are lost on first hearing, leaving much to be discovered in listening again and again. Some of his solo piano work is his most melodic and memorable and I look forward to this new CD with great enthusiasm!

TO ROCOCO ROT AND I-SOUND - MUSIC IS A HUNGRY GHOST

Year: 2001

1.A Number of Things [4:15]6 Mb

2.For A Moment [4:34]8 Mb

3.How We Never Went to Bed [4:17]7.3 Mb

4.First [2:29]3.6 Mb

5.From Dream to Daylight [4:14]6.4 Mb

6.Your Secrets A Few Words [3:14]6 Mb

7.Along the Route [2:57]5.4 Mb

8.Overhead [4:08]5.6 Mb

9.Koku [0:38]1.3 Mb

10.Pantone [2:59]5.1 Mb

11.Mazda in the MIST [4:21]8.4 Mb

12.She Tended to Forget [2:30]3.5 Mb

13.The Trance of Travel [5:03]8.4 Mb

Download To Rococo Rot and I-Sound - Music is A Hungry Ghost (mp3)

To Rococo Rot and I-Sound "Music is A Hungry Ghost" Album Review

beware of hungry ghosts bearing gifts...
I received this CD as a promo several years ago while employed at a record shop. One of many CDs I received in this manner, listened to a few times and passed on to friends...

...except this one I kept, and listened to again and again. Odd, considering I'm no electronica afficionado. This is definitely not your garden variety 4/4 beats. Compositions are short but superbly developed. The music has an organic feel, as of live instruments delicately cut-and-pasted and looped. The crackly turntablism and evocative violin crop up at just the right places. It has basslines Tortoise would be proud of. It made me go out and buy "Veiculo" and "Amateur View." All three albums are highly enjoyable and reward repeated listens. This is warm, inviting listening with lots of subtleties. I want their whole catalog!

CHUCK WILD-LIQUID MIND VII - REFLECTION

Year: 2004

1.Gently Down [14:13]14.8 Mb

2.Into the Silence of My Being [12:33]13 Mb

3.In the Stillness [6:30]6.7 Mb

4.Finding My Way [9:20]9.6 Mb

5.Reflection [8:17]8.6 Mb

6.My Orchid Spirit [7:39]8 Mb

Download Chuck Wild-Liquid Mind VII - Reflection (mp3)

Chuck Wild-Liquid Mind VII "Reflection" Album Review

Meditative Masterpiece!
Looking for great meditation music? Listen to Liquid Mind's assortment of musical meditation arrangements! I purchased Liquid Mind III years ago it's music became almost sacred to myself and other family members and friends. So, I purchased the entire series! Need I say more?!!!!
The music has a great "trademark" sound but each CD has it's own uniqueness. I found it was great anytime you need "background" music. I loved each and every CD by Liquid Mind and will treasure the music always. Thanks to Chuck Wild and all involved in the production of Liquid Mind!

Susumu Yokota "Sakura", Terra Ambient "The Gate", Seefeel "(Ch-Vox)"

2008-01-09T05:09:00.001-08:00

SUSUMU YOKOTA - SAKURA

Year: 2000

1.Saku [5:45]8.3 Mb

2.Tobiume [4:38]6.6 Mb

3.Uchu Tanjyo [3:12]4.6 Mb

4.Hagoromo [3:52]5.6 Mb

5.Genshi [4:56]7.1 Mb

6.Gekkoh [4:58]7.1 Mb

7.Hisen [3:48]5.4 Mb

8.Azukiro No Kaori [2:38]3.8 Mb

9.Kodomotachi [4:06]5.9 Mb

10.Naminote [5:42]8.2 Mb

11.Shinsen [4:33]6.5 Mb

12.Kirakiraboshi [1:55]2.7 Mb

Download Susumu Yokota - Sakura (mp3)

Susumu Yokota "Sakura" Album Review

Great find for fans of experimental ambient music
Still, seven years after its original release, "Sakura" (the Japanese word for ornamental cherry trees) by Susumu Yokota continues to sound fresh. The Japanese experimental ambient composer and house DJ presents us with a very mellow album that can be great company for quiet moments such as bedtime as well when you are reading or writing.

After being introduced to his work first through the soundtrack of the movie Babel (where the track "Gekkoh" from this album is featured), I felt compelled to look into his work and "Sakura" has proved to be a very nice find that I keep looping through effortlessly. Totally worth checking out for fans of low key electronic/ambient music.

Video Susumu Yokota - Yangshuo

Yangshuo, a film by twenty2 product soundtracked from The Boy And The Tree

TERRA AMBIENT - THE GATE

Year: 2004

1.The Pilgrims Road [2:52]4.1 Mb

2.The Gate [7:44]11.1 Mb

3.Majoun [8:44]12.6 Mb

4.Sandstorm Dreaming [9:06]13.1 Mb

5.Westerly Prayer [5:53]8.5 Mb

6.Serpent and Stone [8:34]12.3 Mb

7.Blood [7:20]10.5 Mb

Download Terra Ambient - The Gate (mp3)

Terra Ambient "The Gate" Album Review

Album Description
The second album from Terra Ambient, The Gate indicates a maturing of Jeff Kowal's artistic talents and an exploration of new sonic palettes. It is an exploration in deep, rhythmic drones, with harmonic overtone singing, bansuri melodies and thick guitar textures. "The Gate" was produced devoid of synthesizers or drum machines. All instruments and instrument samples were recorded live and deconstructed with processing.

SEEFEEL - (CH-VOX)

Year: 1996

1.Utreat (Complete) [4:31]5.8 Mb

2.Hix [5:07]6.7 Mb

3.Ch-Vox [6:46]8.3 Mb

4.Hive [5:18]7.6 Mb

5.Ashdecon [5:25]5.7 Mb

6.Net [6:11]9.1 Mb

Download Seefeel - (Ch-Vox) (mp3)

Seefeel "(Ch-Vox)" Album Review

Incomplete
After two EP releases and the album "Succour" on the famous Warp label, Seefeel once again switched record companies and landed at Richard "Aphex Twin" James' Rephlex label. Unfortunately, "Ch-Vox" seems to be made of waste from the "Succour" sessions. In fact, three out of six tracks are hardly more than filler in order to make a short album (33 mins.) which is sold at full-price. "Utreat" has already appeared on their previous album. The static "Hive" and the very scarce "Ashdeacon" are among Seefeel's weakest tracks ever. "E-Hix" and the title track build up on layers of repetitive, alienated guitar riffs and provide a very intense atmosphere. "Net" is one of the greatest ambient soundscapes ever made, with a painful and mysterious melody set against a subtle, almost sub-conscious rhythm "net". Ultimately, one great track isn't enough to justify a four-star review. Well, if you're a completist, buy this album. Otherwise, I recommend you to spend your money on "Succour" and "Starethrough".

Shpongle "Tales of the Inexpressible", Brian Eno "Ambient 4", Harold Budd and Brian Eno "Ambient 2"

2008-01-08T05:52:00.001-08:00

SHPONGLE - TALES OF THE INEXPRESSIBLE

Year: 2001

1.Dorset Perception [8:11]15.7 Mb

2.Star Shpongled Banner [8:22]16 Mb

3.A New Way to Say Hooray [8:31]16.3 Mb

4.Room 23 [5:04]9.7 Mb

5.My Head Feels Like A Frisbee [8:52]17 Mb

6.Shpongleyes [8:55]17.1 Mb

7.Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness [7:30]14.3 Mb

8.Around the World in A Tea Daze [11:21]21.8 Mb

9.Flute Fruit [2:08]4.1 Mb

Download Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressible (mp3)

Shpongle "Tales of the Inexpressible" Album Review

Best album I own
I have a huge music collection including all of shpongle but this is beyond doubt my favorite. I often find after a few listenings of a CD I start to get a bit bored and land up ripping to mp3 and mixing in the songs but with shpongle I always listen to the entire album beginning to end. I only play it when I am really in the mood to listen -fungus helps ;). The journey he takes you on is unmatched.

Video Shpongle - Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness (Esionjim

Shpongle - Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness (Esionjim Remix) from the album "Tales Of The Inexpressible"

BRIAN ENO - AMBIENT 4

Year: 2004

1.Lizard [4:33]6.3 Mb

2.The Lost Day [9:11]13.1 Mb

3.Tal Coat [5:27]8.4 Mb

4.Shadow [3:00]4.4 Mb

5.Lantern Marsh [5:30]8.9 Mb

6.Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills) [5:26]7.3 Mb

7.A Clearing [4:07]5.6 Mb

8.Dunwich Beach Autumn 1960 [7:09]9.5 Mb

Download Brian Eno - Ambient 4 (mp3)

Brian Eno "Ambient 4" Album Review

Short, but absolute
Brian Eno's "On Land" is a good landmark for dark Ambient Music. Eno knows how to make you feel all alone in the middle of nowhere - or in the middle of somewhere creepy (depending on how you look at it). I enjoy listening to this music alone in bed before I go to sleep at night. It instantly clears my mind of whatever may have happened that day, and lets me fall asleep much easier.

This album really does allow you to conjure up some vivid thoughts. Last time I listened to this album, I for some reason started putting the names of the tracks together as a journey. I imagined being high up on a mountain peak called "Lizard Point" and looking far off in the distance and seeing my destination, "Dunwich Beach". The rest of the album represents my adventure to get there. While descending the peak, I pass through dark caves (Shadow), thick murky swamps (Lantern Marsh), and creepy forests with an odd air around (unfamiliar wind). After some time, I finally see the edge of the forest, and come to "A clearing". I go a bit further and arrive at my destination, Dunwich Beach - but I'm all alone and the beach is dark and silent. Use your imagination, and this album can be more entertaining than just hearing the sounds that make the music.

Eno manages to keep up a dark mood throughout this album, but there is enough variation to keep you entertained. I personally enjoyed tracks #1, 3, and 6 the most. There aren't any parts of this album that I disliked, however. My only complaint is how short the album is! I wish it took up the full CD, but this won't affect my review score. This album deserves nothing less than 5 stars.

I highly recommend this album to anyone who enjoys the darker side of Ambient. You won't regret purchasing this, unless you only like music with headache-inducing drums and beats (which I do happen to enjoy as well, but I won't go there).

HAROLD BUDD AND BRIAN ENO - AMBIENT 2

Year: 2004

1.First Light [7:06]9.6 Mb

2.Steal Away [1:29]2.1 Mb

3.The Plateaux of Mirror [4:13]5.6 Mb

4.Above Chiangmai [2:55]4 Mb

5.An Arc of Doves [6:28]8.4 Mb

6.Not Yet Remembered [3:50]5.1 Mb

7.The Chill Air [2:13]3 Mb

8.Among Fields of Crystal [3:24]4.7 Mb

9.Wind in Lonely Fences [3:57]5.6 Mb

10.Failing Light [4:13]5.7 Mb

Download Harold Budd and Brian Eno - Ambient 2 (mp3)

Harold Budd and Brian Eno "Ambient 2" Album Review

Evokes Images Of Past Thru Gauzy Light Filtered Images
The music on this album always takes me inside myself and makes me reflective about my life. The first track in particular evokes memories of past as if seen from a distance through a gauzy haze. Very emotionally cleansing.

Very similar in theme/texture to "The Pearl". In fact they could have easily been a dual CD. Hard to believe they were recorded four years apart.

Other recommendations of minimalist ambient music include "Quiet Music" and "Structures From Silence" by Steve Roach.

Pan American "The River Made No Sound", Vargo "Beauty", Liquid Mind "Liquid Mind VII Reflection", Damian "Oneness"

2008-01-07T10:02:00.001-08:00

PAN AMERICAN - THE RIVER MADE NO SOUND

Year: 2002

1.Plains [3:35]5.1 Mb

2.For A Running [8:22]12 Mb

3.Settled [4:37]6.6 Mb

4.Place Names [6:44]9.6 Mb

5.Red Line [9:11]13.2 Mb

6.Raised Wall [3:05]4.4 Mb

7.St. Cloud [7:08]10.3 Mb

8.Sided [2:18]3.2 Mb

9.Right of Return [9:28]13.6 Mb

Download Pan American - The River Made No Sound (mp3)

Pan American "The River Made No Sound" Album Review

Third one is a charm
It's clear that Mark Nelson's collaboration with Stars of the Lid's Adam Wiltzie on the Aix Em Klemm cd has been influential. Moodier than the debut or "360 Bypass," "River" has a much more ambient feel to it. That's not to say it isn't full of those wonderful Nelson electronic burps and chirps, but the guitar is more subdued and the jazz influence is less prominent. If you're already a Pan American fan, you will buy this anyway; if you're a Labradford fan testing the waters, start with the other two discs, as this is more challenging. If you like SOL, this will be right up your alley. Repeated listenings will reveal it to be as lush and satisfying as his other works, however, and in my opinion, Nelson is the absolute master of whatever you want to call this kind of music.

VARGO - BEAUTY

Year: 2004

1.Get Back to Serenity (Beach mix) [6:05]8.7 Mb

2.Relax (Blank and Jonesvargo vocal remix) [6:07]8.8 Mb

3.Pure Consciousness (Interlude) [0:44]1 Mb

4.The Moment (Short Chorus mix) [5:34]8 Mb

5.Jah Ray (Jah mix) [5:24]7.7 Mb

6.Silence (Original mix) [7:03]10.2 Mb

7.Happiness (Interlude) [1:04]1.5 Mb

8.The Flow (Rising Riddim mix) [4:12]6 Mb

9.Intuition (Touch My Hall mix) [6:02]8.6 Mb

10.Every Minute (Oradio mix) [3:42]5.3 Mb

11.Beauty (album mix) [4:36]6.6 Mb

12.Infinity (Original mix) [5:39]8.1 Mb

13.Get Back to Serenity (J. Bar mix) [4:43]6.8 Mb

14.Bonus Hidden track [1:12]1.7 Mb

Download Vargo - Beauty (mp3)

Vargo "Beauty" Album Review

Heard it on SIRIUS 73
Great album, especially like the Relax track when in stop & go traffic, soothing melodies, and they try a lot of different influences that work well. SIRIUS as of late seems to be playing a number of tracks from this album on channel 73 for those who want to hear the songs in their entirety before buying ...

Video Vargo-Beauty

The song beauty by Vargo

LIQUID MIND - LIQUID MIND VII REFLECTION

Year: 2004

1.Gently Down [14:13]24.9 Mb

2.Into the Silence of My Being [12:33]21.2 Mb

3.In the Stillness [6:30]10.9 Mb

4.Finding My Way [9:20]15.8 Mb

5.Reflection [8:17]13.6 Mb

6.My Orchid Spirit [7:39]12.5 Mb

Download Liquid Mind - Liquid Mind VII Reflection (mp3)

Liquid Mind "Liquid Mind VII Reflection" Album Review

DAMIAN - ONENESS

Year: 2004

1.Oneness [4:02]5.8 Mb

2.Open Your Heart [4:33]6.5 Mb

3.Habanos Days [3:59]5.7 Mb

4.Queen of Night [4:31]6.5 Mb

5.Anaconda [4:12]6 Mb

6.Crossroads Brothers [3:43]5.3 Mb

7.Planet Music [4:28]6.4 Mb

8.Bale [3:28]4.9 Mb

9.Moonlight in St Petesburgh [4:51]6.9 Mb

10.Dancing Swans [3:56]5.7 Mb

11.Oneness Jorio remix [6:32]9.3 Mb

12.Broken Wings [7:07]10.2 Mb

Download Damian - Oneness (mp3)

Damian "Oneness" Album Review

Amazon.com
The pan flute often brings up images of late night commercials flogging hits by Gheorghe Zamfir, whose undeniable virtuosity was too often marred by his taste for kitsch. Judging by his interpretation of a theme from Tchaikovsky¹s Swan Lake, the Berklee-educated Damian Draghici may have more in common with his predecessor than just nationality (Romanian) and choice of instrument. However, the remaining tracks are extremely varied, ranging from new age pastiches complete with an Enya-esque soprano, to synth-and-beat-laden trance/lounge conceits, to world music-influenced works, one of which sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd and late-career Milton Nascimento. The personnel includes Michael Brook (producer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Cameroonian bassist/singer Richard Bona, percussionist Louis Conte, and bassist Ibrahim Laborial. These are great talents and interesting ideas do emerge from time to time. But the incessant conceptual flux and lack of unifying chemistry between the selections make for an exhausting listen. --Christina Roden

Pan American "Quiet City", Metamatics "Spook Tinsel Shoal", Naoki Kenji "Denshi Ongaku", Neotropic "La Prochaine Fois"

2008-01-05T07:06:00.001-08:00

PAN AMERICAN - QUIET CITY

Year: 2004

1.Before [3:30]5.2 Mb

2.Wing [9:05]15.7 Mb

3.Shining Book [4:01]6.4 Mb

4.Inside Elevation [5:03]7.7 Mb

5.Skylight [5:39]8.9 Mb

6.Lights on Water [3:49]5.6 Mb

7.Het Volk [4:40]6.7 Mb

8.Lights of Little Towns [8:53]12.9 Mb

Download Pan American - Quiet City (mp3)

Pan American "Quiet City" Album Review

Sublime
The simplicity of the beautiful things or the beauty of the simple things? You are just given the right to create your own landscape. No compromise whatsoever in terms of time and space. You choose.

METAMATICS - SPOOK TINSEL SHOAL

Year: 2000

1.Landlady [0:11]0.2 Mb

2.Toy Toy [6:51]9.8 Mb

3.For Brother [5:59]8.6 Mb

4.Somekind [5:42]8.2 Mb

5.OP6 [6:02]8.7 Mb

6.India Link [3:21]4.8 Mb

7.Dayglo Tinsel [6:15]9 Mb

8.Jakemond [5:28]7.9 Mb

9.Fizzy Dollar [4:51]6.9 Mb

10.Halshanger Cross [6:44]9.6 Mb

Download Metamatics - Spook Tinsel Shoal (mp3)

Metamatics "Spook Tinsel Shoal" Album Review

Auraldreamscapes.
A truly phenomenal disc. After months of waiting for something worth my time (last time was Amon Tobin), I came across this brilliant work by Metamatics. The music is simply spellbinding in its simplicity and sheer beauty. This release grows on you to the point that when you reach out to get a CD from your collection, chances are you'll go for this one. Relaxing and intense at the same time I found Metamatics to be a sophisticated exercise for my neurons and a balsamic maelstrom for my senses.

NAOKI KENJI - DENSHI ONGAKU

Year: 2002

1.Ongaku [4:01]5.8 Mb

2.Poetry in Motion [5:10]7.4 Mb

3.Into Blue [4:16]6.1 Mb

4.Samishi [4:12]6 Mb

5.Mother Nature [5:25]7.7 Mb

6.The Island [5:08]7.3 Mb

7.Game Warrior [4:18]6.2 Mb

8.Asian Reprise [2:21]3.4 Mb

9.F R A [3:54]5.6 Mb

10.Denshi Spirit [5:39]8.1 Mb

11.Liquid Pure [3:00]4.3 Mb

12.My Destiny [3:44]5.3 Mb

13.Jelements [4:36]6.6 Mb

14.My Destiny remix [5:45]8.3 Mb

Download Naoki Kenji - Denshi Ongaku (mp3)

Naoki Kenji "Denshi Ongaku" Album Review

Smooth, chilled Asian electro
This album was a chance discovery for me. I seldom explore electronica outside its Northern European and US birthplaces. Best way I can describe this music would be 'chilled contemplative electronica'. Slow synthesised layers sweep over clicky baselines and minimal bleeps. There's also something of a videogame influence in this music - putting one in mind of the cyclic nature of Japanese RPG music.

The stand out track on this album for me is no. 6, The Island. No matter where you are and in what situation, that track will transport up up and away!

NEOTROPIC - LA PROCHAINE FOIS

Year: 2001

1.Sunflower Girl [5:19]7.6 Mb

2.Cornershop Candy [3:50]5.4 Mb

3.Train to Katoomba [3:26]4.9 Mb

4.Still [4:29]6.4 Mb

5.Slink [2:16]3.2 Mb

6.The Man Who Catches Clouds [4:29]6.4 Mb

7.Closer to the Sun [3:57]5.7 Mb

8.In Reverse Order [2:33]3.7 Mb

9.Je Suis [4:58]7.1 Mb

10.Rote [3:15]4.6 Mb

11.Micro Cosmic [4:52]7 Mb

12.Money or Old Rope [3:15]4.6 Mb

13.Memories [5:07]7.3 Mb

Download Neotropic - La Prochaine Fois (mp3)

Neotropic "La Prochaine Fois" Album Review

Album Description
The album features guitar playing from Nick McCabe, formerly of the the Verve, as well as main collaborator Paul Jason Fredericks and Sally Herbert, who has written string arrangements for the likes of Manic Street Preachers.

Jonn Serrie "Ixlandia", Schiller "Leben", Brian Eno and David Byrne "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", Biosphere "Patashnik"

2007-12-28T10:05:00.001-08:00

JONN SERRIE - IXLANDIA

Year: 1995

1.Ixlandia [5:13]9.1 Mb

2.Blue Lumia [4:12]7.5 Mb

3.Night Orchid [4:51]8.4 Mb

4.Le Tresor [4:40]8.8 Mb

5.The Century Princess [9:13]15.5 Mb

6.Startport Indra [7:42]13.8 Mb

7.The Tachyon Directive [7:58]13.5 Mb

8.Welcome Home [9:03]16.1 Mb

Download Jonn Serrie - Ixlandia (mp3)

Jonn Serrie "Ixlandia" Album Review

Speed of Light
I've read some very good and very bad reviews of Ixlandia. It follows the "Midsummer Century" formula so to speak. It begins with soft jazzy music then takes off into space. You need a stereo that will handle high volume for a song like "The Tachyon Directive". You need the right time and place to appreciate this CD. Alone, inside a dark house, on a quiet night, with the volume up high. Now listen to "Tachyon Directive". If you don't think the sound is awesome then this CD is not for you.

SCHILLER - LEBEN

Year: 2004

1.Leben (mix) [71:47]103.4 Mb

2.Ive Seen it All (Schill out version) [5:10]7.4 Mb

3.Vielklang [6:10]8.8 Mb

4.Delicately Yours (remix version) [4:50]6.9 Mb

5.Laos [4:26]6.3 Mb

6.Einklang (B and Vd remix) [5:51]8.4 Mb

Download Schiller - Leben (mp3)

Schiller "Leben" Album Review

One of the best CDs EVER made.
This CD, along with "Weltreise" -or Voyage, as you like to translate it- and "Live (Er) Leben" is one of the best CDs ever pressed so far.
Not only the music -which is unbelievable- but the lyrics, the melodies, everything.

I find it hard to describe how wonderfull this CD is. "Leben... I Feel You..." can give meshivers all down my spine. When in hear the intro "Der Anfang | Guten Abend!" I can feel my head's spinning into the most happiest of all the whirpools it might ever be.

Schiller is for me, my new favorite. It's for me what once was Enigma, or Vangelis, or Secret Garden.
I still like and listen to other music (nowadays too much too Jazz and Bossa Nova) but, I can be all day listening to Schiller without even noticing that it's the same CD over and over.

So, my final advice is, BUY ALL SCHILLER YOU CAN. Even here or in amazon.de, but get all CDs! (and, if you can afford it, I trully recommend the German editions).

Video I feel you ... Leben - Schiller

"I feel you" video from Schiller. I love this song...

BRIAN ENO AND DAVID BYRNE - MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS

Year: 2004

1.Interview [3:07]3.9 Mb

2.Mea Culpa [5:03]8.9 Mb

3.Into the Spirit Womb [6:18]9.5 Mb

4.Regiment [4:26]6.7 Mb

5.The Friends of Amos Tutuola [2:05]2.9 Mb

6.America is Waiting [3:47]5.8 Mb

7.The Carrier [4:28]6.7 Mb

8.Very Very Hungry [3:28]5.3 Mb

9.On the Way to Zagora [2:46]4.3 Mb

10.Les Hommes Ne Sauront Jamais [3:38]5.6 Mb

11.A Secret Life [2:37]3.9 Mb

12.Come with us [2:43]4.1 Mb

13.Mountain of Needles [2:44]3.8 Mb

Download Brian Eno and David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (mp3)

Brian Eno and David Byrne "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" Album Review

A favorite album made even better.
I purchased "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" when it came out on vinyl in 1981. I first heard it at a party and was immediately drawn to it. At the time, it was one of the most innovative albums I had heard. I have probably played this album more times than I have played any other; it is burned into my brain. When it was eventually released on CD in the late 1980's, the sounds was somewhat cleaner (no vinyl crackle and pops), and overall sounded much like the original vinyl. That release added "Very Very Hungry" as the last cut, which was not on the original vinyl. An interesting note is that Qur'an was still cut #6 on that release, and it was later self-censored on the 1990 CD release, and on this new remastered CD. "Very Very Hungry" was moved to cut #6 to replace Qur'an.

This remastered edition has remarkably better sound quality. It is a real pleasure to hear one of my favorite albums sound even better after all these year. As others have noted, some of the songs have a few short sections restored, and there are 7 new cuts. The new cuts are interesting historically, but perhaps since I know the old album so well, the new cuts seem disconnected from the rest of the album.

The included booklet includes many pictures and details about the production of the album which were not in any previous edition. The whole package is a great re-release.

Video Brian Eno & David Byrne - Mea Culpa

Video for Brian Eno & David Byrne's Mea Culpa from their early 80's album "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts." Apparently this entire album and video is under Creative Commons license.

BIOSPHERE - PATASHNIK

1.Phantasm [4:50]6.9 Mb

2.Startoucher [5:02]7.2 Mb

3.Decryption [6:02]8.7 Mb

4.Novelty Waves [6:26]9.2 Mb

5.Patashnik [6:12]8.9 Mb

6.Mir [5:17]7.5 Mb

7.The Shield [8:53]12.8 Mb

8.Seti Project [5:57]8.5 Mb

9.Mestigoth [1:42]2.4 Mb

10.Botanical Dimensions [5:42]8.2 Mb

11.Caboose [5:11]7.4 Mb

12.En-Trance [4:39]6.7 Mb

Download Biosphere - Patashnik (mp3)

Biosphere "Patashnik" Album Review

A Midwinter Day Dream
This is a great CD. I just heard it for the first time on Saturday afternoon as I laid down staring at the reflection of the nearby buildings shadow grow more ominent to the sounds of each track. It will take you on a wonderful trip. However, it did make my blood pressure slightly go down the first time I heard it.

Sven Gruenberg "Prana Symphony", Angel Tears "Angel Tears volume 4", Angela Jaeger and David Cunningham "Artificial Homeland", Jonn Serrie "Tingri"

2007-12-27T01:02:00.001-08:00

SVEN GRUENBERG - PRANA SYMPHONY

Year: 1995

1.Prana-Sun [6:48]9.8 Mb

2.Path [5:55]9.2 Mb

3.Prana-Water [6:29]10.6 Mb

4.Beginning [3:02]4.7 Mb

5.Prana-Air [3:56]6.3 Mb

6.Parting [10:24]14.2 Mb

7.Reflections [11:56]15.5 Mb

8.Memories [5:31]7.3 Mb

9.Prana-Earth [5:55]9.4 Mb

10.OM [11:19]15.2 Mb

Download Sven Gruenberg - Prana Symphony (mp3)

Sven Gruenberg "Prana Symphony" Album Review

The Comming forth
This it truly a piece of music for thoes of us who are on the PATH of the absolut. Thank you Sven GrunbergPeace

ANGEL TEARS - ANGEL TEARS VOLUME 4

Year: 2004

1.Vision [4:58]6.7 Mb

2.Legends of the Fall [4:42]6.4 Mb

3.If You are by My Side [5:03]7.5 Mb

4.Mystic Desire [6:07]9 Mb

5.Zohar [4:48]7.1 Mb

6.Gone with the Wind [5:53]9.1 Mb

7.Gypsy Tears [4:56]7.2 Mb

8.Marrakesh [4:55]6.6 Mb

9.Rey Del Mundo [5:26]7.9 Mb

10.Me and You [4:36]6.2 Mb

11.Innocence [5:05]6.8 Mb

12.Shanti [5:02]7.4 Mb

Download Angel Tears - Angel Tears volume 4 (mp3)

Angel Tears "Angel Tears volume 4" Album Review

Incredible fusion of styles
If you like Delerium, Baligomingo, Conjure One or any of the Buddha Bar or Chill Out stuff, you will LOVE this album!! It's an amazing groove that contains middle eastern and asian influences...every single song is absolutely a masterpiece. This is my favorite of the four...the other three are great too, but this one stands apart from the rest as a true masterpiece of chillin' ethereal electronic bliss. Highly reccomended for anyone...a real gem...

ANGELA JAEGER AND DAVID CUNNINGHAM - ARTIFICIAL HOMELAND

Year: 1999

1.A Silver Thread [1:32]1.9 Mb

2.Artificial Homeland [4:26]8.7 Mb

3.Beyond that Star [3:55]5 Mb

4.Wood and Glass [3:25]4.6 Mb

5.Fortuna [5:45]7 Mb

6.Turning Left [2:53]4.3 Mb

7.Made of Sand [3:53]5.3 Mb

8.Unlock the Hills [3:10]4.1 Mb

9.Only for You [2:31]3.5 Mb

10.Blue Gold Seven [3:08]4 Mb

11.Forsythia [3:17]4.1 Mb

12.The Hot Day [3:36]5 Mb

13.Time Can Make A Difference [3:59]5.2 Mb

14.Radioloop [2:35]3.7 Mb

15.River West [6:23]6.9 Mb

16.Bonus track [2:46]3.5 Mb

Download Angela Jaeger and David Cunningham - Artificial Homeland (mp3)

Angela Jaeger and David Cunningham "Artificial Homeland" Album Review

Album Description
1998 collaboration album by Cunningham (a producer of Michael Nyman's music for Peter Greenaway's films) and Jagger (who has sung with Billy McKenzie, the Monochrome Set& Bush Tetras, and was a member of both Pigbag & Instinct). Most of the tracks have ambient backdrops layered over with songscapes that have lyrics drifting in out and a core of shimmering dromes, looping tapes and percussion's from a foreign culture. This Heat' Charles Hayward's contributes a substantial amount of drum and percussion work. 15 tracks. Digipak. A Blueprint release.

JONN SERRIE - TINGRI

Year: 1990

1.Tingri [4:22]7 Mb

2.Where Lovers Walk [4:25]6.9 Mb

3.Remembrance [4:29]8 Mb

4.Iridani [3:51]6.6 Mb

5.Winters Chapel [6:42]11.1 Mb

6.Tingri Maiden [9:23]16 Mb

7.Annie by the Sea [11:47]19.7 Mb

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Jonn Serrie "Tingri" Album Review

Different, but refreshing
This might be Jonn Serrie's most different album. The theme of this cd is Tibetan culture, so there is an African flavor to several of the tracks. That isn't the only thing, though. On this album Serrie also experiments with more conventional-sounding music. The first few songs are bouncy and upbeat, containing far more substance than you might be used to hearing from Serrie.

The last half of the album, however, takes a sharp turn back to the long-form ambient music Jonn Serrie is known best for. "Winter's Chapel" is a wonderful song for stargazing, and "Annie By the Sea" has a beautifully melancholy, yet deeply mysterious tone to it.

Tingri is one of Jonn Serrie's least space-focused albums, but it still delivers.

Fripp and Eno "The Equatorial Stars", Bluetech "Elementary Particles", Michael Rother "Remember (the Great Adventure)", Castanets "Cathedral"

2007-12-24T23:08:00.001-08:00

FRIPP AND ENO - THE EQUATORIAL STARS

Year: 2004

1.Meissa [8:08]11.2 Mb

2.Lyra [7:45]10.4 Mb

3.Tarazed [5:02]6.6 Mb

4.Lupus [5:08]7.5 Mb

5.Ankaa [7:01]10.5 Mb

6.Altair [5:11]7.6 Mb

7.Terebellum [9:39]14.8 Mb

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Fripp and Eno "The Equatorial Stars" Album Review

Less than Ambient
What do you do when Ambient Music seems too loud? Try this. This recording sets a new standard for Minimalism. There's so little here to listen to, that it's impossible to become engaged with it on any level, not even as "background music". For two talented artists, this is a very lazy effort, and an insult to their audience.

BLUETECH - ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

Year: 2004

1.Elementary Particles (re - edit) [8:12]10.6 Mb

2.Alchemie dub [6:42]8.6 Mb

3.Cosmologic [7:32]9.6 Mb

4.Koinonea [6:30]8.2 Mb

5.Prayers for Rain (J. Viewz remix) [4:58]6.3 Mb

6.Oleander [7:07]9.1 Mb

7.Worthy [3:04]3.7 Mb

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Bluetech "Elementary Particles" Album Review

Is the Music Good?? I don't know?!?!?
I love bluetech! I own Prima Materia and it's awesome. So after ordering Elementary Particles, twice, I noticed that there was a manufacturing defect with both CD's that I ordered. The CD jacket had somehow become glued to to the actual disc itself both times. Weird, huh?!? But yea, twice I had tried to open the CD jewel case, the inside jacket actually ripped off onto the top of the CD. So when it came to playing the disc it was either unbalenced or to thick to get into a CD or MP3 player. SOOOO, I really don't know how this album sounds. I would assume it sounds similar to the Prima Materia disc, but a manufacturing flaw has warrented against any sound reproduction for me. You could have better luck. Hope so at least. PEACE!

MICHAEL ROTHER - REMEMBER (THE GREAT ADVENTURE)

Year: 2004

1.Energy it Up (part 1) [4:57]7.1 Mb

2.He Said [7:12]10.4 Mb

3.Aroma Club B3 [4:40]6.7 Mb

4.Morning After (Loneliness) [6:04]8.7 Mb

5.Sweet Sweat [8:18]11.9 Mb

6.Nostalgia [5:24]7.7 Mb

7.Remember [5:30]7.9 Mb

8.Energy it Up (part 2) [6:20]9.1 Mb

9.Elevation No. 9 [5:53]8.4 Mb

Download Michael Rother - Remember (the Great Adventure) (mp3)

Michael Rother "Remember (the Great Adventure)" Album Review

Album Description
The ex-Neu!/Kraftwerk member's ninth solo album. Gango. 2004.

Video Michael Rother: Aroma Club B3

Video to the track on Michael Rother´s 2004 album "Remember [The Great Adventure]". Music written and performed by Michael Rother and Asmus Tietchens. The video was filmed by Olaf Wipperfuerth in Paris, December 1998, and edited by VJ Hedgeman in 2004.

CASTANETS - CATHEDRAL

Year: 2004

1.Cathedral 2 [3:12]5.7 Mb

2.Just to Break Free from A Hundred Families [0:33]0.7 Mb

3.Industry and Snow [1:43]2.9 Mb

4.You are the Blood [4:08]6.5 Mb

5.No Light to Be Found [6:29]11.5 Mb

6.Three Days Four Nights [4:50]7.9 Mb

7.As You Do [2:53]4.9 Mb

8.Cathedral 3 [0:31]0.6 Mb

9.The Smallest Bones [2:46]5 Mb

10.We are the Wreckage [3:55]6.7 Mb

11.Cathedral 4 [2:22]3.6 Mb

Download Castanets - Cathedral (mp3)

Castanets "Cathedral" Album Review

Castanets: Cathedral (Asthmatic Kitty, 2004)
Step into the Cathedral of the Castanets and you will be ushered into an album that is coherent, beautiful, and well-crafted. Within the context of this album, one enters into the grand cathedrals of Raymond Raposa. Those cathedrals, if I am correct, are four in number. The first houses the entire album in all its complexity and simplicity (yes, contradiction in terms, but it seems to work here). The other three "cathedrals" ear-mark the disc at it's beginning, ending and after its mid-point. Housed at the center of the disc is the track, which clocks in as the longest on the disc: "No Light to be Found (Fare Thee Faith, The Path is Yours)." This brings weight to the center of the disc since it is a pivotal track, as I will mention below. Although boiling down an artist's work into comparisons never really gives one a true feel for what the artist is doing, I feel the need to give some indication of the sound to my readers. Castanets remind me of a hybrid of a few great artists: Sufjan Stevens (A Sun Came era), Deerhoof, mixed with alt-country and the stylings of Frank Lenz (Last Temptation style). Enough of the broader sense of the disc, lets get down to particular songs.

Cathedral opens with "Cathedral 2." It's a slow-tempo song with droning sax, sparse drums and sprinkles of acoustic guitar. There are female and male vocals and various sounds mixed in for good measure. Raposa is a master of imagery and that is apparent from the very first track. Water runs throughout "Cathedral 2" and gives the listener a sense, not only of it's ability to envelope us, but also its depth, movement and sound. The picture painted is puddles growing to lakes and rivers building at the bottom of the steps. The last line of the song leads into what follows on the album: "It's all right to want something more than this." "Industry and Snow" starts out with acoustic guitar and what sounds like a child's xylophone. It has a subtle alt-country feel and eventually becomes louder with looped feedback with odd guitar sounds and a mixture of other noise.

"You Are the Blood" is an upbeat song in its message. This has imagery in it that is possibly of a redemptive nature. The song itself begins with distorted horn and fades into simple drums and dreamy guitar. Vocally, the song reminds me of Frank Lenz' work on The Last Temptation.... "No Light Be Found (Fare Thee Faith, The Path is Yours)," is the longest track on the disc and occurs centrally, changing a bit of the tone of the disc until the end. Reminding me of Gary Murray's work on LN, the vocals are quiet with a very light acoustic accompaniment. This is a very honest song about faith, love and friendship that is melancholy in tone and looks forward to later songs that speak toward redemption. Because the lyrics of this song seem so pivotal to the album, I find they are worth quoting.

I got something that my baby wants
She's got something that I want too
Baby and I are through
I've been down to the bottom with a bad, bad man
Down to the bottom baby with a bad, bad man
Lay me down with her gentle hand
He said this darkness, it was untrue
That there was no light to be found in you
But I know Darl'n that's not true
I had a dream so dark that I could not tell
But that's just as well
But I don't know babe just where you've been
But I've hung myself heavy here
Babe, I don't know where the hell I am
I thought that man, babe, he might have something that I need
But he had no anger for you or for me
Babe, I swear that man didn't even know the sea
And some of these friends of mine, I miss them so
Good Lord, these sweat friends of mine, how I miss them so
But some of these others are driving me around on some cold, dark, and strange and deathly road
Bring me down to your river, I want to see how it runs
Down to your river darl'n, I wanna know just how it runs
That man waits on the path, but I know for good I'm done
I've got a feeling that that man, he's just begun

This song is followed by "As You Do," which seems to reference the relationship mentioned in "No Light" by proclaiming "I wish you loved me as you did." "No Light" feels so connected with this song that the album seems to flow right together at this point. Although "No Light" is a bit depressing, "As You Do" seems to end on a lighter note with the line "the closer we get, the lighter it sense/the louder it gets." Why this feels upbeat to me, I'm not quite sure, but the music seems to contribute to some of that. Following "As You Do" is the track entitled "Cathedral 3." This ushers the listener into another section of the disc that centers both on redemption and the relationship that seems to be involved with the woman mentioned in prior sections of the cd.

"The Smallest Bones" paint great imagery about our limited existence and our waiting for our meeting with the Eternal One. Raposa croons, "My God / it's an eternity waiting for thee / there's a cancer / in the smallest bones / in the smallest breeze / and our houses have not grown their wings." I find that Raposa paints great, simple imagery that is subtle and beautiful in his lyrical content. He ends the song with "And my Lord / It's an eternity / waiting for thee." "We Are the Wreckage" is the second to the last song that really ties up many of the themes on the disc. Female vocals make another appearance on this track and the relationship between Raposa and his ladylove makes another appearance. It seems that the relationship has never been made perfect, yet there are bright signs at the end of the song with organ and perhaps xylophone accompanying the singers. Hope is communicated at the end of this song, which leads the listener to the last of the cathedrals: "Cathedral 4". It seems that, as the new Cathedral is entered, the singer has resolved much of what he has encountered with the "bad man" and has come to terms with his relationships both with his lady friend and God. This song starts out simple and moves into a more poppy style song. It certainly shows that the melancholiness of "No Light" has been left behind and hope is now on the horizon.

On first listen, I didn't expect much from Castanets. Once I truly listened though, I was drawn into the story it tells and was taken to all the Cathedrals Raposa wished to usher me through. This disc is a true journey through hope, despair, and renewed vigor in life. I say "yay" for the Castanets and encourage all to listen for themselves.

Video Castanets - You Are The Blood

Unofficial Castanets music video "You are the Blood" from the album Cathedral (Asthmatic Kitty records). Video by Focus Motion Graphics.

Tim Story "The Perfect Flaw", York "Peace"

2007-12-24T06:48:00.001-08:00

TIM STORY - THE PERFECT FLAW

Year: 1994

1.The Perfect Flaw (intro) [1:08]1.4 Mb

2.A Broken Alphabet [3:46]4.8 Mb

3.Lydia [6:01]8.1 Mb

4.After 4 o'clock [3:48]4.6 Mb

5.Liquid Shadow Night [3:47]5 Mb

6.Rill [4:00]4.8 Mb

7.Sister of the Flood [5:05]5.7 Mb

8.Terzetto [4:14]5.3 Mb

9.Riverine [3:45]4.5 Mb

10.The Color of Vowels [5:09]6.1 Mb

11.The Perfect Flaw [3:11]3.9 Mb

12.Until She Fades Away [1:06]1.2 Mb

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Tim Story "The Perfect Flaw" Album Review

Simple, sweet, but rather ordinary
Bless 'Hearts of Space', for Stephen Hill and company have given us decades of (often) great one-hour sound mixes on this well-loved weekly HOS program. They also produce CD albums, this being one of them. I would characterize Fatal Flaw as middle-of-the-road HOS stuff, somewhat on the saccharine side, with simple, spare melodic development. I would say that the short Fatal Flaw 'theme', played twice on the album, is the best thing on the entire CD. Too, I would take issue with the reviewer below who says that it is "the most important album of the 1990s", or "life-changing". You have to be joking. This is laughable. This is nonsense. One commonly encounters on Amazon such breathless hyperbole and exaggerated praise.

Video Tim Story - After 4 O'Clock by Nemo Sandman

From Tim STory the Perfect Flaw this demo video was made for Max at Fun Radio before I directed the commercial for "Ballade Nocturne"

YORK - PEACE

Year: 2004

1.Farewell to the Moon [6:32]9.3 Mb

2.Angels Will Help You [5:31]8 Mb

3.The Awakening [5:04]7.2 Mb

4.Inmortal [6:20]9.1 Mb

5.Iceflowers [6:04]8.7 Mb

6.Peace [6:39]9.5 Mb

7.I Need You [4:30]6.4 Mb

8.The Reachers of Cilvilisations [5:35]8 Mb

9.World of Freedom [8:19]11.9 Mb

10.Poesias [4:01]5.8 Mb

11.Sundown [5:28]7.9 Mb

12.Moments in Love [5:39]8.1 Mb

13.Mama (live - Recorded at UK-Birmingham 2001) [6:38]9.5 Mb

Download York - Peace (mp3)

York "Peace" Album Review

Perfectly Williams
If you want a combination of John Williams at his best and the original olympic spirit, this is a must! The album starts off with the olympic theme from the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games and continues with the opening ceremony music. It's wonderful how Williams composes the music to describe the American evolution and history.

If you like the more fanfare-like Williams type of music and want to listen to a great album with great compositions I recommend this album to you! It really deserves 5 out of 5 stars!

Video U2 Love & Peace New York MSG 11.21.05

Taken front row N.Y.C., an amazing venue. could reach out and touch the edge. Sorry not much Bono drumming, which most have come to expect from this song. Enjoy.