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Lyndsie Alguire - Clair Obscur

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:20:00 -0700

Most of the time I try to review albums as if they were a debut release, without historical context about the artists involved, and presented without packaging.
It's arguable, I know, but this way I try to let the music do all the work and listen to it as unbiased as possible.

This is why I wish I had NOT seen the package images for this release of Lyndsie Alguire's "Clair Obscur" .
For now I somehow feel like the guy that keeps arguing he ónly reads Playboy Magazine because of its interviews...

"Clair Obscur" is a recent release in the Special Edition series of Time Released Sound: hand-crafted meticulously into very special (and I might say 'luscious') packages that are pieces of art in itself.

Since one cannot just simply review a Time Released Sound release without mentioning the package, I'll quote the description of this "Clair Obscur" edition:

"The package will incorporate beautifully printed reproductions of 8 polaroid prints taken of her by her photographer friend, Mat Guerin. The 8 prints, after each being hand typed upon, will be hinge mounted to both sides of a folded, 15″ long, 100 year old educational flash card….each with somewhat strange unfinished sentences thereon, which may be read by lifting back the photos. This fat little photo booklet, with hand stamped mini disc in sleeve, and insert, will come in a hand stamped and adorned 4.5″ square envelope. In an edition of 100 copies."

I'm pleased to say that the music is a pleasant and very enjoyable surprise, too!

On "Clair Obscur", Lyndsie Alguire presents a well balanced (though, with 22 minutes, a bit short) album, balancing pleasant and light-hearted piano tracks with somewhat darker layered soundscapes opening and closing the album (with "All Possible Stories" taking up about half this album).

I remember a discussion on the ambient mailing list a few years ago, about 'women in ambient', wondering why there were so few female artists creating ambient/electronic music. Things have definitely changed, for nowadays there are a lot more women on the scene than before (as musicians as well as in the audience).
But in the end sex should make no difference. It's the music that counts.
And Lyndsie Alguire's music definitely counts!

By the way:
This album was preceded by two earlier titles that are interesting to check out if (like me) you have not heard about Lyndsie Alguire before: "Suspended in Light" (2011) and "After Image" (2013).
Both albums were released on Camomille netlabel (which offers a lot of interesting and free downloads), and can be downloaded on a Name Your Price basis (which also includes free, but you should of course consider a donation!)

LYNDSIE ALGUIRE - I WAS DREAMING OF YOU

And as another aside: for another (and recent, so possibly still available) example of the Time Released Sound special editions you should also take a look at the deluxe version of "Listen to my Nerves Hum" by Benjamin Finger).

Ian Hawgood & Friends - Wolven (A Modern Reinterpretation)

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:47:00 -0700

In its relatively short existence (almost 4 years), the Hibernate label has presented us with many beautiful releases and positioned themselves as one of the most important independent labels at the very centre of the 'ambient' music scene. Or - since it's increasingly difficult to use the word 'ambient' as a genre definition: music "both abstract and melodic but always with a hint of melancholy."

The Hibernate label kicked off in 2009 with a release that set a high standard immediately: "Wolfskin", by Ian Hawgood - well-known for his own music as well as from the labels he curates: Home Normal and Koen Music.

Hibernate and Koen Music (KoMu) now present a 2-CD set revisiting the original "Wolfskin" release, called "Wolven - A Modern Reinterpretation".

As the slightly changed album and track titles suggests, this is not merely a 'cover' album of the original. The tracks take their inspiration from the original album, which "referenced a series of nightmares Ian had as a child, focussing on elements of dreams and violence by marrying beauty with the harsh."

"Wolven does not just portray the original recordings from Wolfskin in a different light – it also takes another look at the concept of dreams and nightmares. This time, the album strives to literally tread the pathways in Ian’s dreams – not without its terrifying moments along the way but always accompanied by a comfort pillow to keep you from harm."

On the first CD of this 2CD set, Aaron Martin's cello takes center-stage and sets the (rather dark) mood. Embedded in layers of organ, keys and guitar fed through various tape reel machines, and mixed in with interpretations by Dag Rosenqvist, Spheruleus, Pillowdiver, y0t0, and Hakobune, the music easily and almost naturally shifts from 'post-classical' acoustics into abstract electronic soundscapes.
With "The Dance", it takes off with exactly the same chord that concluded the original Wolfskin album - sticking close to the original concept and atmosphere, but at the same time a completely different, new, approach.

For the second CD, Brock Van Wey (aka bvdub) chooses a different approach. His characteristic bvdub sound creates a different, somewhat lighter atmosphere: three extremely long (24 - 32 minutes each) tracks with layers upons layers upon layers of (stretched and dubbed) samples, slowly accumulating - somehow his music always makes me feel as if my head (as well as the room around me) is filled with sound until there is not a empty space left....

If you know the original Wolfskin album, it is of course interesting to compare the details from these tracks to their original sources. But it is not necessary to know the original album to fully appreciate this new reworking, as it presents an inspiring set of different kind of contemporary 'atmosphere music'.

Note:
Hibernate is releasing the physical 2CD-version, while Komu offers the digital download version of the album.
The release date is set for May, 19.

IAN HAWGOOD & AARON MARTIN - SHALLOWS BREAK

Greg Haines - Where We Were

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Wed, 08 May 2013 22:50:00 -0700

His past catalogue and (maybe even more) his live performances have shown that Greg Haines manages to combine artistic consistency with surprising changes of directions.

One never knows what to expect, but one can always rest assured it will be good..

On a first listen, "Where We Were", Haines' new release on Denovali Records, sounds surprisingly different from what he has done before.

The sound on this album is heavily based on the use of "tape-worn synthesizers" - "any recordings of piano have been transformed and affected until their sound is at times barely recognizable".

The overall sound is created with (analog) synths this time, more prominent than ever. But on a closer listen the compositions all clearly have the Greg Haines mark!

The way the compositions are calmly introduced but inevitably lead to sometimes 'post-rockish' eruptions may be directly linked to "Digressions" - the preceding album which was equally jaw-dropping - but they are entirely different in instrumentation. Check "So it Goes" to hear what I mean.

Gradually new elements are also introduced: heavy rhythmic percussive sequences, full of dub style effects inspired by the likes of King Tubby, Lee Perryand Rhythm & Sound.

Some other artists credited for inspiration are Tony Allen (famous Fela Kuti drummer known for his steady poly-rhythmic afrobeat) and 'cosmic krautrockers' Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze.

These are interesting names because they are not very obvious and maybe not even very clear, musically. But what all of these artists have in common is that they did not yet have the technical means that are currently available, digitally.
It was impossible for them to precisely aim every detail of their music to the perfect right spot, which gave their music a somewhat random, improvisational, but above all human feel.

And that may very well describe exactly what Greg Haines manages to do here: avoiding the pitfalls of perfectness, and keeping the instantaneous moments of wonder.
"It is all in there, or at least what's left of it after the hiss, the dirt and the degradation of the tape machine destroyed it, reworked it, and spat it back out fully formed."

Release date: May 24, 2013

Local info for may 2013:
Greg Haines is currently touring Europe, with Olafur Arnalds, Poppy Ackroyd and Carlos Cipa. (Which does not guarantee that he will be performing this material, of course)

GREG HAINES - SO IT GOES

Machinefabriek - Machine Rooms

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 04 May 2013 00:18:00 -0700

Lóng before I ever related the sounds to a musical context, I was fascinated by industrial environmental drone hums.
I clearly remember staying with my grandparents as a child during school holidays, fascinated by the steady hum of giant propeller ventilators from a nearby storage building.
This impression has never left me, and I fondly think back to these summer holidays as the fundament of a lifelong addiction to drones of industrial (as well as any other) nature.

Knowing this background, it's probably not hard to understand why a new release by Machinefabriek, called "Machine Rooms", released on the Keshhhh label (curated by Simon Scott, and mastered by Rafael Anton Irissari) got my immediate and full attention!

But that is simply not enough to introduce this incredible album.

These are not 'just' industrial drones - these are delicate homages to machines that are supporting our everyday life. And continue to do so, even when they are hidden away, put out of use and slowly deteriorating....

There's an interesting background story behind this album:
The basic material was originally created for a single (one time only) location-specific event in an old deserted newspaper printer building in Amsterdam (now known as Trouw, one of Amsterdam's nightlife hotspots), blending the sounds of the two deserted machinerooms in the basement with a (pre-recorded) piece called Kamermuziek.

The result, as said before, is not just a single drone but a delicately adventurous soundscape revealing lots of microscopic details of the surrounding, presented in the personal approach that Rutger "Machinefabriek" Zuydervelt masters so very well.

Far too few people (only 8 at a time) were able to fully enjoy this installation. One of them was photographer Sanja Harris, who invited Rutger to a follow up recording.

Sanja and Rutger decided to follow up this project which lead to this impressive multimedia-release, featuring two 15 minute soundscapes by Machinefabriek, two additional remixes by Marcus Fisher and Steve Roden, as well as two movies and a beautiful set of photograph cards by Sanja Harris.

I know it is quite hard for us mortal people to keep up with Machinefabriek's quality output, each of which deserves investigating.
With this combination of soundscapes and visuals, "Machine Rooms" is even more special than all others.

Just check it!

Linear Bells, Cass., Lainhart-Menegon, Sun Hammer, Digitalsimplyworld

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:49:00 -0700

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn't find the time (or the right words) for a "full" review for.
Still, I definitely think they deserve your attention, with or without extra words!

LINEAR BELLS - WINTER HAZE
So this is what happens when I'm way too much behind reviewing albums: currently we are preparing for summer and trying to forget about winter, ánd the limited physical CD edition is already sold out by the time you read this...
Still, no problem: another winter will arrive sooner than you think, and there's still the digital download version to enjoy!
”'Winter Haze' was composed and produced over a period of 6 months whereby it was practised over improvised sessions followed by processing all the materials with the use of guitars, organ and field recordings. The album is about loneliness, time passing, and frozen thoughts with the idea of keeping River Loire in mind."

CASS. - LOOPS & FAREWELL SKETCHES
Much to his own surprise, the CD-version of this self-released album by this 22 year old German "electronic ambient musician, dj and sound artist" sold out within 2 weeks. He has re-released it on vinyl and as a digital download release.
"All songs are the result of various late night recording sessions during the last month of 2012. The sound sources vary from old, sampled, pitched, modulated and destroyed records, a large field recording directory that has been created over years, multiple effected instrument- and synthloops layered on the top of each other, and different small acoustic instruments. All these elements of the album create a meditative looping bed of sound, which is in some parts framed by his own hazy voice. Much of this album is also the sound of microphones in the room, picking up the sound of moving around, or brushing the edge of an instrument."

RICHARD LAINHART / LUCIO MENEGON -
AN ABANDONED GARDEN
A respectful hommage to a great composer, and a beautiful package: limited vinyl edition (100), including digital download version (no download-only version yet as far as I know)
"Richard Lainhart (Buchla 200e and Hakkan Continuum) passed away on December 30, 2011 and is remembered as an award-winning composer, performer, filmmaker, and teacher based in New York. Richard’s work is regarded as seminal in American electronic music and his compositions have been performed worldwide.
Lucio Menegon (lapsteel/processing) is an NYC composer and guitarist who performs throughout the United States and abroad. Lucio and Richard performed together in 2010 and afterward initiated a series of three full recording sessions that became "An Abandoned Garden", an in-depth yet minimal exploration of emotional spectra through sustained, organic textures and hauntingly beautiful drones and evolving timbres."

SUN HAMMER - FORS
"The two pieces on Fors are the results of explorations into generative and randomized looping and granular time-stretching algorithms.
Both are based entirely upon short pieces of audio recorded outdoors in Ann Arbor, MI and Portland, OR.
The first was made as an attempt at "ambient" music, suitable for quiet office listening; the second to commemorate a young friend's sixth birthday."
[Name Your Price download]

DIGITALSIMPLYWORLD - REALITY BLURRED
"This description will be short there is not enough time for reading, because we have to focus on listening.
Music is another dimension of reality, it's above dimension. Music on the other side of the mirror...Your mirror."
[FREE Download]

Jeremy Keenan, Stefan Funck, Franck Condon, Glittering Hand, Kissy Suzuki

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:30:00 -0700

JEREMY KEENAN - IMMATERIAL
"Created largely from recordings of two journeys by boat, on the River Lee Navigation in London and the North Sea ferry to the Netherlands, Immaterial explores the abstraction of emotional and perceptual traces in sound relating to journeys. The title track utilises sound garnered from the Institute of Making in London, with direct recordings of engineered materials exposing the raw process of extracting the composition from recorded sound.
A combination of harmonic drones, pulsing bass, and delicate high frequency flourishes, Immaterial unfurls sonic vistas of acoustic sound recordings rent into fantastical aural shapes and textures."

STEFAN FUNCK - SO FAR SO GOOD
From the incredibly deep, sub-level sounds this album starts with, to the sonic and somewhat disruptive bursts later on in this full hour track, this album is amazingly different from what can be considered 'mainstream' (meaning 'relatively popular') ambient or electronic music.
"Funck uses synthesizers and software to create slowly shifting layers of sound and combines them with all sorts of field recordings and found sounds. The impression is of travelling very slowly by boat on a canal and watching (in this case, listening to) the changes in the landscape going by.
If drone music is about flow, then this is a perfect example, but the real beauty of this work is in the way Funck balances the concrete and the abstract sides of ambient and found sounds."

FRANCK CONDON - PURITY HALL
The Runningonair label claims its very own space in the ambient music spectrum with their releases that share a scientific, often mathematical, approach in one way or another. As a result, the music distinguishes itself automatically from the hausse of releases that are more 'improvisational', or 'organic', in nature.
Franck Condon (Wim Dehaen, originally from Leuven, Belgium), for example, focuses on "musical application of mathematical techniques and visual representation of sound".
The tracks on this album all refer to one of his courses when taking his master's degree in chemistry: "Every track is named after a part of the course that was particularly stimulating to my imagination".
Although this knowledge may enhance your appreciation, you definitely do not need to have a master's degree to enjoy this music!

THE GLITTERING HAND - SLOW APPROACH
"Monolithic decorative drones".
A short but very accurate description of this three-track album, released on Textural Records as a free/pay-what -you-want download. And those three sparse words are about all information that can be found about the album or the artist: there is no clue about the who, what or whereabouts of The Glittering Hand.
But the music speaks for itself: the industrial electronic drones are not just 'drones': they are dynamic and adventurous.

KISSY SUZUKI - RUBBISH & BEAUTIES
Also a 'long-form drone' (it is in fact meant to be played as one single continuous track) but on the other side of the sound spectrum when compared to the sounds of The Glittering Hand mentioned before.
Operating from Paris, France, and named after a character from James Bond's You Only Live Twice, this is Kissy Suzuki's first release.
Using layers of live guitar combined with processed field recordings, this FREE DOWNLOAD offers a calm, gentle and relaxing soundscape.
Definitely a drone beauty - in fact I have no idea to which part the'rubbish'might refer.

Michel Banabila - 47 Voice Loops + Gardening (Extended)

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:54:00 -0700

Two surprising new albums by Michel Banabila, both based on some of his earlier work yet remarkably different from most albums in his extensive catalogue.

47 VOICE LOOPS

The original basic track for "47 Voice Loops" can be found on the free (!) download album "In Other Words" (track called "MltVz8".)
In reaction to some listeners comments, Banabila decided to create longer versions of this track. The result is now available as a separate album which clearly demonstrates these listeners were right!

As the title indicates, the basic ingredients for these tracks are 47 layered and looped recordings of Michel's own voice - and since each loop has a different length the result is a choral work in endless variations in which the same combination of fragments will hardly ever be repeated (a generative music principle often used by Brian Eno).

Although the originating process and the philosophical fundaments may differ, those of you that paid attention at experimental music history class will probably immediately recognise "The Great Learning, Paragraph 7" as composed and performed by Cornelius Cardew and the Scratch Orchestra in 1971 - a piece that Banabila acknowledges to be one his greatest musical influences ever.

The result is "MltVz9" - a mesmerisingly calm vocal ocean, whispering messages probably only your subconscience will understand...

But it does not stop there.
The second version of this track repeats the process but with the loops heavily processed and mutilated, feeling like washes of instrumental noise unrelated to human vocal. Next, the album concludes with a mix of these two versions, in which the voices seemingly struggle with their unnatural counterparts.

Throughout his work, Michel Banabila has always been experimenting with all aspects of the human voice. This album is his ultimate hommage to the composer and the musical score he has admired for all his life.

"47 Voice Loops"

MICHEL BANABILA - GARDENING EXTENDED

The first version of "Gardening" was released in august 2012 as a digital only release. The compositions of structured field recordings, based on found sounds and recorded objects also shows a radically different side of Michel Banabila.

This album is now also available as a limited edition digipack CD, and the reason that I menton it again is because it now also includes additional remixes based on the original tracks by: Machinefabriek, Radboud Mens, Lukas Simonis, Zenial, Naoyuki Sasanami and.... (surprise!) even one created by me...!
It's probably needless to say that I am very very proud that Michel Banabila included my own humble remix along with some other remixes from artists that I do greatly respect!.

Please note that the download version of the album does NOT contain the remixes: the remixes are exclusively limited to the physical CD version, which is a limited edition of 100 copies only.
Also, the Bandcamp page only previews the original tracks, not the remixes.

So, the track featured below is an ambientblog exclusive preview of the Gardening Trigger Mix by Peter van Cooten, created for Banabila's "Gardening - Extended Version"

MICHEL BANABILA - GARDENING
(TRIGGER MIX by PETER VAN COOTEN)

Various Artists - Earthtones

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:31:00 -0700

Tessellate Recordings is a new label started by Harry Towell, well-known for curating tons of fine music for the Audio Gourmet netlabel, ánd of course for his own music as Spheruleus.

"Earthtones" is a massive compilation (26 tracks, over 2 hours) of well- and lesser known artists that all contributed a track to this album which is intended to raise funds for the next CD-releases.

Just picking a few names from the contributor list: Caught in the Wake Forever, Wil Bolton, Maps and Diagrams, Savaran, Ekca Liena, Bartosz Dziadosz (Pleq), James Murray, Damian Valles, Monolyth & Cobalt, Lauki, Offthesky, Radere, The Inventors of Aircraft. - I guess that's enough to get you interested....

Not only did the artists contribute a musical track: they also provided "an image of their local surroundings to accompany it to help further drive home the theme".
The tracks contain these images as a personal 'track cover image', so when playing back the album "you’ll transport across the globe and back again, acting as a sort of postcard from the artist to you, the listener".

Contributors come from all over the world, and together they present a wide array of different styles that are nowadays filed under 'ambient'.

Tessellate Recordings has made an impressive start with these first two releases, and it's definitely worth spending a few bucks to help fund their future releases.

Especially when these bucks also get you a compilation album like this!

Stephan Mathieu - Un Coeur Simple

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:22:00 -0700

Shortly after reworking David Sylvian's "Blemish" on "Wandermüde", Stephan Mathieu presents another impressive work.

"Un Coeur Simple" ("A Simple Heart") is the soundtrack of a play based on Gustave Flaubert's novel, which was published in 1877 as the first of three tales.

In creating his personal soundscapes, Mathieu has always preferred using old source materials, things of the past, like wax-cylinders and 78 rpm records, as his source material...."a fascination for the past expressed through cutting-edge tools".

There's a intriguing resemblance in cover art which links the music "Wandermüde" to "Un Coeur Simple".
The source material is different, yet these sounds are immediately recognisable as the intimate work of Stephan Mathieu.

I would definitely love to see how the stretched drones that make up most of this album fit into a stage play rendition of Flaubert's original work.

All 'drone loveliness' gets a sudden dramatic change of style at about 2/3 of this album, when the source material for "Devenir Sourd"("Becoming Deaf") consists of a distorted (78rpm vinyl style) choir recording slowly merging with morse signals and sounds of utter distortions and collapse.

This uneasy feeling is kept up for a while with the contradictive sounds in "Felicité" (felicity, or 'happiness'), before the album concludes and slowly retreats to eternal rest with the 15 minute drone sounds of "Trace", which seems to recall all that came before.

Apart from the album release on Baskaru, Stephan Mathieu's own platform, Schwebung, also offers a 24bit FLAC download version for those of you that want to obtain the best sound quality available.

STEPHAN MATHIEU - PERROQUET

Betacicadae - Mouna

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 23:12:00 -0700

Betacicadae is probably not a name you will easily remember.
It concatenates Beta ("obsolete magnetic tape, a second version, something lowly") with Cicada ("strange and humble insect that emanates beautiful sound").
And: it is the artist alias of Kevin Scott Davis.

"Mouna" - available on CD, clear white vinyl, or as a digital download - is not easy to describe, since it contains many different styles.
Still it manages to present a coherent, "narrative" sound. I found myself returning to it and playing it over and over again - which is ususally a sign of something special going on...

'It is a cohesive whole that employs a broad spectrum of textures and extends far beyond formula like “drone” or “field recordings”. The sounds absorb, project, embrace, and comfort the listener in imaginary geography—surreal, dreamlike spaces beween earth and otherworldliness."

"Mouna", by the way, is explained as "practice of silence, wish, revelation" and indeed that is what the album transcends.
The album has an almost 'post-rockish' dynamic range, from calm and quiet to ecstatic and noisy, and some sudden mood switches. But in the end, all tracks perfectly fit together.

The composition of all tracks originated from field recordings ("A farm in Oregon, a rainforest in Hawaii") which were then layered with the sounds of many different instruments. Kevin Scott Davis plays all instruments (field recordings, guitar, flute, vibraphone, harp, violin, percussion, synthesizers, and of course a lot of effects and digital processing) himself, with the exception of the bright voice of Helen Funston that adds an extra dimension to the closing track called "Telerehabilitation".
This track is a fitting end to this fascinating psycho-acoustic journey: 'strange and humble' and 'emanating beautiful sounds" indeed.

BETACICADAE - PIRENE

Rust (Mix) - The Video Version

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:41:00 -0700

When publishing the mixes for Ambientblog, I have always been looking for a way to 'visualise' the artist credits for the mix.

Most of the fragments and samples used in the mix-collages are almost indistinguishable, yet the interested listener might want to find out about the release details.
This is why most mixes on ambientblog also feature a 'sequence scheme' image which shows the building blocks of that particular mix.

For my most recent mix, "Rust", I decided to try out a different feature: a video version, which is showing the track details at the very moment they are used in the mix.

Although this is a first attempt in visualising a mix, I'm quite proud of the result.

I think it works fine - that is, if you're in the right "ambient" state of mind to enjoy a slow-moving one hour video...
(Funny linguistic coincidence with the Dutch language, by the way: you need some "RUST" to enjoy this in full).

You can find it at Youtube (user name ambientblogtube - I may use this in the future for more ambient videos), or check it right here:

"Rust" - Video Version

Marsen Jules - The Endless Change of Colour

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:15:00 -0700

Marsen Jules is probably the best known alias of Martin Juhls from Dortmund, Germany, also operating as Falter, Krill.Minima (don't forget to check the recent "Sekundenschlaf"), or the marvelously named Wildach Sonnerkraut.
His different aliases allow him to experiment and expand in different directions. The previous (six) releases as Marsen Jules each feature somewhat different instrumentation but all share Juhls' personal trademark of intricate sounddesign.

Most tracks on the previous Marsen Jules albums are somewhere around the 4 - 6 minute length each.
But his latest album"The Endless Change of Colour" (released on 12k) is different in this respect: it only features one single uninterrupted track.

"The Endless Change of Colour" is a perfectly fitting title for this generative composition, created by the kind of systematic rules known from the generative ambient works of Brian Eno.

The sounds are created from a "single phrase of an old jazz record split into three audio streams. These streams are transformed into loops which break the original instrumentation down into sound resembling pure waves, harmonics and overtones. These loops play to different time signatures to create phasing patterns that continuously move and dance around each other in a constantly-evolving lattice of sound. Despite it being based on a very strict and limited set of rules the music could, in theory, be endless and ever-changing".

"A celebration of both the system and the unexpected" - indeed!

The concept of creating endlessly changing music, and the reference to Brian Eno's work may be an indication of what you may expect, but on the other hand the sound spectrum presented is clearly that of Marsen Jules
himself.

Reading about the 'single phrase of an old jazz-record' you'd probably expect some of the pops, crackles, clicks and ticks that are so very popular in contemporary electronic music.
But, avoiding the obvious, Juhls created a sound that is completely clear, without any distortion.
A sound that feels like a comfortable, uninterrupted dream.

"Electronic tones hum with warmth and the softness of slumber. The patterns are there, familiar to our modern ears, but they're not always what they seem."

MARSEN JULES - THE ENDLESS CHANGE OF COLOURS (Excerpt)

Lyken; Andreas Bick; Alessio Ballerini; Machinefabriek; Joseph Curwen

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:09:00 -0700

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention some of the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn't find the time (or the right words) for a "full" review for. Still, I think they deserve your attention: use the links to find more info and hear previews.

LYKEN - THE TERRESTIAL SEA
"The result of a bio acoustic residency living and working with marine biologists from Aberdeen Universities Lighthouse Field Station in Cromarty, the Black Isle (Scotland). Gathering and utilizing their underwater acoustic research into how environment effects behaviour."
Four track album (iTunes only?), featuring three instrumentals, and one created from eerie and alienating vocal samples ('Scar History'). These tracks may fire your sub-aquatic imagination! My download copy also included an extra track ('Wetland (Hurrel Lyken Mix)') which isn't mentioned in the download tracklist but is definitely worth finding.

ANDREAS BICK - EOLO
[FREE DOWNLOAD]
"'Eolo' is the Italian name for Aeolus, the ruler of the wind in Greek mythology. On La Palma, trade winds carry a constant stream of clouds over the steep mountains and volcanos of the inland, forcing the clouds into erratic movements."
This Galaverna release has a somewhat unusual format: it consist of a short (4 minute) audio-track and its accompanying video, shot on La Palma, Canary Islands, in 2010. The field recording soundtrack and the time lapse images from the La Palma cloud movements are taken to a completely different dimension by the angelic vocals of Almut Kühne.

ALESSIO BALLERINI - TO ITS BEGINNING TO ITS END
[FREE DOWNLOAD]
Four tracks created for a location installation with each track played in a different room in such way that thay can be heard separately but also, at certain points in space, simultaneously - in continuously changing different loops. But even without their original installation context, these tracks on this (free) Laverna netlabel release are a wealth to listen to.

MACHINEFABRIEK - LIVE MUZIEKGEBOUW
[FREE DOWNLOAD]
Rutger "Machinefabriek" Zuydervelt continues to release a steady stream of high quality releases, occasionally offering free gifts for all those interested. Just a few days after his support opening for Mirrorring (Grouper and Tiny Vipers) at the Muziekgebouw Aan 't IJ (Amsterdam), his set is available as a free download. Dark Minimalism with a steady pulse, demonstrating Rutger's improvisational skills.

JOSEPH CURWEN - NOCTURNAL RITES
"It's at the darker end of the ambient spectrum" - This warning is not really needed considering the name of the album, the threatening black and white image of the church organ, and track titles like Sephiroth, Ashmodai, Samaël andYezidis. These titles are inspired by H.P. Lovecraft - and obviously the music is, too!

Ambientblog APP Update

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:54:00 -0700

The Ambientblog Android App has been completely redesigned and optimized in this major update!

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Jacob Kirkegaard - Conversion

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:31:00 -0700

Jacob Kirkegaard is well-known for his unusual sonic concepts, "capturing and contextualizing hitherto unheard sounds from within a variety of environments: a geyser, a sand dune, a nuclear power plant, an empty room, a TV tower, and even sounds from the human inner ear itself".

The sounds he presents are always extremely fascinating, even when heard without knowing about their actual context - but of course it does help knowing where the sounds originally come from.

Capturing the feedback sound from a deserted Chernobyl location may not be easy. This also applies to recording interactive sounds to make the listeners own inner ear play an active part in creating the sonic end result.

But can you imagine concepts like this being translated to a performance of a string ensemble?
I couldn't.
Scenatet could.

On Conversion - released on Touch as a vinyl-only release (including a digital download) - the Scenatet Ensemble performs two of Kirkegaard's projects in a musical setting using clarinet, percussion, trombone, violin, viola and cello. Considering the original concept, one would not consider this possible at all, but the result is jaw-dropping - to say the least.

Labyrinthitis II, shortened to nearly 18 minutes (because of vinyl limitations, I guess) translates into sustained string chords, resembling some of Ligeti's work as used in Kubrick's classic 2001.
Somehow it feels like it is detached from the original concept completely, but the music stands firm as if it were a completely new composition especially created for this purpose.

Church II - one of the Chernobyl spaces in which the original sound was recorded - starts true to the original recording but slowly, almost unnoticeably, introduces the ensemble section as an extra added, enhanced musical layer - retreating again to make 'room' for the original sound recording.

To my ears, this combination of conceptual electronic music with a contemporary classical arrangement is unequalled, beyond competition.
And almost even beyond imagination....

Jacob Kirkegaard + Ensemble Scenatet - Labyrinthitis II (excerpt)

Jacob Kirkegaard + Ensemble Scenatet - Church II (excerpt)

Jffstnhs; Terje Paulsen; Yugen; Machinefabriek; 3M33S

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:24:00 -0700

JFFSTNHS (JEFF STONEHOUSE) - BROKEN
A haunting and slowly intensifying drone created by Jeff Stonehouse, co-founder of Listening Mirror.On this 22 minute track (presented on a limited edition 3" CDR on the Cooper Cult label), Jeff Stonehouse visits "darker places than Listening Mirror dared to tread". The overall sound is dark, indeed, and feels like something is bound to happen soon - illustrated by the Franz Kafka quote (from "The Metamorphosis") accompanying the track, as well as by the cover image of the test pilot, who "looks sedate and calm, but there is the implication that he is about to do something extremely dangerous".

TERJE PAULSEN - SVART UNDER IS
Similar in length (20 minutes), and similar in atmosphere is this soundscape by Norwegian artist Terje Paulsen, released on Yugen-Art. While jffstnhs's release slowly builds up in tension, this mysteriously named track by Terje Paulsen starts heavily concentrated, but slowly unwinds and gives space to percussive, raindroplike sounds. So they're a perfect match when played together (in this sequence).
[FREE Download]

YUGEN - OBSERVATIONS ON TRANCE OR HUMAN HYBERNATION
While you are visiting the Yugen-Art site for the Terje Paulsen release, I strongly suggest you also download the latest release by David Yugen, curator of this interesting netlabel. The titles of this release suggest this might be an A/B side (cassette-?) release, but as far as I can see this is a (free) download only. The title and the short description tell all you need to know about this fascinating soundscape: "Composed using various Self-Hypnosis recordings on tape and vinyl as source material". The tracks are quite different: the "A-side" covers somewhat frightening ESP-like territories, while the "B-side" track is considerably calmer, yet equally haunting, in nature.
[FREE Download]

MACHINEFABRIEK - VERSTILDE TIJD
Quite another kind of drone recording is this one by Rutger "Machinefabriek" Zuydervelt. Its title translates as "muted time", or "time standing still" - which can be taken literally, since this is a transformed and time-stretched recording of a single bell from the roof of the building for which the sound installation was created. The installation is very simple, technically: it consist of just one hidden speaker playing at a low volume continuously. "The impression is given that years and years back, the old bell on the roof of the museum's residence was struck, and at that very moment, time froze. The distant resonance of the bell is still audible in the room, filling it with a ghostly presence".
Apart from being nice to listen to, this (55 minute) recording of the installation is especially dear to me since it was created for (the soon-to-be) "Museum Oud-Amelisweerd", which happens to be only a few kilometers away from where I live.
[FREE Download]

VARIOUS ARTISTS - 3M33S
And, to conclude this shortlist full of drones, here's: some more drones!
33 Tracks, all 3'33" in length, contributed by familiar and lesser-known sound artists to help fund an upcoming label / artist collective startup.
Donating is simple: for the incredibly low amount of $3.33 you receive all 33 tracks that are included in this compilation (curated by LeBerger).
If you want, you can also buy single tracks for $0.33, but I do not see why you would want to to this given the ridicilously low price for the full two hour compilation.
Every individual track has the release date as its title, so this compilation covers 2013.01.30 to 2013.03.03. Obviously, there may be a lot more to follow. Provided there are enough people interested to donate, of course...

Transits of Mercury - Vostok I / II

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 23:06:00 -0700

Transits of Mercury is a solo project of Mike Abercrombie (from Toronto, Ontario) - who is also half of ambient electronic duo North Atlantic Drift (together with Brad Deschamps).

"Vostok" is a three-part project (2 parts are released now, part 3 will follow later this year), which is introduced with a modest "I'm not sure anyone has heard this material yet, aside from my wife and my cat, and maybe a poor roommate or two- tortured by my endless tape loops."

I really hope that is not really true. But if it is, this certainly has to change soon, because this music deserves to be heard by you, your cat, and your roommates, too!

"Vostok I" starts with a slow and somewhat threatening beat, which slowly builds into a cinematic atmosphere.

The cinematic atmosphere further unfolds in the 16 minute long second track called "A Cake of Ice Melting in the Sun", which somehow reminds me of the atmospheric sounds of Bersarin Quartett (but without the string samples).

But there's a twist: the theme suddenly shifts into a stretched drone, ambient sounds incorporating some unidentified field recordings, slowing down the track completely - as if you suddenly fall into a deep sleep - only to wake up again when the refrain returns.

It is this particular twist I especially like, since it is what makes this album different from most others.

The title track revolves around a (fairly simple, but effective) piano theme, and it's easy to imagine the relation with the same named russian space flight which brought Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961.

'Brighter than a Thousand Stars' takes its time to slowly build into another ambient-lounge climax, before Slow Waveslowly drones back toward the end of the album.

An impressive and refreshingly unusual combination of sounds - and that was only part I!

"Vostok II" features two long tracks: "Sea of Showers" and "Marsh of Sleep" - 11:50 and 32:16 respectively.
The first one seamlessly follows the sounds from "Vostok I", whereas "Marsh of Sleep" is a beautiful widescaped Eno-esque ambient track - a soundscape without a single beat (well, almost).
I can hardly wait to hear where this will lead to on "Vostok III" later this year.

No need to be modest about this: this is classic ambient with a refreshing twist.!

TRANSITS OF MERCURY - POLE OF COLD

Rust (Mix)

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:21:00 -0700

The title of this mix is taken from the beautiful soundtrack it heavily leans on: Alexandre Desplat's "Rust and Bone" ("De Rouille et D'Os").

"Rust" usually refers to 'decay', but in dutch "Rust" simply also means 'rest', ('tranquil - or 'repos' in french).

But - as we say in Holland: "Rust Roest"
- or: "Too much rest will make you rusty..."

In other words: don't expect just 'tranquil' sounds in this mix..
This is nót meant to be your average 'healing session ambient' soundtrack... so be prepared...

Playlist:

[Start Time][Sample Length][Artist - Title]
[Album], [Year], [Label details]

00:00 01:16 Colin Stetson - All the Days I've Missed You (Ilay I)
De Rouille et D'Os OST, 2012, Idol Records 691.A003.020/WNP0007
00:59 01:49 Ben Woods - The Brightest Lights in the Darkest Skies
Moments, 2009, Wise Owl OWL-044
01:23 03:34 Listening Mirror - There are No Stars
Five Pieces, 2012, Rural Colours RC050
03:22 02:27 Y0t0 - Uriarra Road (Seaworthy)
Uriarra Road, 2011, Facture 003
04:29 04:06 Luup - Dawn
It's Not Boring, It's Ambient, 2012, Preserved Sound
07:54 02:32 Paulo Raposo - Untitled
Untitled Songs: 49 Years from Gesang der Jünglinge, 2005, Sirr 0020
09:07 03:06 Dyane Donk - Irredeemable
Mind the Gap 100, 2013, Gonzo Circus GC126
10:39 02:29 Jan Kees Helms - E-Nature
Fall Asleep Ghosts, 2009, DNA Production DNA 72
11:27 01:34 Daddy You Scared Me
sample from Possession, 2012, Ghost House Pictures
12:27 01:13 Michael Esposito, Carl Michael von Hauswolff, Phantom Air Waves - The Ghosts of Effingham,
The Ghosts of Effingham, 2010, Parapsychic Acoustic Research Cooperative ‎– PARC 4
12:37 01:46 Mychael Danna - Tsimtsum
Life of Pi OST, 2012, 20th Century Fox 88725477252
13:56 02:25 Bob Ostertag, Phil Minton - Ink
Verbatim Flesh & Blood, 1998, Seeland 512
14:36 01:51 Eyvind Kang - Wintercount - Avalika Svara
Grass, 2012, Tzadik TZ8089
15:45 02:03 Alexandre Desplat - Ali
De Rouille et D'Os OST, 2012, Idol Records 691.A003.020/WNP0007
16:42 03:40 Pauwel de Buck - Rehabilitated District
Mind the Gap 88, 2011, Gonzo Cicus GC113
17:38 03:01 Offthesky - Khione Cast the Child
A Winter's Gift, 2012, Hibernate HB46
18:51 06:05 Richard Chartier - Retrieval Path
Airport Symphony, 2007, Room40 EDRM417
21:30 03:38 Porya Hatami - Winter
Land, 2012, Somehow Recording SR-28
23:49 02:07 Ben Frost - Feeding
10, 2011, Room40 DRM410
25:18 02:29 Ben Lukas Boysen; Nils Frahm - Closing Credits (By Nils Frahm)
Restive OST, 2012, hymen records ¥803
25:49 03:09 Yourai - To Karlheinz Stockhausen
Music for Elevators 4, 2012, Mahorka mhrk091
27:47 04:57 Arve Henriksen - Recording Angel
Cartography, 2008, ECM 2086
31:33 04:43 Chris Watson - Mexico D.F.
El Tren Fantasma, 2011, Touch TO:42
35:23 03:07 Bass Communion - Tailwind
Headwind-Tailwind, 2009, My Own Little Label MOLL030
37:48 02:10 Alexandre Desplat - De Rouille et D'Os
De Rouille et D'Os OST, 2012, Idol Records 691.A003.020/WNP0007
38:50 05:50 Francisco Lopez - Untitled #233
Untitled (2009), 2011, Baskaru Karu:20
40:19 03:38 Luca Nasciuti - Cradle
Brave New World, 2011, FeedbackLoop Label FbL010
42:39 03:14 Ed.S - Leftover2_(Ed.S Remix)
Shinkei + mise_en_scene - Leftovers (Reworked), 2011, Crónica 060
45:29 02:23 Justin Bennett - Moorland
Wildlife, 2008, Spore Records 007
46:18 03:52 Simon Whetham - Fabricaria
Loud Listening, 2012, Crónica 067
47:05 02:36 Yann Novak - Slow Motion
Sequence 5, 2012, Future Sequence SE 005
48:40 00:46 Cliff Martinez - Placebo
Contagion OST, 2011, Watertower Music WTM39266
48:48 04:17 Linear Bells - Purple Night (feat. Endless Melancholy)
Esther, 2012, Twice Removed TR017
50:59 03:23 Daniel Menche - Guts Three
Guts, 2012, Editions Mego eMEGO 138
52:53 02:34 Camilla Hannan - Double Glazed
Airport Symphony, 2007, Room40 EDRM417
53:21 00:55 Josco - Fluxus
Just a Moment, 2011, Audio Gourmet AG06
54:40 02:42 Lullatone - Wake Up Wake Up,
Little Songs about Raindrops, 2004, Audio Dres, ADR 053
56:40 03:19 Jaron Lopez - Dwayne Peachey
Toowong, 2012, Bandcamp
57:33 01:16 Colin Stetson - All the Days I've Missed You (ILay I),
De Rouille et D'Os OST, 2012, Idol Records 691.A003.020/WNP0007
1:00:00 End

Rust: 99 Mb (60:00 min.)
(Download: Right-click and Save As)

BTW - [VIDEO VERSION HERE]

Tmymtur - Yusei + Kooh

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:00:00 -0700

** This post has been edited to add info about the "Kooh" remix version: read below **

Any album that is created using "microscopic particles that were developed by myriads of voices", and claims to include "many territories of ultra-high frequencies, marking over 20 kHz that human ears are incapable of catching" immediately gets my undivided attention.

Especially when "these ultra-high frequencies are often included in sounds of nature such as the flow of the river, the forest, the waterfalls, and the wind blowing through the trees. Most of these which we consider as comfortable nature sounds include these ultra-high frequencies, and it is also said that these ultra-high frequencies have the effect to make the human brain relaxed."

Japanese artist Tmymtur has used microphones that are capable to record these ultra-high frequencies, and will build a sound system (at Asahi Art Square in march 2013) that is able to transmit these inaudible frequencies, blending and layering over 5000 of voices organically "forming a one and only sound creation called 'Yusei' - a "sound space" where people can feel beyond their territories of consciousness, a kind of feeling as if everything is connected and shared."

Of course, any attempt to demonstrate how this may sound/feel is doomed to fail, because there is no media that can truly transcend inaudible frequencies.
To introduce the march 2013 performance, Tmymtur has recorded a track called "15.11.2012/1" which obviously cannot be released as MP3, and not even as a regular CD. In order to preserve as much frequencies as possible, this track is released in 96kHz/24bit only.

Obviously, it's impossible to know if this recording does justice to the original concept of presenting the inaudible. I'm really curious about the 2013 (march 24) event in that matter: will something be "felt" there that is not present in the recording?

Considering the comments about 'nature sounds' it is interesting to note that the sound of this recording is anything but "natural": it seems to be an electronic blend of myriads of voices that are undistinguishable from each other. But it's definitely beautiful and a fascinating sound anyway.
And of course, it's a very interesting concept to present a recording of sounds that cannot be heard but only be felt.

Note: due to the origin of this recording, I will not present a sample here, since downsampling the recording to MP3 is 'anti-conceptual' to say the least..

There's a small chance, probably, but in the unlikely event that someone reading this has also attended the Tmymtur "Sound Creature Event" (at the Asahi Art Square on March 24, 2913): please let us know about your experience!

** Addition 28-02-2013: "KOOH" **

TMYMTUR - KOOH (Yusei Remixes)

The concept as described above is in itself special enough, but you know there's really something special going on when you find out a remix album is due, featuring remixes of the Tmymtur soundscape by artists no less famous than Taylor Deupree, Yui Onodera, I8U, Celer, Christopher Willits, Mark Harris and Stephan Mathieu!

It's interesting to note that all these remixing artist somehow remain true to the original from. There are no radical 'deviations' or added beats or such: all tracks have the same luscious immersive drone feel. But the concentrated listener will notice the subtle differences in approach: which is most clear when, for instance, comparing the Celer remix to the one from Stephan Mathieu.

To be precise, these are not remixes from the Yusei track ('15.11.2012/1') mentioned before, but from another instance recording: '05.09.2012/0'.
To remain true to the original concept of recording and reproducing ultrasonic waves, this release will also be available as a 96KHz/24bit download, and thus not in any physical form.

For "Yusei", Gert K. has added a comment below with a link to a Soundcloud version of the music (thanks for that). For an additional impression, the Mark Harris remix from "Kooh" is also included. But please don't forget that these are compressed versions of the original sound files, so you'll never know what you do not hear!!;

Tmymtur - 05.09.2012/0 Mark Harris Remix

Ben Fleury-Steiner; Darren Harper; Max Corbacho; Chronotope Project; Ophion

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:31:00 -0700

Ben Fleury-Steiner - Clearings
The sound of these three tracks are as mysterious as the album cover image - especially in the yearning loop of the opening track 'Wind Up Bird's Lament'.
"Ben's sound (drawn from both electronic and acoustic sources including electric kalimbas, small modular synthesizers, guitar drones and effect pedals) always embraces a sense of "somewhere", sonically, always warm with tons of layers and subtle details."

Darren Harper - Passages for the Listless and Tired
Although the title of this album may suggest you need to feel 'listless and tired' to enjoy this album, the truth is that most, if not all, people might benefit from listening to these calm and thoughtful drones. The album starts slow and dreamy, but gradually builds to a wash of noise in the end, as if to wake you up into the real world again.
"Drawing from both electronic and acoustic sources, his compositional output is based entirely on experimentation and improvisation, with a strong emphasis on minimalism, and often reflects a desire for a greater understanding of nature and self, and the relationship therein."

Max Corbacho - The Ocean Inside
On this massive 2CD drone set, Max Corbacho (from Spain) takes his time (2.5 hours, to be exact) to explore "the analogy that exists between the mind as an ocean, with constantly changing waves at the surface, and the inner stillness and silence at the depths, trying to go as deep as he can into this bottomless ocean depths."

Chronotope Project - Chrysalis
Reading the accompanying promo text you might fear we're slowly driftin off into New Age territory:"'Chronotope' refers to the essential identity of space and time..The music invites the listener to commune with this unified field of being. It weaves a sonic tapestry that relaxes the body, soothes the mind and gladdens the spirit."
However, this album is released on Relaxed Machinery, a label (or 'collective') that has released enough great albums to clear away any suspicious 'New Age' doubts.
Seventy minutes of well-produced, classic ambient, somewhat similar to music by Robert Rich/Steve Roach.

Ophion - Sacrosanct
This album is introduced with what may be the shortest introductionary note I have seen: "For fans of BVDub, GAS, etc...".
It's the darkest album of this shortlist batch by far, bringing suspense as if it was an alternate soundtrack to a Hitchcock movie...

26 Shades of Darkness (Mix)

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:51:00 -0700

The sheer volume of the Headphone Commute’s '…And Darkness Came' compilation – issued as a charity fundraising for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, and boasting 87 tracks (over 6 hours) of music – was also a kind of invitation to create a mix from it.
Presenting a wide range of music from well (and lesser) known artists – covering most of the ambient/electronic/post-classical/improv spectre, the compilation is an overview and 'who’s who' of what’s happening at this very moment.
Its diversity of sounds and musical ideas will appeal to everyone with open ears.

Those of you that know some of my ambientblog.net mixes will know that most of my mixes have a cinematic 'tension/release' structure, including drones as well as melodic themes…
'…And Darkness Came' offers a lot of both.
But when I thought about creating a mix from this material, I realized that there already were quite a few great mixes around. Mixes that perfectly represented the wide array of music featured on this compilation. I did not feel I had anything to add to those.

So I decided to find another angle for this mix. I chose to leave out the melodic stuff, the beautiful (often piano) instrumentals, the post-classical (or ‘contemporary melancholic’) compositions – the ones that seem to have the widest audience appeal. And just focus on the, maybe somewhat less obvious, darkest of drones… (Don't jump to conclusions and think that I don't like 'contemporary melancholism'- because I really do – I play them all the time!)

So here's some of the 'darkest of the darkness'. It's not representative at all of the complete compilation (which is good, since I strongly urge you to download the full compilation for the ridiculous price it is offered for, and in the meantime help fund the cause it was created for). I also offer my sincere apologies to all artists included for using only fragments of their tracks. That's just another reason to buy the full compilation!

Thanks to Headphone Commute for making this happen. Whatever the state of the musical 'industry' may be in, the musical 'community' feels more alive now than ever before.

Playlist

00:00 Marcus Fischer – Rising Landfall
03:15 Monolyth & Cobalt + Évo Lüthi – Dust Of
07:08 Machinefabriek – Waterspiegel
08:36 Pinkcourtesyphone – Pixels Came and Broke Your Heart
11:06 Somatic Responses – Fear Chasing Hope (Zombie Subway HC Edit)
13:35 Netherworld – Skotos
14:27 David Wenngren – Short Composition #2
15:33 Infinite Scale – Never Let Go
18:04 Sun Hammer – Incantations (For Sandy)
18:54 Max Richter – Non-Eternal
22:24 Autistici – A Concise Model of Power Outage
23:47 Gen Ken Montgomery – Sandy Drain
25:34 Takahiro Kido – Sweet Silence
28:42 Kane Ikin – Slipping Away
30:10 Roel Funcken – Trideo Vaperz
31:44 Pleq feat Strië – Our Words Are Frozen
32:09 Peter Prautszch – Überwintern
34:26 Aria Rostami – Delta
36:22 Valgeir Sigurdsson – Big Reveal
37:42 Julien Neto – Los Cien Enamorados
41:42 Riverrun – Maallinen Kuu
44:43 Hummingbird – Above the Ruins
48:01 WDNFRM – Gleneden Beach
50:05 James Murray – Still Waters Rise
51:19 Jase Rex – With Sword and Salt
53:55 Ian Hawgood – King of Light and Shadows

26 Shades of Darkness: 145 Mb (60:48 min.)
(Download: Right-click and Save As)

Or STREAM directly from the Headphone Commute Mixcloud page:

All tracks taken from '…And Darkness Came' (2012).
This mix was published on Headphone Commute on february, 10, 2013.

Yuya Ota - Arctic April Mother

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:30:00 -0700

Presenting "glacial and isolationist ambient", the Glacial Movements label - run and curated by Alessandro Tedeschi - has presented over 15 albums since 2006, from artists like Lull, Rapoon, Francisco López, BvDub, Loscil, Pjusk, Celer and then some.

Different kind of artists, different kind of sounds, but what they have in common here is the "glacial feel and atmosphere" - which is often described as cold and desolate.

Their latest release (digital only this time)is "Arctic April Mother"by Yuya Ota from Tokyo.

Yuya Ota "is a composer and sound artist, who loves the fusion of classical music with electronic digital music".

The opening track, "Knife", effectively demonstrates what this 'fusion' means: a slow, introspective, Satie-esque piano track merging into an immersive electronic background.

The nine tracks on this album are described as "watercolor sounds, inspired by the contrast that coldness expresses. Sometimes white, sometimes vivid the piece focuses on the constantly changing times."

The sequence of tracks is well-balanced and not only presents 'arctic desolation' but 'warm comfort' as well.

Some (most) are strictly electronic, others have distinct piano or guitar sounds, but all are "in perfect harmony and melody with each other as they describe the poetic vision of the 'Big Chill'."

YUYA OTA - SILVER RAIN

DJ Olive - Balm

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:58:00 -0700

DJ OLIVE (Gregor Asch, aka The Audio Janitor) has been around for quite a while.
He was a founding member of WE (TM), originator of the "illbient" genre tag - but his musical scope obviously is much broader than "just" ambient music. He has been working with people like turntablist Christian Marclay, Ikue Mori, Kim Gordon, Yuka Honda and Jim O'Rourke. His latest release,"Thwis", featuring vocalist Honeychild Coleman, is a collection of electronic dub tracks. But that is not the release I want to talk about here and now (since it's not exactly 'ambient').
For now, I want to focus on his "Balm" release: presented as "a collection of Sleeping Pills".

"Balm" is a remarkable collection: thirty-eight (38!) tracks, totalling 4 hours and 15 minutes, tracks that are indeed perfect, eh..., Sleeping Pills.
And since they are intended to be just that, this is in fact a true compliment.

These tracks were originally created for three albums released on the Room 40 label: Sleep (which was a re-release from a 2001 original), Buoy, and Triage.
These albums features single, long-form tracks, of which "Balm" presents the building blocks: "different versions, outtakes, alternate takes, lost and found songs, brother and sister to the ones which appear on the sleeping pill mixtapes. There are also a few extra songs which almost made it on the sleeping pills included here."

This collection may be an 'Insomniacs Dream', because of it's consistent mood and atmosphere - it may indeed help you fall asleep. But, on the other hand, I had no trouble at all listening to the full collection in one continuous run without getting bored, probably because DJ Olive avoids the most obvious trap of presenting "just" drone tracks, and offers enough variation within his self-imposed limitations of being sleepy.

Basically, the collection is offered at the (fairly ridiculous) price of CAD 11.11 (EUR 8.30). But if you have some more to spend and/or prefer something physical, you also have the choice to buy this collection on a USB memory stick, or even obtain your own hand painted personal Sleeping Pill selection on a CDR, personally mixed into a continuous mix by DJ Olive himself.
How's that for a collector's item?!

DJ OLIVE - THE DOLPHIN KNOWS YOUR NAME

William Basinski and Richard Chartier

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:15:00 -0700

With about 60 releases since 2000, the LINE (L-NE) IMPRINT label has built a firm reputation as "a programmatic sound platform with a strong inclination towards the visual arts and multimedia, born from the desire to take the tactile qualities of audio installations from the gallery space to listeners’ living rooms."

Curated by Richard Chartier, LINE not only releases impressive sound art CD's, but also DVD's and Artwork Prints.

With its focus on audio/multimedia installations, mostly electronic by nature, LINE aims at the more 'serious' - investigative - listener: this is definitely no 'pop-ambient' label. If you insist on comparisions, the label may be best compared to Raster-Noton, in style and artistic approach.

At the start of 2013, LINE announced an impressive series of new releases, of which the new collaboration by William Basinski and Richard Chartier may obtain the most attention.
But in fact, the other releases deserve your attention as much. I've combined the four latest releases in these two posts, demonstrating the versatile output of the LINE label.

WILLIAM BASINSKI & RICHARD CHARTIER - AURORA LIMINALIS
Mentioning William Basinski will probably immediately raise associations with his 'Disintegration Loops', a project about analogue tape deterioration which became history linked to the terrifying 9-11-2001 events, found its way into the Metropolitan Museum and recently was re-released in a massive box set with (O, Conceptual Irony!) remastered versions of the original (deteriorated) recordings.

But there's a lot more in the Basinski discography apart from that.
Having worked together on the 2008 release 'Untitled 1-3', this is the second collaboration with Richard Chartier.
Aurora Liminalis may translate as 'liminal light' - of which the further interpretations may differ depending on what you want to hear."... the aural equivalent of undulating trails of light. Disintegrating spatial shifts incorporating the two artists' distinct sonic palettes mesh to create a slow, deep ebb and flow... like some melting spectral transmission."

Stylistically, this is nothing like Basinski's 'Disintegration Loops'. But that is not entirely unexpected, since "Untitled 1-3" didn't sound like them either).
The album starts from absolute quiet and slowly emerges, luring you to follow it while it grows into a deafening (yet still quiet somehow) noise. This is clearley not intended to be a background ambient drone: its subtleties only reveal if you carefully listen behind what's going on up front. The result is organic: it is impossible to distinguish what is Basinski's or Chartier's specific input - a perfect blend of two sound artists interacting.

William Basinski & Richard Chartier - Aurora Liminalis (Fragments)

Richard Chartier - Recurrence
The very first LINE release was Richard Chartier's "Series", a work that explored "an implied silence that is not silent. a quietness that belies the activity and energy of the sounds."

"Recurrence (series)", the 51 minute second track of this album, reworks original elements from these recordings to an entirely new composition.
"Drawn to the original sounds Chartier felt that they could be re-composed. The form they have taken contains isolated and discreet events strewn across the sound field, creating a strange landscape and altered sense of space."
It was presented on different occasions as a multi-channel event: listen to these sounds and try to imagine a 30-channel version of it!!
The album opens with the 20 minute track "Recurrence (Room/Crosstones)" which focusses on "room tones and other low frequency wave recordings".And these are low frequencies indeed! Preferrably played back on a decent sound system since it won't perform well on any average portable headset..

Richard Chartier - Recurrence (Series)(Fragment)

[Read Part 2 of the LINE special HERE]

AGF, Simon Whetham

info@ambientblog.net (PvC - Ambientblog.net) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:00:00 -0700

AGF - Source Voice
The LINE SEGMENT series is a series of releases on the LINE label "which will highlight some, perhaps, very non-LINE-like works. Works that stray from the norm...(The LINEnorm, that is, because most music on Line itself definitely strays from 'the' norm, too!).
AGF's "Source Voice" is the second release in this Line Segment series.

AGF (Antye Greie-Ripatti, born in East-Germany but now living in Finland) has worked for more than a decade "releasing experiments connecting voice, deconstruction of language, perception, and sound processing".
If her name is new to you, you may have some interesting research to do: she has been working together with artists like Vladislav Delay, Ellen Alien, Gudrun Gut and Eliane Radigue (amongst others),

All sound sources on Source Voice are built from Antye's voice, but since they are heavily treated and manipulated this is not always very obvious. On this album, only Kaamos is a composition for pure, untreated voice.
"Inspired by the ancient folk practice of yoik, AGF started to imitate and voice along with her surrounding wind and weather. Yoik is a mostly wordless form of singing/vocalization by the Sami tribe of northern Scandinavia and considered one of the longest living music traditions in Europe"

But, as expected, none of these tracks sound like the traditional joiks.
"Source Voice" definitely strays from the joik-norm, too!

AGF - Digital Yoik

Simon Whetham - El Parque Está Situado En Su Propia Casa
"Field Recording" soundscapes come in as many colours as nature itself. Some try to stay as close to the original natural sound as possible (and thus are in fact more archival recordings than compositions), at other times the natural sounds are used and reordered to create a collage-like composition - often created an environment that does not really exist: "Familiar yet otherworldly".

This (digital-only) release - its title translates as "The Park Is Situated In It's Own House" - obviously is one of the latter.

The recording on this album is a combination of two different aspects of an installation performance recorded march 2012 at Campos de Gutierrez, Colombia:

"My piece began as a performance on the exhibition's opening night, using objects and recordings from Campos de Gutierrez. During the performance, and using transducers, I played sounds through an old guitar from Campos de Gutierrez and an oil drum found at Plazarte, both suspended from the ceiling. For the remainder of the month the piece continued to be exhibited in this way, playing subtle sounds captured during the performance and around the residency house through the objects."

One of the unusual aspects of this 45 minute recording is that the climax appears to be at the beginning. 10 Minutes into the composition you'll risk being blown away by the sounds of what seems to be a gigantic storm. But from there things get quiet and quieter, allowing you to explore all details of this alienated in-house garden.

Simon Whetham - El Parque Está Situado En Su Propia Casa (Fragment)

[Read Part 1 of the LINE special HERE]