Anthony Paul Kerby & Tomass Weiss – Distant Shadows

Release data: Anthony Paul Kerby & Tomass Weiss – Distant Shadows CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DataObscura/Construct, 2011 Canadian composer Anthony Paul Kerby (APK) has produces many ambient recordings under the names Lammergeyer, Nunc Stans, and The Circular Ruins. Sonic architect Tomas Weiss on the other hand has recorded under the monikers Nautic Depths and El Hadra, while he’s also known for his…

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Resonant Drift – Passages

Release data: Resonant Drift – Passages CD, Flow Space Music, 2011 Bill Olien and Gary Johnson, aka Resonant Drift, nicely follow up to their previous album “The Call”, bringing more inspiring desert soundscape music to us. “Passages” features sophisticated ambient music with occasional tribal rhythms and smooth e-guitar work next to a kind of hidden dynamic undercurrent running through the…

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Time Being – A Dimension Reflected

Release data: Time Being – A Dimension Reflected CD, LotusPike, 2011 Ambient composers Jourdan Laik and Philip Wilkerson have joined forces using the musical moniker Time Being. With “A Dimension Reflected” they deliver their first tour-de-force release of ethereal and expansive drift music, an attempt to capture the essence and beauty of the present moment in time. The album is…

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Steve Roach – Immersion Five: Circadian Rhythms

Release data: Steve Roach – Immersion Five: Circadian Rhythms CD, Timeroom Editions, 2011 Meant to explore a new direction for the immersion experience, “Immersion Five – Circadian Rhythms” nicely continues the series with two long form tracks of 73 minutes each, intended for infinite playback. The albums subtitle is named after physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a roughly…

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Dan Pound – Medusazoa

Release data: Dan Pound – Medusazoa CD-R, PoundSounds, 2011 With the music of his album “Medusazoa”, on which work was started in July 2010, it seems Mr Pound is trying to come closer to the sound of Steve Roach. The seven tracks feature so-called underwater dream zone music, based and built from analog modular synth drones, patches and effects, made…

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Forrest Fang – Forrest Fang’s Sans Serif: Unbound

Release data: Forrest Fang – Forrest Fang’s Sans Serif: Unbound CD, Projekt, 2011 “Unbound” is the second release of Sans Serif, aka Forrest Fang, of which the ambient music was assembled from an assortment of lost and found microscopic sounds as source material. As Mr Fang further explains The Sans Serif project is his personal tribute to minimalism. For each…

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Peter Davidson – Green Moss Trail

Release data: Peter Davidson – Green Moss Trail CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Otherworld/PeterDavidsonmusic, 2011 Hailing from the Swedish Western coastline, multi-instrumentalist Peter Davidson brings us an instrumental album described by the composer as “an ambient journey down the wormhole”. “Green Moss Trail” is another great example of active and overtly organic ambient music fitting in the tradition of Robert Rich, Steve Roach…

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Galactic Anthems – The Other Side

Release data: Galactic Anthems – The Other Side CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With his seventh release “The Other Side”, Glenn Adams (aka Galactic Adams) treats us with a true cosmic album. The nine tracks offer a bright assortment of electronic sounds, ranging from a few dynamic, pulsating, rhythmic-sequencer driven pieces to cinematic spacious sketches making up the biggest part of…

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Brian Vassallo – Memoirs of a Lifetime

Release data: Brian Vassallo – Memoirs of a Lifetime CD, Private Release, 2010 December 31, 2010 saw the release of “Memoirs of a Lifetime” by Maltese composer, sound designer and producer Brian Vassallo. It offers the listener a sonic companion to make his/her own interpretations of his/her moments in life. Mr Vassallo’s instrumental music, presented in eight uninterrupted parts, is…

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Bruno Sanfilippo – Subliminal Pulse

Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Subliminal Pulse CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2011 “Sometimes, the poetic language of music reveals what cannot be seen. It shows a reality that has nothing to do with words. With my electronic instruments I take the universe’s “Subliminal Pulse”, and I try to build a bridge between my inner pulse and the pulse of the…

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Ron Berry – Osiris

Release data: Ron Berry – Osiris CD, Ron Berry Music, 1985/2002 I’m not familiar with the English musician Ron Berry, one of the many on the Brittish Isles who established their own style and musicianship from the mid ’80’s on. “Osiris”,(inspired by The Egyptian Book Of The Dead) seems to be a classic recording among EM-fans, which was originally release…

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Blutiger Fluss – Rings Of Saturn

Release data: Blutiger Fluss – Rings Of Saturn CD-R, Sleep on the Floor Records, 2011 “Rings of Saturn” is the fourth release by the Des Moines, Iowa-based duo Jeff Hutchison and Jim Duede, and their third concept album surrounding a planet. The music on the four lengthy tracks embarks on an instrumental ambient/space journey in which the cosmic atmosphere remains…

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Meg Bowles – A Quiet Light

Release data: Meg Bowles – A Quiet Light CD, Kumatone Records, 2011 I had the idea classically-trained female synthesist fell of the radar about a decade or so ago, after she had composed some very nice cosmic albums. So what a nice surprise to hear she re-entered the electronic music scene at the start of 2011, at the same time…

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Futureworld Orchestra – Regenerated

Release data: Futureworld Orchestra – Regenerated CD, Goose Pimples Music, 2009 The duo Robert Pot en Gerto Heupink originally making up Futureworld Orchestra had quite some success in the first half of the ’80’s with their vocal and instrumental pop tunes, of which especially “Desire” and “Roulette” did a good job in the Dutch charts next to “Theme from E.T.”…

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Richard Bone – Sudden Departure

Release data: Richard Bone – Sudden Departure CD, Quirkwork Laboratory Discs, 2008 “Sudden Departure”, the 24th release on Richard Bone’s own Quirkworks Laboratories label, is another offering of emotive and calming ambient tracks. In their own way, each track seems an observation of moments in time and space, simply displaying a sense of reflection or mood. As always, there are…

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Biff Johnson – Reading The Bones

Release data: Biff Johnson – Reading The Bones CD, Broad Vista Music, 1997 A quick look at red rocks on the cover of this cd would make you think this might be another release of vidnaObmana. “Reading the Bones” is actually the debut of American musician Biff Johnson on his own Broad Vista label, who received the kind help from…

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Biff Johnson – Mirage at the Crossroads

Release data: Biff Johnson – Mirage at the Crossroads CD, Broad Vista Music, 1999 On his second album “Mirage at the Crossroads”, Sacramento-based composer Biff Johnson has decided to follow a bit of a new musical direction for his ambient music, as the outcome of debut album “Reading the Bones” almost sounded like a tribute to the desert music of…

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Vir Unis & James Johnson – Perimeter II

Release data: Vir Unis & James Johnson – Perimeter II CD-R, Atmoworks, 2003 Two years after their succesfull double release “Perimeter”, a follow-up to this concept was released as “Perimeter II”. This time it’s a triple cd-r set packed in a dvd-case, of which the music oncemore is an sophisticated mix of fractal groove electronics and atmospherics outings, but overall…

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Vir Unis & James Johnson – Perimeter

Release data: Vir Unis & James Johnson – Perimeter CD-R, Atmoworks, 2001 “Perimeter” is a double cd-r release which sees fractal-groove king Vir Unis (aka John Strate-Hootman) collaborate with ambient composer James Johnson. The disc of 60 and 70 minutes each feature a blend of high-tech groove and pulse sequencer patterns and rhythms, loops, radiowave mutations and fractalizations to which…

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Vir Unis – Aeonian Glow

Release data: Vir Unis – Aeonian Glow CD, Greenhouse Music, 2000 “Aeonian Glow” is a second chapter of introspective and inner body music by John Strate-Hootman, aka Vir Unis. The music was created in the seclusion of John’s In the Bubble studio, which at that time existed in the hectic city of New York. As John eluded in an interview,…

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James Johnson – Environment 1: Chinatown – New York

Release data: James Johnson – Environment 1: Chinatown – New York CD-R, Atmoworks, 2003 “Environment 1” is the first cd-ep from James Johnson environmental soundscapes series. This 28-minute cd-r carries the subtitle Chinatown – New York, and depicts a rather peaceful soundscape with only a few street sounds here and there. A drifting texture with faint melancholic elements, complemented by…

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James Johnson – Echoes

Release data: James Johnson – Echoes CD-R, Atmoworks, 2003 As Mr Johnson explains in the inlay sheet, “Echoes” is the outcome of an exploration of the process of “designed systems”: self-generated, always changing soundfields, melodies and floating textures, of which traces already could be heard on his former albums “Odyssee” and “The Butterfly Chamber”. Well, the introspective title-track leans towards…

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Hoenig – Göttsching – Early Water

Release data: Hoenig – Göttsching – Early Water CD, Musique Intemporelle/Spalax, 1995 “Early Water” is one of those classic gems in electronic music that found its origin in a jam session that took place in Berlin in the autumn of 1976 between Manuel Göttsching and Michel Hoenig. The “lost” recording remained on the shelf for about 20 years or so,…

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Richard Bone – Beleagured Blossoms

Release data: Richard Bone – Beleagured Blossoms CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Quirkwork Laboratory Discs, 2010 “Beleagured Blossoms” contains 11 forgotten artifacts from Mr Bone’s archive. They’ve been composed between 1993-2009, and most of them are soundtracks from various film and video projects. Mr Bone’s versatile compositions walk the edge of combining the abstract with contemporary electronica. His music steps out of the…

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Richard Bone – The Ghosts of Hanton Village

Release data: Richard Bone – The Ghosts of Hanton Village CD-R, Quirkwork Laboratory Discs, 2009 “The Ghosts of Hanton Village” marks the 25th release on Mr Bone’s label Quirkwork Laboratory Discs. It contains ten ambient/experimental compositions that have been inspired by the folklore surrounding Hanton Village, a mysterious commune in the northwest hills of Rhode Island, close to Richard’s home.…

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Uwe Gronau – Midsummer

Release data: Uwe Gronau – Midsummer CD, Private Release, 2011 Uwe Gronau is a German musician current residing in Bocholt, who created a range of progressive and New Age instrumentals for the double abum “Midsummer”. For the albums music, Mr Gronau based his ideas upon Wittgenstein’s studies on the relationship between reality and thought. What we got here is a…

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Gandalf – Erdenklang & Sternentanz (Earthsong & Stardance)

Release data: Gandalf – Erdenklang & Sternentanz (Earthsong & Stardance) CD, Prudence, 2011 “Erdenklang & Sternentanz”, which comes in a beautiful 8-panel digipack, is a special project which celebrates Gandalf’s 30th anniversary as a stage performer. It actually contains the “life-symphony” music Gandalf performed with the Austrian Corso Orchestra, which at first glance makes one think of the “Symphonic Landscapes”…

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Aes Dana – Perimeters

Release data: Aes Dana – Perimeters CD, Ultimae Records, 2011 First of all, “Perimeters” sees a departure of the cd packaging and cover artwork known from all previous Ultimae releases. Musically, Vincent Villuis has taken the opportunity to thoroughly reinvestigate the core and sound of the Aes Dana project, which has resulted in an expansion in both sound and style.…

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Bob Holroyd – Beachcombing

Release data: Bob Holroyd – Beachcombing CD, Private Release, 2011 “Beachcombing” (previously announced as “Glow”, which is also the first track of the album) comes in an environmental-friendly but still nicely looking digipack. This album by UK-composer Bob Holroyds contains twelve compositions which in advance has been depicted as “the perfect soundtrack to a film yet to be made”. The…

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Johan Agebjörn – The Mountain Lake

Release data: Johan Agebjörn – The Mountain Lake CD, LotusPike, 2011 After more than two years, Swedish composer Johan Agebjörn delivers his second album on the prestigious LotusPike label. It’s an example of fresh and catchy contemporary electronics with that typical but indefinable arctic rim. The influence of trance and dance is clearer on the 13 up-tempo instrumentals that fill…

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Remanence – Lamkhyer

Release data: Remanence – Lamkhyer 3-INCH CD-R, mPath Records, 2002 This is the third, again very nice and originally packed release of Remanence, aka the ambient-duo Brian McWilliams and John Phipps. Both who have been abled to take a prolific dive into the deep end of Tibetan-inspired music. In a way, this is what other musicians like to call in-the-moment-music:…

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Darshan Ambient – The Zen Master’s Diary

Release data: Darshan Ambient – The Zen Master’s Diary CD-R, Private Release, 2003 The initial idea for “The Zen Master’s Diary” by Darshan Ambient (aka Michael Allison) was born after the musician read A Buddist Bible by Dwight Goddard, a book on Zen and Yogic philosophies. The nine longform compositions on the introspective-oriented cd are a real treat for both…

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Alpha Wave Movement – Soniq Variants

Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Soniq Variants CD-R, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2011 As Gregory Kyryluk explains in the liner notes, the music of “Soniq Variants” is made on a few Ensoniq hardware synthesizers with slight computer assistance for compositional arrangement and audio recording. With these synths, known for their special timbral quality, Gregory mapped out eight fine tracks of…

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moonbooter – Cosmologica

Release data: moonbooter – Cosmologica CD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 Like “Cosmoclimax”, “Cosmologica” is another energetic release by Bernd Scholl, (aka Moonbooter) but the latter one offers a handful of very nice Jarre elements and effects thrown in the Moonbooter mix next to Schiller-esque trance/dance ingredients. The album (produced for and premiered live in concert at the end of December 2010…

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Hollan Holmes – A Distant Light

Release data: Hollan Holmes – A Distant Light CD, Hollan Holmes Music, 2010 Hollan Holmes is a new name in the genre of ambient music, which recently introduced himself and his music on the electronic music forum Emportal.info around the end of 2010. “A Distant Light” is his a debut, which the composer describes as a deeply spiritual journey and…

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Synthetic Block – Synthetic Block

Release data: Synthetic Block – Synthetic Block CD, Mindspore Records, 1998 What we got here is an interesting debut-cd that shouldn’t be missed by any serious listener of progressive electronic ambient music produced today. American musician Jonathan Block (who seems to have produced several cassettes before this cd came out) is the inventive guy behind the 68 minutes of intruiging…

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Robert Cory – Point Of Origin

Release data: Robert Cory – Point Of Origin CD, Private Release, 2003 Robert Cory is an Arizona-based musician and soundengineer who already has three other solo albums under his belt and who successfully worked several times with contemporary music composer Chris Spheeris. Well, “Point of Origin” didn’t disappoint me at all as it offers a nice blend of instrumental music,…

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Robert Carty – Ethereal Deserts

Release data: Robert Carty – Ethereal Deserts CD-R, Private Release, 2003 Utah-based Robert Carty has come up with a another atmospheric work called “Ethereal Deserts”. The album features seven longform tracks in which a delicate blend of soundscapes and textures are folded together with some slight percussive and tribal elements scattered over it. This music actually takes you on a…

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Steve Roach – Texture Maps

Release data: Steve Roach – Texture Maps CD, Timeroom Editions, 2003 “Texture Maps” presents volume 3 in the “Lost Pieces”-series. This time (as the title suggests) we take a dive into vast textural landscapes which –by whatever reason- were shelved in Steve’s Timeroom studio. These eight tracks give a further insight on how his music has developed through the past…

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Richard Bone – Alternate Realities

Release data: Richard Bone – Alternate Realities Although I gave this cd several spins in my cd player, I have to confess these 49 minutes of music are not my taste, but still not bad. Richard Bone, an “ambient musician extraordinaire” already managed to catch my attention and touch me with his previous albums “The Spectral Ships”, “Ether Dome” and…

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John Broaddus – 4 at 18

Release data: John Broaddus – 4 at 18 CD, Parnassusnump Records, 2003 I had the privilege to have been a demo-listener for this recording while it was in progress. The music then had some hard edges and coulduse some more depth, but now that the cd is released officially one can discern he did some further fine-tuning of the soundsculptures.…

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Thom Brennan – Signals in Moonlight

Release data: Thom Brennan – Signals in Moonlight CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Raingarden Music, 2003 It took well-respected ambient musician Thom Brennan quite some time to solve some troubles regarding the album “Signals in Moonlight” and the distribution of it after its actual release. Nevertheless, the album, composed and performed in 2002 at his Seattle-based Raingarden studio, is another gem in his…

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Cold Sun – Four Patterns

Release data: Cold Sun – Four Patterns CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2003 “Four Patterns” is the 3rd cd of UK-based musician Simon Slator which smoothly follows the path taken by his predecessors “6am” and “Antarctica”. The outcome (a non-generative ambient piece where almost everything is based around the number 4) is a very relaxing album full of delicate atmospheres and…

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Jon Hopkins – Opalescent

Release data: Jon Hopkins – Opalescent CD, Just Music, 2001 On Jon Hopkins surprising debut-album “Opalescent”, a welcomcoming, bright and relaxing atmosphere is set from the beginning, as we start with the chill-out track “Elegiac”. This seductive, melodic sphere continues as the other tracks unfold gradually. While listening, the same ovewhelming feeling which dominated Global Communication’s legendary album “76:19” takes…

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Deep Sky Divers – The New Fast Lane

Release data: Deep Sky Divers – The New Fast Lane CD, Any Robinhood, 2003 An album filled with exactly 60 minutes of chill-out music, the soundtrack for a life less hectic. This description comes from the UK-duo Jon Short and David Jones, aka Deep Sky Divers. They’ve transformed and reworked some compositions of their previous (superb) album “Highlands and Skylands”…

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Constance Demby – Set Free

Release data: Constance Demby – Set Free CD, Hearts of Space, 1989 One of the accomplishments of female synthesist Constance Demby has been to merge electronic space music with the New Age genre. Did she leave an unforgettable footprint with the landmark recording “Novus Magnificat”, “Set Free” presents an almost profound style of ethereal cosmic music. The sweeping orchestral/symphonic anthems…

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Michael Stearns – Within – The Nine Dimensions

Release data: Michael Stearns – Within – The Nine Dimensions CD, Earth Turtle Music, 2000 Mr Stearns always had a great ability to connect the celestial with the real world experience through his sophisticated ambient music. “Within”, graced with beautiful psychedelic fractal computer art on the cd-booklet, is commissioned music Michael made for a “channeled” workshop by one Barbara Hand…

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Stand Alone Complex – Music for Suicides

Release data: Stand Alone Complex – Music for Suicides DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Arctic Waste Records, 2010 Stand Alone Complex is multi-instrumentalist Michael Lewis from Winnipeg, Canada, who founded the project in 2008. His debut album “Music for Suicides” is presented as a neo-classical, industrial and down-tempo electronica soundtrack for the mind, a complex, mind-altering, trance-inducing sound experience representing a journey through…

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Biosphere – Substrata

Release data: Biosphere – Substrata CD, All Saints Records, 1997 All who love to immerse and linger in Arctic-flavoured ambient music is at the right spot with “Substrata”, a classic soundscape recording by Geir Jenssen, aka Biosphere. While listening, one can almost feel the chilling cold evaporating from its 60-minute long form atmospheric tone textures. Rich in detail and featuring…

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Michael Stearns – The Lost World

Release data: Michael Stearns – The Lost World CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1995 The 54-minute concept album “The Lost World” is a gem of cinematic ambient music which sees accomplished ambient sound painter Michael Stearns deliver another stunning piece of sonic art. Inspired by a trip into The Lost World of Venezuela, this highly textural work is acts as a…

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Dave Luxton – Dark Moon

Release data: Dave Luxton – Dark Moon CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2010 The cinematic impact and mysterious vibrations embedded in the ambient music of David Luxton always have had a quirky twist. That doesn’t change on “Dark Moon”, an instrumental album that takes its audience on a gentle journey into new sonic frontiers out there. The cosmic pieces of smooth atmospheric…

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Harold Budd & Brian Eno – The Pearl

Release data: Harold Budd & Brian Eno – The Pearl CD, Editions EG, 1984 For many years, the album “The Pearl” by Brian Eno and Harold Budd is considered a classic in the tranquil ambient genre. The music is simple and but effective, pairing a pleasant sense of melancholy with spaciousness by aptly mixing treated Satie-kindred piano with electronics. The…

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Tangerine Dream – Izu

Release data: Tangerine Dream – Izu CD, Eastgate, 2010 Despite being old now, Edgar Froese keeps up a steady schedule of releasing studio albums while also going on tour. “Izu” is a double cd which contains the music played live at Pennisula Izu (Japan) on 5th September 2009, Metamorphose ’09 Festival also available on Dvd. The release features the complete…

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Ian Boddy – Aurora

Release data: Ian Boddy – Aurora CD, DiN, 2002 Since Ian Boddy started his own DiN-label, he always looked for ways to extend his electronic sound by e.g. mixing his beloved vintage analogues with software synths and other creative sound design. This to compose a more abstract, impressionistic and more adventurous kind of (ambient) music. One might say the outcome…

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Daniel & Booth – Mutiny

Release data: Daniel & Booth – Mutiny CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, English Electronic Music Company, 2010 Next to the vintage project PDB with Brendan Pollard (which has now come to an end), Michael Daniel and Phil Booth often have been together jamming and experimenting in their own way. From the sessions in Bleakhouse Studio in Kirkby and the Inhouse Studio, parts have…

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Mark Jenkins – iPad Album

Release data: Mark Jenkins – iPad Album CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Next to the “IpaDream” release, Mark Jenkins also put out the “iPad album”, an eight-track cd-r for which he applied the following iPad apps: iSequence (sounds and drums), Jasuto Pro (modular synthesizer), FunkBox (drums), ihicket (touch responsive sounds), SoundyThingie (touch responsive sounds), MorphWiz (Theremin-style sounds), SoundWarp (sampled sounds), OrbNote…

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Three-Six (36) – Memories in Widescreen

Release data: Three-Six (36) – Memories in Widescreen LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3six Recordings, 2010 “Memories In Widescreen” is the first vinyl-exclusive album from 36, aka UK-sound designer Dennis Huddleston, offerings 13 ambient tracks spanning 70 minutes of material. Again, it’s a dreamy and celestial recording, featuring expansive dreamy (drone)soundscapes in a minimal style, culminating in intense and highly imaginary ambient music.…

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33 Tetragammon & Human Metronome – Universal Ripples

Release data: 33 Tetragammon & Human Metronome – Universal Ripples CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Universal Ripples” is the third collaboration between Dutch musicians Human Metronome (aka Eelke van Hoof) and 33 Tetragammon (aka Wasili Papadopoulos). According to the musicians, the outcome is their deepest album so far, as the previous releases sounded lighter. It consists of an intense journey, best…

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TM Solver – Axon

Release data: TM Solver – Axon DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Syngate, 2010 TM Solver is an electronic music project by Berlin resident Thomas Meier. His third album album “Axon” features four long tracks which in their own way pay tribute to the classic Berliner School style of Klaus Schulze. From the press-info I learned the well-done 27-minute title track was made with…

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Geigertek – Endless Night

Release data: Geigertek – Endless Night DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2010 On the Ep “Endless Night”, synthesist Neil Fellowes aka Geigertek implements his own vocals into his electronic compositions. This makes the outcome nicely venture in the electro-pop/songlike area with a slight techno-style rim. The 30-minute ep contains six tracks which Neil prepared for UK “Artificial 01” electronica concert performance…

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Ramsaygee – Exotique

Release data: Ramsaygee – Exotique DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2009 Ramsaygee is a project by English digital artist, digital musician and vocalist Gareth Ramsay, whose states he takes a visionary approach to anything he creates. This is his second release “Exotique”, that involves a strong flavoured tribal/Middle Eastern style of electronic music. Smooth guitar licks, flute samples and an assortment…

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Unique – Movie without Pictures

Release data: Unique – Movie without Pictures CD, Nocturne Records, 1998 “Movie without Pictures” is the second album the German brothers Andre and Frank Standke. Again, the two musicians offer an original kind of instrumental electronic music, which is cinematic and unpredictable in fashion. This time, the music relies a bit more on rhythmic structures although there’s still enough room…

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Paul Ellis – Dark Machine Generation

Release data: Paul Ellis – Dark Machine Generation DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 With “Dark Machine Generation”, US-synthesist Paul Ellis brings us a full ambient trip made up of one continuous track, which initially began as an experiment in manipulating sound. To quote Paul on the making of the album: “it also really has no melody or harmony to speak…

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Claudio Merlini – The Colours of Music

Release data: Claudio Merlini – The Colours of Music CD, AD Music, 2010 Claudio Merlini is an Italian synthesist who released his debut album “Flight of Fantasy” in 2008 using the moniker Sound Experience. The contemporary instrumental music contained on “The Colours of Music” takes the easy-going road despite the interesting gear list. This doesn’t mean the album is filled…

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The Amnis Initiative – Distant Dreams

Release data: The Amnis Initiative – Distant Dreams DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 The Amnis Initiative (which aims to excite the imagination, stir emotions and stimulate the brain with evocative, yet soothing instrumental music) is a one-man project by Dennis Lodewijks, an Eindhoven-based musician and huge Vangelis fan whose album “Distant Dreams” is his full-length debut. “Distant Dreams” is a…

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Edward Rizo – Soundscapes Volume One

Release data: Edward Rizo – Soundscapes Volume One DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 This album comprises the first ambient excursions by Edward Rizo. From the start, there’s a desolate veil hanging over Rizo’s slow morphing textural dronescapes, as they drift and curl along in smooth elegancy. The gradual ebb and flow of the synth washes on each track creates an…

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Max Corbacho – Deep Time

Release data: Max Corbacho – Deep Time DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad21 music, 2010 With the album “Deep Time”, Spanish sound designer and musician Max Corbacho invites us to travel far back in time with a textural work, made up of an assortment of “primal sounds next to an almost palpable sense of the first formings of Order from the chaotic soup…

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Altus & TRX – Crossroads

Release data: Altus & TRX – Crossroads DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 The album “Crossroads” fulfills a wish Mike Carss (aka Altus) had for years: to compose a beat-oriented album in the style as he wrote them in the 90s, but he hadn’t done so as he considered his beat programming was always lack-luster. Through the internet, he got to…

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Solar Fields – Origin #1

Release data: Solar Fields – Origin #01 CD, Ultimae Records, 2010 With “Origin #1”, Solar Fields aka Magnus Birgersson brings us the first chapter in a series of four albums, of which all music is derived from his studio archive of the last ten years. The release (which comes in a two parts digifile, a kind of budget cd-release) takes…

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Australis – Sentient Genus

Release data: Australis – Sentient Genus CD, Essential Noises, 2010 Toward the end of 2010, Oscar Aguayo brings us his third release, “Sentient Genus”, of which the composer mentions in the press sheet it explores some of humanity’s many levels of existance. It’s already at the start of the album that one clearly hears this is another very nice instrumental…

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Steve Roach & Brian Parnham – The Desert Inbetween

Release data: Steve Roach & Brian Parnham – The Desert Inbetween CD, Projekt Records, 2011 Both Steve Roach and Brian Parnham are known for years as purveyors of the sound of deserts and expansive, remote places. As the press sheet explains, the album draws inspiration from the stark and magnificent expanses of the desert southwest. While expressing a longing for…

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Walter Christian Rothe – Alice

Release data: Walter Christian Rothe – Alice DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1987/2010 This “definitive” edition of “Alice” is again due to the kind help and huge efforts of an electronic music enthusiast and collector from Down Under. Not only did he invest lots of time to sort out the best quality of pieces and the correct track titles, he also…

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Mank – Awen

Release data: Mank – Awen DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Manky Music, 2010 “Awen” (a Welsh word for “poetic inspiration”) was released on March 1st 2010, and sees Ben Powell (aka Mank) deliver another fine work of inspired ambient electronic music. As Ben explains on his website, Mank’s 10th release was inspired by characters from the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh folk tales…

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Howard Ferré – Journey’s End

Release data: Howard Ferré – Journey’s End CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With “Journey’s End”, South-Florida based neo-classical/new age composer and sound designer Howard Ferré brings us his debut album. In the past 25 years, Mr Ferré has produced music for theatre, but he always had the desire to bring his own music to a new level, which has now crystallized…

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Schiller – Die Einlassmusik 6

Release data: Schiller – Die Einlassmusik 6 CD, Sleepingroom Musik, 2010 This album contains the 52-minute instrumental music Christopher von Deylen especially composed to entertain the waiting audience during the “Atemlos” tour in Spring 2010. The instrumental music starts out as a nice quiet and atmospheric soundscape in the first three parts, made up of warm textural tapestries without rhythm.…

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Dan Pound – Aurora

Release data: Dan Pound – Aurora CD-R, Pound Sounds, 2010 Mr Pounds keeps up a steady tempo of releasing music, as this is his third one in 2010. “Aurora” is a cosmic ambient album containing nine atmospheres, which is not as textural as one might expect. Dan’s aural landscape are expansive but also rather active in nature. This recording dips…

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Apollonius & 33 Tetragammon – Core

Release data: Apollonius & 33 Tetragammon – Core DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Resonating Earth, 2010 “Core” is the fourth release by the Dutch duo Apollonius (aka Eelke van Hoof, previously known as Human Metronome) and 33 Tetragammon (aka Wasili Papadopoulos). Were their other albums already pretty introspective, the 70-minute sonic content of “Core” should take the listener on a trip along the…

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Juta Takahashi – Silence

Release data: Juta Takahashi – Silence CD, Lunisolar Records, 2010 Fans of calming and immersive textural ambient will find lots of their liking in the music of Jutaro Takahashi. On his release “Silence”, Juta has further improved the quality of his soft soaring and slowly morphing ambient soundscapes. Not only has the sonic outcome of the four tracks a dreamy…

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Schiller – Lichtblick (Ltd. Super Deluxe Edition)

Release data: Schiller – Lichtblick (Ltd. Super Deluxe Edition) DVD & CD, Universal Domestic, 2010 In Spring of 2010, Christopher von Deylen (aka Schiller) released “Atemlos”, the follow-up to his highly succesful album “Sehnsucht” (“Desire”). Like most of his previous audio releases, “Atemlos” had to be performed live on stage, so a tour through Germany followed. This was of course…

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Herion – Out and About

Release data: Herion – Out and About CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2010 “Out and About” is the debut release of the Italian trio Herion, and at the same time also marks the first release in digipak format on the Hypnos label. The members of the ambient-glitch project Herion are Emanuele Errante (composer of the peculiar album “Humus” on Evan Bartholomew’s Somnia…

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Axess – Fusion

Release data: Axess – Fusion CD, Spheric Music, 2010 On “Fusion”, German synthesist Axel Stupplich (who many will also know as member of Pyramid Peak) continues his quest of composing energetic and exciting Berlin School inspired music. Nonetheless, the music featured on this new chapter has a stronger emphasis on sequencers, while Axel keeps a close eye on creating vibrant…

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Odyssey & Remote Spaces – Ypsilon Project

Release data: Odyssey & Remote Spaces – Ypsilon Project CD, Generator.pl, 2010 The music on this album is made by Tomasz Pauszek (aka Odyssey) and the duo Konrad Jakrzewski & Krysztof Rzeznicki (aka Remote Spaces), of which I heard more years in the previous years. The outcome which makes up “Ypsilon Project” was composed during live sessions by the three…

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Boreal Taiga – Isopectic Isotac

Release data: Boreal Taiga – Isopectic Isotac CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2010 Ambient musician JimDe, who currently resides in Norway, is the ambient musician who initiated the down-tempo project Boreal Taiga around 1999. The electronic music found on “Isopectic Isotac” is graced with a nice sense of wonder, as it draws its inspiration from the expansive and remote Arctic region and…

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Przemysław Rudź – Self-Replicating Intelligent Spawn

Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Self-Replicating Intelligent Spawn CD, Generator.Pl, 2010 Przemysław Rudź album “Self-Replicating Intelligent Spawn” is the final chapter of a trilogy (which started with “Summa Technologiae“), which tells the story of mankind in the 21st century. The instrumental music has maintained the high-tech, futuristic and melodic character of the previous albums that graced the previous releases, leading…

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Dreamstate – A Decade Dreaming

Release data: Dreamstate – A Decade Dreaming CD-R, e-Space Editions, 2010 The Canadian duo ScotM2 (aka Scott McGregor Moore) and Jamie Todd, aka Dreamstate, are purveyors of deep ambient music. “A decade dreaming” is a collection of live pieces selected from 10 years of performances at the Ambient PiNG EM-festival. As it is a retrospective recording, The twelve pieces include…

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Kenneth John Parsons – Tribute to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris

Release data: Kenneth John Parsons – Tribute to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris CD, Private Release, 2010 Kenneth John Parsons is a UK-based audio creator/composer who started his own little indie record label Inexplicata Music to release his music under the motto: drawn from life, the ether and the imagination. The 13 tracks found on “Tribute to Andrei Tarkovsy’s Solaris” (“Electronic Atmospheres…

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The Nexion Project – Land of Dreams

Release data: The Nexion Project – Land of Dreams CD, Private Release, 2000/2010 The Nexion Project is Zoltán Török, a Hungarian composer who’s a skilled guitarist and pianist. Until now, he has released several works in different genres ranging from dance music to electro-acoustic, chill-out and ambient. Originally, “Land of Dreams” was finished in March of 2000, but the composer…

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Jerome Froese – Preventive Medicine

Release data: Jerome Froese –Preventive Medicine EP, Moonpop, 2010 ““Preventive Medicine” is a 4-track EP which is meant to be a follow-up to the 2007 release “Precooked Munchies”. The opening piece “Inner Canon Of The Yellow Emperor” (Stimulant), which has a strong progrock feel, is taken from Jerome’s forthcoming third studio album “Far Side Of The Face” (on which Johannes…

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Asura – 360

Release data: Asura – 360 CD, Ultimae Records, 2011 Asura is a one-man project by Charles Farewell who continues his quest in the genre of down-tempo electronics with his fourth album “360”. The typical Asura-style is almost immediately present, blending worldmusic influences with captivating melodic lines and nicely moulded textural pads while lots of great samples sounds also pass by.…

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Delerium – Epiphany

Release data: Delerium – Epiphany DVD, MVD Visual, 2010 “Bill Leeb’s project Delirium finally sees a dvd-release which features a vibrant and fresh sounding live performance which surely will please a lot of fans of the band worldwide, as it finally enables to catch them in the flesh on stage. According to the press-release, “Epiphany” captures the ethereal essence of…

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Food for Fantasy – Fresh Food

Release data: Food for Fantasy – Fresh Food CD, Spheric Music, 2010 As there was no possibility to continue the Double Fantasy, Robert Schroeder decided to continue the project on his own using the Food for Fantasy moniker. I missed out on the 2006 (“The Secret of Dreamin’”) and 2008 (“Fruits of Fantasy”) releases, but the press sheet coming with…

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Tripswitch – Geometry

Tripswitch is a down-tempo project by English composer Nick Brennan. The press sheet revealed “Geometry” is the long-awaited follow-up of his 2005-release “Circuit Breaker”. “Geometry” offers fresh, overall moody, airy and above all intricate electronic compositions with a great flow. There are occasional bits of lush guitars while the second track “Concentric Circles” (the highlight for me on the album)…

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Harald Grosskopf – Synthesist 2010

Release data: Harald Grosskopf – Synthesist 2010 CD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 The year 1980 saw the release of Harald’s classic recording “Synthesist”, of which especially the title track gained a lot of attention within the Em-scene due to the fact it was used as the tune for Winfried Trenkler’s EM-radio show “Schwingungen”. Now, 20 years later, this album is re-released…

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Darshan Ambient – A Day within Days

Release data: Darshan Ambient – A Day within Days CD, Lotuspike/Spotted Peccary, 2010 I’ve been following the music of Michael Allison, aka Darshan Ambient, since he started out making sophisticated textural soundscape music under the Darshan moniker around 1998 or so. “A Day within Days” is a concept album dealing with friendship, loss and the artistic spirit, which Michael dedicated…

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Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – In Repelen

Release data: Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – In Repelen CD & DVD, Manikin Records, 2010 “Repelen” is the first dvd from the trio Broekhuis/Keller/Schönwälder, which sees them perform in familiar location, the Church in the German village Repelen where they played several times previously. For the occasion, they also invited several guest musicians such as Raughi Ebert, Eva and Thomas…

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Andrew Forrest – Essence

Release data: Andrew Forrest – Essence CD, Private Release, 2010 With “Essence”, New-Zealand composer and visual artist Andrew Forrest brings us another chapter for “inner journeying to multi-dimensional realities” as he likes to call it. From the start, the subtle evolving and mesmerizing space music of “Essence” is evoking this grand out-there feel, masterfully presented in four seamlessly merged and…

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Vanderson – Echoes Of Darkness

Release data: Vanderson – Echoes Of Darkness CD-R, SynG@te, 2007 Vanderson is a project of Polish musician Maciej Wierzchowski. The four lengthy tracks on this release sound like a homage to TD’s sequencer-infused music and sound of the ‘80s, as it nicely blends catchy sequencer patterns with spacious textures and solo lines. The compositions are well executed and attractive, due…

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The Roswell Incident – The Crash

Release data: The Roswell Incident – The Crash CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The Rosswell Incident (named after the UFO incident in the ‘40 in the USA) is a project by the brothers Koen and Jan Buytaert, both hailing from Belgium. “The Crash”, recorded between 2000 and 2008 and 2008, contains three long tracks in Berliner School style to which elements…

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Picture Palace Music – Midsummer

Release data: Picture Palace Music – Midsummer CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 All who attended the band’s concert at “E-Live 2010” could hear a good portion of this album, which was played enthusiastically, very loud and in high-rocking mode. At that occasion, Thorsten Quaeschning & co. pulled off some electronic post-rock with a catchy bite, in which powerful drums and fierce…

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Peter Mergener – Phonetic Society

Release data: Peter Mergener – Phonetic Society CD, Prudence/Cue Records, 2010 Over a decade or so ago, I lost interest in the music of this sympathetic and skilled German musician, as his output had become far too cheesy and uninspired in my opinion. So what a happy surprise to see Mr Mergener successfully return to his personal artistic roots on…

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False Mirror – Derelict World

Release data: False Mirror – Derelict World CD, Malignant Records, 2010 False Mirror is a project of the German composer Tobias Hornberger, of which “Derelict World” is the third album. The album is of a highly ambient-drone nature, bringing to life the destructive side of natural things that surround us each and every day. Moreover its dark-oriented, but the overall…

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Nattefrost – Dying Sun / Scarlet Moon

Release data: Nattefrost – Dying Sun / Scarlet Moon CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 The fine electronics Bjørn Jeppesen aka Nattefrost presents on “Dying Sun/Scarlet Moon” album are of a groovy but also spatial nature. The album offers a nice assemblage of attractive sequencer patterns, contemporary sounds and textures, all glued together into catchy instrumental compositions which set things in motion…

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Robert Schroeder – Cream

Release data: Robert Schroeder – Cream CD, Spheric Music, 2010 The music of “Cream” sees Robert Schroeder return to the musical style he was popular for in the early ‘80’s, and blending it with fresh contemporary electronic sounds. Their’s a pleasant mellowness lying over the six tracks, nicely kicked off by the almost 14-minute “Magnetics” which features elevating and warm…

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AirSculpture – Before the Moon

Release data: Airsculpture – Before the Moon CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 “Before the Moon” is a limited edition, factory-pressed digipack cd-release, previously released as a double cd-r in 2006, offering some fully improvised Berliner School-inspired space music by the legendary UK-trio. The outcome on this re-release features four lengthy pieces, recorded live in concert during AirSculpture’s performance as part of…

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Rainbow Serpent – Stranger

Release data: Rainbow Serpent – Stranger CD, Manikin Records, 2010 With the long awaited album “Stranger”, the German duo Gerd Wienekamp and Frank Specht has delivered an outstanding album of contemporary and vibrant electronic music which I’m sure will be welcomed by a large audience. For the musicians, making “Stranger” also proved to be new and difficult, as they decided…

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MorPheuSz – Days of Delerium & Nocturnal Nightmares (Chapter One)

Release data: MorPheuSz – Days of Delerium & Nocturnal Nightmares (Chapter One) CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 MorPheuSz is the Dutch/German music collective Ron Boots, Eric and Harold van der Heijden and Frank Dorittke (aka FD Project). “Days of Delerium & Nocturnal Nightmares” for me again proves what a great combination Ron Boots and Eric van der Heijden still are, as…

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Mark Jenkins – iPaDream

Release data: Mark Jenkins – iPaDream CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With “iPaDream”, London-based musician Mark Jenkins released a full electronic music album created entirely on a 64GB 3G Apple iPad. Those who saw him perform on E-Live 2010 saw him use this portable live music setup with its numerous touch abilities. Furthermore, this small performance system offers the ability to…

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Amongst Myselves – Fragments

Release data: Amongst Myselves – Fragments CD, Private Release, 2010 Previous to the release of “Fragments”, Steve Roberts aka Amongst Myselves did a good portion of experimentation with his synths, e-guitars and electronics between March 2008 and April 2010 with crossing over different elements from various tracks in order to create new pieces of music. Eventually, “Fragments” became the outcome,…

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Matthew Florianz – Koude Handen

Release data: Matthew Florianz – Koude Handen CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Koude Handen”, recorded in December and January of 2009/2010, sees Dutch composer Matthew Florianz continue on the sonic path of atmospheric landscape ambient as explored on his album “Maalbeek”. Mr Florianz once again used his trusted Korg X5d synthesizer, of which he blended the calming, spacious textures with environmental…

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David Parsons – Akash

Release data: David Parsons – Akash CD, Celestial Harmonies, 2010 With “Akash” (meaning sky or ether in the Sanskrit language), New-Zealand based musician David Parsons returns to highly spherical and overall quiet sound worlds, trying to evoke “an expansive sky-like atmosphere” on the five long tracks. Using an array of self-programmed sound pads made with oscillators and filters, David follows…

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Dave Bessell – Analogue

Release data: Dave Bessell – Analogue CD, Manor Records, 2010 “Analogue” is the debut release by Dave Bessell (one of the four members of he legendary band Node), made almost 15 years after the band’s initial and same-titled recording. For the recording of the music, Dave deliberately limited himself to the use of one instrument, the Macbeth M5n semi modular,…

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Mathias Grassow & Tomas Weiss – Farewell – In Hommage To Klaus Wiese

Release data: Mathias Grassow & Tomas Weiss – Farewell – In Hommage To Klaus Wiese CD, Musical Philosophy, 2010 “Farewell” is a tribute and dedication to the German ambient musician Klaus Wiese, a former member of Popol Vuh who sadly died in 2009. The album was originally released as limited edition of only 100 copies, which included a special numbered…

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Dan Pound – Wolf Moon

Release data: Dan Pound – Wolf Moon CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The album “Wolf Moon” sees independent electronic musician Dan Pound more or less “recycling” his trade of shamanically infused ambient electronic space music as we know it from his previous releases. It ranges from powerful to reflective outings, reaching out for introspective spaces while an assortment of tribal bits…

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Peter Challoner – Indefinite Duration

Release data: Peter Challoner – Indefinite Duration CD-R, Private Release, 2010 On “Indefinite Duration”, Mr Challoner continues the path of slow flowing textural music as explored on his previous releases. The almost 80-minute album offers an uninterrupted sonic canvas of soothing and serene ambient/space music to calm the mind. It’s great backdrop music that’s also very suitable as a sleeping…

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The Icarus Kid – The Icarus Kid

Release data: The Icarus Kid – The Icarus Kid CD, Electrowookie Records, 2010 The Icarus Kid is an electronic dance music act initiated by Seattle-based musician Dan Crowdus, who cites his major musical influence has been Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the Final Fantasy video game series. The live electronic music project The Icarus Project actually brings the classic sounds…

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Peter Challoner – Ambient Archive

Release data: Peter Challoner – Ambient Archive CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Ambient music fans who haven’t had the chance to investigate the output of the talented musician Peter Challoner now have a great opportunity with the double album “Ambient Archive”. It’s a fine release offering more than two hours of free floating textural music, featuring six lengthy tracks. The release…

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Robert Beau Michaels – Dance of Ecstasy – Dance Music to free the spirit

Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – Dance of Ecstasy – Dance Music to free the spirit CD-R, Private Release, 2010 As the title already suggest, Robert Beau Michaels turns up the rhythmic alley with this release. Busy and rather heavy drumming open “Invitation to the Dance”, followed by warm, melodic and floating sound pads. The latter also make up “Dance…

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Walter Christian Rothe – Zebra

Release data: Walter Christian Rothe – Zebra DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1989/2010 Due to the kind help of a friend Down Under, Walter Rothe’s album “Zebra” recently saw the light of day as a digital, but download-only release. That same person also did a lot of troubles incorporating the informative content of the original eight page cd-booklet into this new…

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Michael Neil & Graham Getty – Retrochet

Release data: Michael Neil & Graham Getty – Retrochet CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 For this album, composers Michael Neil and Graham Getty used the latest collaborative opportunities the internet has to offer to assemble a fine synthesis of vintage electronic music with the help of nowadays modern technologies. Well, “Retrochet” is your ticket for a 60-minute trip in a…

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Clifford White – Atlantis

Release data: Clifford White – Atlantis CD, MG Music, 2010 “Atlantis” is Clifford White’s second album in 2010, a musical and imaginary journey inspired by the lost advanced civilisation of Atlantis and its ancient culture. The album takes off with the strong and majestic electronic sound of the beautiful title track, which holds the middle between the sound of Vangelis…

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Dream Jungle – Lucid

Release data: Dream Jungle – Lucid CD, Third Ear, 2007 Dream Jungle is an electronic-ambient-groove project founded by North Bay Area artist and musician Dwight Loop. The latter invited vocalist Taressa Bell to join him on the band’s debut album “Lucid”. The outcome is a sparkling sonic journey into the mystic imagination and uncharted mystery, presenting moody chill-out and trance-inducing…

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Michael Neil – Ikons

Release data: Michael Neil – Ikons CD-R, Private Release, 1999 For the album “Ikons”, Michael Neil was is inspired by the philosophical themes embedded in classic poetry and literary works by e.g. Andrew Marvell, W. B. Yeats, and S.T. Coleridge, all themed around the ephemeral, memory and mortality and the subject of infinity. The 64-minute album is divided in two…

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Wolfskin feat. Last Industrial Estate – Stonegates of Silence

Release data: Wolfskin feat. Last Industrial Estate – Stonegates of Silence CD, Malignant Records, 2010 The US-based Malignant label has occasionally been sending me some of their heavy, dark ambient releases for quite a while now, to which the arrival of the menacing and creepy sounding “Stonegates of Silence” adds an atonal and intense desolate dimension. This recording is appropriate…

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Deborah Martin – Deep Roots, Hidden Water (remastered)

“Deep Roots, Hidden Water” is the second album by multi-instrumentalist Deborah Martin, which is now re-released as an authentic 24-bit remaster, 3-panel digipak with a new cover. The detailed restoration has lifted the sensitivity and grace of the original music to a new level, stressing its warm and clear sound design. In addition, it makes the beautiful impact of the…

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David Helpling & Jon Jenkins – The Crossing

Release data: David Helpling & Jon Jenkins – The Crossing CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2010 “The Crossing”, released three years after their critically acclaimed “Treasure“, is the third album by the talented musicians and sound designers David Helpling and Jon Jenkins. It´s again a highly imaginary release featuring great uplifting, expansive spheres as well as monumental and dynamic moods. Moreover,…

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Arrocata – Desert Electric

Release data: Arrocata – Desert Electric CD-R, Sonoran Winds Music, 2009 Some of the atmospheric soundscape tracks which Robert Straub aka Arrocata creates on “Desert Electric” are based on locations, legends and natural occurances that are indigeneous to the America’s raw Sonoran Southwest territory. Moreover, these imaginary recordings present a series of adventurous compositions that feel like an actual journey…

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Yen Pox – Blood Music

Release data: Yen Pox – Blood Music CD, Malignant Records, 1995/2010 Yen Pox is a project by Michael JV Hensley and Steven Hall. “Blood Music”, according to the press sheet to be a benchmark recording of experimental/dark ambient music, was originally put out in 1995 and has been out-of-print since many years. This re-issue comes as a beautifully designed 8-panel…

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Steve Roach & Mark Seelig – Nightbloom

Release data: Steve Roach & Mark Seelig – Nightbloom CD, Projekt Records, 2010 “Nightbloom”, Projekt’s first album released in an eco-friendly but still very beautifully designed 6-panel cd wallet, is a deep release that’s been in-progress for nearly two years. “Nightbloom” offers a 73-minute long-form piece of slow-motion ambient bliss in five parts. The nocturnal mist-filled realm features Mark’s throat…

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Gliese 614 – Serenity

Release data: Gliese 614 – Serenity CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Serenity” is a slowly morphing atmospheric ambient work by Ben Altmann, a London-based composer who founded the project Gliese 614 in 2004. For the music, Ben deliberately used only one piece of gear, the Arturia ARP2600V semi-modular software synthesizer (based on the ARP 2600), also with the goal to find…

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Colin Towns – Full Circle

Release data: Colin Towns – Full Circle CD, Kock Screen, 1977 Colin Towns is an English composer who was a member of the Ian Gillan Band in the mid ‘70’s. His first film score for Richard Loncraine movie “Full Circle” (The Haunting of Julia) on a tragic story centring on a child’s death and a mother’s breakdown remains a memorable…

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Michael Neil – For the Record

Release data: Michael Neil – For the Record CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Due to all his fans (like myself) who kept asking over and over again for a re-release of his very early cassette works, Michael Neil assembled the compilation “For the Record”. This 70+ minute album gives an overview of pieces from his mc’s “Tender Agression” and “Deo Gratis”,…

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Tangram – Flow

Release data: Tangram – Flow CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Flow” is a digital album by Péter Fabók, aka Tangram, which was recorded within 24 hours. The minimalist music of “Flow” has nothing to do with the strong TD-inspired and well-executed music found on Tangram’s album “Tepidarium”. Instead, this album offers a 40-minute string of quiet textural music, split in seven…

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Elve – Emerald

Release data: Elve – Emerald CD, Virtualworld, 2010 Elve is one of Matt Hillier’s alter egos, of which “Emerald” is the second album. One might say the stage for the “green” music on this 64-minute release is set in a tropical rainforest, as its continuous ambient soundscape has a certain tropical but also a strong otherworldly feel. Elve’s music is…

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Pascal Savy – The Endless Seasons

Release data: Pascal Savy – The Endless Seasons CD-R, Field Noise Records, 2010 “The Endless Seasons”, available as a digital download Ep, is an experimental ambient project by Pascal Savy and Toshikatsu (whose also head of the Field Noise Records). The slow, non-rhythmic miniature soundscapes and expansive drone pads found here explore the concept of Japanese seasons within the realm…

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Free System Projekt, Brendan Pollard, Hashtronaut – Mind Out of Time

Release data: Free System Projekt, Brendan Pollard, Hashtronaut – Mind Out of Time CD, Acoustic Wave Records, 2010 Due to the success of the previous album“Time Out of Mind”, Brendan Pollard, Free System Project (aka Ruud Heij and Marcel Engels) and Hashtronaut (aka Michael Daniel) decided to release a second album of improvised music made by during studio sessions in…

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Mystical Sun – Primordial Atmospheres

Release data: Mystical Sun – Primordial Atmospheres CD, Private Release, 1996 “Primordial Atmospheres” is a classic ambient debut album by Mystical Sun, aka Richard Plom, of which the beautiful designed cd-booklet doesn’t provide any further information. The cd contains a panoramic sonic landscape of ambient music, psycho-acoustic sounds and harmonic music for your mind and best listened to with headphones,…

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Meg Bowles – Blue Cosmos

Release data: Meg Bowles – Blue Cosmos CD, Kumatone Records, 1996 Classically trained flutist and composer Meg Bowles hails from Connecticut, USA, and was one of the few female musicians in the electronic music scene in the ‘90s. Her third album “Blue Cosmos”, regarded a classic album of deep space music by many, is available until this very day. Well,…

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Arrocata – The Painter

Release data: Arrocata – The Painter CD-R, Sonoran Winds Music, 2008 In his youth, Phoenix-based musician Robert Straub (aka Arrocata) was an art major, and while he’s still occasionally engaged in that endeavour he devoted most of his artistic energies toward music. However, he also enjoys going to art shows and exhibits of new and emerging artists that fit his…

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Michael Neil – Tapestries

Release data: Michael Neil – Tapestries CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The 90-minute “Tapestries” is an epic work inspired by Berlin and the electronic music that inspired Michael Neil to become a composer. The album’s music incorporates instruments familiar to the 70’s period of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze like the Mellotron, EMS VCS3 as well as software synthesizers developed by…

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Laocoön – Immersion

Release data: Laocoön – Immersion CD, Parnassus Nump, 1998 Laocoön is an ambient project of San Francisco-based musician John Broaddus, who released his debut album “Immersion” on his own private label. The music of “Immersion”, a concept album dedicated to water (“immersed in a sonorous reverberation of introspection and exploration”), is a real treat of any fan of deep and…

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Solar Fields – Altered (Second Movements)

Release data: Solar Fields – Altered (Second Movements) CD, Ultimae Records, 2010 Word has been in the air for a while “Altered” would contain remixed and reworked versions of the music, which ended up on the previous album “Movements”. Well, Magnus Birgersson (aka Solar Fields) made the outcome a spacy, mellow chill-out affair, as he keenly recycled and re-interpreted the…

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Robert Schroeder – Paradise

Release data: Robert Schroeder – Paradise CD, Racket Records, 1983 When experiencing the sonic content of “Paradise”, the fifth solo album by German synthesist Robert Schroeder, one could consider its outcome as a kind of future music. Not in the least by the opening track “In Memory of Paradise”, which on one side is fairly melodic and nicely sequenced, but…

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Greg Klamt – Fluxus Quo

Release data: Greg Klamt – Fluxus Quo CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1997 On his second album “Fluxus Quo”, American synthesist Greg Klamt takes things to a higher plan with a fine combination of symphonic-flavoured electronic music with a neo-classical touch. In addition, he uses an assortment of sophisticated percussion in his music. For the album, Greg has again composed some…

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Rudy Adrian – Distant Stars

Release data: Rudy Adrian – Distant Stars CD, Lotuspike/Spotted Peccary, 2010 After another long two year wait, LotusPike finally brings us a new album of New-Zealand artist Rudy Adrian, which at first glance is similar in style to that of his ambient albums, but a close listen reveals its still unique and somewhat improvised nature on the spot. Like his…

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Julian Ray – Argonauts of Kosmos

Release data: Julian Ray – Argonauts of Kosmos CD-R, Julian Ray Music, 2010 Julian Ray is a Toronto-based Ambient / Cosmic / New Age musician who paints his music and designs his sounds from small pieces of imagination, observation and fantasy. Julian released four album previous to “Argonauts of Kosmos”, the latter being a concept release presenting the space journey…

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Robert Schroeder – Brain Voyager

Release data: Robert Schroeder – Brain Voyager CD, Racket Records, 1985 The album “Brainvoyager” is the film soundtrack which Robert Schroeder composed for the German movie “Glücksgedanken”. It is in fact one of my favourite albums of this musician until today, as it stand out due to the well-composed harmonic/reflective themes and their overall smooth, relaxing nature. The dreamy music…

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Michael Neil – In Extremis

Release data: Michael Neil – In Extremis CD-R, Private Release, 2000 “In Extremis” is a neo-classical work by Michael Neil for which he used quotes from Virgil’s “Aeneid” and Pindar’s “Pythagoras” for the track titles, which helped to distance the work from any particular religious view in that it deals specifically with the subject of mortality. The music is in…

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Michael Neil – Maisema

Release data: Michael Neil – Maisema CD, Private Release, 2008 The album “Maisema” (the Finnish word for landscape) is a project conveying Michael Neil’s experience of living in Finland for almost a year, which affected him enormously. The 55-minute album is filled with eight tracks of minimal but contemporary ambient music with an abstract edge. “Slow gestating music in an…

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Martin/Klamt/Rownd – Convergence

Release data: Martin/Klamt/Rownd – Convergence CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2002 “Convergence” is the imaginative outcome of live concert performances of three accomplished musicians who all release their music through Spotted Peccary Music: Deborah Martin, Greg Klamt and Mark Rownd. The 55-minute album features some quiet, lush and ethereal textural pads which are nicely blended with Taos drums, various flutes and…

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Pollard/Daniel/Booth – Volume Two

Release data: Pollard/Daniel/Booth – Volume Two CD-R, English Electronic Music Company, 2010 For years, Steve Jenkins’ Hampshire Jam festival is known as one of UK’s finest EM-festivals, which had the privilege to welcome the Pollard/Daniel/Booth trio on stage during its eight festival in October 2009. The occasion was made even more special as the three musicians were joined by no…

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Ishq – Fluid Earth

Release data: Ishq – Fluid Earth CD-R, Virtualworld, 2010 Back in 2001, the Interchill/Dakini-label released Ishq’s album “Orchid” as a double cd limited edition in Japan and throughout Asia. As many people are still unaware of the second cd of this version of “Orchid” or missed out on it due to its limited availability, Matt Hillier (aka Ishq) decided to…

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Peter Mergener – Passage in Time

Release data: Peter Mergener – Passage in Time CD, Cue Records, 1991 After his first successful solo-album “Creatures”, Peter’s second album – which followed very quickly after his debut cd- is again one dealing with a concept. The musical story of “Passage in Time” involves the matter of time, the history of mankind and transitoriness. Once more, Peter is able…

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Pollard/Daniel/Booth – 3

Release data: Pollard/Daniel/Booth – 3 CD-R, English Electronic Music Company, 2010 “3” contains the multi-track recording of the dynamic vintage set played by the trio Brendan Pollard, Michael Daniel and Phil Booth during E-Live 2009, only missing the encore (which will be featured on a forthcoming album). All who were present that day found the three performing musicians in great…

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Three-Six (36) – Hollow

Release data: Three-Six (36) – Hollow CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3six Recordings, 2010 “Hollow” is the second studio album by 36, also marking the second part of a trilogy (as the cd cover states Part 2 of 3) which was started by the impressive “Hypersona”. Well, at first glance it seemed the sonic journey continued in a similar manner, but here the…

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Kinesis – Beyond the Galaxy

Release data: Kinesis – Beyond the Galaxy CD, Morningstar/Geomagnetic Records, 2010 Kinesis is a Psy-Trance project by Salvador, aka Dj Salva, an artist of Spanish origin who initiated the project in 2005. “Beyond the Galaxy” is his second release, and the outcome is a well-produced and overall steamy dance excursion. What we got here is a powerful 74-minute instrumental ride…

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David Michael Matuch – Before Reality

Release data: David Michael Matuch – Before Reality CD, Infinite Monkey Productions, 1997 “Before Reality” is David’s second album, bearing the well-chosen subtitle “Mind Movie Music and other Ambient Electronic Experiments”. And yes, cinematic electronic dreamscapes we sure get on this recording, for which David used the Kurzweil K2000RS on two tracks, mostly to create loops, samples and appropriate sequencer…

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Mike Andrews – Time & Science

Release data: Mike Andrews – Time & Science CD, Neu Harmony, 2002 “Time and Science” is one of the only two factory pressed cds by synthesist Mike Andrews, who currently seems to reside in The Netherlands. The release actually contains all music of his “Tides Of Time” album, to which a few others tracks are added, which makes it a…

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Tom Hackl – Terra Australis

Release data: Tom Hackl – Terra Australis CD, Blue Sunshine, 1992 While running over my cd-collection, I stumbled upon this album by Australian musician Tom Hackl, which I remember I bought from Joerg Strawe’s Cue Records. The cd lacks any further background info on Mr Hackl though. But a look upon the cd-cover and the track titles on this 62-minute…

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Peter Mergener – Creatures

Release data: Peter Mergener – Creatures CD, Cue Records, 1991 I’m glad German musician Peter Mergener decided to start a solo career after he quit the collaborative project Software with Michael Weisser. I I always found the overall sound of the high-tech project far too synthetic and distant. Mergener’s own music though has a human and warm touch, which is…

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Phaenon – His Master’s Voice

Release data: Phaenon – His Master’s Voice CD, Malignant Records, 2010 First I’d like to mention the beautiful and evocative but also rather disturbing and scary cover art that graces this 6-panel digipack release. It seems this nightmare scenery doesn’t predict much good for the second cd-album by Phaenon, aka Szymon Tankiewics. The concept album “His Master’s Voice” is inspired…

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Human Metronome – The Child Set Free

Release data: Human Metronome – The Child Set Free CD, Private Release, 2010 Human Metronome is Eindhoven-based ambient musician and visual artist Eelke van Hoof. In his opinion, composing music is a spontaneous, etheric process which can be a means to reach the intuition within a human being. In addition, the press-sheet states: the setting of “The child set free”…

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THIS – Zone

Release data: THIS – Zone CD-R, Private Release, 2010 THIS (soulful sonic excursions extruding hypnotic-ambient-space overture, healing and spiritual) is a project initiated by Kentucky-based musician Bill Chelf, whose career spans over fifty years. He started work on “Zone” after he heard Hearts Of Space Radio in the 80’s, so this outcome has been approximately two decades in the making.…

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moonbooter – Orbit Number 2

Release data: moonbooter – Orbit Number 2 CD-R, Mellowjet Records, 2006 On “Orbit Number 2” Bernd Scholl brings us 62-minutes of overall groovy and highly sequenced electronic music, spread out over eight lengthy tracks. The album is actually the audio companion to a dvd of the same name with 5.1 Surround Sound featuring some old Nasa visuals. The outcome is…

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Geigertek – The Timeless Mind

Release data: Geigertek – The Timeless Mind CD-R, AD Music, 2010 Geigertek is a project by classically trained synthesist Neil Fellowes, who hails from Norwich, UK. In January 2009, Neil was recruited as member of Code Indigo and live session keyboard player for electronic music project Callisto (as Dave Massey still doesn’t want to do “live”). “The Timeless Mind” is…

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Aairria – Urbanisation

Release data: A Produce – Urbanisation CD, Generator.pl, 2010 Aairria (whose motto I read is the insignificance of time) is a project by the Polish ambient musician Marcin Drabot. He already put out several minimal and longform releases through various internet labels using multiple aliases. “Urbanisation” was previously available through his own Rain netlabel, but now has received a proper…

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Megabyte – Powerplay

Release data: Megabyte – Powerplay CD, Innovative Communications, 1987 This is, in my opinion, one of the most peculiar electronic releases put out in the second half of the ’80s. Megabyte is Billy Byte and Amanda Mega, but the actual musicians behind it are no other than Thilo Rex (who sadly passed away at the age of 51 in 2009)…

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Yanni – Keys To Imagination

Release data: Yanni – Keys To Imagination CD, Private Music, 1986 This instrumental album is the debut release of Greek-born American musician Yanni (aka Yiannis Hrysomallis) on Peter Baumann’s Private music label. Although clocking at only 38 minutes, the cd offers eight classical-edged tracks featuring some appealing compositions, melodies, elaborate cross-rhythms, and a dash of romantic flavours. Despite starting out…

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Michel Bekkering – Cosmopolitan Dances

Release data: Michel Bekkering – Cosmopolitan Dances CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Cosmopolitan Dances” is the second album by Dutch synthesist Michel Bekkering, who’s also a member of the band Modular White. According to the press-sheet, the music (which was already finished in 2007) takes on a vintage-oriented approach. The first and last section of the 23-minute “Tango Hypnotique” occasionally reminds…

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Mark Shreeve – Thoughts of War

Release data: Mark Shreeve – Thoughts of War CD, Champagne Lake Productions, 1981/2000 Mark Shreeve’s album “Thoughts of War”, was released in 2000 on cd in a limited and numbered edition of 300 copies, although the original came out on vinyl back in 1981 on the Norwegian Uniton label. The recording contains four lengthy compositions which features a great interplay…

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Robert Schroeder – Galaxie Cygnus-A

Release data: Robert Schroeder – Galaxie Cygnus-A LP, Innovative Communications, 1982 In my opinion, the cosmic symphony “Galaxie Cygnus-A” is the most remarklable project German synthesist Robert Schroeder did in the ‘80’s. In it, visual artist Michael Weisser (who later on would found Software with Peter Mergener) was also involved. The “Musik-Computer-Sinfonie” project, as it was adapted, was commisioned for…

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Brian Eno – Thursday Afternoon

Release data: Brian Eno – Thursday Afternoon CD, EG Records, 1985 The long form music on Brian’s Eno’s “Thursday Afternoon” (composed as the soundtrack to an art installation video of the same name) is by many regarded as one of the pinnacles of ambient wallpaper music. It’s also proof of Eno’s theory: slowing things down makes things sound so much…

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Mark Dwane – The Monuments of Mars

Release data: Mark Dwane – The Monuments of Mars CD, Orbian Music, 1988 Going through my collection, I stumbled upon this classic recording of Ohio-based synthesist Mark Dwane, which I purchased right after its release in 1988. The 39-minute “The Monuments of Mars” is Mark Dwane’s first cd-album, and it was also the first of its kind completely made using…

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Greg Klamt – Fulcrum

Release data: Greg Klamt – Fulcrum CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1993 “Fulcrum” is the debut album of American synthesist and visual artist Greg Klamt, which offers a rich blend of symphonic-flavoured, cinematic music with occasional powerful percussive elements. Created from intuition and through experimentation, Greg’s classic / symphonic compositions are assembled of gentle flowing textural spaces, which he gradually unfolds…

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Parallel Worlds – Far Away Light

Release data: Parallel Worlds – Far Away Light CD-R, Shima Records, 2005 For fans of vintage analogues, the music of Bakis Sirros (aka Parallel Worlds) is something special. His output is retro music with a modern twitch, for which he intelligently applies his assortment analogue step sequencers and analogue modulars. In my opinion, Bakis’sonic adventure through a landscape of slow-tempo…

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Schiller – Atemlose Klangwelten

Release data: Schiller – Atemlose Klangwelten CD, Universal Domestic, 2010 “Atemlose Klangwelten” is the bonus album which comes only with the Limited Ultra Deluxe Edition of Schiller’s “Atemlos”, and in a way you might compare it with the “Einlass” cd-series which he releases privately. The bonus cd, which is all instrumental, contains six ambient “Klangwelten” (Soundworlds), and here Mr Von…

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Stefan Erbe – Driver

Release data: Stefan Erbe – Driver CD, Erbe Music, 2010 This is my first encounter with the music of German synthesist Stefan Erbe, who describes the music as “a soundtrack for a special night drive”. From the cd booklet, I also learned the physical version of “Driver” is an extended version, containing 74-minutes/15 tracks, while the download edition contains 12…

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Dave Luxton – Portal

Release data: Dave Luxton – Portal CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2010 With this release, Mr Luxton brings us an ambient album with an overall lush and harmonic cosmic music, this time taking a more cinematic approach. Drawing from his experience as a film composer, he presents eight textural tracks of spacious music that really takes you “out there”. Its impact makes…

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Tangerine Dream – Winter in Hiroshima

Release data: Tangerine Dream – Winter in Hiroshima CD, Eastgate, 2009 This cd marks part four in the five atomic seasons, and musically sees a continuation of the Nagasaki/Hiroshima story of Mr. H.T. Solely composed and played by Edgar, the music fortunately moves back to the period the TD-sound still had Soul (which hasn’t been the case for too many…

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Remotion – Between Fiction and Reality

Release data: Remotion – Between Fiction and Reality CD, Groove Unlimited, 2001 Remotion is the Dutch duo Richard Stuij and Arjan Steenbergen, who recorded the music of this album live in the studio without using computer sequencers. Richard took care of composing and performing the music, while Arjan did the engineering job next to adding additional drums and effects. Although…

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Cadenced Haven – Peregrination

Release data: Cadenced Haven – Peregrination CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 Cadenced Haven is a project by Bangladesh-based female artist Laila Quraishi, who got some great help from accomplished Dutch synthesist Gert Emmens on her debut-release “Peregrination”. The CH-project itself is a mind soothing, New Age based art form with the goal to reach the listener’s inner soul, hidden mind and…

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Michael Whalen – Nightscenes

Release data: Michael Whalen – Nightscenes CD, Alchemy Records, 1996/2004 This cd, on the original release subtitled “Music for the Evening”, is made by the accomplished American musician Michael Whalen. This Emmy award winning composer and music supervisor has made numerous tunes and commercials for radio and television next to a whole range of soundtracks. This brilliant disc offers a…

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Stephan Whitlan – Map Reference

Release data: Stephan Whitlan –Stephan Whitlan – Map Reference CD, Fairy Nuff Records, 1996 With “Map Reference”, Irish synthesist Stephan Whitlan delivered his debut album on his private Fairy Nuff label back in 1996. Looking back, it’s a great example what a whole bunch of analogue gear and some keen musicianship can lead do (although the story in the cd-booklet…

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Rogier – From the Shadow to the Sun

Release data: Rogier – From the Shadow to the Sun CD, Quantum Records, 2004 “From The Shadow to the Sun” is the first official record by Dutch professional composer, arranger, producer and musician Rogier van Gaal, aka Rogier. The outcome on this cd indeed sounds upper-class and very rich, and the first name that jumped in my mind was Vangelis.…

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Phillip Wilkerson – Interplay

Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Interplay EP, Private Release, 2010 “Interplay” is an Ep containing five tracks of freeform, textural music. For almost 40 minutes, Mr Wilkerson takes a dip into smoothing, deep ambient spaces, which occasionally contain deep bass pulses As can be expected, there’s nothing challenging found in this airy soundscape work, a quiet sonic backdrop of harmonic…

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Astrovoyager – Symphotronic Lunation

Release data: Astrovoyager – Symphotronic Lunation CD, Dreaming-Musea, 2010 AstroVoyager is a project by French electronic musician Philippe Fagnoni, whose sonic art (according to the press-sheet) seeks connection to contemporary soundtrack composers such as Hans Zimmer, Eric Serra on one side and genre-specific artists as Vangelis, Era, Enigma and Jean-Michel Jarre on the other. “Symphotronic Lunation”, his second release which…

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Przemysław Rudź – Cosmological Tales

Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Cosmological Tales CD, Generator.pl, 2010 With “Cosmological Tales”, Polish synthesist Przemysław Rudź present us his second album, a recording graced with a fresh, melodic, vibrant and well-produced sound. The cd fires off with a fine combination of well-tempered sequencers and rhythms building a bridge with pads of warm digital and analogue sound, with some infectious…

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Bernd Kistenmacher – Beyond the Deep

Release data: Bernd Kistenmacher – Beyond the Deep CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 After many albums dedicated to or inspire by outer space, “Beyond The Deep” takes a dive into the inner space world and wonders of sea life. The album and its music were premiered at Planetarium Bochum on June 12. So what does this fictional musical exploration of…

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Steve Roach – Sigh of Ages

Release data: Steve Roach – Sigh of Ages CD, Projekt Records, 2010 With “Sigh of Ages”, ambient master Steve Roach brings us a grand and highly reflective work or art, a soft dweller into spacious textural realms. To compose the music, Steve once more returned to some beautiful analogue synthesizers, which included the classic 40-year-old Arp String Ensemble. The six…

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Michael Neil – Silent Light

Release data: Michael Neil – Silent Light CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The album “Silent Light” began life as part of an ongoing series of works around the theme of Memory, Migration, and Mortality, which was set in motion with Michael Neils film “The Brownstone Trilogy” and the installation “The Breath of Exhaling Ghosts”. Moreover, the particular inspiration for this album…

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Callisto – Nyx

Release data: Callisto – Nyx CD, AD Music, 2010 “Nyx” is the long overdue second album of Callisto, aka David Wright and Dave Massey. The 76-minute factory-pressed disc offers four long pieces ranging between 17 and 22 minutes. They pair atmospheric parts with rhythmic/sequenced and melodic sections in which one can also notice an occasional analogue angle. At first glance…

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Nattefrost – Live in Germany

Release data: Nattefrost – Live in Germany CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 The last couple of years, Bjørn Jeppesen aka Nattefrost has established himself as an accomplished electronic musician, which was even “accelerated” when he was contracted by the established Groove Unlimited label. The well-tempered “Live in Germany” contains excerpts of two live sets played in Wuppertal in 2008 (where Bjørn…

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Robert Beau Michaels – Zero Point – Music to Disappear In

Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – Zero Point – Music to Disappear In CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Listening to “Zero Point –Music to Disappear in”– is as entering a slow and harmonic world, an escape from the busy life most of the modern humans live nowadays. The 40-minute non-rhythmic ride, presented in nine separate tracks, radiates a sense of wonder.…

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Spyra – ADSR Remixed

Release data: Spyra – ADSR Remixed CD MAXI, Ricochet Dream, 2010 This 25-minute EP (a limited edition of 500 copies) contains the track “ADSR” in four different mixes. Three are by Spyra, the other is done by Ashra’s Steve Baltes. The remix version at the start is the one that connects the most to contemporary electronic music in the catchy…

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Daniel Bloom – Event Horizon

Release data: Daniel Bloom – Event Horizon CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 Daniel Bloom is a Polish synthesist who has been joining Vic Rek’s Ricochet Gathering meetings since a few years, and he also showed up on the “Keep On” tribute cd of the same label. Daniel composed the seven tracks on “Event Horizon” in 2002 and 2003 using only analogue…

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Spyra/Lang – SeQuest

Release data: Spyra/Lang – SeQuest CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 “SeQuest” is a 66-minute album by Chris Lang and Spyra assembling four lengthy live tracks played on different occasions. The outcome though follows nicely in the footsteps of Spyra’s latest releases, being overall expressive and lively, creating lots of atmospheres on the way. To me, the album most of all is…

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Brian Parnham – The Broken Silence

Release data: Brian Parnham – The Broken Silence CD, Floating Point Records, 2000/2010 This edition of “The Broken Silence” is an expanded version of the originally cd-r album, which was released in 2000. That one was put out as privately released cd-r of only 100 copies, being out-of-print almost as soon as it saw the light of day. Celebrating the…

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Dan Pound – Interlace

Release data: Dan Pound – Interlace CD, Pound Sounds, 2010 With “Interlace”, California-based musician Dan Pounds adds another chapter to his series of ambient electronic, shamanic space music, which he likes to call musical medicine for the soul. The outcome is an ambient voyage beyond the tangible world of matter while simultaneously reaching into the inner depths of ones personal…

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Ricochet Gathering – Keep On

Release data: Ricochet Gathering – Keep On CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 “Keep on” is a limited edition release featuring a live and improvised recording in Transylvania on 11 November 2008, marking the Silver Anniversary celebration of Michael Mann’s cult-movie “The Keep” for which Tangerine Dream produced the original soundtrack. Ricochet’s 9th Gathering event this time featured Spyra, Steve Schroyder, Paul…

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Cosmic Hoffmann – Astral Journey

Release data: Cosmic Hoffmann – Astral Journey CD-R, Heart & Mind, 2010 Here we got another archival release, Volume 4 in the Vintage Rarities from the 70’s-series, entitled “Astral Journey”, which also marks the final part of this series. No surprise we again get a good portion of highly improvised and emotionally driven retro music on the seven pieces, which…

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Johannes Schmoelling – Early Beginnings

Release data: Johannes Schmoelling – Early Beginnings CD, Viktoriapark Records, 2008 The anthology “Early Beginnings” comprises a range of previously unreleased recordings, rough drafts and demo’s Johannes Schmoelling recorded between 1979-1985, giving a nice insight in the musician’s process on finding his own voice and signature in music. When Johannes joined Tangerine Dream between 1980 and 1985, he was able…

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Ben Swire – From Here to There

Release data: Ben Swire – From Here to There CD, Preservation, 2010 “From Here to There” is the first full-length release of San Francisco-based composer Ben Swire, who I knew from his “Equilibrium”-Ep, out in 2002 on The Foundry. The album features eight tracks melting processed electro-acoustic instrumentation, densely layered field recordings, and sophisticated electronics with occasional glitchy bits, minimal…

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Irezumi – Endurance

Release data: Irezumi – Endurance CD, Snowblod, 2008 This album has been on my wish-list for quite some time, as I just knew it would be right up my alley. Irezumi is a project by the young French composer Manuel Mesdag (also known as trance/dance dj MANUEL-M). “Endurance” is a concept album inspired by the Ernest Shackleton’s tragic Antarctic expedition.…

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Arkha Nous – Tria

Release data: Arkha Nous – Tria CD, Arkha Sound, 2009 Arkha Nous is musician and composer Rodolfo Garza, hailing from Monterrey, Mexico. In the past years he collaborated with ambient musician Jorge Reyes (who sadly passed away 2009). As Barbelo, he released released the album “Ethnoaural” in 2008, a project together with Jorge Reyes and Susan Lincoln. The 54-minute “Tria”…

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Cyscape – Deep Sea Explorer

Release data: Cyscape – Deep Sea Explorer CD-R, Private Release, 2003 Cyscape is the UK ambient musician Phil Riches, of which this album seems to be his second one. Yes, with such a title we’re entering some deep cinematic atmospheres, a 65-minute collage of smooth evolving dreamscapes with distinct use of rhythmic beat elements. Not that it’s that easy music,…

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A Light Beacon – Music for the Patient

Release data: A Light Beacon – Music for the Patient CD, Private Release, 2002 The cd-booklet of this album “Music for the Patient” contains five slightly abstract artworks made by the artist Ian Helwig who gave them to the musician with the words “Music to be interpreted”. I personally presume this album was the outcome, which must have taken a…

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Peter Davidson – Even Darker Still

Release data: Peter Davidson – Even Darker Still CD-R, Peter Davidson Music, 2010 Peter Davidson is a multi-instrumentalist who current resides on a peninsula on the Swedish west coast. He made his first steps into the electronic music genre in the late ‘70’s, dabbling around with old radios and monosynths effects. Later on he would study music theory, but the…

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Phillip Wilkerson – Sun Tracer

Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Sun Tracer CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With the music of “Sun Tracer”, Phillip Wilkerson has brought us an fine album of uplifting, positive, enlightening, even thrilling ambient electronics which radiates a strong sense of Berlin School pulses. The inspiration for the album came from some casual reading Philip had been doing on the science of…

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Arc – Church

Release data: Arc – Church CD, DiN, 2010 After the download-only release “Rise”, “Church” is a factory-pressed full-length cd featuring five extended tracks played live during Gatherings Concert Series in November 2009. The recording offers some highly energetic, powerful, state-of-the-art ARC-music that fans of their music can purchase without hesitation. Just imagine the duo’s improvised manner of sequencing, topped by…

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Stephen Parsick – Permafrost – music for hibernation

Release data: Stephen Parsick – Permafrost – music for hibernation CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The music of “Permafrost” (music for hibernation) was initially set in motion by a nine-hour sleep concert Stephen Parsick contributed music to in 2009, produced with the idea of allowing the listener to create your own “sleep concert” at home. Then, from December 2009 til March…

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Stephen Parsick – Hoellenengel

Release data: Stephen Parsick – Hoellenengel CD, Private Release, 2005 With “Hoellenengel”, recorded between November 2000 to November 2004, German synthesist Stephen Parsick brings us his second solo recording. The music on this album features the unique and beautiful sounds of the Yamaha CS80, which many know from several Vangelis recordings. Stephen also made the music without any computers, multi-track…

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Robert Beau Michaels – The Wasteland – music of an apocalyptic world

Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – The Wasteland – music of an apocalyptic world CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Robert Beau Michaels is an American expat who currently resides in Prague, Czech Republic. He initially tried to pursue a career as screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1980’s and 90’s. Frustrated with his inability to sell his scripts and later on also…

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Hyios – Consuetudines

Release data: Hyios – Consuetudines CD, Malignant Records, 2009 Hyios is a one-man project from Leipzig, Germany. “Consuetudines”, which is his debut album recorded between 2007 and 2008, contains seven expansive cold ritual drones textures in which metallic objects and scorching, grinding and organic sounds crawl through abstract spacious realms. The dense sonic environments with noise and industrial elements create…

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Rudolf Heimann – Tide

Release data: Rudolf Heimann – Tide CD, Spheric Music, 2010 “Tide” is the fifth album by German synthesist and producer Rudolf Heimann. Mr Heimann has been around in the genre since 1990, but took a long break after the release of his album “Twilight Voyager” in 1997 when he started to work as a session musician and producer in other…

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Nemesis – 1:4:9

Release data: Nemesis – 1:4:9 CD-R, Retroduction, 2010 “1:4:9” is a digital download-only release by the Finnish trio Nemesis (the cd-version is a limited edition of 100 copies reserved for an art exhibition held in Finland in February 2010). The album is a beautiful journey in introspective ambient spaces, described by the band as the perfect soundtrack for wintry evenings.…

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Erik Wøllo – Gateway

Release data: Erik Wøllo – Gateway CD, Projekt Records, 2010 For years, Erik Wøllo is known for his expert skills in building highly imaginary and emotional music, building a bridge between grand symphonic realms and gentle, serene atmospheres. On “Gateway”, his 14th solo release, Erik takes things to a new exciting level, offering a 70-minute grand breathing space of sparkling…

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Stu Jenks – West of the Fire (Soundtracks for Photographs Vol. 2)

Release data: Stu Jenks – West of the Fire (Soundtracks for Photographs Vol. 2) CD, Fizziweg Music, 2005 In comparison to his beautiful debut album “The Three Surrenders”, the ambient music on “West of the Fire” (Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume Two) is a long form circular work. Again, Stu takes us through a highly imaginary sonic scenery of free form…

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Pascal Savy – The Silent Watcher

Release data: Pascal Savy – The Silent Watcher CD-R, Audiomoves, 2010 Pascal Savy is a London-based electronic music composer who started experimenting with sequencers and synthesizers in the late nineties. Being influenced by the Detroit techno scene, he started making recordings of his output on tapes and mini-discs. “The Silent Watcher”, a digital-only release on David Newman/Autistici’s new label Audiomoves,…

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Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 3

Release data: Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 3 CD-R, Deep Sky Music, 2010 With this album, Robert Carty launches the third and last chapter in a trilogy of albums inspired by nights of star gazing. Like the previous releases, the music is gentle, abundant and spacious, another true celebration of the world of wonder that can be seen up in…

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David Gerard – The Realm of Knowing

Release data: David Gerard – The Realm of Knowing CD-R, Orbiting Orion Records, 2010 Boston-based synthesist David Gerard began composing at age twenty-four, after studying photography and graphic art in New York City. Later on, he studied multi-track recording and started recording his own original work. In 1984, he produced “A Piece of the Desert”, an electronic/ambient suite he admits…

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Matthew Florianz – Maalbeek

Release data: Matthew Florianz – Maalbeek CD, H/S Recordings, 2008 Years back, I got to know some of the fine crafted ambient music of The Hague-based musician Matthew Florianz. In 2008, he released the concept album “Maalbeek”, which again shows his great talent of painting slow morphing, highly atmospheric landscapes. Named after a forest area near the Holland/Germany border, the…

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Schiller – Tag und Nacht

Release data: Schiller – Tag und Nacht CD, Universal Domestic, 2005 Schiller’s stunning album “Sehnsucht” made me decide to investigate his back catalogue a bit further, which brought me to “Tag un Nacht”. Again, this album presents a balanced mix of vocal and instrumental tracks, with even some great pop songs such as “Miles and Miles” and “Falling” (both with…

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Zeit – Waves from the Sky

Release data: Zeit – Waves from the Sky CD, Hic Sunt Leones, 2008 Zeit is Italian ambient musician Tommaso Cimò, who recorded his debut-release “Waves from the Sky” during nightly sessions in his home studio “The Mag” between April and August 2007. The album contains six moody, environmental and overall melancholic ambient pieces, which dwell in a world of introspection…

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Collapsar – Beyond the Event Horizon

Release data: Collapsar – Beyond the Event Horizon CD, Malignant Records, 2009 ans of well-produced dark ambient music will find much of their liking on “Beyond the Event Horizon”, a project by the French musician Thibaud Thaunay, aka Collapsar. This recording of overall spacious form is actually a 47-minute journey into the far depths of the vast and unknown realms…

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Alio Die & Parallel Worlds – Circo Divino

Release data: Alio Die & Parallel Worlds – Circo Divino CD, Hic Sunt Leones, 2010 “Circo Divino”, which comes in very nicely designed digipack, is a collaborative project between Alio Die (aka Italian ambient composer Stefano Musso) and Greek vintage synthesist Parallel Worlds (aka Bakis Siros). Both these musicians have already proved what they are capable of in previous years,…

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Stu Jenks – The Three Surrenders (Soundtracks for Photographs)

Release data: Stu Jenks – The Three Surrenders (Soundtracks for Photographs) CD, Fizziweg Music, 2003/2010 “The Three Surrenders” (Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume One) is the debut album of Tucson-based photographer Stu Jenks, who composed the music as a sonic backdrop for his 2002 photographic installation at Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art. About his visual work he says: “I learn a…

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Justin St. Vincent – The Spiritual Significance of Music

Release data: Justin St. Vincent – The Spiritual Significance of Music BOOK, Xtreme Music, 2009 The anthology “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is a book that investigates the relationship between music and spirituality by means of a series of interviews with worldwide writers and musicians. Music can open up the mind and soul, establish an emotional connection or even be…

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Bruno Sanfilippo & Mathias Grassow – Cromo – piano & drones

Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo & Mathias Grassow – Cromo – piano & drones CD, ad21music, 2010 For this work of art, Mr Sanfilippo and Mr Grassow have teamed up a second time, together creating a smooth and quiet sonic soundscape to follow-up their critically acclaimed “Ambessence”. The six “chapters” on “Cromo” offer 62 minutes of intimate soundings which sees a…

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Walter Christian Rothe – One Night in Paris

“One Night in Paris” is a studio recording made by Walter Christian Rothe back in 1993. This recording, portraying some of the many Parisian landmarks, finds Mr Rothe in good spirits, excelling in offering a melange of lively, emotional and well-composed tracks to please any contemporary listener of electronic music. Overall, it sees a nice interplay of drums, guitars and…

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Phelios – Astral Unity

Release data: Phelios – Astral Unity CD, Malignant Records, 2010 Phelios is a dark ambient project by German musician Martin Stürtzer, who’s an acquaintance of Stephen Parsick. With the latter, Martin collaborated on “It always rains in Wuppertal”. “Astral Unity”, which comes in a beautifully designed 6-panel deluxe digipack with gold foil stamping, shows a further maturation of his highly…

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Michele Ippolito – In the Clouds

Release data: Michele Ippolito – In the Clouds CD-R, Penrose Records, 2009 “In the Clouds” is the second independent release of Illinois-based Michele Ippolito, who started out as a classically trained pianist. What we actually got here is a new age recording in a kindred vein as the music of e.g. Liquid Mind or Robert Haig Coxon’s “The Silent Path”.…

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Steve Rose – Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works

Release data: Steve Rose – Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works” is a 62-minute compilation of lush ambient/space tracks by Canadian musician Steve (Austin) Rose, with pieces dating back to 1994. The release offers seven smooth, unhurried soundscape pieces made with synths and ambient guitar treatments. Melody plays a minor role, it’s…

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Yarek & Friends – Spirits of the Dust

Release data: Yarek & Friends – Spirits of the Dust CD, Generator.pl, 2010 “Spirits of the Dust” is the third album of Polish synthesist Yarek (aka Jaroslaw Degorski), for which he revisited some shelved electronic pieces from the past. For this release, Jaroslaw completely re-arranged and re-recorded them with a bit of help from some friends. At first glance, the…

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Harald Nies – Earthcreator

Release data: Harald Nies – Earthcreator CD-R, Mellowjet Records, 2010 In the past, I stumbled on various releases of German Harald Nies, which were never able to please me in a satisfying way. Now there’s “Earthcreator”, his seventh album if I’m correct, which contains five lengthy pieces. The outcome is general melodic music in the German electronic music style with…

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Byron Metcalf, Dashmesh Khalsa & Steve Roach – Dream Tracker

Release data: Byron Metcalf, Dashmesh Khalsa & Steve Roach – Dream Tracker CD, Dr Bam\’s Music, 2010 The organic music of “Dreamtracker” is a culmination of high spirits, contemporary and ancient trance-induced shamanic rituals and groovy world music, or in the words of the press-info: “a full-blown dreamtime alchemy of all the elements”. After Mr Metcalf mapped out the trance-groove…

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Altus – Black Trees Among Amber Skies

Release data: Altus – Black Trees Among Amber Skies DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 With his release “Black Trees Among Amber Skies”, Canadian musician Mike Carss (aka Altus) returns to his classic free form style of music, who describes the outcome as ambient music for night-time winter walks in the city. As fans of his music know, Mike is an…

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Mythos – Unabsteigbar!

Release data: Mythos – Unabsteigbar! CD-R, Mellowjet Records, 2010 Unabsteigbar!” by Stephan Kaske, aka Mythos, is a limited edition EP in a special amaray-case. It contains 44-minutes of groovy music performed live at Em-Breakfast in December 2009 in Bochum, Germany. The five tracks found here contain all dynamic new music, and sees vocoder fragments interact with beat-driven melodic and rhythmic…

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Walter Christian Rothe & Friends – Two for Green: Bulgaria

Release data: Walter Christian Rothe & Friends – Two for Green: Bulgaria DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1996/2010 “Two for Green – Bulgaria” is an album in a series of collaborations between Walter Christian Rothe and Herwig Duchateaux (ex-Scooter drummer). The concept recording, a journey through the Balkan region, its culture and folklore, contains lots of world music and ethnic influences,…

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Przemysław Rudź – Summa Technologiae

Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Summa Technologiae CD, Generator.pl, 2010 Przemysław Rudź is a Polish musician living in Gdansk, who’s “Summa Technologiae” is a musical interpretation of Stanislav Lem’s book translated into a language of synthetic and mysterious sounds. After a deep atmospheric intro, “Dilemmas” kicks off with complex, clear sequencer patterns. They don’t evolve any further though, staying too…

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Hybrid Leisureland – Scroll Slide

Release data: Hybrid Leisureland – Scroll Slide CD, Ultimae Records, 2010 Hybrid Leisureland is the alias of Tokyo-based musician Hidetoshi Koizumi, who made his first steps into music around 1995. While he made his debut on the Ultimae sampler “Oxycanta” release, his sonic output seem to reflect his personal observations of the world he lives in. Mr Koizumi creates original…

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Chad Kettering – Voices of the Ancients

Release data: Chad Kettering – Voices of the Ancients CD, Soniclayers Music, 2010 After two years of hard work invested in sculpturing, layering and refining music for his second release, Chad Kettering has come up with a great successor to “Into the Infinite”. The outcome on “Voices of the Ancients” is an intensive sound experience which can be put next…

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moonbooter – World of Apes 1

Release data: moonbooter – World of Apes 1 CD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 “World of Apes 1” is a very personal and thought-provoking concept album by Bernd Scholl, aka Moonbooter, addressing the nuclear treat, cold war activities and related themes which keep affecting nowadays global societies and civilization. On this behalf, I remember similar topics were previously explored by Holle Mangler…

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Epiphany – Sonica

Release data: Epiphany – Sonica CD, LB Music Production, 2007/2010 After a leap of almost 10 years, Epiphany (aka Erik Teljeur) finally brings us a new album with imaginary, dark ambient electronics. Erik describes the outcome as his most intimate work to date, as the music inhabits a lot of personal emotions. “Sonica”, which comes in a very nice digipack…

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Schiller – Atemlos

Release data: Schiller – Atemlos CD, Universal Domestic, 2010 Schiller impressed me with his previous album “Sehnsucht” (“Desire”), which was followed by the even better double dvd of the “Sehnsucht”-tour. So expectations among his fans were high for the new album “Atemnot” (“Breathless”) and the outcome Christopher von Deylen, aka Schiller, would come up with. But I must disappoint all…

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Cell – Hanging Masses

Release data: Cell – Hanging Masses CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 “Hanging Masses” is the second full length release by French musician Cell, aka Alexandre Scheffer. Cell previously contributed single tracks to various compilations in the genre of down-tempo electronica, but now bit by bit reveals his own identity with this cohesive album. “Hanging Masses” consists of eight pieces of overall…

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Computerchemist – Aqual Measure

Release data: Computerchemist – Aqual Measure CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Computer Chemist is one Dave Pearson from Hungary, who previously lived in England, whose “Aqual Measure” is described as “Berlin-school-style jazz-rock, perfecting a blend of raw guitar work and uber-precise sequencer lines”. Well, his output sure can be classified as progressive and energetic electronics, topped by e-guitar. The albums starts…

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Hurry Hurry – Life

Release data: Hurry Hurry – Life CD-R, Substantial Brothers Productions, 2010 Hurry Hurry is a collaborative project of the brothers Wayne and Rob Hurry, who hail from Lake Heights, Western Australia. They run a business in film music, but decided to start a different project in their spare time, dedicated to composing commercial music releases as Hurry Hurry. “Life” (in…

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Llyn Y Cwn – Llyn Y Cwn

Release data: Llyn Y Cwn – Llyn Y Cwn DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Manky Music, 2009 Llyn Y Cwn is a dark ambient project of Ben Powell, also known as Mank. Those familiar with the deep and dense ambient soundscaping heard on the last track of Mank’s album “Isbjorn” will absolutely love the output of Llyn Y Cwn’s two Ep’s. Part…

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Ambientium – Fractal Philosophy

Release data: Ambientium – Fractal Philosophy CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Ambientium is the Czech-duo Lubomir and Lucie Cyrk, who have devoted their project Ambientium to their fascination for the world, universe, nature, beauty and love which inspires them to create atmospheric music and which takes you into this story of the cosmos and being. The album “Fractal Philosophy” is inspired…

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Javi Cánovas – Behind the Shadows

Release data: Javi Cánovas – Behind the Shadows CD-R, Private Release, 2010 For “Behind the Shadows”, Mr Canovas decided to try something different musically, as the sonic content on this album heads into ambient spaces. The twelve non-rhythmic tracks, ranging between four and seven minutes, move along as introspective, overall quieting but also quite varied soundscapes, which occasionally take a…

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Arc – Rise

Release data: Arc – Rise CD-R, DiNDDL, 2010 The vintage powerhouse duo Mark Shreeve and Ian Boddy, aka Arc, made a trip to the USA in November 2009 to play their debut concert at Chuck van Zyl’s famous Gatherings Concert Series in Philedelphia. The three lenghty tracks on the 57-minute “Rise” are taken from that performance. The album takes off…

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Robert Rich – Ylang

Release data: Robert Rich – Ylang CD, Soundscape Productions, 2010 After several collaborative albums, Robert Rich returns with the sonic perfume project entitled “Ylang”, a rather complex album which sees him blend “languid polyrhythms with infusions of South Indian Karnatic music, post-ock, jazz and minimalisms”. But most of all, the organic flavoured outcome of “Ylang” is one that clearly holds…

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Steve Roach – Live at Grace Cathedral

Release data: Steve Roach – Live at Grace Cathedral CD, Timeroom Editions, 2010 In June 2007, Steve was given the opportunity to play an ambient concert in the sacred space of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. This allowed him to use the natural, expansive reverent ambience of the performance space predominant in the sound mix. At that occasion, Steve played a…

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Glenn Main – Ripples

    Release data: Glenn Main – Ripples CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2012 This is in fact my first encounter with the output of Norwegian synthesist Glenn Main, aka Glenn Henriksen, who hereby delivers an almost 59-minute album displaying a mellow/melodic style of cosmic music. “Ripples”, Glenn’s fourth album by now, contains 12 structured and highly accessible feel-good compositions with…

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The Tangent Project – Surface

Release data: The Tangent Project – Surface CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Tangent Project is the American duo Jeff Coulter (synths) and Harrison McKay (guitars), both based in the Philadelphia suburbs. On several occasions, they had the honour to play live on Chuck van Zyl’s Star’s End radio show. “Surface” though is a studio recording they have been working on since…

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Nemesis – Gigaherz

Release data: Nemesis – Gigaherz CD, Origo Sound, 2010 After a long struggle, the definite and official version of “Gigaherz” was released on January 10th, 2010 by Origo Sound. Initially, only a few pre-release copies of it were made available in 2008 to test the waters for the music. In addition, the current one is not the same either as…

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Thamnos – WIR

Release data: Thamnos – WIR CD, Sound Claim, 2009 Thamnos is a music project of musician/producer/composer Tomas Weiss and UK-based singer-songwriter Annemarie Borg, started in 2007. “W I R” (World In Remission) is another recent album that expresses its worries about the destroyed balance of life on earth, painting the atmosphere of today, through the many styles and means of…

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Remy – Exhibition of Dreams (10th anniversary edition)

Release data: Remy – Exhibition of Dreams (10th anniversary edition) CD, AKH Records, 2010 With the release of “Exhibition of Dreams”, fans of Remy Stroomer’s music are given the opportunity to hear the remarkable musical development this Dutch musician and his music has undergone since he made his first steps in the genre of electronic music. While celebrating the 10th…

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Juta Takahashi – Hymn

Release data: Juta Takahashi – Hymn CD-R, Lunisolar Records, 2010 With “Hymn”, his seventh release by now, Japanese ambient composer Jutaro Takahashi brings us 60-minutes of smooth, gentle and gracious cosmic soundscapes, which seem to dissolve in time. The three tracks of 20 minutes each evolve gradually and very slowly, which I imagine can make them too long form and…

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Pillion – Halcyon

Release data: Pillion – Halcyon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2006/2010 Pillion’s “Halcyon” is an album that was shelved after it was recorded in 2006, taking another two years before it was remastered. The concept album tells a story about the changes in life one has been forced to do, if you have no choice, confirming what Pillion was all about:…

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Erik Seifert – Core

Release data: Erik Seifert – Core CD, PleasureSoundMusic, 2009 “Core” is a concept album on the Large Hadron Collider (a huge particle accelerator in Switzerland used for high-energy physics research), which took Erik Seifert three years of work to complete. For the music, he envisioned to capture the power, energy and the technical beauty of this momumental project, while also…

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Interconnected – Current Flow

Release data: Interconnected – Current Flow CD-R, VU-US, 2010 Those of your who like vintage electronics with an abstract edge while taking things out of the ordinary, should check out the sonic worlds of Interconnected. It’s a a collaborative electronica/ idm/ experimental effort between Greek synthesist musician Bakis Sirros (of Parallel Worlds, Memory Geist) and Ingo Zobel (known of Dron,…

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Mon0 – Proficisci

Release data: Mon0 – Proficisci CD-R, Kreislauf, 2009 “Proficisci”, is not a full mon0-album, but an Ep containing two high-atmospheric tracks. As known from his previous work, Andre has come up with some thick, expansive, multi-layered soundscape textures which gently get things started on the 13-minute “Follow Me…”. This cinematic and immersive sonic journey into the vast unknown vaporizes an…

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Arcane – The Shelter

Release data: Arcane – The Shelter CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Shortly after “Tomorrow’s Tuesday”, Paul Lawler brings us another vintage release, the Ep “The Shelter”. The latter is the name of a strange, big, deserted and spooky house (yes, the one on the cover!) owned by Steve’s grandparents, who used it as a place for destitute animals. The three music…

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Michael Stearns – Sustaining Cylinders

Release data: Michael Stearns – Sustaining Cylinders CD, Earth Turtle Music / Groove Unlimited, 1978/2001 The music on “Sustaining Cylinders”, originally released on the Continuum Montage label in 1978, belongs to the earliest recordings by ambient musician Michael Stearns. Its sonic content was not designed to play as music, to engage the mind and emotions, but rather as textural meditative…

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Michael Stearns – Lyra (Sound Constellation)

Release data: Michael Stearns – Lyra (Sound Constellation) CD, Earth Turtle Music/Groove Unlimited, 1983/2001 Originally released on lp and cassette on the Continuum Montage label back in 1983, “Lyra (Sound Constellation)” is another (but this time far more extreme) ambient experiment of Michael Stearns, now executed together with his friend George Landry. But what a hard one it appeared to…

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Fripp & Eno – Evening Star

Release data: Fripp & Eno – Evening Star CD, EG Records, 1975/2008 “Evening Star”, the second album by the duo Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, can nowadays be regarded a classic album in the genre of minimal drone ambient. The tape looping system, already featured on their previous release “No Pussy Footing”, has been further improved, while Fripp’s guitar sounds…

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Robert Schroeder – New Frequencies Vol. 1

Release data: Robert Schroeder – New Frequencies Vol. 1 CD, Spheric Music, 2010 The flow of Schroeder-releases is still strong at Spheric Music, as February 2010 brings us “New Frequencies Vol. 1” after two other albums in the previous year. This studio project, exclusively produced using only a pc and a midi keyboard, focuses on modern electronic grooves. The strong…

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Johannes Schmoelling – A Thousand Times

Release data: Johannes Schmoelling – A Thousand Times CD, Viktoriapark Records, 2009 The first impression the music on “A Thousand Times” left on me is that it contains many beautiful TD references of the ‘80s. This isn’t strange, as Johannes joined the band during the “Poland” tour and beyond. I think his contribution to the sound of the band was…

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René van der Wouden – Numerus Fixus

Release data: René van der Wouden – Numerus Fixus CD, ReWo Records, 2009 “Numerus Fixus” by Gouda-based electronic musician Rene van der Wouden, is a concept album dedicated to the various interlinked ecosystems on our blue planet. The fact that we use and rely on them almost regardless every day, makes them also gradually becoming more and more limited and…

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Shaped Signs – Nature’s Odyssey

Release data: Shaped Signs – Nature’s Odyssey CD, Invisible Shadows, 2004 “Nature’s Odyssey” is the debut-album of the German duo Volker Kaufmann and Ron Grahnert. Some rumours shortly after the release spoke of instrumental Mike Oldfield-like music. Well, what we got here is 60+ minutes of nature-inspired symphonic music which offers a lot of detail next to the use of…

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Alpha Wave Movement – Cosmic Mandala

Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Cosmic Mandala CD-R, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2009 In contrast to what I thought, “Cosmic Mandala” is not a full length release but a 32 minute Ep (although Mr Kyryluk informed me a full length AWM-cd is on the way). As Gregory put it, the music is a fusion of ambient atmospheres, dub syncopations and…

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Jon Jenkins & Paul Laekey – Continuum

Release data: Jon Jenkins & Paul Laekey – Continuum CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1995 “Continuum”, the only album to date by Jon Jenkins and Paul Leakey, comes in a stunningly beautiful fantasy cd-cover. Shortly after its release, Dream’s Word magazine called it “the perfect marriage of classical, ambient, and world music that defies classification”. Well, the 55 minutes of highly…

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Sayer – 1st Encounter

Release data: Sayer – 1st Encounter CD, Invisible Shadows, 2003 “1st Encounter” is the first commercially released and factory pressed cd of US-musician Sayer, who’s also dealing with various other dance, techno and other electronica projects (such as Dream Quest). Sayer’s musical goal is not to re-create what has been done before, but to take these influences and expand upon…

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John Flomer – Mysterious Motions of Memory

Release data: John Flomer – Mysterious Motions of Memory CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1996 “Mysterious Motions of Memory”, a concept album on genetic memory, is the debut-release of Minneapolis-based “visual musician” John Flomer on the prestigious Spotted Peccary label. To achieve this outcome, John applied a high-tech, synthesizer-based ensemble “Primal Cinema”. The cd, which has some beautiful graphics and cover…

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Christopher Franke – Epic

Release data: Christopher Franke – Epic CD, Earthtone Records, 1999 Christopher Franke is best known as a former member of Tangerine Dream, a band he joined from 1970 until 1988. After that, he moved to the United States to pursue a career as composer of music for movies and TV shows, of which “Universal Soldier” and “Babylon 5” in the…

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Michael Stearns – Ancient Leaves

Release data: Michael Stearns – Ancient Leaves CD, Earth Turtle Music/Groove Unlimited, 1977/1999 “Ancient Leaves” is Michael’s first self published vinyl release and fits into what’s nowadays called drone music with an experimental edge. The foundation for the music was layed down by some deep synth tracks with a Mini Moog, followed by some experimentation with women chanting (which ended…

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33 Tetragammon & Human Metronome – Spectral Solitude

Release data: 33 Tetragammon & Human Metronome – Spectral Solitude CD-R, Private Release, 2009 For their second album, 33 Tetragammon (aka Wasili Papadopoulos) and Human Metronome (aka Eelke van Hoof) worked more closely together in composing the songs, meaning tracks were intensely exchanged so the other person could add his own flavour. The actual idea for the release “Spectral Solitude”,…

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2A – Hologram

Release data: APOSTOLIS ANGELIS (2A) Hologram CD, Apoapsis Records, 2009 “Hologram” is the contemporary electronic music debut of self-taught music composer and mixing engineer Apostolos Angelis, aka 2A, who lives in Trikala, Greece. Although referred to as fitting in the new age genre, the outcome on “Hologram” is characterized by organic analogue and digital feel, sampling technologies muted drum beats,…

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Dave Luxton – When The World Was Young

Release data: Dave Luxton – When The World Was Young CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2010 “When The World Was Young”, due for release on 01/21/2010, arrived on the threshold of the new year. This album has a much lighter sound compared to his previous album, although the crispy undercurrents have remained, presenting 10 tracks of freeform ambient dronescapes which “uniquely balance…

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Deepspace – World Ocean Atlas

Release data: Deepspace – World Ocean Atlas CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2009 With this album, Mirko Ruckels aka Deepspace invites us on a trip through the “World Ocean Atlas”. The outcome is proof of a further refining, deepening and shaping of the ambient magic which made up the visual sonic landscapes on his previous albums. The real beauty of his…

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Arcane – Tomorrow’s Wasteland

Release data: Arcane – Tomorrow’s Wasteland CD-R, Private Release, 2009 The end of 2009 sees another grand release in the genre of retro-inspired electronics, made by no other than Paul Lawler, aka Arcane. The well composed and constructed “Tomorrow’s Wasteland” offers rich and vibrant vintage music, for the most part following into the footsteps of the ‘80’s TD sound. With…

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John Ellis – Wabi-Sabi 21©

Release data: John Ellis – Wabi-Sabi 21© CD-R, Chanoyu Records, 2009 John Ellis is an English guitarist who played in various punk rock bands such as the Vibrators and The Stranglers, but he als has worked with Peter Gabriel and Peter Hamill. John recently started his own record label Chanoyu Records, which explores the meeting points of guitar and electronic…

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Kees Aerts – If One Door Closes

Release data: Kees Aerts – If One Door Closes CD, Groove Unlimited, 2008 “If One Door Closes” is the second full-length cd of Kees Aerts, released after a hiatus of almost ten years, and which (is my impression) would never had been out by now if several people hadn’t asked for it. Well, the disc compiles 12 mostly older tracks,…

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Anomalous Disturbances – Inside

Release data: Anomalous Disturbances – Inside CD-R, Disappearing Music, 2009 The music of “Inside” sings a different tune when compared to Terry O’Brien’s solo music as Anomalous Disturbances, as he this time has joined forces with his brothers Chris and Wayne. The latter two add peacefull rhythms, beats, EWI, flute, atmospherics and crystal balls to Terry’s ethereal E-bow and guitar…

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Andrew Forrest – Infinite Octaves

Release data: Andrew Forrest – Infinite Octaves CD, Private Release, 2009 After a long hiatus of seven years, Andrew Forrest finally brings us the “final” chapter of his “Star- System Trilogy”, which is actually not the third but the first volume. “Infinite Octaves” is a stunning work of space music in the true sense, offering a free form, gentle and…

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Odyssey – X – Space Odyssey

Release data: Odyssey – X – Space Odyssey CD, Generator.pl, 2009 Tomasz Pauszek describes this album as a “mixture of “fine-tuned” sequential electronics, organic ambient music and dynamic electronic rock-pop”. Well, with “X – Space Odyssey”, Generator.PL bring us a second release of this Polish musician in one year, which comes as a double album featuring tracks recorded between 2006…

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Redshift – Wild 3

Release data: Redshift – Wild 3 CD, Distant Sun Production, 2009 With “Wild 3”, Mark Shreeve shares another fine bunch of Redshift exclusives with the fans, kicking off with “Redshift 08”. On this excellent live track, Ian Boddy joins Mark and Julian. Ian plays some nice strings/choirs while Julian is featured on the harmony synth as Mark is heard on…

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Terje Winther – Electronic Regions

Release data: Terje Winther – Electronic Regions CD, Bajkal Records, 2009 “Electronic Regions”, a concert album with varied expressions spread out over two discs, took Norwegian musician Terje Winther a long time to complete, almost five years to be more exact. For this release, Terje actually wanted to pay homage to all the electronic music that has inspired him, from…

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Bernd Kistenmacher – Celestial Movements

Release data: Bernd Kistenmacher – Celestial Movements CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2009 It seemed Bernd Kistenmacher had retired from electronic music after 2001, having previously comprised most of his privately released music in the box-set “My Little Universe”. In 2008 however, rumours said he was working on a possible new album. It eventually ended up in a live concert in…

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Altus – Coma Cluster

Release data: Altus – Coma Cluster DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2009 After some more challenging and adventurous releases such as “Macro” and “City of Ashes”, Canadian ambient musician Mike Carss now returns to his “common”, accessible style: “Coma Cluster” offers 74 minutes of soothing, free form cosmic music. The four lengthy tracks come to the listener in one, uninterrupted flow,…

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Free System Projekt, Brendan Pollard, Hashtronaut – Time Out of Mind

Release data: Free System Projekt, Brendan Pollard, Hashtronaut – Time Out of Mind CD, Acoustic Wave Records, 2009 Brendan Pollard, Free System Project (aka Ruud Heij and Marcel Engels) and Hashtronaut (aka Michael Daniel) belong to the group of consistent purveyors who keep on investigating and revisiting the realms of vintage electronics as made in the first half of the…

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Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – Blue

Release data: Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – Blue CD, Manikin Records, 2009 As the trio explains on the cd-cover, Blue marks the second part of their “Theory of Colours” series (the first was “Orange” in 2007), of which the music is taken from concerts given in 2007 and 2008. The cd contains three lengthy chill-out tracks. The 23-minute “Blue One”…

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Freud – The Journey

Release data: Freud – The Journey CD, Tantajo Records, 2006/2009 Freud is a project by German keyboardist Ingo Hauss and Dublin-based singer Cora O’Donovan. “The Journey”, their second release on which Maria Sanchez joins the duo, fits in the genre of vocal and smooth chill-out pop music, a progressive/electronic and overall moody style balancing somewhere between Amethystium, Adiemus and Enya,…

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Ron Boots/Frank Dorittke/Harold van der Heijden – Derby!

Release data: Ron Boots – Derby! CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 Early September 2009, Ron Boots travelled to Derby in the UK, accompanied by his faithful drummer and best friend Harold van der Heijden and Mr “F.D. Project” Frank Dorittke to perform a concert at the David Wright’s AD Music festival. And what a dynamic happening it must have been, according…

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Stephan Whitlan – Triangulation

Release data: Stephan Whitlan – Triangulation CD, Fairy Nuff Music, 2009 Irish musician Stephen Whitlan joined John Dyson & co. on E-Day 2009, for which he performed a short solo concert as an introduction. Shortly after the show he was invited to do a full concert at E-Live 2009, so he planned to compose a whole new cd for that…

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Bruno Sanfilippo – Piano Textures 2

Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Piano Textures 2 CD, ad21music, 2009 In 2007, Mr Sanfilippo presented us the first volume of “Piano Textures”, now followed by a second chapter of gentle, overall elegant, contemplative but not too soothing piano-atmospheres. These formulae already proved to be worthy on the initial release, but on “Piano Textures”, Bruno reaches for and arrived on…

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[‘ramp] – Debris

Release data: [‘ramp] Debris CD, Private Release, 2009 “Debris” is a deep, strong organic flavoured ambient journey coming in four sections. It’s composed solely by Stephen Parsick, as he and Frank Makowski parted ways a while ago. As Stephen explains, the outcome (for which he used basic tracks composed between June 2000 and January 2005 as a start) is based…

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John Christian – Susbarbatus

Release data: John Christian – Susbarbatus CD-R, Private Release, 2009 John Christian is one of the members of the English band Air Sculpture. For “Susbarbatus”, he wanted to extend and further explore the ideas he had come up with on his cd-r “Bohunt”. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned, so the backbone of “Susbarbatus” became “a set of sequencer…

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Steve Roach – Immersion: Four

Release data: Steve Roach – Immersion: Four CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 In the “Immersion”-series, Steve Roach has arrived at number four, which –like all previous ones- contains only one longform piece clocking over 70 minutes. As can be expected, the freeform music slowly evolves in a quiet, unhurried synth washes. Created for continuous low volume playback, this sanctuary of total…

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Tomasz Zawadzinski – Saved as

Release data: Tomasz Zawadzinski – Saved as CD, Generator.Pl, 2009 The music which is presented by Polish musician on his album “Saved As” is a musical painting that in its own way pays tribute to the sounds of classic Berliner School, and especially Tangerine Dream’s late ’70’s and early ’80’s years. The inviting opening track “The Search”, composed is 2004,…

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Steve Roach – Afterlight

Release data: Steve Roach – Afterlight CD, Timeroom Editions, 2009 “Afterlight” is a companion work which ambient musician Steve Roach composed in the Spring of 2009, in addition to the long-form releases “Destination Horizon” and “Immersion: Four”. Again, we find one single highly atmospheric track of which the music is interconnected in a “pursuit of timelessness”, as is the case…

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Daniel Dorobantu – Knock on the Sky and listen to the Sound

Release data: Daniel Dorobantu – Knock on the Sky and listen to the Sound CD, Private Release, 2008 Daniel Dorobanthu is a musician from Romania, whose “Knock on the Sky and listen to the Sound” is a peaceful, dreamy journey with strong Zen-inspired and contemplative elements. Recorded in 2007 and 2008, the music (split into seven tracks) uses generative electro…

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Spyra – January in June

Release data: Spyra – January in June CD, Fax Records, 2009 Although the rumours on this recording said quite the opposite, Wolfram Spyra delivers a fine melange of inventive electro-acoustic music with “January in June”. This especially applies to the first half of the cd, including the title track. On the other hand, one can’t miss the more progressive approach…

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Synth.nl – Oceanography

Release data: Synth.nl – Oceanography CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 “OceanoGraphy” is the third release of Synth.nl, aka Michel van Osenbruggen, who got inspired by the earth ocean’s and the many sea creatures living in them. The 12 cinematic and melodic tracks with lots of well-chosen environmental sounds clearly show a further refinement of his skills and sounds, creating a nice…

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Jeff Greinke – Virga

Release data: Jeff Greinke –Virga CD, Lotuspike, 2009 “Virga” is the 18th release by Jeff Greinke, and his second one on the LotusPike/Spotted Peccary. The character and shape of the music sees Greinke return to an ambient and textural approach which applied to his ‘80s and ‘90s work. In a way, it’s electronic ambient chamber music, as the outcome merges…

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Jonn Serrie – Thousand Star

Release data: Jonn Serrie – Thousand Star CD, New World Music, 2009 After a hiatus of a few years, space music veteran Jonn Serrie returns with “Thousand Star” (which was formerly named “Radii”). Like its predecessor “The Stargazer’s Journey”, the highly immersive and elevating music delves deep into the vast spaces and overall magic of the cosmos. Fortunately, it again…

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Robert Rich – Michael Somoroff’s Illumination

Release data: Robert Rich – Michael Somoroff’s Illumination CD, Soundscape Music, 2007 The music on this concept cd is the sonic companion to Michael Somoroff’s multimedia installation “Illumination”. The seven tracks, acting as a background soundtrack, weave an expansive tapestry of subtle, deep, slow morphing and overall immersive electronic atmospherics. The vibrating, dense and transparent dronescapes smoothly interact and shapeshift…

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Pollard/Daniel/Booth – September 2009 jams

Release data: Pollard/Daniel/Booth – September 2009 jams CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “September 2009 jams” is a limited edition of 100 copies containing only two tracks. It again makes me wonder what fun these guys must have had as this and other outcomes culminated and evolved in the Brendan’s studio. The over 50 minute “Catalyst” kicks off. It’s a continuous and…

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Richard Burmer – Invention

Release data: Richard Burmer – Invention CD, American Grammophone, 1992 In a way, the music on “Invention” continues in the style Richard Burner displayed on his previous three albums. He still uses lots of warm and intimate synth textures, although the symphonic elements aren’t present this time. Again, Burmer’s liner notes in the booklet actually give the listener insight into…

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Various Artists – Imaginary Friends

Release data: Various Artists – Imaginary Friends CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 “Imaginary Friends” is an audio poetry album collected by Nova, flowing up on the 2005 compilation cd “Albedo”. The narrative-driven compilation offers eleven tracks by various artists, offering a range of styles and approaches within contemporary ambient electronics creating an overall vibrant, fresh, intimate and warm atmospheric pallet of…

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Remy – EoD

Release data: Remy – EoD CD, AKH Records, 2009 As Remy explains, “EoD” is the first part of the 10th anniversary of his debut release “Exhibition of Dreams”, containing newly recorded versions of a selection of the original tracks from 1999 album. “EoD” comprises five long tracks, making up over 70 minutes of fine electronics with many nice breaks and…

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Jeffrey Koepper – Quadranteon

Release data: Jeffrey Koepper –Quadranteon CD, Air Space Records, 2009 “Quandranteon”, by analogue synth-wizzard Jeffrey Koepper, contains four extended parts in which he succeeds in stretching the boundaries of his vintage gearand their lovely, warm sounds a bit further. Not only does “AnalogueJeff” create the nicest range of sounds from his instruments, he also knows how to implement each of…

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Picture Palace Music – Curriculum Vitae I (The Aside Ones)

Release data: Picture Palace Music – Curriculum Vitae I (The Aside Ones) CD, Ricochet Dream, 2009 June 2009 saw the release of “Curriculum Vitae I”, a compilation cd by Picture Palace Music, the music project by Thorsten Quaeschning (from Tangerine Dream-fame). Subtitled “music for compilation rates and personal data sheets”, the cd contains tracks recorded between 2006 and 2008 which…

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Rainbow Serpent / Fanger & Schönwälder – Elektrik Cowboys

Release data: Rainbow Serpent / Fanger & Schönwälder – Elektrik Cowboys CD, Ricochet Dream, 2009 “Elektrik Cowboys” comprises live improvised music, recorded live during the Ricochet Gathering in Montana in August 2007. The 63-minute album is nicely kicked off by Rainbow Serpent (aka the German duo Gerd Wienekamp and Frank Specht), which show their mastery in carefully unwinding compelling and…

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Jamie Craig – Illumination

Release data: Jamie Craig – Illumination CD, Private Release, 2008 Jamie Craig is a Detroit-based synthesist and keyboardist who previously was a rock ‘n roll bassist for many years. “Illumination”, his second release, contains instrumental music with a high easy-going and jazz-fusion feel. His jazz and progrock pieces all feature solid bass-lines and not that great drums, over which a…

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Jonn Serrie – Sunday Morning

Release data: Jonn Serrie – Sunday Morning CD-R, Private Release, 2005 In more than one way, “Sunday Morning” is a rather exclusive cd, as Jonn Serrie has composed five tracks of overall harmonious stress-relief music with a new-age vibe. As Jonn states in the liner notes, he was very touched by David Kirby’s book “Evidence of Harm” and how difficult…

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Dave Luxton – The Divided Line

Release data: Dave Luxton – The Divided Line CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2009 Musician Dave Luxton continues his journey into ambient electronic dream worlds with “The Divided Line”, a concept album intended to compose music that would reflect the various aspects of human consciousness and the planes of existence. The outcome is an eclectic mix of gloomy, mesmerizing and at times…

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Robert Schroeder – 30 Years After

Release data: Robert Schroeder 30 Years After CD, Spheric Music, 2009 After a brand new cd in the Spring of 2009 (“Taste It”), Fall 2009 sees the release of “30 Years After”, a sort-of retrospective album by Robert Schroeder. One may expect otherwise, but “30 Years After” does not contain previous released tracks. It more or less revisits the sounds,…

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Mank – Isbjorn

Release data: Mank – Isbjorn CD-R, Manky Music, 2008 Mank is an ambient project by North Wales based musician Ben Powell. For “Isbjorn”, his eight release, Ben spend five weeks on a polar research ship in September and October 2007 to collect oceanographic data. The latter would form the majority of this album, which was actually created during the journey.…

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David Parsons – Jyoti

Release data: David Parsons – Jyoti CD, Celestial Harmonies, 2009 David Parsons’ release “Jyoti” (which is, like all of his music, inspired by Indian music) is basically the “sister” album to “Earthlight”, although slightly darker sound wise. David recalls in the booklet he extensively used the Novation synthesizer (which he intends to utilise a lot on projects in the foreseeable…

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Jon Jenkins – Flow

Release data: Jon Jenkins – Flow CD, Spotted Peccary, 1998 “Flow” is the second release by synthesist Jon Jenkins, which sees him use the metaphor of water to create an introspective ambient world of beauty wonder. The outcome is a beautiful blend of carefully crafted and shaped soundscapes to which the sound of Jeff Pearce’s ambient electric guitars is add…

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Spiraleye – Still

Release data: Spiraleye – Still CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Still” is the second release of Spiraleye, aka synthesist Peter Challoner and guitarist Neale Haddon. As their debut release “The space between”, the seven pieces on “Still” again feature live improvised recordings, but this time the 70-minute outcome is much more a contemplative ambient affair. It slowly moves forward in quiet,…

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Soundician – L.S.

Release data: Soundician – L.S. CD-R, Private Release, 2009 After a bit longer hiatus than normal, September 14 saw the release of “L.S.”, the seventh album by Kit and Odette Johnson, aka Soundician. Based on the work of painter L.S. Lowry (known for his industrial landscapes of British Manchester), the English duo says about the music to “expect something different…

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Broken Harbour – Broken Harbour

Release data: Broken Harbour – Broken Harbour CD-R, Consouling Records, 2009 Broken Harbour is the alias of Blake Gibson, a Canadian musician who focuses on deep and minimal ambient drone-based music, for which he applies synthetic sources, assorted samples, and real time performances. The biggest part of the album, containing five long form pieces, explores the isolation that a space…

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Steve Roach – Destination Beyond

Release data: Steve Roach – Destination Beyond CD, Projekt, 2009 With “Destination Beyond”, Steve Roach brings us another longform journey of expansive, beautifully rendered sonic vistas. It’s not as quiet as one might initially suspect, as Steve somewhat heads in the direction of “Destination Horizon”, a sole track he did years ago. The 71-minute “Destination Beyond” is a work of…

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Mythos – Gallery Concerts

Release data: Mythos – Gallery Concerts CD, Mellowjet Records, 2009 As Stephan Kaske, aka Mythos, explains in the press sheet, “Gallery Concerts” is a live-recording of a concert performed on August 29th 2009 in the Grugapark in Essen, fully done without the use of laptop computers. The 53-minute outcome is a fresh and mellow style of electronic music with lots…

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Anomalous Disturbances – Archive Two

Release data: Anomalous Disturbances – Archive Two CD-R, Disappearing Music, 2009 After a hiatus of five years, Anomalous Disturbances (aka the Vancouver-based ambient artist Terry O’Brien) finally brings us a second batch of “shelved” recordings. “Archive Two”, a double cd-r, is a nice collection of unreleased and previously released pieces (which appeared on special projects and compilations) from 2001-2008. And…

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Deborah Martin & Erik Wøllo – Between Worlds

Release data: Deborah Martin & Erik Wøllo – Between Worlds CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2009 “Between Worlds” is a collaboration album of American musician Deborah Martin and the talented Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Erik Wøllo, which let us hear the voices of the American past. Inspired by Native American music and its culture (with special focus on the South West area), the…

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F.D. Project – T & Y

Release data: F.D. Project – T & Y CD, Private Release, 2009 With “T & Y” (Today & Yesterday), Frank Dorittke continues his path along the avenue of melodic instrumental EM, which seems to contain pieces and ideas going back until 2003. The album is divided in two parts, “Today” containing Frank’s more recent music put forward as longer pieces,…

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Blüchel & von Deylen – Bi Polar

Release data: Blüchel & von Deylen – Bi Polar CD, Edel Music, 2003 Unlike the music on “Mare Stellaris”, only two of the eight tracks on “BiPolar” are original compositions by Christopher von Deylen and Harald Blüchel. The other six electronic tracks are all re-interpretations of existing classic tracks by Eric Satie (Gymnopedié No.1 & 3), Philip Glass, Michael Nyman,…

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Blüchel & von Deylen – Mare Stellaris

Release data: Blüchel & von Deylen – Mare Stellaris CD, Sony Bmg, 2004 “Mare Stellaris” is the debut album of the German musicians/producers Christopher von Deylen (better known as Schiller) and Harald Blüchel (aka Cosmic Baby). Although the openings tracks might give the impression this is a sort of lounge-like album, a trancy/down tempo style pops up on the thrilling…

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Char-El – Resurrection

Release data: Char-El – Resurrection CD-R, Private Release, 2009 After quite a long absence of almost a decade, August 2009 marks the return of Charles Thaxton (aka Char-El) to the music scene with “Resurrection”, his third album. Composed with a variety of analogue and digital synthesizers and digital drums, the 79-minutes of music present a nice blend of progressive, symphonic…

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Michael Stearns – Planetary Unfolding

Release data: Michael Stearns – Planetary Unfolding CD, Sonic Atmospheres, 1981/1985 Fans of deep space music shouldn’t miss out on the immersive journey into the depths of the cosmos which is presented on the state-of-the-art “Planetary Unfolding”. The album was originally released in 1981 on lp on the Continuum Montage label. Composed completely on the Serge synthesizer (built by Michael’s…

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Michael Stearns – Morning Jewel

Release data: Michael Stearns – Morning Jewel CD, Groove Unlimited, 1979/2000 “Morning Jewel” is a digitally remastered and optimized re-release of Michael’s original 1979-album “Jewel”. Containing two extended ambient pieces of 27 and 23 minutes, it’s also Michael’s first work on which he introduces the (Mighty) Serge synthesizer. “Morning” kicks off with a smooth and gentle live ambience featuring a…

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O-Head – Steps Across the Cortex

Release data: O-Head – Steps Across the Cortex CD, Centaur Discs, 2005 “Steps across the Cortex” is the second album by English musician David Hendry, who hereby steps forward with a nice album of powerful contemporary electronics complimented with a good dash of vintage sounds. Firmly rooted in the typical sound of English electronic music, this more than once can…

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Michael Stearns – Floating Whispers

Release data: Michael Stearns – Floating Whispers CD, Earth Turtle Music/Groove Unlimited, 1987/1998 “Floating Whispers” contains music that appeared to be the predecessor of space music that would later end up on “Planetary Unfolding” and “Chronos”. It’s one of the classic space music albums of Michael Stearns which was re-released in 1998 in collaboration with the Groove Unlimited label after…

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Kitaro – Impressions of the West Lake

Release data: Kitaro – Impressions of the West Lake CD, Domo Records, 2009 For over a decade, I’ve been out of touch with the music of Kitaro, so this release may be a good opportunity to catch up on his current whereabouts. “Impressions of the West Lake” contains Kitaro’s score to a modern day opera conceived and directed by internationally…

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Alex Theory & Daniel Pinchbeck – Emergence 2012

Release data: Alex Theory & Daniel Pinchbeck – Emergence 2012 CD, Sounds True, 2009 “Emergence 2012” is a rather peculiar ambient release by San Francisco-based ambient-sound technician/sound healing visionary Alex Theory and philosopher-journalist Daniel Pinchbeck. Inspired by Baktuns, the cycles of the classical Mayan calendar, the shamanic and healing music of “Emergence 2012” is presented as a soundtrack for global…

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Outer Space Alliance – Outer Space Alliance

Release data: Outer Space Alliance – Outer Space Alliance CD, Holy Feather Productions, 1998/2009 Outer Space Alliance are Arto Koivisto (electronics) Jari Pitkänen (electronics) and Tommi Björk (guitar/keys), an electronic music collective from Helsinki. This same-titled cd is actually a completely re-recorded and reworked version of their 1998 debut release “Outer Space Alliance Promo-cd-r”, offering a slightly shuffled track listing…

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David Lange – Return of the Comet

Release data: David Lange – Return of the Comet CD, Hearts of Space, 1985/1988 David Lange is a California-based independent filmmaker whose album “Return to the Comet”, created in the early days of digital recording, is generally regarded classic electronic space music for star gazing, comet tracking and other celestial experiences. Lange creates his music visually first, starting with the…

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Raphael – Angels of the Deep

Release data: Raphael – Angels of the Deep CD, Hearts of Space, 1995 “Angels of the Deep” is the third album by Raphael, an Hawaiian-based spiritual teacher and musician. The uplifting, smooth atmospheres and themes captured on the 62-minute “Angels of the deep” are all strongly connected to the “water” theme, sounding like a celebration of its otherwordly beauty. The…

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Robert Rich & Steve Roach – Strata

Release data: Robert Rich & Steve Roach – Strata CD, Hearts of Space, 1990 The previous short collaborations on “Dreamtime Return” and “Desert Solitaire” between ambient musicians Steve Roach and Robert Rich have finally ended up on the full-length album “Strata”, a work of “geologic” ambient, unlocking the entrance to a deeper sound experience. Aiming to create sounds that evoke…

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Steve Roach & Robert Rich – SoMa

Release data: Steve Roach & Robert Rich – SoMa CD, Hearts of Space, 1991 “SoMa” is the follow-up to the duo’s strong debut “Strata”, offering another 57-minute blend of fine tribal ambient music. A gentle wash of organic and shamanic soundworlds continue the journey, a nice melting pot of melodic flute and mystic synthscapes while quite an extensive portion of…

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Mako – Forms of Life

Release data: Mako – Forms of Life CD, Seagull Music, 1991 Mako’s third album “Forms of Life”, which took him three years to finish, is the only release of this Austrian musician that made it onto cd until now. This time, the concept focusses on underwater life, delivering ten atmospheric tracks in which underwater sounds are melted with warm synthetic…

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Robert Rich – Humidity

Release data: Robert Rich – Humidity CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2000 “Humidity” is a triple cd-release containing three different live concerts which Robert Rich performed in 1998. For the most part, the release contains new music, except an occasional existing track from the Lustmord/Rich album “Stalker”, found on disc one and three. Overall, the outcome is a dark, damp, highly atmospheric…

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Tim Clark – Tales of the Sun People

Release data: Tim Clark – Tales of the Sun People CD, Hearts of Space, 1990 “Tales of the Sun People”, composed by American planetarium composer and versatile musician Tim Clark, can be classified as one of those “forgotten” electronic albums in the genre of space music that never received the proper attention from the moment it was released. The album,…

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Con_Sense – Code Sent

Release data: Con_Sense – Code Sent CD-R, DataBloem, 2009 “Code Sent” is the second full-length release by Con-Sense, of which no further background information is offered (as the music should suffice to speak for itself). But after had a few good listens to the whole recording, I must be very mistaken if this is not a project of producer Tomas…

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Blutiger Fluss – Dawn of Mars

Release data: Blutiger Fluss – Dawn of Mars CD-R, Sonneneruption Music, 2008 Blutiger Fluss is the Iowa-based synthesizer duo Jeff Hutchison and Jim Duede, whose music is heavenly rooted in the early space music made at the start of the ‘70’s by Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. Some influences of Mr Schulze are evident in the four long tracks, which…

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Serge Laporte – Sea of a Thousand Stories

Release data: Serge Laporte – Sea of a Thousand Stories CD, Edge Music/Rubicon, 1996 Serge Laporte is recognized as one of Canada’s foremost composers, next to being a renowned guitarist, producer and sound engineer. The 47-minute “Sea of a Thousand Stories” is completely instrumental piece of work, featuring a versatile blend of female voices, lots of acoustic and electric guitar,…

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Paul Lawler & Paul Speer – Wonders

Release data: Paul Lawler & Paul Speer – Wonders CD, Rainstorm Records, 2009 “Wonders” is a 67-minute musical journey “to awe inspiring places on planet earth”, which sees a collaboration of UK-based musician Paul Lawler, and US-based musician Paul Speer (who are joined on two tracks by French vocalist Satine Orient). After meeting each other on MySpace, Lawler first suggested…

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Altus – City of Ashes

Release data: Altus – City of Ashes DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Music, 2009 On the audio/visual concept project “City of Ashes”, Canadian musician Mike Carss pairs his orchestral-oriented and minimal/fluid ambient work with the extraordinary photography of Shawn Sintzel. Well, listening and experiencing the mysterious, highly atmospheric outcome is like stepping through a mirror and landing in an alternate world among…

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Forrest Fang – Phantoms

Release data: Forrest Fang – Phantoms CD, Projekt Records, 2009 A couple of years ago, I was impressed by the album Forrest Fang made with Carl Weingarten, so it’s nice to see him now show up with a solo album, which took him eight years to finish. Building on gamelan-influenced textures, “Phantoms” offers a multi-layered tapestry of rich, transparent atmospheres…

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Pollard/Daniel/Booth – Pollard/Daniel/Booth

Release data: Pollard/Daniel/Booth – Pollard/Daniel/Booth CD-R/Digital Download, English Electronic Music Company, 2009/2019 Synthesist Brendan Pollard has a great eye for collaborating with fellow musicians who love the sound of vintage gear while pushing the boundaries, such as Free System Project and Javi Canovas. For this project he invited Michael Daniel (aka Hashtronaut) and Phil Booth in his Bedford-based Radial Velocity…

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Bob Holroyd – Fluidity & Structure

Release data: Bob Holroyd – Fluidity & Structure CD, Soundscape Music, 1993 “Fluidity and Structure”, of which the sonic content has been inspired by travels to Africa and Asia, was originally the soundtrack to an audio visual art exhibition Bob Holroyd staged at “The Big Chill ” amongst other venues in 1993 The twelve tracks breath a highly atmospheric ambience,…

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Yarek – Organix

Release data: Yarek – Organix CD, Generator.Pl, 2009 Jaroslaw Degórski , aka Yarek, did leave a good impression on me with his previous recording “Noc Na Zamku”, and it’s great to see him continue the same path on “Organix”. The album isn’t exactly new though as the cd-booklet learns the music was already created in 2005. Nevertheless, the melodic and…

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Aquavoice – Memories

Release data: Aquavoice – Memories CD, Generator.pl, 2009 The cover of the cd shows a picture of a totally ruined building, a metaphore for the disturbing, uneasy ambient music presented here. Composer Tadeusz Luczejko, aka Aquavoice, takes the hard way on his album “Memories”, which offers 70 minutes of harsh and experimental sonic impressions. The recording contains a mixture of…

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Solitaire – Plains and Skies

Release data: Solitaire – Plains and Skies CD, Musique Intemporelle, 1992 On their second album “Plains and Skies”, Solitaire is reduced to German duo Elmar Schulte who heads for a sonic, tribal-flavoured journey into barren, desolate and desert landscapes (something one may have imagined after looking at the nice cd-cover). Moreover, it shows Elmar’s sincere admiration for the music of…

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Mako – In Other Regions

Release data: Mako – In Other Regions LP, Seagull Music, 1986 Mako’s second album “In Other Regions” sees a continuation of the compelling symphonic tone poems as heard on his debut “Meeting with the Sea“. This time, the 42 minutes of music was initially inspired by the tales of Herman Hesse. At the very heart of the music, one still…

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Tangram – Tepidarium

Release data: Tangram – Tepidarium CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Tangram is a Berliner School project started by Hungarian musician Péter Fabók in 2005, who very nicely shows his admiration for the ’80’s style of Tangerine Dream. The outcome on “Tepidarium” sounds transparent, sparkling and detailed, featuring some catchy, well rendered sequencing, warm and multi-layered synth tapestries and some lofty soloing…

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Mako – Meeting with the Sea

Release data: Mako – Meeting with the Sea LP, Seagull Music, 1984 Mako is the alias of the Austrian musician Manfred Batko, who used the first and last two letters of his real name for his artist-name. The concept album “Meeting with the Sea”, made using a 4-Channel taperecorder, was originally meant as a 1983 Christmas-present to his friends, which…

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Juta Takahashi – Quiet Rain

Release data: Juta Takahashi – Quiet Rain CD-R, Lunisolar Records, 2009 Juta Takahashi’s sixth album “Quiet Rain” brings four 15-minute free form pieces of solace and contemplation, nicely sculptured out of warm analogue sounds, mellotron and some acoustic piano. It’s great, at times even minimal, music to take a break from it all, as the slow washes of strings gently…

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The Redundant Rocker – Heart

Release data: The Redundant Rocker – Heart CD, Unsung Records, 2009 “Heart” is the second album by Bernhard Woestheinrich, aka The Redundant Rocker, who puts forward a progressive electronica album with the emphasis on both song and emotion. Although I’m not a fan of this rock-oriented style of electronic music (of which the fully analogue mix comes courtesy of Clemens…

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Dan Pound – Living Planet

Release data: Dan Pound – Living Planet CD, Private Release, 2009 Mr Pound states the album “Living Planet” is a companion disc and sequel to his formerly released release “Esoterica”, one filled with ambient electronic, Shamanic space music for the new millennium which sure is to transport you to another place and time. Starting out with heavy dronescapes, the 72…

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The Nebula Project – In Search of Converging Sounds

Release data: The Nebula Project – In Search of Converging Sounds CD, UFO Music Productions, 2008 The Nebula project is a collaboration of the US-based duo Dennis Young (bass and guitars) and Rick Coffee (synthesizers and guitars), who have been working together since the start of the ’80’s in various formulas. According to the bands website, the music captured on…

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Cosmic Hoffmann – Hypernova

Release data: Cosmic Hoffmann – Hypernova CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Hypernova” offers another bunch of restored tracks from the old days, coming from the music archives of Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock. The nine pieces (partly inspired by Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and NEU) on this third instalment of vintage rarities of the ‘70s & 80s feature the usual analogue suspects (mellotron, minimoog,…

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Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 2

Release data: Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 2 CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Starlight Volume 2” is Robert’s second release in a trilogy of cds, which are inspired by the magical experiences of star gazing in the death of night. It again contains a nice selection of smooth and highly atmospheric music which continues where the previous volume left off, creating…

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Terra Ambient – Wanderlust

Release data: Terra Ambient – Wanderlust CD, Lotuspike, 2009 After a hiatus of five years, Jeff Kowal, aka Terra Ambient, returns with “Wanderlust”, described by Jeff as an emotional sketchbook of some major changes in my life. In more than one way, the music on it has something of a grand design, featuring some sort of soundtrack with both expansive…

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Andrew Lahiff – Somewhere under the Sky

Release data: Andrew Lahiff – Somewhere under the Sky CD-R, Private Release, 2008 Australian musician Andrew Lahiff has released quite a list of atmospheric ambient music during the last decade (of which parts where available as free download through his site and beyond), to which now “Somewhere Under the Sky” is added. The eight long tracks on the album offer…

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Aes Dana – Leylines

Release data: Aes Dana – Leylines CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 “Leylines”, the fourth release by Vincent Villuis, presents ten ambient downtempo tracks of “luminous darkness”. The music of the 78-minute concept album, named after the invisible lines of forces that connect centers of geomagnetic power to one another, has a great organic feel running through the whole soundspectrum. It features…

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Mon0 – Multifidus

Release data: Mon0 – Multifidus CD-R, Test Tube netlabel, 2009 “Multifidus” is the first full-length ambient release of the German musician mon0, aka Andre Zufall. The albums offers five extended pieces, making up 85 minutes of overall textural music with some occasional rhythms, in which the slow morphing pace nicely builds beautiful arcs of tension. These are very well rendered…

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Jerome Froese – The Speed of Snow …

Release data: Jerome Froese – The Speed of Snow … EP, Ricochet Dream, 2009 June 2nd will see the release of the limited edition Ep (1000 copies) “The Speed of Snow” by Jerome Froese, who plays guitars, guitar effects, bass guitar and programming. The recording contains three tracks of six minutes each, starting with the twinkling, atmospheric tones of the…

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Rüdiger Gleisberg – Chronicle 1986 – 93

Release data: Rüdiger Gleisberg – Chronicle 1986 – 93 CD, Ardema Musik, 1994 “Chronicle 1986-1993” is a limited edition, numbered and autographed release by classically trained German synthesist Rüdiger Gleisberg (known as one half of the ambient project Solitaire). It’s actually a compilation album including released, remixed and previously unreleased music, which was set in motion by ongoing requests for…

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Robert Haig Coxon – The Silent Path

Release data: Robert Haig Coxon – The Silent Path CD, R.H.C. Productions, 1995 Robert Haig Coxon hails from Canada, and gained quite an international reputation with the “Cristal Silence” trilogy, produced by Steve Roach. “The Silent Path” is a musical journey into the light, portraying the essence of celestial sound, creating an overall harmonious space. The outcome is of a…

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Sanjiva – Initiation

Release data: Sanjiva – Initiation CD, NinetySix Sounds, 1997 Sanjiva is a groovy trance-like ambient project by Berliner-based musician Vartan M. Quack, who tries to implement the lessons of the Zen philosophy into his music. “Initiation” contains five tracks, in which not too prominent slower and faster rhythm and sequencer structures are blended with ambient soundscapes. The outcome, occasionally quite…

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Paul Sauvanet – Tristesse

Release data: Paul Sauvanet – Tristesse CD, Hearts of Space, 1995 “Tristesse”, subtitled five adagios for times of sorrow, is a contemplative, neo-classical oriented work of tenderness and contemplation, composed using a digital chamber orchestra of synthesizers. The five lengthy pieces, which feel like a requiem, carry on in a slow, gently soaring but never changing tempo, in which the…

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Paul Sauvanet – Eleusis

Release data: Paul Sauvanet – Eleusis CD, Les Editions Rubicon, 1993 “Eleusis”, inspired by the works of Carlos Castaneda, by French synthesist Paul Sauvanet was initially released on the Canadian label Rubicon Records in 1993, and later re-released in 1998 on another label. It’s a beautiful cd which is still one of the many cherished albums in my music collection.…

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Vidna Obmana & Jeff Pearce – True Stories

Release data: Vidna Obmana & Jeff Pearce – True Stories CD, Mirage, 1999 The concept album “True Stories” features a full collaboration between ambient musicians vidna Obmana and Jeff Pearce (who already worked together on Vidna’s 1997 album “Crossing the Trail”), combining their mutual passion for beautiful, sedate and serene sonic environments. Subtitled as “New Stories for Themes” , the…

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Frank Van Bogaert – Air Machine

Release data: Frank Van Bogaert – Air Machine CD, ACE Studio Editions, 2009 “Air Machine” by Belgian composer, producer and musician Frank Van Bogaert is a privately released cd, which sees him collaborate with Erik Wøllo on a few tracks, besides exploring quite some new musical territories. The digi-pack cd comes with some stunning, very clean artwork, of which the…

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F.D. Project – Mountainway

Release data: F.D. Project – Mountainway CD, Private Release, 2005 Since he started out making and releasing music as F.D. Project, Frank Dorittke has gained quite a large amount of fans worldwide, which isn’t that hard to understand when one listens to his work. His music has an open and accessible character, spiced with quite a lot melodic, straightforward and…

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Nautic Depths – North Passage

Release data: Nautic Depths – North Passage CD-R, Musical Philosophy, 2008 Nautic Depths is a collaboration between Tomas Weiss and Mathias Grassow, whose concept album “North Passage” (their second release if I’m not mistaken) is a tribute to the adventurous life and times of Willem Barentsz and his voyage over the ocean across the Arctic Circle in search of a…

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Free System Projekt – British Aisles

Release data: Free System Projekt – British Aisles CD-R, Private Release, 2008 “British Aisles” is a double cd-r containing the concert the duo Engels & Heij performed at St John’s The Baptist Church in Leicester on May 17th 2008. The recording -remastered straight from the soundboard recording- holds two tracks clocking over one hour, and a final piece of eleven…

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Circulum Musicum – Phases

Release data: Circulum Musicum – Phases CD-R, Thar Records, 2008 Circulum Musicum is an atmospheric ambient project of which I haven’t been able to track down the composer behind it, although I suspect it’s one Tomas Weiss. The 71-minutes of soundscape music on “Phases” offers a blend of organic textures, drones, and lush meandering plains of sound, occasionally flavoured with…

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Gert Emmens – The Nearest Faraway Place Vol. 2

Release data: Gert Emmens – The Nearest Faraway Place Vol. 2 CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 The second chapter of this concept cd, which was released and played live at “E-Day 2009”, continues the musical road with analogue, romantic flavoured electronics, fine Berliner School sequencing patterns, vintage drums and encompassing solos (which are kept to a minimum this time), all spread…

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Kettel – Myam James 2

Release data: Kettel – Myam James 2 CD, Sending Orbs, 2009 This is the second and last chapter of the “Myam James” concept by laptop musician Reimer Eising. Presented as a far cry of the first part, the moody cd contains instrumental tracks of which tracks such as “Kingcourt Inn”, “Boekebaas” or “Nicola” continue in the up-beat/breakbeat style featured on…

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Resonant Drift – The Call

Release data: Resonant Drift – The Call CD, Private Release, 2009 After meeting each other in 2008, original solo-member Bill Olien has invited multi-instrumentalist Gary Johnson to join him in his project Resonant Drift. Together, they developed a natural synergy and found common interests in the exploration of sound and music. Sophisticatedly combining synthesizers, guitar, ethnic instruments and wildlife recordings,…

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Three-Six (36) – Hypersona

Release data: Three-Six (36) – Hypersona CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3six Recordings, 2008 “Hypersona”, produced over a span of three years, is an ambient soundscape work by an English independent musician who prefers to stay anonymous, being part one of a trilogy. The sonic content with occasional experimental elements feels like a warm blanket, offering chill-out, uplifting and drifting soundscape tapestries and…

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Lemonchill – Sentant

Release data: Lemonchill – Sentant CD, Ricochet Dream, 2009 Lemonchill is an ambient chill-out project hailing from Israel, made by one Idan Or. The eight instrumental pieces on “Sentant” offer a clear sound spectrum, featuring a balance of downbeat rhythms, cool sounding electronics and engaging melodies. Repetition and emotion seem a key element in his music, as beats, textures and…

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Tangerine Dream – Booster

Release data: Tangerine Dream – Booster CD, Eastgate, 2007 The ongoing list of new contemporary electronic music and re-released/reworked cds put out by Edgar Froese under the Tangerine Dream-moniker has increased rapidly over the last five years or so. Sadly enough, they almost all proved to me the quality and soul of the music has deteriorated in the same speed,…

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Christophe Bailleau – Air Resort

Release data: Christophe Bailleau – Air Resort CD, Soundscaping Records, 2008 “Air Resort” –which comes in beautiful designed, large-size digipack format- is the first album of the Norwegian label Soundscaping Records. The music is composed by the Belgium-based (but from French origin) multimedia artist Christophe Bailleau, who is joined by Mark Templeton (on guitar) and Sebastien Roux (manipulated sounds) on…

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Bruno Sanfilippo – Auralspace

Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Auralspace CD, ad21music, 2009 Presented in a beautifully designed digipack, “Auralspace” marks the 12th album of Bruno Sanfilippo. The cd, which took nine long months of preparation and intense composing, offers a 71-minute spacious ambient tapestry. Its slowly spiralling, hypnotizing beds of continuous drifting synth textures (with no piano this time) are accompanied by occasional…

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ModularWhite – Alpa

Release data: ModularWhite – Alpa CD, Private Release, 2009 The four guys of ModularWhite have chosen for a more futuristic and contemporary approach for their album “Alpa”, which already becomes apparent by the science-fiction cover art on the cd booklet. The first few tracks on the 53-minute album are a bit slow to my liking, but as the cd progresses,…

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Ruben Garcia – Through the Looking Glass

Release data: Ruben Garcia – Through the Looking Glass CD-R, Trance Port Special Editions, 2009 After a wait of nine years, there’s finally a new album by pianist and synthesist Ruben Garcia, known for his minimalist style and sounds, whose music more than once resembles the quality heard on the ambient works of Harold Budd and Brian Eno. As mentioned…

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Robert Rich – Trances / Drones

Release data: Robert Rich – Trances / Drones CD, Extreme Special Editions, 1983 At the start of the ‘80’s, while graduating in psychology at Stanford University, Robert Rich had a special interest in microtonality and the effects of music on the brain. It was also the time he organized his rather famous sleep concerts. At times hypnotizing and ethereal, the…

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33 Tetragammon & Human Metronome – Resonating Earth

Release data: 33 Tetragammon & Human Metronome – Resonating Earth CD, Private Release, 2009 33 Tetragammon (aka Wasili Papadopoulos) and Human Metronome (aka Eelke van Hoof) are two composers hailing from Eindhoven, The Netherlands, who played several live sets during “E-Day 2009” in Oirschot. At the same occasion, they also presented their ambient release “Resonating Earth”. The first impression I…

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Circular – Substans

Release data: Circular – Substans CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 With “Substans” (which as all Ultimae releases comes with expert photo footage in the cd-booklet), the Norwegian duo Bjarte Andreassen and Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik aka Circular, deliver their long awaited fourth album. The 13 tracks on the cd (which took four years in the making) offer a collection of cinematic and…

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Gandalf – Sanctuary

Release data: Gandalf – Sanctuary CD, Real Music, 2009 “Sanctuary” is Gandalf’s fifth release on the American Real Music label, the latter being a haven for contemporary relaxation and wellness music for many years. Over one and a half decade ago, Gandalf’s distinct music has undergone a slowly but surely transformation to a more reflective, meditative and new age kind…

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Megatone – Pure Land

Release data: Megatone – Pure Land CD-R, Private Release, 2008 The musician behind Megatone is DJ and classically-trained electronic composer Marcel Gherman, who hails from Moldova Republic. “On Land”, inspired by one of Gherman’s recent fantasy literary projects, contains 18 tracks of highly cinematic and neo-classical music, which at times slightly reminds of the visual music of Vangelis, having the…

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Mark Isham – Film Music

Release data: Mark Isham – Film Music CD, Windham Hill, 1985 Composer Mark Isham is regarded as skilled synth programmer, a pioneer in electronic music, as well as an accomplished trumpet player, but most of he has become an important soundtrack composer in the last two decades. His album “Film Music” collects some of Isham’s earliest soundtracks, proving his expert…

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Airwaves – Second Shift

Release data: Airwaves – Second Shift CD, Opcion Sonica, 1995 This album is the second and (last?) release by Oscar Menzel, aka Airwaves. Having enjoyed his first one, “Ambient Tracks”, it’s nice to hear Mr Menzel has further explored his own style on this successor, this time blending his atmospheric, slightly minimalist style with a sparse dose of rhythms. This…

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moonbooter – Cosmoclimax

Release data: moonbooter – Cosmoclimax CD, Mellowjet Records, 2009 With “Cosmoclimax” by Moonbooter, aka Bernd Scholl, adds another chapter to his growing catalogue of what he likes to call “hybrid electronic music”. With one exception, the whole cd features the studio version of Moonbooter’s live concert “Sun, Moon and Stars”, performed at Planetarium Bochum in February 2009, although the sequence…

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F.D. Project – Timeless

Release data: F.D. Project – Timeless CD, Private Release, 2006 F.D. Project is a project of the German musician Frank Dorittke, whose accessible instrumental music has proven to be quite a success until now. “Timeless”, his fourth release if I’m not mistaken, contains nine tracks, of which the 15-minute opening track “Time Traveler” almost instantly creates a warm and inviting…

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Uwe Reckzeh – Unnatural Light

Release data: Uwe Reckzeh – Unnatural Light CD, Mellowjet Records, 2009 The accessible music of Uwe Reckzeh’s “Unnatural Light” (of which all tracks were composed and arranged between 2007 and 2009) is still firmly rooted in the style of the Berliner School, but this time Uwe’s output has been further valvanized and smoothened, ending up in a nice groovy, and…

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Steve Roach – Dynamic Stillness

Release data: Steve Roach – Dynamic Stillness CD, Projekt Records, 2009 Steve Roach has brewed another inner sanctuary of quietetude which has ended up as the double cd “Dynamic Stillness”, which has been in the works in his Timeroom studio over the past three years. Those familiar with his expansive longform textural works can hereby welcome another chapter to his…

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Free System Projekt – Narrow Lane

Release data: Free System Projekt – Narrow Lane CD, Private Release, 2008 The album “Narrow Lane” by Free System Project contains two long vintage pieces, both played live in the UK. The 29-minute “Narrow Lane Part I”, recorded in 2006 during the bands concert at the National Space Centre in Leicester, is performed by the trio Frank van der Wel,…

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Paul Sauvanet – Nomad

Release data: Paul Sauvanet – Nomad CD, Hearts of Space, 1997 This is the third cd of the skilled French musician Paul Sauvanet, of which both the cd-cover and overall atmosphere are slightly similar to the album “Nomadic Impressions” by Open Canvas (aka Gregory Kyryluk). On the five tracks, Paul plays his digital symphony orchestra of synthesizers expertly, taking the…

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Create – In the Blink of an Eye

Release data: Create In the Blink of an Eye CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 Stephen Humphries’ (aka Create) “In the Blink of an Eye” contains five long tracks, of which two are live-in-the-studio improvisations, making up almost 70 minutes of retro-inspired electronic music. The 22-minute “No Inhibitions” is a good example of a progressive retro style, put together of various sequencer…

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Odyssey – Syntharsis

Release data: Odyssey – Syntharsis CD, Generator.pl, 2001/2009 Odyssey is a project of the Polish electronic media artist and contemporary electronic music producer Tomasz Pauszek, who previously published the track “The Space Inside” on the “Awakenings 2007 vol. 1″ compilation. The Generator.PL version of „Syntharsis” is actually a special re-edition of Odyssey’s debut album (which appeared in 2001), as it…

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Scamall – A World behind the Silence

Release data: Scamall – A World behind the Silence CD, Generator.Pl, 2009 Scamall is a project of Jakub Kmiec, who found the main inspiration for this album in desolated places in Sweden and Ireland. “A World behind the Silence” is a 49-minute work of adventurous music that “consists of soundscapes incorporating abandoned and originally useless noises”. Neurotic break beats, harsh…

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John Dyson – Darklight

Release data: John Dyson – Darklight CD, Soddett Hall Music, 2009 After a big hiatus, John Dyson returns one more time to the EM-community to bring a final (?) album featuring his distinct, gracious and accessible style which comes as an overall retrospective and reflective sound document. The ten tracks of “Darklight”, having some smashing space images from the Hubble…

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Nemesis – Trajectory of Sound (Live Archive Vol. 3)

Release data: Nemesis – Trajectory of Sound (Live Archive Vol. 3) CD-R, Retroduction, 2007 “Trajectory of Sound” (Live Archive Vol. 3) is the last third and final part of the Nemesis live archive trilogy (focussing on the more recent years when the live sets featured more improvisation than before) by the Finnish trio Hassinen, Kastman, Virtanen. For this album, music…

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Juta Takahashi – Moonlit Flowers

Release data: Juta Takahashi – Moonlit Flowers CD-R, Lunisolar Records, 2008 Three long ambient tracks fill Juta(ro) Takahashi’s fourth release “Moonlit Flowers”. “Sadder Shore” starts out with nice drifting analogue and soaring textures and a more pronounced synth lead, to which an accompanying choir soundscape shows up now and then. This immersive, reflective space lasts over 15 minutes. The 17-minute…

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Phillip Wilkerson – Early Works

Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Early Works CD-R, Private Release, 2009 As the title already suggests, this is a compilation album of archival tracks originally composed between 2005 and 2007, representing Phillip’s first successful steps in creating ambient/space music. The seven free form ambient space tracks create an introspective, warm and spacious ambience of fluid and dreamy synth textures. Highlights…

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Syndromeda – The Twilight Conjunction

Release data: Syndromeda – The Twilight Conjunction CD, Ricochet Dream, 2009 “The Twilight Conjunction” is the 18th album by Belgian electronic musician Danny Budts, aka Syndromeda, released as a limited edition of 300 copies. The 18-minute “Inside the Lophophora”, a mature piece of rhythmic space music taking its time to unfold, kicks off nicely with captivating and varied sequencing patterns,…

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Antrilon – Mind Erase

Release data: Antrilon – Mind Erase CD, Dead Earnest, 2008 Antrilon is a project of American musician Greg Kozlowski, whose also guitarist of the progressive and spacerock bands Architectural Metaphor and Secret Saucer. His debut album “Mind Erase” is a work of abstract, mind-altering, disorienting and psychedelic ambient electronics. “A soundtrack from a 60’s sci fi B movie”, as Kozlowski…

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Airwaves – Ambient Tracks

Release data: Airwaves – Ambient Tracks CD, Opcion Sonica, 1994 Due to the kind gesture of Gregory Kyryluk I was able to get to know this album of quiet ambient/space music, which was composed by the (Mexican?) composer Oscar Menzel, aka Airwaves. “Ambient Tracks” –which seems to be hard to find these days- contains seven electronic music pieces creating a…

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H.U.V.A. Network – Ephemeris

Release data: H.U.V.A. Network – Ephemeris CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 H.U.V.A. Network, aka Magnus Birgersson (also known as Solar Fields) and Vincent Villuis (aka Aes Dana) have come up with another collaborative project, in which their ambient sound architecture keenly combines elements of groovy down tempo and textural electronic music. The ten instrumental tracks of “Ephemeris”, described by the label…

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Phillip Wilkerson – Still Point

Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Still Point CD-R, Earth Mantra, 2008 “Still Point” (inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot) is an ambient project by Phillip Wilkerson, spanning almost 60 minutes, published by the Earth Mantra netlabel. It’s a collage made up of eight free form textural pieces and lossless dronescapes that make up nice evening and night music. Sombre…

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Romerium – Pharaoh’s Immortality

Release data: Romerium – Pharaoh’s Immortality CD, Private Release, 2008 “Pharaoh’s Immortality” is the debut album by Rene Montfoort, aka Romerium, who’s a member of the Dutch electronic project Modular White. All tracks were composed, played, mixed and mastered between May 2005 and February 2008, for which (according to the linear notes) Rene mainly used the SY99 synthesizer next to…

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Ideation – Adrift

Release data: Ideation – Adrift CD, Ricochet Dream, 2009 “Adrift”, the 40th release of the label Ricochet Dream, is a collaboration between Paul Nagle and Pete Ruczynski (of Air Sculpture), aka Ideation, who’s motto is to compose music “to float your mind” and make you smile. I couldn’t detect much structure in the improvised sounding 9-minute “Function and Disorder”, which…

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Jeffrey Koepper – Radiate

Release data: Jeffrey Koepper –Radiate CD, Ricochet Dream, 2009 “Radiate” is the first live cd of “AnalogueJeff” Koepper, documenting the concert he did at The Gatherings on 14th April, 2008 in Philadelphia. Well, the outcome is an 71-minute energetic, analogue feast, featuring all tracks (except “Near Machinery”) from his album third album “Sequentaria”, to which “Byzantine Machine” (the opening track…

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Schiller – Sehnsucht

Release data: Schiller – Sehnsucht CD/DVD, Universal Domestic, 2008 Schiller, named after poet Friedrich Schiller, is the musical moniker of German electronical composer and producer Christopher von Deylen. Von Deylen is inspired by electronic bands like Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre, and started to create his own universe of new electronic, and overall emotionally charged music somewhere round 1998.…

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Various Artists – Shapes and Phases of Ambience

Release data: Various Artists – Shapes and Phases of Ambience CD, Ghost Sounds, 2008 This peculiar, limited edition compilation (which seems to be the first one in a series) by the Scandinavian label Ghost Sounds, comprises music from three different ambient projects: Quantec (aka Sven Scheinhammer), Deer (aka Martin Hirsch) and Relapxych.0(aka Anders Peterson). Moulded around drone and rhythm, the…

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Dan Pound – Esoterica

Release data: Dan Pound – Esoterica CD, Private Release, 2009 “Esoterica” is the first release of ambient musician Dan Pound in 2009. What this album especially reveals for me, is the fact that Dan has been further refining and shaping is own sound. The cd contains the title track, divided in eight parts, in which sequenced parts are mingled with…

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Stephen Parsick feat. Cosmic Hoffmann – Blasters of the Universe

Release data: Stephen Parsick feat. Cosmic Hoffmann – Blasters of the Universe CD-R, Private Release, 2008 “Blasters of the Universe” is a compilation of eight live and improvised tracks from the vaults of Mr Parsick from the period 1999-2001, in which he collaborated with Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock, aka Cosmic Hoffmann. Created during various spontaneous sessions and rehearsals, I consider it a…

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Juta Takahashi – Seabound

Release data: Juta Takahashi – Seabound CD-R, Lunisolar Records, 2009 “Sea Bound”, released at the beginning of March 2009, is the fifth album by Japanese ambient composer Juta Takahashi. Juta himself describes the sonic content as “tunes from the ocean, painted with synthesizers, acoustic pianos and voices”. The three extended tracks (23, 17 and 20 minutes respectively) offer overall calming,…

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Azul y Negro – Deja Vu

Release data: Azul y Negro – Deja Vu CD/DVD, Vaso Music, 2008 “Déjà Vu” is a limited edition cd/dvd release by Spanish musician Carlos Vaso, aka Azul Y Negro, containing electronic synth & techno pop music created between 2005 and 2007. The 50-minute instrumental albums starts with the 12-minute “Flash-Back”, featuring up-tempo electronics, catchy melodies and rhythms plus some bass…

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Altus – Excursion Two

Release data: Altus – Excursion Two DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2009 As one might expect, the music of “Excursion two” nicely continues where the first one left us. Again, Mike Carss offers a beautiful sonic painting that breaths total relaxation and peacefulness. The recording consists of two lengthy, cinematic soundscape tracks of 27 and 38 minutes, made up of velvet,…

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Craig Padilla/Zero Ohms/Skip Murphy – Beyond the Portal

Release data: Craig Padilla/Zero Ohms/Skip Murphy – Beyond the Portal CD, Lotuspike, 2009 February 10th, 2009 saw the release of “Beyond the Portal”, which is the follow-up album to the 2005-cd “Path of Least Resistance”. This time, Craig’s collaborator Skip Murphy joins the duo Craig Padilla and Zero Ohms (aka multi-flutist Richard Roberts) on an elegant and smooth sonic journey.…

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Stephen Parsick – Rhizophora -music for mangroves-

Release data: Stephen Parsick – Rhizophora -music for mangroves- CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Rhizophora” is another atmospheric and overall deep ambient recording by Stephen Parsick, again released as a very limited edition. From his notes I learned the music was originally premiered and performed by [‘ramp] at the geräuschwelten festival in April 2006. As the live performance didn’t work out…

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Ashen Simian – Omicron in Ostrobothnian Finsternis

Release data: Ashen Simian – Omicron in Ostrobothnian Finsternis CD-R, Retroduction, 2009 This cd is actually the first solo effort of Nemesis-member Ami Hassinen, who decided to use the pseudonym and anagram Ashen Simian for this purpose. The release compiles archival and unfinished compositions from several years, which Ami has edited, re-recorded, and mixed at the end of 2008. The…

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Martin Carradus – Analog

Release data: Martin Carradus – Analog CD-R, Toffeetones, 2009 English musician Martin Carradus is the lucky owner of an extensive range of vintage synthesizers and effects, who is describes as a guys who brings the golden age of analogue back to the future. One might expect some nice things will be happening when one has such a collection, so how…

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Patrick O’Hearn – Between Two Worlds

Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – Between Two Worlds CD, Private Music, 1987 “Between Two Worlds” is the second album of contemporary electronic composer and musician Patrick O’Hearn, whose debut album “Ancient Dreams” received lots of airplay and positive responses from the electronic music community. This time, the cd has an acceptable playing time of 48 minutes, of which the further…

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Patrick O’Hearn – Ancient Dreams

Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – Ancient Dreams CD, Private Music, 1985 “Ancient Dreams” is the debut album by bassist and synthesist Patrick O’Hearn, which would soon become a favourite of many fans in the electronic music genre, together with its follow-up album “Between Two Worlds”. Nicely kicked of by the lovely soundings of “At First Light”, the dynamic music, in…

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Patrick O’Hearn – So Flows the Current

Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – So Flows the Current CD, Private Release, 2000 After being out of sight for quiet some years (except being a contributor to Steve Roach’s concept cd “The Ambient Expanse”), composer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick O’Hearn shows up again with a new, privately released album. In contrast to the overall electronic works on Private Music and Deep…

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Parallel Worlds – Shade

Release data: Parallel Worlds – Shade CD, DiN, 2009 “Shade” is the fifth release of Greek electronic musician Bakis Sirros, aka Parallel Worlds, which is the studio follow-up to the album “Obsessive Surrealism”. Bakis himself considers the outcome as his “most technically-advanced work” in terms of the use of his large collection of modular synths. Although there is a distinct…

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Various Artists – Soundscape Gallery 2

Release data: Various Artists – Soundscape Gallery 2 CD, Lektronik Soundscapes, 1998 This is the second instalment of the small American Lektronik label, which nicely follows in the footsteps of its predecessor. The outcome is a well-balanced collection of ambient/space music by Michael Stearns, Alpha Wave Movement, Jeff Pearce, Meg Bowles, Michel Huygen, the trio Gleisberg/Grassow/Baghiri, Caul, Hans Christian en…

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Various Artists – Soundscape Gallery Series One

Release data: Various Artists – Soundscape Gallery Series One CD, Lektronik Soundscapes, 1996 “Soundscape Gallery Series One” comprises some excellent, not previously released ambient/space tracks by Jonn Serrie, Todd Fletcher, A Produce, Giles Reaves, Vidna Obmana, Robert Rich, Tony Gerber en Steve Roach. Although sticking to their own style, all musicians give their best to deliver an atmospheric, introspective and…

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Michael Garrison – Point of Impact

Release data: Michael Garrison – Point of Impact CD, Windspell Records/ Garrisongs Music, 1983 I personally feel the album “Point of Impact” is the best and most versatile album by Oregon-based musician Michael Garrison, who sadly died on March 24, 2004. His energy-powered, strong analogue-flavoured and sequencer-dominated music has its own trademark, although one can hear influences by Klaus Schulze…

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Steve Roach & Vidna Obmana – Cavern of Sirens

Release data: Steve Roach & Vidna Obmana – Cavern of Sirens CD, Projekt Records, 1997 “Cavern of Sirens” is the follow-up of the duo’s previous album “Well of Souls”, again nicely packaged in a fold-out digipack containing beautiful artwork by Dirk Serries wife Martine Verhoeven. The overall atmosphere on the 72-minute “Cavern of Sirens” is one of darker textures and…

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Steve Roach – On this Planet

Release data: Steve Roach – On this Planet CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1997 After several collaborative albums, “On this Planet” is a solo-release by Steve Roach, whose goal it was to capture the live-spirit and “on-the-edge concert explorations” in the studio. Well, the 73-minute outcome (featuring material developed for and through Roach’s 1997-tour) is overwhelming and well done, as one…

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Peter Challoner – Deconstructing Silence

Release data: Peter Challoner – Deconstructing Silence CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Peter’s short line about the album on his website says “live studio recordings of improvisations. Chilled ambient textural layers of sound”. As one can imagine with such a title, the Eno-esque music of “Deconstructing Silence” is of a serene, quiet, retrospective nature. In all its offers 78 minutes of…

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Claude Chemin – Esthésies

Release data: Claude Chemin – Esthésies CD, Crystal Lake, 1994 This is one of the two self-released releases by the French electronic music community Crystal Lake. “Esthésies” offers eight long form tracks of slightly experimental oriented ambient music in which flavours of Brian Eno (“On Land”) vidna Obmana, Robert Rich and Steve Roach are apparent. The slowly moving free form…

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Steve Roach – The Magnificent Void

Release data: Steve Roach – The Magnificent Void CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1996 “The Void,” wrote metaphysician Stanislav Grof, “exists beyond form of any kind. While being a source of everything it cannot be itself derived from anything else. It is beyond space and time.” This idea became the core concept of the vast interior landscape album “The Magificent Void”,…

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Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Hemispheres

Release data: Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Hemispheres CD-R, DiNDDL, 2009 On invitation of the German Schallwende Club, 27th September 2008 saw Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich perform together for the first time at the Bochum Planetarium, Bochum, Germany. Both musician previously collaborated on “Moiré” (2005) while Mr Wöstheinrich appeared on the DiN releases “Blast” by Centrozoon and “Präposition”…

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Polaris – Background Stories

Release data: Polaris – Background Stories CD, Ricochet Dream, 2008 Polaris hails from Poland, and is an electronic music studio project by Jakub Kmieć. The accessible and overall energetic music of his fourth album “Background Stories”, which is released as a limited digipak edition of only 300 copies, pays tribute to the sound of the Berliner School with its bright…

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Don Slepian – Sea of Bliss

Release data: Don Slepian – Sea of Bliss CD-R, Private release, 1980 This in fact is a fully remastered version of the classic album Don Slepian made at the start of the ‘80s. At that time, it created quite a buzz in the electronic music scene as is was played a lot at Stephen Hill’s Music from the Hearts of…

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Slow Dancing Society – Priest Lake Circa ’88

Release data: Slow Dancing Society – Priest Lake Circa ’88 CD, Hidden Shoal Recordings, 2008 Slow Dancing Society is a project of Washington-based musician and producer Drew Sullivan, who’s music is released through the Australian independent music label Hidden Shoal Recordings. “Priest Lake Circa ’88”, his third full-length album, is filled with gentle and warm ambient music and glistening guitars,…

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Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 1

Release data: Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 1 CD-R, Deep Sky Music, 2008 Ambient/space musician Robert Carty has started a new series of musical explorations under the moniker Starlight, which (as he writes) began with an attempt to create a work with a “space” theme. Well, he has succeeded well, as this eight-track album (composed in December 2008) offers some…

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Steve Roach – Pure Flow

Release data: Steve Roach – Pure Flow CD, Timeroom Editions, 2001 “Pure Flow” (Timeroom Editions Collection 1), the seventh release on Steve Roach’s own label Timeroom Editions, offers “an essential flow of atmospheric soundscapes” made over the years. Initially provided as a free gift until the end of 2001 to all fans who ordered music through his site, the cd…

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Steve Roach – Structures from Silence

Release data: Steve Roach – Structures from Silence CD, Fortuna Records/Projekt Records, 1984/2001 “Structures from Silence” was recorded in 1983 and 1984, a time that Steve Roach was living in Culver City, California. The mood music on this classic recording (originally released on audio cassette, soon attracting the attention of Fortuna Records) is perfectly suitable to put the busy mind…

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Steve Roach – Darkest before Dawn

Release data: Steve Roach – Darkest before Dawn CD, Timeroom Editions, 2002 The press-sheet described this music as a “minimal, immersive sound environment” and “a deep zoneworld of glacial movement and magma-like flow”. In my opinion it most of all is a kind of introductory portal to Steve’s album “Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces”. Created in The Timeroom in September…

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Constance Demby – Novus Magnificat

Release data: Constance Demby – Novus Magnificat CD, Hearts of Space, 1986 In the middle of the ’80s, classically trained female composer Constance Demby made a major work of contemporary classical spacemusic that is still regarded a monumental work in the genre until this very day. “Novus Magnificat”, propelling the listener deep into space and other dimensions, was made on…

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Robert Schroeder – Taste It

Release data: Robert Schroeder – Taste It CD, Spheric Music, 2009 Since a couple of years, composer Robert Schroeder has found a new publishing home at Lambert Ringlage’s Spheric music, which releases both his solo releases as well as the albums he makes under the moniker Food for Fantasy. “Taste it” kicks off with the 9-minute title track in a…

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Psicodreamics – Fantasynth

Release data: Psicodreamics – Fantasynth CD-R, Private Release, 2009 I must say the chosen title of this album by Salva Moreno (aka Psicodreamics) is a blunder, although I like the nice Gothic cover art in which the cd is wrapped. The 13 instrumentals on “Fantasynth” are again inspired by fantasy tales and mythology, but this time they are more up-tempo…

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ESE – Entheogenic Sound Explorers – The Other Door

Release data: ESE – Entheogenic Sound Explorers – The Other Door CD-R, DataBloem, 2009 ESE, Entheogenic Sound Explorers, are the Milano-based musicians Stefano Contini and Piero Marchesi. “The Other Door”, which is the duo’s second release, contains 50 minutes of crispy, warm and organic infused ambient with psychedelic flavours, all presented in a clear, transparent sound spectrum. Next to melodic…

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Monolake – Hongkong

Release data: Monolake – Hongkong CD, Chain Reaction, 1997 In the middle of the ‘90’s, Monolake (aka the German duo Robert Henke Gerhard Behles) released the album “HongKong”, which had been out of print for quite a while. Put out as the fourth album in a series of metal cases, it contained tracks made between 1995 and 1997. They were…

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Clifford White – Ascension

Release data: Clifford White – Ascension CD, New World Music, 1985 “Ascension” is the debut release of UK-based musician Clifford White, who composed the music when he was 17 years old. Until now, it sold over 50.000 copies worldwide, making it a bestseller in the genre. Often referred to as England’s answer to the music of Kitaro, the nine tracks…

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Purfoze – Songs of the Earth

Release data: Purfoze – Songs of the Earth CD-R, Rhea Music, 1984/2008 The Belgian cosmic music group Purfoze was founded in the late seventies by Ruud Rondou and Mark Creemers, Mark De Wit joined them in 1977. Between 1982 and 1989, the band, known for their warm analogue sound, would perform various projects for which they only used analogue synthesizers.…

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Michael Neil – The Tempest and other tales

Release data: Michael Neil – The Tempest and other tales CD-R, Private release, 2002 In 2000, composer Michael Neil was commissioned to write the incidental music for the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of “The Tempest”, to mark the 70th anniversary Cornwall’s Minack Theatre in 2002. This event, staged in the summer of that year, brought the composer to wider…

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Solar Fields – Movements

Release data: Solar Fields – Movements CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 Swedish producer Magnus Birgersson, aka Solar Fields, wrote his sixth album “Movements” in the same period when he was composing a score for the interactive in-game score for Electronic Arts video game “Mirror’s Edge”. Was the heavy trance-dance music of his previous album “EarthShine” a completely different story, the musical…

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James Murray – Where Edges Meet

Release data: James Murray – Where Edges Meet CD, Ultimae Records, 2008 “Where Edges Meet” is the debut release from British composer James Murray. James Murray is a London-based electro-acoustic sound artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist, who’s productions weave together elements of electronica, downtempo, jazz and dub in emotive explorations of how the organic and electronic interact. “Where Edges Meet”, which…

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Michael Neil – Dies Irae

Release data: Michael Neil – Dies Irae CD-R, Private Release, 1997 The music on “Dies Irae” can be described as modern classical/orchestral in the realm of Penderecki, Arvo Part and alike. The album contains five tracks, opening with the almost 30-minute “Dies Irae”, which starts as silent music (the first five minutes of the track), followed by freeform darkening textures.…

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Michael Neil – The Constellations

Release data: Michael Neil – The Constellations CD-R, Private Release, 2001 “The Constellations” a spacey album (as the title suggests) and in fact a companion piece to Michael Neil’s release “Towards the Unknown Region”. It’s planetarium music, although containing rather short, fragmentary and the music itself sounds less melancholic to me compared to the outcome on most of Neil’s other…

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Michael Neil – Moments of Heaven

Release data: Michael Neil – Moments of Heaven CD-R, Private Release, 1998 “Moments of Heaven” is a grand piece of work by English musician Michael Neil, of which the music sounds similar to his album “Cornubia”, but the outcome is more impressionistic and orchestral. The six-track albums opens with the major 34-minute title track, a great track of delicately sculptured…

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Mind over Matter – Indian Meditation II

Release data: Mind over Matter – Indian Meditation II CD, da Music, 2006 As the first album “Indian Meditation” was a big seller for the label, a second album under the same moniker was compiled Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock. Apart from one track from the album “On the Wings of the Wind”, all tracks on this cd are actually previously unreleased. The…

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Mind over Matter – Indian Meditation

Release data: Mind over Matter – Indian Meditation CD, da Music, 2005 The music of Mind over Matter, aka Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock, has always been heavenly influenced by the music from India, a country he travelled a lot. “Indian Meditation” offers eight tracks, which are actually remixes of music from the first nine IC albums. For this purpose, Klaus chose appropriate…

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Javi Cánovas – Eigenspaces

Release data: Javi Cánovas – Eigenspaces CD-R, Neu Harmony, 2008 I can be brief about this release, as the music and overall approach of “Eigenspaces” doesn’t differ that much from what is found on his previous albums. Still firmly rooted in the Berliner School style, nice, fat sequencer lines are still dominant next to elegant soloing. But this time I’m…

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Jeffrey Koepper – Luminosity

Release data: Jeffrey Koepper – Luminosity CD, Air Space Records, 2009 On the threshold of the new year, I received the fourth album of “AnalogueJeff” Koepper which is due for mid-January 2009. With “Luminosity”, Jeffrey Koepper wanted to explore ambient emotional places. To achieve this, he made each track a unique atmospheric landscape on which he wanted the electronic textures…

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Axess – Voices of Dawn

Release data: Axess – Voices of Dawn CD, Spheric Music, 2008 If I’m right, “Voices of Dawn” is the fourth album by German synthesist Axel Stupplich, aka Axess, who’s also known as a member of the band Pyramid Peak. The album, released on December 8th 2008, contains seven accessible tracks of traditional instrumental and typically German sounding electronic music blending…

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Ran Kirlian – Elements in Motion

Release data: Ran Kirlian – Elements in Motion CD-R, Private Release, 2003 This release from Spanish ambient composer Ran Kirlian is another long form journey encompassing dark landscapes and ideas, taking the listener on an extended trip of 78 minutes. As Kirlian explained to me, synthesizers aren’t that prominent compared to his other recordings, they act more as support for…

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Ran Kirlian – Sleeper

Release data: Ran Kirlian – Sleeper CD-R, Private Release, 2003 The album “Sleeper” was born from two large floating sessions the Spanish ambientmusician Ran Kirlian recorded in the summer of 2003. Both are based on pure improvisation, with some treated field recordings played randomly. Later on, as Kirlian ran over the recordings, he added voice, some additional sounds and grooves…

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Ran Kirlian – Melting Point

Release data: Ran Kirlian – Melting Point CD-R, Private Release, 2001 Ran Kirlian is a Spanish ambientmusician who I came across surfing the site of Max Corbacho. Kirlian started loving ambient at the start of the ’90’s after he heard Steve Roach’s concept-albums “Western Spaces” and “Desert Solitaire”. In 2000 he started to explore his own musical pathways, and after…

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Diatonis – An Abstract View

Release data: Diatonis – An Abstract View CD-R, Private Release, 2008 Many starting elements on this album where created by Stuart White (aka Diatonis) after he came home from visiting abandoned townships, an extended walk, or a long drive. The sonic content of “An Abstract View” has moved away from previously executed dense and darkening soundscapes. It now focusses on…

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Dave Luxton & Aaron Gates – Futurus

Release data: Dave Luxton & Aaron Gates – Futurus CD, Wayfarer Records, 2008 “Futurus” is a concept album of electronic musicians Dave Luxton and Aaron Gates, which initially started with the goal of creating musical representations of prominent themes that the future might hold for life on planet Earth. Each artist contributed solo compositions to the album, the last three…

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