Release data: Cosmic Ground – Area 24DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 The eight-part/50-minute “Area 24”, released on December 23th 2024, is an alienating, haunting, psychedelic as well as strange sonic affair containing a whole range of abstracts hooks and stark organic bits. Imagine a slow moving landslide of murky, dark textures, dense soundscapes and repetitive motives dressed with field recordings,…
Release data: AirSculpture – Europa CD/CD-r, Neu Harmony, 1997 After their strong their strong debut “Impossible Geometries” in 1995, things went fast for the talented UK trio Christian The three describes their output as improvised sequencer music arising while in the act of playing along with both texture and mood as strongholds. “Europe” holds the entire improvised performance of AirSculpture’s…
Release data: Kevin Keller – PendulumCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lektronik Soundscapes, 1999 I recently rediscovered this album from 1999 in my collection by chance. Known primarily for “ambient chamber music,” a style that combines live instruments with electronic effects, American composer Kevin Keller has worked in the spaces between neo-classical, ambient, and electronic music for over thirty years. The 50-minute “Pendulum”, able…
Release data: Patrick Kosmos – Planetia UtopiaCD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2000/2024 “Planetia Utopia” was first released as the 11th CD of “The Chronicles” box and is the fifth re-issue of cosmic traveler Patrick ‘Wille De Wael’ Kosmos. The 67-minute album is another ticket into the mystery and vastness of our cosmos, presenting deep atmospheric soundscapes for discoveries into…
Release data: Loneward – Abridged Versions CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2025 The first volume of the “Fractional Dimensions” series ,all featuring dream-infused soundscapes and gentle ambiences meant for contemplation, meditation and sleep, came out in 2022. For the 41-minute “Abridged Dimensions”, all four volumes have been collected, this time around remixing four long-play tracks into new, shorter-form pieces. Each “dimension”…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – SojournsCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2022 “Sojourns” is a rather timeless sonic canvas that takes its audience to all kinds of different places and states of mind. Reminiscent of Erik’s other ambient works, it serves a kaleidoscope of emotive soundscapes, intricate rhythms, ethereal guitar, and mesmerizing synth textures. A sense of serenity and calm swirls through…
Release data: Rene de Bakker – Cosmic EquilibriumCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2024 Artistic expression can come in various ways, here seeing the artist gracing his new release with some stunning visual artwork all done by himself. On his previous albums, Rene already presented his audience his own cleverly and attentively moulded Berlin School impressions characterized by pleasant, warm sound designs…
Release data: Axess – Resurrection CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 This album is dedicated to Axel Stupplich’s late wife Irina, who was not only the love of his life and soulmate but also the first and closest person to him to offer feedback on his music. Creating new music proved a way to deal and come to terms with the immense…
Release data: Vanderson – 2055CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2024 Like the biggest part of Vanderson’s discography, “2055” will tick a lot of boxes for fans of contemporary-melodic Berlin School electronic music. In four accessible, well-produced, and mastered tracks, synthesist Maciej Wierzchowski aka Vanderson takes us on a 45-minute cosmic flight that merges catchy elements of both 80’s Tangerine Dream and…
Release data: Kurtz Mindfields – Flying AgainLP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 Kurtz Mindfields’ “Flying Again” is the follow-up to “Flying from Berlin To Paris” as well as the result of a desire on the part of Stephen Ingrand, maker of the NRSynth synthesizer clones, to produce an album that would fit next to Tangerine Dream’s output from the mid-’70s and…
Release data: Something Completely Different – The Last Gate CD, Invisible Shadows, 2003 With the deluge of releases abroad, you would regularly forget that sometimes interesting music is also made close to home. What about SCD alias Boele Gerkes from Zutphen, whom I had never heard of until I saw him live at EMIL 2003. Boele is one of those…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – DissolutionCD, Aurora, 1999 Mr Grassow’s “Dissolution” – a dark trip dedicated to paganism – will be a treat for aficionados of deep, slow-evolving ambient and expansive drone-based sonic landscapes. The outcome is referred to as the ground, a below zero, where everything is put on hold and the wheel of life stops turning. Haunting, mystical,…
Release data: Paul Ellis & Per Thomhav – Orpheus CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2024 I reckon many fans of contemporary Berlin School style will absolutely embrace the sparkling outcome of Ellis & Thomhav’s collaborative “Orpheus”. It’s a concept album painting strong, in-depth atmospheres through lovely sequenced parts dressed with assortments of ethereal, melancholic soundscapes and vibrant textures. The very well-engineered…
Release data: Skoulaman – Waves of WaterCD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2024 With this atmospheric, almost cinematic album, skilled composer Hans van Kroonenburg has outdone himself another time. “Waves of Water” features some 72 minutes of very well-rendered sequencer-driven Berliner School music with occasional hints of classic Teutonic electronics, all unfolding meticulously before the listeners ear. Warm synthetic sounds and…
Release data: Remy & Däcker – Live at ByssCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2024 Remy Stroomer and Peter Dekker were part of the select group of musicians who had the opportunity to perform at Bas Broekhuis BYSS studio during the 2020 pandemic. On that December evening, the two played together in public for the first time with a 1,5 hour…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Only Five PetalsEP, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD21 Music, 2024 The 13-minute EP “Only Five Petals” is another fine exercise of reflective neoclassical piano music. The outcome, conceived during late-night sessions in the spring and summer of 2024, captures the essence of stillness and mystery as it sees Mr Sanfilippo explore the depth of his Kawai RX-3 grand piano.…
Release data: Phelios – Spirits of Rhea CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2020 Here’s another great exercise into outer space by the accomplished Wuppertal-based composer Martin Stürtzer. The 68-minute deep galactic voyage of lush, smooth spiralling darkening soundscapes found here is enhanced beautifully with radio emissions and re-synthesised images from the Saturn system recorded by the NASA probe Cassini. Immersing in…
Release data: Altus – Ultraviolet DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 In a way, I find it hard to get used to and adjust to Altus’s music, which marries rhythmic structures with transparent, soft, wavering soundscapes. This is the case on “Ultraviolet” and a track like “Transmission Erosion,” in particular. As the composer already remarks, the eight-track outcome here veers away…
Release data: ARC – Chronicle CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2024 “Chronicle” contains Redshift’s concert performed at E-Live 2007 in the Netherlands with Mark’s huge modular on stage, and it’s actually the only one of their 8 gigs never to have been released until this very day. A closer look and listen reveals the 63 minutes of organic-sounding music featuring multiple abstract…
Release data: Robert Rich – Travelers’ ClothCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2023 When it comes to immersive, journey-like and dreamy music, Robert’s album “Travelers’ Cloth” -referring to the fabric of vibrating creation that surrounds us, the fabric of life that sustains us, the fragility of comfort and stability- has lots to offer. It’s actually inspired by David Hinton’s translations of T’ang dynasty Chinese…
Release data: Frank Van Boagaert – Sounds from Higher GroundsCD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2024 After two privately released albums, six albums and a CD-single through Groove Unlimited, accomplished composer, producer, and musician Frank Van Bogaert put an end to his Em career with “One out of Five” (2006). After that, he focussed his attention on his own ACE studio…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – Beyond the Sleepy HillsCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2024 Like almost all of Rudy’s previous releases, I heard lots of demo tracks and sonic sketches for this one in an early stage. Once again, the aural balm draws inspiration from the natural world. Something that’s different though and noticeable quite soon (despite the music still…
Release data: F.D. Project – The Last Curtain CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2024 On his previous recordings, Dinslaken-based composer Frank Dorittke has proven he knows his ways around with electronics, with or without enticing e-guitar. On the nearly 71-minute “The Last Curtain”-which Frank refers to as the best from his self-released download albums “Project M.O.M.”, “Atmos” and “Earth and Moon”-…
Release data: Peter Challoner – ResonanceCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2024 I’ve been following this UK-musician since 2004, seeing him evolve from an amateur to an established, skilled synthesist finding his own way in the genre (mostly solo but also by collaborating with Jez Creek through Infinity Curve) with his textural ambient, rhythmic-spiced contemporary electronics. As Peter writes in the booklet,…
Release data: Pyramid Peak – Kontinuum CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 Pyramid Peak’s 12th studio album has a special feature, as the music was produced for the first time by Axel Stüpplich only, as Andreas Morsch is still in his musical break that began in mid-2023. Nevertheless, everything that Pyramid Peak has been known for, for over 20 years, is…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – Filaments CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Acoustic Wave Records, 2024 “Filaments” is an adventure into the more darker and experimental side of his music but still has Mr Pollard’s occasional sequencer elements. On four tracks, Brendan’s electronics are joined by Michael Daniel’s tasty guitar work. The first two tracks start out in a gloomy, dark and psychedelic fashion,…
Release data: Brent A. Reiland & John Lyell – Wormholes CD, Solarwind Productions, 1998 “Wormholes”, the debut album by US musicians Brent E. Reiand and John Lyell, occupies a very distinctive corner within ambient music. The release showcases a strange kind of space ambient with both dark -think music on the Hypnos-label- and somewhat lighter passages, in which the use…
Release data: Frederique Rousseau – Spirit in the WoodsCD, Origins, 1997 French engineer and musician Frederick Rousseau will be know by many due to his work with Vangelis in the ‘80’s and the ‘90’s as well as Jean Michel Jarre, but he also did various own releases aside from being involved in many film projects. This release, for which…
Release data: Letum – The Entrance to Salvation CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cold Meat Industry, 2001 Anyone wanting to try a not-too-hard-hitting album of dark ambient should give the (second) cd by Letum, aka Swede Mattias Hendriksson, a try. Letum, which besides death also seems to be some god from the underworld, manages for 50 minutes to set a dreary, monastic and…
Release data: Robert Rich & Luca Formentini – For Sundays when it rainsCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2022 When it comes to atmospheric recordings, Robert Rich has always something special to offer. To create the electro-acoustic as well as ambient outcome, Luca spent three days at Robert’s new home in Carmel. This with the aim to record as many guitar tracks…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Resonant WavesCD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2024 Gregory Kyryluks’ “Resonant Waves” is a contemporary electronic release purposely realized on four pieces of equipment and no software (the composer is not a fan of soft synths whatsoever). The seven-track outcome is lively, rhythmic-driven, airy, and transparent sounding with nice high-tech, groovy bits and flavours and…
Release data: Solitaire – Trance Halcyon Connection DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2024 When it comes to tribal, lucid, and world music-infused electronic music with minimalist hooks, the German band Solitaire always had something special to offer. Their last full-length release dates from 1997. After that, a long silence set in with Elmar Schulte solely at the helm. At the end…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – Music for the Drive on RV83 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2024 With this release, sound sculptor Boreal Taiga continues the further transformation of his sound and music that was set in motion on his previous record “E 10”. It follows the path to a more ethereal journey with less fluff, creating a more deeper chill-out…
Release data: Floating Point – Between Worlds CD, Private Release, 1996 Ok, let’s journey back to the year 1996. Floating Point is the English trio Alan Gubby, Rod Mansell, and Nick Westwood who, on “Between Worlds”, opt for an extraordinarily interesting form of free-spirited instrumental electronic music with various chill-out hints in which bass and guitars are also used sideways,…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Journey CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2024 With this album, containing music recorded between March and June 2020, Japanese composer Juta Takahashi takes us into outer space, and describes the long-form result as an ambient expression of starlit journeys to uncharted worlds. As before, he blends strings of velvet soundscapes, long-held notes, and gracious textures -all…
Release data: Karl Bartos – Off the Record CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Bureau B, 2014 Those familiar with the enticing Bartos melodies and vocoder voices of his solid album “Communication” will find there’s actually nothing new under the sun on this release. Kraftwerk’s retro-futuristic sound is pretty much all over the place on Karl’s second album “Off the Record” of which the…
Release data: Kevin Kendle – Illumination (Deep Skies 5) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Eventide, 2014 There’s a velvet feel found in the music of UK artist Kevin Kendle that shows familiarity with the new age/ambient works of Jonn Serrie. Kendle’s celestial sonic art and approach, though, has a meditative, soothing angle also present on his fifth release in the Deep Skies series…
Release data: Sequentia Legenda – Galactic Crystals CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 Extended Berlin School music with strong Schulze characteristics remains steady on Laurent Schieber’s “Galactic Crystals” (Adamantine Vibrations of the Universe), a spiritual journey and portal to new dimensions. According to the composer, resonating with the music is key as the listener finds his way as one is encapsulated…
Release data: Grand River & Abul Mogard – In Uno Spazio Immense LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Light-Years, 2024 What I got here is a rather unusual recording despite being electronic ambient. “In uno spazio immense” (In a huge space) is a release by Italian producers/musicians Grand River (aka Aimée Portioli) and Abul Mogard that’s best pinpointed as a dramatic ambient drone with…
Release data: Owann – State of Mind CD/Digital Download, Wool-E Discs, 2019 Johan De Paepe’s music is sensitive, tender, and emotive throughout, stirring quite some inner emotions, for me anyway. The outcome of his third album “State of Mind” is no exception, inviting the listener on a cinematic journey to contemplate and reflect on the state of the world and…
Release data: Loneward – Fractional Dimensions Volume 4 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 This release is the next chapter in the ongoing series under this title, which started in 2022. The continuous 65-minute “A Threshold of Stillness” presented here fits like a glove to the slow enveloping, warm, and spacious soundscapes found in the previous volumes where the profound dreamy,…
Release data: ASC – Loss CD/Mc/Digital Download, Past Inside the Present, 2024 “Loss” is another moving and haunting ambient release album by ASC, this time coming up in a confronting, most personal manner, though, as it deals with the death of the composer’s wife in 2023. As such we’re taken on a most touching and heartfelt journey of weighty vastness…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Different Spaces CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2017 “Different Spaces” (featuring music in memory of the composer’s late sister) is a double album by skilled Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Erik Wøllo that sees him skillfully execute his minimalist-emotive music. Once again, the blend of various guitars, gentle sequencers, haunting synth pads, and assorted percussion is immaculate as we are transported to…
Release data: Phelios – Human Stasis Habitat CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Loki Foundation, 2016 “Human Statis Habitat”, arriving some three years after “Gates of Atlantis”, is a 47-minute work of deep galactic soundscapes and droning dark ambience, all molded and shaped meticulously by the capable Martin Stürtzer. Atmospheric, slow morphing and dark textural pads paint a vast emptiness before the mind’s eye,…
Release data: Field Lines Cartographer – Tone Maps CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Quiet Details, 2023 “Tone Maps” by Lancaster-based producer Mark Burford is an immersive sonic exploration of place and time: past, present, and future, using analog and digital synthesizers among a vast range of field recordings, attempting to capture some of nature’s magic and atmospheres encountered in the sea, skies, and…
Release data: Jim Ottaway – First Light (20th Anniversary Edition) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2004/2024 “First Light” is the debut album from Australian synthesist Jim Ottaway that came out on CD-R back in 2004. Now, this light relaxing ambient release celebrates its 20th anniversary as a factory-pressed CD. For the occasion, some tracks have been re-recorded and remixed from the…
Release data: Rene de Bakker – Dive In Dive Out CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 “Dive Dive Out” marks the eighth solo release by Beyond Berlin member Rene de Bakker. As the composer writes in the notes in the booklet, it is sequencer-based music with its basis and inspiration in the tradition of Berlin school featuring sequencer parts mainly derived…
Release data: Chris Meyer’s Alias Zone – Finite Space CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 Chris Meyer is a New Mexico-based music industry veteran who recently came to my attention. He created vector synthesis and served as technical chairman of the MIDI Manufacturers Association in the ‘80s and ‘90s before turning his attention to video/film and later to creating his music.…
Release data: Brainwork – Late in Berlin CD, Cue Records, 2021 Uwe Saher knows how to make attractive and accessible electronic music, doing so for a long time now. He delivers another fine testament with his 22nd album “Late in Berlin”, offering four lengthy tracks in the best tradition of the Berlin School sound. The 11-minute title piece kicking things…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Space is not Empty DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 With this release, Martin Stürtzer once again shows his versatility in the electronic space music he’s been producing for years. The 48-minute/5-track “Space is not Empty” kicks off with two longer cosmic pieces pairing warm, dense, gently swirling pads with lush Berliner School sequencing and some…
Release data: Gustavo-Denouard – Mysterious Winds DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2024 One of the things that becomes clear on this peaceful recording by Buenos Aires-based ambient composer Gustavo Denouard is the sonic approach, which lines up quite nicely with Michael Stearns as well as Steve Roach’s introspective, melancholic-infused soundscape music: it takes the listener to meditation and reflection. According to…
Release data: David Michael Matuch – Brainstorm: Adventures in Hypoxia CD/Digital Download, Carpe Sonum Records, 1999/2024 With this special album, I invite you to travel back with me to April 1999, when Tucson-based composer David Michael Matuch sent me a demo plus a few handwritten notes of his third album “Brainstorm: Adventures in Hypoxia”, that’s still sitting comfortably in my…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – The Shape of Time CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2023 With “The Shape of Time”, this accomplished Scandinavian musician brings his audience a 62-minute highly atmospheric recording presenting nine compositions of thoughtful and seductive ambient electronic music with melodic soaring themes, vast slow-moving drones, and rhythmic patterns drifting in cycles of transmutable harmonies. Dreamful, ethereal rays shine…
Release data: Matt Goodluck – Inner Cosmos CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, OtherSide, 2024 Matt Goodluck is a relatively new composer on the scene but has a long history in the music business. Having gained invaluable insights by working for independent labels in Europe in the 90s, he returned to Australia in the early 00s where he began singing on the local circuit.…
Release data: John Lyell – Eternity II DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 This recording is Mr. Lyell’s seventh overall ambient release and his fifth solo album to date. It’s also John’s first ambient album commercially released since he moved from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area to the state of New Mexico in the Spring of 2017. The 34-minute outcome, mastered by…
Release data: [‘ramp] – Havoc CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Doombient, 2024 As Stephen elaborated in an interview, the majority of “Havoc” was recorded in parallel with “Happy Days are here to stay” (2022) and “ARP-en-Ciel” (2023), and at some point, it wasn’t exactly clear what music would end up on which album. Its rough sketches were finished in August 2022, and Stephen…
Release data: S1gns of L1fe – Portal to Trancendence DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synphaera Records, 2024 After a three-year hiatus, here’s finally a most welcome vital sign of life of Chris Bryant’s project S1gns Of L1fe. For the composer, “Portal of Transcendence” is a special album in many ways, as it’s the first new S1gns Of L1fe album since the start of…
Release data: Loneward – Beyond the Sea Part Two CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 The gentle, unhurried sonic repose created on “Part One” continues on each of the five 13-minute tracks making up this 67-minute release. The freeform atmospheric realm remains enchanting and overtly relaxed all the way through with emotive textures and drone tapestries containing equal parts joy and…
Release data: Chronotope Project – Chronology CD/Digital Download, Spotted Peccary Music, 2023 The presence of a heartwarming, reflective, and dreamlike realm has always been at the core of Jeffrey Ericson Allen’s Chronotope Project. “Chronology”, a 72-minute work of contemporary progressive ambient pieces, assembles -reworked- tracks picked from his back catalog (pre-Spotted Peccary) along with some new pieces, all telling their…
Release data: Owann – Particles CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2015 “Particles” is Owann’s debut album containing some 74 minutes of delicate, ambient-oriented, rather calm music. Quite a large section of it is moody, emotive, and warm soundscapes with a gentle melodic approach and cinematic touch but there are also a few pieces with thoughtful, well-tempered sequences (“Running on Empty”).…
Release data: Llyn y Cwn – Megaliths CD/Digital Download, Cold Spring Records, 2024 “Megaliths” is based on field recordings made at various UK megalithic sites with the goal to recreate the atmosphere/environment/feeling of each site; the sounds found on site actually dictated the feeling of the music. Furthermore, it also involved recording impulse responses at burial chambers and used…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Cinematic CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2017 The reason this album is called like this is due to the fact it comprises music Erik made back in the day (1998-2003) for various audiovisual projects as well as theater and ballet. The 48-minute “Cinematic” delivers eight tender melodic tracks sketching out their own distinct -but always…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – Mysterious Events CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2024 “Mysterious Events”, the duos 15th album to date, is another 3-CD set by the very talented Dutch musicians Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij of which the sonic content is recognizable immediately as theirs. Their mellow as well as attentive sound design is all over…
Release data: Steve Roach – Reflections in Repose CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2024 The music of “Reflections in Repose” returns to the realm where Steve’s classic “Structures from Silence” was born, offering five long-form textural ambient pieces with the intention and flow to merge into the space where the title track of the classic recording saw the light of day.…
Release data: Dark Sky Alliance – Interdwell CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2024 Dark Sky Alliance is a new electro-acoustic band comprising percussionist Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls), keyboardist Rupert Greenall (The Fixx), soundscaping synthesist Eric “the” Taylor, and cinematic guitarist David Helpling. “Interdwell’s” twelve compositions, which also welcomes a range of guest artists, make up a feat of…
Release data: Phobos – Tholus DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 “Tholus” contains David’s live in the studio recording performance on Morphic Resonance 46. For this review I chose the continuous version (that comes with the download) that blends all tracks nicely, providing one uninterrupted sonic canvas as such. Well, the good old Phobos expansive soundscaping is back here, in this…
Release data: Phobos – Resonances DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 After quite a lengthy hiatus UK artist Phobos brings us another release with all new music created in the moment. The seeds of it emerged after some major renovations done at David Thompson´s house, followed by some pictures on Facebook of finally getting his studio back together. A friend commented…
Release data: Ascendant – Starfall DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synphaera Records, 2024 This release surfaced very quickly after their “Astral Ascendant”, which makes sense as it is the sequel to the previous one and was produced at the same time. At first, it seems to continue where the duo Bryant/Tyler left us a month before, but soon it appears the overall vibe…
Release data: Johan Tronestam – Somewhere far away CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2024 All music I know of Johan Tronestam is very warm, atmospheric, and well thought-out, making it appeal to a wide public. The 77 minutes of music -spread out over 8 tracks- making up “Somewhere far away” displays another fine selection of this Scandinavian talent, again offering music…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Spaceport CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 Here’s another space music outing by the capable Martin Stürtzer that features nice sets of soft sparkling yet circular Berlin School-ish sequencer patterns merged with a range of warm spacious pads. The unhurried, smooth evolving atmospheres sketched out on the seven-track outcome are calm and cinematic as the listener…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Full Spectrum Submission Digital Download, Private Release, 2023 Composer Dennis Huddleston made the continuous 36-minute “Full Spectrum Submission” with the goal of creating and sustaining a quiet intensity that grips you gently by the throat and doesn’t let go. The long-form track is made up of warm, uplifting, and transparent textures and ethereal soundscapes that…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Piannette 2 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad21 Music, 2024 The music captured on “Pianette 2” has been an emotional and creative journey as it emerged from Mr Sanfilippo’s deep connection with music and memories of his childhood. When he actually started composing it, he intended to evoke the magic and innocence he experienced in his early years…
Release data: Lauge – Echoes Digital Download, Private Release, 2024 Lauge’s Ep “Echoes” is another nature-themed release providing an entrance into a world of serene wonder, one of the most gentle and warm textural ambiences incorporating an assortment of environmental recordings from oceans, (frozen) wildlife, and forests. It’s a sanctuary of calm and comfort, taking us far away from the…
Release data: Max Corbacho – The Delicate Essence of Solitude CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silentsun, 2024 The majority of Max Corbacho’s output -often hypnotic-oriented- sonic landscapes help the listener transcend into a deeper, alternate reality while urging to simply feel and reflect on a personal level in a non-intrusive manner. The warm sonic background featured in “The Delicate Essence of Solitude” fills…
Release data: Above & Beyond – Flow State CD/LP/Digital Download, AnjunaBeats, 2019 What I got here is some 49 minutes of overall chilled-out, blissful (and occasionally even meditative) ambient electronics by UK’s trance trio Above & Beyond. “Flow State” though turns away from their upfront dance sound and announces something new under their umbrella. The outcome -I would pinpoint it…
Release data: Vince Clarke – Songs of Silence CD/Lp/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mute Records, 2023 It’s time for some more slow, wistful music, this time composed by Vince Clarke who many may know from his time with Depeche Mode and later on a few hit songs with the synth-pop flicks Yazoo and Erasure. Vince’s debut solo album “Songs of Silence features 10…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Melt CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 Among the fanbase of this Aachen-based composer must be many who have a soft spot for the early 70-s TD recordings made with classic, labour intensive gear. Same as on Cosmic Ground’s previous recordings one won’t find any uplifting, melodic music while also sequencers are often absent. Moreover, “Melt’s”…
Release data: Dave Bessell – Chromatic Lightning Cage CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2024 Quirky moods and stark analogue atmospheres with a cinematic edge form most of the core of the music on “Chromatic Lightning Cage”, a release completing a quartet of albums, by this UK synthesist, that are all loosely based on the Greek philosophy of the four elements, namely water…
Release data: Loneward – Beyond the Sea, Part One CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 A lot of the music Mike Carss has put out by now has been a most pleasant and overtly relaxed listening experience. Mr. Carss recalls the impetus for “Beyond the Sea” originated from a trip to Honduras, and features photography and field recordings Mike took there.…
Release data: Subclavian – I CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 The start of March brought a nice surprise as I read about Subclavian, which appears to be the alter-ego of Phobos, aka UK synthesist David Thompson, kicking off an entirely new project. For quite a while, Mr Thompson felt an urge to create some melodic sequencer music and as it…
Release data: Ascendant – Astral Ascendant Digital Download, Synphaera Records, 2024 All releases on the Synphaera label don’t compromise on audio quality. The latter matched with some great sound design and accessible electronic music can only lead to a great album, which is the case with Chris Bryant and Don Tyler’s “Astral Ascendant”, a 53-minute sequencer-driven journey without solo voices…
Release data: Craig Padilla & Marvin Allen – Weathering the Storm CD/Digital Download, Spotted Peccary Music, 2023 On their third collaborative recording “The Weathering Storm”, accomplished synth-wizard Craig Padilla and guitarist Marvin Allen take us back to the realms of early ‘70s krautrock and modern electronic ambient production that all turned out in a dreamlike, dramatic electronic landscape of an…
Release data: Jonn Serrie – Ascendant Destiny CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, New World Music, 2024 Jonn’s goal for “Ascendant Destiny” is to take his audience to beautiful and inspiring places with his signature blend of lush, emotive, and cinematic ambient soundscapes. Spending much time in deep meditation and contemplation, Mr Serrie tried to create another journey through both time and space, wanting…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – Reflections on a Moonlit Lake CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2024 From the start, Dunedin-based musician Rudy Adrian envisioned the outcome of “Reflections on a Moonlit Lake” to be a bit in the style of his first official album “The Healing Lake”. That one was released by Jon Mark’s White Cloud / Naxos label nearly 25 years ago. Back…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – D.MO. Vol. 5 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2024 After four volumes in the D.MO series, I would have thought Mr. Schröder’s archive would be empty by now. But no, here’s “Volume 5” featuring another set of retro electronic tracks from the ’80s. Now I could spend some obsolete words on the outcome, but actually, there…
Release data: Däcker – Anthropomorphic Personification CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2023 From time to time I have music on my desk that demands some extra time to investigate and grab the full picture. This applies to the second release by Almere-based Peter Dekker, aka Däcker, who regards himself as a composer using synthesizers for the creation of his music,…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Lander Modules DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 The smooth evolving, 5-track space cruiser “Lander Modules” is a live recording of Mr. Stürtzer’s ‘Home Concert 58’, sonically sketching out the story of ancient, present, and future lander modules that have been sent out to the moons of the solar system. The cinematic, highly atmospheric realms see…
Release data: Boris Blank – Resonance CD/Lp, IAN Records, 2024 Fans of the Swiss band Yello already know one half of it, synth-wizard Boris Blank, is a most talented sonic painter of enchanting, often highly cinematic atmospheres. His latest effort is the immersive “Resonance,” comprising twelve tracks originally commissioned for the Fortyseven thermal spa near Zurich that transcends the boundaries…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Reality Engine Lp/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Past Inside the Present, 2024 “Reality Engine”, the third and final vinyl in 36’s synth trilogy on the Past Inside the Present label, sees Mr. Huddleston continue the melodic, melancholy machine sound started with “Wave Variations” and “Symmetry Systems”, further exploring the blossoming dynamics of artificial intelligence and the ever-changing definition…
Release data: Awenson – Faith CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2024 “Faith” is a concept album in the fairly ‘traditional’ Berlin School style, but still bearing Awenson’s easily recognizable, occasionally hypnotizing, style. Furthermore, music, images, and the poem have been conceived and thought out by Joël Bernard, aiming to restore faith in oneself and the universe. Vintage warm, sequencer-driven electronics roll…
Release data: TiRa The Art of Dance – Endless Ambient Part two CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2024 In my opinion, there’s not much to tell about the second chapter by musician Ralf Gülpen. It’s another set of mood music spread out over 11 tracks that continue the aural sojourn of the first part in a similar way. Again, there are…
Release data: Altus – Solastalgia CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2024 I recall having quite some issues with the previous Altus album “Descender” but hearing the first textural waves of “Solastalgia” -created from May to July 2023- makes clear the latter (re) focuses on painting emotive, intimate atmospherics. The album is inspired by the term “Solastalgia” coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht…
Release data: Parallel Worlds – Fragmented CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2024 Bakis Sirros´ “Fragmented” is another cinematic-oriented release fully fletched with the composer’s impressive modular walls, most notably the Eurorack as well as the Buchla system. Profound, wonderous, slow-moving soundscapes make up the very nice opening and closing tracks (“Dawning” and “Sunset”) of the release, each hinting at a lucid, mesmerizing…
Release data: Steve Roach & Robert Rich – Waves of Now Digital Download, Soundquest Music, 2024 It’s some 30 years ago since Mr. Roach and Mr. Rich bookmarked their notable collaboration with the ambient-tribal-atmospheric recordings “Strata” and “Soma”. December 5, 2023, saw the return of the two accomplished musicians, celebrating their reunion through a live concert at the Club Congress,…
Release data: F.D. Project – Stars Landscape and Collision CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2023 Moody, uplifting, and passionate electronic music is what´s found in Frank Dorritke´s 70-minute, cosmic-themed “Stars Landscape and Collision”. Partial progressive and orchestral in form, the five-part title piece offers a dynamic, melodic-oriented outcome boosted by warm synth pads, captivating rhythm, and driving sequences, all topped by…
Release data: Derrick Stembridge & Mike Petruna – Cryptic Logic CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Labile Records, 2024 What I got here is a most unusual recording for Sonic Immersion’s desk, as it’s an exploration of contemporary sound that transcends traditional boundaries. “Cryptic Logic” actually invites listeners to embark on a journey through a musical universe that is both expansive and introspectively deep.…
Release data: The Roswell Incident – Before the Beginning DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 In my opinion, the ambient and Berlin-School-infused electronic music created by Koen and Jan Buytaert, aka the Ghent-based project The Roswell Incident, has been (and remains) something special. Once more, some intriguing mind cinema unfolds on the four-track “Before the Beginning”, which comprises three previously released…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Aquatic Cosmos DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Private Release, 2023 It’s hard to keep up with the fast-paced tempo of releases by this talented German synthesist, but the quality of his music doesn’t seem to be the least affected by that at all. This also applies to the solid and mature electronic music -this time all built…
Release data: Perge – Void Coefficient CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 The title of this Perge release, which took about 3 months to record, refers to a state in a nuclear reaction which is the theoretical maximum output before the core meltdown. “Void Coefficient” was recorded over the summer of 2023 after Matthew Stringer saw an advert for a ‘virtual…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – Sacred Places CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2024 In one of my previous reviews of Mr. Holmes’s music I once remarked the heartfelt aural splendor spread out there simply draws you in without much effort. From there, something indefinably magical takes over to a lasting, mesmerizing effect. This stamp can also be put on “Sacred…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Area 23 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2023 “Area 23” is an abstract and stark soundscape release by Dirk Jan Müller taking the listener through an imminent landscape of dark, eerie, and ghostly plains. It could be an imaginary soundtrack for a visit to a test site where all that’s left is barren. The overall outcome…
Release data: Wolfgang Bock – Mintaka CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, MIG, 2023 This fall and to my astonishment, I found out that this German composer -who now seems to reside in Spain- had released another album -some 23 years after the classic “Cycles”. Musically, the only 40-minute, almost quiet release features nine tracks with gentle melodic lines. “The breath of Aurelia”, “Passing…
Release data: Gert Emmens – City Never Sleeps CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2023 Painting emotive nocturnal cityscapes before the mind’s eye is what “City Never Sleeps” is all about. Its storyline is about a young country boy who moves to a big city after getting the job of his dreams there. Life in that city though turns out to be…
Release data: David Parsons – Forgotten Dreams DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Celestial Harmonies, 2023 This album, released through Eckart Rahn’s Celestial Harmonies label, saw the light of day in an unnoticed manner as I couldn’t find any promo for it. Dave and Eckart actually go back a long way, as Eckart (who had shown an interest in traditional Asian music at a…
Release data: Steve Roach – Stratus DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Steve Roach Exclusive, 2020 “Stratus” is one of the vast range of releases Steve Roach offers through his Bandcamp Exclusive page. It features 6 atmospheric, cloud-inspired pieces that -according to the artist- should be part of a yet unreleased recording entitled “Seven Clouds”. The 23-minute title piece kicks things off in a…
Release data: Zanov – Lost in the Future CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 It took Pierre Salkazanov some three years to come up with this follow-up to 2020’s “Chaos Islands”. Overall, the seven tracks making up the 45-minute “Lost in the Future” sound like his previous contemporary releases, managing to retain a lot of originality in both his compositions and…
Release data: Danger in Dream – Entrance CD/Digital Download, Virtual Music, 2001 Nearing the end of another year made me reflect on an album that came out over 22 years ago. “Entrance” is the classic debut album from Vienna-based duo Danger in Dream (aka Robert Wittek and Alexander Gülfenburg). It was finally made available in download format in 2020 as…
Release data: Kloob & Onasander – Goês CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Winter-Light, 2023 Ritualist dark ambient at full scale makes up Kloob & Onasander’s “Goês”, which rounds out the duos’ witchcraft trilogy. This last chapter focusses on funeral laments and chthonic sorcery and lasts nearly 60 minutes. It’s another haunting and immersive sonic experience loaded with drone tapestries traveling slowly but surely…
Release data: Parallel Worlds – Reflections CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Móatún7, 2023 With “Reflections”, skilled Greek synthesist Bakis Sirros continues his sojourn through organic, dark-ambient electronics. The eight tracks air malevolent, gloomy, and stark atmospheres incorporating abstract future-noir as well as minimal electro. The profound adventurous 45-minute outcome is not for the faint of heart, as a strange assemblage of buzzing textures…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Cloud of Strings CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2023 “Clouds of Strings” sees a return of talented Scandinavian multi-instrumental artist Erik Wøllo to his first love: the acoustic guitar. In more than one way, the 12 melodic moodscapes reflect on his previous releases “Guitar Nova” (1998) and “Blue Sky, Red Guitars” (2004) while exploring the possibilities of the…
Release data: TiRa The Art of Dance – Endless Ambient Part 1 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2023 German composer Ralf Gülpen, aka Tira, is a new name to me and quite a discovery after submerging pleasantly in the first few tracks of the 75-minute debut “Endless Ambient Part 1”. The 14 tracks in total are presented in one continuous, uninterrupted…
Release data: The Roswell Incident – Departure from the Homeworld CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2023 Too many years have passed since this band’s last release from 2019, so it’s a relief Groove Unlimited grabbed the opportunity just before E-Live 2023 to release “Departure from the Homeworld” as a (well-deserved) hardcopy instead of the initial download-only version envisioned by the brothers…
Release data: Rob Papen – Waiting CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 It has been a long wait, it actually took Rob nearly 20 years to launch this follow-up album to “Daydreamer”. So what a surprise it was to see this talented Dutch synthesist, sound designer & developer of software for virtual instruments present a couple of audio snapshots of this…
Release data: Sequentia Legenda – Alcyone CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2023 Here´s another fine Sequentia Legenda album filled with long-form tracks for every Berlin School/late ’70s Schulze aficionado seeing the French composer express his profound passion and admiration for the genre another time around. The pairing of lengthy sequencer patterns, rhythmic structures, choral pads, and emotive textures into expansive cosmic…
Release data: Amongst Myselves – An Abandoned Day CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 The overall feel of the eight-track “An Abandoned Day” is one of nocturnal ambient that walks on and crosses the abstract/experimental edge at times. The feel of nighttime already creeps in on the nicely rendered opener “The Winds of April” while stark, organic-infused ambiences dominate on the…
Release data: Simon Lomax – These Tranquil Winds CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 On “These Tranquil Winds”, skilled UK ambient composer Simon Lomax (formerly known as Maitreya) dives deeper into a fascinating, slow-moving transcendental world of textures and atmospheres. “The Vastness of it All” kicks off the 44-minute release most nicely into a dynamic drifting expanse before things shift into…
Release data: Loneward – Fractional Dimensions Volume 3 CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 “Fractional Dimensions Volume 3”, of which the previous volumes were published in 2022 and Spring 2023 respectively, is part of an ongoing series from Canadian composer Mike Carss (aka Loneward) that explores slow-moving spaces for contemplation, meditation, and sleep. The low-volume music featured here actually revisits, or…
Release data: Numina – Collection of Dimensions DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 After a hiatus of some six years, Jesse Sola aka Numina brings the Em-community “Collection of Dimensions”, an 8-track/62-minute dark-ambient and melodic space-music excursion to different dimensions. First some insight into the process that would end up being “Collection of Dimensions”: over the past few years since the…
Release data: Forrest Fang – The Lost Seasons of Amorphia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2022 US musician Forrest Fang is one of the best-selling artists on Sam Rosenthal’s Projekt label. Forrest’s creative process is generally about exploration, aiming to develop a “sound” that he can use to suggest different moods and structures. The seeds for “The Lost Seasons of Amorphia”…
Release data: Alpha Lyra – Sailing over the Sea CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, PWM Distribution, 2023 During the years I´ve heard quite a bit of the work of French composer Christian Piednoir, aka Alpha Lyra, but it never was able to move me emotionally. After a break of many years, I decided to give it another shot with “Sailing over the Sea”…
Release data: Applefish – Astrosat DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Warm, deep, and rather contemplative ambient space music is on the menu on Applefish´s debut album “Astrosat”, a 50-minute astral journey by UK composer Nik Davies unfolding calmly in 11 separate tracks that range between 3 and 5 minutes. The mood and feel are already set beautifully by the 5-minute…
Release data: Terminus Void – Apeiron CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2023 “Apeiron” is the first real label release introducing Terminus Void’s full dynamic voice, including ambient, Berlin School, downtempo, and the classic Terminus Void emotional sound world. It contemplates the abstract concept of the infinite and boundlessness of everything; from the laws of physics to consensus itself and asks the…
Release data: Johan Tronestam – Roswell CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SynGate, 2015 The albums and tracks by Scandinavian composer Johan Tronestam fit in the league of feel-good, moody, and well-tempered electronics. The 79-minute “Roswell” is no exception, offering nine Berlin School-infused pieces with captivating sequencer patterns, catchy rhythms, and smooth evolving melodies. Johan’s rather simple but always-to-the-point sonic approach with atmospheric nods…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Into the Light CD, Spheric Music, 2023 With his release Into the Light”, the Aachen-based musician brings his listeners a 57-minute concept album that sonically stays close to that of Berlin School but contains far fewer tunes. The 12-minute opening title track already harkens back nicely to the tasty soundscape, choir/string pads, gentle percussion, and…
Release data: Loneward – Ferric Expeditions CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release/Ambient Soundscapes, 2023 Loneward’s “Ferric Expeditions”, mastered by the Ultimae label owner Vincent Villuis, is an ambient release published in collaboration with Ambient Soundscapes (a division of Valley View Records). The 47-minute concept recording consists of a series of ten gently unfolding audio vignettes (each exploring a musical motif—either holding within…
Release data: Three-six (36) – Cold Ecstasy Lp/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3six Recordings, 2023 I´ve heard and reviewed quite a bit of 36 albums by now, seeing Dennis Huddleston shape and evolve his musical style on almost every new recording. This time around, the outcome drifts within the realm of ´90s UK hardcore (with vocal samples roaming in the sonic background) and…
Release data: Biome – Essence CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2021 What I got here is the second recording by Gregory Kyryluk released under the ambient moniker Biome, a project he coined as bio-organically infused electronica. Well, the result presents six quite minimalist tracks featuring subtle rhythmic structures underneath tapestries of subdued, almost gliding soundscapes incorporating some environmental elements on…
Release data: Yog Sothoth – Prehistoric Dawn CD, Private Release, 2012 What I got here is the debut album by Yog-Sothoth (aka Cologne-based musician Michael Wilkes) who has been around in the EM scene since the start of the ’90. Most notably, Mr. Wilkes won Germany’s Schallwelle award for being the best newcomer in 2011. The latter is no surprise after…
Release data: Rainbow Serpent – Voices of the first day CD, Manikin Records, 2001 Teutonic Berlin School, especially the output of Klaus Schulze, has been a strong inspiration for Rainbow Serpent´s core sound, but the German duo was always able to inject it with many modern vibes. “Voices of the First Day” is no exception to that, offering another well-accomplished…
Release data: Thorsten Quaeschning – The Capitol Session CD/Digital Download, Protonopia, 2020 The live music featured on this release was recorded at the E-Wave Festival in November 2019 in Zeil am Main where Mr. Quaeschning played a full 75-minute set set. From the start of the eight-part “The Capitol Session”, it’s clear Thorsten is well on his way here again…
Release data: Jonn Serrie – Sunday Morning Peace CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Valley-Entertainment, 2011 There´s not much to say about this one as the origin of this album with stress-relief music goes back to 2005 when Jonn released it privately on CD-R entitled “Sunday Morning”. For this official release, the music has been reworked with the sounds of the seashore woven into…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Ver Sacrum DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad21 Music, 2023 “Ver Sacrum”, inspired and informed by the ancient custom of ritualized expulsions of the same name, sees composer Bruno Sanfilippo head into a new direction that I’d like to describe as hallowed, intimate orchestral chamber music. The highly emotive, thought-provoking, excellently mastered, and produced outcome dwells profoundly in…
Release data: Ayaavaaki & Purl – Ancient Skies CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, LILA, 2023 “Ancient Skies” is an extensive electronic dream journey of nearly 2,5 hours envisioned and realized by the duo Alexander Lux (aka Ayaavaaki) and Ludvig Cimbrelius (aka Purl). It features vast tableaux of ambient, drone, and space music with occasional subtle implied rhythmic structures. Moreover, a profound sense of…
Release data: Alio Die & Dirk Serries – The Chapters of the Eclipse CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt, 2022 Both these two experienced ambient composers, hailing from Italy and Belgium respectively, have numerous collaborations and solo works under their belt. What I got here is a minimalist, totally subdued, and sedate work of free-floating textures unfolding on three extended tracks, imparting passage…
Release data: Node – Singularity CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2023 Sure, there’s been lots of talk about this UK quartet, most notably for their same-titled debut from 1994. The 67 minutes of music contained on “Singularity” -all created with analogue synths, modulars, and assorted vintage equipment- is said to be created during the same sessions, presenting an overall electronic-psychedelic, experimental-ish, non-conformist…
Release data: Steve Roach – Ambient Church CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Timeroom Editions, 2023 Concerts performed in churches are something special, filling the sacred space with hallowed soundings. Ambient master Steve Roach already did several during his career, which this time around led him in June 2022 to New York City´s Church of the Heavenly Rest. The full performance, integrating the music…
Release data: Applefish – Luminous DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Valley View Records, 2023 My attention was drawn to this UK artist and recording by my trusted friend Dan from Down Under with whom I had the privilege to do various audio projects successfully in the last decade. Pinpointed by its creator Nik Davies as “the perfect soundtrack for finding inner peace and…
Release data: Llyn Y Cwn – Stratigraphy CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 It´s been quite some years since I dug any further music by UK artist Llyn Y Cwn, aka Ben Powell, whose output is field-recording-based dark ambient with a focus on both atmosphere and environment. Most notably it draws inspiration from the composer’s native North Wales landscape and his…
Release data: Sphäre Sechs – Beta Pictoris CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cryochamber, 2021 German synthesists Martin Stürtzer and Christian Stritzel make a great duo as they continue their exploration of the cosmic expanse under the Sphäre Sechs moniker. From the promo blurb, I learned they pulled off an improvisational online concert played from two different cities and gathered material in preparation for…
Release data: Johan Agebjörn – Subtracted Soundspaces DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2023 For “Subtracted Soundscapes”, featuring electronic music moving fluidly between the naturalistic and the slightly otherworldly, accomplished Swedish composer/producer Johan Agebjörn revisited past work, though with a strong focus on calmness and serenity as well as envisioning an outcome that’s entirely beatless. The sonic threads of the original…
Release data: Loneward – Willoweald CD-r/Digital Download, Private Release/Stereoscenic, 2023 Gentle and overall lush orchestrations make up Loneward’s “Willoweald”, a nearly 60-minute peaceful and imaginary piece of ambient soundscape music inspired by the spring season. As I’ve come accustomed to from Mr. Carss, the layering, and merging of textures is very well done, building emotive, dreamy atmospheric arcs to…
Release data: Lauge – Sceneries DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Valley View Records, 2022 I just realized quite a lot of quiet ambient music has passed on my plate over the last couple of months. In there also fits the lengthy “Sceneries” by Danish musician Henrik Lagesen. The recording sets off with a nine-track cinematic soundscape journey that takes the slow lane with…
Release data: Deepspace – The Blue Dunes Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2022 Over the last few years, I repeatedly felt the growing need to escape from nowadays constantly buzzing, chaotic, and demanding world, finding ambient music one of the best means to do so. The ambient works by Brisbane-based musician Deepspace -a true desert freak captivated by inner worlds- are…
Release data: John Mark & David Antony Clark – The Leaving of Ireland CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, White Cloud Records/Naxos, 1998 Ok, please join me on another trip down memory lane. “The Leaving of Ireland” is a concept album by these two musicians from “Down Under” and a number of session musicians, with Jon Mark once again showing that he still has…
Release data: Inhmost – Above the Sky MC/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Auxiliary, 2023 I ran into the artist Inhmost, aka Simon Huxtable, due to the two space albums this guy did with James Clements, who’s better known as ASC. “Above the Sky” is a 7-track atmospheric trip into the cosmic expanse, a calm unfolding journey expressing the wonders and mysteries of the…
Release data: Gert Emmens – Mysteries of Dawn CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2023 Since Dutchman Gert Emmens started out composing, he created lots of moody electronics with his large assortment of vintage instruments. “Mysteries of Dawn”, created between November 2021 and April 2022, sees Gert continue his journey through Berlin School sonic landscape in a confident, steady manner. The melodic…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – The Zone of Malleable Fears CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Acoustic Wave Records, 2023 For this record, UK synthesist Brendan Pollard decided to do things differently: creating music based upon a storyboard of ideas he created many years ago and musically interpreting those visions. The many vintage sounds Mr. Brendan is known for are still there, but the…
Release data: Meg Bowles – Voices from the Ethereal Forest CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Kumatone Records, 2022 Synthesist Meg Bowles considers music -which she always has experienced very visually- as a primary language, a means to link to vivid worlds full of feeling. From the beginning in the early 90-s, she chose to self-release her music as it proved the most efficient…
Release data: Gunnar Jónsson Collider – S.W.I.M. LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2023 “S.W.I.M.” is the debut of Icelandic musician Gunnar Jónsson Collider on A Strangely Isolated Place with an expansive trip through six fictional environments. We are talking about soundscape music with a slight experimental as well as organic edge, lush meandering ambient musings featuring subtle changes in…
Release data: Sphäre Sechs – Extradimension CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 The majority of the music of talented German composer Martin Stürtzer happens at the moment as he improvises live or during studio sessions, something also applying to the darker shaded ambient he makes as Sphäre Sechs with his musical companion Christian Stritzel. The non-rhythmic soundscape music of the 45-minute…
Release data: Brianwork – Back to the Roots II CD, Cue Records, 2019 I haven’t reviewed much of Uwe Saher’s music but am familiar with quite a bit of his accessible, melodic music since the middle of the ‘90s. This release follows up on the first volume that came out in 1993, but what’s found on no. II is even…
Release data: [‘ramp] – Arp-en-Ciel CD/Digital Download, Doombient Music, 2023 I can´t deny I´ve developed a kind of soft spot for Mr. Parsick´s sonic creations over time, most notably for his ambient material (released on CD-R in clam shells). His last few recent releases though stand out as in-depth aural travelogues through space and time, all following their own profound…
Release data: Bob Holroyd – A Different Space CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Six Degrees Records, 2000 Here’s Bob Holroyd’s third album “A Different Space” -turning out significantly more tribal-spiced- which would not have been out of place on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label. With the previous recordings “Fluidity and Structure” and “Stages”, Holroyd already managed to deliver an intriguing portion of music,…
Release data: Exuviae – Echoes in the Emptiness CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Greenhouse Music, 2000 Greenhouse Music’s third album, released over 20 years ago, comes in the name of Exuviae, aka American musician Brooks Rongstad. The Greenhouse compilation “Convergent Evolution” already featured an exclusive piece by him, but now he has released a full cd. Brooks is self-taught, and after years of…
Release data: Pete Namlook – Silence III CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Fax, 1998 Here’s another release from the extensive Fax catalog. It sees Peter Kuhlmann -alias Pete Namlook- continue the concept of “Silence” in Part III. I’m not familiar with the previous two parts, but this one is certainly not unpleasant. Peter gives his own interpretation of ambient music, and sometimes that…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – E10 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2022 Boreal Taiga is the creator of beautiful, lush ambient electronic spherescapes inspired by the Northern Hemisphere and Arctic environment, an area where the reindeer roam and the Sami live. These Arctic and Subarctic lands are and have been spiritual to the composer in many aspects. “E10”, clocking over 130…
Release data: Pete Namlook – Namlook XX-Music for Urban Meditation II CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Fax, 2007 This is one of those albums that only works its magic when listened to focused and preferably with headphones. It’s a heavy and intense trip the listener is undertaking here, a lengthy drone journey of some 79-minutes mingling the gloomy, slightly industrial, and hypnotic effectively…
Release data: Altus – Descender CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 “Descender” explores the sonic roots of Altus’ past, journeying back to more melodic/structured and varied music, pre-Altus of the mid and late 90s to be more precise. Back then, Mike Carss wasn’t into ambient music at all, instead creating busy, beat-driven, and heavily melodic music inspired by the EDM and…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Entropy CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 Since this talented German musician started out under the CG moniker, dark ambient journeys into the deeper end in line with ‘70’s enigmatic, Teutonic Tangerine Dream have become his trademark. A variety of psychedelic spheres and malevolent, otherworldly landscapes accompanied by some dirty, dense as well as uplifting sequencing…
Release data: Steve Roach – Rest of Life CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2023 The 134-minute “Rest of Life” is a release with a contemporary sound design celebrating calm, reflection, and introspection through arcs of immersive, textural music for which the composer consciously tuned into the soul tone of both “Quiet Music” and “Structures from Silence”. Steve himself refers to the…
Release data: Michael Neil – Adrift DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 As could be expected with such a title, Michael Neil´s “Adrift” takes its listeners into drifting oceanic sceneries. The four tracks -three clocking over 13 minutes- feature calm, warm expansive textural tapestries with an occasional Vangelis-esque touch that take the listener out in the open. Michael’s old symphonic, slightly…
Release data: State Azure – Nova Sonus DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Here’s another invitation to travel into future worlds where it is left to the listener to form his own images of the delicately moulded off-world ambiences. Calm and overtly lush imaginary soundscapes inspired by and/or rooted firmly in the rain-drenched, neon-lit world of Blade Runner make up the…
Release data: 2814 – Rain Temple CD/Mc/Lp/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Dream Catalogue, 2016 Being impressed by the duo’s “Birth of a New Day” made me search for their third album “Rain Temple”. Well, this recording proves a more intense and straightforward ambient/down-tempo release drenched in almost constant rain. It evaporates melancholy along a futuristic realm of overtly darker (as well as occasional…
Release data: Mikkel Rev – The Art of Levitation LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2023 Mikkel Rev is the alias of Norwegian music producer Mikkel Haraldstad who presents a melange of contemporary electronics, trance, and ambient on “The Art of Levitation”, as such moving through different moods and tempos. The pads used, in the 12-minute title piece especially, remind…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Colours in the Dark CD/Digital Download, 3Six Recordings, 2022 36´s “Colours In The Dark” came to life after an extended period of complete musical inactivity as the composer suffered from depression for the first time in his life. As such this release is one of his most personal, an intense, beatless ambient journey from the profound…
Release data: Peter Mergener – New Horizons CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2023 With his previous release “Astronaut”, Peter Mergener was already inspired by the cosmos and the anniversary moon landing in particular. The 56-minute “New Horizons” (featuring a typical BSC/Prudence cover but released by Mr. Ringlage’s Spheric Music) continues the outer space concept pairing well-tempered, enticing sequences with pleasant melodic…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – A Walk in the Shadow Garden CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2023 Like almost all of Mr. Adrian´s previous releases, this recording had a long way coming. As usual, it involved a lot of (almost aimless) experimenting with sounds, note progressions, and keys to find the right one that would unlock the door to some…
Release data: State Azure – Cadwell’s Reach Digital Download, Private Release, 2022 State Azure is the nom-de-plume of talented UK synthesist/producer Patrick Unsworth who has built quite an impressive, lengthy discography by now. “Cadwell’s Reach” is a special one in there, featuring a beautifully rendered long-form (Blade Runner) soundscape -lasting for 1 hour and 45 minutes- that absolutely pleases the…
Release data: A.P. – Tidsmateria CD/Digital Download, Gterma, 2022 This album was released simultaneously with David Parsons’ “Portal” in December 2022. Despite it being drifting, with minimal textural ambient, reviewing it took me quite a bit longer than I anticipated. A.P., Anders Peterson, is an accomplished sound designer, composer, and audio postproduction engineer who´s in charge of mastering almost…
Release data: Science of Sleeping, Spacecraft – Moons of Jupiter Digital Download, Valley View Records, 2022 Here´s a recording for all who enjoy floating ambient soundscapes that wander gently and slightly majestic through the womb of the universe. The 36-minute drifting journey -inspired by the moons of Jupiter that form a satellite system called the Jovian system and the vastness of…
Release data: Parallel Worlds – Plector CD/Digital Download, DiN, 2022 Stark organic vintage electronics are at work on Bakis Sirros’ third solo release on Mr. Boddy’s DiN label, a release not suitable for the faint of heart. A sense of futurism and bleakness lurks around the corner on each of the eight dark atmospheric tracks made up of peculiar…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Recurrence CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2021 It’s hard to keep up with the releases of Norwegian artist Erik Wøllo, who´s able to offer a dreamlike, cinematic journey on almost every recording, merging profound and timeless atmospheric paintings with processed acoustic/e-guitar, sequencers, and other assorted rhythmic components in a sophisticate, elegant manner. Like his previous works,…
Release data: ASC – Original Soundtrack CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2022 The focus of this ASC recording -written during the 2020 pandemic lockdown- centers around a more acoustic sound of looped piano dressed with melancholic, airy soundscapes. James Clements leads the listener through an introspective, dreamy, and calm aural landscape with sepia tones where a sense of nostalgia…
Release data: David Parsons – Portal CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Gterma, 2022 I’ve been following and enjoying the sonic adventures of David Parsons for over three decades now. Personally, I’ve been especially fond of his Tibetan-inspired/flavored works such as “Himalaya”, “Tibetan Plateau”, “Dorje Ling” and “Vayra”. That same aural path is found on “Portal”. Mr. Parsons though has never been fond of…
Release data: Jonn Serrie – Elysian Lightships DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Valley Entertainment, 2023 This album had a long way coming, as already three of its tracks (also the first three on the release) were already released as “singles” with intervals in 2022. The 6-track “Elysian Lightships” is described by Mr. Serrie as “conceived using a combination of great sci-fi literary ideas,…
Release data: Axess – Time Traveller CD, Private Release, 2005 One actually can’t go wrong with the nicely shaped contemporary electronic music of Axel Stupplich, who’s also involved in the project Pyramid Peak. Compared to the previous releases, Axel’s third album “Time Traveller” turns out groovy, offering 74 minutes of peppy, rhythmic-driven and more powerful music dressed with the Berlin…
Release data: 2814 – Birth of a New Day Lp/Mc/Digital Download, Dream Catalogue, 2015 Various random excursions into music of the vaporwave genre made me discover this (for many) classic ambient release, a sonic journey delving deep in dystopian, futurist atmospheres similar to those encountered on Blade Runner. 2814 is a project between American composers Telepath and UK-sound sculptor HKE,…
Release data: Loneward – Fractional Dimensions Volume 2 CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2023 Here’s Mike Carss’s second chapter in this long-form series exploring slow-moving spaces for contemplation, meditation, and sleep. The continuous 65-minute ambient track entitled “Lacunarity” guides us into overall serene aural territory with broadening textural tapestries. A spacious aural cocoon awaits us featuring a gentle ebb and flow of…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Floating Music edition 2023 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2023 It rather puzzled me what point is/was to publish Mr. Schroeder´s second album “Floating Music” for the third time since the vinyl release in 1980. I figure it must be a long-time wish from Spheric Music to complete the RS catalog. The original album had mixed…
Release data: Subdream – A Tale of Distant Stars DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Exophere Music, 2022 I´ve been following Chris Bryant´s Synphaera label and its sub-labels for years now which has proven a fine outlet for some quality electronic music. One of them is German musician Subdream (also joining Mr. Bryant’s Ambient Online community) who composes in various Em genres, the majority…
Release data: Spyra – Little Garden of Sound 2022 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Spyra´s “Little Garden of Sound 2022” (Monotonous Music For Stereophile Listeners) is a pure and honest dedication to classic Berlin School music and Klaus Schulze in particular. The work itself is a sonic art exhibition with interactive sound sculptures that premiered in July 2022 in Kassel,…
Release data: Tonal Assembly – Four Pieces for Sonic Solitude Digital Download, Private Release, 2021 I don´t fight in any sense against the overwhelming amount of electronic music around, but it’s a pity if you miss out on a quality recording that deserves recommendation to a wide audience. So I’m glad a trusted long-time EM aficionado and friend brought this…
Release data: Zuwe – SH40 CD/LP/MINIDISC/MC/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hiraeth Records, 2022 Zuwe is an Amsterdam-based musician whose musical background and experience include mainly (ambient) electronic music and environmental recordings. As his music evolved, he started implementing more instruments such as guitar and piano. Over the years he made and released music in various electronic genres under various aliases. Work on “SH40”…
Release data: Creation VI – Beringia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cryo Chamber, 2019 Once in a while, I like to dig through the large pool of dark ambient created globally. Creation VI, founded in 2006, is an ambient/drone project by Ukrainian-based sound artist Tim Six. For “Beringia” -the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia- he…
Release data: ASC & Sam KDC – A Restless Mind 12″/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Auxiliary, 2020 Since I discovered ASC´s ambient work I´m fascinated by this artist’s talent to explore spellbinding, deeper aural worlds through (mostly) texture. “A Restless Mind”, accomplished in the first phase of the corona pandemic, sees Mr. Clements collaborate with British fellow artist Samuel Wood (aka Sam KDC).…
Release data: David De Michele – Passage Through the Central Sun DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Indigo World Productions, 2001 David de Michele, formerly known as David White Dove, is a Colorado-based musician composing music for transformation since 1994. “Passage Through the Central Sun”, offering four spontaneously performed extended tracks, can surely be categorized as ambient space music. The cd booklet explains the…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Atmospheric Twilight CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SilentSun, 2022 Expansive, gracious, and awe-inspiring textural landscapes have been a trademark of Max Corbacho since I ran into his music around 2000. Every release he put out appears as an invitation to explore a new dimensional space carved out of rays of pastel colours. The realms we encounter are vaporous,…
Release data: Klangwelt – Here and Why CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2022 On his fifth album, of which large parts were created during the tiring, most difficult global corona pandemic and lockdown, Gerald Arend addresses global themes and worldly affairs through his music. Compared to his previous releases, the sonic narrative of the 78-minute “Here and Why” is dressed quite…
Release data: Altus – Hidden Realms and Vacant Spaces CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Altus’ “Hidden Realms and Vacant Spaces”, inspired by Stephen King’s immensely popular “The Dark Tower” saga, delves into the undiscovered wheres and whens beyond our imagination. The recording sketches out a vast cinematic aural canvas with sets of lush, haunting, and dramatic-infused textures filling the stage.…
Release data: Eternell – Imagined Distances CD-r/Digital Download, Sound in Silence Records, 2020 It’s good to know there’s music (like this) around to escape to, a place of repose far away from the complex, fast-forward racing, and demanding world around us. Swedish musician Ludvig Cimbrelius, aka Eternell, has created a distant aural world, existing somewhere across the horizon where utter…
Release data: Futureworld Orchestra – Mission Completed XL/Turning Point XL CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, FutureWorld Records, 2022 Some 40 years after their initial release, these two classic synthpop albums -based on the original Dureco releases- are now finally available in full. It’s all due to the relentless and persistent efforts of Robert Pot. The latter -who always had the strong belief music…
Release data: ASC & Inhmost – Dimensional Shift CD-r/Digital Download, Auxiliary, 2021 The discovery of their very nice second collaborative album “The Moons of Saturn” prompted me to track down their debut “Dimensional Space”. The latter proves a calm, serene, spatial ambient-textural affair exploring the farthest reaches of space and beyond during its 70-minute playing time. Distances as well as…
Release data: Exuviae – A Place Among Everything DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 It must be over a decade or so since I listened to another work from Brooks Rongstad aka Exuviae, who -in his own words- creates ‘ambient alchemy through synthesis and sound design’. The 57-minute “A Place Among Everything” features a minimal compositional approach overall and involves some…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Mist CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Space for Music/TMB Soundworks, 2000/2022 “Mist” is part of a series of albums released after a total rebuild of Thom’s studio, between 2000 and 2001. It features Mr. Brennan’s interpretation of his first of many visits to the Quinault and Hoh rainforests on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state through four extended…
Release data: Beyond Berlin – Live at Awakenings CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2022 In hindsight, I feel there may have been moments during the last 1,5 years I have pushed Martin and Peter a bit too hard on getting the sparkling music of their 2014 Awakenings live performance out as an official release. On the other hand, it is too…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – Higher Ground CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2022 Following in the footsteps of the critically acclaimed and very well-received triple cd releases “Galaxis” and “Lost Tracks” it still must have been a huge challenge for Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij to put out this 6-CD box. Both known for their excellent musical skills…
Release data: F.D.Project – Distance CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2022 There’s not much to say about the fine batch of contemporary electronic music making up this release. The rhythmic-driven, not-too-busy-sounding “Distance” continues in the footsteps of its predecessors, blending well-tempered as well as sparkling sequences with warm synth pads and Frank’s e-guitar soloing. At the same time I can’t deny…
Release data: Patrick Kosmos – The Visitor 1988 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 1988/2022 During his career, Belgian synthesist Patrick ‘Wille De Wael’ Kosmos did a lot of quite memorable, visually attractive live concerts. Some of them were recorded and made it onto cassette in the early days. Patrick had the firm belief that the synthesizer was made for the sake…
Ian Boddy – Axiom CD/Lp/Digital Download, DiN, 2020 When darker, colder days are upon us, I always sense a great need to listen and immerse in melancholic, more profound electronic music. Mr. Boddy’s 2020 release “Axiom”, which I listened to through headphones, proved to fit in there perfectly. With a playing time of just over 41 minutes, the vintage, smoothly…
Release data: Rolf Trostel – Narrow Gate to Life CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Musique Intemporelle/MiG, 1995/2022 In spring 2022 I suggested the German MIG label consider re-releasing “Narrow Gate to Life”, the classic fourth album by Berlin-based electronic musician Rolf Trostel. As they hadn’t heard of him nor weren´t able to track him down, I helped them make contact with him with…
Release data: Wolfgang Düren – Eyeless Dreams Lp/CD, WPL Records/MIG, 1980/2022 Most people might know Wolfgang Düren as the chairman of Waldorf Music. Before founding that company he collaborated with Wolfgang Palm (the man behind PPG) and distributed his synths in the late seventies till the fall of PPG in the mid-’80s. At the end of the ‘70-s Mr. Düren…
Release data: Rüdiger Gleisberg & Mathias Grassow – The Seer CD/Digital Download, Gterma, 2022 Next to being good friends, German musicians, Rüdiger Gleisberg & Mathias Grassow have pursued their own solo projects as well as collaborated in various constellations, such as Karmacosmic and Nostalgia just to name a few. So it’s no surprise Mathias and Rüdiger are almost constantly…
Release data: Axess – Chamaeleon CD, Invisible Shadows, 2003 When it comes to quality German electronic music, bands like Rainbow Serpent and Pyramid Peak come to mind. One of the members of the latter is Axel Stüpplich, who kicked off his solo adventure as Axess in 2002. “Chamaeleon”, his second release under that moniker, offers thoughtful-made, accessible and rhythmic-driven…
Release data: Various Artists – Bhogavati CD/Digital Download, Gterma, 2022 This beautifully rendered concept release – marked as an ambient nocturnal abyssal tapestry – is built up in-house to tell a story from the label’s own mythos and features specially commissioned art that the label owner has been sitting on for a while (a theme he hopes to expand…
Release data: Frank Klare – Solodreams CD-r/Digital Download, Syngate, 1986/2012 Here’s a nice (re)discovery coming from the German Syngate label offering the EM-audience a full album of cosmic electronics in vintage, end of the ’70s Schulze-style. Pete Farn gave his very best in the remastering process of the original tape while maintaining its warmth, feel, and identity. Based on…
Release data: Venja – Unfolded CD/Digital Download, Art for Ears, 2021 One of the things I appreciate most about Johan Geens´ music is the range of intrinsic emotions he´s able to convey through his works. At first glance, he doesn`t do anything less on this album, but overall it turned out more superficial than I anticipated. The opener “A…
Release data: Basic Principles – Colours CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2022 Well, I bought this very moody double album at E-Day 2022 from the artist himself at the label’s booth, but unfortunately, it had to wait until recently before I found time to dig it properly. Listening attentively to it now, I can say the music of Haarlem-based musician/painter Wladimir…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Redes CD/Digital Download, AD21 Music, 2022 When it comes to emotive music, the works of Bruno Sanfilippo always had a special charm for me. Instead of previous piano-led compositions, things now settle around sophisticated synth sounds, processed female vocal pads, and (string)textures making up the 48-minute “Redes”, a concept album addressing the extensive way we…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Slow Light CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neu Harmony, 2020 In the last few years, it´s become clear this Spanish synthesist has been struggling in various ways, one of them will be the lack of recognition as well as sales of his music. Besides that, it doesn’t help either in my opinion when his music is released in a…
Release data: ASC & Inhmost – The Moons of Saturn CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Auxiliary, 2021 As a fan of free-form deep space music, I already explored quite some releases by ASC, but it appeared this guy also did some collaborations, “The Moons of Saturn” being one of them. That album is the second one done between James Clements and Simon Huxtable (aka…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Isolate CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Tonzonen Records, 2022 It`s not hard to imagine the album´s music and its title may have a connection to the human condition during the extended period of Covid that hit the globe severely for over 2 years. Mysterious and haunting semblances surface on and off in the dark, at times drony-oriented pure vintage…
Release data: Frank Beissel & Steve Roach – Nautical Twilight CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundquest Music, 2022 “Nautical Twilight” is the debut release of Steve Roach and New Mexico-based synthesist Frank Beissel, a highly in-depth atmospheric ambient journey into immersive soundscapes. From the promotional blurb, I learned most of the 71-minute outcome came to fruition during real-time sessions at Mr. Beissel’s studio…
Release data: Parallel Worlds – Dark Energy CD-r/12″/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Moatun 7, 2022 Bakis Sirros’ “Dark Energy” contains five 10-minute atmospheric ambiences, as usual, created through his analogue modulars along digital FM and virtual analogue synths sampling. Drony, minimalist textural landscapes of an exploring, quite adventurous nature are mapped out here creating evocative waves of bliss. The CD-R and download edition…
Release data: [‘ramp] – happy days are here to stay CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Doombient, 2022 Since I came to know his intriguing music I dare say Stephen Parsick has a sarcastic view on the world as well as mankind, something he on and off expressed through his Doombient music art. The first glimpses of an upcoming new cold war as well…
Release data: Terminus Void – Interstellar CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 Terminus Void´s impressive “Origins Unknown” prompted me to investigate his debut “Interstellar”, a recording released during the Covid pandemic. From the first notes, it’s clear this emotionally charged album is another winner and therefore wholeheartedly recommended to any deep space music aficionado. Smooth textures and melancholic CS-80 pads on…
Release data: BySenses – MonoCHROOM CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 “MonoCHROOM” is the fifth release by Didier DeWachtere who’s artistically known by his nom-de-plum BySenses. The recording features two long-form tracks of 30 minutes each that both reveal a progressive approach toward electronic music. Don’t be put off by the harsh industrial beats that take off at the start of “Monos”,…
Release data: Jonn Serrie – Starmoods Mc, Future Music, 1984 Let´s turn the wheel of time and join me on a trip back to 1984. That year would see the cassette release of “Starmoods”, the debut of one of the finest electronic space music composers around who started out exploring Lightship adventures with musical outcomes from there on. In my search…
Release data: Deepspace – Deep Blue Universe DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 The ambient spaces explored by Brisbane-based composer Mirko Ruckels have the ability to resonate in the air long after the music has faded away, at least for me. The drifting textural planes making up the nine compositions on his 11th release “Deep Blue Universe” seem to increase the immersive,…
Release data: Perge – Mutually Assured Destruction CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 What a great title for an album mirroring the state of the world, one of constant turmoil! As Perge (aka Matthew Stringer & Graham Getty) initially started out to create electronic rock in the classic 70s/80s TD-style live bootleg concerts after the Tangerine Tree project was cancelled, Matthew Stringer…
Release data: Loneward – Our Unyielding Sky CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Many composers in the Em-genre, e.g. Mychael Danna, Peter Challoner, Erik Wollo, and Thom Brennan just to name a few, have been fascinated and inspired by the sky above us. The ambient journey making up Mike Carss’s “Our Unyielding Sky” -who considers the sky as our window to the…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – Phrases and Protocols CD/Digital Download, Acoustic Wave Records, 2021 The 63-minute “Phrases and Protocols” –still recorded through a primordial recording process- is (another) celebration of old-school electronics hailing back to Tangerine Dream’s music in the early and mid-’70s. The warm sounds and sequencers of various modular synths are all over the place as are the…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Equinox CD/Digital Download, Silentsun, 2022 A most gracious, gentle evolving sound world of repose and contemplation lies at the core of “Equinox”, a 74-minute textural extravaganza by Spanish ambient master Max Corbacho. Max already announced the recording at the end of May 2022 as a sound distillation from an idea created in 2019 that had…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Inversions EP, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2022 For me, Norwegian multi-instrumental artist Erik Wøllo belongs to the league of artists making it hard to keep up with the high speed of releases. “Inversions” was fully recorded in Mr. Wøllo’s house in his kitchen as well as his living room. To create the outcome, Erik used…
Release data: Ombient / Chuck van Zyl – Space Patrol CD-r, Synkronos Music, 2015 What I got here is a collaborative release between Mike Hunter (aka Ombient) and renowned synthesist & Stars End radio host Chuck van Zyl, both hailing from Philadelphia’s Em scene. The outcome of the three cosmic-angled long tracks –all performed live in concert in 2013- fits…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Spaces of a Dream CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2022 The sound of Robert’s previous album already showed a return to his early output, and this also applies to “Spaces of a Dream” in a certain way. Most of all it’s a contemporary release on which modern techniques are used throughout, but it’s nice to hear various…
Release data: Venja – Galactic Underground Volume 3: Music for Astronauts CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Art for Ears, 2021 For the third volume of the series, Johan Geens invited fellow countryman Rhea (aka Mark De Wit) and German synthesist Michael Brückner to join him on his sonic journey. Well, it’s another well-crafted, highly emotive space, sojourner, starting out in a dark, deep atmospheric…
Release data: Peter Mergener – Robotic Instinct CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cue Records, 2016 I must say I was quite annoyed when I found out this album by established German synthesist Peter Mergener was released in physical form as a CD-R and not as a factory-pressed disc as should have been. The 53-minute “Robotic Instinct” sees Peter return to the fine style executed…
Release data: Irezumi – Forest Digital Download, Private Release, 2022 Some six years after “Thirty”, French artist Manuel Mesdag brings his audience a full body of work with “Forest”. It’s a one-hour enchanting, warm, and most moody ambient release, an aural world at ease featuring various field recordings, bits of subtle sequencing, organic sounds, and some occasional rhythmic structures.…
Release data: Loneward – Fractional Dimensions Volume. 1 CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Creating proper long-form music demands patience, attention, and talent. Under the Altus-moniker, Mike Carss already delivered some fine stuff such as the “Sleep Theory”- trilogy. Now he kicks off something similar -ambient music in its purest form- using the Loneward-moniker with “Fractional Dimensions”. It’s the first in…
Release data: Terminus Void – Origins Unknown CD-r/Digital Download, Private Release, 2022 Although I’ve been writing and reviewing music for an extended period I still experience a thrill when discovering great new talent in the space music domain. Terminus Void is an ambient-space music project by Seattle-based Em-composer J. Ronald Smith whose debut recording “Interstellar” (where he used the CS-80…
Release data: F.D. Project – Color of Life CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2022 The music featured on the 9- track “Color of Life” sees a continuation of Frank Dorittke’s contemporary, highly melodic style. Some pieces are rhythmic-driven, slightly rock-oriented, or pure electronic while others (like “Blue”) turn out most relaxed. This apart from a few pieces that contain Frank’s characteristic,…
Release data: Paul Ellis & Jared White – Unbroken Promise CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2022 “Unbroken Spirit” was meant to be created in the flesh and live in the moment but due to the unfortunate strike of Covid19 things had to be rescheduled between the two musicians with most of the work achieved remotely. I’d say those looking for some peppy,…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – Cycles and Pulses CD/Digital Download, Acoustic Wave Records, 2022 Since the Covid lockdown kicked in in Spring 2020, UK synthesist Brendan Pollard intensified his musical activities in his home garage, changing and re-arranging his set-up while treating the world on YouTube with improvised sessions. The 5-track outcome on this album was realized between January and…
Release data: Sensory++ – Exoversum CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Art for Ears, 2020 I too often forget some noteworthy electronic music is also produced by my Southern neighbours in Belgium, many of them joining and/or supporting the B-Wave collective. The music-making up the concept album “Exoversum” (that actually celebrates the 10-year existence of Mr. Egelies’ album “Boundaries of Infinity”) takes the listener…
Release data: Skoulaman – Mundus in Motu CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2022 Dutch synthesist Hans van Kroonenburg keeps surprising me with how thoughtfully made his Berlin School-infused music is and the 74-minute “Mundus in Moto” is no exception. The highly emotive yet sensitive moods already fly high on opener “If I could speak to my father again” (which was played…
Release data: Chuck Van Zyl – Votive CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synkronos Music, 2021 The love for sound creation in the analogue domain has been (and continues to be) the heart and soul of Chuck van Zyl’s music. “Votive” features three 20-minute tracks with an array of elements of old Berlin school cosmic music. In this aural world, varied, nicely-paced sequencer patterns…
Release data: Jos D’Almeida – Continent 7 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, caPE Recordings, 2022 The music this Mr. D’ Almeida’s fourth album “Continent 7” was created and finalized during the Covid pandemic but its actual release date was postponed until Spring 2022 when the world slowly started to open up again. This time around, the composer attempted a little more progressive approach,…
Release data: Robert Rich – Neurogenesis CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2020 Initial work on “Neurogenesis” -inspired by a complex, mathematically-tinged lucid dream Mr. Rich had in March of 2019- took off in the summer of 2019, but then took a hiatus when the Covid lockdown kicked in in March 2020. This was also the period when some long-time listeners of…
Release data: Venja – Galactic Underground CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wool-E Discs, 2017 Having heard “Galactic Underground Volume 2” made me decide to investigate G.U.’s first chapter. This 70-minute journey through time and space features a similar structure, the majority of the 10 tracks being solo pieces by Johan Geens. The latter delivers some excellent grand expanses, soft swelling textural drones, and deep…
Release data: Johan Tronestam – Androids CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2022 In the last few years, I haven’t been able to keep up with the speed of the new releases of the talented Mr. Tronestam, who now has found a well-deserved new home at Groove Unlimited. The concept album “Androids” is a musical interpretation about and inspired by a future…
Release data: Sequentia Legenda – Resonances CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 With “Resonance”, French synthesist Laurent Schiebert takes his listeners back into the cosmic realms of Berlin School music transported in the here and now with three long tracks. In his words, he’s now “ascending towards even brighter energies and ever more spiritual vibrations”. To me, it seems the composer…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – Nunavet (Arctic Drone Sessions) DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2021 Historically curious and immense, the arctic and subarctic areas have been a huge interest for sound artist Boreal Taiga’s for many years already. “Nunavut” was inspired by talks the composer had with some friends working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. They told him…
Release data: Daniel & Booth – Inverse CD/Digital Download, Electronic Composers Outlet, 2020 When it comes to a reinterpretation and keen reshuffle of the Berlin School style, English musicians Michael Daniel and Phil Booth have done a fine job so far since they started out together in 2008. “Inverse”, containing four lengthy tracks without any soloing, is another attentively crafted…
Release data: Kebu – Urban Dreams CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Zyx Music, 2021 There’s no doubt Kebu (aka Finnish synthesist Sebastian Teir) is a busy guy since he kicked off his sonic journey about a decade ago. “Urban Dreams” is Sebastian’s third full-length effort on which this skilled musician still uses (an assortment of) analog equipment only resulting in lots of warm,…
Release data: Altus – Anthopoaliena CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Here’s the first Altus release since composer Mike Carss decided to quit his job and dedicate all his time and effort on his music projects. “Anthropoaliena”, referred to as a sequel to the 2018 album “Pioneer” of a planned trilogy, continues Altus’ journey into the immense cosmic outdoors where the outcome…
Release data: Meg Bowles – Pilgrimage CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Kumatone Records, 2022 You’re at the right spot with the releases of Meg Bowles when it comes to profound emotional ambient(space) music with lots of intrinsic elegance merged with a meditative touch. “Pilgrimage”, released some four years after the beautiful “Evensong”, is another nicely crafted recording graced with warm, smooth resonating synths…
Release data: Chuck Van Zyl – The XYL File CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Industry8, 2016 Let’s focus on some old School-based electronic music from the US created in the mid ’80s that now sees a re-release. Marking the 25th anniversary of its first release in 1991 on an audio cassette by Peter Gulch’s Synkronos Music label, this limited edition cd release contains…
Release data: Harvey Summers – Moon CD/Digital Download, MIG, 2022 Here’s a captivating release by an artist who used the lengthy Covid lockdown period to set up another studio in his home. It would become the birthplace for a cinematic, orchestral, and narrative opus inspired by a lifelong interest in space and the series of moon landings. To achieve the…
Release data: Kurtz Mindfields – Flying from Berlin to Paris LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, FeverDog Music, 2022 The EM community was offered another view and approach to classic Berlin School-style electronics since Frenchman Jean-Luc Briançon started releasing his music as Kurtz Mindfields. He proved to be a most skilled synthesist who also connected as well as collaborated with a lot of…
Release data: Wolfgang Bock – Cycles LP/CD, Telefunken/MIG, 1980/2022 It must be at least 15 years ago when I started my own -quite lengthy search- for the master tapes of “Cycles”, leading to the disappointing outcome they could not be tracked down in the music vaults of Universal Music in two different countries. Fast forward to the end of March…
Release data: David Helpling – IN CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2022 “IN” is an epic release by David Helpling composed over a ten-year period. Its music is celebrating (and is inspired by) the vastness of and the wonder found in small spaces, simple and intricate as well as expansive and intimate. Two vocalists along with a cello player and…
Release data: Deepspace – Superradiance DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2022 The music of Mirko Ruckels, aka Deepspace, has always been a fine vehicle to detach from worldly affairs. Now there’s “Superradiance”, out as a download on the established Projekt Records label, where the composer takes the next step by taking his listeners into the deep end and far off…
Release data: Jeff Greinke – Noctilucent DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2022 Jeff Greinke’s 58-minute ambient sojourn “Noctilucent” (named after a rare type of cloud phenomena called night-shining clouds) is an alchemy of thought-provoking, visceral night music featuring nine transformative tracks riding the edge between tranquility and slight menace. Vibes of unease already shimmer clearly through the aural leaves of…
Release data: Brian Vassallo – Scenes Vol. 1 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 Malta-based composer Brian Vassallo started releasing music in 1998, since then putting outing out more music on a regular basis. The 44-minute “Scenes Vol. 1” compiles 13 single tracks composed in recent years, kicking off with the epic 8-minute “Columbus” (which dates from March 2019). The…
Release data: Forrest Fang – Forever Cascades CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2021 For “Forever Cascades”, multi-instrumentalist Forrest Fang created ten rhythmic-driven, minimalist aural surroundings with an Oriental edge, blending synthetic textures with world instruments such as violin, gamelan, dulcimer, and the clavinet as well as assorted acoustic and metal percussion. The core inspiration came through walks near the San Francisco Bay…
Release data: Robert Marselje – 5 CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 I never cared much for the general melodic music Dutch synthesist Robert Marselje released, until now. The sonic content of his 78-minute album “5” is the counterpoint of his previous work, featuring five tracks with calm, imaginary as well as darker-shaded, rather mysterious-angled soundscapes of a freeform nature…
Release data: Kelly David – Illusive CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2021 With “Illusive” (a 68-minute meditation on the endurance of beauty through troubled times), the evocative electro-acoustic journey Kelly David mapped out on predecessor “Meditation in Green” gets a natural follow-up, merging serene, ethereal soundscape imaginary with occasional subtle percussion. The seven track outcome was composed during the Covid…
Release data: Kubusschnitt – The Core CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Kubusschnitt, aka Andy Bloyce, Tom Coppens, and Ruud Heij is a Pan-European retro-electronica collective that has been around since the end of the ’90s presenting their own interpretation of Berlin School music both old and new. The music featured on the four tracks -for which the basis was…
Release data: David Parsons – Atmanaut CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Celestial Harmonies, 2018 This release is a surprising one as the composer hadn’t received any notification from the label they had released it finally after it had been shelved for so many years. “Atmanaut” (which can be translated as soul journey) actually comprises two unreleased albums from New Zealand-based ambient artist David…
Release data: Loneward – Pallid Memories CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 At the end of 2021, Canadian composer Mike Carss announced he quit his job and would fully focus on making music from then on. As far as I know, this Loneward-release is the first one out since that decision. The concept of the 66-minute “Pallid Memories” deals with the…
Release data: Spacecraft – Tranquillity DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 As could be expected with such a title, calm and serene moods are featured in this EP by Mumbai-based composer Rishi Bhatia. We’re talking about freeform, slow unfolding cosmic music here where ethereal textures compliment and/or overlap each other on five short tracks, all ranging between three and five…
Release data: Beyond Berlin – Epiphany CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 For this recording, their third album Groove Unlimited, Beyond Berlin is again the duo Martin Peters and Rene de Bakker. The 67-minute “Epiphany” follows up nicely in the footsteps of predecessor “Totem”, adding another thoughtful and well-made Berlin School album to their discography. There’s already some great sequencing found…
Release data: F.D. Project – The other side of …. and more CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 If one likes accessible, moody, and melodic electronics with some occasional vibrant electric guitar, the works of F.D. Project (aka Dinslaken-based composer Frank Dorittke) will sure be to your liking. “The other side of… and more” comprises a nice set of tracks featuring…
Release data: Kontroll-Raum – Check In CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Manikin Records, 2021 Kontroll-Raum is a new German-Dutch project on the Manikin label featuring Bas Broekhuis, Frank Rothe and Mario Schönwälder. The 73-minute outcome was realized in 2020 which meant the extensive exchange of music files between the musicians due to the pandemic restrictions. Compared to the works I’m familiar with of BKS…
Release data: Simon Lomax – Notes from the Void Vol. 2 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 This recording is the second installment of imaginary, gently resonating, and evolving soundscapes complementing the ambient journey released a year before. Melancholy and reflection already shine softly on opener “An Inner Resonance” and continues in a tad lighter mode on “In Essence”. Occasionally the…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Symmetry Systems DIGITAL DOWNLOAD/12″, Past Inside the Present, 2022 The music on this 25-minute ep, inspired by the early Artificial Intelligence compilations on Warp Records, is almost instantly recognizable as a 36 recording. Still minimal in nature, “Symmetry Systems” (described by the artist as a sort of spiritual sequel to “Wave Variations”) features seven compact,…
Release data: AirSculpture – Widely SpacedCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2022 Same as for many others, the covid pandemic deprived the AirSculpture trio of meeting up in person and jamming together. After many hardships and setbacks they found a way to get things done eventually, so work continued on the music they had planned to perform live in fall 2020 for…
Release data: Däcker – Pareidolia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2020 With so much music coming from other countries I too often forget my small country has something nice and interesting to offer as well. So here’s an album merging lots of vintage electronic sounds and sequencers with a slight contemporary touch made by Peter Dekker, aka Däcker. The latter…
Release data: Third Eye Sound – Panorama DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 By accident I came into this fine space-ambient EP by Boulder-based composer Shane Williams, operating as Third Eye Sound, whose output is highly inspired by Nepal. The nearly 8-minute title track is a lush elevating soundscape of epic, grand open spaces and few resonating bell sounds, in…
Release data: EL-KA – La Rêve” CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 I can’t say I’m much of a follower of electronic music from Germany, but I do know Tübingen-resident Till Kopper and Düsseldorf-based HaJo Liese (aka EL-KA) have been around in the scene for a long time. They as well as their music are representatives of the well-known Berlin School,…
Release data: John Christian – Glis Glis CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 Those who cherish sequencer-driven electronics with an edge are at the right spot with John Christian’s “Glis Glis” (44’31’’). The 3-track recording mixes improvised soundscapes and effects with some thoughtful mechanical, pulsating, sometimes even smooth bouncy Berlin School sequencing. At a later stage, John decided to add some…
Release data: Chuck van Zyl – The Relic CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Centaur Discs/Industry8, 1995/2018 Despite not being a collector, while owning the original “Celestial Mechanics”, I’ve always regretted not having a hardcopy of Chuck van Zyl’s “The Relic”. Fortunately, Industry8 did a limited physical re-release of it in 2018 (for which the full recording was remastered), which is the one reviewed…
Release data: Venja – Galactic Underground Volume Two CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Art for Ears, 2020 Accomplished Belgium composer Venja, aka Johan Geens, has been around in the EM scene for some 30 years or so, but I confess missed out on quite a lot of his music. I’m not familiar with the first volume of his project Galactic Underground, but having…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – Emerald Waters CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2022 With his second album on the Spotted Peccary label, accomplished composer Hollan Holmes takes his listeners into the magical world of the aquatic element. Inspiration came by a trip Hollan took as a youngster with his father in 1979, driving through Del Rio, Texas, a border town,…
Release data: Dirk Serries & Trösta – Island on the Moon CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Consouling Sounds, 2022 The covid lockdown caused many musicians to compose music under restricted conditions, in search of solace as well as expressing despair or the longing for how things used to be. “Island on the Moon” by Dirk Serries (ambient guitar, outboard effects) and saxophonist…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Miyabi CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2021 “Miyabi” is an album containing brand new music after an environmental approach (“Music for Urban Promenades I & II”) and a collection of tracks (“Gems”). Gentleness and tranquillity still graces Juta’s textural music, a sophisticated blend of electronic and acoustic sounds with ethereal, drifting, and dreamy qualities. The latter…
Release data: Max Corbacho – A Connection to the Wonder CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silentsun, 2021 The title of this album is well chosen as it’s an entrance into a magical world of expansive, serene textural vistas and alternate realities. An abundance of velvet, overtly smooth evolving tapestries is already on display on the 39-minute title track kicking things off, an…
Release data: Synth.nl – Time Travel CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 With the fine compilation album “Time Travel”, Michel van Osenbruggen offers his audience 12 tracks that appeared on various samplers -most notably those in the Schallwende’s Schallplatte series- through the years as well as a few lost pieces. For the occasion, all compositions were attentively remixed and remastered.…
Release data: Vidna Obmana – Revealed by Composed Nature LP/CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hic Sunt Leones, 1990/1993 “Revealed by Composed Nature” is the fifth album released on Stefano Musso’s Hic Sunt Leones label, featuring intimate ambient music of a repetitive, overall soothing nature. It was initially released on LP in 1990 on Vidna’s own Decade Collection label intended as a sequel to…
Release data: Orbifold C – Apeiron CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2020 If I’m not mistaken, it was longtime Russian Em-aficionado Anton Uraletz who paved the way for this music to be released through Groove Unlimited. I’m glad Anton persisted in keeping this guy’s music in the loop since he first discovered a snippet of it in 2007 and followed it…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Piano Textures 5 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad 21 Music, 2020 From the start of the 38-minute “Piano Textures 5”, moods are sensitive, lush and elegant while a lovely sense of optimism and freedom takes off and spreads its wings gently on each of the 11 introspective tone poems. The melodic, airy outcome merges prepared piano…
Release data: Thorsten Quaschning – AMA CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Protanopia, 2021 The musicianship of Thorsten Quaeschning has many faces, and with “AMA” he has outdone himself offering another solid production to his audience. It’s a concept album featuring nearly 76 minutes of new music composed for the contemporary dance theatre production AMA Japanese Pearl Divers. Stylistically, the excellently mixed and…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Pyroclast CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2021 With “Pyroclast”, Robert Schroeder -though taking a different sonic road- has delivered a cosmic-angled recording keeping the quality on par with his previous release “C’est Magique”. Robert even revisits the sounds and enchanting atmospheres of his early works occasionally throughout the quite ambient-oriented album, something I appreciate especially.…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Tangible CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad21, 2021 The influence of social media and the way we connect/relate to each other on a natural and human basis has changed the world rapidly and significantly over the last two decades. The sonic narrative making up Mr. Sanfilippo’s “Tangible” aims to evoke the strength and purity of the tangible…
Release data: Skoulaman – Byssed CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 After Ron Boots, Skoulaman was another electronic musician who found his way to Bas Broekhuis’ Byss Studio during the Covid lockdown. Despite the latter troubled situation, this live album finds Hans van Kroonenburg in very good and inspired spirits, resulting in a lovely display of sensitive, cosmic-infused Berlin School…
Release data: Space Art – Entrevues CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2020 EM aficionados will know Space Art (aka Dominique Perrier/synths and Roger Rizzitelli/drums, percussion) is part of the league of pioneers of French electronic music. The two made the classic albums “Trip in the Center Head” and “Space Art” (containing the big single hit “Onyx”) in the late…
Release data: Awenson – Floating CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 With “Floating”, French multi-instrumentalist Joël Bernard brings his audience a work of non-Berlin School art that isn’t like any of his previous releases. This time around he’s come up with pure spaced-out result (something he had delved into briefly on the 2009-album “Beyond the Galaxies”) fitting in the league of…
Release data: Tonal Assembly – No Solid Ground CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2021 The contemporary electronics Taede A. Smedes brought his audience with “Lost and Found in Imaginary Landscapes” is now extended with the richly coloured sonic universe with some groovy bits making up “No Solid Ground”. From the start, there’s a pleasant driving element as well as a happy,…
Release data: vidnaObmana – The River of Appearance CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 1996 When we talk about elegant and graceful ambient milestones, Dirk Serries’ “The River of Appearance” fits the bill perfectly. Until this very day, the 59-minute release filled with ethereal, shimmering electronics still feels like a full immersion in uplifting, contemplative ambiences with a touch of melancholy. It…
Release data: Interconnected – Grainophonics CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD/LP, Móatún 7, 2021 “Grainophonics” by Bakis Sirros and Ingo Zobel (aka Interconnected) is an ambient work full of surreal, adventurous atmospheres and organic soundscapes created with big analogue modular synths with granular, additive, physical modeling synthesis, and assorted field recordings. These foreboding textural plains/drones as well as the sights on barren land…
Release data: Pyramid Peak – SymmetryCD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 After quite a busy year in 2018, the German band Pyramid Peak took a well-deserved creative break. With the 67-minute “Symmetry”, Axel Stüpplich and Andreas Morsch offer another most attractive work of contemporary, spiced-up electronics, a feast of catchy melodic lines merged with strings of powerful, pulsating, and…
Release data: Wavestar II – Two CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soddett Hall Music, 2021 On their second release, the trio Dyson, Whitlan, and Ward extend on the fine music of their debut, offering a 71-minute batch of highly accessible music rich of melody, peppy sequencing, easy-going solos as well as some symphonic hints graced with emotion. “Pauper’s Ransom” already makes a…
Release data: Eleon – Cerulean CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Heart Dance Records, 2020 I just need a few lines for Eleon’s release “Cerulean”, a very easy-going 47-minute/7 track recording where groove, chill-out, and lounge electronics as well as a Balearic-realm melt. The latter applies to “Once there was a place like this” and “Migration” while others are simply beat-driven, happy tunes.…
Release data: Steve Roach & Michael Stearns – Beyond Earth & Sky CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2021 Soundsculptors Steve Roach and Michael Stearns are both electronic music veterans with an extensive list of solo and collaborative releases under their belt. Their last collaboration (“Kiva”) though saw the light of day some 26 years ago, so what a joy to see…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Isola CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Gterma, 2021 The sacred, the expansive, the mystic, and the introspective are imminent and most present on “Isola”. The 79-minute release features four extended tracks by Mathias Grassow composed between 2009 and 2012 of which the music was inspired originally by the islands of Spitsbergen and their eventful history. Expect a…
Release data: Rhea – Close to Moving Ice CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Littl’ Antenna Records, 2020 For whatever reason, I missed out on this album by Belgian synthesist Mark de Wit, aka Rhea. “Close to Moving Ice” contains one 35-minute track (a sonic tribute to the massive eternal ice of Greenland) performed live in October 2018 at PostX, Merelbeke, Belgium. The…
Release data: Sequentia Legenda – Celestial CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 With “Celestial”, Laurent Schiebert adds another chapter to his extended vision of classic Berlin School music while prolonging the cosmic style explored on his previous album “Beyond the Stars”. This time around though, drummer Tommy Betzler isn’t joining him on “this entrance into a new horizon” that features…
Release data: Altus – Hypoxia CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 The initial music of “Hypoxia” was created over the course of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as the composer’s way to process isolation, loneliness as well as channel lots of profound, negative emotions and thoughts upon him during that time. Well, the expansive, textural waves and atmospheres…
Release data: Kloob – Parallel States CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Winter-Light, 2021 Shorter, colder, and darker days are upon us once again, a proper period to enjoy some dark ambient. Kloob’s “Parallel States” is a haunting, gloomy drift into deeper lands expanding on themes and ambient-drone landscapes explored in previous releases. As such it makes another fine candidate for attentive headphone…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Nevermore CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2021 “Nevermore” -representing the 100th DiN release- features Ian Boddy’s live set created at the DiN studio on March 27th, 2021 as part of Steve Roach’s Soundquest Festival. With the exception of the two beautifully moulded, slowly unfolding rhythmic excursions “From Here To There” and the melodic-spiced title track, the 60-minute…
Release data: Uni Sphere – TempUS CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 Some 6 years ago Eric van der Heijden and Rene Splinter surprised the EM scene with their project Uni Sphere and its fine debut “EndLess EndeavoR”. The latter proved a solid, well-made, and highly emotive work of sonic art sketching out various moods and atmospheres. After a lot…
Release data: Craig Padilla & Skip Murphy – Waveforms CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Sea Peace Music, 2020 More than once an artist digs through his archive and finds something tucked away in there, a discovery bringing back fond memories. This is the case with “Waveforms”, featuring two live performed long-form tracks (the 22-minute “Waveforms” and 27-minute “Glaciers”) made back in 1993…
Release data: Ben Swire – Equilibriums CD-EP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, The Foundry/Hypnos Recordings, 2002 In collaboration with the ambient label Hypnos, Michael Bentley’s Foundry label started releasing cd ep’s in mid-August 2002, a mini-cd with a playing time between 15 and 30 minutes. San Francisco resident Ben Swire kicks off the series with “Equilibrium”, featuring four tracks that all clock around 4-5…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Illumination Cycle CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synphaera Records, 2021 Any fan of captivating and smooth sequencing in new Berlin School style paired with spacious, cinematic atmospheres should have a go at Martin Stürtzer’s “Illumination Cycle”. The consistent high quality and transparent sound design known from Martin’s previous releases is prolonged here as is the attention to creating…
Release data: Max Corbacho– Lost Links II (The Complete Collection) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SilentSun, 2021 In 2011, Max Corbacho released “Lost Links”, a set of atmospheric and space music tracks that were shelved although they were composed initially to fit on a concept album, compilation or project that fell through. Those tracks are now found on the second disc of “Lost…
Release data: Lyonel Bauchet – The Diver CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2021 “The Diver” by French library music composer Lyonel Bauchet -released a decade after his download-only album “The Secret Society”- is a tactile, highly imaginative ambient concept album. It centers on the exploration of the hidden vistas and dark spaces of the deep sea, a fascinating world holding many secrets.…
Release data: Carbon Based Lifeforms – Refuge (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Leftfield Records, 2014 After they left their label Ultimae around 2014, the experienced Swedish ambient music producers Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Segerstad (aka Carbon Based Lifeforms) continued their passion firmly, creating captivating yet soothing psyambient that touches the soul. They spend over a year remastering and re-releasing…
Release data: Eleon – Dreams beyond Terra CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Heart Dance Records, 2018 Let’s turn to some music with a vibrant, uplifting and contemporary sound design as well as expert mastering and production that I ran into as was investigation David Helpling’s discography. It appeared David helped producing as well as contributed two tracks of Eleon’s debut album “Dreams…
Release data: Man from Mars – A Dream of Mars DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Valley View Records, 2021 “A Dream of Mars” is a short story about the beauty of life and Mars, the planet on which humanity plans to continue human life. The tracks on this 16-minute space music Ep are imagined as healing music tuned to 432Hz, made mostly…
Release data: Tacit Blue – Dreamland CD/Digital Download, Private Release, 2000 The year 2000 saw the release of “Dreamland” by Tacit Blue, a.k.a. the Missouri-based duo Chris Crabtree and Jim Rogers. They’ve dedicated the band to the exploration of space in all its forms with the aim to discover and capture a moment in a kind of musical impressionism.…
Release data: Oar – Adrift CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Gterma, 2021 Oar is a side-project by Norwegian artist Odd Jensen, who was released previously under the Havdis moniker. Havdis’ music was inspired by nature and the sea as well as the sound/silence surrounding the composer at his home at the arctic coast of Norway’s Nordland. That inspiration also applies to Oar’s darker-flavored…
Release data: David Helpling – Sleeping on the Edge of the World CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1999 This is the second album from accomplished ambient-electronic artist and film composer David Helping which -like almost all of SP’s releases- is graced by a beautiful cover. Predecessor “Between Green and Blue” on the whole reminded quite a bit of the fine…
Release data: Ruben Garcia – I can feel the heat closing in CD, Close Tolerance Music, 1998 On his fourth album “I can feel the heat closing in” (for which Harold Budd provided the title) New Mexican artist Ruben Garcia manages to find a beautiful balance between minimalism, piano, and synths, so again a comparison with the music of…
Release data: Sayer – Future City CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, New Territory Records, 2019 Sayer’s music I got to know so far has been contemporary, dynamic and fresh. With the 75-minute “Future City” -a themed release accompanied by a short story- he brings his audience a mix of dreamy, uplifting and uptempo pieces (of which a few carry on bit to…
Release data: Keith Richie – Ambient Highways CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Other Worlds Than These Music, 2015/2021 Keith Richie is an ambient, electronic, and soundtrack composer hailing from Mesquite, Texas. Keith has been releasing soundtrack-ish stuff since 2006 after he became obsessed of electronic music in the early ‘80’s when he ran into the music of John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream. Mr…
Release data: Mychael Danna & Tim Clément – North of Niagara CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hearts of Space Records, 1995 “North of Niagara” (subtitled “Impressions along the Bruce Trail”) is actually a sister release to Mr Danna’s solo effort “Skies”. It makes an appropriate companion for anyone in a bit somber, melancholic state of mind while it will also slow down and…
Release data: Ruben Garcia – The Gatekeeper CD, Close Tolerance Music, 1994 “The Gatekeeper”, Ruben Garcia’s second release, is dedicated to both Claude Debussy and Erik Satie featuring “11 improvised piano pieces for a simpler life”. No electronic music, but rather an album that showcases beautifully understated acoustic compositions in which the musician builds an interesting bridge between classical…
Release data: Ian Tescee – IO MC/LP/CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, E-N Records, 1984/2004 The music of Ian Tescee was among the range of talented electronic musicians from the US that slowly found their way to Europe when import channels and European distribution opened up in the heydays. Like many others it was inspired by the beauty and magic of the cosmos, more…
Release data: Rainbow Serpent – Futuregate CD, Ardema Musik, 1995 A great off-shoot of cosmic Berlin School-spiced electronics was founded in 1994 by German synthesists Gerd Wienekamp and Frank Specht as Rainbow Serpent on the occasion of their concert at the 1st Astrofest Sittensen, Germany. For their debut “Futuregate” they found a home at Arndt Maschinski’s Ardema-label (who labeled it…
Release data: Create – Reflections from the inner light CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2004 Ok, let’s have some further nostalgia. In 2004, Groove added a new artist to their roster who composed well-crafted Berlin School music: Create (a.k.a. UK-synthesist Stephen Humphries) who instead of any hardware synths used Reason software technology only to realize his sonic creations. On his strong…
Release data: Rainbow Serpent – Mosaique CD, Ardema-Musik, 1997 The musical development of the German act Rainbow Serpent, aka Frank Specht and Gerd Wienekamp, has always been strongly influenced by the available technology as well as gained experiences over the years and other musicians. After “Futuregate” and “Voyager”, the duo once again manages to convince with this beautifully produced “Mosaique”,…
Release data: Steve Roach Stephen Kent Kenneth Newby – Halcyon Days CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 2018 It’s time for another heavyweight from the past. This particular collaboration between Steve and the aforementioned duo is definitely foddering for fans of Suspended Memories and Newby’s solo album “Ecology of Souls.” Kent and Newby have already made their mark in groups…
Release data: David Helpling – Between Green and Blue CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1996 A great discovery I made in the mid-90s comes from Southern California musician and producer David Helping, who was nominated for the NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufacturers) Indie Award in the US in 1997 with his debut “Between Green and Blue”…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – North Star CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2021 With “North Star”, accomplished musician Erik Wollo brings his audience a highly emotive and imaginary journey inspired by The North Star, the beacon up in the sky which guided human travel for many years. It’s another quality recording with a lush, expansive sound design, most of all guitar-oriented as…
Release data: Ruben Garcia – Room full of Easels CD, Close Tolerance Music, 1996 In the mid-’90s I was fortunate to be introduced to New Mexican artist, sound engineer, producer & self-taught pianist Ruben Garcia by Barry Craig (aka A Produce) with whom he collaborated on and off at the time. Ruben didn’t like computers, e-mail, and stuff, so instead…
Release data: Aes Dana – (a)period CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2021 Vincent Villuis, operating under the Aes Dana guise for many years by now, is composer, sound designer, Dj & co-owner of the French Ultimae-label. “(a)period” is a 72-minute cinematic aural canvas, an extended echo of longing, conceptwise going a similar road as Steve Roach travelled for “As it is”.…
Release data: Frank Makowski – Canon der Finsternisse CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Ambient music comes in many forms, and several of them are not suitable for the faint of heart. The major of the works by German composer Frank Makowski (former member of [‘ramp], the musician behind Speed of the Dark, Tranquility and various collaborations in his 30-year musical…
Release data: Stephen Bacchus – The Memory Tap CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 With “The Memory Tap”, Canadian musician Stephen Bacchus (aka Grant Mackay) delivers his 10th album, a release tapping into Grant’s most distant sound and music memory with the aim to integrate earlier sound and music explorations (that started in the mid ‘’80s) into his overall composer…
Release data: Michael Brook – Hybrid LP/CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, EG Records, 1985 “Hybrid” is the solo debut by Canadian Michael Brook –featuring Eno and Lanois as backing musicians-, a 42-minute album full of organic, none-dynamic, trance-inducing yet thoughtful ambient music. Mood and darker-shaded atmospheres take center stage on each of the eight instrumental vignettes, all airing distinct ethnic-world flavors due to…
Release data: Damm – Nautical Dawn LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 “Nautical Dawn” (inspired by majestic cloud formations at nature’s finest hour when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon) is an electronic chill-out release by Damm, an early ’90 alias of Swedish techno artist Joel Mull, featuring a personal selection of after-hours morning portraits. Sonically…
Release data: Nigel Mullaney – The Navigator LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Behind The Sky Music, 2021 Here’s a recording about (personal) exploration and discovery as well as seeing beyond the mind’s eye. “The Navigator” is a concept album inspired by the mythical voyage of St. Brendan, an early Irish monastic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland (who’s also known as The…
Release data: Ma Ja Le – Dreams in the Orchards of Saturn CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A.J. & Grey Sound, 1995 The ambient project Ma Ja Le was conceived in the ’90s by Christopher Short and Paul Vnuk with the aim for spontaneous improvisation, an exploration of sonic texture and atmosphere. If I understand the info correctly, this album is from…
Release data: Jon Mark – A Sunday in Autumn CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, White Cloud Records, 1995 I had lost the thread of releases from this New Zealand-based artist after “Alhambra”. It turns out that after this, Jon founded his own label White Cloud Records, which has featured a slew of his own new releases and those of other musicians. With…
Release data: Moodswings – Horizontal CD/Digital Download, Water Music, 2002 The central man behind Moodswings is English musician James Hood, whose double album “Horizontal” is the third album. According to the cover, the music is quite different from its predecessors “Psychedelicatessen” and “Moodfood” (of the latter, some 600,000 are said to have been sold worldwide). Hood describes the new…
Release data: Bart Hawkins – Vision of Eden CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2021 Compared to his rather weird debut “21 Pulse Eclipse” (which was pure sonic exploration), Bart Hawkins second album “Vision of Eden” is a somewhat different breed. Still being a completely modular production with some strange, harrowing moments, it features a futuristic, rich pallet of synthetic sounds…
Release data: Loneward – Pure CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 Emotive, elegant, absorbing, and intrinsic are keywords applying to the music of Loneward’s fourth album “Pure”. The 6-track/58-minute outcome of clouds of sound –with the aim to hold the listener in stasis- is a panorama of drifting, expansive, full-blow, slow evolving textures where the sense of calm is imminent and…
Release data: Todd Fletcher – Arcane Energies CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Microrelease/Editions100, 2001 “Arcane Energies” is the first release by Arizona resident Todd Fletcher on his Microrelease label with six longer tracks of around 8-9 minutes each. Todd describes the outcome as “a combination of desert atmospheres of “Star” with the dense rhythmic interplay of the album “Byzantium”. The music is characterized…
Release data: Stephen Felicetti – Imagination CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Delta Tauri Records, 1994 The cd-print already mentions the description Symphonic New Age, and that pretty much covers the musical content of this – without a doubt – remarkable cd. The American Stephen Felicetti is responsible for this 1st official release (he appears to have already composed six symphonies for synthesizer in…
Release data: Ron Boots & Gert Emmens – One Night at Blackrock Station CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2021 After his second collaboration with Synth.NL, Ron Boots now joins forces with another powerhouse electronic composer from The Netherlands: Gert Emmens. It’s no surprise lots of dynamics get in the works when those two get together. After creating various basic tracks…
Release data: Meg Bowles – From the Dark Earth CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Kumatone Records, 1999 “From the Dark Earth” is Meg Bowles’ fourth album, which delivered a wonderful sample of space music with predecessor “Blue Cosmos”. For this release, Meg collaborated work with internationally renowned trumpeter David Bilger (and some contributions by Cynthia Bilger on horn) of the Philadelphia Orchestra.…
Release data: Sequenced Reality – Almost Morning Now DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 After Syndrone was put to an end, André Theelen continued to listen to electronic music, only making music on his own took a back seat. In the past 10-15 years he’s been mainly been involved in video (music videos and a short sf film) aside from building…
Release data: Kurtz Mindfields – Synthr3 The Burning School Tape CD-r, FeverDog Music, 2020 Synthesist Jean-Luc Briançon was so fortunate to be chosen as an artist to test and musically develop Rémy Wasselin’s self-built semi-modular Synthr3, an instrument for both studio and live-on-stage performance. The latter is based on a modular patchable modulation matrix that can be stored in personal…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Gems CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2021 Through the years, Juta Takahashi composed various tracks that appeared on compilation albums from various labels. These all -with the exception of the last track- have now been compiled on the 63-minute “Gems”. The six emotive pieces feel like a warm bath due to the overall spatial sound…
Release data: Cell – Live in Corfu DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2020 This fine recording reminded me how much I miss the quality and lush down-tempo music that once came out for many years on the French Ultimae label (that nowadays puts out experiments in minimalist dub-tech soundscapes only). Well, the 70-minute “Live in Corfu” (of the eight tracks, four…
Release data: Brannan Lane – Lost Caverns of Thera CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, World Circle Records, 2000 The end of the ‘90’s and the first half of the 2000’s, marked a very productive period for US-composer Brannan Lane. “Lost Cavern of Thera” (inspired by the volcanic Greek island of Thera or Thira, but better known as Santorini) is a slow progressing dark-shaded…
Release data: Johan Agebjörn & Michael Ögren – Artefact CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2021 In 2017, Johan Agebjörn and Mikael Ögren impressed me a lot with their well-crafted debut “We Never Came to the White Sea”. From the press-info of this one, I learned “Artefact” is an “unofficial sci-fi soundtrack” inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s classic novel “Rendezvous with…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Temporal Paradox CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Echo Elberfeld, 2021 Here’s another fine release by Wuppertal-based synthesist Martin Stürtzer for those like like to to space out in rather bright celestial environs. It’s an overall gentle unfolding sonic journey which sees Martin merge slow Berlin School sequences with smooth textures and floating pads to drift-off, unwinding effect.…
Release data: Man from Mars – Mars Memory DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 Man from Mars is a project by two Serbian brothers who started listening to Vangelis at a young age, ending up producing trance and psy-trance music. A few years back they translated one of their trance tracks into a beatless electronic track. As the outcome was satisfactory…
Release data: Distant System – Infinite Continuum DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 Many have been waiting for a second album of this American composer, who’s “Spiral Empire” gained lots of critical appraisal among fans of melodic chill-out, slow-trance and atmospheric down-tempo in a spaced-out fashion. Well, the wait is finally over. Tyler Smith’s “Infinite Continuum” continues the signature sound and…
Release data: Steve Roach – As it is CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2021 I confess I had various doubts about the clinical vibe and digital-ish sound design surfacing on some of Steve’s sonic creations of late. Fortunately, none of this is present or sensed on “As it is”, a work Roach describes as a simmering, churning, moving appointment with reality,…
Release data: Dino Pacific – Hallowed Ground CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1999 Montreal, Canada-based Dino Pacifici has been active in music since 1984, with some forays into jazz. This “Hallowed Ground” is his fifth cd, filled with just under 70 minutes of distinct ambient. Opener “Solace” stands out most positively for my taste: 22 minutes of soft engaging ambient…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Moon Musick DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Doombient, 2021 “Moon Musick” is an atmospheric work of ambient art of which the original music dates back to 2006/2007 when the idea surfaced for a cd to go with an illustrated picture book for children, something that didn’t happen in the end. Fortunately, Stephen rediscovered the music (featuring Markus Reuter…
Release data: Ghosts in Mirrors – Cold Dust CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Littl’ Antenna Records, 2020 The Belgium electronic music scene is expanding for years with own festivals (Cosmic Nights, B-Wave, AntennA/ Littl’ Antenna festival, Sonic Emissions), Belgian Neumusik, two labels promoting this genre of music thoroughly (Littl’Antenna and Wool-E Records) as well as the media Channel AntennA for Electronic Music. With…
Release data: Spacecraft – Evening Star DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Valley View Records, 2021 A trip into textural, fluid space, a cosmic place of solace is what is awaiting you on the 48-minute “Evening Star” by Rishi Bhatia aka Spacecraft. There’s a calm, soft glowing atmosphere found on each of the 10 tracks unfolding in slow motion, best listened to on…
Release data: Altus – Sleep Theory Volume 4 CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 With this release Mike Carss brings his audience the fourth and final installment in the “Sleep Theory” series that was kicked off a decade earlier. If you’re familiar with the previous volumes you will find a nice continuation of them, but Session 10, 11 and 12…
Release data: Amongst Myselves – Still Life CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, RMC Records, 2000 Amongst Myselves is Australian ambient/space musician Steve Roberts whose “Still Life” appears to be his second full-length recording. The press-kit mentions, among other things, that the album reflects a quiet part of Robert’s life. The first half of the album consists of floating ambient music with a…
Release data: CC:Dome – Laurel CD/Digital Download, Ajna Music/Cursor Club, 2003 I personally feel the most interesting thing about this release, which comes as an attractive tri-fold digipack with nice cover-footage, is that it fulfils several plans that Garrett Parks of the US-label Cursor Club had in mind for the future, but wasn’t able to realize. The “Laurel” album contains…
Release data: Crown Invisible – Remixes CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cursor Club, 1999 This is a limited, hand-numbered album of 1,500 pieces featuring remixes -by one J.T.- of the tracks “V8” and “V13” taken from Crown Invisible’s first and second ep. As primal versions, both pieces have something catchy and very reminiscent of The Art of Noise’s engaging “Moments in Love”.…
Release data: Crown Invisible – CI4: Cinema CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cursor Club, 2001 This release was actually scheduled for the end of 2000, but due to the on and off rush of the holidays and the demanding production process at Cursor Club, it was not actually released until June 2001. It has finally become a full album (six tracks, 41 minutes),…
Release data: CC:Dome – Dream Furious CD-EP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cursor Club, 2000 “Dream Furious” is CC:Dome’s second release, an EP with 29 minutes of fine and attentively composed electronics. Compared to the Crown Invisible project from the same label, CC:Dome’s previous Ep already displayed a more adventurous approach, this time it’s even more captivating, profound enchanting and almost dreamy. The…
Release data: CC:Dome – Dome CD-EP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cursor Club, 1998 CC:Dome is another enigmatic project from Garrett Park’s Cursor Club. Soundwise it’s episodic, rather minimal and, compared to the Crown Invisible-project on the same label, taking on a bit more adventurous approach. The creative process involves the incorporation of very slight Middle Eastern elements, drone pads and more. CC:…
Release data: Crown Invisible – Crown Invisible II CD-EP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cursor Club, 1998 The main comments I made on “Crown Invisible” also apply to the “follow-up” Ep “Crown invisible II”. Once again it’s quite visual music and a great listen through headphones, sounding evocative in every possible way. Like its predecessor it holds three cool, ingeniously composed tracks (“V13”,…
Release data: Crown Invisible – Crown Invisible CD-EP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cursor Club, 1998 Let’s journey back to 1998. That year I ran into something special for all those Em-enthusiasts always on the look-out for new diamonds in contemporary electronic music. It comes from the small Hollywood-label Cursor Club run by Garrett Parks. In general, Crown Invisible’s music is pretty melodic…
Release data: Jean-Michel Jarre – Amazônia CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Sony Music, 2021 “Amazônia” is Jarre’s 52-minute musical score to the vision of Sebastião Salgado’s immersive exhibition about the Brazil’s Amazon with the attempt to approach the region with respect, relying on a poetic and impressionistic way. The ambient sound collage comes in 9 parts full of weird turns and twists, wrapping…
Release data: Kees Aerts – Slices of Time CD, Groove Unlimited, 1997 What I got here is the very first Groove Unlimited-release. With “Slices of Time”, Kees Aerts (at that time business partner of Ron Boots’ Groove Unlimited label) also presents his official solo-debut. His name appeared previously on various “Truth” cds. The album -dedicated to the function that allows…
Release data: Changing Images – Vituality CD, Lektronik Soundscapes, 1992 Changing Images is the German duo Martin Kornberger (synths) and Volker Kuhn (synths and guitars), a project following the more electronic/sequencer-led progressive music of the ‘70s. They seem to have been working under this group name since 1991, having released the more symphonic-tinged release “The Castle” on the French Musea…
Release data: Akikaze – Fantasmagora CD, Criminal Records, 1996 “Fantasmagora” is the second cd-release of Pepijn Courant on which he reverts to old work from about 12 years ago that he has reworked and polished for this cd production. It features four long “parts” with a strong classical-symphonic as well as an unusual slant. We hear a lot of sampled…
Release data: Andreas Akwara – Solar Eclipse CD, Private Release, 2002 “Solar Eclipse” is the second effort by this German synthesist, and a concept album of space music. Those who think that the music can be laid alongside existing cosmic compositions will have to conclude that Akwara has managed to find a rather different sound and approach. Floating passages are…
Release data: Alio Die & Mathias Grassow – Expanding Horizon CD, Relapse Records, 2003 This is an ambient double cd by Italian/German ambient duo Alio Die (aka Stefano Musso) and Mathias Grassow. Beforehand I had a feeling it was going to be a hefty one, and it proved to be so with 2x 70 minutes of meditative drone music. Grassow…
Release data: Robert Rich – Sunyata Mc/CD/Digital Download, Soundscape/Hypnos Recordings, 1982/2000 Robert Rich’s 1982-debut “Sunyata” grew out of all-night concerts and was reissued on cd in remastered form. A student at Stanford University at the time, Robert was already concerned with the fact that music is capable of altering consciousness, and the intended psycho-active stimuli on “Sunyata” are a first…
Release data: Brannan Lane / Vidna Obmana – Deep Unknown CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Brannan Lane Music, 2002 One of the many cds that Brannan Lane had planned for 2002 is this collaboration with his Belgian colleague Dirk Serries. It’s not a full-length collaboration but one that is limited to the first three tracks. The overall atmosphere is misty, slightly mysterious but…
Release data: Simon Lomax – Notes from the Void, Vol. 1 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Council of Nine, 2021 The process creating the music for “Notes from the Void” turned out a little different than Mr Lomax used to do on previous recordings: a friend and personal mentor suggested a title as a starting point along an ambitious deadline for each track.…
Release data: Robert Rich – Below Zero CD, Side Effects, 1998 This deep dark-ambient compilation follows-up on Robert’s 1996 HOS/Fathom release “A Troubled Resting Place” presenting more abstract, foreboding and expansive soundscape work with a profound surrealist touch. The composer conceived “Below Zero” -a sonic narrative of infinite distance, inhuman scale and deep time- while recording each of the tracks…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – When Dusk becomes Night CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2021 What I got here is possibly the most tranquil and serene album yet from this talented New Zealand-based composer. The major part of the 58-minute “When Dusk becomes Night” (working title Dawn to Night) was created during a two-week lockdown in 2020. For the result…
Release data: S1gns of L1fe – The Age of Cymatics Digital Download, Synphaera Records, 2021 This project by Chris Bryant -started around 2013- keeps surprising with its well-designed vibrant contemporary electronics topped by excellent mastering and production. There’s a captivating emotive current and drive found in the fresh, spacious instrumentals pushing things ahead on all eight tracks where various down-tempo…
Release data: Robert Rich – Rainforest CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Hearts of Space, 1989 Back in 1989, the release of “Rainforest” marked a major breakthrough for Robert Rich, who actually made the album as an expression of despair and respect for our planet. Musically this “rainforest” recording tells a totally different story though, compared to e.g. the free form works of Thom Brennan…
Release data: The Adelaidean & Deepspace – Adrift DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2021 My first encounter with the music of TheAdelaidean a short while back was a pleasant one. For “Adrift” he now joined forces with his fellow countryman Mirko Ruckels (aka Deepspace), whose music I cherish quite a bit for years. Together they created a 65-minute atmospheric work of…
Release data: Rüdiger Gleisberg – Arabesque CD, Musique Intemporelle, 1991 The style of Paderborn-based composer and music teacher Rüdiger Gleisberg is no typical electronic music as it integrates lots of classical, impressionist and symphonic elements along some minimalist ingredients. Piano as well as various environmental recordings play a significant part in Rüdiger’s orchestrated spacious, atmospheric works of strings and woodwinds.…
Release data: Parallel Worlds – Dimensional CD-r/12″/Digital Download, Móatún7, 2021 For this release, following in the footsteps of Bakis Sirros third collaborative album “Phosphenes” with Dave Bessell, Bakis used analogue sequencers and synths only along analogue shift registers, quantizers, trigger delays, rotating clock dividers, clock multipliers, harmonic oscillators, granular processor & more. In the process of moulding and composing neither midi…
Release data: Jessica Saves – Travelling without moving Digital Download, Seven Village Voyage, 2020 Ok, let’s turn to some more easy-going electronics. “Travelling without Moving” is the debut release of Jessica Saves, a project by Barcelona-based DJ and producers Steve Ferrand and Bradley Telleria (aka Tres Manos). The chill-out and lounge-oriented outcome , kicking off with the nice ethereal “Translunar”, invites…
Release data: Siddhartha Barnhoorn – Celestial Spaces Spacetones DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 “Celestial Spaces”, offering one continuous 59-minute track, is an immersive and enchanting journey into the deep end of the galactic expanse that I strongly recommend to experience with headphones. Here, the velvet soundcapes and smooth drift Siddhartha explored on the pinnacle track “Santuary” from his “Structures of…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Nocturnes III CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SilentSun, 2021 With “Nocturnes III”, Max Corbacho brings his audience the last chapter of the trilogy started in 2017 featuring music inspired by the vast and desolate night landscapes of Spain’s Aragon and Extremadura. Hardly any people live out there, as such being one of the few remaining places in Europe…
Release data: Robert Rich – Offering to the Morning Fog CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2020 The music of “Offering to the Morning Fog” was created on-demand as it was made in response to various requests from listeners who had asked Robert if he had any unreleased music that could offer a quiet place for them to breathe for a while.…
Release data: Penterakt – Conquest of the Moon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wool-E- Discs, 2021 Penterakt is a new collaborative project by Andy Bloyce and Tom Coppens, who some might know from the EM-collective Kubusschnitt. The 60-minute “Conquest of the Moon” -still made with analogue gear only- features a successful blend of their individual styles along some Berlin School signatures, offering four…
Release data: Steve Roach – Into the Majestic CD/Digital Download, Timeroom Editions, 2021 Here’s a floating soundscape from ambient master Steve Roach that shows he once more has found his way back time into an expansive space of embracing warmth and comfort. “Into the Majestic”, featuring two lengthy pieces is rich in sound as it reveals its inner sanctum of…
Release data: Simon Slator – Chameleon DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 After quite an extended break from music-making, British musician Simon Slator recently started up again and released “Chameleon”. From the liner notes I learned the underlying theme is how, like a chameleon, some change their outward appearance to blend in with their surroundings, yet inside they feel anxious and…
Release data: Don Slepian – Electronic Music from the Rainbow Isle CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Don Slepian Music/Numero Group, 1978/2000 This compilation-album, released in September 1978 on a privately-released cassette, contains early electronic music made during the 10 years Don Slepian lived on Hawaii. The original cassette featured 6 tracks, while the re-release from 2000 on cd-r by the artist himself has…
Release data: Paralle Worlds & Dave Bessell – Phosphenes CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2021 The stark, surreal and gothic are most present on “Phosphenes”, the third abstract-ambient effort of Bakis Sirros and Dave Bessell, who share a passion for vintage instruments and the powerful, in-depth sounds they can produce. The eight tracks centre on cinematic and haunting atmosphere building, intriguing analogue…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – Prologue CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Acoustic Wave Records, 2020 The 65-minute “Prologue” -featuring music created in 2019 and 2020- sees the light of day some 13 years after Brendan’s last solo album. And another time around Mr Pollard does what he’s best at: through three lengthy tracks we journey through the old school of cosmic electronics, most…
Release data: Wave Walkers – Kronos21 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2021 Wave Walkers is a newcomer from Belgium. It’s a collaborative effort of Jurgen Vitrier and Germain Ghys who express their love and enthusiasm for the sound of classic ‘80s Tangerine Dream “with the aim to catch its spirit without copying”. Well, they do so with two long tracks of…
Release data: Transceive – Frozen Circuitry CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Alles Klar Productions, 2020 After a six-year musical hiatus Steve Nelson returns with the album “Frozen Circuitry”, described as ‘derived from the technology used to create the soundtrack to a cold atmosphere’. The seven compositions with classic EM influences produced in a trance style unveil a high energy album from start to…
Release data: Rhea – 108 Minutes -that changed the world- CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wool-E Discs, 2018 Rhea’s “108 Minutes” -a three track/65-minute sonic tribute to Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space- is a nicely accomplished travelogue for all who love to dwell and space-out in cosmic environs. Synthesist Mark de Wit takes his listeners deep into a minimalist,…
Release data: Altus – Trailhead: Singles Collection Volume 4 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Since his debut “24 Hours” (2001), Canadian Mike Carss has proved a skilled ambient composer of emotive textural landscapes full of elegance and drama. In addition, expansiveness, deepness as well as a symphonic component lies at the core of his albums and single tracks. With “Trailhead”,…
Release data: Skyscaper – Atmospheric Stratification [Reshape] CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Gterma, 2020 This release was put out simultaneously with Mathias Grassow’s “The Dreamquest Sessions”. It’s made by label-owner, sound designer, composer and audio postproduction engineer Anders Peterson, also known for his mastering expertise found on almost all Gterma releases. [Rescape] is a reinterpretation of the original “Atmospheric Stratification” album (originally released…
Release data: Ron Boots & Synth.nl – BorkHavn CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2020 Many will recall Ron & Michel’s fine debut album “Refuge en Verre” based on music drafts made during a vacation of both families in Belgium. A decade later “BorkHavn” sees the light of day, distilled from live improvised music made in a similar setting a few years…
Release data: Gadi Sassoon – Multiverse LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 Gadi Sassoon is a composer from Milan of Syrian and Italian heritage who published music under the aliases Memory9 and Aliens at Home previously. “Multiverse” (existing both as stereo mixes and as an immersive multichannel experience) though is the first record he releases under his own name and is the…
Release data: Kyoto – Squares & Triangles DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Microcosmos Records, 2020 Once in a while I enjoy listening to some ambient-chill music, a genre where this one fits in for sure. Kyoto is the moniker of Russian musician, dj and producer Vitalii Zenkov who’s been active for some 15 years in various electronica genres. “Squares & Triangles” features over…
Release data: Brain Ballet – Aquarium of the Deep Sea CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Magnanimous Records, 2004 I feel ambient music celebrating the magic and beauty of the water element is something special. In this respect chasing “Aquarium of the Deep Sea”, an obscure release by Hidemasa Kondo -aka Brain Ballet- is worth the effort. The 41-minute/8-track outcome is a calm, introspective,…
Release data: Kloob – Cryptic Interactions CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 The sonic world of Spanish ambient sound sculptor Kloob I’m accustomed to so far is one of deep invocation, and his “Cryptic Interactions” (inspired by various weird encounters with ‘suspected entities’ that mankind has had throughout history) is no exception. Dark, dense expanses, spacious environs and ancient mystery shake…
Release data: Lost Radiance – Marly Digital Download/CD-r, Sense/Net Neu Harmony, 2016 “Lost Radiance” is a project by the Russian trio Alexander Asimov, Roman Rogov and Yuriy Miller. “Marly” (a character in William Gibsons cyber-punk novel “Count Zero”) is a 47-minute outing into retro Berlin School territory with minimalist touches featuring energetic, tight and driving sequencers. It strikes even higher on the…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – The Dreamquest Sessions CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Gterma, 1998/2020 At the end of 2020 Gterma surprised its fans and followers with the release of “The Dreamquest Sessions”, an ambient work of art Mathias Grassow created in 1998 for which he asked Klause Wiese to contribute the pure, clean soundings of Tibetan Singing Bowls. The recording is in fact the third…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Music for Urban Promenades II CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2020 This is a second volume of continuous low volume ambient environs inspired by a collage of faint bell sounds heard inside an indoor shopping mall in Yokohama. Next to some acoustic piano and synths, Juta mainly applied Tibetan Singing Bowls among other bells of which…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – 0110 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 The music of the German project Cosmic Ground fits in the league of vintage electronic music of the beginning and middle of the ´70`s made with a fine selection of classic hardware synths as well as some bass and guitar. The 5-track/78-minute “0110” is another highly atmospheric and powerful…
Release data: Brian Eno – Film Music 1976 – 2020 CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Universal Music, 2020 All familiar with his music know a lot of Brian Eno’s music has (or evokes) a cinematic impact. The 17-track “Film Music: 1976 – 2020”, which contains seven newly available pieces, proves his music also works very well without having the visuals to accompany them. Next to that,…
Release data: Awenson – Aweena CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2020 On this album (an ode to love, beauty, peace and harmony) Joël Bernard identifies himself with Aweena, a self-created cosmic divinity bringing humanity the opposite of all the sorrow and aftermath caused by the worldwide covid pandemic. The 77-minute outcome is a kind of contemporary cosmic symphony featuring an assortment…
Release data: Andrew Heath – The Alchemist’s Muse CD/Digital Download, Disco Gecko Music, 2020 I won’t deny (and even want to stress) it demands a special ear and state of mind to immerse into environmental ambiences with a minimal touch. The Budd/Eno-esque sonic architecture displayed to the 60-minute “The Alchemist’s Muse” features guitar drones, warm textural layers, heavily treated field…
Release data: Simon Lomax – eM DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Council of Nine, 2020 As for many other artists Covid19 brought a period of pause. In case of Simon Lomax it allowed him to turn to and reflect on some neglected work in the form of a 22-minute Ep of some experimental pieces he’d dabbled with on and off over the past…
Release data: Martin Stürtzer – Far Beyond the Stars DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Exosphere Music, 2020 This is the debut album of German soundartist Martin Stürtzer (better known as Phelios and the project Späre Sechs) on Synphaera’s sublabel Exophere. “Far Beyond the Stars” is a full-blown spaced-out ambient work that sees a pairing of darker tones, ethereal soundscapes and profound textures with…
Release data: Ashtoreth & Stratosphere – Between Worlds CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Winter-Light, 2020 “Between Worlds” is a full-length collaboration of Belgian musicians Ashtoreth (aka Peter Verwimp) and Stratosphere (aka Ronald Mariën). Together they deliver a 7-track ambient soundscape with some ritualist dark as well as some occult undercurrents at work that remains accessible all the way. Elevating the listener to higher,…
Release data: Time Being – An Ocean of Time CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2020 With their third full-length release, aka US-synthesists Jourdan Laik and Phillip Wilkerson take another step forward in developing and defining their musical signature. As on the previous albums, “Ocean of Time” has a lot to like for fans of immersive, textural-ambient space music. As we…
Release data: Sequentia Legenda – Beyond the Stars CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 On each new album Laurent Schieber keeps pushing the boundaries while expressing his enduring passion for (and presenting his interpretation of) classic Schulze Berlin School electronics. On “Beyond the Stars”, once again featuring lengthy sonic excursions only, Laurent has started riding the cosmic waves even more profound.…
Release data: Steve Roach – Tomorrow CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2020 Drawing from a vast, unique and deeply personal authenticity, Steve’s works are and always have been fueled by the momentum of a lifetime dedicated to (what he refers to as) The Soundcurrent. “Tomorrow” offers equal parts serene floating space music, as well as kinetic movement and minimalist sequencer-based forms that…
Release data: Desensitized – Hemispherica Portalis (Portal of 1000 Years) CD/Digital Downbload, Spotted Peccary Music, 2020 It can be an interesting yet refreshing experience when a musician decides to travel a different sonic path than usual. Such is the case for Deborah Martin and Dean De Benedictis who joined their talents as Desensitized, a rather experimental-ish New Age music project.…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – Elementa Soundtrack DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wayfarer Records, 2020 “Elementa” is New Zealand-based nature photographer and film maker Richard Sidey’s second feature collaboration with ambient composer Boreal Taiga that’s also concluding the director’s Speechless trilogy. The compelling, non-verbal film (released in June 2020) is a black-and-white visual meditation of all that is wild – an escape and…
Release data: Kloob & Onasander – Mundus Patet CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Winter-Light, 2020 Fall and winter make most appropriate seasons for deeper listening and travels into dark ambient spaces. Specialized in this EM-genre, Dutch Winter-Light-label brings us “Mundus Patet” (the world is open) named after an esoteric, dark rite exercised by the ancient Romans where the boundaries between the world of…
Release data: Forrest Fang – The Book of Wanderers CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2020 On all previous albums of Forrest Fang I’ve encountered so far I’ve much enjoyed a rather complex style of music merging elements from Non-Western and Western music elements sophisticatedly. Being confined in his home studio during the Covid lockdown in spring and summer 2020, Forrest felt…
Release data: Johannes Schmoelling & others – 20 CD-EP, Viktoriapark Records, 2020 This is a celebratory release due to the 20th anniversary of Viktoria Park Records founded by Johannes Schmoelling in December 2000. The 30-minute Ep features four previously unreleased tracks where harmonic, melodic lines merge sophistically with delicate yet evocative sequences. There are two compositions Johannes made with his…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Night Lights CD-r/Digital Download, TMB Soundworks, 2020 “Night Light” brings six lengthy tracks where lush swirling soundscapes hover over long strings of smooth pulsating, minimalist sequencer patterns. Brennan’s aural signature is all over the place as is vintage vibe showing up now and then in the imaginary but also sustained dynamic outcome. In a way…
Release data: 猫 シ Corp & telepath – Building a Better World CD/LP/MC, Hiraeth Records, 2019/2020 Jornt Elzinga is a Dutch music producer and owner of Hiraeth Records who’s been making music using the 猫 シ Corp pseudonym (that means something like Cat System Corp). For the beautifully constructed, stellar mastered “Building a better World” (10 tracks, 43:43 minutes) Jornt teamed up…
Release data: TheAdelaidean – Isolation CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2020 From Down Under comes “Isolation” by successful Aussie writer Sean Williams. The latter uses the moniker TheAdelaidean to explore original and collaborative soundscapes while referring to his output as structured ambient sound. Composed entirely during lockdown, the 62-minute ambient-textural release created out of fragmentatry field recordings is meant to bring…
Release data: Quiet Places – Volume One LP/Digital Download, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 Quiet Places is UK’s seasoned electronic music producer trio Dennis White, Charlie May and Dave Gardner (best known as long-time collaborators with Sasha), now focusing on vivid and wide-screen ambient journeys. According the info, the outcome was born out of a whisky-inspired late-night laptop jam session…
Release data: Daniel & Booth – Circle of Phenomenon DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Electronic Composers Outlet, 2020 This is Michael Daniel & Phil Boots’ second album made available on Mai 1st 2020 as a special ECO lockdown/one day only digital preview. “Circle of Phenomenon” features four lengthy tracks clocking between 18 and 20 minutes each. It’s a most enjoyable listen for all…
Release data: Erik Wøllo & Michael Stearns – Convergence CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2020 “Convergence” marks the debut collaboration between Erik Wøllo and Michael Stearns offering a blend of slowly-evolving, contemplative and intimate music reflecting a very visionary and vast aural landscape. The outcome is a perfect blending of technology, music, and emotion utilizing sophisticated electronics, acoustic and original instruments like…
Release data: Under the Dome – Almagest DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cochlear Vision, 2020 What a surprise to the this recording pop up out of the blue after so many years, as UTD’s last release (“Over the Pond”) came out in 2003. The major part of the 10-track/69-minute release was recorded between April and July 2020 with the exception of a tribute…
Release data: Ran Kirlian – Sidereus Nuncius DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altera Orbe, 2020 The largest part of “Sidereus Nuncius” (Sidereal Messenger) -named after Galileo Galilei’s famous 1610 astronomical treatise- was created mostly during the Covid19 confinement in spring 2020. It served as an imaginary escape route for the composer to travel light-years away without leaving his home studio. Moreover, it was…
Release data: Echoflex – Echoflex I Digital Download, SeeHear Recordings, 2020 “Echoflex 1” is an ambient recording by Echoflex, aka Plymouth-based composer and visual artist David Muddyman (also a member of the band Loop Guru) who lives close to the sea on the Devon/Cornwall border. He developed an interest in how emotions could be brought into a sound palette by…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Music for Urban Promenades CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Lunisolar Records, 2020 Taking inspiration from a collage of faint bell sounds heard inside an indoor shopping mall in Yokohama, Juta Takahashi decided to undertake his own environmental approach and create this continuous low volume ambience. The outcome, the nearly 63-minute “Music for Urban Promenades”, is a slow evolving…
Release data: Ava Felsenstein – Hydrolux DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 Through the years there have been several electronic musicians who make or have made Jarre-inspired music or music recreating his synth sounds and atmospheres such as Kebu, Victor Cerullo and MoonSatellite. German synthesist Ava Felsenstein has the same intention with “Hydrolux”. Well, the eight tracks continuing Jarre’s spherical sounds…
Release data: Havdis – Fugløya CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Gterma, 2020 “Fugløya”, Havdis’4th album on Gterma, was actually ready to go to print in early March but due to Covid19 had to sit back and wait a bit just like everyone else. This time around the album comes with some stunning photographs of label owner Johan Rehn complementing the 78-minute narrative ambient…
Release data: Steve Roach – A Soul Ascends CD/Digital Download, Projekt Records, 2020 Meant for deep inward immersion & infinite playback, “A Soul Ascends”(created over seven days in mid-April 2020 during the Covid19 crisis) kinda fits in the same league as Roach”s “Quiet Music” and other tranquil longform soundworks. While submerging in this new slow morphing outcome it becomes clear…
Release data: Eguana – Abyss DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cosmicleaf Records, 2020 Here’s another fine work of space-ambient bliss by Sergey Severin, aka Eguana, taking its listener into an infinite destiny. “Abyss’” tranquil sonic narrative -that never becomes superficial- unfolds as a weightless drift with sets of gentle oozing textures along a sustained, smooth pulsating sequence. As the journey morphs onward effortlessly…
Release data: Colin Rayment – FRB CD-R/Digital Download, SynGate Records, 2019 For the music on this release, UK-synthesist Colin Rayment was inspired by so called Fast Radio Bursts, unusual repeating signals in the cosmos coming from a source about 1.5 billion light years away. It has led to seven contemporary-melodic mood tracks carrying the composer’s own signature sound aside from…
Release data: Max Corbacho – The Unfolding Dawn CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SilentSun, 2020 The COVID19 confinement period triggered talented Spanish Max Corbacho creating “The Unfolding Dawn”, a continuous longform ambient expanse. The liquid, slowly and always gently transforming spaces encountered here are an in-depth sonic and highly-immersive experience where a kaleidoscope of sedate dynamics is at work while overall tranquillity, gracefulness…
Release data: Airwaves – Multiverse CD/Digital Download, Carpe Sonum, 2020 “Multiverse” is the final recording from the sadly deceased Oscar Menzel his widow discovered on his computer years ago. It is now made available to the public as a limited edition cd and digital download after another meticulous master job by David Morley. “Multiverse” features 52 minutes of music composed…
Release data: Gandalf – Secret Sarai CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, BSC/Prudence, 2020 I abandoned Gandalf’s music many years back as I found out over and over again the intriguing magical scent gracing his early work was no longer present: it had become too sweet and New Age instead. This time around multi-instrumentalist Heinz Strobl is joined by Theologos Michellis (Violin), Nicky Eggl …
Release data: Forrest Fang – Ancient Machines CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2019 Every recording by multi-instrumentalist and sound creator Forrest Fang I’ve listened to has been an enchanting, mystifying and intriguing experience. In the creative process of molding and shaping “Ancient Machines”, the composer acknowledged the early sounds and influences of minimalists Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley. Furthermore,…
Release data: Janne Hanhisuanto – Ambient Collection 2020 Digital Download, Private Release, 2020 This release features 10 remastered ambient tracks taken from previous released albums created between 2007 and 2019. Some of these albums are hard to find nowadays. One of the pieces (“Warm Memory”) is previously unreleased while four tracks were taken from the 2012-recording “Quiet Places”, an album…
Release data: Gáston Arévalo – Terrain LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 Seven years after “Rollin Ballads” Uruguayan sound artist and musician Gastón Arévalo returns with “Terrain”, an exploratory-themed ambient album told and unfolding through the lens of an expedition diary – a rich, intimate and most calming cinematic atmosphere set amongst the beauty of nature. The one-hour/12-track textural…
Release data: Madis – Sea of Tranquillity CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Seabound Music, 2020 Here’s a nice catch for fans of synth-pop related and rather infectious-melodic electronics composed by Polish musician/producer Amadeusz Malkowskraka Madis, aka Madis. The latter launched his debut mini-album “Ocean Rain” in 2013 followed by his own remix of “Interstellar’s” main theme in 2015, various other remixes and singles,…
Release data: Brian Eno – Ambient #1: Music for Airports CD, Editions EG, 1978 “Ambient 1: Music For Airports” (conceived by Eno as an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint) broke new ground when it came out as it introduced the new term “ambient” to the musical lexicon, its modus operandi formalising the use of steady states as the…
Release data: Liquid Mind – XIII: Mindfulness CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Real Music, 2020 Well, here’s an electronic recording heading up the New Age avenue. Liquid Mind, aka US-composer Chuck Wild, started in January of 1988 during a time of personal crisis to help heal from anxiety and panic disorder. Since then, music has been an important part of Mr Wild’s own…
Release data: Zanov – Chaos Islands CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 Zanov’s sixth album “Chaos Islands” takes inspiration by the chaos theory and contains seven electronic vignettes blending the simple and complex while the listener can expect the unexpected. Still rooted firmly in characteristic Zanov’s edged sound design, the sequence-driven, symphonic-angled, partly melodic outcome features various most peculiar twists and…
Release data: Spacecraft – Excursion DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 This is not a recording by USA’s Tony Gerber & co but a solo music project by the same name of Bombay-based musician Rishi Bhatia. “Excursion” -the follow-up of 2019’s “Mars”- is a 22-minute/4-track EP is a treat for fans of lush soundscape music as it takes the listener into…
Release data: Lauri Lest – Duality DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 “Duality” -an ode to introspection in the age of machines, devices and constant strive for progress and success- is the hypnotic-ish, rather spacey and often beat-less debut recording by Estonian electronic musician Lauri Lest. In the process of creating the 6-track, pure-synth music the composer’s aim was to focus…
Release data: Hyonodial – Good Times End Times DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 Hypnodial is an ambient chill-out project by Spanish musician Ilia Rodríguez who released his debut “Aether Alcoves” in 2017, followed by the Ep “Sub” in 2019. The outcome of “Good Times End Times” (according the composer conceptually moving into more abstract, stream-of-consciousness terrain) consists of 7 tracks/45…
Release data: Skoulaman – Deepminds DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 “Deepminds” offers a nice set of music consisting of four compositions Hans van Kroonenburg published previously on YouTube as well as three new pieces: “Polymood”, “Mytilini Intermission” and the title track. The latter were created with (and inspired by) a couple of second hand instruments Hans got his hands on…
Release data: Brian Eno – Ambient #4: On Land CD, EG Records, 1982 As a big fan of ambient music for many years, I wondered how I could forget giving some attention to Brian Eno, one of the godfathers of ambient electronic music. In the years preceding “On Land” the idea of making music that in some way related to…
Release data: Germind – Flows Digital Download, Synphaera Records, 2017 “Flows” is the debut release of Russian composer Mihail Glukhov, aka Germind, an ambient recording taking the listener on a 66-minite ride to the farthest reaches of the universe. The gentle morphing celestial courier features 8-track minimal, enveloping soundscape arrangements of a drony, darker nature. It recalls the impressionist realm…
Release data: Dave Bessell – Reality Engine CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2020 The surreal, gothic and cinematic form the main thread on Mr Bessell’s “Reality Engine”, his second solo album on DiN. This time around the UK-composer indulged his passion for literature in compositions inspired by the writings of Jorge Luis Borges, the Brothers Grimm and Lord Dunsany. Still applying analogue…
Release data: Loneward – Moongate CD-R/Digital Download, Private Release, 2020 As Loneward, Canadian synthesist Mike Carss started a new sonic journey in 2018 into what he referred to as purer ambient. “Moongate”, where processed guitar (both electric and acoustic) and soft synths taking centre stage, is a drifting, slightly pastoral-oriented affair of slow moving textures that come and go. It’s…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – C’est Magique CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2020 I confess I somewhat gave up on on Mr Schroeder after the uninspired outcome of his previous two releases. Well, on his 2020-release “C’est magique” -a sound excursion into the depths of magic- the Aachen-based composer turns up the ambient chill-out avenue. Despite my low expectations Robert seems…
Release data: Simon Lomax – We Echo Endlessly DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Council of Nine, 2020 In November 2015, UK soundscapist Simon Lomax crossed the big pond for the first time for playing a live-set at Chuck van Zyl’s Star’s End Radio show, an experience he repeated in November 2019. The set played during the latter is now made available as “We…
Release data: Bertrand Loreau – Eternal Sorrows CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2019 The music on this 71-minute recording was made in 1981, a time when only limited analogue equipment along simple recording facilities were around and affordable for many electronic musicians. “Eternal Sorrows” offers 14 vintage pieces enhanced slightly and improved best as possible in 2015 without losing its original…
Release data: Maria Warner – Slipstream CD-r/Digital Download, Neu Harmony, 2019 No other than accomplished British synthesist Michael Neil -residing in Berlin since several years- is the musician behind the Maria Warner project. Inspired by his connection to the Berlin School scene both physically and spiritually, Michael tries to emulate the kind of electronic music that inspired him to work…
Release data: Wanderwelle – A State of Decrepitude LP/Digital Download, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 Meant as a soundtrack to humanity that once was, “A State Of Decrepitude” is a concept album by Amsterdam-based duo Phil van Dulm and Alexander Bartels (aka Wanderwelle). Moreover it deals with the many faces of deterioration, the various aspects of impermanence and facets of…
Release data: Alio Die & Parallel Worlds – The Utopian Blossom CD/Digital Download, Hic Sunt Leones, 2020 About six years after their previous recording the collaboration between the musical talents Alio Die (aka Italian soundsculptor Stefano Musso) and Parallel Worlds (aka Greek synthesist Bakis Sirros) has become a true ambient effort with a strong minimalist signature. Assembled from various smooth…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Music for Isolation Digital Download, Private Release, 2020 The power and value of music seems even more important in these hard times as the world’s population suffers heavily from the corona crisis. Secluded in his home ambient composer Dennis Huddleston brings us the free-of-charge “Music for Isolation” for which he used a very minimal setup…
Release data: Chuck Van Zyl – Spacetones CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 Well, I guess the review of this one comes quite a bit later than I anticipated as I bought at the E-Live 2019 event where it was released. “Spacetones” presents Chuck’s full concert of minimalist Berlin-School inspired synth & sequencer improvisations performed at “E-Day 2018”. Its three lengthy…
Release data: Merrin Karras – Northwest Passage LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 What I got here is the second album of Irish electronic music producer Brendan Gregoriy, also known under the moniker Chymera. As the latter Brendan produced progressive electronic dance music whereas his project Merrin Karras heads firmly into the territory of widescreen synthscape ambient. That sonic…
Release data: Nam-Khar – Sur Chöd CD, Winter-Light, 2020 Those who like to immerse in abyssal, long-form and ritualist-dark ambient soundscapes are at the right spot with the full-length “Sur Chöd”, an album following in the footsteps of the 2018-release “Secret Essence / Sangwa Dupa”, also released on Dutch Winter-Light. Using traditional ethno-acoustic instrumentation paired with isolationist, coldish electronic textures,…
Release data: Amongst Myselves – The Good Earth CD-r/DVD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 “The Good Earth” is the first album by Australian synthesist Steve Roberts (aka Amongst Myselves) made since he moved away from his suburban house near Adelaide to a large property on the Fleurieu Peninsula, a place Steve considers almost his spiritual centre for a long time. It…
Release data: Nevel – The Hageland CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wool-E Discs, 2019 I ran into this remarkable release on the Belgium Db2Fluctuation EM-event in February 2020. The concept-album The Hageland, a double cd limited to 300 physical copies, is the debut of Belgium DJ and producer Bart Van Meulebroeck aka Nevel. It’s named after a region of the same name situated between the Belgian…
Release data: Nothing But Noise – Mutanten Maschine CD/USB-Stick/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DB2fluctuation, 2018 This release saw the light of day previously on cassette-tape and on self-released USB-stick before it landed on silver disc, the latter containing one bonus piece. Stark, progressive and deep vibrating electronics remain on the menu on “Mutanten Maschine” along controlled industrial touches flashing by in the darker-shaded,…
Release data: Stefan Erbe & Steve Baltes – A-11 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Erbe Music, 2019 Here’s another electronic album inspired by the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. The music on “A-11”, the third full-length collaboration of these skilled German synthesists, is comprised of material performed at Observatory Hagen and ATT–Essen. I’m not familiar with the music played live on…
Release data: Neraterrae – Scenes from the Sublime CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cyclic Law/Liberation through Hearing, 2020 On the 62-minute “Scenes from the Sublime”, Alessio Antoni (aka Neraterrae) continues his journey into haunting worlds of vast, ominous dronescapes. Coined as an ode to beauty, the unfathomable and the minds capability of channeling the sublime, inspiration came from various art works. Each of…
Release data: Roger Eno and Brian Eno – Mixing C0lours CD/LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deutsche Grammophone, 2020 Roger and Brian Eno’s collaborative debut-release “Mixing Colours” (created out of a back-and-forth process between the two brothers over a 15-year period) is an exploration into sound through pastel-coloured impressionistic, contemplative soundscapes. All but one of the recording’s eighteen soft resonating tracks take their titles…
Release data: Yagya – Old Dreams and Memories CD/LP/Digital Download, Small Plastic Animals, 2020 This album sees Reykjavik-based composer Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson redefining his own sound, continuing his quest in exploring new sonic pathways that he already started on his previous effort “Stormur”. Subtle moving away from the icy dub techno sound, “Old Dreams and memories” follows the road taken on “Stars…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Departures CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TMB Soundworks, 2020 Often, life events are a source of inspiration for music releases. “Departures” was actually not planned and came about as a diversion from another project due to recent events in Mr Brennan’s personal life … it’s about loss. Thom elaborates: our lives are spent accruing friends, relationships and material things…
Release data: DreamerProject – Beyond Dreams CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2019 What I got here is a compilation release, the story so far, of DreamerProject, aka Norwegian musician Kjetil Ingenbrigtsen. The 72-minute “Beyond Dreams” contains 13 tracks in remastered or remixed form as well as three exclusive new tracks I’d classify as warm, feel-good, easy-going and highly accessible electronic chill-out.…
Release data: Paul Ward – For a Knave CD, Surreal to Real, 1991 Paul Ward’s debut album “For a Knave” saw the light of day on John Dyson’s Surreal to Real label in the begin of the ‘90’s. Before Ward went solo he was one half of the project Quiet Point that broke up shortly after having performed at the…
Release data: Nothing But Noise – Berlin to Brussel CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DB2fluctuation, 2019 On the 3-track/43-minute “Berlin To Brussel” Dirk Bergen and Daniel Bressanutti offer their listeners Berlin School-inspired electronics spiced with a few quirky hooks and slight experimental twists. The darker-infused soundscape passages on the 20-minute “Berlin” and 17-minute “Brussel” both feature a psychedelic, astral feel next to deep…
Release data: Phobos – A Visual Presence CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2020 The 77-minute “A Visual Presence” -which comes with some great imaginative cover-art- documents David’s fourth concert performed at 2019’s UK’s Awakenings concert series, for the composer turning out to be the most enjoyable to that date. Usually when Mr Thompson performs live he plays completely new music, however…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Dreaming Spaces CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silent Sun, 2019/2020 Due to popular demand, this album got a limited edition physical release after it had been offered as a free download and thank-you from Max Corbacho to all his loyal fans worldwide. “Dreaming Spaces” is a deep and compelling ambient journey into lucid, multi-dimensional space environs made up…
Release data: Hyperkube – Remnants CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Littl’ Antenna Records, 2020 Hyperkube is a project initiated by Belgium synthesist Tom Coppens (who some may know as a member of Kubusschnitt). With this release he continues his love for classic Berlin School inspired electronics mixed with melodic sequencers and assorted ambient elements, which he does aptly. In his vibrant music Tom…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – Milestones CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2020 “Milestones” -marking Hollan’s debut on the established Spotted Peccary label- had a long way coming, not only as life got in the way. It actually deals with the marking points in the composer’s life where he grew (emotionally and intellectually) the most. Following his prior release “Prayer To…
Release data: Paul Ellis – Interstellar Nataraja CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 It seemed Paul Ellis put an end to his EM-career in January 2016 when his trusted studio dissolved, having lost decade’s worth of accumulated studio equipment. This heavy blow caused him to take a firm break from electronic music as he didn’t want to rebuild his working space as…
Release data: David Helpling – Rune CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2019 I’ve been following the musical endeavours of US-composer David Helping for many years, the last few focussing on sophisticatedly treated, pure ambient guitar and electronics. “Rune’s” cinematic outcome is directly influenced by the waters of the ocean and the Norse rune called Laguz, which speaks of deep wisdom and…
Release data: E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr – Non Plus Ultra LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Svart Records, 2020 No other than German Krautrock/Kosmische Musik legend Eroc has been in charge of mastering “Non plus ultra”, the third full-length studio album from the Finnish collective E-Musicgruppe Lux Ohr. Sonically, the 82-minute/eight-track outcome -realised between 2016 and 2019- ranges from Berlin School type of old school sequenced…
Release data: Phobos – Celestial Harmonics CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Frozen Light Records, 2019 With “Celestial Harmonics” (his first factory-pressed album by the way) UK- ambient composer David Thompson continues his journeys into the depths and expanse of space. Long form textures and slow evolving drone-tapestries make up a dense, sombre sonic environment where darkness and sadness roam. The biggest part of the…
Release data: S-A-W – Iconic CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Viktoriapark Records, 2020 Kurt Ader is a talented German sound designer for hardware synthesizer, sampler and iOS apps who performed with Johannes Schmoelling on French Synthfest 2018 while having designed a large range of great sounds for Johannes through the years. In addition, he released his solo album “Priority” through Johannes’s label in 2017.…
Release data: Skoulaman – Fluxes in Philadelphia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 This album documents the (slightly adjusted) concert Dutch synthesist Hans van Kroonenburg (whose motto is the power of a synthesizer is not to imitate but to create) performed at The Gatherings concert series in May 2019 in Philadephia, USA. Totally relying on hardware synths he used no backing tape,…
Release data: Max Würden – Format LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2019 Fall and wintertime are most suitable to listen to quieting environment ambient, and this one fits in that category. “Format” by Cologne-based soundsculptor Max Würden is a contemporary ambient release recorded over a period of two years using various kinds of techniques ranging from studio recordings, looping live…
Release data: Kurtz Mindfields & Hypnago – Soundtrack with Atmosphere EP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Wigwam Records, 2019 “Soundtrack with Atmosphere” is a recording featuring two different French artists presenting their own electronic universe on each side. First is Jean-Luc Briançon’s project Kurtz Mindfields who fires off his analogue gear on the 18-minute “Above the wandering moon”. It’s a nicely accomplished cosmic travelogue rooted…
Release data: Jutaro Takahashi – Pleochroism CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neotantra, 2019 “Pleochroism” is Jutaro Takahashi’s debut-release on Lee Anthony Norris Neotantra-label (motto: Tantric solutions for ears). The outcome -that sees the Japanese composer in search of microcosmic beauty- continues Jutaro’s tranquil textural work as featured on his previous albums. A smooth, lush expanse of pastel colours sets off on the two-part title…
Release data: Daniel B. Prothese – Höllektrokraut / HellEctrokraut CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2018 Ok, time to dust off your speakers as here’s a treat for all fans of dynamic electronic krautrock with a leading role for analogue gear. Daniel B. Prothese, aka Daniel Bressanutti (one half of Nothing But Noise and the famous Belgium electro-act Front 242), fires all vintage…
Release data: Michael Brückner – The Undercurrent CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SynGate Wave, 2019 “The Undercurrent” is assembled from shelved, unreleased music German synthesist Michael Brückner made between 2013 and 2019. This modus operandi may lead to an incoherent outcome, but the opposite is the result on the 77-minute release as all tracks share a similar vibe, intensity and character. For the composer…
Release data: Jeff Pearce – Skies and Stars CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Well, ambient textural guitarist Jeff Pearce has outdone himself on “Skies and Stars”, a 56-minute epic of blissful space music meant for gazing at a clear night sky and close listening. Pearce’s signature sound is found at the heart of two longform pieces and a short outro making…
Release data: Solaris – Aeon V CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synphaera Records, 2017 The US Synphaera-label is known for their high-quality ambient releases, some fitting into (or inspired by) cosmic space music. Solaris is a collaborative effort between sound forgers Strahinja Maletic (one half of Fourth Dimension) and Don Tyler (member of Ascendant) leading its listeners into an alternate world of contemplation,…
Release data: Peter Mergener – Astronaut CD, Cue-Records, 2019 Sure, the output of Em-veteran Peter Mergener has been low the last decade, but when something new comes up its worth checking out. This 50-minute concept album celebrates the 50th moon landing anniversary. Various historical speech and lunar communication fragments fly by in the melodic, smooth-sequenced music ranging from nice moodspheres…
Release data: Awenson – Within CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 On the previous album “Hope”, Joël Bernard already showed his style is unusual and sometimes a bit peculiar. At first glance, “Within” features some progressive elements along the introduction of distorted e-guitar (similar to Edgar Froese or Frank Dorittke) and bass guitar on two tracks – most notably on the energetic…
Release data: Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri – Una Presencia En La Brise LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2020 “Una Presencia En La Brisa” (A Presence In The Breeze) by soundsculptors Leandro Fresco and Rafael Anton Irisarri is something for all who have a weak spot for 36’s emotive textural ambient music. The album’s concept deals with human connection…
Release data: The Roswell Incident – Trapped Part One CD, Wool-E Discs, 2019 Same as on their previous albums Koen and Jan Buytaert chose to compose lengthy electronic pieces for their new project “Trapped”. This time around, the release is a well-deserved factory-pressed cd on Wool-E Discs imprint Belgian NeuMusic. Still present is the highly cinematic, mystic-angled current in their…
Release data: Walter Christian Rothe – Secrets CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 “Secrets” (a concept album with melodic drama from his time as a composer) offers music from the back catalogue of talented Belgium synthesist Walter Christian Rothe, sonically connecting with some of the emotive and harmonious outcome heard on “Let the night last for ever” and “Alice”. It spans over…
Release data: Rene de Bakker – Our Gift CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 Those familiar with the previous work of Dutch synthesist Rene de Bakker won’t be surprised the music of “Our Gift” (Rene’s first factory-pressed solo cd) doesn’t stray far from classic Berlin School. Rene’s (re-)interpretation of that style features a nice mix of vintage Peter Baumann/TD and classic…
Release data: RNGMNN – Arctic Interference CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Winter-Light, 2019 Ambient music dedicated to and/or inspired by the northern regions often has special vibe. The frozen and environmental dronescapes making up the nearly 60-minute “Arctic Interference” by Berlin-based Ronny Engmann (aka RNGMNN) airs desolation and ominous darkness through all its veins as we journey slowly but surely across vast icefields. From…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Sources (Early Works 1986-1992) Lp/CD, Smalltown Supersound, 2019 On this recording we travel back in time to early Norwegian ambient music when composer Erik Wøllo did various sessons and formative pieces between his albums “Dreams Pyramid”, “Traces” (1985) and “Silver Beach” (1987). The collection was mostly created with a Roland MSQ 700 sequencer, in real time…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Cosmic Ground 5 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Here’s a fine 75-minute dish of darker flavoured vintage electronics staying close to the realm of TD’s “Phaedra” and “Rubycon”. Synthesist Dirk Jan Müller once again applied his fine range of beloved analogue synths to create the moody, quite hallucinogenic outcome, weaving intense soundscape parts with sequenced sections…
Release data: David Parsons – Chakra CD/Digital Download, Gterma, 2019 After “Puja” and “Stupa”, “Chakra” is the third album by New Zealand-based composer David Parsons on the Swedish G-terma label. This time around, the tracks on “Chakra” were very much gear-inspired. David purchased a couple of Synthstrom Deluges, a locally made portable synthesizer, sequencer and sampler from Wellington designed for the creation,…
Release data: Sphäre Sechs – Transient Lunar Phenomenon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cryo Chamber, 2019 The quality space-ambient of the German duo Sphäre Sechs stands out for its profound as well as cinematic quality. The result on their 50-minute “Transient Lunar Phenomenon” -recorded live during a studio session in winter 2018- continues the path taken on “Particle Void”. This time around the music…
Release data: Nik Owen-Jones – I/O CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultrakeys Music, 2019 Here’s another example of an artist releasing his music in the end through perseverance, something he wished to do for a very long time. UK-synthesist Nik Owen Jones has had a love of electronic music since the mid 70’s when he heard “Oxygene” for the first time on a tired…