Release data: C-Jay – ADEM CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 What I got here is the debut album on Groove Unlimited of Dutchman Christian Jansen who works as an experienced producer, composer and dj under his C-Jay moniker. As such he has put out numerous releases on some of the world’s most respected music labels, most notably John Digweed’s Bedrock Records where…
Release data: Simon Lomax – How the Shadow Falls CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Council of Nine, 2019 The inner world explored on “How the Shadow Falls” is one of intense and profound textural ambiences extending further the emotive realm of its predecessors. Applying synthesisers, samples, effects and highly processed guitar, composer Simon Lomax delivered 7 studio improvisations wandering through desolate, dark-shaded aural landscapes…
Release data: Bart Hawkins – 21 Pulse Eclipse CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2019 Bart Hawkins is an analogue gear-head from the US hereby releasing his inspired debut album. The abstract, industrial side of vintage Em (think Nothing but Noise, Node) is explored on the demanding 17-minute title track following in the footsteps of the harmonious, calming “Dream Meditation” kicking off…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – Woodlands CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2019 For me, the biggest part of “Woodlands” is a trip down memory lane and most familiar to my ears. About half of it consists of aural sketches Rudy originally created and intended for the 2002-album “Across the Silver River” (that ended up as a collaborative project with Ron Boots)…
Release data: Max Corbcho – Echo of Longing CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silentsun, 2019 Majestic, in-depth and beckoning soundworlds keep coming from Barcelona-based ambient-master Max Corbacho. The 73-minute “Echo of Longing” is another example of his great talent featuring three long tracks that immerse and embrace the listener into a myriad of introspective soundwaves of pastel-coloured splendour in just a few minutes.…
Release data: Sysselmann – Ritual of the Aurora Noir CD-EP, Winter-Light, 2019 Fall and wintertime are appropriate periods to listen, enjoy and immerse into dark ambient music. Well, Winter-Light brings us the dark realms of 32-minute Ep “Ritual Of The Aurora Noir”, Sysselmann’s third release to date (though his debut on the Dutch label). The haunting and gothic enter the stage…
Release data: Kelly David – Meditation in Green CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2019 “Meditation in Green” encapsulates the listener into a hypnotizing world of in-depth dream and drone spheres accompanied by a fine assortment of field recordings and percussion. Inspired by David’s personal exploration of various Khmer temples in Vietnam, the slow evolving immersive journey reveals a kaleidoscope of minimalist…
Release data: Mário Raposo – Humanization DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Mário Raposo is an independent electronic music composer hailing from the Azores. His work ranges from electronic/new age to neoclassical and film music but in recent times he’s been composing mostly melodic electronic-space music and ambient-new age. The concept album “Humanization”, roaming in the eletronic-progressive style, focuses on a futuristic…
Release data: Tonal Assembly – Lost and Found in Imaginary Landscapes CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 The musician behind Tonal Assembly is Dutchman Taede A. Smedes who I know as a frequent and enthusiast visitor of electronic music festivals. I didn’t know he also made music for various years that sees its official appearance as the album “Lost and Found in…
Release data: Matt Borghi & Loneward – The Still Guardian DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Mike Carss is known as an ambient artist who chooses to work on his own, which applies to almost all his recordings he made under the Altus-moniker. Now here’s the first collaborative effort he took on with musician Matt Borghi for the Loneward project painting an…
Release data: GROBEK – GROBEK I DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Grobek (a word without any meaning) is a project initiated by Jörg Erren and Christian Steffen (both know as one half of the fine German quartet EFSS). Same as on previous EFSS- occasions, they went to the Dutch coastal village Ouddorp, played analogue equipment only and relied fully on improvisation…
Release data: Ian Boddy & Erik Wøllo – Meridian CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2017 Contrary to “Frontiers”, the sonic journey of Ian Boddy and Erik Wøllo third collaborative effort “Meridian” is for those preferring slower evolving, denser and atmospheric electronics expanded with lyrical e-guitar additions. The overall 58-minute cinematic ambience -spread out over 11 tracks- passes through various emotive currents, gentle melodic lines along…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Elysian Fields CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TMB Soundworks, 2019 This recording was and is one of a few albums Thom Brennan finished but held off on releasing. The nine tracks on “Elysian Fields”, recorded mostly between 2015 and 2016, are what the composer likes to refer to as texture improvisations, meaning they were “lead” by the sound development.…
Release data: Matthew Florianz – Mass Object DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 Sketching out the realm of untouched, undiscovered matter and delving into deeper layers are just a few characteristics of the ambient music of Dutch composer Matthew Florianz. “Mass Object” offers a 49-minute cinematic journey into expansive cosmic space made up by strings of ominous, dark soundscapes merged with mysterious…
Release data: Planet of the Arps CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2019 “Planet of the Arps”, the seventh release on Deserted Island Music, is the first ambient side-project by Dutch synthesist Remy Stroomer that evolved in various stages since he drew its first aural sketches in July 2010. Spyra was asked to join a few months later but the project was…
Release data: Mathias Grassow & Michael Brückner – Polar Vortex CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DataBloem, 2019 “Polar Vortex” -a magical ambient journey created in 2017 and 2018 leading the listener from mystical regions of the north to realms beyond- is a 75-minute ambient canvas featuring various smooth sliding atmospheres and degrees of intensity while addressing introspective spaces as it unfolds. “The North” and…
Release data: Rudolf Heimann – Die Unendlichkeit des Augenblick CD, Spheric Music, 2019 This concept album by German composer Rudolf Heimann -of which the title translates as The Infinity of the Moment- features a mixture of Berlin School-angled synth music, symphonic-ish (score) elements along a slice of progrock surfacing occasionally in the contemporary instrumental music. The 68-minute result is accessible…
Release data: Craig Padilla – Patterns of Thought (Special Remastered Edition) MC/CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1998/2019 What I got here is a special remastered -20th anniversary- edition of Craig’s classic release from 1998 which was his last recording that came out on tape as a limited edition double cassette. Much of this music ended up being released on two cd-r’s in…
Release data: Toby Marks & Andrew Heath – Motion CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Disco Gecko Recordings, 2019 “Motion” -the first collaborative album by UK soundscape-artist Andrew Health and Toby Marks (better known as Banco de Gaia)- offers a 60-minute ambient journey of processed and transformed sounds leading into the endless unfolding and deeply meditative. The seed and theme came out of a series…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Polyphasic Music CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2019 There’s quite a bit of sleep-inducing music around in the ambient and electronic music genre, just think of Altus’ “Sleep Theory” –trilogy, James Johnson, Eno’s “Thursday Afternoon”, Robert Rich’s “Somnium” or the works of Liquid Mind. “Polyphasic Music” is a most calming and balanced 50-minute space to…
Release data: Lauge – Dawn DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Iboga Records, 2019 This is my third encounter with Henrik Laugesen’s down-tempo electronics, who decided to expand the sound of “Dawn” (that also features two collaborations with fellow Dane producer Feeding Spring, aka Morten A. Nielsen) with a hefty dose of smooth-pounding trance vibes. Slow, steady beats and deep bass lines merged with tasty…
Release data: James Johnson – Environment 2 (Music for The Working Space)(CUBE 1) CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AtmoWorks/Private Release, 2005 “Music for The Working Space” features one 60-minute track, a collage of slow evolving spheres, gentle textures and occasional piano keys along assorted environmental sounds. The latter enhance the mesmerizing, subdued, minimal impact of the created quietening ambience especially while the brief soft-soaring…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – Iceland DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Polar Magnetic Records, 2018 “Iceland” marks the first album released through Boreal Taiga’s own label Polar Magnet Recordings. It continues the composer’s journey through the splendour of white out conditions and remote, frozen landscapes while exploring each area of this exciting country simultaneously. The very nicely rendered textural ambient mixed with environments…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Soundgardens CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TMB Soundworks, 2017 “Soundgardens” was recorded between 2003 and 2005 and was intended originally to build on ideas Thom first explored on “Satori” as well as shorter tracks like “Radiant Ice” (the opening track on the album “Shimmer”). All four tracks, finally mastered in 2019 for this release, are longform, ethereal soundscape…
Release data: Australis – One of Ours CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Essential Noises, 2019 In the five years since his previous release “Adrift”, composer Oscar Aguayo (aka Australis) found he was particularly receptive to the underlying forces behind most of our acts and thoughts as humans. Some of them are emotions (love, hope, fear, anger, etc.), while others are facts (birth, life,…
Release data: Steve Roach – Bloom Ascension MC/LP/CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2019 Coined as a resplendent expression of elegant futurism, Steve Roach’s “Bloom Ascension” features four minimalist tracks of fractal, gentle spiraling analogue sequencer-driven electronics complemented by smooth yet elevating textural spheres. Being the first release conceptualized for lp since “Desert Solitaire” (1989), the 41-minute outcome proves captivating and vibrant energetic…
Release data: Rising Galaxy – Horizons in the Dark DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cosmic Leaf Records, 2019 Now here’s an ambient recording featuring music treading similar ground as Vangelis’ “Tegos Tapes” and “El Greco” or some of Roach’s intense soundworlds. It’s a nicely rendered 41-minute soundscape journey by the Greek Nikos Betsimeas, aka “Rising Galaxy”, who has a background as composer and…
Release data: Beyond Berlin – Totem CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 From this album on, Dutch EM-band Beyond Berlin has become a trio seeing Oscar van den Wijngaard joining Martin Peters and Rene de Bakker on their fine sonic journeys into vintage aural landscapes. Their 60-minute “Totem” is a melodic, sequencer-driven and emotive recording lacking almost any soloing. It embraces the…
Release data: Neraterrae – The Substance of Perception CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cyclic Law, 2019 Neraterrae is a dark ambient sonic adventure by Italian composer Alessio Antoni. On “The Substance of Perception” he collaborated with some various names in the genre, delivering a highly atmospheric, in-depth aural journey incorporating dense, alienating, melancholic (the masterful “The Wicked Pulse of Conscience” and “Echoing Scars”),…
Release data: Lambert – Dimensions of Dreams CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2019 Back in 1995 Lambert Ringlage released his successful third album “Dimensions of Dreams” that’s now available again as a remastered edition including one bonus track. It’s a highly accessible and positive sounding recording featuring ten contemporary melodic tracks incorporating jolly sequences and solo voices. It’s an uncomplicated affair…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – The Lower Lights LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Past inside the Present, 2019 The 10 tracks making up the 59-minute “The Lower Lights” were previously released digitally through 36’s Audio Diary on Patreon.com between April 2018 and April 2019, which has since been discontinued. For this release all music has been fully re-mixed and re-mastered from the original…
Release data: Kloob – Unpredictable Signs CD, Winter-Light, 2019 “Unpredictable Signs” is Kloob’s second album on Winter-Light and again an extensive journey into mesmerizing yet deep soundworlds and beyond. Compared to predecessor “Remarkable Events”, this sonic venture is characterized by more subtle, minimal evolving sets of meandering ambient textures, treated voice-pads and drone sculptures where darkness is imminent. Here strings of…
Release data: Johannes Schmoelling & Robert Waters – Zeit ∞? CD/DVD, Viktoriapark Records, 2019 Here’s a very nice live document I’m sure a whole bunch of EM-fans across the globe have been waiting for: the full concert (and more) Johannes Schmoelling and Robert Waters performed in November 2018 in Oirschot before a sold-out room, the same venue where Groove’s E-Day…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Another Time and Space CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TMB Soundworks, 2019 “Another Space and Time” is a collection derived from many hours of material recorded over the last two years up to the present time. The meticulously progressing and cosmic-angled travelogue offers four extended tracks crossing through spacious atmospheric realms in vein of Rudy Adrian along slight…
Release data: Char-El – Archives I DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 I got nice memories of my first encounter with the electronic music of self-taught synthesist Charles Thaxton, aka Char-El, who sadly passed away in March 2019. After over twenty-five years experience as a composer and keyboardist/synthesist in the progrock scene he decided to pursue a sort of space-voyage pathway around 1996…
Release data: Loneward – Home DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 One of the worst fears a musician may have is to (nearly) lose music still in the works or not yet released. This is what happened to Loneward’s second release “Home” where the majority of the music was nearly lost to a severe hard drive issue (the mainboard in the…
Release data: Jos D’Almeida – Aspheres CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, caPe Recordings, 2019 “Aspheres”, a concept album dealing with a period after mass extinction, is the third release by Portugese synthesist Jos D’Almeida who’s residing in Ireland since two years. The almost 80-minute/12-track outcome links to the previous album “Aether” but evokes far more drama as it unfolds intensely before the listeners…
Release data: Thom Brennan – The Path Not Taken (Full album) CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TMB Soundworks, 2019 Ambient aficionados may remember this release published as part of a 20-minute EP-CD series released by Amplexus back in 1994. Later on in 1997 it was included on the Projekt cd “Amplexus: Collected Works” from the 1995 Ltd Series” along with the music from…
Release data: Radiant Mind & Steve Roach – HelioSphere CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, SteveRoach.com, 2019 The first intent of Radiant Mind (commited to working in anonymity with Steve Roach as his sole producer and interface to the world) for this music has been a process of meditation and healing. He truly believes that with the right tonal and frequency’s in music this can…
Release data: Jorge Reyes – El Costumbre CD, Extreme, 2018 “El Costumbre” -realised in affinity with the customs of the Huichol Indians of Mexico- is an album featuring graceful yet subtle world ambient merging smooth soundscapes by Steve Roach with various native instruments played by Jorge Reyes and Juan Carlos along some guitar work by Mick Franke. The result is…
Release data: Thom Brennan – Imaginary Conquests CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TMB Soundworks, 2019 After a 10-year hiatus USA synthesist Thom Brennan re-enters the Em scene with three (actually four) new albums. One of them is “Imaginary Conquests” which was supposed to be a release of material recorded under that title before Brennan’s debut “Mountains”. The 71-minute velvet, pastel-coloured outcome was born and…
Release data: PERU – The Return CD, Private Release, 2018 With this album Dutch synth band PERU surfaces after approximately 25 years of absence. Their sonic odyssey now continues with Rob Papen and Ruud van Es leading the way using soft synths & assorted software technology only. “The Return” (of which initial recording sessions started in 2015) contains 10 accessible, versatile,…
Release data: Yagya – Stormur LP/CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2019 The heart and soul of Yagya’s “Stormur” is centered round a subtle flow of delicately molded tonal progressions in minimal techno-ambient featuring some occasional dubby sidesteps. It’s a groovy affair overall having an undeniable hypnotizing, trancy effect on the listener as the 10-part/60-minute journey with great deep bass lines…
Release data: Metroland – Mind the Gap CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Alfa Matrix, 2012 Now here’s a Belgian duo leading the sound of Kraftwerk into the modern age of electronic music composing a collection of simple sounding tracks with vocoder/robotic vocals, Kraftwerkian rhythms and field recordings. The outcome -created by Passenger A and Passenger S- though appears more complex and layered at closer…
Release data: Awenson – Hope CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2019 After a hiatus of several years, French synthesist Joël Bernard (aka Awenson) returns to the scene with “Hope”, a 67-minute album of cosmic electronic music with an undeniable “French” twist combined with Berlin School characteristics. The latter applies to the sequencers accompanying the occasional solo voices, warm synth pads and brief…
Release data: Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk – Passage LP/CD, Azure Vista Records, 2017 If I’m not mistaken “Passage” -which came to fruition out of a variety of musical motives and sketches by Jonas- is the second collaborative album by Ulrich Schnauss (synths and effects processing) and Danish musician Jonas Munk (guitar, synths, composition and structure). I’d say some of Jonas’…
Release data: Uwe Reckzeh – Surreal Dreams CD-r/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2018 The melodic, sequencer-driven Berlin School music with stronger ’80’s TD-characteristics found on “Virtual Minds” is prolonged on the “Surreal Dreams”. The nearly 76-minute album offers a transparent sound design where steady rhythms and beats lead the way as well as the catchy, soft soaring melodies on each of…
Release data: D’Voxx – Telegraph CD/Lp/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2019 Ian Boddy’s DiN label always had and still has a fine ear for alternative electronics and this debut release by D’Voxx – a live electronic music project by Paul Borg and Nino Auricchio- is no exception. On the 55-minute “Télégraph” the duo creates mellow, exciting sounding aural worlds and spherics of…
Release data: Jeffrey Koepper – Transmitter CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2017 The nearly 60-minute “Transmitter” contains Jeffrey Koepper’s set played live at Chuck Van Zyl’s WXPN’s Star’s End Radio show in June 2016. Using vintage analogues only, the result (featuring six new tracks along one track taken from the previous album “MantraSequent”) mixes percussive-driven stuff and pure ambient excursions wherein…
Release data: Arjen Schat – 一人Hitori DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2017 Being an avid fan of longform and calming soundscapes I surely like to recommend “Hitori” by Dutch synthesist Arjen Schat. It’s freeform, meditative and slow morphing textural music with subtly played electric piano parts great to escape the speed of life, traveling inward and exercise some soulsearching as the…
Release data: Robert Rich – Tactile Ground CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2019 Especially the previous four albums by Robert Rich have been demanding above average, sonically as well as thematically. Divided in two parts, “Location” and “Dislocation”, the first disc of the highly introspective double album “Tactile Ground” leads its listeners into a slow evolving, beautifully rendered inner place of…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Himavat CD/DIGITAL Download, Staalplaat, 1999 I’ve reviewed quite some (more recent) recordings by German drone-master Mathias Grassow, so here’s an older one from his back-catalogue. The cold, the dark and a distinct Tibetan feel are the intriguing ingredients making up the continuous, dense atmosphere of “Himavat”, King of the Himalayan mountains and snow. Mathias’ trusted…
Release data: Mike Griffin – Fabrications CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2008 As far as I know this album is the last solo recording by Hypnos owner, visual artist and minimalist sound sculptor Mike Griffin. This dark ambient work – the follow-up to his 1997-debut “Sudden Dark”- is actually a collage of environmental and location sounds captured with binaural microphones with results…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – C45 Dreamloops 1-2 MC/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3 Six Recordings, 2019 Here’s a new series launched by Dennis Huddleston, aka 36, focusing on loop-based tracks made especially for C45 cassette tapes containing two tunes 22:30 minutes in length. This debut plunges into quiet, morphing ambient soundscapes existing in their own sonic cocoon of time and space, an…
Release data: Pillion – Enigmas CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 1980/2019 Here’s one of those pinnacle releases of the past that never saw a cd-release after it came out in 1980. On this 54-minute live-recording, Walter Rothe and Guy Drieghe-D give their best in spacy, classic Berlin School style. Those familiar with the original vinyl recording will be amazed what stunning job…
Release data: ASC – Trans-Neptunian Objects 2 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Auxiliary, 2018 I only need a few lines for this recording, the final one in the series, which sees James Clements – aka ASC- pick up the sonic trail where the previous album left us. We continue our captivating journey into deep space and far beyond, entering spacious environs where the ethereal,…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Ars Lucis CD, ad21music, 2009 After the gentle ambience of his 2008-release “BreathStream”, Max Corbacho takes us to ambient heaven with his release “Ars Lucis”. Those familiar with his work know what he’s capable of, spending lots of time in his studio sculpturing and harmonizing a continuous flow of expansive textures, which now have ended…
Release data: Etherfysh – The Sundered Sky CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2019 After a lengthy hiatus of 17 years, Etherfysh –aka Chris Christou- returns to the electronic music scene with “The Sundered Sky”, a 5-track release recorded partially in 2007 (backing tracks to: “Sundered Sky”, “Nightsands” and “The Dying Earth”) and the summer/early autumn of 2018. It was originally intended…
Release data: Steve Roach – Electron Birth CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Timeroom Editions, 2018 It’s been a while since a dynamic, energetic as well as electrifying work of electronics by Steve Roach has seen the light of day. From the start the nearly 67-minute album track (created live in concert at the Galactic Center in 2018) propels the listener onwards, merging the…
Release data: Seetyca – Trances CD, Winter-Light, 2019 Here’s one for those who dig long, continuous strings of soundscapes as expansive, inspired and deep drone worlds are on the menu on Seetyca’s “Trances”, a kind of follow-up of “Zwischenwelten”. The 60-minute organic-spiced aural space is long and continuous flow of sound a blend of electronics, wind instruments and acoustic elements immersing…