Release data: Stefan Erbe – Genesys CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Erbe Music, 2017 With “Genesys” (subtitled: a journey of virtual spacedesign and artificial intelligence) German synthesist Stefan Erbe offers his listeners an album of fresh modern space music, contemporary melodic/rhythmic electronics inspired by and committed to a cosmic theme. The slower, more spherical tracks -mostly found in the first half- don’t stray…
Release data: Chuck Van Zyl – Recitals 2 CD, Synkronos Music, 2018 “Recitals 2”, following in the footsteps of the previous volume, features a selection of live pieces recorded at two late 2017 performances. As happened on the previous volume, Chuck again takes his own turn on the classic/teutonic Berlin School style of the ’70’s most notably the vintage works…
Release data: Free System Projekt & Terje Winther – Spoon Forest CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2018 At the start of the ‘70s Tangerine Dream created some impressive soundworlds and haunting atmospheres on “Phaedra” and “Rubycon”. A similar aural spirit is found on “Spoon Forest”, a 70-minute recording featuring three 20-minute tracks for which Marcel, Ruud and Terje each were in…
Release data: Steve Roach – Molecules of Motion CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2018 “Molecules of Music” sees Steve Roach venture into thoughtful, rather complex and minimal aural territory through a myriad of Berlin School-infused, carefully unfolding and evolving analogue lengthy pieces which the composer refers to as “meditations upon elegant motion and electro-sensual space”. Created on analog modular -big and…
Release data: MoonSatellite – Strange Music CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2018 While listening to the 65 minutes of music on this album (depicted by the composer as the culmination of “Dark Summer”) I wondered what’s actually “strange” about it as the aural footprint of Jarre’s first two albums is still shining true clearly. Or it might be -compared to Mr…
Release data: Vanderson – Sequenced Thoughts CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music, 2018 According the composer’s note in the booklet, this album is probably his last one containing classic electronic music. Can’t say I would feel bad about that as Maciej’s Berlin School-infused music hasn’t shown any progress or change for many years. This also goes for the featured four lengthy tracks…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Cosmic Ground IV CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2018 This is Cosmic Ground’s first release containing a couple of shorter compositions aside lengthier ones which sees Dirk Jan Müller explore the still intriguing electronic sound of the ’70s and beyond further. From the start it’s clear the 78-minute “IV” pulls the listener into intense, dense vintage…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Subsequence CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ambient Sound Projects, 2018 “Subsequence” was born out of the composer’s wish to do an album that was all sequencer composed tracks just to see if he could do it. This approach applies also to his previous record “Convergence”. So almost gone are the pure ambient textures (although they still linger in…
Release data: Ambiscend – Tranquility CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Imagineer Records, 2018 Ambiscend is composer Darren Rogers hailing from West Texas who started his own label Imagineer Records some 20 years ago to help promote new age and ambient music. As the title of this album already indicates, “Tranquility” is a work that helps to break break away from the high demands,…
Release data: Node – Node Live CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2018 The rare concert that three of the original members of Node assisted by distinguished Hollywood film composer and ambient music designer Mel Wesson gave at London’s Royal College of Music in 2015 offered the audience the unique opportunity to hear the interaction between the musicians happening in real time and…
Release data: [‘ramp] No sleep ’til wilmersdorf CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Doombient, 2018 “No sleep ‘til wilmersdorf” (the Berlin years 1978/79) is a 76-minute continuous aural travelogue through space and time seeing the composer remember and reflect upon his childhood spent in a village near Berlin. Besides the use of a vast range of analogue equipment, the 8-track outcome features profound mood…
Release data: Skoulaman – Next Step in Evolution CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2018 The progress I noted on Hans van Kroonenburg’s previous album “Andros Awakenings” has finally led to his first factory-pressed cd on a major Em-label: “Next Step in Evolution”. Next to a much more structured style and some hints of Vangelis, the Berlin School-based outcome is characterized by…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Nocturnes II CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silentsun, 2018 This second instalment of the “Nocturnes” trilogy reconnects seamlessly to the deep, gentle and intimate atmospherics of the first album delivering 70 minutes of mesmerizing night (at times even tactile) ambiences incorporating various mysterious, dreamful and visceral aural currents. The strong 20-minute “Celistia” kicking off the 70-minute album already…
Release data: Robert Rich – The Biode CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Soundscape Productions, 2018 Coined by the composer as a surrealist electronic journey through the microbiome, “The Biode” -featuring heavy use of modular synths and the Haken Continuum- harkens back to Robert’s 2001 album “Bestiary”. The two opening tracks are in- your-face abstract-experimental and pretty hard to digest. Fortunately the outcome becomes…
Release data: Erren – Fleissig – Schöttler – Steffen – Tidal Shift CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2018 “Tidal Shift” by the German quartet Jörg Erren, Bert Fleißig, Jochen Schöttler and Christian Steffen appears a four year hiatus. As was the case with their previous releases the outcome was realized during a week of happy jamming and improvising in a holiday…
Release data: Wavestar II – Nightwinds CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2018 Wavestar II sees John Dyson accompanied by accomplished composers and studio-technicians Paul Ward and Stephen Whitlan continuing the sonic quest where Wavestar left us many years ago. “Nightwinds” contains 78 minutes of warm, melodic and accessible electronic music John Dyson had been working on for long (but never was…
Release data: Steen Chorchendorff Jorgensen – Internal Moments CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 Steen Chorchendorff Jørgensen, hailing from Denmark, hereby presents 13 tracks of melodic chill-out mood music evaporating a slight resemblance with Tangerine Dream’s “Exit” in the two-part opening track “Mind Journey”, venturing into relaxed ambient-electronic dance after that. Despite the well-meant intentions and efforts, the 58-minute outcome isn’t…
Release data: Patrick Kosmos – Monument CD/Digital Download, Groove Unlimited, 2018 “Monument”, part of the private-released “Chronicles” cd-r box set, sure will jog the memory and stir the appetite of Em-fans around the world, especially those in Europe who were able to see Belgium synthesist Patrick Kosmos (aka Patrick Wille De Wael) live in action in the ’80s and ’90s…
Release data: Jeff Greinke – Before Sunrise CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2018 When it comes to the works of Arizona-based musician, composer, performer, sound sculptor and visual artist Jeff Greinke, music and creative process have always been inspired by his personal visual, aural, and sensual (particularly meteorological) experiences of the world around him. The abstract, emotive-charged and desolate aural…
Release data: Seifert & Steinbüchel – The CERN Concert DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Pleasure Sound Music, 2017 It’s not too farfetched to hear similarities of Schiller, Jarre, modern TD and some Ultimae-artists in Seifert & Steinbüchel’s straightforward, tight and high-tech electronics making up this release. “The CERN Concert”, a 60-minute live recording from 2010, offers some previously unreleased special remixes from their…
Release data: Wanderwelle – Lost in a sea of trees LP/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silent Season, 2017 Imagine a lone traveler entering a dark, ancient forest, being lured deep into the woods by something not of this world as he enters uncharted grounds. Step by step his journey is getting darker as he encounters strange phenomena and beings among the trees. This…
Release data: Chihei Hatakeyama – Heavy Snow CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, White Paddy Mountain, 2017 “Heavy Snow” is a tranquil, serene and ethereal soundscape recording by Japanese artist Chihei Hatakeyama. It captures the timeless atmosphere of deep winter and its white expanse. The textures on the five tracks evolve in a dreamy, slow-minimalist fashion with an occasional sparkle or drift of warm…
Release data: Bernd Kistenmacher – Disintegration CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, MIRecords, 2017 The last two decades quite a few EM albums have seen the light of day concerning global environmental problems, the dangers of nuclear power and the ongoing destruction of nature caused by humans. German synthesist Bernd Kistenmacher added his first two cents already with his 2014-album “Paradise” and now with…
Release data: Numina – The Chroma Plateau CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2018 Numina’s “The Chroma Plateau” required a long-term recording process, taking US-composer Jesse Sola about two years to work on. Because of this lengthy process, there are a lot of mixed moments of inspiration, influence and emotion. As there is no particular theme or concept behind the music,…
Release data: Jeff Pearce –From the Darker Seasons CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2017 Slow, deeper ambient worlds, ethereal synth beds and guitar-based atmospheric spacemusic with a highly emotive thread have graced the works of Jeff Pearce until now. “From the Darker Seasons”, celebrating the hidden beauty in the slow fading of autumn and in the blanketed landscapes of winter, features…
Release data: Kloob – Remarkable Events CD, Winter-Light, 2018 The origin of “Remarkable Events” happened in April 2016 as Barcelona-based synthesist Daniel Ferreira, aka Kloob, planned to assemble a mix of tracks in the same vein as featured on “Solid Foundations”. This time though he wanted things traveling deeper and sounding more intimate while taking full advantage from the ins…
Release data: As Lonely as Dave Bowman – Monolith CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt, 2015 Now here’s a project fully inspired by and related to the cinematic art of Stanley Kubrick. Being named after the astronaut in Kubrick’s “2001, A Space Odyssey”, “Monolith” is also the fully electronic concept album by Sam Rosenthal providing a soundtrack for the final four months of…
Release data: Annemarie Borg – In Nomine Tellus CD, Gterma, 2018 The cover of this 6-panel superfile release is graced by a beautiful panorama pic of the Alaska Range. “In Nomine Tellus”, the second album of a trilogy dedicated to our world by environmentalist/composer/writer/ visual artist Annemarie Borg, follows “In Nomine Cetus” (2014) and precedes “In Nomine Stellae” (scheduled for…
Release data: Kurtz Mindfields & Taj Mahal – Analogic Touch CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Electrik Dream, 2017 Subtitled “From Berlin School to Ambient Electronica”, this release by Kurtz Mindfields (aka Jean-Luc Briançon) and TajMahal (aka Stephane Gallay) looks like a fun project for which various friends (such as Robert Rich, Jean-Michel Zanetti and Oliver Grall) were invited as well. Most of all…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Light and Shadows CD, Lunisolar Records, 2017 “Light and Shadows”, released on December 6, 2017, is the first double album by accomplished Japanese synthesist Jutaro Takahashi. Jutaro’s 12th release comprises six extended ambient soundscapes, two new tracks (“Tangerine Blue”, “Deeper Skies”) and four others that were featured previously on txt recordings’ Nagual collections. Well, Mr…
Release data: Hemisphere – Now CD, Groove Unlimited, 2001 Accessible, adventurous, darker and slightly unsettling moods all pass by on Ralph Knappe-Heinbockel’s and Thorsten Reinhardt’s fifth album “Now” that -compared to the previous albums- also sounds more contemporary. Besides the groovy-oriented, rhythmic-infused electronics on “Red” and “Black”, also vintage 70’s electronics with slight melodic flavors can be found here as…
Release data: Ascendant – Particle Horizon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2017 “Particle Horizon”, the final chapter of Ascendant’s “Source”-trilogy is of particular interest for aficionadosof for faster-paced ‘80s TD-sequencing paired with a captivating, fresh sound design and cracking engineering. I can’t find the proper words to describe the album’s music any further, but I for one think it hard to…
Release data: Forrest Fang – Scenes from a Ghost Train CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Project Records, 2018 Until now, the electronic creations by most talented multi-instrumentalist Forrest Fang have proved a surrealist blend of processed ethnic instruments and minimalist, ambient soundscapes. “Scenes from a Ghost Train” finds its inspiration in the phantom train of urban folklore that appears and disappears without a…
Release data: Michael Neil – In the Stillness of Winter DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2018 “In the Stillness of Winter” is a related work to Michael Neil’s 1999 album “Ikons” in that it again takes Walter Leslie Wilmshurst’s poem “Nox Nivosa” as a source of inspiration. Other inspiration came from canvases made by Michael’s partner Emily, painter of various winter…
Release data: Airwaves – Biomechanical CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Carpe Sonum Records, 2001/2018 Here’s an invitation for a trip out of the ordinary. “Biomechanical” is an archival recording from deceased Mexican synthesist Oscar Menzel, probably composed between 1999 and 2001. The sparkling, crystalline sounding 60-minute/9-track outcome created with analogue equipment only offers a contemporary sounding trip taking the listener into a world…
Release data: Liquid Mind – XII: Peace CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Real Music, 2018 “Peace” is an album for fans of electronic New Age music. It sees a continuation of the very smooth, serene-floating velvet soundscape music found on Liquid Mind’s previous releases. Its concept is to enable conflict resolution through music using a step-by-step where each title of the eight tracks…
Release data: John Vorus – Foot of the Crow DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ambient Distillery, 2017 “Foot of the Crow”, released over 10 years after his fascinating debut “Transmuting Currents”, is a work of organic-rooted, electro-acoustic, cinematic and dark-tribal ambient assembled of modular analogue drones, nocturnally sourced field recordings, tribal drum machines, didgeridoo and processed vocals along the use of reverb heavy…
Release data: Siddhartha Barnhoorn – Pillars of Light DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2011 At the time I got in touch with and discovered Siddaharta’s album “Structures of Light”, the composer also send me “Pillars of Light” from 2011. The latter is a spacious deep ambient drift in its own right featuring a 34-minute mysterious-atmospheric ambience with captivating currents of tension…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Livescapes_5 Church of ambient sound DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ambient Sound Projects, 2017 “Livescapes_5” features a 63-minute soundscape created for the Church of Sound Ambient music events in Nottingham September and October 2016, comprising live performance and live studio session recordings by Peter Challoner. The most tranquil outcome is an introspective and gradually evolving tapestry of textural…
Release data: Ambient Joy – Always hold the Light CD, Groove Unlimited, 2017 I can’t deny Ambient Joy’s debut album, a collaboration of German artists Dagmar Hoffman (aka Klaus Hoffman-Hoock’s ex-wife Dagi Daydream) and Harald Nies, appears a different and unusual release on Groove Unlimited. ”Always hold the Light“ features 56-minutes of ambient rock music with lyrics, moodscapes and a…
Release data: Johan Tronestam – Space Collection CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, TeamQuasar, 2017 “Space Collection” (mastered by Johan –Venja- Geens) features 10 accessible tracks of gentle pulsating sequences and lush melodic music with a strong cosmic vibe. Stylistically, quite some pieces carry hints of the solid work of Pyramid Peak along some of Rolf Trostel’s early music, while “A Ninth Member” reveals…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Echoes in the Vacuum CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2017 With “Echoes in the Vacuum”, Alpha Wave Movement’s music takes a turn offering seven shorter compositions of cyclic-rhythmic, melodic, lighter-flavored and accessible electronic mood music. Not only does a dance beat fly by on opener “Herzschlag des Universums”, the album’s overall sphere is mellower…
Release data: Sigma – Worlds within Worlds DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2017 Welcome to another Sigma-recording of ambient electronics with a stark edge for which only self-built electronic instruments were applied. On “Worlds within Worlds” it involves a Moog Prodigy synthesizer clone, TTSH-2600 synthesizer (a clone of the famous ARP 2600) and the Electronic Music Box (EMB), which is not…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Further Rooms DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, A Strangely Isolated Place, 2016 What I got here is a hidden album offered initially to every customer who bought a vinyl copy of 36’s “The Infinity Room” which contained an URL plus password etched in to the runout. The 26-minute “Further Rooms” offers another six fine crafted ambient tracks (“Room…
Release data: Simon Lomax – A Strange Light CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Council of Nine, 2017 Simon’s intention for “A Strange Light” was a sonic exploration of the different forms and meanings of light. Well, the album’s eight compositions are vaporous, ethereal and freeform ambient drifts featuring strong emotive (under)currents and occasional senses of yearning. This is expressed most generously through the…
Release data: Red Planet Orchestra – DNA DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Path of Action Productions, 2017 According the liner notes “DNA” features the full score soundtrack for a previously unreleased horror thriller that has been much sought after by collectors in the past, also including music composed for the film but not included in the final cut. This time around the output…
Release data: Colin Rayment – Architects of Orion CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Syngate Records, 2017 The inspiration behind “Architects of Orion” came from time Colin Rayment spent stargazing deep in the British countryside of Lincolnshire, a rural area with little light pollution and amazingly clear night skies. It’s situated very close to where astronomer Isaac Newton was born and grew up. After…
Release data: Akikaze – Solstice CD, Spheric Music, 2017 With Pepijn Courant’s “Solstice” (composed on the occasion of E-Live 2015 festival), German label Spheric Music has added an album fitting their catalogue. The release offers nearly 80 minutes of fresh sounding, sequencer-spiced and melodic instrumental music with additional percussion and very tasteful acoustic guitar at places. “Jacob’s Ladders” makes a…
Release data: Three-Six (36) – Black Soma CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, 3Six Recordings, 2017 A strong sense of the eternal, vast open spaces along a profound emotive current of longing and melancholy are found at the heart of Dennis Huddleston’s velvet ambient project “Black Soma”. The eight tracks set out on a lush, gentle-melodic drift of ethereal, cosmic-infused and minimal-oriented textures calming…
Release data: Remy – The Return of Planet X CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2017 The outcome heard on “The Return of Planet X” was staged live in concert at a one-off event organised by Remy Stroomer and Ron Boots in May 2012 in the Grote of St.Bavokerk in Haarlem. “Part 2 –Movement VI” also included here was already released…
Release data: Bridge to Imla – The Radiant Sea CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Winter-Light Records, 2017 Bridge to Imla is a project by the German duo Michael Brückner and Hans-Dieter Schmidt who started collaborating occasionally since 2012. At first glance exploration and discovery seem central themes throughout the deep ambient trip making up “The Radiant Sea”. The origins of the latter hail…
Release data: Gert Emmens – Stories from Floating Worlds Vol. 1: The Turbulent Years CD, Groove Unlimited, 2017 Already having a successful back catalogue of solo and collaborative releases, accomplished synthesist Gert Emmens hereby brings us the first chapter of the 2-volume sonic narrative “Stories from Floating Worlds”. During the creative process of shaping the four lengthy tracks, Gert applied…
Release data: Beyond Berlin – Fine Tunes CD, Groove Unlimited, 2017 “Fine Tunes” is the first factory-pressed release of Martin Peters and Rene de Bakker (aka Beyond Berlin) based on musical sketches mapped out during a jam session in November 2016. Both synthesists love vintage Berlin School music, a style also executed with a crisp sound on this almost 73-minute…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Source of Present CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Silentsun, 2017 Being a long time ambient fan myself I’ve reviewed quite a bit of music fitting the bill to slow down the mind and detach from busy modern life, offering a doorway to tranquil spheres for contemplation and introspection. The sphere paintings created by Spanish composer Max Corbacho in…
Release data: ASC – Trans-Neptunian Objects DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Auxiliary, 2017 “Trans-Neptunian Objects”, refering to dwarf planets and asteroids that lay beyond the planet Neptune, is a 73-minute ambient recording of smooth resonating deep space explorations. Sonically it extends on the world of expansive, gentle drifting cosmic waves that made up ASC’s previous album “No Stars without Darkness” though floating off…
Release data: Phobos – Approaching Dark Space CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2017 Those familiar with Phobos well-crafted dark ambient will find out David Thompson stepped a bit further into the darker side on “Approaching Dark Space”. Simultaneously (and contrary to his previous albums) this voyage into the far reaches of outer space and beyond implements a slice of melody creeping…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Lost & Found CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad 21 Music, 2017 “Lost & Found”, a 5-track/36-minute release with neo-classical piano music, throws new light on some past gems that were buried and lost in other collections but rediscovered in recent times. The whole process has been done in such a way as to inspire the idea of…
Release data: MoonSatellite – Dark Summer CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2017 It may just be me but I can’t say the gloomy, dark mood shown on the album’s cover matches with the accessible outcome of MoonSatellite’s 64-minute “Dark Summer” , described by the composer as a transitory album between “‘Sessions’” and his future works. The release contains eight variations still…
Release data: Altus – Winter Embrace (15th Anniversary edition) CD, Private Release, 2017 What I got here is the first factory-pressed cd from Canadian sound artist Mike Carss, aka Altus. It’s the definitive 62-minute version of the orchestral-electronic release originally composed in 2002 which influenced future Altus albums such as “Black Trees Among Amber Skies” (2010) and “The Sidereal Cycle…
Release data: Vanderson – Beyond Time Structure CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2017 Vanderson’s previous album “Vandisphere” sounded quite disappointing to my ears so it is good composer Maciej Wierzchowski is back with the consistent “Beyond Time Structure”. The latter contains a 64-minute mix of exciting, fresh, spacious and driving contemporary electronics moving and shifting easily between Schiller, Jarre, label-owner Moonbooter,…