Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – Signs CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 I think it always great and exciting to see people step out of the ordinary and do something different. The latter applies to “Signs” (a concept album inspired by large radio telescopes) by the Dutch duo Gert Emmens and Ruud Heij, who decided to do a…
Release data: Altus – Excursion Three DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Earth Mantra , 2014 This recording, originally planned for release in 2011, marks the final chapter in Mike Carss fine “Excursion”-series. “Excursion Three” contains three sonic journeys with lush, melodic, slowly moving yet progressive-flavored electronic music. The free form, pastel-colored sonic landscape laid out here complements the previous recordings beautifully, painting velvet…
Release data: The Roswell Incident – Escape CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 The 56-minute “Escape” (the closing section of the duos trilogy) was recorded live in concert at the Belgium B-Wave Festival in December 2013. The album starts out in a moody ambient fashion, continuing the beautiful sonic narrative nicely as found on the previous recordings “The Crash” and “Hunted”,…
Release data: Geoffrey Downes – The Light Program LP/CD, Geffen Records , 1986 Being a fan of quite some symphonic/rock music as well, I thought it a good idea to reflect a bit on this album, which the composer released as The New Dance Orchestra. “The Light Program” (this title actually pays homage to early radio days in Mr Downes…
Release data: Pillion – Centillion CD, Groove Unlimited, 2014 In 2010, I already wrote a review of a digital download-only album by almost the same name (“Centillion 303”) which was released by Walter Christian Rothe & Friends. At that time, I already knew the music on that album was composed in 2008 and featured a concept composition in various parts,…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Hidden Path CD, Groove Unlimited, 2014 I for one think it great to see a Cánovas-album again as a factory-pressed cd after a large list of digital-download only and cd-r releases. On this 70-minute/six track newbie, Mr Cánovas doesn’t stray far from his trademark of classic, sequencer-driven music, though here sticking to rather concise pieces…
Release data: The Cosmic Arc – Feed your Head DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 “Feed your Head” is an electronic krautrock release by Munich-based German composer Tibor Fredmann, who goes by the name The Cosmic Arc. The trippy outcome is a peculiar melange of cosmic and psychedelic space music inspired by the pioneers of German electronic music, applying a kaleidoscope…
Release data: Michel Genest – Crystal Fantasy LP/CD, Sona Gaia Productions, 1984 “Crystal Fantasy” is the first album by French-born musician Michel Genest (but living in the USA now), labelled as visionary synthesizer music. The 45-minute outcome is overall soothing, magical and relaxing while being graced with warm textures, Kitaro-esque sequencing and solo leads. Similar to the Japanese composer, Michel…
Release data: Simon Slator – Piano in the Rain DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Webbed Hand Records, 2014 “Piano in the Rain” is a long form piece based on a composition of the same name which the Simon Slator (known previously as Cold Sun) made almost ten years before. It’s been transformed from a 7-minute New Age piece, into a euphoric 48-minute ambient…
Release data: Gandalf – To Another Horizon LP/CD, WEA Records, 1982 For the music on the 48-minute release “To Another Horizon”, Heinz Strobl has assembled a fine selection of skilled musicians (on bass, drums, flute and grand piano/organ) to accompany him on this fantastic journey through imaginary landscapes. Gandalf himself still plays a rich set of instruments, most notably the…
Release data: Evan Marc – Emotional Ecology CD, Psybooty Records, 2007 “Emotional Ecology” is the debut by Evan Bartholomew using the Evan Marc moniker for this tech-house recording of melodic dub Its goal is to bring a sense of the sacred to the people on the dance floor, to let themselves go and experience magic through movement along a certain…
Release data: Green Isac – Passengers CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music , 2014 “Passengers” is the long-awaited ethno-electronic sound world release by the Norwegian band Green Isac, aka multi-instrumentalist Morten Lund and percussionist Andreas Eriksen, seeing the light of day after over a ten year hiatus. The album itself is in fact a completely realized triptych, as it combines three…
Release data: Pete Namlook & Tetsu Inoue – Shades of Orion CD, Fax, 1993 “Shades of Orion” (which would see another two volumes) may be a good starting point when you’re in the mood of some trippy ambient electronics. The 24-minute cosmic outing “Biotrip” offers long sliding soundscapes, beats and throbbing effects, all executed in a groovy/trancy and overall minimal…
Release data: Ulrich Schnauss – A Strangely Isolated Place CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, City Centre Offices/Domino, 2003 This album is the follow-up to Ulrich’s excellent “Far Away Trains Passing By”. It’s a release with a bittersweat current of melancholy sweeping between the notes and some very nicely executed danceable moves. “Gone Forever”, “Monday Paracetamol” or “Blumenthal” are just a few cues of…
Release data: RON BOOTS Derby! CD, Groove Unlimited, 2009 “Dharma Rain” further extends on the already impressive journey through sensuous ambient music started on the previous three Chronotope Project releases. Although not as lengthy as the previous ones, the three track/38-minute “Dharma Rain” features a myriad of highly emotive music reflecting elements from Buddhist teachings, physics and cosmology seamlessly. Moreover,…
Release data: Terra Sancta – Exile CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Malignant Records, 2014 Terra Sancta is the alias of Australian dark ambient Greg Wood, who hereby delivers his second full-length album on Malignant Records after an eight year hiatus. The 58-minute freeform outcome is a constellation of massive, sweeping soundscape drones paired with windswept textures that paint a vast horizon of intense…
Release data: Under the Dome – Dome Roots Collection CD-R, Cochlear Vision Records, 2003 This special cd contains eight tracks of which five have already been released on the limited edition UTD cd-r “The Earth”. The focal point on this album –like on previous cds- is the output of the Roland M100, so sound wise you’re automatically entering Redshift territory…
Release data: Robert Rich – Gaudi CD, Hearts of Space Records, 1991 This album is inspired by and a tribute to the magnificent and awe-inspiring architecture of Antonio Gaudí. Moreover, it gives a spacious voice to its organic, mathematical and life affirming architecture which conceals a subtle geometry. Using synths, woodwinds, and mallet percussion, the composer has fabricated a kaleidoscope…
Release data: Various Artists – Passages CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2014 With the futuristic sounding “Passages”, the French Ultimae-label adds a new chapter to their existing list of tasty and well-sorted out compilations. It’s the third compiled by Nova, aka Massimo Terranova, offering an elegant evolving inner trip through a spacious and rich flavored ambient world of glitch, minimal dub…
Release data: Far East Family Band – Parallel World LP/CD, Nippon Columbia, 1976 In the discography of this band, “Parallel World” is exceptional album, not only as Masanori Takahashi (aka Kitaro) was part of this psychedelic/prog band, but also due to involvement of Klaus Schulze as producer and mixer of the whole release. There are lots of fine Moog sounds…
Release data: Tangerine Dream – Quinoa CD-EP, VOLT Records, 1992 “Quinoa” is a 28-minute Ep by Tangerine Dream that initially came out in 1992 on VOLT Records as a limited edition of 1000 copies issued by the TD International Fan Club. The transitional release contains one continuous piece featuring previously unreleased material by Edgar and Jerome Froese. Although the melodic…
Release data: Under the Dome – Bellerophon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neu Harmony, 2002 It would take four years after their stellar debut “The Demon Haunted World” before Under the Dome’s launched their second studio-album “Bellerophon” (Electronic Tonalities). The latter, launched on UK’s Hampshire Jam II, presents 55 minutes of (further matured) new and tasty EM-goodies inspired by ’70 Berliner School cosmic…
Release data: Bertrand Loreau – Spiral Lights CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spheric Music , 2014 The music compiled on “Spiral Lights” reflects on the so-called “Sequences” compositions which Bertrand Loreau used as musical background during live performances. Sonically, the eights nostalgic and analogue sounding tracks shine a news light as they have been carefully re-worked, a process in which new melodic lines,…
Release data: Christopher Franke – Klemania CD, Sonic Images, 1993 All those that experienced a huge disappointment after hearing the soothing, new-age musings on Franke first solo-album “Pacific Coast Highway” can rest assured on what’s on “Klemania”. On the latter, Christopher returns to traditional electronic music in TD-style, offering some powerful synth-textures and tantalizing sequencer patterns already kicking in fiercely…
Release data: The Gateless Gate – Near North DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 The sonic travelogue “Near North” is a 70-minute release by Ontario-based composers Allister Thompson and Teri-Lynn Janveau. The goal of the narrative music is to sonically express the beauty of the wilderness, people and fauna found in Central and Northern Ontario, Canada. Don’t judge the album only…
Release data: Robert Rich & Alio Die – Fissures CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1997 The sonic content captured on “Fissures” is a doorway to an inner world filled with mesmerizing, at times even dreamful textural soundscapes and acoustic instruments pictured before an overall melancholic backdrop dressed with intriguing samples and many nice, intense “perceptual cracks”. On “Fissures”, Stefano Musso (aka…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Archaic Frontiers CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2014 The cover of this album depicts a similar environment and sphere as the one Chad Kettering used for his last release. But when it comes down to music, the outcome clearly reveals the fine musicianship all fans of Alpha Wave Movement have accustomed to since quite…
Release data: Ian Boddy & Erik Wøllo – EC12 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2014 “EC12” is a download-only release containing the music played live at the Electronic Circus festival in the autumn of 2012. The album though starts out with three tracks containing all new material (30 minutes in total) fitting in similar sound design as encountered on the duos fine…
Release data: Vangelis – Antarctica OST LP/CD, Polydor , 1983 An impressive and emotive sonic painting of vast landscapes of snow and ice, that’s what found on the Vangelis recording “Antarctica”. The latter is the 45-minute soundtrack to the 1983 Japanese film “Antarctica” (“Nankyoku Monogatari”) by Koreyoshi Kurahara, on which the Greek composer offers symphonic and lyrical music mixed with…
Release data: Amethystium – Transcience DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ramfjord Music, 2014 One of the first things that become clear on “Transience” is the melodic outcome sounds less electronic, as it made a sure shift into the neo-classical realm. The album contains 11 tracks of feel-good instrumental music still clinging to the lyrical and enchanting while spreading a positive, emotive aura as…
Release data: Gandalf – Journey to an Imaginary Land LP/CD, WEA Records, 1980 Here’s another journey down memory lane. “Journey to an Imaginary Land” is the fine instrumental debut by Austrian multi-instrumentalist Heinz Strobl (aka Gandalf) that would kick-off a whole series of dreamy and fantasy-inspired releases. As a person, Mr Strobl has been very interested in philosophy and different…
Release data: Richard Bone – Vertical Life CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Quirkwork Laboratories, 2014 Every album of Richard Bone is an adventure into new, ambient aural and out of the ordinary sound worlds and composing styles. “Vertical Life”, melodic surreal ambience for contemplation and flying carpets, is no exception. The ten tracks of sonic ambience incorporate rhythmic, groovy, exotic and introspective/meditative elements,…
Release data: Cell – Live at Kumharas – Ibiza DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2007 This album contains a dj-set which Lyon-based Cell (aka Alex Scheffer) performed during sunset in Ibiza’s chill-out bar/restaurant Kumharas. On the occasion, he presented improvised and remixed versions of some of his best tracks, weaving a most pleasant and relaxed sound current of floating (down-tempo) atmospheres…
Release data: Ethernet – Tanuki Dreams CD, Gterma, 2014 Ethernet is a project by Portland-based sound designer Tim Gray. Most of the hypnotizing, atmospheric and spacious outcome of “Tanuki Dreams” has been collected from the best tracks that appeared previously on several EP’s released through Bandcamp, plus a track done for a compilation (the dub-ish “Kamo River”) and a previously…
Release data: Dan Pound – Eros Thanatos CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 The ambient sonic art displayed on Eros has maintained the improvements already notable on Dan’s previous album “Spherical”. According the press-info, the outcome on “Eros Thanatos” is based mostly on guitar soundscapes effects, complemented by analogue and digital synths, while applying deep layers of reverb in the whole…
Release data: Karl Bartos – Communication CD, Home Records, 2003 “Communication” is the debut solo album under his own name by ex. Kraftwerk-member Karl Bartos, although he released several albums using the moniker Elektric Music previously. Sonically, the synth-pop of “Communication” fits in the same framework as we know from Kraftwerk’s best period by presenting the same kind of underlying…
Release data: Urenga – Mantha DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Retrospective Zoology, 2013 “Mantha” consists of two dub-ambient tracks of 12 and 14 minutes each, complemented by two remixes of the title track by German musician Adam Kroll and Columbia’s Coppice Halifax. Here, Hungarian composer Andras Kiss, aka Urenga, presents some vibrant but minimal-oriented electronics inspired by underwater sea life. The latter…
Release data: Steve Roach – Structures from Silence (30th Anniversary 3-CD) CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2014 Like the Roach-album “Quiet Music”, “Structures from Silence” is a classic for any listener who wants to submerge in a world of synthetic velvet waves and meditative textures. Fans though might recall Projekt Records already re-released the original album in remastered form in 2001…
Release data: The Lab – Analysis Paralysis DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Ten years after their debut album, the Spanish project The Lab (aka Miguel Lázaro & José Corredera) returns with the download-only “Analysis Paralysis”, an autobiographical 4-track EP putting an end to the duo’s hibernation artistically. Most of all, it has led to a different approach. “Analysis Paralysis” contains…
Release data: Roger Eno – Between Tides LP/CD, Opal Records, 1988 The intimate moods found on Roger´s excellent debut “Voices” are continued on “Between Tides”, though it musically connects to contemporary chamber music simultaneously. While having Michael Brook producing the full record, the composer made it a collection of sparse, piano-only tracks (such as the title piece) along classical, more…
Release data: John Lyell – Reflection of Time CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 The fact that Minneapolis-based composer John Lyell has decided to devote more time to write and record ambient music has led to a rather quick follow-up to his fine 2012-album “Eternity”. “Reflection of Time”, his third solo-release to date, is another nicely rendered album of cosmic space…
Robert Fox – The Fire and the Rose CD/Digital Download, Fx Music, 1992 “The Fire and the Rose” is the second official album by Robert Fox, and a great follow-up to his highly acclaimed debut “Asfafa”. It’s a special album is many aspects, sonically and thematically, as it followed in the same year when the composer experienced a period of…
Release data: Cosmic Ground – Cosmic Ground CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2014 With the project Cosmic Ground, German synthesist Dirk Jan Müller decided to return to the origin of pure electronic music like he’d done in the early ’90s. In the previous 22 years, he had been a member of the psychedelic/krautrock band Electric Orange, where vintage gear and assorted…
Release data: Sylvain Carel – Time and Tide CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2014 With his second album “Time and Time”, Sylvain Carel again integrates a whole range of exotic/ethnic flavors in his synthesized, lush orchestrated music. This time though, his instrumental musings didn’t touch me as much as his debut. I think the use of violin and some flutes doesn’t…
Release data: Under the Dome – The Demon Haunted World CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neu Harmony Records, 1998 UK-project Under the Dome is the brainchild of synthesist Grant Middleton, assisted by Colin Anderson on guitar and effects. The four tracks on their debut “The Demon Haunted World” (a title taken from a Carl Sagan book about debunking the paranormal world) is influenced…
Release data: Faber – Pictures CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2013 Faber, aka German synthesist Ronald Schmidt, is one of the composers of Bernd Scholl’s Mellowjet label, whose music I haven’t been able to investigate until now. “Pictures”, his third release to date, offers nine instrumental offerings inspired by pictures of his personal past life. Already on the first track it…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo – Clar0scuro CD, AD21 Music, 2014 Since quite some years, the piano has played an important part in the music of composer Bruno Sanfilippo. On “Clar0scuro”, he takes the next step in contemporary instrumental chamberrmusic, on which a violin-player and a violincelloplayer join him on a few tracks as Bruno once again returns to the mesmerizing…
Release data: Castleview – Artifacts DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 “Artifacts”, a compilation-release by South Louisiana-based composer Castleview, takes its listener on a quiet ambient trip where morphing and dense drone-spheres in a minimal fashion rule quite a bit. In addition, an experimental/abstract approach to the matter also becomes clear from the start, with an emphasis on an edgy (at…
Release data: Kitaro – Oasis CD, Pony Canon/Polydor/Domo Records, 1979 I’ve never been an avid Kitaro-fan, but have been quite fond of the releases Japanese composer Masanori Takahashi made at the end of the ‘70’s, “Oasis” being one of them. The biggest part of the album is a quiet, dreamy and harmonic sound painting with lots of Eastern flavors (bells,…
Release data: Matthew Florianz – Sprook DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2002/2013 “Sprook” is an early concept recording by composer Matthew Florianz. It presents a cinematic work of sonic art while merging the dark, dense and the abstract. Its fictional storyline describes a land without light and ruled by an entity of darkness, arrogantly allowing the thought of light to seep…
Release data: Pascal Languirand – De Harmonia Universalia LP, Minos/Polydor, 1980 I personally feel “De Harmonia Universalia” is still the best album by Canadian/French composer Pascal Languirand before he would be drawn into New Age territory and wrapped-up in the world of digital gear in the ’90’s. The spiritual-infused music contained on this release is one of atmospheric and vibrant…
Release data: Djen Ajakan Shean – Crows Heading For Point Blank CD-SINGLE, Amplexus, 1995 Djen Ajakan Shean is the pseudonym of a Belgium artist who contributed to the album “Parallel Flaming” of vidnaObmana (aka Dirk Serries), but who fell off the radar not long after release of this cd-single. I remember Mr Serries once saying he joined a community of…
Release data: Roger Eno – Voices CD, EG Records, 1985 “Voices” is an album containing 40 minutes of moody, intimate and delicate piano miniatures marking the debut by the brother of ambient pioneer Brian Eno. The latter though helped out on atmospheric treatments of the emotive pieces while Daniel Lanois was in charge of the albums production. Daniel and Brian…
Release data: Skorneg – Foehn CD, Malignant Records, 2014 Skorneg is a dark ambient project by Frederic Arbour known from the Cyclic Law label) and Montreal-based ambient/experimental artist Christian Corvellec (aka Skinwell). Their debut “Foehn” is filled with 42 minutes of massive, haunting dronescapes and in-your -ace atmospherics that connect to various cold northern elements such as fierce winds, glaciers,…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Paradise Edition 2014 CD, Spheric Music, 2014 For the biggest part of this release I’d like to refer to the one I did on the original 1983 release, as the “2014 Edition” was not newly recorded or remixed in order to preserve the authentic sphere of the orginal. It has been extended though with two…
Release data: David Tollefson – New Eyes on the Universe CD, Hypnos Recordings, 1998 US-based ambient guitarist, David Tollefson is one half of Viridian Sun, a project he started in the ‘90’s with Hypnos label-owner Mike Griffin. On his first solo album “New Eyes on the Universe”, Mr Tollefson uses lots of electronic treatments along heavily processed or distorted e-guitar…
Release data: Klaus Schulze & Günter Schickert – The Schulze-Schickert Session LP/CD, Mirumir Music Publishing, 2013 Despite the fact the music on this album is definitely classic electronic music in classic Schulze-tradition, I shelved it for quite a while after I bought it shortly after it was released. I gave it quite some spins with intervals inbetween to make up…
Release data: Tuu – Terma CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1998 The eclectic tribal ambient music (inspired by the hidden teachings of Tibetan Buddhism) that’s found on “Terma” is made by TUU’s Martin Franklin and trance flute master Nick Parkin, a project which seems to be about harmonising different but strong forces. Mr Parkin is primarily a solo performer who finds…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – Atmospheres CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2014 It’s been about four years since the previous cd of New Zealand-based ambient composer Rudy Adrian was released. Those fond of his earlier textural releases “Desert Realms” or “Moonwater” will be pleased to find a progression of ethereal, highly cosmic soundscapes on “Atmospheres”. Just have a listen to…
Release data: Christopher Franke – Pacific Coast Highway CD, Virgin Records, 1991 This is the first full-length release by ex-Tangerine Dream member Christopher Franke after he left the band in 1988 and started his own music business in the US a few years later. The music on this album is what often has been described as female music, as Christopher…