Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Architexture of Silence CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2013 On an irregular basis, I absolutely love to listen to some sophisticated ambient music in the final hours of the day or in early night time. It gives an opportunity to reflect a bit on things and put the mind to rest before turning to…
Release data: Tonefloat:Ikon – Streams of Consciousness (Series) LP, Tonefloat:Ikon, 2013 Only recently, Belgium-based sound forger Dirk Serries (better known as vidnaObmana, fear falls burning) has made the return to the highly textural and most successful music he once created in 1984-2005 using the vidnaObmana moniker. To find an suitable outlet for this music he started the Ikon-imprint at the…
Release data: Dead Beat Project – Samsara CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 The French multimedia project Dead Beat Project made quite an impression on me with their album “R’Évolution”, a nice blend of electro, world and ethnic flavors. Now here’s it successor “Samsara”, made out of tracks composed for various dance shows of the dance choreographer Gwam in recent years.…
Release data: Oöphoi & Ran Kirlian – The Physics of Heaven CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Altera Orbe, 2013 As Oöphoi, aka Italian deep-ambient composer Gianluigi Gasparetti, flies with the angels since a couple of months, Spanish soul-spirit and musician Ran Kirlian decided to release his wonderful collaboration with him, based on unfinished recordings by Oöphoi between 2009-2011 and additional stuff created by…
Release data: Mythos – Grand Prix CD, Sireena Records, 2013 “Grand Prix”, a classic Sky-recording from 1981, is the last album from Stephan Kaske’s 40 Mythos releases that finally sees a re-release on factory-pressed cd. On the occasion, two previously unreleased bonus tracks have been included. Made with a range of vintage instruments from e.g. PPG, Moog and Crumar, the…
Release data: Forest Field – Floating on Air DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Rock Company, 2013 Forest Field is Dutch composer Peter Cox, hereby presenting his debut EP “Floating on Air”. The outcome, originally written to participate in the 2013 “Music For Car Parks” competition in Belgium, is a 32-minute ambient work in nine continuous parts incorporating elements from new age and progressive…
Release data: Soundician – Soundician – Insects CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 The UK-duo Soundician have tried something new on their concept-album “Insects”, a 28-minute Ep with nine interweaving pieces tracks dedicated to invertebrates carrying wings. The continuous track, meant to be played and listened to as a whole, has an overall lush sound design and uncomplicated character, nicely imagining…
Release data: William Gregg – Source of the Hardware CD, Harmonic Resources, 2013 “Source of the Hardware” is a 60-minute album with electro-acoustic music by New York-based composer William Gregg, originally released on a (now out of print) 1990-recording. Only the title track is a re-recording from the 1990 album, while the other 11 tracks are live recordings from a…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Discreet Charm of an Imperfect Symmetry CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.pl, 2013 According to the liner notes in the cd-booklet, the music making up “Discreet Charm of an Imperfect Symmetry” is fully improvised, and was accomplished during various sessions in the composer’s studio. It ended up as three movements on this cd, with two guest musicians helping…
Release data: Shane Morris & Mystified – Emergence CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2013 What I got here is the second installment of the “Inspired Evolution” , a triple concept-release about prehistoric time and evolution. As can be expected, the highly atmospheric, free form and organic ambient music takes up the trail where its predecessor “Epoc” left us. In this…
Release data: Chronotope Project – Solar Winds CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 “Solar Winds” is the second installment of sensuous ambient music by Jeffrey Ericson Allen, aka Chronotope Project, this time aiming for deep space territory. The 52-minute emotive outcome (meant to calm the body-mind and gladden the spirit) is a richly colored kaleidoscope of immersive textures along atmospheric, soft-breathing…
Release data: Secondface – Limitless 014 DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Limitless Audio, 2010 Like the album “Inspiring Silence”, “Limitless” contains music Danish composer Frank Vilbæk Jensen was able to compose in a period he spent on a sort-of reform school that also had an electronic music line. The album reveals the composers first steps into the ambient chill-out genre, containing four pieces…
Release data: Yarek – Last Train to Berlin CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.Pl, 2013 While his previous release “Spirits of the Dust” left me rather confused, Yarek’s album “Last Train to Berlin” heads back to Berliner School inspired contemporary electronic music with a good portion of ambient thrown in. To a certain degree, back are the lush, spatial but slow-paced sequencers and…
Release data: Abandoned Asylum – Derelicts of Distant Hope CD, Malignant Records, 2013 Massive dark ambient drones drenched in the same sonic well as German composer Phelios. That’s what Polish artist Lukasz Czajka, aka Abandoned Asylum, brings his listeners, who should prepare for an intense 40-minute ride through nebulous, bleak textures that echo and visualize darkening vaults with industrial debris.…
Release data: Deepernet – One CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Spotted Peccary Music/0E3, 2013 DeeperNet, is Oregon- based composer Andrew Miles, who hereby makes his debut on the Spotted Peccary sublabel 0E3. The first thought that came to mind when I heard the first track of “One” were Nigel Stanford and the deep down-tempo of the Ultimae label. Andrew’s highly energetic, electro-acoustic outcome…
Release data: Secondface – Minus Degrees DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Cold Fiction Music, 2012 As one can imagine with such a title, the composer wanted to compose a pack of floating ambient music without drums, imagining chilly, wintery conditions and the beauty hidden inside them. The only spot on the 36-minute EP where drums do show up is in the last section…
Release data: Remy & My Breath My Music – Sessions 2012 CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Deserted Island Music, 2013 “Sessions 2012” is a special music session Remy Stroomer did together with four students from the “My Breath My Music” foundation in fall of 2012. The goal of the latter is to offer people with severe physical disabilities an opportunity to make music…
Release data: Loveliescrushing – Ghost Colored Halo DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 Loveliescrushing is the duo of Scott Cortez (ambient guitar, loops, treatments) and Melissa Arpin-Duimstra (vocals), who established the project in 1991. The guitar-generated, heavily modulated drone textures on their tenth album “Ghost Colored Halo” features thick layers of reverb and tape hiss, ending up in a massive, dense…
Release data: Phragments – New Kings and New Queens CD, Malignant Records, 2013 “New Kings and New Queens” is a 32-minute release (limited to 500 factory-pressed copies in oversized fold out packaging) by Slovakian ambient composer Matej Gyarfas, aka Phragments. The disc contains one continuous drone track spit in six chapters, featuring minimal, slow morphing textural scapes with a strong…
Release data: Graham Getty – The Sound of the Cloud CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 I can be brief about this release as it, like its predecessors, has full-focus on the vintage ’70’s music of TD. Assembled from random fragments of Mr Getty’s SoundCloud page, the music features lots of (luckily not too massive and ongoing) sequencer activity and sizzling…
Release data: Vangelis – Chariots of Fire: The Play CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Decca, 2012 Due to a vast amount of albums waiting for review, I now finally found time to listen to “Chariots of Fire: The Play”, although being almost a year after its initial release. The album’s harmonic music is based on the stage adaptation of the previous movie for…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Pain/tings CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Generator.Pl, 2012 A steady flow of releases by Mr Rudź keeps coming from the Polish Generator-label, with “Pain/tings” as his last effort in 2012. The lengthy outcome is a surreal affair with psychedelic hints, already evoking strange, otherworldly images on the opening track “Hidden Nooks of our Ego”. Some pretty chilly, murky…
Release data: Code Indigo – MELTdown CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 Code Indigo’s album “MELTdown” premiered at E-Day 2013 in The Netherlands, where David Wright’s band hit the stage in a new line-up with lots of the enthusiasm. Founded back in 1995 by Robert Fox and David Wright, Code Indigo not only has seen quite some changes in the members…
Release data: Rigel Centaurus – Atlas Coelestis DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, USC Music, 2013 Andrey Hlybov, aka Rigel Centaurus, continues his journey through what seem endless journeys through cosmic space. Strangely enough, the “Atlas Coelestis” is not presented as one continuous ride, but as seven individual tracks floating in deep space territory. Again, the composer has tried to give the free-form, ethereal…
Release data: As if – In my Room CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ROHS!, 2013 “In my Room” is a 48-minute album by Kenneth Werner (Jensen), aka As if. Contrary to the previously released, more ambient-oriented “Faraway Trees Standing Still”, “In my Room” contains livelier minimal ambient-dub music with track titles having reference to some lines in Depeche Mode tracks. Melody though plays…
Release data: Secondface – Inspiring Silence DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Kopp netlabel, 2010 “Inspiring Silence” is a four-track/18-minute EP by Secondface, aka Frank Vilbæk Jensen, containing both dub/down-tempo and spherical tracks. The first two tracks have a dreamy, chill-out flavor, and are lead by a slow but steady sequencer patterns and lofty rhythms. It forms an airy, atmospheric and transparent sonic canvas,…
Release data: Richard Bone – Images from a Parallel World CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2013 After the nice retrospective release “Anthology”, AD Music hereby brings us a full-length album with all-new music by US composer Richard Bone. The outcome though still reflects the different or should I say awkward view and approach on composing that has seems a trademark of…
Release data: Ron Boots – Signs in the Sand CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2012 Those who missed out on the concert Ron Boots gave in May in the St. Bavo Church in Haarlem hereby find the opportunity to hear it after all. For the 57-minute recording, Ron was joined by synthesist Eric van der Heijden, drummer Harold van der Heijden…
Release data: Klaus Schulze – Are you Sequenced? CD, Revisited Records, 1996/2006 This is the re-release of the double-cd recording that originally came out in 1996, but without the various non-Schulze remixes on the second cd. “Are you Sequenced?” is a highly rhythmic and dynamic affair, which happens to be Schulze’s response to techno-dance music at that time. The almost…
Release data: René Splinter – Modern Ruins CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2013 With his album “Singularities”, René Splinter showed a remarkable talent in the world of contemporary electronic music, although the music of Johannes Schmoelling and ‘80’s TD were (and still are) big influences. Fresh fruit in a similar, still engaging style is presented on the 62-minute concept –album “Modern…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Liverdelphia CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2013 At first glance, I agree this is an odd name for an album, but it makes more sense when one knows this cd comprises parts of Ian’s live performances in Autumn 2012 in both Liverpool and (across the big pond) Philadelphia. Moreover, the contemporary, the cosmic and a sense of…
Release data: Mathias Grassow – Uttarakuru CD, Gterma, 1999/2012 “Uttarakuru” (the Sanskrit name for a continent in ancient Hindu and Buddhist mythology) is a double-album containing minimal ambient drone music and occasional flute recorded in April 1999 by Mathias Grassow. Both discs contain one expansive, continuous track of 74 minutes each, sonically showing many similarities with the warm mood and…
Release data: Aes Dana – Aftermath 2.0 Archives of Peace DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Ultimae Records, 2003/2013 What I got here is a digital-only re-release of the second album by Aes Dana, aka Vincent Villuis, that originally saw the light of day in 2003. This new version though also includes the profound down-tempo “Aftermath 8” as a bonus, previously found on Nova’s…
Release data: Within Reason – Transient Broadcasts CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Periphery/Anodize, 2013 With his first recording “Subtle Shift”, Gregory Kyryluk (aka Within Reason) already delivered an excellent effort that expands on the fine sounds and impact of some Basic Channel releases. Well, the most pleasant rhythmic but not hasty groove continues on this 66-minute follow-up, turning up and muting the chill-out/pulse…
Release data: Sigma – Sleep of the Shadow DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Sigma is the Finnish duo Mauno Tuominen and Petri Frestadius, who founded the band in 1997. “Sleep of the Shadow”, their fifth release by now, reveals a strong ambient current with an edge of experimental electronic music, of which the seed came from an Electronic Music Box…
Release data: Graham Getty – The Lattice CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Retrochet Records, 2010 All those out there who love massive sequencing and TD’s vintage style from the mid ’70’s will surely like to grab this fine dynamic release. The 50-minute “The Lattice” (recorded real-time straight to multi-track hard disc) just sparkles energy and fun as the ongoing strings of pulsating sequencers…
Release data: Parikrama – Manusyaloka CD, Gterma, 2013 “Manusyaloka” is the second full-length album of German composer Seetyca and his trusted sound technician Artin Mucht for the Scandinavian Gterma label. Sonically, it’s an extension of the fine ambient journey that was undertaken on the previous “The Silent Bōn”. From the first track on, the listeners ascends into a deep, mysterious…
Release data: Simon Lomax – Zone of Cold CD, Private Release, 2013 As Simon states, “Zone of Cold” had a long time coming, as his last effort “.74” (made under the Maitreya-moniker) hails back to 2004. Meanwhile, the Maitreya-project has ceased to be. Its immersive and overall lush ambient soundings are now more or less carried on. With this title,…
Release data: Wellenfeld – Pandemie CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2013 “Pandemie” is a concept album filled with sequenced, pulsative electronic music, despite its quiet opening track. During the intense sonic ride, the Wuppertal-based German duo Braun/Dominizcak pairs grand orchestral/symphonic outings with modern, dancy-oriented exercises, although an apocalyptic/menacing undercurrent is always more or less shimmering through. Accessible electro-pop tracks like “Prophecy”,…
Release data: James Johnson & Aperus – Ecotone CD, Geophonic Records, 2013 In the genre of organic-infused ambient music, ambient sound sculptors James Johnson and Brian McWilliams (aka Aperus) have made a new offering centred on deeply textured environmental sound. “Ecotone”, a strong statement of appreciation and concern for the natural world and its current fragile state, is a factory-pressed…
Release data: Schiller – Die Einlassmusik 8 & 9 CD, Sleepingroom Musik, 2012 The year 2012 has been very busy for Christopher von Deylen, aka Schiller. So it’s even more surprising he found time to compose not one, but two albums of Einlassmusik to accompany his “Sonne” Live-Tour in fall of that year. Both releases each feature about 48 minutes…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Celestia DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Projekt Records, 2013 “Celestia” is a digital-only ep by most-talented Norwegian composer Erik Wøllo, containing an instrumental atmospheric suite in four continuous parts. For this work, Erik extensively used a 1976 analogue synthesizer (an Arp Pro/DGX), which resulted in a warm, intimate sound design. The 27-minute “Celestia” suite is a real…
Release data: Fanger & Schönwälder – Earshot CD, Manikin Records, 2013 “Earshot” is a 46-minute release presented in cardboard sleeve on which Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock joins the Fanger & Schönwälder tandem for a sonic ride through Berliner School/vintage territory. Next to three tracks recorded live during the Dutch “E-Live 2012” festival, also two fine tracks from studio sessions in winter 2012/2013…
Release data: The Glimmer Room – Tomorrow’s Tuesday CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Neu Harmony, 2002 “Tomorrow’s Tuesday” is the fine debut-release of UK-based synthesist Andy Condon, aka The Glimmer Room. The album contains 13 instrumental tracks (plus one vocal piece) of rhythmic, pure and moody electronic music, searching a way through funky, groovy, lush and down-tempo realms while featuring lots of light…
Release data: Ian Boddy – Chiasmata CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, DiN, 2004 “Chiasmata” contains the music played live-in-concert at the planetarium of Leicester’s National Space Centre, UK, in November 2003. This is not your average planetarium music, as Mr Boddy combines abstract soundscapes and dense atmospheres with strange pulsating reveries and vintage textural pads. Moreover, its overall mood is somber and occasionally…
Release data: Steve Roach – Future Flows CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Projekt Records, 2013 “Future Flows” is the second part in a triptych that kicked-off with “Soul Tones” at the end of 2012. If you´re looking for any significant change in sound or direction, Roach´s “Future Flows” won’t bring any of that. Still, the surge into deep and immersive sound worlds continues…
Release data: E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr – Kometenbahn LP, Svart Records, 2013 E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr is a cosmic music collective from Finland comprising the talents of Pertti Grönholm (synthesizers, sequencers and samplers), Jaakko Penttinen (synthesizers and sequencers), Kimi Kärki,(guitar, e-bow and effects) and Ismo Virta, (Memotron, guitar and effects). According the press info, their debut album “Kometenbahn” is a sonic quest…
Release data: moonbooter – Zeitenwende CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Mellowjet Records, 2013 For the music of his album “Zeitenwende” (that again premiered live in concert at a planetarium in Germany) Bernd Scholl started sketching out ideas behind the piano. Whilst transferring the outcome and ideas to electronics in a later stage, he kept a strong focus on using a versatile range of…
Release data: Gert Emmens & Ruud Heij – Lost in the Swamp CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2012 Compared to their previous albums, the music on the concept-album “Lost in the Swamp” takes on a much spherical, lyrical and introspective approach, although the strong vintage feel is still found at the centre of the duos music. The almost 80-minute sonic narrative…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Prayers for the Earth CD-R, Attenuation Circuit, 2013 The music found on the 55-minute/six-track “Prayers for the Earth”, Amir Baghiri’s follow-up of the immersive release “The Serenity”, is a freeform, non-rhythmic soundscape addressing both cosmic and earthy territory. The slow, warm and dreamy washes of textural tapestries and floating drone pads on this special collector’s…
Release data: Joost Egelie – Particles DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 Joost Egelie is a Berlin-school inspired electronic composer living in Belgium, who derives much inspiration from the electronic music that surfaced between 1973 and 1975. “Particles”, his fourth full-length album if I’m correct, is my first encounter with his music. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise and…
Release data: Enh – Body of Blue CD, Gterma , 2013 Enh is the moniker of Ian Handsley, who resides in an old hotel in a small fishing village on Japan’s Pacific coast. The full-length “Body of Blue” is assembled from some reworked material of Enh’s previous “Anori Radar” mini-album along a number of unreleased tracks and remixes. What we…
Release data: Paul Lawler – Lost EP, Private Release, 2012 With “Lost”, Paul Lawler delivers an Ep with three tracks, sonically depicting the final resting places of three failed Mars probes. No sequencers here, but freeform minimal ambient with a slight experimental edge creating a hypnotic mood. The saddening vintage soundscapes aptly visualize the despair and end of technology in…
Release data: Mark Isham – Songs my children taught me CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Windham Hill, 1991 “Songs my children taught me” is an album by trumpeter, synthesist and (soundtrack) composer Mark Isham containing a set of four neo-classical suites, each intended to accompany the reading of a classic children’s story. The outcome is exceptional mood music with various romantic and pastoral…
Release data: Dan Pound – Spherical CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Pound Sounds, 2013 More than once, the music of Dan Pound has shown similarities to the sonic art of Steve Roach. The 74-minute “Spherical” reveals many improvements in that direction, as it merges immersive textural sound worlds with beats, assorted percussion, guitars, field recordings and some Native American flute, all hinting for…
Release data: Hollan Holmes – Phase Shift CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 “Phase Shift” is the third release by US synthesist Hollan Holmes, containing two long form compositions along three shorter takes found at the beginning. The outcome, a contemplative look into the human psyche, is a thought-provoking, spiritual and above all positive work of sonic art, while also an…
Release data: Chuck Van Zyl – Cenotaph CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Synkronos Music, 2012 “Cenotaph” (the name for a monument erected in honor of a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere) is the follow-up release to Chuck’s beautiful album “MemorySpace” (2010). Sonically, Mr van Zyl very nicely expands on his cosmic sequencer style and signature, merging the timeless and the intimate while…
Release data: VoLt – Particles CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2013 Work on “Particles” already started during the process of assembling and finalizing “Circuits”, a VoLt-release that turned out less accessible and much more adventurous in the end. “Particles” however, once again developed and shaped over the internet, takes on an organic, more flowing character. Moreover, it re-invents and re-energizes the…
Release data: Paul Lawler – Opus DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2013 The 61-minute “Opus” is an a instrumental space/rock/EM album by Paul Lawler, starring Zlatko Perica (of TD-fame) and guitarist Paul Speer as guest-musicians to add some melodic prog-rock hooks to a couple of tracks. The whole album airs a sturdy vintage ’70’s realm where anthemic, darkening and cosmic spheres…
Release data: Schiller – Sonne Live CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Universal Domestic, 2013 The double-cd “Sonne Live” by Schiller, aka Christopher von Deylen, contains the full performance played at Berlins O2 World in December 2012. As on previous live-albums, Schiller and band do what the audience is expecting from them: playing an accessible and emotionally-charged set of vocal and instrumental tracks from…