Release data: A Light Beacon – Music for the Patient CD, Private Release, 2002 The cd-booklet of this album “Music for the Patient” contains five slightly abstract artworks made by the artist Ian Helwig who gave them to the musician with the words “Music to be interpreted”. I personally presume this album was the outcome, which must have taken a…
Release data: Peter Davidson – Even Darker Still CD-R, Peter Davidson Music, 2010 Peter Davidson is a multi-instrumentalist who current resides on a peninsula on the Swedish west coast. He made his first steps into the electronic music genre in the late ‘70’s, dabbling around with old radios and monosynths effects. Later on he would study music theory, but the…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Cambrium – music for protozoa CD, Private Release, 2009 No, this is not the same album as the one previously released as a limited edition of only 25 numbered copies. Stephen was offered the opportunity to play a concert at the annual “Nacht der Klange” at Bielefeld University on May 29, 2009. Here, he staged…
Release data: Phillip Wilkerson – Sun Tracer CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With the music of “Sun Tracer”, Phillip Wilkerson has brought us an fine album of uplifting, positive, enlightening, even thrilling ambient electronics which radiates a strong sense of Berlin School pulses. The inspiration for the album came from some casual reading Philip had been doing on the science of…
Release data: Arc – Church CD, DiN, 2010 After the download-only release “Rise”, “Church” is a factory-pressed full-length cd featuring five extended tracks played live during Gatherings Concert Series in November 2009. The recording offers some highly energetic, powerful, state-of-the-art ARC-music that fans of their music can purchase without hesitation. Just imagine the duo’s improvised manner of sequencing, topped by…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Permafrost – music for hibernation CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The music of “Permafrost” (music for hibernation) was initially set in motion by a nine-hour sleep concert Stephen Parsick contributed music to in 2009, produced with the idea of allowing the listener to create your own “sleep concert” at home. Then, from December 2009 til March…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Hoellenengel CD, Private Release, 2005 With “Hoellenengel”, recorded between November 2000 to November 2004, German synthesist Stephen Parsick brings us his second solo recording. The music on this album features the unique and beautiful sounds of the Yamaha CS80, which many know from several Vangelis recordings. Stephen also made the music without any computers, multi-track…
Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – The Wasteland – music of an apocalyptic world CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Robert Beau Michaels is an American expat who currently resides in Prague, Czech Republic. He initially tried to pursue a career as screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1980’s and 90’s. Frustrated with his inability to sell his scripts and later on also…
Release data: Hyios – Consuetudines CD, Malignant Records, 2009 Hyios is a one-man project from Leipzig, Germany. “Consuetudines”, which is his debut album recorded between 2007 and 2008, contains seven expansive cold ritual drones textures in which metallic objects and scorching, grinding and organic sounds crawl through abstract spacious realms. The dense sonic environments with noise and industrial elements create…
Release data: Rudolf Heimann – Tide CD, Spheric Music, 2010 “Tide” is the fifth album by German synthesist and producer Rudolf Heimann. Mr Heimann has been around in the genre since 1990, but took a long break after the release of his album “Twilight Voyager” in 1997 when he started to work as a session musician and producer in other…
Release data: Nemesis – 1:4:9 CD-R, Retroduction, 2010 “1:4:9” is a digital download-only release by the Finnish trio Nemesis (the cd-version is a limited edition of 100 copies reserved for an art exhibition held in Finland in February 2010). The album is a beautiful journey in introspective ambient spaces, described by the band as the perfect soundtrack for wintry evenings.…
Release data: Erik Wøllo – Gateway CD, Projekt Records, 2010 For years, Erik Wøllo is known for his expert skills in building highly imaginary and emotional music, building a bridge between grand symphonic realms and gentle, serene atmospheres. On “Gateway”, his 14th solo release, Erik takes things to a new exciting level, offering a 70-minute grand breathing space of sparkling…
Release data: Stu Jenks – West of the Fire (Soundtracks for Photographs Vol. 2) CD, Fizziweg Music, 2005 In comparison to his beautiful debut album “The Three Surrenders”, the ambient music on “West of the Fire” (Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume Two) is a long form circular work. Again, Stu takes us through a highly imaginary sonic scenery of free form…
Release data: Pascal Savy – The Silent Watcher CD-R, Audiomoves, 2010 Pascal Savy is a London-based electronic music composer who started experimenting with sequencers and synthesizers in the late nineties. Being influenced by the Detroit techno scene, he started making recordings of his output on tapes and mini-discs. “The Silent Watcher”, a digital-only release on David Newman/Autistici’s new label Audiomoves,…
Release data: Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 3 CD-R, Deep Sky Music, 2010 With this album, Robert Carty launches the third and last chapter in a trilogy of albums inspired by nights of star gazing. Like the previous releases, the music is gentle, abundant and spacious, another true celebration of the world of wonder that can be seen up in…
Release data: David Gerard – The Realm of Knowing CD-R, Orbiting Orion Records, 2010 Boston-based synthesist David Gerard began composing at age twenty-four, after studying photography and graphic art in New York City. Later on, he studied multi-track recording and started recording his own original work. In 1984, he produced “A Piece of the Desert”, an electronic/ambient suite he admits…
Release data: Matthew Florianz – Maalbeek CD, H/S Recordings, 2008 Years back, I got to know some of the fine crafted ambient music of The Hague-based musician Matthew Florianz. In 2008, he released the concept album “Maalbeek”, which again shows his great talent of painting slow morphing, highly atmospheric landscapes. Named after a forest area near the Holland/Germany border, the…
Release data: Schiller – Tag und Nacht CD, Universal Domestic, 2005 Schiller’s stunning album “Sehnsucht” made me decide to investigate his back catalogue a bit further, which brought me to “Tag un Nacht”. Again, this album presents a balanced mix of vocal and instrumental tracks, with even some great pop songs such as “Miles and Miles” and “Falling” (both with…
Release data: Zeit – Waves from the Sky CD, Hic Sunt Leones, 2008 Zeit is Italian ambient musician Tommaso Cimò, who recorded his debut-release “Waves from the Sky” during nightly sessions in his home studio “The Mag” between April and August 2007. The album contains six moody, environmental and overall melancholic ambient pieces, which dwell in a world of introspection…
Release data: Collapsar – Beyond the Event Horizon CD, Malignant Records, 2009 ans of well-produced dark ambient music will find much of their liking on “Beyond the Event Horizon”, a project by the French musician Thibaud Thaunay, aka Collapsar. This recording of overall spacious form is actually a 47-minute journey into the far depths of the vast and unknown realms…
Release data: Alio Die & Parallel Worlds – Circo Divino CD, Hic Sunt Leones, 2010 “Circo Divino”, which comes in very nicely designed digipack, is a collaborative project between Alio Die (aka Italian ambient composer Stefano Musso) and Greek vintage synthesist Parallel Worlds (aka Bakis Siros). Both these musicians have already proved what they are capable of in previous years,…
Release data: Stu Jenks – The Three Surrenders (Soundtracks for Photographs) CD, Fizziweg Music, 2003/2010 “The Three Surrenders” (Soundtracks for Photographs, Volume One) is the debut album of Tucson-based photographer Stu Jenks, who composed the music as a sonic backdrop for his 2002 photographic installation at Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art. About his visual work he says: “I learn a…
Release data: Justin St. Vincent – The Spiritual Significance of Music BOOK, Xtreme Music, 2009 The anthology “The Spiritual Significance of Music” is a book that investigates the relationship between music and spirituality by means of a series of interviews with worldwide writers and musicians. Music can open up the mind and soul, establish an emotional connection or even be…
Release data: Bruno Sanfilippo & Mathias Grassow – Cromo – piano & drones CD, ad21music, 2010 For this work of art, Mr Sanfilippo and Mr Grassow have teamed up a second time, together creating a smooth and quiet sonic soundscape to follow-up their critically acclaimed “Ambessence”. The six “chapters” on “Cromo” offer 62 minutes of intimate soundings which sees a…
“One Night in Paris” is a studio recording made by Walter Christian Rothe back in 1993. This recording, portraying some of the many Parisian landmarks, finds Mr Rothe in good spirits, excelling in offering a melange of lively, emotional and well-composed tracks to please any contemporary listener of electronic music. Overall, it sees a nice interplay of drums, guitars and…
Release data: Phelios – Astral Unity CD, Malignant Records, 2010 Phelios is a dark ambient project by German musician Martin Stürtzer, who’s an acquaintance of Stephen Parsick. With the latter, Martin collaborated on “It always rains in Wuppertal”. “Astral Unity”, which comes in a beautifully designed 6-panel deluxe digipack with gold foil stamping, shows a further maturation of his highly…
Release data: Michele Ippolito – In the Clouds CD-R, Penrose Records, 2009 “In the Clouds” is the second independent release of Illinois-based Michele Ippolito, who started out as a classically trained pianist. What we actually got here is a new age recording in a kindred vein as the music of e.g. Liquid Mind or Robert Haig Coxon’s “The Silent Path”.…
Release data: Clifford White – The Healing Touch (Ascension II) CD, MG Music, 2010 “The Healing Touch” is the follow-up to Clifford White’s new-age album “Ascension”, a landmark release in the genre of new age music back in 1985. Clifford has come up with a similar kind of release, but also one sounding contemporary and fresh. The outcome harkens back…
Release data: Steve Rose – Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Twin Earth: Collected Ambient Works” is a 62-minute compilation of lush ambient/space tracks by Canadian musician Steve (Austin) Rose, with pieces dating back to 1994. The release offers seven smooth, unhurried soundscape pieces made with synths and ambient guitar treatments. Melody plays a minor role, it’s…
Release data: Yarek & Friends – Spirits of the Dust CD, Generator.pl, 2010 “Spirits of the Dust” is the third album of Polish synthesist Yarek (aka Jaroslaw Degorski), for which he revisited some shelved electronic pieces from the past. For this release, Jaroslaw completely re-arranged and re-recorded them with a bit of help from some friends. At first glance, the…
Release data: Harald Nies – Earthcreator CD-R, Mellowjet Records, 2010 In the past, I stumbled on various releases of German Harald Nies, which were never able to please me in a satisfying way. Now there’s “Earthcreator”, his seventh album if I’m correct, which contains five lengthy pieces. The outcome is general melodic music in the German electronic music style with…
Release data: Byron Metcalf, Dashmesh Khalsa & Steve Roach – Dream Tracker CD, Dr Bam\’s Music, 2010 The organic music of “Dreamtracker” is a culmination of high spirits, contemporary and ancient trance-induced shamanic rituals and groovy world music, or in the words of the press-info: “a full-blown dreamtime alchemy of all the elements”. After Mr Metcalf mapped out the trance-groove…
Release data: Altus – Black Trees Among Amber Skies DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 With his release “Black Trees Among Amber Skies”, Canadian musician Mike Carss (aka Altus) returns to his classic free form style of music, who describes the outcome as ambient music for night-time winter walks in the city. As fans of his music know, Mike is an…
Release data: Mythos – Unabsteigbar! CD-R, Mellowjet Records, 2010 Unabsteigbar!” by Stephan Kaske, aka Mythos, is a limited edition EP in a special amaray-case. It contains 44-minutes of groovy music performed live at Em-Breakfast in December 2009 in Bochum, Germany. The five tracks found here contain all dynamic new music, and sees vocoder fragments interact with beat-driven melodic and rhythmic…
Release data: Walter Christian Rothe & Friends – Two for Green: Bulgaria DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1996/2010 “Two for Green – Bulgaria” is an album in a series of collaborations between Walter Christian Rothe and Herwig Duchateaux (ex-Scooter drummer). The concept recording, a journey through the Balkan region, its culture and folklore, contains lots of world music and ethnic influences,…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Summa Technologiae CD, Generator.pl, 2010 Przemysław Rudź is a Polish musician living in Gdansk, who’s “Summa Technologiae” is a musical interpretation of Stanislav Lem’s book translated into a language of synthetic and mysterious sounds. After a deep atmospheric intro, “Dilemmas” kicks off with complex, clear sequencer patterns. They don’t evolve any further though, staying too…
Release data: Hybrid Leisureland – Scroll Slide CD, Ultimae Records, 2010 Hybrid Leisureland is the alias of Tokyo-based musician Hidetoshi Koizumi, who made his first steps into music around 1995. While he made his debut on the Ultimae sampler “Oxycanta” release, his sonic output seem to reflect his personal observations of the world he lives in. Mr Koizumi creates original…
Release data: Chad Kettering – Voices of the Ancients CD, Soniclayers Music, 2010 After two years of hard work invested in sculpturing, layering and refining music for his second release, Chad Kettering has come up with a great successor to “Into the Infinite”. The outcome on “Voices of the Ancients” is an intensive sound experience which can be put next…
Release data: moonbooter – World of Apes 1 CD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 “World of Apes 1” is a very personal and thought-provoking concept album by Bernd Scholl, aka Moonbooter, addressing the nuclear treat, cold war activities and related themes which keep affecting nowadays global societies and civilization. On this behalf, I remember similar topics were previously explored by Holle Mangler…
Release data: Epiphany – Sonica CD, LB Music Production, 2007/2010 After a leap of almost 10 years, Epiphany (aka Erik Teljeur) finally brings us a new album with imaginary, dark ambient electronics. Erik describes the outcome as his most intimate work to date, as the music inhabits a lot of personal emotions. “Sonica”, which comes in a very nice digipack…
Release data: Schiller – Atemlos CD, Universal Domestic, 2010 Schiller impressed me with his previous album “Sehnsucht” (“Desire”), which was followed by the even better double dvd of the “Sehnsucht”-tour. So expectations among his fans were high for the new album “Atemnot” (“Breathless”) and the outcome Christopher von Deylen, aka Schiller, would come up with. But I must disappoint all…
Release data: Cell – Hanging Masses CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 “Hanging Masses” is the second full length release by French musician Cell, aka Alexandre Scheffer. Cell previously contributed single tracks to various compilations in the genre of down-tempo electronica, but now bit by bit reveals his own identity with this cohesive album. “Hanging Masses” consists of eight pieces of overall…
Release data: Computerchemist – Aqual Measure CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Computer Chemist is one Dave Pearson from Hungary, who previously lived in England, whose “Aqual Measure” is described as “Berlin-school-style jazz-rock, perfecting a blend of raw guitar work and uber-precise sequencer lines”. Well, his output sure can be classified as progressive and energetic electronics, topped by e-guitar. The albums starts…
Release data: Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – Repelen 3 CD, Manikin Records, 2010 After more than 15 years and a lot of live recordings, the trio Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder comes up with “Repelen 3”. The outcome was recorded at Detlef’s studio in October and November 2009, and sees the trio accompanied by Thomas Kagermann (violin) and Raugi Ebert (e-guitar),…
Release data: Hurry Hurry – Life CD-R, Substantial Brothers Productions, 2010 Hurry Hurry is a collaborative project of the brothers Wayne and Rob Hurry, who hail from Lake Heights, Western Australia. They run a business in film music, but decided to start a different project in their spare time, dedicated to composing commercial music releases as Hurry Hurry. “Life” (in…
Release data: Llyn Y Cwn – Llyn Y Cwn DIGITAL DOWNLOAD EP, Manky Music, 2009 Llyn Y Cwn is a dark ambient project of Ben Powell, also known as Mank. Those familiar with the deep and dense ambient soundscaping heard on the last track of Mank’s album “Isbjorn” will absolutely love the output of Llyn Y Cwn’s two Ep’s. Part…
Release data: Ambientium – Fractal Philosophy CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Ambientium is the Czech-duo Lubomir and Lucie Cyrk, who have devoted their project Ambientium to their fascination for the world, universe, nature, beauty and love which inspires them to create atmospheric music and which takes you into this story of the cosmos and being. The album “Fractal Philosophy” is inspired…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Behind the Shadows CD-R, Private Release, 2010 For “Behind the Shadows”, Mr Canovas decided to try something different musically, as the sonic content on this album heads into ambient spaces. The twelve non-rhythmic tracks, ranging between four and seven minutes, move along as introspective, overall quieting but also quite varied soundscapes, which occasionally take a…
Release data: Arc – Rise CD-R, DiNDDL, 2010 The vintage powerhouse duo Mark Shreeve and Ian Boddy, aka Arc, made a trip to the USA in November 2009 to play their debut concert at Chuck van Zyl’s famous Gatherings Concert Series in Philedelphia. The three lenghty tracks on the 57-minute “Rise” are taken from that performance. The album takes off…
Release data: Robert Rich – Ylang CD, Soundscape Productions, 2010 After several collaborative albums, Robert Rich returns with the sonic perfume project entitled “Ylang”, a rather complex album which sees him blend “languid polyrhythms with infusions of South Indian Karnatic music, post-ock, jazz and minimalisms”. But most of all, the organic flavoured outcome of “Ylang” is one that clearly holds…
Release data: Steve Roach – Live at Grace Cathedral CD, Timeroom Editions, 2010 In June 2007, Steve was given the opportunity to play an ambient concert in the sacred space of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. This allowed him to use the natural, expansive reverent ambience of the performance space predominant in the sound mix. At that occasion, Steve played a…
Release data: Andymian – In the Garden of the Rainy King CD, Private Release, 2005 “In the Garden of the Rainy King” is a (sponsored) album by Polish musician Andrzej “Andymian” Miersynski. I did do some troubles to find some background info on the music and the musician, but all I could find was written in Polish language. This leaves…
Release data: Glenn Main – Ripples CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, AD Music, 2012 This is in fact my first encounter with the output of Norwegian synthesist Glenn Main, aka Glenn Henriksen, who hereby delivers an almost 59-minute album displaying a mellow/melodic style of cosmic music. “Ripples”, Glenn’s fourth album by now, contains 12 structured and highly accessible feel-good compositions with…
Release data: The Tangent Project – Surface CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Tangent Project is the American duo Jeff Coulter (synths) and Harrison McKay (guitars), both based in the Philadelphia suburbs. On several occasions, they had the honour to play live on Chuck van Zyl’s Star’s End radio show. “Surface” though is a studio recording they have been working on since…
Release data: Nemesis – Gigaherz CD, Origo Sound, 2010 After a long struggle, the definite and official version of “Gigaherz” was released on January 10th, 2010 by Origo Sound. Initially, only a few pre-release copies of it were made available in 2008 to test the waters for the music. In addition, the current one is not the same either as…
Release data: Thamnos – WIR CD, Sound Claim, 2009 Thamnos is a music project of musician/producer/composer Tomas Weiss and UK-based singer-songwriter Annemarie Borg, started in 2007. “W I R” (World In Remission) is another recent album that expresses its worries about the destroyed balance of life on earth, painting the atmosphere of today, through the many styles and means of…
Release data: Remy – Exhibition of Dreams (10th anniversary edition) CD, AKH Records, 2010 With the release of “Exhibition of Dreams”, fans of Remy Stroomer’s music are given the opportunity to hear the remarkable musical development this Dutch musician and his music has undergone since he made his first steps in the genre of electronic music. While celebrating the 10th…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Hymn CD-R, Lunisolar Records, 2010 With “Hymn”, his seventh release by now, Japanese ambient composer Jutaro Takahashi brings us 60-minutes of smooth, gentle and gracious cosmic soundscapes, which seem to dissolve in time. The three tracks of 20 minutes each evolve gradually and very slowly, which I imagine can make them too long form and…
Release data: Pillion – Halcyon CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Groove Unlimited, 2006/2010 Pillion’s “Halcyon” is an album that was shelved after it was recorded in 2006, taking another two years before it was remastered. The concept album tells a story about the changes in life one has been forced to do, if you have no choice, confirming what Pillion was all about:…
Release data: Erik Seifert – Core CD, PleasureSoundMusic, 2009 “Core” is a concept album on the Large Hadron Collider (a huge particle accelerator in Switzerland used for high-energy physics research), which took Erik Seifert three years of work to complete. For the music, he envisioned to capture the power, energy and the technical beauty of this momumental project, while also…