Release data: Steve Roach – Empetus CD, Projekt, 1986/2008 This is the long awaited re-release of the classic album from 1986, which now comes as a collector’s edition double cd with brand new artwork. The first disc contains the original, fully remastered album in all its glory, featuring a great bunch of dynamic sequencing and electronic drums with strong minimal…
Release data: Ian Tescee – A Traveler’s Guide to Mars CD, Private Release, 2007 “A Traveler’s Guide to Mars”, Ian Tescee’s fourth release, was inspired by the same book by space scientist and friend William K. Hartmann. The writings of the latter led to a phone call from the Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh to create a full-dome digital Mars show,…
Release data: Mark Rownd – Painting Twilight CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1998 The title of this 1998-release on the ambitious, high-quality label Spotted Peccary, pretty well describes the overall atmosphere and feel of the music. The type of music covered on “Painting Twilight” (the second album by Los Angeles-based musician Mark Rownd) is “tribal ambient-space music”, for which an assortment…
Release data: Create – Lost on an Island of Adventure CD, Groove Unlimited, 2008 As Stephen explained in a previous interview, he wanted to push the Create sound further and offer something new whilst at the same time making sure the tracks flowed well together. In addition, the track titles reflect the music and mood more than ever and this…
Release data: Harold Budd – The White Arcades CD, Opal Records, 1988 “The White Arcades” is the follow-up to Harold Budd’s critically acclaimed album “Lovely Thunder”, offering 42 minutes of soothing ambient bliss. Especially the opening (title) track and the following two pieces already show why this work still stands the test of time: the stunning beauty and stillness captured…
Release data: Harold Budd & Clive Wright – A Song For Lost Blossoms CD, Darla, 2008 “A Song for Lost Blossoms” (74:52) comprises the best music composed between 2004 and 2006 by minimal ambient musician Harold Budd and guitarist Clive Wright, both residing in the beautiful and remote Southern California desert community of Joshua Tree. The highly reflective piece smoothly…
Release data: Giles Reaves – Wunjo CD, MCA, 1986 Giles Reaves has working in the music business in Nashville since 1984, mostly in the studio. Around 1986 he was a staff engineer at a studio where country music was being mixed, working with synthesizers in a back room. This is where producer Tony Brown often heard these “strange and beautiful”…
Release data: Giles Reaves – Sea of Glass CD, Hearts of Space, 1992 This classic space music recording by Nashville-based synthesist Giles Reaves is one of those milestones that can stand the test of time for decades, as it still sounds fresh and inspiring after all these years. After the immense success of Giles debut-album “Wunjo”, Stephen Hill of Hearts…
Release data: Deepspace – The Barometric Sun CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2007 A few months back, my first encounter with the music of Brisbane-based musician Mirko Ruckels, aka Deepspace, was a pleasant one with the flowing textural work “Another Empty Galaxy”. “The Barometric Sun” is an almost 71 minute kindred album, offering a collection of 11 non-rhythmic, well-balanced ambient excursions…
Release data: Ruben Garcia – Colors in Motion CD, Close Tolerance Music, 1992 “Colors in Motion” is the debut album of New Mexico-based minimalist composer, self-taught pianist, engineer, and producer Ruben Garcia, whose also a close friend of A Produce. This album is the most electronic compared with his later albums, which more and more featured extensively modified piano sounds.…
Release data: Green Isac – Groundrush CD, Spotted Peccary/Wanderings, 2001 “Groundsrush”, the second release on Spotted Peccary’s sublabel Wanderings, is made by the Norwegian duo Andreas Eriksen and Morten Lund, aka Green Isac. The cd-box has a sticker with the text “ethno-techno trance dance”, which covers quite some musical territory for sure. The almost fully instrumental album clocks a bit…
Release data: David Wright – Dreams and Distant Moonlight CD, AD Music, 2008 Although I’m not into the music of David Wright nor his side project Code: Indigo, I had a pleasant introduction to his music when I encountered his album “Momentum”. “Dreams and Distant Moonlight”, which is supposed to be a cross of styles of his previous albums “Walking…
Release data: Darshan Ambient – From Pale Hands to Weary Skies CD, Spotted Peccary, 2008 This cd by Michael Allison, aka Darshan Ambient, is a positive, uplifting work of both rhythmic and free form textural ambient, initially inspired by the art of surrealist painter Yves Tanguy. But while working on the music, life came in the way: Michael became deadly…
Release data: Mara’s Torment – MT96061 CD-R, Private Release, 2007 Mara’s Torment is a project that was brought to life back in 1997 by Toronto-based musican Rik MacLean, who’s also an active member of the Canadian Ping Things ambient music community. “MT96061” is a limited edition double retrospective work, comprising tracks from the past ten years, to which some new…
Release data: Mathias Grassow & Jiří Mazánek – Inner Path CD, NextEra, 2008 As the press sheet to this meditative album explains, the idea of the music was “combining pure hand played acoustic instruments with modern electronics, samples and nature-sounds. With a spiritual sight behind, “Inner Path” is open for free direction and interpretation nevertheless with a strong focus inside…
Release data: Resonant Drift – Resonant Drift CD-R, Private Release, 2004 This album is the debut release of California-based musician Bill Olien. The almost 64 minutes of music, divided in ten tracks, offers a blend of ambient soundscape and sequencer-oriented music accompanied by tribal oriented percussion. Although the album starts out nicely with the Steve Roach-kindred “Towards”, offering gliding textures…
Release data: Amethystium – Isabliss CD, Neurodisc, 2008 Almost four years after Øystein Ramfjord concluded his Dragonfly-trilogy, he now returns with “Isabliss”, which sound wise was to travel in a new direction. More concise sound experiments and sketches have been implemented in the relaxed music of “Isabliss”, which features more pronounced rhythms/beats and wordless female vocals complimenting warm synth and…
Release data: Altus – Macro DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2008 “Macro” offers 22 short “behind the scenes” sounds covering a broad range of sounds, from melodic ambient to atonal soundscapes, and a few oddities in between. As explained by Mike, they are the outcome of the things found after he starts noodling with different sounds while working on new music,…
Release data: Exuviae – Setting Density CD-R, AtmoWorks, 2003 Exuviae is actually Brooks Rongstad, one of the guys who participated in the now defunct Greenhouse label. In fact, “Settling Density” goes on where his debut-cd “Echoes in the Emptiness” (2000) left us: it’s another fine collection of freefloating ambient driftmusic, bathing the listener in harmonious synth washes of electronic bliss.…
Release data: Exuviae – The White Underneath CD-R, AtmoWorks, 2008 “The White Underneath” is the long-awaited fourth album by Brooks Rongstad, aka Exuviae, also know as co-founder of the Greenhouse ambient label that -sadly enough- had to be shut down several years ago. The new album, described by Brooks as an experimental Ep featuring remixes of each track by fellow…
Release data: Robert Jíša – Space Voices CD, NextEra, 2007 This cd is a continuation of a series, as I found out on Robert’s website he previously released albums such as “Sea Voices”, “Forest Voices” and even “Rain Forest Voices”. The initial idea for “Space Voices” started after Robert Jíša had heard the NASA recordings of the “sounds” of the…
Release data: Chris Armstrong – A.I. Awakens CD, Private Release, 2007 This is the first album in the Spaceage Furniture Music series by L.A.-based musician Chris Armstrong. The concept album on the evolution of artificial intelligence contains furniture music, a term coined by Erik Satie, which refers to music used as a sonic backdrop rather than as the primary focus…
Release data: Ishq – Timelapse in Mercury CD, Virtual, 2001/2007 “Timelapse in Mercury” is the fourth release on the UK-based Virtual-label and the first in a new deeper series called “Virtual Space” which is all about deeper and more outer space inspired music and explorations and music to float to. From the press sheet I learned the album was written…
Release data: Resonant Drift – Flow Mingled Down CD, Private Release, 2006 Resonant Drift is a music project of the USA-based musician Bill Olien, who mentions in the cd-booklet he was inspired by Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Jonn Serrie, Paul Ellis, Brian Eno and even TD. The 55-minute disc takes off with the peculiar, heavy sequencer-based “Until”, thereafter shifting to…
Release data: Various Artists – Dreams of My Space Vol. 1 CD, Spheric Music, 2008 This compilation is an initiative of Robert Schroeder to promote some artists from MySpace, with the aim to attract the attention from record labels. The 67-minute album contains 13 tracks with accessible music, but I doubt the statement that these are “very talented artists”, certainly…
Release data: Jonathan Hughes – Circumflex CD-R, AtmoWorks, 2008 Ambient musician Jonathan Hughes might be known by some as the man behind SubSpace. Under the latter moniker, he previously released a handful of releases which he put out privately, later on releasing two other projects through The Foundry using his own name. The tracks on “Circumflex”, his first album for…
Release data: Steve Brand – SoulSpiral CD-R, AtmoWorks, 2008 Steve Brand’s album “SoulSpiral” contains two expansive textural zone worlds, both clocking over 31 minutes, of which the music was inspired by stunning Hubble/NASA space footage and channelled writings. The meandering, freeform sound worlds of the opening title track have a deepening, hypnotizing but most of all a time shifting impact.…
Release data: Steve Roach – Landmass CD, Timeroom Editions, 2008 The music on “Landmass” was especially composed and played live in the studio in May 2007 by Steve Roach for Chuck Van Zyl’s Star’s End radio program. In Steve’s words, the surreal shape shifting adventure recording “transcends the idea of what a live recording can be”. Those familiar with his…
Release data: Vir Unis & Disturbed Earth – Drawn from the Well CD-R, AtmoWorks, 2008 “Drawn from the Well” is the first chapter of a collaborative series between Vir Unis (aka John Strate-Hootman) and Disturbed Earth (aka Dean Richards). The lengthy album of 78 minutes contains only three tracks, kicking off with the 49 minute “Flicker”, which roams in quiet,…
Release data: Marconi Union – A Lost Connection CD-R, MU Transmissions, 2008 Marconi Union are the Manchester-based duo Richard Talbot and James Crossley. “A Lost Connection” is their third release, the outcome being a concept album shaped around themes of isolation and disconnection, inspired by images of withdraw from the world. In all, there are seven tracks with a mellow…
Release data: Robert Jíša – Signs of the Zodiac CD, NextEra, 2007 Musician Robert Jíša, a graduate from Berklee College of Music, hails from Prague, Chech Republic, and has established himself as a mature soundtrack composer for the last couple of years. The title of this concept cd can be translated as “The Signs of the Zodiac”. The 12 symbols…
Release data: RON BOOTS Derby! CD, Hearts of Space Records, 1988 As Michael explains in the cd booklet, this album –subtitled a journey in the key of space- is the first to focus on space as a theme, while his previous albums had been written and recorded in the flavour of space. The music on this cd easily takes the…
Release data: Akikaze – The Age of Deception CD-R, SynGate, 2008/1995 The musician behind Akikaze is the Utrecht-based Dutch musician Pepijn Courant, who studied classical music for over seven years. The concept album “The Age of Deception”, Pepijn’s seventh by now, was already finished in August 1995, but only saw the light of day as physical release due to Lothar…
Release data: David Wright – Momentum CD, AD Music, 2008 Next to being one of the driving forces behind the successful project Code: Indigo, Suffolk-based musician David Wright is also pursuing a solo-career since 20 years. “Momentum” contains a studio re-imagining of new, mainly improvised music David performed at the USA Gatherings Series concert in September 2007. The 70 minutes…
Release data: Steve Brand – Bridge to Nowhere CD-R, Hypnos Secret Sounds, 2008 Steve Brand is an US-based musician who previously released music in the experimental genre using the name Augur. Brand considers music not only a way of looking inward and expressing one’s self, but a way of reaching out to others and ultimately expanding the boundaries of the…
Release data: Jon Mark – A Celtic Story CD, White Cloud, 1995 “A Celtic Story” is Jon Mark’s fourth album, this time released on his own White Cloud label. In just an hour, the listener is taken on a sonic journey through the rough times and overall history of Ireland, which is nicely sketched in the cd-booklet. Again, Jon’s music…
Release data: Jon Mark – Land of Merlin CD, Kuckuck Schallplatten/Celestial Harmonies, 1992 Paying another tribute to his English heritage, Jon Mark’s “Land of Merlin” descends a level deeper, exploring the “time” of his stunning debut album “The Standing Stones of Callanish” once again. “Land of Merlin” contains the translation into melodic music of the King Arthur story and the…
Release data: Jon Mark – Alhambra CD, Kuckuck Schallplatten/Celestial Harmonies, 1992 Concept wise, this third album by New Zealand-based musician Jon Mark, takes a different direction compared to the previous two concept albums “Standing Stones of Callanish” and “Land of Merlin”, as it’s dedicated to character and history of the Spanish Alhambra region. Again, Jon has delivered a masterpiece of…
Jon Mark is best known as one half of the Mark-Almond band, session guitarist and producer, who now resides in New Zealand. Situated on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the Callanish Stones (also called the Stonehenge of the north) is a megalithic site that inspired composer Jon Mark to compose this classic ambient album on his Celtic…
Release data: Daniel Blanchet – L´Harmonie des Mondes CD, Editions Rubicon, 1991 Daniel Blanchet is a Canadian musician hailing from the Quebec area, who began experimenting with synthesizers in 1985. The concept album “L’Harmonie des Mondes” is inspired by the treatise “Harmonies of the Worlds” by German astronomer Johannes Kepler, to which it’s also a homage. Produced and mixed by…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Lunar Tide CD-R, Private Release, 2008 As Peter tells on the cd-sleeve, the ambient long form piece “Lunar Tide” is the outcome of an experiment in applying extreme sound processing to a piece of music to produce sonic textures contrasting radically to the nature of the original source recording. Well, the 60-minute meandering soundscape is…
Release data: Paul Haslinger – Planetary Traveler OST CD, Third Planet Entertainment, 1998 This is the original soundtrack album former TD-member Paul Haslinger composed for “Planetary Traveler”, the brainchild of two-time Emmy award winning director/producer Jan C. Nickman, noted for such projects as the computer animated hit “The Mind’s Eye”. The twelve dynamic tracks feature a powerful blend of symphonic…
Release data: Synco – Evolution of Events CD, Cue Records, 1991 The Berliner band Synco (short for SYNthesizer COoperation) was founded in 1984 by Frank Klare and Mirko Lüthge. In 1985 Werner Brandt (nickname Chaos) joined them. “Evolution of Events” is a amazing recording as it contains 70 minutes of well executed highly melodic and rhythmic music. The tasty outcome…
Release data: Evan Marc & Steve Hillage – Dreamtime Submersible CD, Somnia, 2008 “Dreamtime Submersible” features the exiting collaboration of Tech House project Evan Marc (aka Evan Bartholomew, Bluetech,) and Steve Hillage (System 7). Released in strictly limited edition of 777 signed and numbered copies, this 74-minute album presents a great blend of hypnotizing, sometimes minimal shaped trance electronica with…
Release data: Andrew Thomas Wilson – Carnarvon – Rain Forest CD, EMI Japan, 1984 “Carnarvon” is a Japanse import album by Australian composer, producer and musician Andrew Thomas Wilson, who describes the concept of the album in the linear notes as “an electronically orchestrated journey into landscapes imagery and real”. To compose the ten movements on the cd, he used…
Release data: Logic Gate – Voyages DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2008 “Voyages”, a musical tribute to human exploration, is the second album by Steve Grace (aka Logic Gate), who describes it as dreamy ambient old school electronica. The 48-minute release features lots of warm synths/mellotron pads and morphing drone soundscapes along sequencer patterns, of which the most part is in…
Release data: Charles Crevier, Francois Kiraly & Jean-Francois Crevier – Music from the Sky CD, Disque Rubicon, 1987 This is the debut album of the trio Charles Crevier , Francois Kiraly, and Jean-Francois Crevier, all hailing from the Canadian Quebec-area. The album is graced with five compositions (the first and the last made as a trio, with solo pieces of…
Release data: Francois Kiraly & Charles Crevier – Calypso CD, Disque Rubicon, 1989 “Calypso” is the second release by the Canadian duo Francois Kiraly and Charles Crevier. It’s a slowly evolving album of ten tranquil, slowly passing, occasionally slightly sequenced space music tracks creating exactly the right mood and state of mind. The warm, flowing textures of the opening title…
Release data: Xolotl – Procession CD, Erdenklang, 1982/1993 This classic album by the German Erdenklang-label is a re-release of the Bernhard Xolotl album that originally came out back in 1982. For this occasion, the 18-minute bonus track “Saturn Return” was added. “Procession” celebrates the harmonious fusion of violin and viola (played by the international acknowledged Daniel Kobialka) and the serene,…
Release data: Xylon – Mooncafe CD, Hypnotic/Cleoplatra, 1995 “Xylon is a German ambient duo consisting of Alfred Gregl and Torben Schmidt which originally released on Aural X-Perience in 1994. “Mooncafe” is a moody electro-ambient and chill-out trance release which could be a early release on a down-tempo label, although its has an overall uplifting, soothing effect, especially when velvet textures…
Release data: Max Corbacho – The Resonant Memory of Earth CD, Space for Music, 2002 After a long search, the talented Max Corbacho has found a new home at the US-label Space for Music. “The Resonant Memory of Earth”, of which the outcome again is one of pure beauty, sees Max return to the basics of “Vestiges”. His passion for…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Far Beyond The Immobile Point CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2000/2011 This is the second release of Spanish composer Max Corbacho, presenting a collection of seven non-rhythmic, highly atmospheric ambient space tracks, so taking a different road than was heard on his nice debut “Vestiges”. The inspiration for “Far beyond the Immobile Point” actually came from…
Release data: Steve Hillage – Rainbow Dome Musick CD, Virgin Records, 1979 The music captured on this classic blissed-out ambient album was recorded for the “Rainbow Dome” installation at the festival for Mind-Body-Spirit at Olympia London April 21-29 1979. The cd contains two lengthy tracks of 20 minute each, of which “Garden of Paradise” gently takes off with water and…
Release data: Nono Orchestra – Angels Breakin’ CD, Aurora/Amplexus, 1999 Nono Orchestra is an ambient project by Klaus Wiese, Mani Reisser and Rick Rummler, of which “Angels breakin” is their second release. As the cover explains, the central idea behind Nono Orchestra is to create abstract soundscapes with newly constructed natural instruments, which in this case are a huge steel…
Release data: Hagen – Logos CD, Private Release, 1993 “In my opinion, this privately released recording by Bonn-based German musician Hagen is a remarkable one. The cd itself contains very little additional info, stating that ARP, Hohner, JEM, MFB Moog, Oberheim and Roland instruments were used in the making of the music. The outcome of six tracks is an original…
Release data: Michael Stearns & Ron Sunsinger – Sorcerer CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2000 “Sorcerer”, Michael Stearns’ fourth album in 2000, is a concept album made in collaboration with Ron Sunsinger (“Kiva” and “Singing Stones”). The cd is dedicated to the surrealistic works of the late writer Carlos Castaneda, and is different from the regular releases of Spotted Peccary Music.…
Release data: Rob Essers – A Lizards Walk CD, Cue Records NL, 1997 Those familiar with Rob’s very nice debut album “Raincolors” know TD’s music from 1973-1985 holds a special place in his heart. The linear note on the cd-sleeve says it all: “vintage pieces were prepared to sound just that: vintage”. For “A Lizards Walk” Rob chose to construct…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Vestiges CD, Free Records, 1999 “Vestiges” is the beautiful debut album by Spanish ambient musician Max Corbaxo, who later would start his own label ad21Music with his friend Bruno Sanfilippo. More than once, he has been described as the Spanish Steve Roach, due to the fact that he composes tribal-influenced desert music, although I think…
Release data: Catalin – First Breath CD, AD Music, 1999 “First Breath” is the debut album by Catalin Marin, of which the overall sound carries distinct flavours of Vangelis. The nice booklet contains several Biblical phrases, which lends a certain evangelistic feel to the whole release. The 44:44 minutes are split in eight attractive pieces of which “Opening” strongly ventures…
Release data: AirSculpture – Fjord Transit CD, Neu Harmony Records, 1999 “Fjord Transit” came out rather unexpectedly at E-Live ’99. It contains the music the English trio played at the second Eurosonic Festival on the Swedish island Valo. In all, there are three extended pieces, of which the title track (clocking over 30 minutes) contains lots of nicely sculptured soundscape…