Release data: Stephen Parsick – Rhizophora -music for mangroves- CD-R, Private Release, 2009 “Rhizophora” is another atmospheric and overall deep ambient recording by Stephen Parsick, again released as a very limited edition. From his notes I learned the music was originally premiered and performed by [‘ramp] at the geräuschwelten festival in April 2006. As the live performance didn’t work out…
Release data: Ashen Simian – Omicron in Ostrobothnian Finsternis CD-R, Retroduction, 2009 This cd is actually the first solo effort of Nemesis-member Ami Hassinen, who decided to use the pseudonym and anagram Ashen Simian for this purpose. The release compiles archival and unfinished compositions from several years, which Ami has edited, re-recorded, and mixed at the end of 2008. The…
Release data: Martin Carradus – Analog CD-R, Toffeetones, 2009 English musician Martin Carradus is the lucky owner of an extensive range of vintage synthesizers and effects, who is describes as a guys who brings the golden age of analogue back to the future. One might expect some nice things will be happening when one has such a collection, so how…
Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – Between Two Worlds CD, Private Music, 1987 “Between Two Worlds” is the second album of contemporary electronic composer and musician Patrick O’Hearn, whose debut album “Ancient Dreams” received lots of airplay and positive responses from the electronic music community. This time, the cd has an acceptable playing time of 48 minutes, of which the further…
Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – Ancient Dreams CD, Private Music, 1985 “Ancient Dreams” is the debut album by bassist and synthesist Patrick O’Hearn, which would soon become a favourite of many fans in the electronic music genre, together with its follow-up album “Between Two Worlds”. Nicely kicked of by the lovely soundings of “At First Light”, the dynamic music, in…
Release data: Patrick O’Hearn – So Flows the Current CD, Private Release, 2000 After being out of sight for quiet some years (except being a contributor to Steve Roach’s concept cd “The Ambient Expanse”), composer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick O’Hearn shows up again with a new, privately released album. In contrast to the overall electronic works on Private Music and Deep…
Release data: Parallel Worlds – Shade CD, DiN, 2009 “Shade” is the fifth release of Greek electronic musician Bakis Sirros, aka Parallel Worlds, which is the studio follow-up to the album “Obsessive Surrealism”. Bakis himself considers the outcome as his “most technically-advanced work” in terms of the use of his large collection of modular synths. Although there is a distinct…
Release data: Stephen Parsick – Cambrium – music for protozoa CD-R, Private Release, 2009 The biggest part of the dark dronescape music on “Cambrium” was played live by Stephen Parsick during a concert at Bochum planetarium on December, 13th, 2008, although the concept and the shape of the music had been in his mind for a couple of years. For…
Release data: Various Artists – Soundscape Gallery 2 CD, Lektronik Soundscapes, 1998 This is the second instalment of the small American Lektronik label, which nicely follows in the footsteps of its predecessor. The outcome is a well-balanced collection of ambient/space music by Michael Stearns, Alpha Wave Movement, Jeff Pearce, Meg Bowles, Michel Huygen, the trio Gleisberg/Grassow/Baghiri, Caul, Hans Christian en…
Release data: Various Artists – Soundscape Gallery Series One CD, Lektronik Soundscapes, 1996 “Soundscape Gallery Series One” comprises some excellent, not previously released ambient/space tracks by Jonn Serrie, Todd Fletcher, A Produce, Giles Reaves, Vidna Obmana, Robert Rich, Tony Gerber en Steve Roach. Although sticking to their own style, all musicians give their best to deliver an atmospheric, introspective and…
Release data: Michael Garrison – Point of Impact CD, Windspell Records/ Garrisongs Music, 1983 I personally feel the album “Point of Impact” is the best and most versatile album by Oregon-based musician Michael Garrison, who sadly died on March 24, 2004. His energy-powered, strong analogue-flavoured and sequencer-dominated music has its own trademark, although one can hear influences by Klaus Schulze…
Release data: Steve Roach & Vidna Obmana – Cavern of Sirens CD, Projekt Records, 1997 “Cavern of Sirens” is the follow-up of the duo’s previous album “Well of Souls”, again nicely packaged in a fold-out digipack containing beautiful artwork by Dirk Serries wife Martine Verhoeven. The overall atmosphere on the 72-minute “Cavern of Sirens” is one of darker textures and…
Release data: Steve Roach – On this Planet CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1997 After several collaborative albums, “On this Planet” is a solo-release by Steve Roach, whose goal it was to capture the live-spirit and “on-the-edge concert explorations” in the studio. Well, the 73-minute outcome (featuring material developed for and through Roach’s 1997-tour) is overwhelming and well done, as one…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Deconstructing Silence CD-R, Private Release, 2009 Peter’s short line about the album on his website says “live studio recordings of improvisations. Chilled ambient textural layers of sound”. As one can imagine with such a title, the Eno-esque music of “Deconstructing Silence” is of a serene, quiet, retrospective nature. In all its offers 78 minutes of…
Release data: Claude Chemin – Esthésies CD, Crystal Lake, 1994 This is one of the two self-released releases by the French electronic music community Crystal Lake. “Esthésies” offers eight long form tracks of slightly experimental oriented ambient music in which flavours of Brian Eno (“On Land”) vidna Obmana, Robert Rich and Steve Roach are apparent. The slowly moving free form…
Release data: Steve Roach – The Magnificent Void CD, Hearts of Space/Fathom, 1996 “The Void,” wrote metaphysician Stanislav Grof, “exists beyond form of any kind. While being a source of everything it cannot be itself derived from anything else. It is beyond space and time.” This idea became the core concept of the vast interior landscape album “The Magificent Void”,…
Release data: Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Hemispheres CD-R, DiNDDL, 2009 On invitation of the German Schallwende Club, 27th September 2008 saw Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich perform together for the first time at the Bochum Planetarium, Bochum, Germany. Both musician previously collaborated on “Moiré” (2005) while Mr Wöstheinrich appeared on the DiN releases “Blast” by Centrozoon and “Präposition”…
Release data: Polaris – Background Stories CD, Ricochet Dream, 2008 Polaris hails from Poland, and is an electronic music studio project by Jakub Kmieć. The accessible and overall energetic music of his fourth album “Background Stories”, which is released as a limited digipak edition of only 300 copies, pays tribute to the sound of the Berliner School with its bright…
Release data: Don Slepian – Sea of Bliss CD-R, Private release, 1980 This in fact is a fully remastered version of the classic album Don Slepian made at the start of the ‘80s. At that time, it created quite a buzz in the electronic music scene as is was played a lot at Stephen Hill’s Music from the Hearts of…
Release data: Slow Dancing Society – Priest Lake Circa ’88 CD, Hidden Shoal Recordings, 2008 Slow Dancing Society is a project of Washington-based musician and producer Drew Sullivan, who’s music is released through the Australian independent music label Hidden Shoal Recordings. “Priest Lake Circa ’88”, his third full-length album, is filled with gentle and warm ambient music and glistening guitars,…
Release data: Robert Carty – Starlight Volume 1 CD-R, Deep Sky Music, 2008 Ambient/space musician Robert Carty has started a new series of musical explorations under the moniker Starlight, which (as he writes) began with an attempt to create a work with a “space” theme. Well, he has succeeded well, as this eight-track album (composed in December 2008) offers some…
Release data: Steve Roach – Pure Flow CD, Timeroom Editions, 2001 “Pure Flow” (Timeroom Editions Collection 1), the seventh release on Steve Roach’s own label Timeroom Editions, offers “an essential flow of atmospheric soundscapes” made over the years. Initially provided as a free gift until the end of 2001 to all fans who ordered music through his site, the cd…
Release data: Steve Roach – Structures from Silence CD, Fortuna Records/Projekt Records, 1984/2001 “Structures from Silence” was recorded in 1983 and 1984, a time that Steve Roach was living in Culver City, California. The mood music on this classic recording (originally released on audio cassette, soon attracting the attention of Fortuna Records) is perfectly suitable to put the busy mind…
Release data: Steve Roach – Darkest before Dawn CD, Timeroom Editions, 2002 The press-sheet described this music as a “minimal, immersive sound environment” and “a deep zoneworld of glacial movement and magma-like flow”. In my opinion it most of all is a kind of introductory portal to Steve’s album “Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces”. Created in The Timeroom in September…
Release data: Constance Demby – Novus Magnificat CD, Hearts of Space, 1986 In the middle of the ’80s, classically trained female composer Constance Demby made a major work of contemporary classical spacemusic that is still regarded a monumental work in the genre until this very day. “Novus Magnificat”, propelling the listener deep into space and other dimensions, was made on…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Taste It CD, Spheric Music, 2009 Since a couple of years, composer Robert Schroeder has found a new publishing home at Lambert Ringlage’s Spheric music, which releases both his solo releases as well as the albums he makes under the moniker Food for Fantasy. “Taste it” kicks off with the 9-minute title track in a…
Release data: Psicodreamics – Fantasynth CD-R, Private Release, 2009 I must say the chosen title of this album by Salva Moreno (aka Psicodreamics) is a blunder, although I like the nice Gothic cover art in which the cd is wrapped. The 13 instrumentals on “Fantasynth” are again inspired by fantasy tales and mythology, but this time they are more up-tempo…
Release data: ESE – Entheogenic Sound Explorers – The Other Door CD-R, DataBloem, 2009 ESE, Entheogenic Sound Explorers, are the Milano-based musicians Stefano Contini and Piero Marchesi. “The Other Door”, which is the duo’s second release, contains 50 minutes of crispy, warm and organic infused ambient with psychedelic flavours, all presented in a clear, transparent sound spectrum. Next to melodic…
Release data: Monolake – Hongkong CD, Chain Reaction, 1997 In the middle of the ‘90’s, Monolake (aka the German duo Robert Henke Gerhard Behles) released the album “HongKong”, which had been out of print for quite a while. Put out as the fourth album in a series of metal cases, it contained tracks made between 1995 and 1997. They were…
Release data: Steve Roach & Vidna Obmana – Spirit Dome / Live Archive CD, Projekt, 2009 This value-priced double album is a re-release of two recordings which have been unavailable for quite a while. “Live Archive” was originally released in 2000 on Groove Unlimited. Steve and vidna were together on tour in 1997, doing a whole series of concerts in…
Release data: Clifford White – Ascension CD, New World Music, 1985 “Ascension” is the debut release of UK-based musician Clifford White, who composed the music when he was 17 years old. Until now, it sold over 50.000 copies worldwide, making it a bestseller in the genre. Often referred to as England’s answer to the music of Kitaro, the nine tracks…
Release data: Purfoze – Songs of the Earth CD-R, Rhea Music, 1984/2008 The Belgian cosmic music group Purfoze was founded in the late seventies by Ruud Rondou and Mark Creemers, Mark De Wit joined them in 1977. Between 1982 and 1989, the band, known for their warm analogue sound, would perform various projects for which they only used analogue synthesizers.…
Release data: Michael Neil – The Tempest and other tales CD-R, Private release, 2002 In 2000, composer Michael Neil was commissioned to write the incidental music for the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of “The Tempest”, to mark the 70th anniversary Cornwall’s Minack Theatre in 2002. This event, staged in the summer of that year, brought the composer to wider…
Release data: Solar Fields – Movements CD, Ultimae Records, 2009 Swedish producer Magnus Birgersson, aka Solar Fields, wrote his sixth album “Movements” in the same period when he was composing a score for the interactive in-game score for Electronic Arts video game “Mirror’s Edge”. Was the heavy trance-dance music of his previous album “EarthShine” a completely different story, the musical…
Release data: James Murray – Where Edges Meet CD, Ultimae Records, 2008 “Where Edges Meet” is the debut release from British composer James Murray. James Murray is a London-based electro-acoustic sound artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist, who’s productions weave together elements of electronica, downtempo, jazz and dub in emotive explorations of how the organic and electronic interact. “Where Edges Meet”, which…
Release data: Michael Neil – Dies Irae CD-R, Private Release, 1997 The music on “Dies Irae” can be described as modern classical/orchestral in the realm of Penderecki, Arvo Part and alike. The album contains five tracks, opening with the almost 30-minute “Dies Irae”, which starts as silent music (the first five minutes of the track), followed by freeform darkening textures.…
Release data: Michael Neil – The Constellations CD-R, Private Release, 2001 “The Constellations” a spacey album (as the title suggests) and in fact a companion piece to Michael Neil’s release “Towards the Unknown Region”. It’s planetarium music, although containing rather short, fragmentary and the music itself sounds less melancholic to me compared to the outcome on most of Neil’s other…
Release data: Michael Neil – Moments of Heaven CD-R, Private Release, 1998 “Moments of Heaven” is a grand piece of work by English musician Michael Neil, of which the music sounds similar to his album “Cornubia”, but the outcome is more impressionistic and orchestral. The six-track albums opens with the major 34-minute title track, a great track of delicately sculptured…
Release data: Mind over Matter – Indian Meditation II CD, da Music, 2006 As the first album “Indian Meditation” was a big seller for the label, a second album under the same moniker was compiled Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock. Apart from one track from the album “On the Wings of the Wind”, all tracks on this cd are actually previously unreleased. The…
Release data: Mind over Matter – Indian Meditation CD, da Music, 2005 The music of Mind over Matter, aka Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock, has always been heavenly influenced by the music from India, a country he travelled a lot. “Indian Meditation” offers eight tracks, which are actually remixes of music from the first nine IC albums. For this purpose, Klaus chose appropriate…
Release data: Javi Cánovas – Eigenspaces CD-R, Neu Harmony, 2008 I can be brief about this release, as the music and overall approach of “Eigenspaces” doesn’t differ that much from what is found on his previous albums. Still firmly rooted in the Berliner School style, nice, fat sequencer lines are still dominant next to elegant soloing. But this time I’m…
Release data: Jeffrey Koepper – Luminosity CD, Air Space Records, 2009 On the threshold of the new year, I received the fourth album of “AnalogueJeff” Koepper which is due for mid-January 2009. With “Luminosity”, Jeffrey Koepper wanted to explore ambient emotional places. To achieve this, he made each track a unique atmospheric landscape on which he wanted the electronic textures…
Release data: Axess – Voices of Dawn CD, Spheric Music, 2008 If I’m right, “Voices of Dawn” is the fourth album by German synthesist Axel Stupplich, aka Axess, who’s also known as a member of the band Pyramid Peak. The album, released on December 8th 2008, contains seven accessible tracks of traditional instrumental and typically German sounding electronic music blending…
Release data: Ran Kirlian – Elements in Motion CD-R, Private Release, 2003 This release from Spanish ambient composer Ran Kirlian is another long form journey encompassing dark landscapes and ideas, taking the listener on an extended trip of 78 minutes. As Kirlian explained to me, synthesizers aren’t that prominent compared to his other recordings, they act more as support for…
Release data: Ran Kirlian – Sleeper CD-R, Private Release, 2003 The album “Sleeper” was born from two large floating sessions the Spanish ambientmusician Ran Kirlian recorded in the summer of 2003. Both are based on pure improvisation, with some treated field recordings played randomly. Later on, as Kirlian ran over the recordings, he added voice, some additional sounds and grooves…
Release data: Ran Kirlian – Melting Point CD-R, Private Release, 2001 Ran Kirlian is a Spanish ambientmusician who I came across surfing the site of Max Corbacho. Kirlian started loving ambient at the start of the ’90’s after he heard Steve Roach’s concept-albums “Western Spaces” and “Desert Solitaire”. In 2000 he started to explore his own musical pathways, and after…
Release data: Diatonis – An Abstract View CD-R, Private Release, 2008 Many starting elements on this album where created by Stuart White (aka Diatonis) after he came home from visiting abandoned townships, an extended walk, or a long drive. The sonic content of “An Abstract View” has moved away from previously executed dense and darkening soundscapes. It now focusses on…
Release data: Dave Luxton & Aaron Gates – Futurus CD, Wayfarer Records, 2008 “Futurus” is a concept album of electronic musicians Dave Luxton and Aaron Gates, which initially started with the goal of creating musical representations of prominent themes that the future might hold for life on planet Earth. Each artist contributed solo compositions to the album, the last three…
Release data: Numina & Stephen Philips – Descent of The Falcon CD-R, Dark Duck Records, 2008 “Descent of the Falcon”, listed as part one of two releases, is a recording taken out of massive six hour live collaborative jam in May 2008 between Stephen Philips and Jesse Sola at Jesse’s Denver-based Mysterium studio. The 61-minutes of music presented here is…
Release data: Australis – The Gates of Reality CD, Essential Noises, 2008 It took Australis, aka Oscar Aguayo, three years to compose a follow-up to his debut-album “Lifegiving”. For the new project, Oscar collaborated with young poet Virginia Luna, Andean musician/singer Alvaro Aguayo, composer/producer Roger Subirana, and singers Mornie Sims and Rebecca Farraway, which resembles the path of Amethystium took…
Release data: David Parsons – Earthlight CD, Celestial Harmonies, 2008 About “Earthlight”, David states there’s nothing particularly special about the music, as its just a continuing evolution of what he does. He had, of late, preferred to use synthesisers almost exclusively over samplers and therefore this release is almost 100% “synthetic”, or in other words almost no natural ingredients. To…
Release data: Numina – Sound Symbols CD, NuminaMusic Recordings, 2008 The first shapes of this album were put down almost three years ago as the “Almost Live” project for the Ambient Ping download project. Over the years, Jessa Sola (aka Numina) expanded the outcome with the intention of releasing it as a full-length album. As life got in the way,…
Release data: Brunette Models – Last Poem CD, Generator.pl, 2008 The musican behind Brunette Models is one Piotr Krzyzanowski of which “Last Poem” is his fifth release. It’s a work of edgy atmospheric ambient with crispy elements, offering a strange combination of occasional female voices, down-tempo break beats, dreamy textures and experimental/abstract sonic outings. Despite several harmonious chords and contemplative…
Release data: Robert Fox – Evergreen CD, AD Music, 2008 I was very impressed by Robert’s previous album “Adonai”, so I had high hopes for “Evergreen”, a 65-minute concept album inspired by his homeland England. What we got here is a kind of sonic storytelling, for which Robert focussed on his melodic, accessible and overall gentle style of composing. Next…
Release data: Steve Roach & Erik Wøllo – Stream of Thought CD, Projekt, 2009 “Stream of Thought” is the long-awaited outcome of these two skilled musicians, of which the first drafts were already put down in 2007. Spanning exactly 70 minutes, this “continuous stream of sonic conciousness in 19 parts” is a complex, emotionally charged and very diverse sound painting.…
Release data: Tomasz Zawadzinski – Follow Me CD, Generator.Pl, 2008 The Polish Generator PL label must have a lot of faith in the music of Thomasz Zawadzinski as “Follow Me” is the musician’s second release this year. On the other hand, the moody and well produced music of this guy is made up of nicely layered textural, highly cinematic soundscapes…
Release data: David Helpling & Jon Jenkins – Treasure CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 2007 “Treasure” took over six years in the making, but is certainly worth the wait as it offers the best of both worlds from these skilled musicians. Its musical content is highly cinematic, ranging from beautiful ethereal soundscapes to rhythmic spiced compositions. There’s a nice flow recognizable…
Release data: David Helpling & Jon Jenkins – Beyond Words CD, Deep Exile Music, 2008 “Beyond Words” -subtitled “rare live treasures”– contains six tracks originally from the duo’s 2007 release “Treasure”, but now recorded at a live concert on August 25, 2008 at the University of California San Diego. The album is released as a limited edition of 1000 pieces…
Release data: Max Corbacho – BreathStream CD, Private Release, 2008 “BreathStream” is the first of a series of releases made available as digital download only. The sonic content is described by the Max Corbacho as “seven atmospheric spaces built out of synthetic textures and floating harmonies” which also graced the previous album “The Talisman”. This 73-minute work indeed is a…
Release data: Acheloo – Ishtar CD-R, AD Music, 2008 On “Ishtar” (the follow-up album to “Sirens”) Carlo Luzi intended to deepen his search for the sound, getting closer to the essence and the core of sounds in a more minimalist style. On the concept, Carlo explained the dualist aspect continues as well: the beneficent goddess and terrifying demon at the…