Release data: Solar Fields – EarthShine CD, Ultimae Records, 2007 November 2007 saw the the release of the fifth Solar Fields album “EarthShine”. This time, the Swedish composer Magnus Birgersson presents eight lenghty tracks which are firmly rooted in atmospheric trance music. There’s plenty of melody implemented in the uptempo groove tracks with powerful, straightforward sequencers, pulling the listener deep…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Terra DVD-R, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2006 The audiovisual production “Terra” is a journey into the hidden natural landscapes of New Zealand, which comes with an exclusive ambient soundtrack by Alpha Wave Movement. The dvd contains 37 minutes of beautiful nature footage by Rudy Adrian, who shot some tranquilliscapes” of mountains, forests, and various water…
Release data: Evan Bartholomew – Caverns of Time CD, Somnia, 2007 “Caverns of Time” is the first release on the new Somnia-label, founded by Evan Bartholomew, aka Bluetech. Evan explains the music “explores a mythical journey into subconscious realms, and is an attempt to explore the deep waters through an experience of sound”. The cd contains six free form tracks…
Release data: Deep Sky Divers – Highlands & Skylands CD, Any Robinhood, 2002 “Highlands & Skylands” by David Jones and Jon Short, aka the Brittish duo Deep Sky Divers, is a haunting album filled with highly cinematic music inspired by the beauty and landscape of the Scottish Highlands. The almost hour-long cd contains nine compositions which reflect the passion and…
Release data: Kerry Leimer – The Useless Lesson CD, Palace of Lights, 2007 Mr Leimer explains this cd is comprised of constructed and deconstructed pieces juxtaposed to disclose the contrasts and commonality of organizing and recognizing sound into music. Well, I don’t have the slightest clue what he means by that, but the result is a remarkable form of precision…
Release data: Sunya Beat – The Jelenia Gora Sessions CD, Ricochet Dream, 2005 The music of this cd was recorded live in Jelenia Gora, Poland at Teatr Jeleniogorski during the Ricochet Gathering September 10, 2004. It features Harald Grosskopf and Steve Baltes (from Ashra and Ash Ra Tempel fame)on percussion and synthesizer, plus Axel Heilhecker on guitar. The seven tracks…
Release data: Mark Jenkins – This Island Earth CD, Ricochet Dream, 2006 The 66 minute cd “This Island Earth” comprises music recorded and composed on analogue and digital equipment on various locations on our globe, presented in three suites. For Mark himself, the album is an over flight of compositions and recordings methods which made evolve the art, since the…
Release data: Conrad Schnitzler – Conviction CD, Ricochet Dream, 2006 “Conviction” is a limited edition cd of only 300 copies, released on the American label Ricochet Dream. It’s my first encounter with the hypnotizing, industrial sound experiments of Mr Schnitzler, also known from the Krautrock days of the German band Cluster. Although the cd-sleeve lists 18 different tracks, the music…
Release data: Various Artists –Various Artists – The Collective, Vol. 2 CD-R, SynGate, 2006 “The Collective Vol. 2” is actually the 100th cd-r of the German SynGate label, a double-disc release with 24 different (often unreleased) pieces of music from various musicians. For all fans of modern electronic music, a nice range of music is put forward by e.g. Keller/Schönwälder…
Release data: Telomere – The Stellar Sea CD, Evenfall, 2007 Six years after his second release, Christopher MacDonald aka Telomere presents us his long awaited album “The Stellar Sea”. Like the previous recordings, it is merely composed with the Serge Modular synthesizer (which many in the genre know so well through the music of Michael Stearns and Kevin Braheny), although…
Release data: Harald Nies – Dual Systems CD-R, Syngate, 2007 This album is my second encounter with the music of German musician Harald Nies. I wasn’t satisfied by his 2004 album “Space in Everywhere”, but this time things have improved considerably on behalf of sound and production. “Spacejuggler” begins with tasty, melodic music and a nice sequence, later followed by…
Release data: Realtime – Lights of the Universe CD-R, SynGate, 2007 “Light of the Universe” is the second album of Realtime, aka the Cologne-based musicians Thomas Bock and Norbert Hesnellek, who are joined by Thorsten Sudler-Mainz (aka Deep Imagination). The well composed melodic music on this album offers a nice dose of well proportioned sequencers, which takes the listener “out…
Release data: Stockman – Future Science CD-R, SynGate, 2007 Stockman is actually the Belgium musician Godfried Stockmans, who’s third album “Future Science” is a concept album about the wonders of science. It begins with the 11-minute, two-part “Electricity”, which overall hypnotic sound is bit repetitive to my ears. Fortunately, things improve from the second track on, as the listener steps…
Release data: Michael Meara – The Last Days of Autumn CD-R, Private Release, 2007 Michael Meara’s “The last days of autumn” is an ep of 25 minutes, containing one uninterrupted free form ambient track. The album starts out with warm string textures, which is soon accompanied by nice violin, soft piano and flute. It’s a slow moving piece with a…
Release data: Eric van der Heijden – Da Capo CD, Groove Unlimited, 1998 After seven long years of waiting and ongoing requests from fans for new music, October 1998 finally saw the release of Eric van der Heijden’s second album “Da Capo”. The music on “Da Capo” shows a far stronger influence from the warm music by Vangelis, who’s output…
Release data: Eric van der Heijden – Cosmic Flight No. 3 CD, Groove Unlimited, 2003 “Cosmic Flight no. 3” is Eric’s third album, which was released five years after his great cd “Da Capo”. It actually premiered on E-Live 2003, where Eric also performed live. The music shows a more own style, although his roots can still be detected in…
Release data: Eric van der Heijden – Universal Time Zone CD, Synteam/ Groove Unlimited, 1991/1998 Musician Eric van der Heijden is a close friend of Ron Boots, who met each other at the Klemdag 1989, which actually was the start of a long-time friendship which lasts until today. Ron invited Eric at his home and encouraged him to make more…
Release data: Thomas Ronkin – Symmetric CD, Tristissima Records, 2009 Four years after his very nice debut album “Within: Distance”, Thomas Ronkin presents us the double cd “Symmetric”, featuring strong musical contrasts and nice stereo effects. It also reflects the composer’s fascination with illusions of parallel, alternate realities and visual effects, which is also expresse in the artwork of the…
Release data: Thomas Ronkin – Within; Distance CD, Tristissima Records, 1997 Thomas Ronkin hails from Manhattan Beach, California, who’s music was recommended to me by “Mr A Produce” Barry Craig. Thomas, who seems to have worked with Steve Roach at the begin of the ‘80s, has a background as a classic pianist and video artist, but since quite some time…
Release data: Free System Projekt & Dave Brewer – Ricochet Gathering Okefenokee 2000 CD, Ricochet Dream, 2007 This is actually some kind of re-vamped edition of the same titled cd which was released in 2000 on Groove Unlimited. It now comes as a limited edition digi-pack of only 300 copies from Ricochet Dream, a label started by Vic Rek not…
Release data: Hypnosphere – Magnetism CD, Spheric Music, 2007 This is my first encounter with the music of the German project Hypnosphere, aka Lambert Ringlage (electronic musician and owner of Spheric Music) and Wolfgang Barkowski (aka Alien Nature). The duo describes the 76 minute “Magnetism” as a thematical follow up to their 2003-debut album “Within the Whirl”, which both deal…
Release data: René van der Wouden – Pro Sequentia CD-R, Private Release, 2005 The music on “Pro Sequentia”(which is Latin for the sequential hymns sung by monks and musicians at around the year 1100) of Dutch synthesist René van der Wouden shows a few musical steps forward. Above all, it features a warmer, better produced sound, which makes the general…
Release data: GoGooo – Long, lointain CD, Baskaru, 2007 GoGooo is a music project of the French composer Gabriel Hernadez. “Long, Lointain” (“Long, far”) is a peculiar ambient release with miniature ambient music, assembled with what I would call a whole range of lost and found sounds. The outcome of ten short tracks is derived from field recordings, guitar, melodica,…
Release data: Psicodreamics – The Garden CD-R, Private Release, 2000/2006 Like his album “Mythomusic”, the Spanish musician Salva Moreno aka Psicodreamics also give his 2000-album “The Garden” a proper remastering. The album contains 64 minutes of spiritual, slightly fantasy-like electronic music. There’s a touch of romance to be found in the uplifting textures and choral passages of these modern electronics,…
Release data: Ololiuqui – Other Side of Odra CD, Ricochet Dream, 2007 The beautiful designed “Other Side of Odra” contains a live recording from Ololiuqui, aka the German musician Volker König, at the Ricochet Gathering Poland 2004. The album was released in February 2007 as a limited edition of 300 copies. The music is a sort of psychedelic trance music,…
Release data: Ken Davies – Floating Galaxy CD-R, Pattisan Records, 2007 Ken Davis is a Mississippi based musician, who already got several releases in different genres under his belt. The 70 minute “Floating Galaxy” is his attempt to compose a space music album of elegant, electronic ambient music. The album starts out with the two-fold title track, which sounds very…
Release data: Dan Pound – Tantra Majik CD-R, Private Release, 2007 Dan Pound’s goal with this music is “to help enhance an erotic, meditative state where a couple may find that massage and touch become more intense and absorbing”. What we got here is a kind of sensuous ambient music which Mr Pound classifies as shamanic space music with quiet,…
Release data: Gulan – Prologue CD-R, Private Release, 2007 “Prologue” is a 64 minute compilation cd from the Latvian musician Gulan, aka Andrei Gulaikin, which was released October 8, 2007. The cd contains eleven tracks which range from general melodic to cinematic kindred music. The eight minute opening track “Prologue” offers different tempi while roaming in progressive rock and classical…
Release data: Bernhard – Down on Earth CD-R, Private Release, 1998 “Down on Earth” is the solo debut-album by Bernhard Wöstheinrich, also known as one half of Centrozoon. It contains 37 minutes of meandering ambient music, composed between 1996 and 1998, which breaths an overall pastoral impact. But don’t think this flowing music is that cheesy, as there are quite…
Release data: Syndromeda – A Day in the Fields CD, SinSyn, 2005 Syndromeda (The Synthesizer Syndrome of Andromeda) is the moniker of Belgium synthesist Danny Budts. “A Day in the Fields” is a concept album, which was commissioned by the art centre Hof De Bist museum for an exhibition by Lieve Pettens about the Oude Landen. The latter is a…
Release data: Cymphonic – Strataradialis CD, DataBloem, 2007 “Strataradialis” is the second album by Cymphonic, aka the Dutch ambient sound sculptor and musician Stanley Swinkels. I must confess it took me quite some time and several extra spins in the cd player before I decided to write a review on this remarkable ambient release. The fact that the music created…
Release data: Robert Carty – The Inexplicable CD-R, Private Release, 2000 “The Inexplicable”, by Utah-based musician Robert Carty, is an album that is best classified as ambient-space music. The album last one hour, and starts with the two-fold “Dark and Drifting”, in which quite darkening soundscapes melt with each other. From the third track on, the overall atmosphere seems brighter…
Release data: Amir Baghiri & Wee Bandits – A Brief History of Light CD-R, DataBloem/BlueBox, 2007 “A Brief History of Light” is a concept album by the skilled German musician Amir Baghiri. It was established with the help of a few co-composers, a vocalist on one track, and guest musician Max Corbacho, who lend a hand on the opening track.…
Release data: Robert Carty – Skyhearts CD-R, Private Release, 1994 According to his website, ambient musician Robert Carty seems to have around 30 albums under his belt, of which the biggest part was released on cd-r. “Skyhearts”, subtitled “deep native earth space music”, is his fourth cd, which actually is a very nice one. Carty’s music uses nature sounds quiet,…
Release data: Robert Carty – Natural Wonder CD-R, Private Release, 1992 “Natural Wonder” is one of the first cds of the US-based ambient musician Robert Carty. As I liked his 1994–album “Skyhearts”, I decided to check out this earlier album which came out two years before that. The music contained on this cd is overall quiet and atmospheric, a times…
Release data: Vincent Bruley – Dauphins et Baleines CD, Origins, 1997/2004 “Dauphins et Baleines” is no. 14 out of the series “Collection Oxygène”, which mixes nature sound with electronic music. The cd contains four long tracks, making up for 48 minutes of accessible, dreamy, and most of all relaxing music. Next to the various sounds of dolphins the music just…
Release data: Vincent Bruley – La Nature s’endort CD, Origins, 1997 Well, most of the description of the album “Dauphins et Baleines” also applies to music on “La Nature s’endort”, which is no. 7 of the series “Collection Oxygène”. It features flute next to the electronic orchestration and the various sounds of birds. The music can be compared to the…
Release data: Brain Laughter II – Not Far from a Distant Sun CD, Spotted Peccary Music, 1995 This is the long-awaited second album of Brain Laughter, a project of Howard Givens who’s assisted by nine guest musicians, which includes Steve Roach. “Not far from a Distant Sun” is a typical desert album which takes the listener on an instrumental, cinematic…
Release data: Kevin Braheny – Galaxies (Original Soundtrack Music) CD/MC, Hearts of Space, 1988 Kevin Braheny composed this soundtrack for the Hansen Planetarium-show. “Galaxies” offers some great floating space music which a lot of fans of the genre will like. For the music Kevin applied his self-built Serge Modular synthesizer together with the EWI (Electronic Woodwind Instrument). The latter would…
Release data: Ron Boots – Liquid Structures in Solid Form CD, Groove Unlimited, 2002 “Liquid Structures in Solid Form”, which comes in special metal cd-case, marks Ron’s return to overall analogue sounds. Put in his own words: “it’s like going back ten years in the approach of creating music”. Well, the cd contains six tracks, which kicks off with the…
Release data: Ron Boots – 80’s Box CD, Groove Unlimited, 2000 This six cd-box “80’s Box”, which comes with an extended booklet with lots of information and photo’s. It contains five long out-of-print cassette albums by Dutch musician Ron Boots, all composed before his stunning debut cd “Dreamscape”. For the box, Ron revisited his old albums, which were all carefully…
Release data: Ron Boots – Area Movement CD, Groove Unlimited, 2003 The music of the 2003-album “Area Movement” is the outcome of 1,5 year of hard work. Again, it was assembled, composed and produced in Ron’s own Dreamscape Studio, although Ron received some generous help of his Belgium friend Frank Van Bogaert on the closing track. As the album title…
Release data: Ron Boots – Of Desolate Places And Urban Jungles CD-SINGLE, Amplexus, 1997 Early 1997, Ron Boots was asked to contributed some music to a special project on the Italian Amplexus-label, run by Stefano Gentile. The label released a number of limited and numbered cd-singles, which all were packaged in nice cardboard digipack with beautiful photographs. Of each cd-single,…
Release data: Ron Boots – Detachment of Worldly Affairs CD, Cue Records NL/ Groove Unlimited, 1994/1999 For Dutch musician Ron Boots, the album “Detachment Of Worldly Affairs” is a very personal one. The origins of the music go back to a concert performed at the “Kruimeltheater” in Oldenzaal, where Ron played some new material that became the framework of the…
Release data: Altus – The Grand Expanse DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2007 “The Grand Expanse” by Canadian musician Mike Carss is a symphonic excursion into the endless worlds surrounding the Earth: the cosmos. The music is a well produced, refined and nicely sculptured piece of free floating music made of embracing, warm plains of sound breathing lots of emotion. The…
Release data: RON BOOTS Acoustic Shadows CD, Groove Unlimited, 2006 “Acoustic Shadows” is an amazing concept album by Ron Boots on the theme of war, different war periods and the various reasons which caused them. It is also a tribute to the numerous soldiers that died in numerous useless battles. The album title is derived from “acoustic shadow”, a phenomenon…
Release data: Ron Boots – Different Stories and Twisted Tales CD, Cue Records NL/ Groove Unlimited, 1993/2004 Ron Boots always had a great interest in fantasy and the stories of Tolkien in particular, which partly became a source of inspiration for the music of this album. Well, the outcome is far more lively and dynamic compared to his previous albums,…
Release data: Ron Boots – Ghost of a Mist CD, Cue Records NL/Groove Unlimited, 1991/2002 After the tremendous success of Ron’s debut cd “Dreamscapes”, lots of fans had been eagerly waiting for his next album. “Ghost of a Mist” inhabits influences from Steve Roach, but most of all contains the special and emotional sound of Ron Boots. Since his debut,…
Release data: Ron Boots & Friends – By Popular Demand CD, Cue Records NL/ Groove Unlimited, 1993/1999 “By Popular Demand” is the first live cd by Ron Boots and Friends, which contains photo’s on the cd-sleeve taken by yours truly. The music on it demonstrates what a great vibe happens on stage when Ron and friends start performing live. The…
Release data: René van der Wouden – Altostratus/Cirrostratus CD-R, AmbientLive Records, 2007 Over the years, I got to know a couple of electronic music cds which had clouds as a subject, such as Peter Challoner’s “Music for Cloudwatching” and Kevin Kendle’s “Clouds”. To them, we can add this double album by the Dutch musician René van der Wouden, who recorded…
Release data: Ron Boots – Kees Aerts – Harold van der Heijden – BAH! Live in Sweden CD-R, Groove Unlimited, 1998 “BAH!” is an individually numbered cd-r, containing the original live music (no overdubs, no sound adding) the trio Ron Boots, Kees Aerts and drummer Harold van der Heijden played on June 1, 1998 on the Swedish island Valö during…
Release data: John Kerr & Ron Boots – Offshore Islands CD, Synteam/New World Artists Music / Groove Unlimited, 1990/1998 “Offshore Islands” is a classic album released on Synteam/New World Artists Music in August 1990. On this concept cd, the classic/symphonic oriented style of John Kerr melts with the warm, more cosmic kindred sound textures of Ron Boots. The outcome is…
Release data: Ron Boots – Tainted Bare Skin CD, Groove Unlimited, 1998 “Tainted Bare Skin”, released in October 1998, comes in a yellow cd-case with some very nice photography of Ron’s wife Monique on the cover. The disc contains 70 minutes of music which this time is more accessible. But it is still amazing to see how complex and smart…
Release data: Markus Reuter & Robert Rich – Eleven Questions CD, Unsung Records, 2007 “Eleven Questions”, which comes in a Super Jewel Box packaging, is a collaborative album of ambient musician Robert Rich and ambient guitarist Markus Reuter. The cd contains thirteen tracks (short, concise statements) of overall electro-acoustic and acoustic nature, in which synthesizers only play a minor role.…
Release data: Steve Roach – Fever Dreams III CD, Timeroom Editions, 2007 This is the closing chapter of the “Fever Dreams” project, a double album on which Steve Roach taps another time into the pool of ambient sonic scenery. On his website, Steve describes the album as “psychoactive music for the body, mind and soul” which “expresses a craving to…
Release data: Bernd Kistenmacher – Un viaggio attraverso l’Italia CD, BSC/Prudence, 2001 “Un Viaggio attraverso l’Italia” is the outcome of several visits Bernd Kistenmacher made to Italy during spring and summer 2000. The album contains his performance, which at first glance already made an honest and lush impression on me. Of course one cannot deny some faint influences from the…
Release data: Ron Boots –Ron Boots – Current CD, Cue Records NL / Groove Unlimited, 1997 The album “Current” was presented at the “Truth or Dare” concert of Ron Boots and friends on September 13, 1997 in Eindhoven. The cover looks simple, dark and sober, and musically things have changed a bit as well. The music on this album ventures…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Drifted Into Deeper Lands CD, Groove Unlimited/ Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2000/2007 The music of “Drifted Into Deeper Lands” was inspired by Gregory’s dreams and journeys into the Great Southwestern deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. It contains more extended tracks compared to his previous work, dwelling in a slightly Steve Roach-like ambient style. It…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – Transcendence CD, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 1995/2007 “Transcendence” is actually the first cd by Gregory Kyryluk, aka Alpha Wave Movement. It contains 50 minutes of beautiful, well composed, sculptured and refined electronic music which journeys into great and ambient territory. It features marvellous, soft swelling layers of sound which drift on and off, sometimes nicely…
Release data: Steve Roach – Immersion: Three CD, Projekt, 2007 “Immersion: Three” is the next chapter of the Steve Roach’s Immersion-series. It’s a triple cd released in a very nice looking fold-out dvd digipack limited to 1000 copies. Like the previous two albums, it contains “an ongoing series of long-form, steady state “zones” created specifically as tone meditations for the…