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…
Release data: Project Two Point One – Hydrythmix CD, Groove Unlimited, 1996/2004 The two musicians behind Project TWO Point ONE are no other than Ron Boots and Bas Broekhuis. This first cd-version of the same titled double mc from 1989, which was released in fall of 1996. The music is the same as on the tape, although Ron’s track “Rivers”…
Release data: Richard Bone – Infinite Plastic Creation CD, Quirkworks Laboratory Discs, 2007 September 10th 2007 saw the release of “Infinite Plastic Creation”, which comes with a beautiful designed cd booklet. The press–release describes it as an exquisite new work of primarily rhythmic ambience, created during a period composer Richard Bone was going through a time of personal crisis and…
Release data: Alpha Wave Movement – The Regions Between CD-R, Harmonic Resonance Recordings, 2007 Gregory Kyryluk, aka Alpha Wave Movement, also started digging his back catalogue, of which this disc is the nice outcome. “The Regions Between” is a 48-minute compilation album, containing unreleased tracks 2001-2006. In addition, Gregory has included some liner notes on all tracks in the booklet.…
Release data: Ulrich Schnauss – Far away trains passing by CD, Domino, 2001/2005 This is the first release of the skilled German ambient musician Ulrich Schnauss. Listening to the stunning music on “Far Away Trains passing by” is a great experience, as it feels like a movie-experience . The album contains six tracks of warm, nicely layered textures, rhythms and…
Release data: Dan Pound – Dream Spaces CD-R, Private Release, 2007 Dan Pound is an American, classically trained musician hailing from Santa Rosa, California. The last couple of years he specialized to composing ambient electronic and new age like music, and built quite a catalogue of privately composed and released works. “Dream Spaces” is a work of introspection, in which…
Release data: Mark Biehl – Landscapes CD, Acuity Soundworks, 1999 “Landscapes” is the debut cd from the American composer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Biehl. It embraces the mind travel theme, which serves to take listeners on an invigorating musical journey to distant lands and exotic places, described in detail in the full-colour booklet. “Landscapes” contains a varied range of cinematic, adventurous and ethnic…
Release data: Ron Boots – Too Many Secrets CD, Groove Unlimited, 1994 “Too Many Secrets” was originally released as a cd-r in 1994. It was a limited edition of only 50 copies by Nik Tyndall on his Real Space Music-series, sold for around 80 Dutch guilders. As far as I know, Ron never liked limited editions, but here he got…
Release data: Ron Boots – Screaming Whispers CD, Cue Records NL, 1996 The music on the album “Screaming Whispers” marks a change in the style of music Ron Boots has followed until now. The overall sound is more daring, adventurous and rhythmic, featuring a bit less pumping sequencers and percussion as heard on previous albums. The warm, varied atmospheres have…
Release data: Richard Bone – The Spectral Ships CD, Hypnos Recordings, 1998 As far as I know, this is the ninth cd of the American musician Richard Bone, but his first release on the dark ambient label Hypnos. “The Spectral Ships” is a non-rhythmic abstract recording, featuring dense, foreboding textures which occasionally blend with some lighter, spacy soundscapes, creating an…
Release data: Richard Bone – The Eternal Now CD, Quirkworks Laboratory Discs, 1996 Richard Bone’s fully instrumental album “The Eternal Now” is divided in two parts: “Zone” and “The Millennium Pages”. The musical approach is rather industrial/ambient, and I wouldn’t call the music “warm” either. Especially the experimental passages in the first part were getting on my nerves as they…
Release data: A Blue Ocean Dream – The Sea CD-R, Private Release, 2002 “The Sea” is the first release of the Swedish musician Owe Emfestav, who formerly made techno-trance music with a Kraftwerk-touch. The music itself was made with Reason 2.0 software without the use of any hardware instruments. “The Sea” contains slight techno-trance rhythms, but handled in an atmospheric,…
Release data: Chris Bocast – Through the Airlock CD, Private Release, 2004 “Through the Airlock” is described as a sci-fi ambient minimalist journey” by Colorado-based musician Chris Bocast, who utilizes e-guitar, ebow, piano and moog. The twelve tracks shapeshift from rather eerie, transitional pieces (happily enough these are the shorter ones) to overall flowing, textural music. I’m not fond of…
Release data: Michael Thomas Berkley – Arctic CD, Numinous Records, 2000 This is the second cd by Mr Berkley, who’s debut album “Images from Earth” impressed me a lot. “Arctic” is a concept album inspired by the Canadian Ellesmere islands, and consists of highly cinematic music describing these remote plains. There are eleven tracks, including “Ellesmere Island pt I-IV”, which…
Release data: Sleepresearch_facility – Deep Frieze CD, Cold Spring, 2007 I actually discovered this album through a recent electronic newsletter of Steve Roach, who recommended it a lot. After I heard it, I absolutely agree with him. “Deep Frieze” is the third album by the English composer Kevin Doherty, aka SleepResearch_Facility, but his second one for the UK-label Cold Spring.…
Release data: Centrozoon – Lovefield CD, Unsung Records, 2007 “Lovefield” is an ambient/experimental album by Centrozoon, aka Bernhard Wöstheinrich (fm synthesizers) and Markus Reuter (guitar), which seems all about improvisation. This is not an easy album, as the five tracks just seem to realm in chaos, fx’s and experimentalism. And although I did my best, I couldn’t detect much structure…
Release data: Can Atilla – Ave CD, EAT, 1999 “Ave”, which came out in Spring 1999, is the work of the Turkish musician Can Atilla. The album was privately released on the EAT-label (Essers Audio Tools) by the Dutch musician Rob Essers, who himself composed some great music which seems to pay tribute to Tangerine Dream’s 80’s music. Well, Mr…
Release data: Ashera – We Gaia CD, Private Release, 2002 “We Gaia” is the fourth tour-de-force of Australian-based ambient-composer Anthony Asher Wright. His both peaceful as intimate music still holds strong influences of Harold Budd and Brian Eno, and that approach hasn’t changed for this new album. The lengthy album, divided in eleven tracks, lingers on just over 77 minutes…
Release data: Alien Nature – Anna CD-R, Syngate, 2006/2007 “Anna” is the second album by the German musician Wolfgang Barkowski, aka Alien Nature, but also known as one half of the project Hypnosphere. To me, it’s an album with a typical German sound. It features whale and environmental sounds, which are melted with contemporary, fairly melodic and accessible electronica. When…
Release data: Ashera – Cobalt 144 CD, Private Release, 1999 “Cobalt 44” is Ashera’s second album, on which Antonia Asher Wright nicely continues the same kind of music he presented on his debut “Ambient Selections”, as the strong influence of Brian Eno is still to be heard. The almost 70 minutes of music consists of introspective ambient soundscapes in which…
Release data: Ashera – Ambient Selections CD, Private Release, 1997 Ashera is the artist name of the Australian musician Antonio Asher Wright. “Ambient Selections” is his great looking debut album, a double cd, which comes as a digipack. It contains music on which he worked about seven years. Antonio states his music is strongly influenced by the output of Brian…
Release data: Tangerine Dream – DM 2.1 CD, Moonpop, 2007 Jerome Froese was responsible for the production of all ten tracks on “DM 2.1”, the first ever compilation of the “Dream Mixes” series. This part, mine is a special edition with a red cd, contains back catalogue tracks from “Dream Mixes” one and two selected by Jerome, including two previously…
Release data: Arcane – Alterstill CD, Neu, 2001 “Alterstill” is the third album by Arcane, aka Paul Lawler, and again it’s a great one. The fantastic retro style has remained, featuring engaging melodic sequencer music in which echoes of TD’s album “Encore” and alike is masterfully melted with their music of the ‘80s, such as “Logos”. The tracks are quite…
Release data: Vincent Gabriel Antonini – Unforeseen CD-R, Under The Eave, 2002 Listening to the music on the very atmospheric album “Unforeseen” feels like visual introspection. Mr. Antonini’s sophisticated blend of electronic and acoustic sounds create a very dense atmosphere in which a lot is going on. Sometimes melancholic and semi-dark in nature, you still remain the feeling that there…
Release data: Alquimia & Rüdiger Gleisberg – Garden of Dreams CD, BSC/Prudence, 2005 “Garden of Dreams” is a collaborative effort of the female singer Alquimia and German symphonic keyboarder Rüdiger Gleisberg (known from Solitaire and his solo-albums). It’s a poetic rendered vehicle featuring angelic choirs and lots of classic string-arrangements in all eleven tracks. Sometimes, the music turns rather fairytale-like,…
Release data: Alemis – The Music of Alemis Vol. 1 CD-R, Private Release, 2002 “The Music of Alemis Vol. 1” is a collection of eight soundscape miniatures by ambient musician Peter Salemi. The first four have an emotive yet slight new-age feel, but never getting too soft. Opener “The Enchanted Brook” is a introspective track combining bubbling water sounds with…
Release data: AirSculpture – Quark Soup CD, Neu Harmony, 2001 This is a double cd from the English trio Airsculpture, which only contains live material. What they acchieve live-on-stage is always something surprising, as their Berliner School inspired music relies a lot on improvisation. The first cd of “Quarksoup” contains the complete, very strong live set they performed on E-Live…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – SubAntarctica (Atmospheric Works Vol.1) CD-R, Private Release, 1999 This cd-r contains the original soundtrack for the national exhibition “Art in the Sub-Antarctic”, which Rudy Adrian composed as a commissioned work for the Southland Art Gallery & Museum. The project involved sending a dozen artists to the uninhabited islands halfway between New Zealand and the South…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Dreamresources CD, Neuronium Records, 2002 On “Dreamresources”, released on Michel Huygen’s (aka Neuronium) Spanish label Neuronium records, Amir Baghiri tried to melt relaxing, rather strange and mystic natural (re)sources of sound into a kind of background music. The general response on his performance at E-Live 2002 festival was his music sounded a bit too much…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Yalda CD-R, Vivo Records, 2003 This time, it’s the Polish Vivo-Records that has put out Baghiri’s album “Yalda” on de market. “Yalda” is Persian for the longest, darkest night of the year, in which various religious ceremonies take place. Amir himself describes the album as “a new trip in the mystic and hidden world of…
Release data: Amir Baghiri & Mathias Grassow – True North CD, Arya-Amplexus, 1998 On this concept cd, Amir Baghiri joined forces with his musical pal Mathias Grassow, who already made music together on the nice album “Arcanum”. Mr Grassow is known for his extensive use of ongoing, minimal, drone-like soundscapes, which he again presents on this album. These are counter…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Time CD, Arya-Amplexus, 1998 “Time” is the second solo cd from Amir Baghiri. Again, the outcome is an interesting one, proving he’s not a one-day fly. His tribal ambient music is often compared to the music of Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana, but when one listens more carefully there’s a strong personal trademark as well.…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Cages CD, NO-CD, 1997 “Cages” is the debut album by German/Iran musician Amir Baghiri. I remember I’ve seen his name appear as guest musician on a Solitaire album, beside the fact he made the impressive cd “Arcanum”, a joint venture with his musical companions Mathias Grassow en Rüdiger Gleisberg. Well, “Cages” is a professional piece…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Bluebox Collection CD, Arya-Amplexus, 2000 “Bluebox Collection” is the long-awaited cd box from the sympathetic German/Iran ambient musician Amir Baghiri. It contains four cds, all clocking over 70 minutes, which all reflect their own character and sphere: “City”, “Live”, “Night” and “Sleep”. The first cd “City” (also the oldest recording of the set) is a…
Release data: Amir Baghiri – Winterscape CD, NO-CD, 1999 For “Winterscape”, Amir again has chosen the ambient-oriented path in which he succeeded in reminding me of some tribal/soundscape material of Steve Roach’s “Dreamtime Return” in some parts. “Winterscape” has an overall organic feel, beginning with thrilling sequencers and catchy soundscapes, before moving into deeper dwellings and darker atmospheres, in which…
Release data: Stephen Bacchus – Pangaea CD, Oasis Productions, 1990/1991 “Pangaea” is the debut cd of Stephen Bacchus on the Canadian Oasis-label. Stephen, who plays synthesizers, is joined by quite a list of fellow-musicians (one of them is Ron Korb on flute) who play a variety of exotic instruments. The music on this album is no pure electronic music, but…
Release data: Stephen Bacchus – Ambient Origins CD, Oasis/Mirage, 1998 This cd, subtitled “Collected early works 1983-1987”, was released in The Time Capsule Series of the ambitious Canadian Oasis sub-label Mirage. It’s an retrospective work out of the kitchen of Stephen Bacchus, who has released three other cds on Oasis, but this one has undergone the 20-bit Technology treatment. From…
Release data: Michael Thomas Berkley – Images from Earth CD, Numinous Records, 1998 To me, the 26- year old Michael Thomas Berkley who hails from Oregon, is a new name in the genre of contemporary instrumental and electronic music. It seems this debut album “Images from Earth” created quite a fuzz on the other side of the ocean when it…
Release data: Brendan Pollard – Flux Echoes CD, Private Release, 2007 “Flux Echoes”, the second release of Brendan Pollard, premiered at “E-Live 2007”, which again is prove of a solid recording. Fact is, that all who love TD’s great analogue music from the’70 (as heard on “Rubicon”, “Richocet” and “Encore”) will surely get their hands on a copy of “Flux…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – Kinetic Flow (Sequencer Sketches Vol. 1) CD, Groove Unlimited, 2000 Rudy’s two sequencer pieces on his previous overall atmospheric album “Twilight” must have made quite an impression at Groove Unlimited , as they have released “Kinetic Flow” (subtitled Sequencer Sketches Vol. 1). Well, I’m sure this sequencer album will please a wide range of music…
Release data: Rudy Adrian – Twilight (Atmospheric Works Vol. 2) CD-R, Private Release, 1998 David Parsons was kind to get me in touch with this musician hailing from New Zealand’s south island, whose full name actually is Rudy Adrian Hueting. Originally, “Twilight” (Atmospheric Works Vol. 2) was only meant for friends and relatives, but it appeared there was some distinct…
Release data: Nathan Youngblood – Asunder CD, SteveRoach.com, 2007 This the second cd in Steve Roach’s series devoted to bringing high-quality essential cd releases from the deep end of the soundcurrent. It is composed by one Nathan Youngblood, who got the opportunity to release this non-rhythmic ambient sound dwelling under the wings of this ambient master. If I’m correct, some…
Release data: Brian Parnham – Mantle CD, SteveRoach.com, 2007 “Mantle” is a 73 minute atmospheric ambient work from talented ambient musician Brian Parnham, which music has been privately released by Steve Roach, and who also did the refined, exquisite production of it. As a matter of fact, it is the first cd in Steve Roach’s series devoted to bringing high-quality…