Sanderson Dear - "A Place For Totems" (extended version) (6:10)
Review: Sanderson Dear's Stasis Recordings released the original Time Capsule compilation in 2020 - a 20-track exploration of ten different ambient techno artists exploring two ideas each in compact form for a box set of 7"s. Now the label has revisited some of the project's standout moments and offered a chance to enjoy extended versions gathered on a single 12". From Maps Of Hyperspace shaping out atmospheric halls of synth work on 'Beta' to Glo Phase offering some gorgeous, sparkling grooves on 'Fire Flies', there's plenty of ground covered on this release. Of course the mighty John Beltran is a big drawer too, and his typically stellar 'The Descendent' doesn't disappoint in its full extended version.
Review: Despite the title sounding like an archive collection, 1994 is actually the debut album from OKRAA. It has an emphasis on live performance and makes for a gorgeously immersive and even evolving listen from the aways excellent A Strangely Isolated Place label. All four pieces are over with minutes but they are worthy of their playing time for the way so much unfolds in such engaging fashion. Synths are cold and innocent on 'Ola De Luz' while 'Heartless' is more textural, dark, heavy in its mood. The title track is another heavy and introspective one while 'Plasma' has a more optimistic feel that lifts the spirts.
Review: Motor City great Omar S is not just a don when it comes to programming drums and laying down his irresistible synth lines and heart aching melodies. He can also play a wide array of instruments, and in fact does just that here as he plays all instruments played you can hear across all three cuts of this new one on his FXHE label. Things kick off with the wonderful 'Featuring Omar S (instrumental)' and then 'Sayoungaty Nig' is a hazy, lo-fi ambient sound with occasional synth smears and a barely-there rhythm implied by the odd kick drum sound. 'Featuring Omar S' is a signature deep house joint with bristling metal hi-hats, rickety drums and edgy drones that keep you on edge as more soulful chords rise up through the mix.
Nebelgelb (feat The Metropolitan Narrative) (6:57)
Tau (Vril Vintage Tool remix) (7:11)
Nebelgelb (feat The Metropolitan Narrative - Sleeparchive remix) (4:59)
Review: The smudged, dark and shadowy nature of the creepy artwork for this new 12" on TMN Trax is indicative of what to expect musically of this new label. It's a collab EP from Ones and Rasval with an appearance from The Metropolitan Narrative and remixes from Vril and Sleeparchive. 'Tau' is the deep and dubby roller that opens up with a grainy vibe and foggy atmosphere over muted drums, then 'Nebelgelb' gets more edgy with layers of subtle haunting pads and paranoid voices panning about the mix. Vril's contribution is a pacey, warm and lo-fi techno hypnotiser and Sleeparchive closes down with muted dub brilliance.
Review: Opal Sunn's 'Elastic' lands on Test Pressing Recordings as the first in a trilogy, bringing together Alex Kassian and Hiroaki Oba's knack for genre-blending electronic soundscapes. Known for their captivating live sets, they've crafted an EP that traverses moods and styles. The A-side opens with hypnotic deep trance, layering rich synth textures and rolling grooves. Over on the B-side, things get lush and atmospheric: one track dives into dub influences, saturated with warm basslines and echoing chords, while the final cut drifts into serene, ambient territory. It's an impressive start that shows their mastery of both rhythm and space.
Review: Murray Clark, Chris Deverell, and Robert Ellerby have been responsible for some genuinely inspiring electronic music over the years, their instrumental approach to downtempo and avant garde synth stuff originating in and among the fertile bounty of new ideas that was the early-1990s. On Hear My Mind, the trio - AKA Opik - take us deep into their DAT archives to see what's hiding in the darkness. Two tracks, both equally stunning, 'Hear My Mind' opens the pair with a slow burning, jazz-influenced atmosphere builder, reversed-out harmony floating over stepping bass loop and distant ethereal vocals. 'Kaulsoum' goes for something even more late night and subtly euphoric, growing and developing into a bold and beautiful slice of rave-hued ambient.
Orbital, David Holmes, DJ Helen - "Tonight In Belfast" (feat Mike Garry) (11:58)
Orbital - "Belfast" (David Holmes remix) (12:03)
Review: Poet, librarian, Mancunian, father, husband, uncle, brother. Mike Garry is many things to many people, but tonight, Matthew, his voices guides our eyes upwards, inviting us to stargaze to one of Orbital's most emotionally resonant and timeless pieces of rave noise. Belfast Revisited would be one way to describe it, taking some of the classic and unmistakable elements of that anthem and turning it into something new. First and foremost freshness comes with the spoken word addition - a thoroughly positive, passionate and amorous declaration of unending love that could feel jarring depending on whether you always felt 'Belfast' was reflective and slightly melancholy, or not. Gone too are the breaks, replaced now by stadium-sized four-to-the-floor turning what was once the end of the night walking home at dawn into something that sounds way more 11PM at the concert.
Review: Verdant's tenth release is another meandering and mystic trip through ambient electronic sounds that leaves you a million miles away from wherever you started. All four artists here excel with electro producer Reedale Ris kicking off in languid, far-sighted fashion with their mournful synths and distant cosmic designs. Out.Lier's 'Track 2' is another one cast adrift on deepest space with smeared pads and floating aural details suspending you in mid air. Jo Johnson's cascading synth motifs are pure and innocent and cathartic and Romanticise The World's 'Track 4' is mellifluous and hopeful.
B-STOCK: Creasing to corners of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent working condition
Reedale Rise - "Track 1"
outlier - "Track 2"
Jo Johnson - "Track 3"
Romanticise The World - "Track 4"
Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corners of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent working condition***
Verdant's tenth release is another meandering and mystic trip through ambient electronic sounds that leaves you a million miles away from wherever you started. All four artists here excel with electro producer Reedale Ris kicking off in languid, far-sighted fashion with their mournful synths and distant cosmic designs. Out.Lier's 'Track 2' is another one cast adrift on deepest space with smeared pads and floating aural details suspending you in mid air. Jo Johnson's cascading synth motifs are pure and innocent and cathartic and Romanticise The World's 'Track 4' is mellifluous and hopeful.
Review: It's fair to say Placelessness is the work of an Australian experimental supergroup. Oren Ambarchi has been a towering figure of hyper-minimalism since the mid-80s, most notably creating tense and elongated stretches of recordings and performance using guitar tone. Robbie Avenaim is an accomplished experimental drummer, and Chris Abrahams heads up The Necks. That's a very condensed biography for three incredibly accomplished musicians who finally make good on years of live collaborations and criss-crossed pathways to deliver a stunning album which brings their respective qualities into sharp relief, somehow fuller than their solo efforts without losing the vital subtlety and patience which has guided them to greatness.
Review: With a title inspired by the utterances of The Oracle of Delphi, a cult of female priestesses who reportedly "changed the course of civilisation" by inhaling volcanic vapours, it's clear that Lee Burtucci and Olivia Block's first collaborative album is rooted in paganistic visions and experimental mysticism. It's comprised of two lengthy tracks, each accompanied by edited 'excerpts', and combines Burtucci's experimental synth sounds and tape loops with Block's processed vocalisations and hazy field recordings. Dark and suspenseful, with each extended composition delivering a mixture of mind-mangling electronics, creepy ambience and musical elements doused in trippy effects, it sits somewhere between the charred "illbient" of DJ Spooky and the deep space soundscapes of the late Pete Namlook.
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Louisiana Blues Strut: A Cakwalk (2:26)
Charles Ives: Violin Sonata No 4 Children's Day At The Camp Meeting I Allegro (1:55)
Charles Ives: Violin Sonata No 4 Children's Day At The Camp Meeting II Largo - Allegro (Con Slugarocko) (5:21)
Charles Ives: Violin Sonata No 4 Children's Day At The Camp Meeting III Allegro (1:41)
Aaron Copland: Hoe-down (2:55)
William Kroll: Banjo & Fiddle (2:56)
Eddie South: Black & Gypsy (2:48)
John Adams: Road Movies: I Relaxed Groove (4:56)
John Adams: Road Movies: II Meditative (5:23)
John Adams: Road Movies III 40% Swing (5:08)
Manuel Ponce: Estrellita (Arranged By Jascha Hifetz) (2:41)
Howdy Forrester: Wild Fiddler's Rag (2:07)
Leonard Bernsein: Somewhere From West Side Story Suite (Arranged By Raimundo Penaforte) (1:31)
Review: Violinist Augustin Hadelich's American Road Trip is an attempt to explore the musical landscape of his adoptive homeland with pianist Orion Weiss. The duo performs works by American composers spanning the 19th to 21st centuries and in doing so blends diverse influences such as European Romanticism, revivalist hymns, blues, jazz, and bluegrass. The album features pieces by Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives, John Adams, Amy Beach, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and others, all of whom highlight the rich tapestry of American music. Hadelich, who moved to the U.S. at 19 and became a citizen in 2014, combines American passion with European nuance in his acclaimed performances.
Unfolding (Volume 2: Into The Pleasure Garden) (12:08)
Entrancement (7:32)
Ravishment (12:33)
I Don't Know I'm Not A Dream (11:08)
Review: Despite what you might assume, O Yuki Conjugate are actually an English duo. Hailing from the country's renowned hinterland somewhere between ambient and industrial, the pair - better known as Roger Horberry and Andrew Hulme - first started the project in 1982, a time in the nation's history that was particularly fertile for sonic experiments of the synthesised kind.
A Tension of Opposites is proof they have lost little of their imagination and creative spark, even decades later. Born in the first year of the pandemic, 2020, both artists worked in isolation and therefore both had different ideas about how a sonic response to the most batshit crazy situation in living memory should sound. The result, then, is a lush, intoxicating, and thoughtful journey through tonalities, resonance, and deep refrains that offers two sides of the same terrifying, traumatic, and life-changing story.
Review: It's been a long time since Halo: Combat Evolved revolutionised the word of first-person shooter video games. Graphically superior to anything that had come before it, the franchise also benefits from a spectacularly gripping storyline in which humans are outgunned and out-teched by a ruthless and uncompromising alliance of superiorly equipped alien races united as The Covenant. The titular Halo adds a kind of Prometheus air of uncertainty, as nobody really knows what it does until attempts to activate the galaxy-destroying weapon reveal something worse than death - a parasitic breed called the Flood. If all that was enough to blow everyone away in 2001, 2004 brought us to a whole new level of immersion in this future scape. Just like its predecessor, a big part of the impact was the visionary score by gaming soundtrack masters Martin O'Donnell and Michael Savatori. Now here it is in all its Gregorian chanting glory.
The Gun Pointed At The Head Of The Universe (2:25)
Trace Amounts (1:50)
Under Cover Of Night (3:38)
What Once Was Lost (1:40)
Lament For Pvt Jenkins (1:08)
Devils Monsters (1:28)
Covenant Dance (1:46)
Alien Corridors (1:34)
Rock Anthem For Saving The World (1:18)
The Maw (1:04)
Drumrun (1:00)
On A Pale Horse (1:34)
Perchance To Dream (0:55)
Library Suite (6:37)
The Long Run (2:17)
Suite Autumn (4:19)
Shadows (3:47)
Dust & Echoes (2:59)
Halo (1:11)
Review: In the right circles,, Martin O'Donnell and Michael Savatori are living legends. Working with the iconic US video game company Bungie Inc, the pair put their names on the map - or maybe maps? - by creating soundtracks to a number of high profile titles, either as a duo or individually. O'Donnell is arguably the better known, or at least has the bigger online persona, but both composers deserve plenty of credit. Halo: Combat Evolved was the first title in what is now a huge and genre-defining first person shooter franchise, and the score reflects the emergence of video game music as an integral part of the on-screen action. O'Donnell and Savatori's efforts to ensure instrumentation dramatically changed with events in the game, which is by nature relatively non-linear, was a revelation. While their efforts to separate these into individual suites foresaw the rise of playable stories as films in their own right.
Review: Laced Records and Halo Studios partner up to bring the epic soundtracks of the original Halo trilogy to vinyl for the first time, remastering and revamping 83 original scores from Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. the music that defined a franchise is thus ethered in perpetuity. Weaving orchestral elements, prog rock, drum corps marches, and heavy metal, Halo presents a perfect bottling of angst and militancy; owing to its popularity with a certain teen gamer cohort, Halo 2's score especially made history as the first video game OST to chart on the Billboard 200. Now, each soundtrack is presented in its own sleeve with custom artwork, and comes in a collector's box adorned with a debossed Halo logo and silver laminate finish.
Review: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead is an album that is now 20 years old and so gets a special anniversary release to mark the occasion. It comes in limited quantities via Music on Vinyl on crystal clear vinyl. All of the indie giants' best known moments are tackled by O'Riley in fine style as he brings new drama and melancholy to tracks like 'Everything In Its Right Place' and 'Subterranean Homesick Alien.' These remain largely fairly faithful to the original arrangements but ebb and flow in new ways because of being played don piano and will appeal to fans of Radiohead as well as those who might not have liked the originals.
Here Is Where I Seem To Be/The Good Lord Doesn't Need Paperwork (7:30)
You Have No Idea What I Want (7:38)
One Way Or Another I'm Gone (4:26)
Review: Jim O'Rourke handles the soundtrack for Hands That Bind, a Canadian drama film directed by Kyle Armstrong and starring Michael Shannon, Elisabeth Moss and Willem Dafoe. The American musician and producer is known for his eclectic and experimental work in a deluge of genres, spanning rock, folk, jazz, ambient and electronic - all shine through with equal gravitas on the OST, reflecting O'Rourke's talent for creating atmospheric cinematics that perfectly complement the film's theme of a local land scandal, and its conspiracy-level implications.
Review: Daniel O Sullivan, known as a producer for the likes of Tim Burgess and for his astounding art pop band Grumbling Fur, makes his first foray into classically informed chamber music. With some sort of superhuman genius mind, the unassuming Mancunian wrote these arrangements for a 14-piece ensemble and nailed it. 'Golden Verses' is stately, pastoral, yet menacing. Another highlight, 'Painting Rose' is some of the most psychedelic classical music you'll ever hear. So, if you're looking for chamber music that spans eras, genres and takes you on a transcendent journey, then look no further.
Review: Fourth volume of Library Music miniatures by Daniel O'Sullivan (Ulver, aethenor, This is Not This Heat, etc.) for VHF, this time commissioned by the legendary German Music Library, Sonoton. Another sampling of O'Sullivan's versatility and brilliance as a composer, performer and sound designer, the focus on The Pastoral Machine is more "electronic" compared to the three previous albums O'Sullivan recorded for KPM (also issued on LP by VHF), with simpler arrangements and a focus on gentle and emotive synthesised soundworlds. Even without as many full ensemble arrangements, there's still a wealth of diversity - 'Empathogen' opens the record with latticed arpeggiating sequences recalling Japanese "environmental music" or Persian Surgery-era Terry Riley, 'Fruit Of Stream Entry' burbles with gentle ripples evoking the album's title, while 'The Silversmith Of Space' mines a simple chord sequence evoking Eno's 70s classic short instrumentals. Recalling futurist new-age pop in the vein of Enya or Virginia Astley, the record comes housed in a jacket and heavy euro-style inner featuring collages by O'Sullivan, soon to be the subject of an art book published by Timeless Editions in mid-2024.
Review: Ocean Moon, the alias of Cornwall-based producer and Lo Recordings founder Jon Tye, presents his latest offering, an ambient electronic work imbued with a gentle positivity. Tye, also known for his work with the UK ambient duo MLO, explores themes of artificial intelligence and consciousness evolution throughout the album. Side one delves into AI through a philosophical lens, drawing inspiration from Buddhist perspectives and texts like 'The Physics Of Immortality' and 'Novacene'. Tracks such as 'Ways To The Deep Meadow' and 'Souls Fall Away' offer a refreshing counterpoint to the often-negative portrayals of AI, radiating a sense of optimism and possibility. Side two features two extended compositions created for visual projects. 'Made In Dreams', utilising AI technology, creates an ethereal, warm atmosphere and 'An Ending Full Of Light', composed for Vix Hill Ryder's Wild Edges film, evokes a sense of serenity and resolution. Subtle melodies and delicate touches help craft music that truly nourishes the soul here.
Review: Bordeaux-based producer Franck Zaragoza aka. Ocoeur has always drawn on the natural world as a basis for his sprawling ambient compositions, and his latest album Breath is no exception. Over just six immersive pieces that intend to evoke the gratitude for simply being alive, Zaragoza this time evokes an impressionistic mountainscape, though still combines this romantic image with digital sonic pepperings and minimalist glitch textures throughout.
Review: Franck Zaragoza continues to shape out a vivid catalogue of ambient and soundtrack-oriented work with this latest release on his label n5MD, which celebrates ten years of activity this year. The Bordeaux-based artist has been on a spiritual journey of sorts, which has manifested in the introspective nature of his most recent albums, and the theme continues on Nouveau Depart. His rich and accomplished sound embraces beats and rhythms as expressive tools within his broader compositions, but this is harmonically-minded music first and foremost, crafted with care and rendered in startling detail.
Review: For well over a decade, Italian producer, electronic musician and sound designer Ocralab (real name Rocco Biscione) has been serving up immersive and enveloping ambient soundscapes, most of which tend towards the meditative and subtly sun-kissed. That's the trademark sound that he explores on gorgeous new full-length Locus Impervio, a set whose gently rising and falling melodic motifs, calming soundscapes and spacey sounds recall the halcyon days of ambient music in the mid-to-late 1990s. It's a genuinely gorgeous, soul-enriching set all told - the kind of thing we might have expected Pete Namlook, Jonah Sharp, Move D and Mixmaster Morris to put out circa 1994 (albeit with subtle nods to more contemporary, sound design-driven academic ambient releases).
Review: Odopt's Snaker 011, the first release in five years by Snaker and the tenth in their catalogue, marks a compelling full-length debut for the duo. Known for their hypnotic and freaky sound on labels like [Emotional] Especial, Hivern Discs, and Born Free, Odopt delivers a "contemporary library sound" for Snaker Records that defies conventional dancefloor or home listening categorizations. Instead, it offers a unique cinematic soundscape for a fresh auditory experience. Highlights include 'Antimilitarist,' with its experimental broken beat that's subdued yet intriguing. 'Barfold' presents a movie-like quality with a unique groove and production. 'Spakra' features a dark, slow groove with metallic sounds, echo, and a slight EBM influence. 'Mangrove' stands out with its otherworldly, alien sounds. 'Orch Noise' rounds out the album with its atmospheric and distinct character. For those seeking something different and unique, Odopt is here for you.
Review: Swiss imprint WRWTFWW continues to do deep dives into the forgotten corners of electronic music history, returning with shining sonic pearls of genuine historic significance. Here they deliver a first ever vinyl pressing of early Japanese electronic music producer (and bona fide experimental hero) Yashio Ojima's 1983 album Club, a set that was originally only released on an exceptionally limited cassette. Given its vintage, the album has held up incredibly well, in part because its unique, unearthly blend of minimalist electro, music concrete-inspired loop experiments, off-kilter ambient soundscapes and picturesque, post new-age soundscapes remains as far-sighted and unusual in 2024 as it did 41 years ago.
Review: OKRAA's La Gran Corriente represents a significant creative turning point for Colombian-born Juan Carlos Torres Alonso. Released via A Strangely Isolated Place, the album follows a transformative experience Juan had in Bogota in May 2023. It was there that he encountered what he describes as "an infinite current behind or inside of everything," a revelation that completely changed his approach to music. Scrapping earlier demos, Juan embraced a more fluid and organic style, abandoning fixed grids and BPMs, and tapping into the spontaneous energy that characterised his other production alias, Laudrup. The result is a hypnotic journey through time and space, as the album's non-linear structures give way to unexpected yet cohesive sonic moments. 'La Gran Corriente' features "happy accidents" throughout, subtle production quirks that contribute to its distinct sound. Central to the project is a poem written by Juan, weaving reflections on time and reality into the fabric of the music. Lines like "the land of oblivion is not real" and "time is an illusion" form the backbone of the album's philosophical undercurrent. The album's release is paired with artwork by Peter Skwiot Smith, with the 2xLP available on limited edition coloured vinyl, fully mastered by Taylor Deupree.
Review: A Strangely Isolated Place has secured this second most captivating album from One Million Eyes. They impressed many with their magical debut album Drama back in 2021 and once again reach new heights in the world of ambient here with Iris. Their brand of ambient is relatively fulsome, with lots to focus on from the smeared and pastoral chords to the muted synth modulations, the vinyl crackle, distant vocal cries and the heavenly backlit glow. It is an absorbing and positive place to be with a sense of optimism colouring the airwaves thought.
Review: One Million Eyes, previously known as Templehof, return with a new album of balearic ambient, previously heard on two excellent releases for A Strangely Isolated Place. This time appearing on legendary cassette label Constellation Tatsu as part of their fall combo, anyone familiar with their previous work will know what to expect. Dreamy, sun hazed analogue synth lines mix with deep fourth world soundscapes that wouldn't sound out of place on 90s labels such as Pete Namlook's Fax or Instinct Ambient. The first half of Signal begins slowly, eyes wide shut, with 'Nickel', a slow pulsating jam of chilled out psychedelia. 'Marea' blends organic instrumentation with distant, processed voices. 'Koala', the deepest cut on the album, leads to a mood shift in 'Opalescent' that will sound eerily familiar to any Gaussian Curve fans. 'Polaris', 'Solstice' and highlight 'Landscape' close out the album in style. For fans of anyone from Music From Memory, Jonathan Fitoussi & Ishq, there are few better ways to relive your memories of later summer.
Review: Having firmly established himself as one of the foremost experimental producers of the past decade with albums like Replica, Returnal, and Rifts, Daniel Lopatin here makes the logical move to electronic music bastion Warp Records. On first listen R Plus Seven is quite unlike any of his other records, largely eschewing the arpeggiated drones of his early work and sample-based collages of his last album for something much more vivid. Coming across like a combination of the emotive minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich, and the hyperreality of James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual, R Plus Seven nevertheless stakes its own claim in the world of post-everything electronic music, combining delicate, introspective moods with shocking moments of recognisable sonic signification. Quite possibly Lopatin's best album to date.
A Piece For Orchestra (Count All The Stars) (3:20)
Water Piece (4:32)
Clock Piece (1:34)
Bicycle Piece For Orchestra (7:07)
Pieces For Orchestra - No 4: Tear (2:48)
Pieces For Orchestra - No 5: Touch (2:18)
Pieces For Orchestra - No 6: Rub (0:50)
Wood Piece (1:37)
Wind House (7:09)
Sweep Piece (1:23)
Overtone Piece (5:09)
Question Piece (8:33)
Disappearing Piece (4:50)
Review: For the first time on vinyl, through Karl Records, comes a limited edition and furtive Yoko Ono retrospective, in conjunction with the over-100-strong, Sweden-headquartered ensemble and community network The Great Learning Orchestra. These unlikely recordings were made at the time of the musician and performance artist Ono's 1964 multimedia collection Grapefruit, a cornerstone of what would later become known as "conceptual art". Grapefruit itself is a large artist's book, with a large vellum spine and browned parchment paper; it contains a series of "event scores" that outline, rather than permit the performances of, many different performance art pieces. The effect is apocryphal and ominous, as though the real performance of these instructive works may have accursed or deleterious effects. "Like a musical score, Event Scores can be realized by artists other than the original creator and are open to variation and interpretation"; and yet, Ono's book is a one of one, having never been reproduced or thus made collectable. Pre-dating John Cage by about a decade, the "event scores" described therein have now been performed by The Great Learning Orchestra, where hardly any of the performances / pieces have ever been captured sonically or laid to disc. This record changes all that, realising Ono's bewildering text instructions as tremulous suites, made up of clattering material hits and harrowing string instrumental assaults.
Review: Calling the curtain on Field Records' Waterworks trilogy, Yui Onodera turns his ear to confluences of hydrology and history, dedicating his latest record to Japan's Kiso Three Rivers and their transformation by 19th-century Dutch engineering. The Kiso, Nagara and Ibi rivers, once prone to catastrophic flooding, were reshaped under the guidance of Johannes de Rijke, whose work helped protect Nagoya from seasonal deluge by 1912. Onodera, known for his nuanced sound architecture, approaches this subject with a finely honed ear for subtlety, layering quiet field recordings with fuller instrumentation, evoking the widening of a river from brook to strait. The A-side's bell tones provide a sensory-meridian intimacy, processed alongside guitar, and ethereal pads; while the B-side's contradictorily colossal quietude makes itself across two long-form studies, which drift through sampled water and restrained electronics.
Review: "The idea was simply to make an ambient album", Dr Alex Paterson has said of The Orb's new album entitled Chill Out, World!. With partner in crime Thomas Fehlmann, the duo resisted looking back and studying their earlier (seminal) recordings and opted for a more spontaneous approach: a focus on where they are at today in 2016. COW is said to have been completed over the course of five sessions in only six months, between a relentless touring schedule which they also credit as being hugely influential on the album's sound. As always, strap yourself in for an immersive sound experience and possibly expect to hear some of the more courageous DJs dropping likes likes of "4am Exhale (Chill Out, World!)" or perhaps "Just Because I Really Really Luv Ya". Oh and the track titles are as baffling as ever too.
Are You Alive? (feat Penelope Isles - edit) (3:31)
Style (edit) (3:56)
Dirty Rat (edit) (3:31)
Review: This new and career spanning album A Beginner's Guide is a 'best of' collection tailored for both new or curious Orbital fans. Whether you discovered the duo after their iconic Glastonbury 2024 performance, during their global tour celebrating the Green & Brown albums, or through a track featured in a film, this collection offers an ideal introduction and recap of what makes them one of the most enduring acts in all of electronic music. It compiles there Hartnoll brothers's biggest hits in their edited forms and album includes utter classics like 'Chime,' 'Belfast,' and 'Halcyon' all of which give a fine a taste of the duo's influential electronic sound, all in one package for the first time ever.
Review: Riz Ortolani's soundtrack to the 1969 Giallo thriller Cosi Dolce... Cosi Perversa is well sought-after but now pops up as a limited edition reissue. The legendary composer famously scored over 200 films and crafted a suspenseful and evocative work here that enhances the film's themes of deception and seduction. Directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring Carroll Baker and Jean-Louis Trintignant, the film remains a standout of Italian Giallo cinema and is immediately recognisable for its haunting main theme 'Why?' by J. Vincent Edwards. The soundtrack has been fully remastered from the original master tapes here - and naturally, it sounds superb.
Review: Marysia Osu's debut album, harp, beats & dreams, is a stunning example of her musical evolution and innovative spirit. Known for her role in Levitation Orchestra and as a Brownswood 'Bubblers' graduate, Marysia blends her classical roots with contemporary exploration in this enchanting release. Originating from Poland and enriched by her musical education in London, she has embraced the harp with profound artistry, now intertwining it with electronic elements and personal introspection. The album opens with the hypnotic 'seatime,' a journey through coastal reverie that celebrates self-acceptance and inner harmony. It continues with 'care to care,' where Levitation Orchestra's Plumm adds ethereal vocals, advocating for self-care and personal space. The track 'memento mori' features YUIS's illuminating flute, echoing stoic reflections on life's impermanence. Marysia's return to the piano and spontaneous clarinet experiments, inspired by a vivid dream, add depth to her soundscape. The clarinet's breath symbolises life's essence, bridging body and mind, enhancing the album's introspective quality. Marysia Osu's debut is a an exciting debut, offering a serene escape thanks to her talent and unique vision.
Review: Offering a gentler approach than his previous releases on R.I.O. and brokntoys, Philipp Otterbach comes to Music From Memory with an album of inward ambient reflections in which the guitar takes centre stage for the first time. Otterbach's sound is broad and inquisitive, folding field recordings and snatches of speech in amongst dexterous synth lines and expressive guitar, creating a thoroughly satisfying, mellow trip through beatless pastures. The predominant mood is a hopeful, upbeat one, although shot through with a playful surrealism which keeps things interesting rather than one-dimensionally pleasant. It's as rich a listening experience as you'd expect from a Music From Memory release.Alexis 'Lex' Blackmore.
Review: Sit back, relax, stick on Albert Alan Owen's new album Chorales and allow yourself to sink into a deeply spiritual and emotional record that is both minimal and intimate. A meditation of piano that is coated in vinyl crackle, and manages to captivate you from front to back with its sheer melodic beauty. Owen's ability to turn you in on your inner self is second to none. As you get lost in deep thoughts you will not want to come back to the real world. Our suggestion? Don't. Simply put it on again from the start.
Review: Kelly Lee Owens' highly anticipated fourth studio album Dreamstate offers a liberating, euphoric sound, reflecting the emotional growth she apparently experienced following a significant romantic breakup. It's a record full of release and renewal, urging listeners to find their own freedom. Owens collaborated with heavyweights like Bicep, Tom Rowlands from The Chemical Brothers and George Daniel from The 1975 to craft this immersive soundscape. Dreamstate is also her first release on the newly launched dh2 label, part of Dirty Hit, spearheaded by George Daniel.
Review: 'Dreamstate' is Kelly Lee Owens' fourth studio album, hinting at a relatively bouncier electro-pop direction - in stark contrast to her much demurer, rougher-hewn earlier albums. Owens comments that Dreamstate is "the sound of a person letting loose and letting go while encouraging everyone else to do the same." Whether this necessarily results, for musicians, in an increased orientation towards chart-worthiness, remains to be seen, but we'd say this has certainly worked in the case of Owens, whose new forerunning singles 'Love You Got', 'Higher' and 'Sunshine' combine overcast dance productions and pristine angel voices from Owens herself, resulting in a much brighter yet equally thunderous sound, and 'Sunshine' is our favourite, future-avant progressive house number here.
Review: Kelly Lee Owens' fourth studio album marks a significant shift in Owens' musical journey, embodying themes of freedom and escapism. Dream State emerges from a period of inner transformation following a break-up, and is a testament to collaboration, featuring producer-writer contributions from electronic music luminaries Bicep, Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and George Daniel of The 1975. The synergy between these artists infuses Dreamstate with a rich, dynamic sound that blends Owens' ethereal vocals with innovative electronic beats and lush production. A range of emotions and sonic landscapes, offering both introspective and liberating experiences.
Review: Ambient music is all about immersion and you'll be hard-pressed to find anything more immersive than this. New York and Iceland-based composer Masaya Ozaki was born in Niigata, Japan and focuses on "the idea of space as a transient entity," which means his work is imbued with astonishing subtlety and beautifully quiet artistry that really draws you and rewards close attention. Mizukara is his fourth such outing and one that melds field recordings, electro-acoustic sounds and lush synth textures into something that is melancholic and utterly absorbing from front to back. Says the artist, ''this album is a reflection of my current life in Iceland. Where does the self begin and where does it end?' Tune in to find out.
Review: In a collaboration for the ages, we hear German kosmische musician Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia) team up with Japanese flutist Yuko Matsuzaki and Berlin Philharmonic analog musician sound engineer Onnen Bock for a nacreous improv blast. Spanning soft, pearly electronica and neoclassical, Moon Garden comprises five works, incorporating techniques and fragments of songs already released. A mythical aura unfurls through synth koto and organic harmonics; 'In The Forest Of Syrinx' establishes a singing bowled, new age aesthetic, segueing into the purely vocal threnody 'Sapphire Jellyfish'. Bridging electronic washes, piano and female vocals, this is a borderless soundscape of exciting proportions.
Review: We Carry Eden is an album so deep you can plunge right into it and forget the real world entirely. It comes from Son Of Chi, the latest project by Dutch ambient pioneer Hanyo van Oosterom, and it melds drones, field recordings, dub, jazz and fourth world influences across a two-part composition that features storytelling by West African vocalist Omar Ka. A founding member of CHI and Chi Factory, van Oosterom crafts textured soundscapes rooted in meditative grooves and spiritual depth and is inspired by Patmos and Hopi wisdom. He also weaves nature, myth and memory into a unified sonic journey with fine artwork by Michael Willis underlining the message of harmony.
Review: Esteemed ambient auteurs, zake and ossa's collaborative output continues to soothe and delight in equal measure. After Syntheticopia in August 2022 and the dark long-player 'A Pale Shelter' in 2021 between zake, ossa, and City of Dawn comes Module, a collaboration that includes seasoned electronic producer Ruben A. Tamayo, under the alias FAX. The power trio brings forth an eight-track excursion into heavy ambient atmospheres with moody soundscapes and a real weight of melancholy. As always, the textures are grainy and lo-fi, the drones long-held, and the chords which poke through the clouds, bring subtle rays of hope and optimism. It is the latest and maybe the greatest chapter in this ongoing story from zake and ossa with featured collaborators.
Review: Twilight of the Gods features one of many evocative soundtracks from Hans Zimmer, Omer Benyamin and Steven Doar. Between them, they bring a sweeping cinematic scope to an epic narrative with their usual sense of masterful scoring. Zimmer and his collaborators blend orchestral intensity with atmospheric depth here to enhance the mythic tone of the story. From haunting melodies to powerful crescendos, this soundtrack captures the emotional gravity and grandeur of the gods' twilight moments and each track layers intricate instrumentation that pulls listeners into a vivid, immersive world that echoes the film's themes of fate, power and destiny.
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