Back catalogue: Ambient/Drone

Review: The Newcastle based Signals collective have been delightfully unpredictable in their short existence to date, with releases from artists as varied as Legowelt, John Heckle and Oppenheimer Analysis also demonstrating an ear for quality that ensures the casual observer should always check in on their latest release. That honour falls on two local North East acts in the shape of sometime Claremont 56 artist Four Hands and iconic industrial figures Zoviet France. This clear twelve inch is the most creatively ambitious record from Signals yet, with the original material from Four Hands in essence a remix he did of "Mammoth Mountain", a track from the Manchester based artist Caro Snatch. Reimagined as a luscious ambient music with real attention paid to musicality, "Sea Of Love (Mammoth Mountain mix)" is a beautiful slice of music that can't fail to captivate across the almost eight minutes of its duration. Accompanying this, Zoviet France submitted two remixes, with the first - "November 2011, North Northumberland (Zoviet France dub)" - actually a recording of themselves playing the Four Hands version on a mobile phone while one of them chops wood. Complementing this slightly odd version is a sublime thirteen minute ambient piece that truly refigures the magic of Four Hands' original piece in Zoviet France's own inimitable style.

Review: This record is named after Vedanta, an ancient philosophy based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India. The music, originally composed and produced by Joseph S Joyce and later remixed by Sebastian Mullaert of Minilogue, was greatly inspired, after reading commentaries from Swami Rama Tirtha's biography "The Scientist & Mahatma" - Chapter 1 - Vedanta and The Secret of Success. Now, some nine years later, it gets served up as a remix EP. There's a dark El Choop Reconstruct, a gorgeous ambient version from Sebastian Mullaert, a minimal headscape from Van Bonn, Federson SF goes warm and dubby and then a crisp, tech-edged vibe from Paul 90 ends the EP in style.

Review: Detach Recordings is proud to present their third EP, 'In Order To See' by Nekyia. Following releases on re:st, UVB-76 and Voidance Records, the Italian producer further explores his introspective sound, joining the dots between experimental psychedelia, dark ambient and post-drum&bass. Opening with the heavy, drone-driven 'Meta' and 'Leave Your Flesh Behind', the pace soon quickens with 'Breaches', a driving 170bpm collaboration with Books (re:st, Detuned Transmissions). The pressure increases on the B-side with a fierce remix by Sam KDC (Auxiliary, Samurai, Sublunar). The EP closes with 'Form Constants', a 2017 dub unavailable until now.

Review: We also heard from Andrew Wasylyk late last year when he offered up his second LP for the esteemed Clay Pipe Music label. Now it is to Edinburgh's Athens of the North for Parallel Light, another collection of sumptuous ambient sounds that are so much more than just background music. The album is actually an alternate mix of his 2020 long player Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation so offers a different perspective with plenty of moving spiritual-jazz and neo-classical sounds that help paint alluring musical landscapes.

Review: Los Angeles based ambient husband and wife duo, awakened souls join with Reunion Island native, From Overseas to create Keep The Orange Sun. After hearing each other's individual music, a deeper conversation started about shared musical influences and inspiration leading to the creation of this album. Keep The Orange Sun guides the listener on a thoughtfully curated path. Starting with the certainty of life's changes (Certainty of Tides) to arising self-doubt (Release/Adapt) and celebrating immersion in the present moment as the gateway to deeper connection with nature and one's life (Keep The Orange Sun). The instrumentation present in each track channels elements of electronic, shoegaze & ambient with each artist's distinct musical fingerprint highlighted.

Review: We're starved for two-sided 12"s in the world of ambient music, but Chris Madak aka. Bee Mask has refreshingly graced us with one this week. It should be said that there's Skee Mask and then there's Bee Mask; the latter is far more unsung, undeservingly so. Madak's music is abstract and cerebral enough to have lent him credo enough to have released on the likes of Weird Forest, Spectrum Spools and Room40. But this latest reissue, 'Versailles Is Not Too Large Or Infinity Too Long', hears him plunge the ethereal heights for the US label Unifactor. Originally released on cassette on Chondritic Sound in 2008, these pieces deserve the renewed attention and the fresh laying to wax, since they're not 'regular ole' ambient cuts in the slightest. Unafraid of indulging the high end freqs, Bee Mask fleshes out a mood of uncertain, urgent bliss - sizzling, crunching and soaring the drone, as if its maker were a modern Icarus flying too close to the sun.

Review: Jon Hopkins' forthcoming album Ritual spans 41 minutes of uninterrupted sonic exploration, drawing inspiration from ceremony, spiritual liberation and the hero's journey and creating a dense and immersive soundscape that showcases his mastery of depth and contrast. Collaborating with long-term partners like Vylana, 7RAYS, and Ishq, as well as newcomers like Clark and Emma Smith, Hopkins weaves together cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming, and transcendent melodies to craft a sonic experience that is both emotionally and sonically weight. Ritual sees Hopkins' evolution as an artist, building upon themes explored throughout his 22-year career while venturing into new sonic territories. The album's first single, 'Ritual(evocation),' offers a tantalising glimpse into this expansive sonic landscape, with its hypnotic rhythms and darkened soundscapes drawing listeners into a world of introspection and catharsis. With its warm, live feel and seamless blend of softness and intensity, Ritual promises to be a transformative listening experience for fans of electronic music and beyond.

Review: Dwell Time II is the second part of a three-part project on Past Inside The Present from T.R. Jordan. Each of the albums was made using the same material in the same time frame, and they are all part of one overarching and coherent suite that he refers to as "musical composting." This is the cassette tape version and it is full of grainy, fluttering howls, soft warbling pads, pastoral references like flowing streams and mossy rocks and plenty of grand spatial elegance that harks back to the likes of Hiroshi Yoshimura and early Brian Eno experiments. Another immersive offering from this fine label, then.