Back catalogue: Ambient/Drone

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.

Review: Since founding DiN in 1999, Ian Boddy has been driven by a passion for collaboration, particularly with artists connected to the pioneering German electronic scene of the 1970s. When a chance meeting with Harald Grosskopf at a Dutch music festival presented the opportunity to work together, Boddy eagerly embraced Grosskopf's ear; the latter's tutelage at the Berlin school spans decades, and he is most notably for his fellowship as a drummer with Klaus Schulze, whose influence looms large over Boddy's own work. But beyond percussion, Grosskopf's Synthesist album revealed his distinct melodic sensibilities, making him an ideal creative partner for Doppelganger. Blending Berlin-schooled sequencing with evocative grooves. Boddy's modular synth textures shine on tracks like 'Boulevard Horizon', while Grosskopf's rhythmic playfulness is evident in 'Livewire'.

Review: BT Gate X-138 returns to Greyscale with Gravitational Grooves, deepening his relationship with the label following 2023's kV Pylon. Ten sousing sonorities hear him reshape his signature dub techno sound with growth-mental finesse, emitting foggy atmospheres and slicing percs. 'Inertia' leans into soft chords and faint crackle before giving way to the stripped-down shuffle and understated melodic turns of 'Gravity', while 'Orbit' builds over and delay-heavy phrasing; 'Float' offers a breather with its ambient drift, while an embossed 'Mass' sears the ears with churlish mood-texture. Touchstones such as Konigsforst and In Moll are alluded to most subtly.

Review: Melancholy maestro Brock Van Wey aka Bvdub returns with more immersive and beautifully sad sounds on his latest album In Iron Houses. It is an ambient work that is far too evocative to serve simply as aural wallpaper. Opener 'Madness To Their Methods' for example has a vocal swirling about the synthscapes that is utterly arresting and conveys great emotional pain. 'The Broken Fixing The Broken' is another lament of epic proportions and 'Iron Houses At Night - Star Track' has a little sense of hope in the brighter melodies and another vocal, which this time carries love not loss. 'Perpetual Emotion Machine' shuts down with subtle celestial celebration.

Review: Recorded in October 1997, but lost and rediscovered two decades later by digital artist Gvoon Arthur Schmidt, GVoon: Brennung 1 is one of countless gems nestling in the sound archives of the late, great Holger Czukay. Described as a "futuristic sound meditation" by remastering engineer Dirk Dresselhaus (better known as experimental electronica producer Scheider TM), the single, expansive piece was created by Czukay at a point in time when he was happily working with German techno and electronica producers (Westbam included) while exploring the potential of digital music-making and production technology. The results are typically immersive, enveloping and off-kilter, sounding as far-sighted and ahead-of-their-time as they no doubt did when the piece was originally recorded in 1997.

Review: To mark the one-year anniversary of Reveries, Sonic Cathedral drops a new two-tracker that brings a Detroit reimagining to 'Vale' and 'Cadere'. Produced by John Hanson, aka Saltbreaker, the project features live improvisations by saxophonists Yali Rivlin and Thalamus Morris and cellist Jordan Hamilton. Each of them did their thing in a single take with Hanson composing around their performances, and the result is a graceful blend of serene melancholy and rhythmic sophistication. Oodles of warmth and organic textured is added to the originals and these interpretations act as a fine tribute to Detroit's enduring uniqueness.

Review: Wherever You Are is the sonic result, expressed through solo piano, of a bright burst of introspection experienced at home by John Foxx of Ultravox fame. Made up of compositions he created in the quiet hours following a rare performance at Kings Place, London, during the BBC Radio 3 Night Tracks event in October 2023, the majority of Wherever You Are was recorded at home, with Foxx noting that the matutinal hours are the best for minimising self-criticism, and letting creative freedom flow. Morning, on Foxx's watch, is the ideal time to play: and in stark contrast to his oblique solo LP Metamatic, Foxx's latest is a mono-instrumental monument to personal tranquility and contentment. It reiterates the importance of quietude and temperance as crucial start-points for navigating the complex world we face today.

Review: German pair Markus Guentner and Joachim Spieth rightly got plenty of acclaim for their 2023 ambient album Overlay and now it gets revisited with a top selection of remixes that breathe new life into the original compositions. Prominent ambient and experimental artists such as Hollie Kenniff, Rafael Anton Irisarri and Pole all show their class while newer names like Abul Mogard smears synths into a misty wonder on 'Scope', Galan/Vogt layer in angelic vocal tones to 'Valenz' and Leandro Fresco brings a lightness of touch that fills with optimism on opener 'Apastron. Guentner and Spieth themselves provide two alternate versions of their originals that bring new emotional and sonic depth.

Review: Ezekiel Honig is a New York City-based artist who founded two vital labels, Anticipate Recordings and Microcosm, and now he is back with a new album on 12K. Unmapping The Distance Keeps Getting Closer is a tender and honest work of art that wears its heart on its sleeve with piano, horns and broken rhythms all characterising the palette. Field recordings are also worked into the arrangements to add a real narrative and to really evoke a sense of place. Add in plenty of textural and tactile motives and you have a journeying album full of melancholy but also a sense of hope.

Review: Berlin-based Sydneysider LOGIC1000 (real name Samantha Poulter) enjoyed a prolific and productive 2024, becoming something of an in-demand DJ, producer and remixer on the back of her acclaimed debut album Mother, a typically distinctive affair that pulled deep house in a variety of woozy, melodious and inventive new directions. Her inclusion in K7's long-running DJ Kicks series is therefore well-earned. It offers a home listening-ready distillation of her sound that's notably 'calmer' (in the label's words) than her club sets. But that's no bad thing, as it allows greater exploration of experimental, downtempo and hyper-pop, alongside a string of exclusives (including the obligatory track created for the series) and some heady, mid-tempo dancefloor grooves.

Review: Loscil (Scott Morgan) returns to Kranky with Lake Fire, an ambient fugue born of destruction and reinvention. Initially conceived as an all electronic-ensemble suite, most of the original compositions here were abandoned, except for the James Meager double bass collaboration 'Ash Clouds'. From the remnants of this ambitious but failed aim, Morgan reshaped and rebuilt the music, creating something entirely new from its soots. Impressions of a mountain road trip seep into the album's textures, marking personal milestones set against the eerie backdrop of wildfire smoke. The record takes its name from the strange irony that fires are often named after lakes, evoking a sense of ancient myth. The cover photos capture this moment of contemplation, taken from a rowboat near Revelstoke, BC, Canada.

Review: Deep Valley is a new collaborative work by Australian artists Seaworthy aka Cameron Webb and Matt Rosner and they came together for it during a week-long residency at Bundanon Art Museum in New South Wales. The property which was gifted to the Australian public by artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in the 1990s offers a unique landscape along the Shoalhaven River and is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and diverse wildlife. Drawing inspiration from Boyd's belief that "you can't own a landscape," Deep Valley combines the inspiration of that setting with environmental recordings, guitars, piano, and electronic processing all of which aim to highlight the transient nature of ecosystems and encourage you to reconnect with the sounds of nature.

Review: A cross-hemispheric exchange gave rise to Nocturna, the first collaboration between New Zealand composer Andrew Thomas and German sound artist Joachim Spieth - the former's first for Affin after long-held stints Kompakt. Beginning with Thomas's piano sketches, composed during a Southern Hemisphere summer, the material was passed to Spieth just as light returned to the North. A subtle transformation ensued; Spieth preserved the piano's fragile warmth as its edges came sculpted across ambient textures and restrained sound design. A peek-a-boo of presence and absence is scripted, where each decision to withhold a note feels as resonant as those included. Clipped reverb gargantuans contrast to crystal clear piano scales on our favourites, 'Lumina' and 'Amethyst'.

Review: London-based Australian vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappe has always made immersive, enveloping and deeply atmospheric that sidesteps convention. It was that uniquely haunting and emotive approach to ambient and electronica that earned her deals with Optimo Music and Houndstooth, amongst others. Now signed to One Little Independent, Trappes has pushed the boat out further on Requiem, a mournful and bittersweet musical meditation in which her distinctively sweet-but-drowsy vocals rise above manipulated cello textures, hushed field recordings, ambient textures and intriguing electronic sounds aplenty. It's bold, beautiful and at times breathtakingly brilliant, once again marking Trappes out as an artist with a genuinely unique musical vision.

Review: ***B-STOCK: manufacturing fault not continuous play ***


Founded by Zach Frizzell aka zake of Past Inside the Present fame, Healing Sound Propagandist (HSP) is based in Indianapolis and has quietly amassed a catalogue of nearly 100 releases since its inception, all of them specialising in textured drone and experimental ambient music. To mark this achievement, Retrospective [2019-2024] compiles 76 standout tracks across a five-hour odyssey through the label's most significant works. The compilation features artists like James Bernard, Pallette, and Sean Evans who, along with many others, create a varied world of atmospheres through unique instrumentations. HSP emphasises a focus on deep listening and quality over gimmicks and this retrospective serves both as a tribute to the label's legacy and an introduction to its transformative, meditative soundscapes.

Review: Stepping into the world of Hiroshi Yoshimura is like entering a tranquil garden, where every sound is a carefully cultivated element of the landscape. His music, originating in the 1980s, blurs the lines between ambient soundscapes and composed pieces, creating an immersive experience that evokes the serenity of the natural world. 'Over The Clover' whispers with the gentle rustling of leaves, while 'Flora' blossoms with delicate melodies. Yoshimura captures the essence of specific natural elements, from the unfurling of a morning glory in 'Asagao' to the subtle shifts in air pressure in 'Wind Echo'. He even finds music in the unexpected, as 'Maple Syrup Factory' introduces a surprising sweetness to the sonic landscape. But Yoshimura's work is not simply about recreating the sounds of nature. The Japanese musician and composer encourages a deeper listening experience, where subtle details and intricate textures emerge with each listen, definitely music that rewards close attention.