SON OF CHI Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Over the last couple of years, former Chi Factory member Hanyo van Oosterom has donned the Son of Chi alias and begun collaborating with a new generation of ambient producers. The latest is Spanish artist Clara Brae, who handed over a swathe of field recordings made for the site-specific Wetland sound instillation before returning to add new layers to the Dutch veteran's lengthy ambient soundscapes. As usual with van Oosterom's creations, what's on offer is an intoxicating, sonically detailed sound soup in which his own sparse instrumentation (percussion, bass, oud, mouth harp, piano, guitar and more) bobs and weaves in a sea of atmospheric field recordings and heady new age intent. If you've enjoyed any of his previous work, you'll love it - we genuinely think it's another future classic.

Review: Newcomers to Astral Industries have happened upon the label at a great moment here. Hanyo van Oosterom is continuing the fantastic work he was involved in with J. Derwort under the Chi project name following the latter's death in 2019. Now producing under the moniker Son of Chi, it's an extension rather than a repetition of what has come before it.

Tonal vocabulary expanded, it feels more immersive and grander than ever before, and yet retains the fundamentals that first enraptured us. Organic instrumentation and the sense of falling ever deeper into dreamlike states of consciousness are just two ways of describing what both Chi and the new offspring concept bring to the table. These are new sonic worlds opening up before our mind's eye, packed with mystery, lamentation, and hope for tomorrow.