Category: ambient music
Robert Rich – Perpetual (A Somnium Continuum)
Robert Rich‘s “Somnium” – released in 2001 – was (and still is) one of the landmark monuments of ambient music. Based on his experience playing sleep concerts since 1982, this 7 hour work was especially composed to be your companion during the night, following the natural flow of sleep cycles.
The original Somnium DVD (that was the only format then that could hold such an amount of music) has long sold out now.
But the good news is: there is a successor to this project now: “Perpetual” (and its physical release also contains the original “Somnium” recordings)!
Anjou; Pan & Me; Giulio Aldinucci; Ben Fleury-Steiner; Fossil Aerosol Mining Project – shortlist-
The migration of this blog has taken up some time, so I got a little behind in mentioning some fine album recommendations.
Here is another shortlist to catch up
Marconi Union; Sequence 8; Amongst Myselves; Aquavoice; Looped Exodus – shortlist –
Shortlist for October 2014: albums by Marconi Union (including ‘the most relaxing track ever released’!), Aquavoice, Amongst Myselves, Looped Exodus and another huge compilation from Future Sequence.
A Winged Victory for the Sullen – Atomos
A Winged Victory for the Sullen (AWVftS) is often referred to as a duo consisting of Adam Wiltzie (core member of the legendary Stars of the Lid – guess there’s no further introduction needed) and pianist/composer Dustin O’Halloran. But AWVftS would not be AWVftS without the (now 7-member) string section and the additional modular synth sounds created by Francesco Donadello. Together they present a full orchestral sound with a fascinating balance of string arrangements, melancholic piano melodies and (somewhat unsettling) synth embeddings.
Thomas Köner – Jana Winderen
Thomas Köner is perhaps the Jules Verne of ambient-electronic soundscapes: his sounds seem to come from the deepest ocean, the centre of the earth, the vastest spaces imaginable. If you know his work, you will often immediately recognise his sound when you hear it – and maybe feel it before you even hear it.
Knowing his back-catalogue, the choice of a piano as the main instrument for his new album is somewhat surprising. Piano notes are clearly fixed in time, as opposed to the stretched sounds Thomas Köner usually applies. It is, in a way, a bit of a “rigid instrument”.
Ian William Craig – A Turn of Breath
“A collection that holds twelve works for voice and 1/4″ tape” is a description that immediately grasps my attention, especially when the performing artists is “a trained opera singer, delivering an elegant balance between theatrical and ambient sentiments”.
DreamScenes 2014-10
This is the very first of a monthly broadcast I plan to do from now, presenting (more or less) recent ambient/electronic music in a one hour uninterrupted “show”.
These programs will be streamed “live” every first friday evening of the month (7PM+2 UTC; 21:00hr local time) via the MIXLR channel -where you can join in and chat/comment if you like!
They will also stay available for on-demand listening on MIXCLOUD.
Full playlist details published below.
Hope you’ll join in!!
Woob – Sense – 8m2 Stereo
WOOB – AMBIENT DISASTER MOVIE
After having released two timeless albums on the now legendary EM:T label (“1194” and “4495”), Woob (Paul Frankland, also known as Max & Harvey and half of Journeyman) took some time off from making music (to work in the advertising industry) – returning in 2010 to release a string of new albums on Bigamoebasounds.
On “Ambient Disaster Movie”, the sound (sometimes referred to as ‘post-rave ambient’) is still as bright and recognisable as it was in the beginning – presented with a refreshing (tongue-in-cheek) sense of humour.