Betacicadae – Mouna


Mouna

Betacicadae is probably not a name you will easily remember.
It concatenates Beta (“obsolete magnetic tape, a second version, something lowly“) with Cicada (“strange and humble insect that emanates beautiful sound”).
And: it is the artist alias of Kevin Scott Davis.

“Mouna“ – available on CD, clear white vinyl, or as a digital download – is not easy to describe, since it contains many different styles.
Still it manages to present a coherent, “narrative” sound. I found myself returning to it and playing it over and over again – which is ususally a sign of something special going on…

Rust (Mix) – The Video Version

When publishing the mixes for Ambientblog, I have always been looking for a way to ‘visualise’ the artist credits for the mix.

Most of the fragments and samples used in the mix-collages are almost indistinguishable, yet the interested listener might want to find out about the release details. 
This is why most mixes on ambientblog also feature a ‘sequence scheme’ image which shows the building blocks of that particular mix.

For my most recent mix, “Rust”, I decided to try out a different feature: a video version, which is showing the track details at the very moment they are used in the mix.

Marsen Jules – The Endless Change of Colour


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Marsen Jules is probably the best known alias of Martin Juhls from Dortmund, Germany, also operating as Falter, Krill.Minima (don’t forget to check the recent “Sekundenschlaf“), or the marvelously named Wildach Sonnerkraut.
His different aliases allow him to experiment and expand in different directions. The previous (six) releases as Marsen Jules each feature somewhat different instrumentation but all share Juhls’ personal trademark of intricate sounddesign.

Most tracks on the previous Marsen Jules albums are somewhere around the 4 – 6 minute length each.
But his latest album“The Endless Change of Colour“ (released on 12k) is different in this respect: it only features one single uninterrupted track.

Lyken; Andreas Bick; Alessio Ballerini; Machinefabriek; Joseph Curwen

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention some of the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn’t find the time (or the right words) for a “full” review for. Still, I think they deserve your attention: use the links to find more info and hear previews.

Terrestial Sea

LYKEN – THE TERRESTIAL SEA
“The result of a bio acoustic residency living and working with marine biologists from Aberdeen Universities Lighthouse Field Station in Cromarty, the Black Isle (Scotland). Gathering and utilizing their underwater acoustic research into how environment effects behaviour.”
Four track album (iTunes only?), featuring three instrumentals, and one created from eerie and alienating vocal samples (‘Scar History’). These tracks may fire your sub-aquatic imagination! My download copy also included an extra track (‘Wetland (Hurrel Lyken Mix)’) which isn’t mentioned in the download tracklist but is definitely worth finding.

Eolo

ANDREAS BICK – EOLO
[FREE DOWNLOAD]
“‘Eolo’ is the Italian name for Aeolus, the ruler of the wind in Greek mythology. On La Palma, trade winds carry a constant stream of clouds over the steep mountains and volcanos of the inland, forcing the clouds into erratic movements.”
This Galaverna release has a somewhat unusual format: it consist of a short (4 minute) audio-track and its accompanying video, shot on La Palma, Canary Islands, in 2010. The field recording soundtrack and the time lapse images from the La Palma cloud movements are taken to a completely different dimension by the angelic vocals of Almut Kühne.

Jacob Kirkegaard – Conversion


Conversion

Jacob Kirkegaard is well-known for his unusual sonic concepts, “capturing and contextualizing hitherto unheard sounds from within a variety of environments: a geyser, a sand dune, a nuclear power plant, an empty room, a TV tower, and even sounds from the human inner ear itself”.

The sounds he presents are always extremely fascinating, even when heard without knowing about their actual context – but of course it does help knowing where the sounds originally come from.

Capturing the feedback sound from a deserted Chernobyl location may not be easy. This also applies to recording interactive sounds to make the listeners own inner ear play an active part in creating the sonic end result.

But can you imagine concepts like this being translated to a performance of a string ensemble?
I couldn’t. 
Scenatet could.

Jffstnhs; Terje Paulsen; Yugen; Machinefabriek; 3M33S

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention some of the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn’t find the time (or the right words) for a “full” review for. Still, I think they deserve your attention: use the links to find more info and hear previews.

Broken

JFFSTNHS (JEFF STONEHOUSE) – BROKEN
A haunting and slowly intensifying drone created by Jeff Stonehouse, co-founder of Listening Mirror.On this 22 minute track (presented on a limited edition 3″ CDR on the Cooper Cult label), Jeff Stonehouse visits “darker places than Listening Mirror dared to tread”. The overall sound is dark, indeed, and feels like something is bound to happen soon – illustrated by the Franz Kafka quote (from “The Metamorphosis”) accompanying the track, as well as by the cover image of the test pilot, who “looks sedate and calm, but there is the implication that he is about to do something extremely dangerous”.

Svart Under Is

TERJE PAULSEN – SVART UNDER IS
Similar in length (20 minutes), and similar in atmosphere is this soundscape by Norwegian artist Terje Paulsen, released on Yugen-Art. While jffstnhs‘s release slowly builds up in tension, this mysteriously named track by Terje Paulsen starts heavily concentrated, but slowly unwinds and gives space to percussive, raindroplike sounds. So they’re a perfect match when played together (in this sequence).
[FREE Download]

Transits of Mercury – Vostok I / II


http://www.transitsofmercury.bandcamp.com

Transits of Mercury is a solo project of Mike Abercrombie (from Toronto, Ontario) – who is also half of ambient electronic duo North Atlantic Drift (together with Brad Deschamps).

“Vostok“ is a three-part project (2 parts are released now, part 3 will follow later this year), which is introduced with a modest “I’m not sure anyone has heard this material yet, aside from my wife and my cat, and maybe a poor roommate or two- tortured by my endless tape loops.”

I really hope that is not really true. But if it is, this certainly has to change soon, because this music deserves to be heard by you, your cat, and your roommates, too!

Rust (Mix)

The title of this mix is taken from the beautiful soundtrack it heavily leans on: Alexandre Desplat’s “Rust and Bone” (“De Rouille et D’Os”).

“Rust” usually refers to ‘decay’, but in dutch “Rust” simply also means ‘rest‘, (‘tranquil – or ‘repos’ in french).

But – as we say in Holland: “Rust Roest”
– or: “Too much rest will make you rusty…”

In other words: don’t expect just ‘tranquil’ sounds in this mix..
This is nót meant to be your average ‘healing session ambient’ soundtrack… so be prepared…

Tmymtur – Yusei + Kooh

** This post has been edited to add info about the “Kooh” remix version: read below **

Any album that is created using “microscopic particles that were developed by myriads of voices”, and claims to include “many territories of ultra-high frequencies, marking over 20 kHz that human ears are incapable of catching” immediately gets my undivided attention.

Especially when “these ultra-high frequencies are often included in sounds of nature such as the flow of the river, the forest, the waterfalls, and the wind blowing through the trees. Most of these which we consider as comfortable nature sounds include these ultra-high frequencies, and it is also said that these ultra-high frequencies have the effect to make the human brain relaxed.”