Broken Lines (Mix)


HAL's eye

If you have ever watched Stanley Kubrick‘s “2001 – Space Odyssey“, you will definitely remember the impressive scene in which the memory modules are slowly taken away from HAL, the ship’s main computer, because it started to disfunction and became a threat to the astronauts and their mission.
Just before his memory fades completely, HAL remembers being programmed to sing“Daisy”, one of his earliest digital ‘childhood memories’.

With this scene (as well as with HAL‘s name), Kubrick directly referred to the IBM 7094 computer (used to control the Mercury and Gemini space flights, as well as the Apollo missions) which was programmed to sing Daisy in 1961 – a remarkable accomplishment at that time!

Computer systems revolting, loss of memory, human utterings that seem to come from lost souls….
I guess you’d better be prepared for a dark and suspenseful listening hour …

If you have listened to this mix, I’m really curious to know what you think, so please let me know!
(and please let your friends know, also… just spread the word and make these mixes heard …  thanks for your help!)

Chris Dooks with Machinefabriek – The Eskdalemuir Harmonium


<a href=

When hearing the first notes of “The Eskdalemuir Harmonium” by (Scottish) composer Chris Dooks – created together with Machinefabriek – and reading the album’s liner notes, one thing is very clear: a Harmonium is a strange and fascinating instrument.

“If it sucked air past its reeds it might be called a melodeon but this one blows, so it’s a harmonium. In a harmonium, the more notes in your chord, the faster you have to pedal, the quicker you reach exhaustion. Also, the more notes in your chord the quieter it becomes and only pedaling much faster will keep up the volume.”

“Accumulated dust causes constriction of the tubes, narrowing the airways like an asthma attack. Keys can stick, as can internal mechanics. Things can snap off, rupture. A lung can collapse or be torn open.”

“I catch myself assigning human properties or illnesses to it, calling it arthritic and asthmatic. It can also be grumpy and stubborn depending on the weather.”

"Both Were Moving" (Mix)


image by Asifthebes

At the closing of 2012, I’m proud to present this new ‘dialogue mix’  (the only other collaboration on ambientblog is the “Division Dialogue“ mix created together with Muttley in 2010).

When Christophe Ywaska, creator of the weekly Klankschap radio shows on VillaBota webradio (whose mixes can also be found on Mixcloud, by the way) suggested working on a mix together, I knew we were in for a sonic treat. 
Klankschap mixes are never “just” ambient – or “just” any other genre for that matter. Their tracklistings are a display of a deep knowledge of all kinds of experimental music, both new ánd old.
Due to their nature, they dó require some ‘active’ listening, though: they’re never meant to be ‘easy listening’ background music.

And the same is true for this mix, “Both Were Moving”: this is clearly no ‘ambient’ mix – it’s a sonic rollercoaster ride!

…. And Darkness Came.


...and darkness came

The announcement of this charity compilation – the very first release of the popular Headphone Commute weblog – has caused quite a buzz in the ‘ambient’ music community. I’t not very difficult to see why.

Boasting a tracklisting of 87 tracks, it seems that almost everyone artist imaginable has contributed to “…. And Darkness Came“.
More than six hours of music (and sounds) for just USD 10 (or more, of course) – of which all proceedings will go to Doctors Without Borders and The Humane Society to support those affected by the recent Hurricane Sandy.

How’s that for a Christmas present?!

Good Weather for an Airstrike, Offthesky + Man Watching the Sky, Eugene Carchesio, Max Wuerden

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. 

Lights

Good Weather for an Airstrike – Lights
“Good Weather For An Airstrike (the name comes from a Sigur Rós piece) is an ambient/post-rock project by Tom Honey from Winchester, Hampshire UK. The idea of the project was to create a collection of relaxing sounds which would help Tom alleviate the issues caused by suffering from tinnitus, which causes a ringing sensation in the ear and can often result in difficulty sleeping. Combining processed guitars, dreamy strings, piano, synths, drums, lulling drones and subtle field recordings, Lights is full of wonderful soundscapes that mix ambient, electronic, post-rock and neo-classical sounds perfectly.”

Afar, Farewell

Offthesky & Man Watching the Stars – Afar, Farewell
Experimental violinist Brendan Paxton joins Jason ‘Offthesky’ Corder on these “five gorgeous tracks of slowly evolving melody on a soft bed of processed guitar, molten strings and Offthesky’s deep and quirky signatures”.

Banabila, Manuel Chantre, Beautiful Schizophonic, Linear Bells, Sequence 5

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.

SumDark

Michel Banabila – Sum Dark 12
Available as a digital download for some time, but now also as a strictly limited CDr edition. Contains four tracks that were the basis for Banabila‘s impressive (at times even terrifying) set performed at the Summer Darkness festival in Utrecht, 2012, as well as a 22 minute live recording from that performance.
Definitely showcasing the darkest of the many sides of Michel Banabila!

SixMilAntenas

Manuel Chantre – Six Mil Antenas
Soundtrack for the first 360 degree ‘Satosphere’ (Société des Arts Technologiques, Montreal) film, a “Journey in a futurist, psychedelic and non-linear universe”, inspired by movies like Enter the Void, Alphaville, The Holy Mountain and then some. This visual experience must be quite overwhelming in itself, but without the images this soundtrack is also very much worth listening.
Fun detail: this album is also offered as a concrete block with USB-port. I did not dare to ask for the international shipment cost of this particular one…

Manuel Chantre also offers another compilation of soundtracks for audiovisual installation on “Memorsion and other Works“, which features somewhat more ambient-oriented soundscapes.

The Volume Settings Folder – Ivan Hoe and Other Tales


Ivan Hoe

From the very first minutes of “Ivan Hoe and Other Tales“, you will realise that this is not gonna be like one of your average atmospheric drone albums.

Starting with a spoken voice recording, taken “from old tape cassettes for English summer homeworks” and telling tales about the ancient Saxons from Sherwood Forest, the album shifts into “a journey into an almost cold, dark and ‘aseptic’ forest, ending with a come-back to a warm home”.

Banabila & Machinefabriek


banabila+machinefabriek

First: check my last.fm profile so you know that I’m not entirely ‘unbiased’ when reviewing this release. 

Michel Banabila and Machinefabriek are firmly at the top of my all-time favourite artists chart (well, to be exact: counting of ‘all-time’ started at 2005 when I “went digital” in listening music). 

Both have been extensively featured on this weblog (just do a search on their names to dig deeper) – even if that covers only a small part of their output.
Considering their complete discography, it seems their output is quite different in style – yet their work also has some overlapping areas, especially when it comes to “gritty” electronics. 

Knowing they both live in Rotterdam, it was clear that they should meet sometimes. I’ve been waiting for that to happen, but I had no idea if their collaboration would work and what the result might sound like. 

So imagine my surprise when, without any introduction or announcement, their collaborative album “Banabila & Machinefabriek”  was announced recently.

Eivind Aarset – Dream Logic

Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset will probably be known by many of you, just for his contributions to the music of artists like Nils Petter Molvaer, Arve Henriksen, David Sylvian.

When reading about his new solo album, the combination of some details made it clear to me that this was a release to look forward to:  

First: it is released on the ECM-label.
Second: it is co-produced and co-composed by Jan Bang.  
Third: it’s title is “Dream Logic” …