Steve Roden + Machinefabriek – Lichtung


Lichtung

The very first release on a brand new label called Eat, Sleep, Repeat brings together two remarkable men from the electronic/improv scene: Steve Roden and Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt)

“Lichtung“ is the soundtrack created for an audio-visual installation at  Galerie Vayhinger, featuring visuals by Sabine Bürger, inspired by the Mindelsee lake in Germany.

This CD version does not feature the video part of the installation, but the images from the inlay booklet  are a good impression of how beautiful this installation must have been.

Bersarin Quartett – II

In 2008, no-one knew what to expect from this “Bersarin Quartett” and, although it received unmatched critical acclaim,  it has always been somewhat below the radar – a “cult” release that still deserves to find a much larger audience.
(Don’t worry: it is still available as CD or digital download. A special limited 2 x 12″ vinyl picture disc edition can also be pre-ordered!)

Four years later, suddenly there’s the follow up, the ‘difficult second album’ – simply named “II“. 
The big difference: this time we’re prepared!  

Greg Haines – Digressions


Digressions

When the relatively short opening track from “Digressions” slowly fades into the second track, “Caden Cotard”, an unexpected, jaw-dropping massiveness starts to build – a full orchestral sound that I did not expect to hear on this third Greg Haines album.

It’s not ‘loud’, it’s not ‘noise’ – it’s beautifully restrained, but it’s just…massive.

But then, within the same track, the intensity drops to a much quieter level to become much more intimate. 
With this flow of tension and release, “Digressions” somehow compares to a post-rock album, however with a different instrumentation.
Musically, it feels more like it’s a full classical symphony.

Atom TM – Winterreise


Winterrreise

“Winterreise“ is Atom TM ‘s (Uwe Schmidt, a.k.a. Senor Coconut) follow up to 2009’s “Liedgut“. 
It will be released as a standard CD on Raster-Noton, in their familiar classy packaging, but has previously been  available in the form of a “Play Button“: a new music medium combining the classic pin-button with a built-in music player. 

Musically, “Winterreise” is quite different from “Liedgut”. 
It’s far more abstract and experimental, with more accents on textures and soundscapes (and less direct  references to the music of Kraftwerk). 
It’s more ‘serious’, in a way, although it never gets too serious – you can definitely trust Uwe to find a perfect balance between ‘art’ and ‘fun’.

McDougall + Sasajima; Hydrophones; Francisco Lopez; Pleq a.o.

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.

Injya

James McDougall & Hiroku Sasajima – Injya
Using environmental sounds from Australia and Japan, McDougall and Sasajima create a new virtual world by rearranging and manipulating the original recordings. Their carefully crafted collages manage to maintain the ‘natural’ feeling of the recordings yet at the same times creates a non-existent landscape that is fascinating to listen to. One of the best environmental soundscapes I know.

Hydrophones

Various Artists – Hydrophones
Using only (publicly available) recordings from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), carefully manipulating the underwater sounds of ships, earthquakes, “air guns”, whale sounds and some unknown sources, this free download includes three immersive sub-aquatic ambient soundscapes created by Michael Hendley, Beau Finley and Keep.

Listening Mirror – What’s Wrong with Miracles?

A closer look on this latest Listening Mirror album called “What’s Wrong with Miracles?”  shows that this is in fact one side of the mirror: there’s no trace of Kate Tustain‘s soft heavenly vocals on this release. 
(For that, you may want to check out the beautiful recent compilation overview “Resting in Aspic“ ) 

Compared to the soft vocal counterparts on the previous releases, Jeff Stonehouse presents a rather dark mirror on this new release.

Mirrorring – Foreign Body

Grouper (Liz Harris) is quite “Hot”.
And with that, I am not referring to the fact that she is female, which obviously is a rare feat in the male dominated world of ambient music (listeners, as well as musicians).

She’s ‘hot’ because she manages to appeal to a (relatively) large audience by merging different backgrounds, combining sleepy bedroom folk with laptop lo-fi and electronic minimalism. 

Her recent performance (in my hometown) sold out quicky and raised a relatively fair amount of buzz. In her performance  she did not touch any guitar, did not sing any tune – she just shuffled and mixed some cassette-tape recordings into an uncompromisingly minimal, William Basinski-like set of “Sleep”  (from “Violet Replacement“).

Looking around and watching a silent (!) crowd (of about 150) listening to this slowly deteriorating piece, most of them with eyes closed, I could not help but wonder why I did not see most of these people at other ambient music performances.
Two days earlier I enjoyed a brilliant performance of Machinefabriek, Celer and Kleefstra-Bakker-Kleefstra – with only some 20 other people in the audience. Which was a shame, because this deserved to be heard by a lot more – I realised that most of this Grouper audience definitely would have enjoyed that performance too!

Most of Grouper’s previous recordings are not as minimal as this performance of “Sleep”. The fact that she’s crossing over from hazy bedroom electronics may very well be the reason why she guides her audience into the deep and sleepy realms of minimalist ambient music. Almost unnoticed..

Until yesterday, I had some doubts about reviewing “Foreign Body”, a new release by Mirrorring (a duo featuring Liz ‘Grouper’ Harris and Jesy ‘Tiny Vipers’ Fortino (these two names together should obviously raise attention), because it’s not an ‘ambient’ album as most on this blog.

But with these thoughts about the recent Grouper performance in mind, I decided  this album was well worth the attention, because it will probably appeal to a lot of ambient music listeners, too.

So – how’s that for a lengthy introduction?

Various Artists – Sequence 3


Sequence 3

With 41 tracks and over 4 hours of experimental music, the Sequence 3 compilation could be a bit too much to chew at once. 
So (unless you simply can’t get enough) it’s probably best to digest it in smaller portions at the time.

Or, create your own sub-selection according to your liking, because, with such a diverse offering, it’s clear that not every track can be for everyone’s taste. But there is so much to choose from it’s easy to compile your own sub-compilation!