I guess it must be something in the water in Belgium!?
This self-released CD-R from Steiner (Stijn Hüwels), does not only look like it could be a new release on the Slaapwel-label, it also sounds like one.
Which may not be very strange, considering that Stijn and Wim Maesschalk (Slaapwel records label owner) live in the same city and obviously know each other.
Ambientblog proudly presents a new “Guest mix”, contributed by Bartosz Dziadosz a.k.a. Pleq.
After reviewing his latest releases, I did not hesitate when Bartosz asked me if he could contribute a mix to the ambientblog podcasts.
This Pleq Ambientblog mix is not a mix of his own music, but a mix of Various Artists that gives great insight in the kind of music that inspires Pleq.
It kicks in fairly heavy with the high pitched noise of Go Koyashiki’s “Silhouette”, which when it suddenly drops feels like it has prepared your mind to ‘open up’ for the sounds to follow.
Bartosz’ mix balances the almost industrial electronic sounds with the more organic romanticism of (for example) Library Tapes, Max Richter and Spyweirdos.
Before closing the mix, two previously unreleased tracks are included: a collaboration with Hakobune and another with Natalia Noeila Siebula.
The deepest grief can often inspire the most impressive art.
The albums of Dakota Suite are not the ones to celebrate the happier moments in life, as can be seen from their titles alone.
They commemorate sadness, loss, pain, fear and loneliness.
But the (mainly acoustic) instrumentation also always leaves room for hope, for acceptation of the way life is.
Previous Dakota Suite releases have brought some timeless masterpieces, like “The End of Trying” and its remix companion “The Night Keeps Coming in” (you can still stream the Folio Radio show compilation of these two albums).
Dakota Suite’s latest release “The North Green Down” may prove to be their most impressive work to date. But the foundations of this album is of heartbreaking sadness once again…
According to Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz from Warsaw, Poland)“Ballet Mechanic” is “his most personal, abstract and intellectual work to date, never to be repeated.”
“Ballet Mechanic” contains six tracks, over 70 minutes in total, “inviting the listener to travel through crackle, screech, squeak, sizzle and subtle drones”.
Some of the tracks have a natural feel, like if it was created from field recordings instead of electronic sources. Other tracks sound like distant machines humming while doing their work.
All kinds of subtle shifts are happening in the immersive sound spectrum, but you’ll only become aware if you submerge yourself in the sound. The overall atmosphere is very calm and relaxing.
“Melting Loop Trip” by Shinobu Nemoto (from Kanagawa, Japan), should not be missed by anyone enjoying long-form drone music.
It is released as a handmade 4CDR release if you want a physical copy, but it can also be downloaded (for free!) from the Resting Bell netlabel.
It’s a massive download including sixteen loops, each loop between six and thirteen minutes long, totalling over two-and-a-half hour of deep drone listening.
A fairly extreme release in size ánd content.
Apart from running his excellent Audio Gourmet netlabel (check their beautiful compilation album “Hidden Landscapes” if you didn’t already), Harry Towell a.k.a. Spheruleus also releases his own music on different labels.
Resting Bell netlabel recently released his latest short (23 min) three track album called “Forgotten Outland“.
For those familiar with the work of Michel Banabila (and if not: you may check this mix presenting a broad range of his work), his new album “The Latest Research from the Department of Electrical Engineering” may come as a noisy surprise.
Created entirely from electrical sound sources that are fiercely mixed and meant to play LOUD, this has nothing much to do with his gentle ‘world-ambient’ output. In his catalogue it is loosely connected to the two “Spherics” released, that also contained strictly electronic music. But it’s different in sound and in using thumping industrial beats.
By now, we can safely speak of a “school of composers”, creating neo-classical, romantic, sometimes melancholic chamber music (sometimes with some electronic elements too): people like Max Richter, Johann Johannsson, Sylvain Chauveau and the like.
Music that sounds like the soundtrack of a movie you want to see just because of the soundtrack…
Dustin O’Halloran is no ‘newbie’ in the genre. He wrote the scores for Marie Antoinette (2006) and An American Affair (2010), and has released two “Piano Solos” albums on Bella Union.
With this new release “Lumiere“, Dustin O’Halloran definitely settles firmly between the masters of the genre!
The Rural Colours 3-inch CD subscription series continues to deliver high quality releases, most of which are sold out immediately after their release.
Luckily for those that do NOT have a subscription to these physical releases, they continue to be available as digital downloads through Bandcamp.
“Home Outside” is Clem Leek‘s contribution to the Rural Route series: it was released on january 23 as part of ‘subscription pack 7’ (and of course quickly sold out too).
