*AR – Wolf Notes

*AR is the “collective pseudonym” of Autumn Richardson & Richard Skelton, and “Wolf Notes”  is their first abum together. 

But *AR is also “an archaic place-name element found in river names. (…) It is thought to mean ‘starting up, springing up, setting in motion’ “. 

A further quote from the liner notes explains what this music is about:
It “is inspired by the landscape of Ulpha – a region of spare, rugged beauty in the west uplands of Cumbria, in Northern England. Wolf Notes derives its title from the word ulpha itself, while it is understood to mean ‘the hill frequented by wolves’.”

Fovea Hex – Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent (Mix)


Fovea Hex

When I read that a new Fovea Hex album will be released in the “Very-Imminent-Future”, this revived fond memories of their 2007 box set called “Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent”.

Two quotes may introduce this fascinating collection: Brian Eno thought these were “Some of the Most Extraordinary  Songs I’ve heard in Years”, and The WIRE aptly summarized it this way: “If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like”.

These comments are all about the songs, but I was also impressed by the way Fovea Hex combined the (unmistakable English) “folk” tradition, their sweet sounding but very strange and mysterious vocal poetry, with a daringly experimental sound backing – even to the most extreme on the stretched minimalist remixes of the Hafler Trio (Andrew McKenzie) on the bonus versions  included in the original limited special edition.

Enrico Coniglio – Salicornie


Salicornie

Most ambient music deals with more or less imaginary landscapes -like, for example, the two compilations recently reviewed: “Hidden Landscapes” and “Underwater Noises“.

This is definitely not the case for both Topofonie albums by Enrico Coniglio (who also contributed to the Underwater Noises compilation), that are inspired by Venice and its lagoon.

“A polymorphic portrait of what Venice is today, one moment decadent and melancholy, then romantic, rowdy, colourful and chaotic. Postcard of a thousand postcards, photos of a thousand photos…”

But, just as Venice is not like any other city in the world, Salicornie (and its predecessor: Areavirus ) is not like any other ‘ambient’ album.

Dawn Secrets (Mix)

What exactly happens at the moment night changes back into day again, when darkness slowly retreats and light comes back in? 
Are we aware of what happens outside, at that time of day most of us are still sleeping? 
What sort of animals or creatures are hiding from the light, and what sort finally dare to come out again? 
Would we discover “Dawn Secrets” when we’d leave our own safe and familiar surroundings?

To be honest, I did not start this mix with this theme in mind…it just ‘dawned’ on me when listening to it when it was almost finished…But from the start, I wanted this mix to have a strong ‘environmental’ feel (but not only include field recordings).

Various Artists – "Hidden Landscapes"


Hidden Landscapes

The Audio Gourmet netlabel, run by Harry Towell – a.k.a.Spheruleus- quickly became one of the major netlabels on the ambient music scene.  At time of writing, their impressive catalogue presents about 30 releases, most of them E.P.’s, around 15 minutes long, and thus created to fit your daily coffee/tea break perfectly. 

Though Audio Gourmet have a clear policy about what they want and what they don’t want (no beats!), the musical horizon broadens with every release. For example, the forthcoming release by Paper Relics  (Harry and Stuart Towell), ‘Recovered Artefact’, would be better described as ‘improv folk guitar’ than ambient music.

Trevonic – No Red Lights, No Red Lights

Since 2005, the Polish label AudioTong has been building a remarkable catalogue of “so-called experimental music and sound-art….Music outside of the “mainstream” (especially from outside of the mainstream in the underground)”. 
Note the last part of this quote!

For those that feel that there is too much “sameness” in ambient music recently, the recent AutioTong release by Trevonic, “No Red Light, No Red Light“  maybe a welcome change.

Various Artists – Underwater Noises

Apart from creating his own fascinating music (like the beautiful ‘Poor Henriette Marie’  EP, released on Hibernate), Nigel Samways also runs the Ephre Imprint label, releasing electro-acoustic drone, ambient and experimental music. 

“Underwater Noises“ is Ephre Imprint‘s latest compilation, a joint release with the Lost Children netlabel:

“The theme running through all tracks of this work is ‘water’ (and its numerous concerns risen around the globe). Each artist was prompted to submit a track inspired somehow by the notion of water, according to their individual angle. The upshot is a multilayered work, giving voice to the umpteen facets of a theme which has always created a particularly deep and serious attraction for musicians working in the drone/ambient scene.”

At the first glance on the tracklist of this compilation I knew that there was a complete new world for me to discover, since all of the artists included were unknown to me…!

Danny Saul – Kinison-Goldthwait


Kinison - Goldthwait

The cover image and title of “Kinison – Goldthwait“ may raise some questions, especially for those not living in America. From the website notes, we learn that “Saul is taking some form of inspiration from the well documented public feud between the American stand up comedians Sam Kinison (foul mouthed ranter), and Bobcat Goldthwait (Zed from the Police Academy films). The dispute (supposedly over who stole whose act) came to a head on U.S. ‘shock-jock’ Howard Stern’s radio show, when a boozy sounding Kinison called up Goldthwait live on air, leading to a rather fiery showdown.”

From what I read and heard about this incident, to me this just sounds like a pitiful, embarrasing moment of horrible, (so-called) shock-radio. So it’s fascinating to find that this particular incident is the source of inspiration of this new Danny Saul album.
As Saul says about this: “The track titles may provide something of an ‘ambiguous narrative’ which the listener can take or leave.”

On second thought, there is a remarkable resemblance between this album and the radio incident it was inspired by.

Wil Bolton – Time Lapse

“Time Lapse” is the first album released under his own name, but Wil Bolton is no stranger to music.
Since 2004, he has been recording as Cheju, but a he also created quite a lot of fascinating site-specific works.
Some beautiful examples can he heard on Bolton’s website (I strongly suggest you take your time to listen to all sound samples provided there!)

Although “Time Lapse is labeled as Bolton’s debut release, every single track (of which there are nine) demonstrates his experience in music and sound design. 
And the power of restraint.