Sonmi451 – Ruis


ruis

The Slaapwel  label, specialised in music to fall asleep to, is becoming more collectible with every release.

The previous (six) releases were all very beautiful (package ánd music-wise) and perfectly fitted the purpose they were created for: dozing away quietly, listening to music that is ‘interesting and boring at the same time’.

Among the previous performers were Peter Broderick, Greg Haines, Machinefabriek + Soccer Committee and Jasper TX. (check [here] for some Slaapwel-reviews on ambientblog.net).

This seventh release in this remarkable series is this one, called “Ruis” by Somni451.

Vuvuzela Stretch Mix

Ever since I heard Pink Floyd’s processed recording of a stadium singing (on ”Fearless”, from 1971’s “Meddle”), the sound of a mega-crowd organism fascinates me as well as the mass hysteria behind it frightens me.

In fact, I really HATE football, but the 2010 World Championship brought a new fascinating phenomena: the Vuvuzela.

The deafening sound (over 125dB, which is louder than a chain-saw) is dreaded by many for its annoying sound and danger of deafening.
Still, a stadium with thousands of these horns honking continuously is a fascinating sound, which I would love to hear properly recorded (in full surround, preferrably).

So, when someone posted a link to a short sample from the US-UK match, I simply could not resist….

Jan Bang – …And Poppies from Kandahar

The Samadhisound label, founded and curated by David Sylvian, simultaneously released three impressive titles. Together they present a landmark of the current experimental/electronic/ improv scene.
Be prepared: none of these albums are ‘easy listening’ music – in fact, a lot of this music wouldn’t even be considered ‘ambient’.

Jan Bang‘s album “…And Poppies from Kandahar” is a good start, because it contains the most ‘accessible’ music of these titles.

Toshimaru Nakamura – Egrets

The Samadhisound label, founded and curated by David Sylvian, simultaneously released three impressive titles. Together they present a landmark of the current experimental/electronic/ improv scene.
Be prepared: none of these albums are ‘easy listening’ music – in fact, a lot of this music wouldn’t even be considered ‘ambient’.

Next to David Sylvian, it’s Arve Henriksen linking Toshimaru Nakamura‘s album to that of Jan Bang.
However, Henriksen’s trumpet handling is quite different here: it includes the sound of the instrument itself (like the clicking of the valves), as well as the breathing of the player.
This perfectly fits the music of Toshimaru Nakamura – who is a household name in the Japanese onkyo (noise) and improv scene.

Akira Rabelais – Caduceus

The Samadhisound label, founded and curated by David Sylvian, simultaneously released three impressive titles. Together they present a landmark of the current experimental/electronic/ improv scene.
Be prepared: none of these albums are ‘easy listening’ music – in fact, a lot of this music wouldn’t even be considered ‘ambient’.

If I would compile a list of all time favourite albums, Akira Rabelais’ Spellewauerynsherde (also released on Samadhisound) would definitely end up in the highest regions. 
Thus, expectations were mile-high when SamadhiSound announced the release of a new Rabelais album called Caduceus.

VorteX (Mix)

Since 1995, X-Rated (a weekly three hour radio show on dutch alternative music radio channel Kink FM) has been a “platform for ‘difficult’ music”. Experimental, avant-garde, poetry, soundscapes: uncensored and uncompromised.

(The FM in the channel’s name is somewhat misleading, since it’s a cable radio station that can also be received via internet or satellite).

X-Rated‘s existence for more than 15 years is nothing short of remarkable, because Kink FM (daughter of Veronica Broadcasting company) is a commercial station, while the music X-Rated features is about the opposite of “commercial”. Since dutch public radio has ended (almost) all of the experimental radio shows, X-Rated is about the last dutch program hosting experimental electronic music.

Needless to say that I’m very very proud to have X-Rated broadcast a full one-hour mix, especially created for this occasion. This mix was broadcast on the May 23, 2010 show (the first day of Pentecost).

Vortex was especially created for X-Rated. Thanks to Bob Rusche for broadcasting this on his show!

Fluid Radio Mix


fluid radio

If you check out the Fluid Radio Mixcloud playlist,you’ll find a lot of familiar names: it seems that almost all artists working in the contemporary electronic experimental music field have contributed one or more mixes themselves. Most of these have appeared somewhere in one of my earlier mixes.
These mixes (which are also broadcast on the  ) make Fluid Radio one of the most popular channels on Mixcloud. Fluid Radio Webchannel

Apart from that, Fluid Audio represents a label that has released some impressive music in equally impressive packages…!

The mix presented here was created specifically for Fluid Radio. It is no ‘head-tail’ mixtape, but a collage of fragments that are represented in a different context and, doing so, get a different musical meaning.
Like all of my other mixes, there are a lot of details presented in layers, creating new perspectives – ‘enhanced’ landscapes which sometimes may not be too comfortable but hopefully will be as fascinating to you as they are for me…

This particular mix was especially created for Fluid-Radio in march 2010. It was broadcast on Fluid Radio on May 20, 2010.

Laura Gibson & Ethan Rose – Bridge Carols

It must be something in the water or in the air over there in Portland, Oregon, resulting in a lot of remarkable music lately. Such as Bridge Carols, by Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose.
It’s labelled as “electro-pastoral music” and I really couldn’t think of a better description myself.  

It’s not very often that I hear a new album that gives me the feeling it is exploring completely new territories by tearing down the limitations of existing styles and influences. Bridge Carols did exactly that. It got under my skin from the very first listen and felt like a mystery to be explored.