Shortlist for October 2014: albums by Marconi Union (including ‘the most relaxing track ever released’!), Aquavoice, Amongst Myselves, Looped Exodus and another huge compilation from Future Sequence.
Packed in a beautiful black embossed cover is this remarkable re-issue of Poppy Ackroyd’s 2012 album. For this re-release, “Escapement” is presented in DVD-format with visuals by Lumen (Tom Newell).
A Winged Victory for the Sullen (AWVftS) is often referred to as a duo consisting of Adam Wiltzie (core member of the legendary Stars of the Lid – guess there’s no further introduction needed) and pianist/composer Dustin O’Halloran. But AWVftS would not be AWVftS without the (now 7-member) string section and the additional modular synth sounds created by Francesco Donadello. Together they present a full orchestral sound with a fascinating balance of string arrangements, melancholic piano melodies and (somewhat unsettling) synth embeddings.
When you read this, the new ambientblog site is live!
To celebrate this, 30 FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD CODES can be won.
The winners will be randomly drawn from all email subscribers that have entered their address in the first 48 hours (counting from October, 21)
On tuesday, October 21, it is exactly NINE years since the very first blog post.
And exactly five years since its name was changed to Ambientblog.net.
It is also the day this weblog (and all of its content) will be migrated to a new software platform.
To celebrate this, I have 30 FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD CODES to give away!
Thomas Köner is perhaps the Jules Verne of ambient-electronic soundscapes: his sounds seem to come from the deepest ocean, the centre of the earth, the vastest spaces imaginable. If you know his work, you will often immediately recognise his sound when you hear it – and maybe feel it before you even hear it.
Knowing his back-catalogue, the choice of a piano as the main instrument for his new album is somewhat surprising. Piano notes are clearly fixed in time, as opposed to the stretched sounds Thomas Köner usually applies. It is, in a way, a bit of a “rigid instrument”.
“A collection that holds twelve works for voice and 1/4″ tape” is a description that immediately grasps my attention, especially when the performing artists is “a trained opera singer, delivering an elegant balance between theatrical and ambient sentiments”.
Throughout musical history, composers have always taken fragments of other composers’ work and used them to re-compose completely new compositions. Before “electricity”, their choice of instruments was ‘limited’ to that of the classical orchestra settings. And now time has passed, they all sound ‘classical’ to contemporary ears.
But when contemporary composers – especially from ‘rock’ or experimental field – reworks classical compositions, incorporating electronic media – hell breaks loose in purist camps on both sides.
At least, that’s how it used to be – some years ago. It seems things have changed a bit since we’re more accustomed to the culture of ‘sampling’.
This is the very first of a monthly broadcast I plan to do from now, presenting (more or less) recent ambient/electronic music in a one hour uninterrupted “show”.
These programs will be streamed “live” every first friday evening of the month (7PM+2 UTC; 21:00hr local time) via the MIXLR channel -where you can join in and chat/comment if you like!
They will also stay available for on-demand listening on MIXCLOUD.
Full playlist details published below.
Hope you’ll join in!!
