Tag: electronic

ambient music, MIXES, surround

Solaris Mindset (Mix)

Mentioning Andrej Tarkovsky’s 1972 movie “Solaris” as a source of inspiration has become a bit of cliche somehow. This classic movie (we’re talking the original Russian 1972 version now) has inspired numerous people, in various fields of art, in its 40 years of existence.

The sparse music soundtrack, created by Edward Artemyev, and the overall meditative ambient atmosphere has also inspired a great deal of ambient music artists.
It also inspired this mix-collage.
Referring to Solaris from a mix like this may not really be in the ‘true spirit’ of what Tarkovsky meant to achieve: he originally wanted to make the movie entirely without using music at all, and asked composer Artemyev to orchestrate the ambient sounds as a musical score. The latter proposed subtly introducing orchestral music. (source).

The sparse use of musical background, together with the length and slow pace of the movie (a ‘meditative psychological drama’) has always had a strange effect on me: it puts me in some kind of half-sleep, a kind of state in which where it is difficult to distinguish details, to separate reality from images less ‘real’.
A half-conscious state of mind that perfectly matches the movie’s theme.


Solaris

This mix includes many different sources. Some parts of the originals Artemyev soundtrack are linked to fragments of the beautiful game soundtrack from Skyrim, by Jeremy Soule. The cinematic parts are alternated with various electronic soundscape fragments – familiar and less familiar.
Together with many tiny fragments from your own memory, a new – and strictly personal- alternate reality may be created, which (like in Solaris) may be hard to distinguish from real life…

Solaris was originally released in march 1972.
This tribute mix is celebrating this inspiring movie’s 40th anniversary!

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Szymon Kaliski + Stefan Wesolowski – 281011


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This collaboration by Szymon Kaliski (electronics) and Stefan Wesolowski (violin) – released as a limited  (50 only) edition on Few Quiet People – was commissioned especially to promote the new spatial audiovisual controller called the Dodecaudion.
A gesture-based controller which, by the looks of it, can best be described as some sort of nowadays Theremin. 

other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Leah Kardos – Feather Hammer

Sometimes an album comes along that is difficult to define, because it doesn’t seem to conform to what may be considered as a single ‘style’ or a ‘genre’.
Albums like that usually take a few extra listens to definitely make up your mind, but they prove to be the more interesting in the end – they don’t easily fit the current consensus because they create their own style definitions. 

“Feather Hammer” is one of such albums.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Looped Exodus – The Near is Ending


Looped Exodus

Although ‘outsiders’ may think otherwise, ‘ambient’ music knows a lot of different musical variations. Referring to ambient music as one single genre is a bit like using ‘world music’ as a genre definition for all kinds of different ethnic music.
 
In fact, ‘ambient music’ is a rather undefinable collection of sub-genres. It ranges from deep-listening drones via eno-esque generative music to dance music and dub-techno, from acoustic improv to post-classical string ensembles, from 70’s cosmic psychedelica to new age tribal music.

The Near is Ending”  starts with a deep droney track, but then continues to combine some different kinds of electronic music to a surprisingly well-balanced album.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Penjaga Insaf – Sama Sadja

The opening track of ‘SAMA SADJA‘ , ‘Seimbang’, slowly unfolds reminiscent of a vintage Klaus Schulze track, but the similarity does not last for long. The album takes an unexpected turn, delving deep into Indonesian traditional culture, with fascinating and hypnotizing musical result.

It’s definitely no ‘roots music’ from Indonesia. But it’s not your average ambient drone, either!

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Guy Birkin – Symmetry-Breaking

There are many different ways to create (and enjoy) ambient/electronic music.
On “Symmetry-Breaking”  (Dr.!) Guy Birkin has an academic approach, bringing him and his music somewhat in line with that of music on the raster-noton label. 

In his work for the Nottingham Trent University (UK), Birkin investigates ‘complexity as an aesthetic property, using information theory as an approach to understanding the complexity of artworks’
For his doctoral thesis he studied ‘visual complexity’, but his current research uses his experimental method to explore the complexity of sound and music. 

The question is, of course: does an academic approach like this also produce academic (as in ‘difficult’) music?
After studying the liner notes and trying to get a grasp of the underlying theories and creation techniques, I was almost relieved to conclude that the answer to that is “No, not necessarily.”

ambient music, MIXES, surround

Teloorgang (Decay and Loss) (Mix)

“Teloorgang” is a beautiful dutch word that can be best translated with “Loss” or “Decay”.

Some say there is beauty in decay….This may be true, but in fact only when watched from a safe distance – the ‘decay’ not regarding ourselves or our own environment..

It is, of course, tempting to relate the theme of this mix to the current state of our (western) society.
But that may just be coincidence: this word “Teloorgang” came to mind when listening back the mix after it was finished.

True: this mix is a somewhat darker than some of the others published here. Thus, it perfectly fits in with the season that is up ahead: summer retreats, autumn kicks in, nights getting darker and colder. 

Sit back, close your eyes and immerse yourself in the beauty of decay and loss.

(The picture was taken in a small town nearYusufeli (Turkey): an near-desolate area that will be covered with water in the near future when the Dam Project will be completed)

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Machinefabriek – Sol Sketches


sol sketches

Almost simultaneously with Wil Bolton‘s “Chimes for a Wall Drawing”  (inspired by a Sol Lewitt wall drawing), Machinefabriek has released his new full length album “Sol Sketches“, containing sketches for a score for a documentary about Sol Lewitt (by Chris Teerink) .  

That may seem coincidental but it’s not that strange considering that Lewitt is closely linked to the conceptual art and minimalism – which is of course also where these musicians their main inspiration. 

Rutger’s releases never fail to amaze me, especially when considering his output rate. This one is no exception. Or maybe it is, in a way, because “Sol Sketches” differs from most of his other releases in the fact that the piano is the main instrument here, not the guitar.