Back catalogue: Ambient/Drone

Review: Heaven Smile is a Nduja-affiliated label that is back with a second offering that takes a trip into futuristic techno as well as offering up some superb abstract outings. 'Hold-1' is an ambient soundscape that draws you into a filtered synth that pulses as changes shape. 'Track 2' is dubby, techno-leaning house with diffuse chord vamps and 'Aliasing' is a distorted, scruffy collage of broken beats and knackered claps with a fuzzy pulse running through the middle. 'Hold-3' offers another ambient moment to catch your breath then 'Windmill' suspends you in amongst the stars.

Review: Since making his debut as 33.10.3402 11 years ago, Nenad Markovic has built up quite a catalogue of experimental, left-of-centre musical treats, most notably via frequent outings on L.I.E.S and ESP Institute. Here he makes his bow on another label, Third World, in the process providing DJ Evan's imprint with its debut release. First up, he provides a fresh '2022 mix' of the previously compilation-only '1000 Julys', a minimalistic epic where wayward electronics, intoxicating industrial sounds, hazy chords and marimba style melodies rise above a deep, weighty bassline and sparse, shuffling drum machine beats. 'Deep Beneath The Ocean Waves Of Labyrinths and Coral Waves' is similarly informed but warmer and deeper, with melodic motifs that lap like waves, pads that wash over your soul, and beats that bubble and spit attractively.

Review: Adding yet another record to the pile that has so far been provided by the label A_A, the experimental dub artists behind said outfit (Satoshi Tomiie and Nao Gunji) have really outdone themselves out here. On pink splatter vinyl comes 'Dissonant', one of many EPs to have emerged from the same heads-down studio session that saw to its predecessor, 'Radiant'. Tracks 1-4 lock in a slew of impressive ear-scourings and dub-delayed experimentations, with the first and last tracks particularly blowing us away with their broken beats, which allow for more attention to be paid to every undulation, crackle and knock.

Review: Artificial Owl Recordings welcomes aboard New Yorkers Satoshi Tomiie and Naotake Gunji for the label's fifth release; a recording of their collaborative A_A project and live show, which first came to light at the Fridman Gallery in Manhattan. A_A, an ongoing audio project, explores the visceral tension between floor-centric ambient electronica and improvised sound/audio performance. Here, found and object-activated sounds fire a collective dub trigger, producing a distinctly somatic regrounding across five original works.

Review: A aka Mika Vainio's 'Fermionit' is a significant release from the late Finnish producer, who passed away in 2017. Originally featured in a Belgium Detuned 6x12 boxset just before his death, the track received critical acclaim from collectors and fans. Now, it returns to Mika's own Sahko label for a well-deserved 12" release. 'Fermionit' embodies the essence of Finnish techno with its minimalistic, cold and stark sound. The track's passive-aggressive edge showcases Vainio's signature style, blending raw, unfiltered textures with a profound sense of depth. This release not only honors Vainio's legacy but also offers a chance for new listeners to experience the pure DNA of Finnish techno. An essential listen for fans of minimalist and avant-garde electronic music.

Review: While the name may be new, A New Line (Related) is supposedly the work of an already established musician, although Kimochi was never a label that cared about hype. The music stands just fine on its own, digging into the kind of dusty and dusky house and techno formations that the label has forged its hand-sprayed identity on. There's plenty of ambient techno twirls to be enjoyed on the likes of "Dancing On Soft Borders", while the beats melt away entirely on "After A Short Illness" and grandiose EP closer "RIYL Failures". Once again Kimochi comes up with the kind of meaningful variations on the 4/4 framework that keep our record bags full and our souls enriched.

Review: Portal ends the year with a delightfully well-crafted and deliciously deep techno long player from Acaera. It opens up in dubbed-out and stripped-back fashion with supple rolling rhythms way down below the most deft of pads. 'Anaesthesia' brings some fizzing static electricity to the mix but the mood remains foggy and bleak in beautiful ways then 'Learned Behaviour' brings a little more thump to the low end but the atmosphere remains sparse. 'Forella' is a dub techno cruiser that floats on airy breaks and 'Reorientation' shuts down with three-plus minutes of eerie ambiance.

Review: Agonis' debut album Neutropia receives a well-earned remix treatment here. Originally released in 2021, the album showcased Agonis' evolution beyond deep, hypnotic techno by incorporating half-paced drum & bass, rolling amen breaks, trip-hop and futuristic techno. Neutropia Remixed broadens this palette further with four distinctive reworks. Carrier slows 'Thermo' into a half-time rhythmic masterpiece, Christina Vantzou crafts a mesmerising drone trip, upsammy injects shimmering dynamics into 'Algoflash' and Felix K transforms 'Pyrchid' into an intricate drum workout.

Review: Basel-based experimental labels Amenthia Recordings and A Walking Contradiction join forces for their first collaborative release here in the form of the Flash Crash/Hack Crash EP. Both labels are known for pushing boundaries within their close-knit creative circles and this one features Agonis' heavy stepper and Konduku's whirlpool of low frequencies on the Amenthia side, while Lemont continues the low-end, tripped-out vibe. Varuna represents A Walking Contradiction and delivers swampy, slow-motion sounds in their signature style. This release embodies both labels' commitment to daring, unconventional electronic sounds.

Review: Examine Alex Albrecht's small (but undoubtedly impressive) discography, and you'll find an atmospheric, opaque and undeniably dreamy mix of ambient, deep house and downtempo grooves. His calling card, then, is not his adherence to a specific style, but a love of immersive aural textures, sonic warmth and sunrise-ready melodic motifs. This trademark sound is to the fore on A Clearing, his first Mule Musiq outing. Check first the detailed, subtly dubbed-out deep house dreamscape of 'Stranger', before admiring the ultra-deep, half-asleep excellence of 'A Clearing' and the Latin-tinged, ambient house bliss of 'Cabin in the Meadow'. He opts for a Sprinkles-goes-Latin house flex on 'Gibbon's Call', fuses jazz-house and ambient on 'The Walk' and doffs a cap to Susumu Yokota on 'Kennet River'. In a word: wonderful!

Review: The Analogue Attic microverse is defined by a unified commitment to the deepest ideas of where house music can head, and no one embodies that spirit better than Alex Albrecht. On this latest 12" he's heading into the velvet folds of low tempo chugger 'The Blacksmith' and downtempo dream state 'Coles Ridge' with elegiac piano sparkling atop fathoms-deep pads and the softest of percussion. This is house music as a vessel for pure relaxation and sentimental meditation, and across six tracks Albrecht offers up balm after balm to soundtrack oceanic realms of calm - a much needed tonic for the frenetic pace of modern life.

Review: Transmigration continue to offer an unparalleled service in unearthing the true gems from the explosion of early trance and ambient techno in the early 90s. In a sound that has a lot of misses, it takes sharp curation to present the hits, and they've done just that with this reissue of Jake Stephenson's 1994 release as Alien Mutation, Starship Heart Of Gold. There are wiggy synth lines which absolutely align this release with the trance of the day, but there's so much more going on sonically than kitsch, faux-spiritual melodies. This is swirling, swampy trip-out music of the highest calibre, faithfully repressed for a receptive crowd in the here and now.

Review: If you're familiar with imprints like Nous'laer Audio, AD93, Tikita, or Semantica, but haven't yet explored the galaxy of sound coming from Ahrpe Records, now's your chance. Amandra is one of two heads behind said stable, and here the French producer shows everyone what time it is with a space walk through acid warbles and tribalistic rhythms. Neither of which give a particularly accurate description of what's here, but both are defining features of the tracks and EP as a whole. Whether it's the jazz-imbued shuffle of 'Prorokini', the phat wobbling steps of 'Brera Som Som' itself, or the wall of distorted percussion on 'Fanfaron', all four originals are standouts and hard to compare, while the cherry-picked remixes show just how much can be done with what's here, if the right ears are involved.

Review: Operative for the latter half of the 1990s, Japanese outfit Ambient7 were a unique proposition: a trio made up of two synthesiser buffs and a saxophonist whose immersive, life-affirming aural explorations frequently blurred boundaries between ambient, softly spun Balearic house, ambient techno, IDM and field recordings-laden soundscapes. This excellent retrospective from re:discovery offers an excellent introduction to their sound, with the five selected tracks being drawn from their three albums. Our picks of a very strong bunch include the melodious, spacey, soft-touch shuffle of 'Escape', the chords-and-saxophone bliss of 'Epilogue', the bubbly and hypnotic ambient techno pulse of 'Deep Sea' and the sunrise-ready wonder that is gorgeous closing cut 'Orange Sunshine'.

Review: Ambient experimentalist Ando Laj has previously released his impressively inventive work via digital download and obscure cassettes, meaning that all bar a handful of well-informed listeners got to hear it. Happily, Pamoram's Wandering Eye label has decided to introduce him to a wider audience via Collected, his vinyl debut. The set is largely made up of early work, some of which appeared on download or cassette a few years back. Sitting somewhere between spacey ambient, jazzy downtempo breaks, experimental electronica and sound collage, the six tracks here are superb. We're particularly enjoying the spaced-out, post-rock influenced electronic creepiness of "Grafiti", but to be honest it's all top notch.

Review: Second time around for Icelandic neo-classical composer Olafur Arnalds' 2018 album "Re:Member". This version, pressed for Record Store Day 2019, boasts a fine bonus 7" containing strings-only re-recordings of three original album tracks ("Saman", "Momentary" and "Nyepi"). These are superb and genuinely compliment the original 12-track set, which was produced using specially created software capable of triggering new musical sequences on "two pianos chained to his primary instrument". This cutting-edge approach, combined with live percussion and the multi-instrumentalist's own considered electronics, resulted in an album that remains thoughtful, mesmerizing and entertaining in equal measure.

Review: Current scene favourite Nils Frahm teamed up with Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds on three breath taking excursions through lush ambient textures on "Stare" as a surprise release back in 2012 for label founder Robert Rath. "A1" features Frahm's entrancing irresistible melody over some gorgeous all-consuming strings and glacial soundscapes courtesy of Arnalds. "A2" with its heavenly, transcendental beauty has just got to be heard while "B1" explores darker territory with its excavating soundscapes accompanying the most hauntingly delicate cello notes. Exquisite!

Review: Admired by many since its release, Arovane & Hior Chronik's ethereal ambient album In-between, received wide applause from many and has been held-up as one of the best of 2015. 2016 sees a dream lineup of remixers turn in a spectrum of deeper takes on the original shimmering ambient sound, ranging from immersive drones, to dubtechno and electronica.
Arovane opens up the 12" with a return to his early City Centre Offices sound. After Tomorrow is reworked into a melodic and warm synth-heavy track, that finds an even more ethereal touch than the original.
bvdub's relentless album output has seen him become one of the most respected artists of the genre, yet his remixes are still few and far between. Here, Brock steps up to the plate with a confident, big sound that takes the core of Past Creates The Future, into a completely new yet familiar bvdub territory. Expanding layers embellish on the raw rumbles and strings of the original, with new chords, beats and vocals progressing into an epic nine minutes. It would've been longer if Brock had his way...
The man behind the mixing desk for ASIP, Rafael Anton Irisarri, provides two remixes for the EP. His first, under Herr Irisarri with an unexpected, decaying, granular dub-take on Wunderland. Rafael's dedication to analog production heard throughout, as tiny details and organic changes manipulate and drive the dub-heavy sound.
Arovane and Iran's, Porya Hatami collaborated on Resonance in 2015, so it's of no surprise to see Porya take on Arovane's sound here. Porya provides additional field recordings to lift the already immersive Past Creates The Future, landing on the beautiful cello piece by Aaron Martin to create a final twist in the tale, elaborating on the beautiful instrument found in the original.
Following Markus Guentner's successful ASIP release, the Pop Ambient pioneer dives into his unique, looping ambient sound in style on Scale, embracing more menace and mystery than the original. Markus' new album Theia, has undoubtedly won the hearts of many new ambient fans, who won't be disappointed with this, the latest addition to his expanding contributions to ASIP. The murdered-out all-black artwork represents the juxtaposition between the glistening sounds of the original, and the alternative takes found on the remix EP, featuring heavyweight vinyl and a spot-gloss sleeve, designed by ASIP regular Nick Brzostowski. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri @ Black Knoll Studio.

Review: We have long been fans of the specific sort of techno that Spanish label Semantica deals in. It is always artful and superbly well-designed and this new Artefaklt record totally fits in with that vibe. It finds Dutch pair Robin Koek and Nick Lapien layering up hypnotic drones and linear deep techno drums to perfectly escapist and heady effect on 'Diorama', while intricate sound designs add the sort of details to 'Natura' that make this miscue as suited to home listening on headphones as losing it in a club. 'Natant' is another undulating mix of electronica, ambient and techno that casts your mind free. 'Floodplain' is a heavenly closer.

Review: UK techno mainstay Kirk Degiorgio has made a lot of great music over the years, much of it under the machine soul/tech-jazz-inspired As One alias. His latest EP is another typically impeccable slab of Motor City inspired tech-soul brilliance. Lead cut 'The Unveiling' is deep, gently uplifting, gloriously spacey and effortlessly far-sighted, bringing bags of emotion as well as authentically crunchy machine drums, immersive pads and awe-inspiring melodies. He opts for an enveloping, otherworldly ambient techno/IDM sound on 'Descend Module', with discordant notes and hallucinatory acid lines riding high in the mix. The EP also boasts two reworks of previously released cuts. Ian O'Brien goes ultra-deep and gently breakbeat-driven on a superb revision of 'The Ladder', before Luke Slater drops a hypnotic, ultra-deep revision of 'Absorption Spectra' as The 7th Plain.

Review: De:tuned is the perfect home for Kirk Degiorgio's As One project, where his steeped history in deep, emotive techno and affinity for jazz melds into some of the most stunning machine soul out there. If you're familiar with the sound you'll be instantly sold on these tracks - they don't just ape a bygone sound like so many are doing with that early 90s UK techno vibe. These pieces take that approach and elevate it - the production soars and the expression comes through in startling high-definition, and that goes for the stellar remixes from Ian O'Brien and Luke Slater in The 7th Plain mode as well.

Review: Only a week or two after dropping the second of two ambient albums in 2022, masterful sound sculptor ASC is back with another release. This one finds him embracing drum & bass on limited coloured vinyl for Past Inside The Present. The majestic Eye Of The Storm is a suspensory trip through the heavens with delicate drum & bass rhythms and lush swathes of synths. 'Reflection' is just as awash with smeared synth beauty over the floating drum breaks, then 'Low Tide' is a lo-fi workout from the depths, a vibe that continues on the more busy and dark 'Life Cycle.' Another exceptional bit of work form the one and only ASC.

Review: Three lovely, carefully terraformed dub tekno sketches from new co:clear recruit Eden Aurelius. Both in title and soundworld, these pieces strongly evoke slow-panning aerial shots of undulating terrain, gusts of wind through glistening skyscrapers and diffused sunlight through striated cloud. A stretch maybe - but a stretch informed by years of dub techno semiotics from precursors like Rod Modell and Pub, whose visually evocative sonic staging doubtless laid some of the groundwork for records like this. There's a formalism and orthodoxy to Aurelius' work, marking it apart from the glut of neu-ambient ASMR-scapes from labels such as INDEX and 3XL. Take the cathartic pulse of title track 'Plateau', for instance, which deftly weaves cavernous swathes of vocals and band-passed chord stabs into something that would sound equally at home on SUED or echospace. Real nice.

Review: Few artists have had such a global impact on electronic music than Thomas Bangalter, the legendary DJ, producer and songwriter who is best known as one-half of the former dance titans Daft Punk. He has many more skills up his sleeve though as he has proven since leading the duo. One is writing soundtracks such as this one, Chiroptera, for Acte 2: Retour a la Caverne, which was a JR creation with choreography from Damien Jalet. It was performed in Paris in front of the Opera de Paris (Opera Garnier) on November 12th, 2023 and involved more than 150 dancers. You can now relive it musically with this limited 12".

Review: The icy techno sounds of Cologne's Barnt make their way across Europe here to Studio Barnhus's Swedish bunker. Across five fresh cuts, he brings plenty of experimental flair but also some playful rhythms to a forward-thinking EP that sounds like little else. 'Aqua Melopella' is an unsettling opener with glistening synths scurrying like ants over a sparse rhythm, 'Aqua Breeze' establishes a marching beat and 'Aqua Bass' brings twanging synths and frosted loops that keep you on your toes. 'Millennium Silver' is another tune blend of dystopian synth sounds and distorted lines that speak of human destruction and last of all 'Millennium Melopella' offers moments of ambient reflection.