Back catalogue: Ambient/Drone

Review: Here we have the remastered edition of Robert Lippok's Open Close Open. Originally released in 2001 on the well-respected German glitch ambient label Raster Noton, the release has built a strong buzz about it. Late last year, the decision was to remaster the EP to the delight of the fans. The first 'Open' is very minimal with a very sparse beat to it. Glitch ambient and the cuts and click style of that period is wonderfully represented by this sound. To most fans of the release, 'Close' is the reason for the buzz. The combination of field recordings, glitch and a beautiful almost movie like soundtrack to it, makes this piece one of the most beautiful ambient pieces in the genre of glitch ambient. Hearing this remastered, really brings out the beauty even more so. This new version also features the very worthy piece 'Licht' to close out the release. It is very fitting that the amazing Morr Music honor this piece by releasing it.

Review: Two artists split a double-A single, exploring both sounds and their structure in their own unique ways. 'Manifolds' sees Jessica Ekomane dive so far into polyphonic writing processes she reaches 'multiphonic', with different sonic voices, sources and timbres no longer on parallel trajectories, but eventually splicing into something closer to a human chant than most ritualistic tunes we're heard in a while. The effect is staggering. Laurel Halo then presents 'Octavia', which is best described as a kind of collage of beautiful harmonisation, a series of melodic motifs and textures that form small wholes, dissipate, reappear, merge, are all aurally connected but never combined. Highly technical stuff on the part of both producers, the coherency between the two is impossible to miss, making for a unique but coherent ambient-drone gem.

Review: Colin Dunkerley, aka the artist Lapsed Pacifist, navigates the world as a sound engineer by day and leaves little time for his own music. He has plenty of accolades for his work from a niche audience for his productions under the alias Negative Neutron but for years wanted to pursue a more dark ambient route. Finally, he has made time to indulge his own music-making endeavours and now presents Hypatia, an album that materialised over an extended period. It features field recordings and audio loops processed through his modular setup and takes inspiration from Marco Polo's imaginary cities and rather mirrors Dunkerley's creative journey as it evokes memories of cold, distant places and the emotions they stir.

Review: 8 Tableaux finds modern classical artist Flore Laurentienne "attempting to give musical form to a painting." It's a count that yields great results as the pantry sounds are smeared and smudged across the airwaves with great beauty. It results in a new age record of rich ambient that answers questions the artist poses such as "painting is a freeze-frame at a precise moment in the painter's creative flow so how do you combine these two art forms? Do you have to stop time? How do you stop time in music?" Listen to this album and you will go some way to finding out.

Review: Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch's All of Us Strangers soundtrack is a superb trip through plenty of highly atmospheric landscapes that blend delicate piano melodies with haunting electronic textures. Each track paints a vivid portrait, evoking a sense of introspection and emotional depth that only heightens the scenes in the movie. Levienaise-Farrouch's narrative captivates and guides the audience through a range of moods from tranquil introspection to moments of poignant intensity, and as such this soundtrack showcases her exceptional talent for composition and storytelling.

Review: A Strangely Isolated Place continues to be a vital source of intrigue in the broader sense of what ambient music can be in the modern era. Here they present the debut album from Liz Qun Wong, a classically-trained cellist and composer who has been releasing and recording as Lihla for nigh-on ten years. As you might well imagine, there's a strong electro-acoustic bed to the sound on this mesmerising full-length, but one of the real distinctions with this album is Wong's storytelling, which gently rests atop the nuanced, textural compositions and guides us into some intriguing, cinematic places.

Review: Heavyweight ambient partnerships don't come much bigger than Lawrence English and Loscil, who pool their considerable resources into this majestic album for Kranky. If you're familiar with Loscil's shimmering, sweetly synthetic sound, you'll be very happy with the grandiose blooms of undulating colour bleeding out of 'Cyan', while English's affinity for subtlety comes to the fore on 'Aqua'. The approach for the album was centred around a century-old pipe organ at the Old Museum in Brisbane, but of course there's been a lot of work done on the original sound sources. There's no great tussle between the respective artists - their sound practices merge beautifully, rendering an essential addition to both of their considerable catalogues.

Review: Brian Williams' Lustmord project has existed in different forms for over 40 years, though it's only in the last couple of decades - when it has become a vehicle for his solo work - that new musical missives have become a regular occurrence. On Much Unseen Is Also Here, the former industrial musician turned soundtrack composer once again showcases his mastery of pitch-black sonics, creepy soundscapes and horror-inspired dark ambient workouts. As you'd expect, the sound design is incredible - listen on good quality headphones for the ultimate listening experience - while Williams' penchant for throwing in suspenseful chords, billowing aural textures and unsettling vocalisations adds further layers of paganistic mystery.