ZAKE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Another 18 chapters "of aural anaesthetics" from 36 and Zake, following up their epic work Stasis Sounds For Long Distance Space Travel Part 1, or "continue their journey through the outer reaches of space in hypersleep" as they'd put it. The album comes on unique solar flare coloured vinyl, and as for its contents, well, they're grainy and immersive, widescreen and cinematic, immediately transporting you out into the farthest reaches of space. Perfect for zoning out of everyday life and enjoying some mindful moments to yourself.

Review: Hot on the hells of the epic work Stasis Sounds For Long Distance Space Travel Part 1 comes the second instalment, seeing 36 and Zake "continue their journey through the outer reaches of space in hypersleep" as they have it. There's a healthy 18 track selection to lose yourself in, as these experts of the sublimely chilled ambient get to work - in a typically gentle fashion, obviously.

Review: It has been some five years since US ambient maestro zake dropped the first volume of his Orchestral Tape Studies. We're glad to finally have the second instalment in the series available because there has rarely been music as cathartic and soothing as this on our shelves. It's made from drones, field recordings and richly layered movements of fragmented orchestral loops. It is heavily inspired by the sound of the greatest minimalist symphonic composers and orchestras of the last 100 years and comes in several different colours. This version is a transparent rose vinyl LP and download code.

Review: As with the first volume of his Orchestral Tape Studies series back in 2019, zake places a real focus on tone and recurrent murmurs in these magnificent arrangements. They are a mix of delicate repetition, sound treatments and subtle manipulations that pay homage to minimalist symphonic composers and orchestras in his own unique way. It is another adventurous and immersive listen from zake and one that comes in many different coloured vinyl versions. This one is a coloured version, but what colour you will not know until you open it up.

Review: Ambient innovator make seems to drop something new almost every week. But you won't hear us complain because few have a breadth and depth of sound that matches his lo-fi and absorbing output on his home US label Past Inside the Present. He dropped the first volume of his Orchestral Tape Studies way back in 2019, and finally follows it up now with a second volume. Once again this is a selection of richly layered movements of fragmented orchestral loops that all pay homage to minimalist symphonic composers and orchestras and makes use of field recordings as well as gentle drones to soothe your soul.

Review: The ever inventive and always prolific zake is back on his own label Past Inside The Present with yet another new album. Deep Into The Unknown We Shall Endlessly Roam has already arrived with us on cassette tape and now it comes as a limited edition album on white and brown vinyl with just 200 copies pressed. It has been made from archaic tape machines such as a Sony M-570V microcassette voice recorder and obsolete VSC Soundpacer and then recorded to analogue tape for that levelly lo-fi and misty aesthetic. The artist himself says this record is "is dedicated to those who continue to yearn for greater understanding" and it is another sublime listen.

Review: According to the artist himself, zake's first solo album of 2020 was recorded and produced during "a four-day excursion in several secluded areas" in South Carolina. As a result, listeners can expect to hear babbling brooks, birdsong and the gentle rustling of leaves beneath Zake's alluring mixture of enveloping ambient chords, unearthly drone tones, opaque electronics and slowly-shifting, heavily processed neo-classical movements. The results are hugely immersive and undeniably enjoyable, with each of the four tracks delivering a head-in-the-clouds journey that ripples with becalmed, atmospheric intent. In other words, it's the kind of ambient music you can get lost in. More please!

Review: 'An Orchestral Suite For Tape' is a compilation specifically curated for playback on the noble cassette tape format, featuring orchestral arrangements by Texas-Indiana duo zake & City of Dawn. Including songs from four albums and one compilation, the first time these tracks have been available on tape, the mood is deep and meditative, the billowing clouds of synthesisers providing ample space for thought and relaxation alike.

Review: A joint effort long past due, PITP founders zake and Isaac Helsen team up to bring forth three arrangements that encompass textured ambient washes and drone-laden guitar work titled 'Beliefsystems'.

Review: Back in February, the prolific Past Inside The Present label boss Zake hooked up with Marc Ertel, James Bernard, and From Overseas at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis for a very intimate live show in a historic Gothic Chapel. A vast array of instruments were used including a Fender Telecaster, Meris Mercury 7, Eurorack modular synthesizer, Stingray bass guitar and literally tens more tools and toys and the resulting eight tunes of absorbing ambient are all presented here. It is another mystic and mystifying release from this label that reaches sublime new emotional highs.

Review: Space is the place - at least, it's the place uppermost in the mind of Indianapolis-based label Past Inside The Present founder zake and his sonic partner Ossa - location given as the north pole according to his Twitter - as they embark on collaborative 10 tracks. The fact that that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA to you and me - has supplied them with celestial sound emissions for the tracks is a bonus. But ultimately, the real headline factor once it's actually on your turntable is the vivid atmospheres and gorgeous textures that the pair are capable of generating. The album's closer, 'Metric Expansion', is a tremulous glory, peaking and slipping away like rays of sunlight. 'Space & Time', meanwhile, is a simple, gliding analogue delight, and 'Drifting' proves you can carve imperceptible beauty from a couple of well-crafted chords.

Review: Past Inside the Present label regulars zake and Tyresta at long last come together for a well-overdue collaboration. This collection of sounds is called Drift and is all about reflective mood music that will send you deep inside yourself. It's a typically immersive listen from two of ambient's finest practitioners with lots of wide open spaces for you to sink into, slowly shifting timbers to gaze at and poignant atmospheres that cannot fail to leave an indelible impression. As usual, the sound design is top-notch here and the attention to detail second to none. It was well worth the wait, then.

Review: Another week, another new release from the unstoppable ambient powerhouse that is zake. His latest full-length LL has two new cuts by the American maestro with remixes from a hefty selection of equally prolific producers all served up on his home label Past Inside the Present and no fewer than six sides of vinyl. Across this immersive two hours of music, there is a mix of ambient, drone, drum & bass, electronica, and deep techno from Warmth, Aural Imbalance, ASC and Bvdub. It is yet another essential release from zake and co.