Ambient / Drone Recommendations July 2016

Review: Former Playhouse and Bio Rhythm man Roger Reuter has only one previous album to his name, the woozy, edge-of-reason ambience of 2015's Mensch 001. Extended Play is its' follow up, and sees the experienced German producer appear on Ilian Tape for the first time. Rooted in his usual brand of unsettling, otherworldly ambience, the six tracks variously draw influence from early IDM, drone, dub techno, industrial and experimental film soundtracks. Despite these nods to familiar experimental styles, it's an album that can easily be listened to in a variety of situations, and never drags. It's strongest moments, such as the mournful ambient throb of "State IIX Interlude II", are particularly beguiling.

Review: Originally released in 1994, Biosphere's second album Patashnik, as we would later find out, was only the beginning. Geir Jenssen's Biosphere project has since become a name that rolls off the tongue alongside Brian Eno when talk of ambient comes to the table, and the use of vocals in tracks like "Phantasm" and "Startoucher" are as memory jogging as Marshall Jefferson's "Mushrooms". The music here provides a snapshot of Biosphere's sound before he committed a decade's worth of albums to UK label Touch. For a '90s take on things, you could day "SETI Project" has aged better than "Mestigoth", while the nebulous to deep classical tones and bluey-hues of productions like "Decryption", "Patashnik" and "Mir" remain timeless.

Review: Gigi Masin's second coming after the wondrous Music From Memory retrospective back in 2014 has been one of contemporary music's most heart-warming stories, with the ever-smiling Venetian embracing new musical endeavours and friends. Alongside the Gaussian Curve album recorded with 'Young' Marco Sterk and Jonny Nash, Masin brought a degree of considered pedigree to the Lifted project on PAN. Outside of all this however, Masin has cultivated a strong musical bond with compatriots and Hell Yeah founders Tempelhof, with this album Tsuki arriving two years on from the trio's first LP-length sojourn together. Some nine tracks long, Tsuki will entrance Masin fans as the three musicians lead you on a gentle, warm and enveloping saunter through kosmische, new age and sounds reminiscent of the Japanese minimalist electronics pioneers.

Review: Described as a "pact between Sweden's Northern Electronics and Denmark's Posh Isolation," and formed of Varg and Loke Rahbek (one half of Damien Dubrovnik) Frederikke Hoffmeier (aka Puce Mary), Erik Enocksson and Vit Fana's Ossian Ohlsson, Body Sculptures are the closest we have to a modern day noise supergroup. Body Sculptures first formed on record last year on Posh Isolation with a 7" and cassette but now return with a more comprehensive offering in the shape of a debut LP entitled A Body Turns To Eden for the same label. Posh Isolation are one of our favourite labels right now and this nine track LP is a powerful statement, fizzing with ambient energy and willing the ears to listen over and over to uncover all that sonic detail.

Review: Laraaji is a recognised name within the experimental music scene, responsible for countless - and monumental - collaborations with the great Brian Eno. Sun Araw feels like exactly the right artist to scout for a new collaboration in 2016, and the two fit together like hand in glove on this two-tracker for W.25th, a new offshoot of the excellent Superior Viaduct. "Liepgzig (Part 1)" is a deep, liquid-like abstraction that covers many styles and ideas, bringing forth several different elements like harps and sporadic synth bleeps - a truly cinematic experience; "Part 2" of the same tune develops a beat among its arrangement, one that doesn't stop the track from losing any of its waywardness. The first segment of "Lausanne" is more spiritual, like some sort of ritual to the Gods, while the second veers head-first into a pool of bric-a-brac percussion with an Eastern tint. Excellent and wholeheartedly recommended.

Review: When it comes to electro-acoustic music, there's few better than Timo Van Luijk, a man who has made his name through the La Scie Doree label, and under his Af Ursin moniker. Unsurprisingly, hoe has been drafted by Blackest Ever Black, who in recent years have strayed towards looser, more abstract sonic territories of the 'dark' ambient sort. "Reverie" En Mineur" sets a tranquil setting with a very subtle Eastern twang, while "Capsule Detachee" builds up the momentum by unleashing a fiery squadron of drones above sparse and chaotic jingles. "Tableau Fluide" is a hollow, spectral piece of mind psychedelia, and "Aphanes" up the ante, raises the noise and even chucks in a faint flutter of beats. An excellent excursion, indeed.

Review: Invocations II (The Obelisk Of TJ // Age Of Apathy Tape) finds the curious John T Gast follow in the footsteps of Galcher Lustwerk in having his mix for cult online platform Blowing Up The Workshop make the transition to vinyl. Any one that indulged in Gast's wonderful Planet Mu album last year or has picked up on the random assortment of cross-format releases the sometime Inga Copeland collaborator should definitely investigate this nine-track collection. Self-released by Gast himself, it further casts him as one of the UK's most unique talents, channelling a murky haze close to Gunnar Wendel, or toying with pitch-shifted pop vocals and melodies ripped from toy-like instruments. You won't find another slab of vinyl that sounds quite like Invocations II this month.

Review: International Sun-Earth Explorer have been in a category of their own throughout 2016, coming through four smoking techno joints including this latest 12" by debutant Route. Very much in the spirit of the legendary Basic Channel duo, "God Dreng" takes a beatless sway of dub infusions and creates a solid movement out of thin air, a hollow drone of sonic that develops further on "Ofos". "0908" on the flip is less moody and the synths pick up more freedom and momentum, while "Canis" glazes the sounds over with a chilly layer of FX. Quality.