Juno Recommends Ambient / Drone June 2018

Review: Since the release of 2016's epic Gas retrospective, Box, the pioneering drone ambient producer (real name Wolfgang Voigt) has been surprisingly productive. Rausch is the lauded electronic musician's speedy follow-up to last year's Narkopop, which happened to be his first full-length for over 15 years. As you'd expect, Rausch is superb, with Voigt variously turning cinematic orchestral tracks into hybrid electro-acoustic epics. While some are beat-less and fluid, others are loopy, hypnotic and otherworldly, with the German building tension via subtle rhythm tracks that draw on techno and IDM. The results are near faultless, as Voight once again proves that he's a true master of his ambient art.

Review: The Schleissen series stands as one of the finest facets of the ever expanding Emotional Response empire, initially kicking off in 2015 with releases from artists such as Harmonious Thelonious, Abul Mogard, Don't DJ and Sad City. Now the series has been fired up once again with the exotic tones of Tomaga, recently found lurking round the likes of Meakusma and Hands In The Dark. It's an exotic live band sound that touches on Fourth world exploration and motorik drive, but certainly with its own unique slant. The B side of this particular 12" is given over to Neil Tolliday, most commonly found rolling out tech house as Nail and many other names, but here indulging in gorgeous, layered minimal ambient pieces with looping melodic phrases to soothe rather than groove.

Review: The Schleissen series goes from strength to strength on Emotional Response, inviting another two esteemed luminaries in the field of ambience to indulge themselves on a long side of wax. Matthewdavid is a welcome addition to the series - the West Coast champion has been operating in all kinds of unusual realms for a long time - and he comes to this release with a new project entitled Mindflight. The resulting track "Sonos' loops and folds heavy washes of drone and feedback in a thoroughly stimulating bath of harmony. Firecracker affiliate HOLOVR meanwhile presents three different musings on the dynamics of vintage UK techno, all crooked beat formations and luscious synth strokes gazing into the future.

Review: Having distinguished themselves with a series of superb retrospective releases highlighting the work of Leon Lowman, Gigi Masin and Joan Biblioni, Amsterdam label Music From Memory deviate from the path somewhat with his long overdue Gaussian Curve album. Ask yourself what would happen when a elderly Venetian who specialises in sublime ambient music spends a weekend holed up in a Redlight district studio with two of his biggest, most musically gifted fans. The superb Clouds is the answer, with 'Young' Marco Sterk and Jonny Nash following Masin's lead on an eight track exercise in sumptuous, calming composition. The wait has truly been worth it.

Review: 34 years after Hiroshi wrote these seven startling compositions for a Tokyo fashion show, they are finally given the vinyl status they've always deserved. Previously only available on cassette, Pier & Loft has become a cult body of work for all ambient fans. Driven, melodic and laced with a sense of energy that the genre often misses. Sci-fi chamber music, if you will, the playful counterpoint between the keys on the brilliantly titled "Wavy-patterned Ice Cream" and the smouldering unwitting proto house dynamics of "The Sea In My Palm" are just two of the many beautiful, timeless highlights.

Review: An adventure through time and space from Gravity Graffiti label boss Riccardo Schiro aka Maladetti/Richeart. This is his second appearance on the label thus far. Slo-mo shamanic techno and tribal trance awaits listeners on the Dunas EP. This will no doubt appeal to fans of early Plastikman circa "Afrika", natural/electronic system or Refracted. Italians in particular have a real knack for this style of techno, following in the footsteps of legends such as Donato Dozzy, Neel and Nuel. Go deep into the exotic with the polyrhythmic hypnotica of "Esoterico" or "Trans-Garde" but there's also a couple of delightful curveballs in here. The frenetic acid electro monster "Essoterica" had us excited, as well as the tripped-out ambient dub excursion "Lapis Lazuli" which closes out this fine EP in great style.

Review: Canadian label Seance Center (run by former Invisible City Editions co-founder Brandon Hocura) presents an album by acupressure expert and electronic composer Sam McClellan. Music of the Five Elements is 'a work of perfectly tuned healing music', by way of minimalism, American primitive guitar and psychedelia. On the album, McClellan provides voice, synthesizer, guitar, bowed bass, piano, effects and Chinese flute: all played by himself. Of the album, McClellan himself stated that the optimum effect of the album is achieved if each side of the recording is played through in its entirety, without interruption. Moreover, it should be used as a meditational or body work tool, rather than entertainment, and will increase in effect over time. However, overplaying or improper use may eventually diminish its designed effect. Re-mixed and mastered from the original master reels.

Review: Ever wonder where Music From Memory founders Abel Nagengast, Jamie Tiller & Tako Reyenga got the name of their label from? The answer is obscure New York musician Vito Ricci, whose diverse and quite stunning discography of private press releases is compiled on this wonderful retrospective I Was Crossing A Bridge. Active during the '80s musical heyday of New York, Ricci description as "one of the unsung heroes of New York's downtown music scene" is fully qualified on this 18 track double LP release, which contains such a dizzying array of musical styles it's tempting to call him a musical genius. The three strong suite of "Inferno" tracks in particular could easily be mistaken for the work of Container, and that Ricci was capable of that as well as some tongue in cheek coke boogie like "I'm At That Party Right Now" means Music From Memory should be applauded once more.

Review: Orkney-born Erland Cooper is probably best known for his starring role in long running folk rock bands Erland and the Carnival and The Magnetic North. Solan Goose marks his debut as a solo artist and it's a little different to what you might expect. It combines contemporary, ambient style electronics and beguiling, Nils Frahm style piano figures with neo-classical style movements, epic, cinematic style compositions and pieces rich in operatic style female vocals. It sounds like the soundtrack to a particularly evocative film about the Orkney Islands, and that's no bad thing; certainly, it's a very impressive and immaculately produced piece of work.

Review: Originally released on Record Store Day in limited quantities, An Aggressive Chain Smoking Alcolohic is the debut solo album (under his given name, at least) from Xiu Xiu member Jamie Stewart. It was apparently written almost entirely using modular synthesizers and produced by Room 40 founder Lawrence English, an artist who knows much about making dark, twisted and otherworldly electronic pieces. The results are, for the most part, attractively out-there in the best possible way, with the duo sashaying between discordant soundscapes, clandestine ambient moodiness, panic-in-space weirdness, droning intensity and bizarre dystopian noise.