Review: Amsterdam label Music from Memory are steadily becoming the most interesting archivally minded operation out there, with this retrospective of Mallorcan guitarist Joan Bibiloni following essential issues of work by Gigi Masin and Leon Lowman. On El Sur, MFM founders Tako Reyenga, Abel Nagenast and Jamie Tiller cast their gaze over Bibiloni's work from the more experimental era of his long career (he first released a single in 1967) selecting tracks from a six album run which commenced with the album Una Vida Llarga I Tranquila, originally released in 1984. It was during this time that Bibiloni began to compose with the assistance of tape loops, drum computers and synthesisers and these primitive experiments make for compelling listening across the ten tracks on El Sur.
Review: Elevations is a brand new album from Contours, aka Manchester-based artist Tom Burford who is a drummer and percussionist who draws on that in his always forward-thinking sounds. The album started with him exploring the Balafon, a Malian-tuned percussion instrument. Having got to grips with how to play it he expanded the work into this full length, which is an elegant and deft collection of compositions centred around the rhythmical interactions of percussion, synthesiser and strings. It draws on jazz, minimalism, Fourth World and modern classical to sooth your soul and elevate your mind.
Review: Don't let the "Coldwave" tag fool you: this EP from Dutch archival imprint Music From Memory is every bit as glassy-eyed and loved-up as the rest of their left-of-centre, Balearic-minded catalogue. German drummer and composer Curt Cress first released "Dschung Tek" in 1992, layering his own dense tribal drums across a tropical, ambient house and dream house influenced backing track on the brilliant "Long Version", before stripping it back to a loved-up, Ibiza-friendly house cut on the "No Live Drums" version. Both mixes can be found on this reissue, alongside a trio of similarly percussive, tropical-minded cuts from the artist's 1983 LP, "Avanti". All three are ace and almost as good as the more floor-focused title track.
Review: Dead Sound is collaborative project featuring Marco Sterk (aka Young Marco) and Berlin-based pop-auteur John Moods, two artists with existing links to the Music From Memory label, Sterk being part of the trio Gaussian Curve and Moods released the 2022 album Hidden Gem with The Zenmenn. The eight tracks here are delicate and atmosphere-laden, drawing on everything from reverb-soaked, harmonic folk - 'Eye In Disguise' - to the Geiger counter rhythm and low-in-the-mix mutters of 'Force of Nature', like an understated Throbbing Gristle if such a thing could be imagined. If you enjoyed Trentemoller's recent reinvention of shoegaze, Scandi synthpop and post-punk on Dreamweaver, then this will be well up your street.
Tour 5 Modern Blue Asia Soundscapes For Ocean Therapy (Like A Music Therapy) (5:07)
Healing Moon - Tsuki No Iyashi Umi No Mahou (4:10)
The Genesis: Yoga (New Age Ambience) (6:49)
Voyage (Dive To The Future Sight) (8:18)
Iruka Tachi To Asonda Kioku/Under Water (8:05)
Rain (5:50)
LEA (Mirror Coordinate mix) (6:06)
The Rebirth/(Jinsei Nante Konnamono) Sou Omotta Shunkan Ni Jinsei Wa Owaru (4:37)
Cosmic Blue (5:47)
Image-Respect-Love Anata Ga Jiyu Ni Naru Toki/Into The Blue (Haha Naru Umi Ga Rhythm De Oshiete Kureru Koto) (5:05)
Love Ate Alien (3:37)
Daichi No Uta (7:13)
Island Humming (6:48)
Review: A fantastic introduction to a Japanese electronic artist who has simultaneously influenced many while flying well under the radar, Gaia: Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works presents a deep dive into the world of Dream Dolphin, a producer who began releasing music under this moniker at the age of 16 and was brought up on classic Italian songs before discovering the likes of PIL, Yellow Magic Orchestra and The KLF. Amazingly, even thought there's a good chance you'd never heard of her before now, Dream Dolphin, also known as Noriko, released a staggering 20 albums in just eight years, and 18 of the tracks from that catalogue are here now. The vast majority never available on vinyl before, they span IDM, ambient, downbeat, trance, organic experimental and more, making this a real trove.
Review: Habitat Ensemble is a new musical collective that is led by musician Marius Houschyar and this is their self titled debut album on the delightful Music From Memory. The group has roots in the south of the Czech Republic where, we're told, outsiders and creatives have been meeting at a summer school since the 1990s. It was in the summer of 2022 that this group came together, inspired by the idea of exchanging the down cultural and musical ideas through music. They first started out with a series of multidisciplinary workshops which then blossomed into this full length - a fusion of jazz, ambient, world music and experimentation that is organic and enriching.
Review: Transporting us to a waking dream of Los Angeles, two enigmatic music makers from the City of (Fallen) Angels present a truly stunning journey into hazy half-memories, afternoon fantasies, borrowed recollections and thoughts of things yet to happen. In many ways, Salt & Sugar Look The Same feels incomplete; tracks, half-tracks, movements, bits and pieces feel like our minds often work. Was that what we think it was? Did this happen? According to the official release burb, these 18 brief but beautiful compositions combine finger-plucked guitar work, the lens flare of electronica, and warped samples to create a take on the American primitivism music movement. The result is something that transcends boundaries of sound, time and place, and exists in a world of its own creation.
Review: Having thrilled dusty-fingered crate diggers with a reissue of Denis Mpunga and Paul K's impossible-to-find mid-'80s cassette album Criola - an unusual but rather fine combination of post-punk and traditional Congolese music - Music from Memory has decided to give some of the tracks the remix treatment. As you'd expect, there's many more hits than misses. Dutch rising star Dazion delivers a wonderfully cosmic revision of "Intermezzo B" full of fluttering new age synth lines and drum machine polyrhythms, while Tolouse Low Trax turns "Veronika" into a woozy and dreamy chunk of dub-flecked, loved-up downtempo bliss. Late night dancefloor thrills are provided by Interstellar Funk's intergalactic tribal techno take on "Intermezzo 2" and Prins Emmanuel's tactile take on "KWEI!", which sits somewhere between dub disco, boogie and proto-house.
Review: Music From Memory's latest must-check reissue is a fresh pressing of an obscure 1985 album by Musica Esporadica, a six-piece collective whose members included regular label contributor Suso Saiz. It's a hugely atmospheric affair from start to finish, with bubbly drum machine grooves and Afro-influenced hand percussion rhythms being overlaid with languid synthesizer melodies, atmospheric chords, distant guitar sounds and aural textures so warming you could probably use them as a duvet. There are naturally nods towards ambient, new age and Steve Reich style minimalism (see "I Forgot The Shirts") as well as the occasional operatic vocals and the most Balearic of sounds: fretless bass.
Review: Ocean Moon, the alias of Cornwall-based producer and Lo Recordings founder Jon Tye, presents his latest offering, an ambient electronic work imbued with a gentle positivity. Tye, also known for his work with the UK ambient duo MLO, explores themes of artificial intelligence and consciousness evolution throughout the album. Side one delves into AI through a philosophical lens, drawing inspiration from Buddhist perspectives and texts like 'The Physics Of Immortality' and 'Novacene'. Tracks such as 'Ways To The Deep Meadow' and 'Souls Fall Away' offer a refreshing counterpoint to the often-negative portrayals of AI, radiating a sense of optimism and possibility. Side two features two extended compositions created for visual projects. 'Made In Dreams', utilising AI technology, creates an ethereal, warm atmosphere and 'An Ending Full Of Light', composed for Vix Hill Ryder's Wild Edges film, evokes a sense of serenity and resolution. Subtle melodies and delicate touches help craft music that truly nourishes the soul here.
Review: Offering a gentler approach than his previous releases on R.I.O. and brokntoys, Philipp Otterbach comes to Music From Memory with an album of inward ambient reflections in which the guitar takes centre stage for the first time. Otterbach's sound is broad and inquisitive, folding field recordings and snatches of speech in amongst dexterous synth lines and expressive guitar, creating a thoroughly satisfying, mellow trip through beatless pastures. The predominant mood is a hopeful, upbeat one, although shot through with a playful surrealism which keeps things interesting rather than one-dimensionally pleasant. It's as rich a listening experience as you'd expect from a Music From Memory release.Alexis 'Lex' Blackmore.
Review: Phoebe Guillemot's world-building as RAMZi has yielded us a plethora of exquisite albums since she first emerged in the tape-oriented scene around 2013. She's gone on to helm different projects, tour the world and generally blossom as a singular and gifted artist. After a string of self-released LPs, she's popped up on Music From Memory with one of her most refined works to date. Hyphea unmistakably belongs in the RAMZi-verse, full of the same mystical, softly shaped flora and fauna which makes her music so inviting, but there's also a sense of structure and purpose here which suggests she was honing her expressions - a natural progression for an artist who can make electronic music sound so very natural indeed.
Review: La Differencia, Dutch singer Hubertus Richenel Baars' 1982 debut, has long been considered something of a slept-on classic by those in the know. Charmingly lo-fi and homemade in feel, the cassette's 10 tracks - six of which are featured on this first ever vinyl reissue - brilliantly joined the dots between blue-eyed soul, spacey electro, disco, electrofunk and slap-bass wielding space boogie. As usual, Music From Memory has done a terrific job with the re-mastering; the tracks sound stronger than ever, if even they have retained some of the charming fuzziness of Baars' original production. All told, it's another essential reissue from Music Is Memory.
Review: It's the seventh studio album from Suso Saiz, and the Spanish producer has never been on better form. Once again raising the musical bar, expanding into new ambient territories. Or, as he puts it himself: 'A body vibrates producing a sound that reaches another body and makes it vibrate and generate a new sound that makes another body vibrate that generates another sound...
'Imagine an infinite orchestra of bodies multiplying their sound vibrations creating the symphony of RESONANT BODIES. Resonance as a principle of COMMUNICATION; sound as a builder of ties and interrelations between men.' Take from that what you will, we're going for slightly different terms - tracks here are serene but never background, beautiful and thought provoking, a work of art that doesn't need to shout for attention, and instead invites you in deeper by the minute.
Review: A profound exploration of acoustic sound manipulation. The title track, 'Distorted Clamor', envelops listeners in a tapestry of clicks and plucks, challenging traditional notions of beauty in distortion. 'Sweet Elephant' juxtaposes gentle melodies with unconventional soundscapes, creating a serene yet unsettling atmosphere. 'Electromagnetic Ride' ventures into more experimental territory, with water, wood and metal elements transformed into rhythmic pulses. This collection exemplifies Saiz's mastery in crafting ambient compositions that are both innovative and emotionally resonant.
Review: Having introduced Spanish ambient pioneer Suso Saiz to a wider audience via last year's superb Odisea retrospective, Music From Memory has scored a new album from the long-serving musician and composer. Rainworks was recorded over a two-month period in early 2016, and sees Saiz evocatively joining the dots between Jonny Nash style guitar-led ambience, gently undulating, piano-driven mood pieces, evocative collages of found sounds and field recordings (see opener "From Memory & The Sky"), and ghostly, effects-laden ambient. He also finds time to pay tribute to Steve Reich style American minimalism on the cyclical brilliance of "They Don't Love Each Other".
Review: In typical Music From Memory fashion, their latest archival release shines a light on one of the UK's lesser-known bands of the early 1980s. The System released a lone single in 1981, followed by a now incredibly rare debut album, Logic, in 1983. Three of the cuts here are taken from that set, including the dreamy, downbeat Balearic-pop opener "Almost Grown" - a wonderfully evocative six minutes, all told - and the far-sighted, spacey, proto-techno shuffler "Vampirella". This EP also includes one previously unreleased track, "Find It In Your Eyes", which was rescued from long-forgotten master tapes during the licensing process.
Review: Total Blue is a Los Angeles-based trio consisting of Nicky Benedek, Alex Talan, and Anthony Calonico who are new to the Music From Memory label. While the three have collaborated for over a decade, this self-titled album marks a new chapter in their artistic journey as a trio. Fuelled by a sense of play and exploration, it embodies their quest to "touch the beyond" and capture an elusive vibe they've long pursued. They see the work as a complete vision where reality and imagination merge-not through escapism, but by expanding perspectives as they blend digital synths, Akai EVI wind synthesiser, fretless bass, and guitars to create a lush soundscape that's as vast as it is expansive.
Fernando Falcao - "Amanhecer Tabajara (A Alceu Valenca)" (3:58)
Anno Luz - "Por Que" (4:55)
Andrea Daltro - "Kiua" (5:50)
Os Mulheres Negras - "Maoscolorida" (3:53)
Bene Fonteles - "O M M" (3:16)
Carlinhos Santos - "Giramundo" (2:45)
Priscilla Ermel - "Gestos De Equilibrio" (9:03)
Carioca - "Branca" (5:04)
Marco Bosco - "Sol Da Manha" (4:43)
Maria Rita - "Cantico Brasileiro No 3 (Kamaiura)" (4:10)
Marco Bosco - "Madeira II (Mae Terra)" (2:37)
Priscilla Ermel - "Corpo Do Vento" (15:45)
Luhli E Lucina - "E Foi" (3:57)
Review: Music From Memory has a reputation for doing the unexpected. It would be fair to say that few would have predicted the Dutch label's decision to release a collection "electronic and contemporary music from Brazil". As usual, the Red Light Records affiliated crate-digging crew has done a superb job with Outro Tempo, which was compiled by label affiliate John Gomez. Musically, it's predictably varied but always beautiful. It mostly focuses on tracks that fuse traditional Brazilian instrumentation, percussion and musical ideas, with elements of electronica, ambient, jazz-fusion and Reich style minimalism. The accompanying liner notes do a great job in putting the collection in context, explaining how the music was often inspired by political changes within Brazil during the 1980s.
Buddhastick Transparent - "Eras" (feat Something In The Air)
Review: Music From Memory share the CD edition (there's also a vinyl release) of their latest in a series of compilations, which focuses on the tide of new ambient and minimalist electronica which came about at the turn of the millennium, Virtual Dreams. Whilst the first volume focused on the techno and electronica musics emergent in Europe in 1993-99, Virtual Dreams Vol. 2 homes in on Japan during the same period, tracking the regional, geosonic differences between each global cultural centre. Tracing a fibrous thread, that began to weave itself of its own accord, out from the early 90s acid house FOMO experienced in Japan's early days, through to its restful response with the dawn of "listening techno" proffered by the likes of Sublime Records, Syzygy Records and Frogman Records, many of the tracks featured therein cull their choices from not only these leading lights but also the odd and not-so-odd rarity, helping usher in a truer representation of the era.
Review: The Music For Memory label has invented its own little scene over the course of the last decade. It's a mature and moving world where modern classical, ambient, downtempo, Balearic and plenty of in between sounds all come together in soothing harmony. To mark the occasion of its tenth release, the label has put together this superb double album overview of what it does - all the usual artists you would expect feature from Joan Biblioni to Jonny Nash to Gigi Masin and it all adds up to a perfectly escapist collection from this top draw label who sadly lost co-founder Jamie Tiller earlier in the year.
Review: Music From Dreams is a label that never fails to live up to its name. Next to soundtrack your gentle passage from awake to whatever comes next is The Zenmenn and John Moods. The Zenmenn debuted on this label back in April 2021 with Entry The Zenmenn which showed off their beat-making credentials. Not much else is known about them and the same can be said of John Moods. What we do know is that they make superbly horizontal music together as is demonstrated here. These are lush instrumental tracks that lean on folk, soft and yacht rock to help you empty your mind of all woes.
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