N5MD US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Under the BVDub alias, ambient, drone and electronica explorer Brock Van Wey has amassed a vast discography of full-length excursions, though very few of these have been released on wax. The American producer has therefore pushed the boat out for new album Wrath & Empathy, which comprises four lengthy tracks stretched across two green vinyl plates. It's a hugely enjoyable set inspired by what van Wey calls the "magical realism" of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. We're not well versed enough in Murakami's work to spot the sonic references, but there's much to admire, not least the San Franciscan's uncanny ability to create musical gold with little more than layered and effected instrumentation, slow-release ambient chords, gentle IDM beats, tactile aural textures and melodies that linger long in the memory.

Review: For over 20 years, Clay Emerson and Ian Pullman aka Loess have quietly built a reputation for crafting intricate, deeply atmospheric electronica and Battens, their fifth album on Califonrian label n5MD, sees them refining their signature aestheticistill grayscale and shadowy, but now imbued with a subtle warmth. The Opener 'Strake' features layered static hums and a slow, hypnotic beat that cycles like waves against a submerged structure. 'Halyard' introduces brittle textures and crisp rhythms, evoking wind-swept landscapes. 'Crowhurst' builds tension with submerged chords and fractured percussion. The haunting 'Koepcke' carries a sense of disorientation and search for stability, while 'Endoctamb' recalls Chain Reaction's most introspective moments, yet with a looser, more organic quality. Closing with 'Rime', Battens embraces silence, with glacial melodies fading into the ether. Throughout, the duo masterfully manipulates sound and space, allowing moments of stillness to breathe between pulsing rhythms and submerged harmonies. There's an undeniable human element in how these tracks moveilike the slow, inevitable shift of nature itself. More than just an exercise in sound design, Battens is a transportive experience, cold yet comforting, stark yet alive recording.

Review: Lorenzo Montana is an Italian soundtrack composer, sound engineer, and producer, with a prolific career spanning decades. Vion is his 29th full-length album, and marks his first solo effort for the Oakland-based emotive electronics outpost n5MD. Here Montana fleshes out the full possibilities gleanable from the use of drum brushes, diving into the wonderful world of jazz brush patterns, in order produce an electroacoustic record with a glistening ambient palette - whereas beforehand, the use of drum brushes might have otherwise felt mostly unfairly relegated to 'jazzy' electronic genres like broken beat. From 'Nympalidea' to 'Vilu', Montana's expert digital touch, and ear for texture, is heard and felt throughout, with the central brush patterns banking on their distinctive timbre to both stand out and yet also melt into the surrounding, progressive ambiance.

Review: Bordeaux-based producer Franck Zaragoza aka. Ocoeur has always drawn on the natural world as a basis for his sprawling ambient compositions, and his latest album Breath is no exception. Over just six immersive pieces that intend to evoke the gratitude for simply being alive, Zaragoza this time evokes an impressionistic mountainscape, though still combines this romantic image with digital sonic pepperings and minimalist glitch textures throughout.

Review: Franck Zaragoza continues to shape out a vivid catalogue of ambient and soundtrack-oriented work with this latest release on his label n5MD, which celebrates ten years of activity this year. The Bordeaux-based artist has been on a spiritual journey of sorts, which has manifested in the introspective nature of his most recent albums, and the theme continues on Nouveau Depart. His rich and accomplished sound embraces beats and rhythms as expressive tools within his broader compositions, but this is harmonically-minded music first and foremost, crafted with care and rendered in startling detail.

Review: Tangent's latest album Presence Reverts to Absence is a dizzying display of the talents of its two Dutch sound engineer members, Ralph van Reijendam and Robbert Kok. Exploring themes of loss and transformation, the LP is the product of the duo's introspective musical process, in which beatsmithing fuses smartly with ambient tonework and electroacoustic magic. It makes a neat contrast to their former four albums for the label, such as 'Approaching Complexity' and 'Transience'.