Tags: Ethereal Ambient

Review: Current scene favourite Nils Frahm teamed up with Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds on three breath taking excursions through lush ambient textures on "Stare" as a surprise release back in 2012 for label founder Robert Rath. "A1" features Frahm's entrancing irresistible melody over some gorgeous all-consuming strings and glacial soundscapes courtesy of Arnalds. "A2" with its heavenly, transcendental beauty has just got to be heard while "B1" explores darker territory with its excavating soundscapes accompanying the most hauntingly delicate cello notes. Exquisite!

Review: Fresh, cruddy electro dreamatics from mysterious production outfit Lazer Worshippers here, joining the Atmosphere label to stake their claim to their very own 'theme'. A name like Lazer Worshippers gives off vibes of a apparent machine cult with a penchant for building sonic monuments to our AI-mech overlords. The music is similarly vaunting and numinous, with its synthetic choirs and trilling arps dancing between the left and rights like heavenly visions of a mechanized future. B-siders 'On A Rise' and 'Free Flight' are just as teary-eyed, yet bleepy, recalling the entrancing, oldskool breaksy trance work of Spooky or Digital Justice.

Review: ANNA is a Brazilian-born, Lisbon-based DJ and producer whose disposition towards music runs in her blood. The daughter of a Sao Paolo nightclub owner, ANNA seemed destined solely for a life behind the decks; but expectations were much upended after a nascent flair for composition also made itself clear. Despite bloodthirsty demand for her slamming DJ chops, Intentions is her debut album, rebelliously choosing to explore the world of ambient healing electronics instead. Paralleling ANNA's self-realisation journey, which led to a change in the way she makes music, the LP funnels collaborations and remixes from/with fellow therapeutic music aficionados like Jon Hopkins and Laraaji.

Review: This is a reissue of the 1996 album by the British Asian singer Sheila Chandra, who commands wide renown among diggers for her fusion of Indian classical, folk and pop music. Abonecronedrone is a minimalist exploration of the drone, the continuous sound that underlies Indian music. Six tracks, each named after the drone sound they feature, 'Abonecronedrone 1' to 'Abonecronedrone 6', resound across its resonant body, recalling the almost mathematic way Indian ragas have historically tended to be categorised. Chandra's layered vocals glide across the top, drawing particular attention to some rather prominent harmonics, overtones and textures.

Review: He may be a shoegaze and dream-pop legend, but sometime Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell has spent much of the last few years making ultra-immersive, out-there ambient soundscapes that are as mind-soothing as they are enveloping and, at times, overwhelming. Tidal Love Numbers, his latest album, once again puts his gorgeous, layered guitar playing front and centre, with collaborators Masal (a duo from Essex) providing complimentary harp, synth and drum sounds. They call the resultant four tracks "ambient, astral jazz". That's a fairly apt description, with the four stretched-out tracks sitting somewhere between Bell's own ambient work, the ambient-Americana of Jonny Nash, and the open-minded experiments of 21st century harpists such as Zeena Parkins.

Review: A new one from American ambient artist City Of Dawn (real name Damian Duque), 'Transient Lounge' is a short EP-length collection of soothing pieces aiming at a simple intention: a peaceful and healing atmosphere for the listener. The theme is apt, since the album's inspiration-striking allegedly came at a time when the artist and his family needed to get away and find space to adapt. The LP's natural blend of guitar, piano, space delays, synthetic pads, and field recordings - a rightfully well-trodden combo - forms an echoic journey into the heart of the human condition, perhaps recalling inspirations like Bvdub or Celer.

Review: Sheila Chandra's Zen Kiss, first released in 1994, was among the best examples of the British singer's many forays into contemporary international music. The twist is that most of the album is a simple yet striking a cappella, which plays out from start to finish, and is rarely accompanied by anything so much as a faint yet enchanting drone. With Chandra's interpreting songs from various cultures and traditions - including those of Indian, Spanish, Celtic, and medieval origin - she displays a remarkable vocal range in both pitch and stylistic breadth, ranging from the rhythmic to the ethereal and improvised.

Review: G.Teixeira is an artist based in France and someone with a multi-faceted sound. His Almost Silent alias now turns out Undisclosed Fields Vol.1, a first release on Healing Sound Propagandist that takes the form of eight movements and six reworks. It's as dense as ambient gets, frankly, with heartbreaking melodies passing by and disappearing before your ears. Fizzing synth drones are layered up over crepuscular chords and the whole thing has you gazing off into the distance, your eyes glazing over as you happily get absorbed in the subtly shifting sounds, tones and timbres. This, then, is another high class album from both artist and label.

Review: Josh Dahlberg is The Valley and the Mountain aka TVTM and is an artist who has made a big move recently from the deep westside of Detroit all the way across to the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest. He he arrives on Central Scientific for its inaugural release with Detroit-based producer and Akka & BeepBeep founder, Jo Rad Silver, taking care of the flip. Next to an array of hardware, there is plenty of improvisation with guitars in this EP - 'Experiment Obscura' is a widescreen and dramatic ambient cut with a meditative feel and 'Immersion Theatre III' is another empty but inviting piece with curlicues, wispy pads, distant guitar echoes and moodiness to spare.

Review: Nitechord is an anonymous "ambient-tech duo" that impresses with this fine debut, Lume, which is a meditative exploration of the calmness and mystery of the night as distilled through mid-tempo rhythms and atmospheric whispers. These sounds were first submitted as a raw, uncredited cassette demo in 2002 and have hardly been changed from that state but for the mastering. Tracks like 'Reflect' and 'Near' blend shimmering guitar loops, sub-bass and subtle twangs over dancefloor beats. 'Dim' breathes with layered drones, while 'Absent' offers mournful serenity and last but not least, 'Carry' blossoms into orchestral harmony. A sublime soundscape.

Review: Alex Israel's new 'Uncertainty Manipulated' release on Somnambulant Drift features generative music he has crafted by "building elements of arbitrary length that work together melodically but do not correspond in time. As the individual components replay, they overlap coincidentally, resulting in music that makes itself." The result is four tracks of sublime and escapist ambient with no beginning and no end but plenty of heart-aching piano chords, harp strums, hazy drones, mindful synth smears and meditative moods that offer comfort but also encourage inward reflections. It's a perfect coming together of man, machine and absorbing minimalism.