As if his stuff on Infraction and his isolatedmix didn’t resonate with us enough already. My god, his music is awesome. The feedback on his productions posted on ASIP has been immense and i’ve no doubt, this is one talented musician which we will all grow to love for years to come.

Uploaded just a few hours ago, is the timeless, ‘Music of Full Moon’ and ‘Depths’. Just like the ethos ASIP strives to adhere to, ‘Music of Full Moon’ is focused on several distinct places, or inspirations, ranging from ‘Clouds’ to ‘Sea’ and is much more minimalist than the Parks we grew accustomed to with his releases on Infraction. ‘Depths’ is more engrossing, and more in-tune with Igors ‘Hidden’ and ‘Umber’ releases with subtle melodies and more euphoric moments. But, both are sublime.

Going by Igor’s release notes, ‘Music of Full Moon’ was created on a “Four channel portostudio ‘Yamaha’ and guitar delay “Digitech”… that’s all”.

That’s all??? That is all? I dont care what it was created on. It was created by a genius. Grab both releases on Bandcamp or below. If you’re new to Parks, then here’s the perfect introduction – isolatedmix 22.

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Oh the mighty Secret Station are back. Those long-time ASIP readers will know how much of a fan I am of this lovely little label. The usual SS crew are back in full force in the latest Broadcast compilation spanning the breadth of this tiny but talented label, including Devin Underwood both with another superb Drexon Field release and the always beautiful Specta Ciera, 91Plus, Paneye and Yamaoka. Mental Health Consumer starts off the proceedings with a glorious eleven minute journey through a mixture of textures that’s sets up an another great electronic and experimental Broadcast.

As always, be sure to support a label which strives to offer us the best music yet struggles to exist, by purchasing some of their amazing previous releases (which may I add are extremely cheap with shipping included). Don’t take my word for it, listen to Mach V’s Secret Station Session as proof.

Download Broadcast Four below or on Bandcamp.

Tracklist:
1- Mental Health Consumer – Familiar Streets and Remembered Faces
2- Drexon Field – Asian Girls Named Candy
3- 91Plus – Midnight Raga
4- Yamaoka – Two Code
5- Paneye – The Fortune Teller
6- Specta Ciera – Pack It In
7- Ops Esponja – Celadon Sick Girl
8- Ken Aoki and Kenichi Oka – Steranta
9- Elektromodule – Ultra Kompressor

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I’m a big fan of ambient and field recordings which transport you, take you back in time, or depict a place you’ve probably never been to before, but have a vivid picture of due to a stunning piece of music. ASIP’s ethos is built around those strangely isolated places, so stumbling across the latest release on Hibernate from Listening Mirror was an absolute treat.

This is an album quite literally drowning in sound. Walls of delicately balanced drone and field recordings, pitched against the vocals of Kate Tustain; Jeff Stonehouse and his angelic songstress create some beautiful pieces that reflect the tranquil and the dark. None more so than ‘The Leechpool’ – one of the most visual pieces of music i’ve ever encountered – tell me you don’t get lost visualising a slow walk alongside a delicate river, amongst a Summers forest with the sun breaking through the trees…

Coming soon on Hibernate.

The Leechpool

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Erased Tapes is home to some today’s most talented modern-classical and ambient artists’, which is quite a feat for a label which has only been running for three years. A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm and Peter Broderick to name just a few, grace the Erased Tapes roster and some of the genres most popular releases have been brought to us by the Berlin and London based label.

Five years after its conception, label founder Robert Raths has decided to celebrate by rallying his piano tinkerers and offering a free compilation, exclusive to new and existing members of the redesigned Erased Tapes website. You’d be fooled into thinking this isn’t an electronic compilation after a quick glance at the tracklist, but Robert seeks to express the full horizon of music coming out of Erased Tapes and by doing so, has included some more electronic pieces by Rival Consoles and Codes In The Clouds. This is an unbelieveable compilation considering it’s free and all of the above artists feature, alongside Jon Hopkins, Oliveray and The British Expeditionary Force

If you’re not already member of Erased Tapes, then there’s no better excuse – go sign up and get this amazing release!

Happy fifth Birthday Erased Tapes and thanks for all the brilliant music so far.

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ASIP favourite, Sako, returns with another inspired soundscape. ‘Her Overflowing Heart’ has been put together especially for Sako’s partner for their upcoming anniversary. This mix is filled to the brim with absolutely beautiful modern-classical and ambient tracks, namely one of Jon Hopkins first ventures, ‘Fairytale’ as well as greats from some of the very best in the modern-classical field; Nils Frahm, Clem Leek and Keith Kenniff’s Goldmund.

If you missed Sako’s previous mixes, you can listen to them on Soundcloud or read about them in our previous posts; ‘Last Days‘ and ‘The First Breeze Of Spring‘.

“For me making sets has always been like writing diaries, only the story is being told with with ambient words that have a remarkable ability to convey very particular feelings, to draw landscapes of thoughts and to capture the most minute and magical details that make up our memories.

For this mix I wanted to construct a play, an interweave, of light and darkness with a special focus on the shifting point, the point of change where the light creeps in to transpire against the darkness.

I’ve decided to embark on this mix, as a gift to a special someone, as a reminder of the invisible change that lurks in the suspension of things where life is turned into a dwelling of torpor and stagnation, and when we loose the ability to see the sea of ever changing splendor that is life.

Last but least this mix has been largely inspired to one of my favorite album of all time, Last days – Sea that keeps on reminding me that music has a beating heart and living soul. I hope you all enjoy!”

Download

01. Hauschka & Hildur Guonadottir – Black6
02. Jasper Tx – Letting Go (The World Is coming to An End)
03. Ben Frost – The Carpathians
04. Goldmund – Ouendake
05. Clem Leek – The Burnt Home
06. Wes Willenbring – The Burrow
07. Robert Babicz – The Darkness
08. Clem Leek – Snow Tales#2
09. Epic45 – Spire Against Summer Sky
10. Joey Fehrenbach – Being Around You
11. Last Days – Leaving home
12. Helios – Halving The Compass
13. Xela – You Are In The Stars
14. Rob Simonsen – 2.4 Meters
15. Keith Kenniff – Oceans
16. Last Days – The Safest Place
17. Robert Hampson – Ahead-Only the stars (excerpt)
18. Jon Hopkins – Fairytale
19. Nils Frahm – More
20. Last Days – All the Lighthouses

Noise recording From Freesound.org:
chipfork – Chant 01
jesges – violet sea
Meerut – The sound of the ocean
Benboncan – Steady Heart Monitor To Flatline

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San Francisco’s resident progressive house DJ and regular Proton Radio contributor Andy Schneider has prepared a rather sublime journey into classic chill and downtempo. It’s not surprising to see a few retro progressive house/trance inspirations in the form of Tall Paul vs INXS and Way Out West (I love that track!), given Andy’s roots in progressive. And just like any good DJ, Andy has spent the time and effort mixing it down to perfection, including the ups and downs, the slow and the energetic, the acoustic and the electronic. You can always tell when a mix has had some thought and personal inspiration to boot and for those that enjoy moments of reflection from the early 2000′s, this one’s for you.

Andy’s also got a neat little ambient/post-rock side-project coming up called ‘Arts Learning Community’ which I think many of you will enjoy. You can preview the first track from the upcoming album below or visit Andy’s Soundcloud.

Download

Tracklist:
@0:00:00 1. Arab Strap – Loch Leven Intro
@0:01:45 2. Loscil – Mistral
@0:02:49 3. M83 – Let Men Burn Stars
@0:05:00 4. Tall Paul vs. INXS – Precious Heart (Lush Mix)
@0:08:07 5. Way Out West – Earth [Overdub: Tool - Eon Blue Apocalypse]
@0:10:37 6. Voyager One – Life, Truth, and Light
@0:15:05 7. Juno Reactor – Conquistador I
@0:19:04 8. Michael Stearns – Monk With Bell
@0:20:01 9. Thomas Newman – Any Other Name
@0:21:00 10. Bjork – Visur Vatnsenda
@0:24:51 11. Kaki King – Frame
@0:26:36 12. Bjork – So Broken (Live)
@0:32:19 13. Amina – Untitled 1
@0:36:24 14. A Perfect Circle – Over
@0:38:24 15. Venetian Snares – Hiszékeny
@0:40:01 16. Negative Entropy – A Desert Realm of Fish
@0:40:18 17. Sigur Rós – Ba Ba
@0:46:09 18. Tosca – D-Moll
@0:46:48 19. Vertiform – Liquid Japanese
@0:55:44 20. Thursday – A0001
@0:56:06 21. Thursday – |1100
@0:57:38 22. The Books – S Is For Evrysing
@1:00:06 23. Dual Tone – Atom (Dub Massacre 2) [Overdub: William Orbit - Ogive Number 1]
@1:04:57 24. Unkle – Glow
@1:08:13 25. The Beta Band – Broken Up Adingdong
@1:12:35 26. Mira Calix – Flicker
@1:12:52 27. Mira Calix – Do I Ever?
@1:14:08 28. Aphex Twin – On (Reload Mix)

Arts Learning Community – Jewel Food

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Ulrich’s been a member of The Engineers (with Mark & co) for over a year now and whilst he’s used to declining the limelight when in this guise, this time around his developed understanding of Mark’s talent has brought emphasis to an otherwise missing element in the Ulrich sound we all love. Yes, as first thought, Ulrich’s the man in the background on this one, but his sound has engineered (see what I did there) a unique partner-in-crime and it’s as strong, as clear and as addictive as ever.

For the most part, the unique structures, the layer upon layer of electronic synths and the signature, uplifting euphoric moments of early Schnauss have been toned down. It’s like Mark has sat Ulrich down and had a strong, stern word over a cup of coffee. Patience, Ulrich… patience.

Mark’s guitar takes centre stage in nearly every track and it’s a beauty of an addition to the rich, slowly building textures . There’s plenty of Robin Guthrie moments (‘Forgotten’ for example), and some very similar sounds that Ulrich and Jonas worked on in ‘Epic’ (Underrated Silence for example), but Ulrich has spent his time crafting and accentuating instead of battling to create euphoric moments. Give the man some tools to do everything and he’ll give it his best shot at the lot. Give him the space to breathe and he can focus on what he’s good at; beautiful, carefully crafted, lush atmospheres that send you drifting amongst the added licks of Marks guitar…

There are definitely moments of classic Schnauss in here, and I think this is why I love this album so much. ‘Rosen Im Asphalt’ bucks the trend and provides one of the more euphoric moments and ‘Gift Horse’s Mouth’ is representing the electronic heritage, spanning a beautiful seven minutes of Schnauss Synth progression. We’ve got the best of Ulrich, but with a unique take on what it always could have been should a guitarist ever take on the might of Ulrich’s laptop and keyboard. Sure, Jonas Munk did just that with ‘Epic’, but this is ever so slightly different. Mark’s addition on this album has provided an amazing, patient dimension to Ulrich’s feel good electronica and these two just sit perfectly together. As I type, i’m considering calling this his best piece of work since ‘A Strangely Isolated Place’…. only plenty more guaranteed listens, and his next solo album due in April will tell.

Ulrich has just opened a Twitter profile if you want to stay up-to-date and there’s always Ulrich’s Facebook page, or The Engineers Facebook page. Don’t forget Ulrich’s isolatedmix whilst you’re here too.

You can get the album at all good retailers, but I would recommend Boomkat for an always great service or Norman Records for the last of the LP+CD versions.

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February has started with a bang (and plenty of snow for the UK thus the warm image from my humble abode). Some amazing music out there at the moment and this ‘Passing By’ post focuses on the more upbeat of the bunch including some brand new electronica from one of our favourite 2010 artists’ and a host of mixes that cover the timeless, retro and classic-techno buckets.

aKido – Undark
Remember aKido from 2010? His album, ‘Gamechanger’ was one of the most unique and interesting finds of the year – a breath of fresh air all the way from Canada. Well, he’s back with ‘Undark’ and the same quality electronica is still apparent. I’m going to be honest, i’m not a fan of all the vocals in this one and it’s a little samey, but some of the tracks are absolutely superb and stand out a mile from the rest. God only knows why he’s still releasing on his tod without some major backing – this is an album worth grabbing even if it doesn’t mirror ‘Gamechanger’ too much. My favourite; ‘New Years Eve’. Available on Bandcamp as a free download.

John Talabot – FACT Mix 315
John Talabot is quickly becoming the new Nico Jaar, the new Prins Thomas, the new trendy disco-house dropping guru that you can’t escape from. Yep, he’ll be remixing and collaborating with everyone under the sun for one reason; he’s got an amazing ear and a production talent to match. This mix for FACT is a prime example and to me, this is just timeless house music that’s hard to ignore. Visit FACT to download (limited time only)

Com Truise – Komputer Cast 5
It was just over a year ago that Com Truise offered up his signature sound in a guest Ghostlycast and one year later we’re back with a whole bunch of Retro sounds and artists you’ve never even dreamed of including on your record collection… until now. Download or visit ComTruise.com for tracklisting. If you liked this, then you may also enjoy Com Truise’s latest mix for ‘Check Yo Ponytail’ too…

Ghostlycast #45: Vault Classics: Ryan Elliott’s Minimise [Color Series] Mix
Speaking of Ghostlycast’s, we mustn’t let this one slip us by. Some of you must know by now how much of a fan I am of Donnacha Costello’s Classic-techno inspired Color Series. This mix spans the entire color-rainbow and despite going pretty heavy towards the end, I challenge anyone with a liking of melodic techno to not find something in here they enjoy. Download.

Max Cooper – Interview
Last but not least, a brilliant interview from our favourite German import Traum featuring the latest techo-head to venture into some sublime ambient productions – Max Cooper. We all loved Max’s ‘End Of Reason’ rework and over a lengthy ten minutes he discusses a few of his favourite ambient artists amongst plenty of other intriguing little nuggets of information.

After her debut album, ‘Atom’, Sarah Badr has posted only a few sounds to her cloud – tease I say, especially as there have been no official releases. But the latest, Descent is deserving of any wait.

Sarah’s got her hands dirty with ‘Max for Live’ this time around and her dramatic electronica is charged with a superb tinkering piano encapsulating ‘soundtrack’ and defining brilliance.

If you missed ‘Atom’ then grab it here.

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I’m a lover of all things techno and sometimes when it comes to mixes, the guys that spend all their time making the heavy-hitters know a thing or two when it comes to taking it down a level. Applescal is renowned for his tech-tinged beauties that have graced the likes of Traum over the years and not only am I a big fan of the label, Applescal’s productions and remixes are also never far from a regular spin at ASIP HQ.

For those with an eagle eye, you would have noticed I managed to sneak in one of Applescal’s tracks into my latest ‘Traumbient’ mix; ‘Welcome To The Woods’ – a melodic bit of madness which formed the peak of a second tribute to the German label. You may have also caught heed of ‘El Diablo’, Applescal’s latest production released on RTFKT – a music community he lovingly maintains with a few others (you may remember the ASIP Mutecast?) Pascal’s also a bit of a talent when it comes to remixes; Max Cooper, Eelke Kleijn, Morris Cowan and Nick Warren to name just a few on the receiving end lately.

It’s safe to say the youngster has got some diverse skills. For isolatedmix 25, not only do we get a peak into the drive behind the dutchman, but Applescal mixes some brand new inspiration with the old, and when I say brand new, I mean brand spanking new. Add Télépopmusik’s greatest track to that remix list, and you have the icing on the isolated, debuted here in Applescal’s mix for astrangelyisolatedplace.

I caught up with Pascal to ask him a few quick-fire questions and you can also scroll down to see Pascal’s track notes. Follow Applescal on Soundcloud for his latest and greatest or see Applescal.net for more info.

Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the mix?
I found the inspiration on Soundcloud. There are so many talented and unknown artists out there making really good music. It’s amazing. I love to discover new tunes there and that’s what inspired me to make this mix.

Did you have to leave any favourite tracks out?
Yes, a lot… Tracks by Essay, Chrome Sparks, Tree!, Julien Mier, Aether, Jacob 2-2 and many more.

The sound in the mix is a bit of a change from your productions – when and where do you listen to this type of music?
At home when i’m checking my e-mails or when i’m in the studio. I prefer to listen it when i’m alone.

Have you considered making more downtempo style music?
Not really. I make what i like.. I never know what the result is when i start a new project. Just following my thoughts and feelings and that ends up as a song.

The mix contains an exclusive new Télépopmusik remix from you, can you tell us how this remix came about?
Well, I was working on the mix and I thought it might be cool to mix new music up with some old music. I was listening to Télépopmusik’s ‘smile’ and thought, wow, this track is really cool to edit for the mix. So, before I realised, I worked on a bootleg remix and finished the track in two days.

And the inspiration behind the mix title?
I think the north is really nice. Beautiful nature and nice people. I was going on vacation to Sweden as well when the mix was done, but nothing really special.

What can we expect from Applescal in the future?
I’m working on a lot of new music and planning to share most of it on my Soundcloud. I’m working on a new album which hope to finish this year! Pretty exciting.

Download.

Tracklist:
01. Of Oceans – In Love Not Limbo
02. Fourtet – Locked
03. Pien Feith – I have done nothing (Applescal remix)
04. Aebeloe – Elliot
05. ◯laf Stuut – Love
06. Tonik – Snapshot Two
07. Moonbeam – Motus (Applescal remix)
08. Pional – Alabama Dice
09. John Talabot – Families (feat. Glasser)
10. Tortilla Pass – When The Sun Is Here
11. Jonas K.P. – Day
12. Yasume – Slowly, Clearly and Calmly
13. Sigur Ros – Untitled #2 (Sekuoia remix)
14. Floex – Blow up
15. Télépopmusik – Smile (Applescal’s Tribute Mix)

Tracknotes:

01. Of Oceans – In Love Not Limbo: I found this track in a mixtape from Sun glitters (makes pretty cool tunes and mixtapes, you should check them out.)
02. Fourtet – Locked: Great track. I love his style.
03. Pien Feith – I have done nothing (Applescal remix): A remix i did for Pien Feith. She has an amazing voice and hope to work more with her in the future.
04. Aebeloe – Elliot: Pretty cool track by Natal Zaks, a producer from Denmark. He has a cool label called Farver which is part of Origami Sound.
05. ◯laf Stuut – Love This is one of my favorite tracks of 2011. This young guy is from the netherlands as well.
06. Tonik – Snapshot Two: Pretty awesome song by Icelandic Anton Kaldal Ágústsson. I met him on a gig in the netherlands. The vocals are by Johann Kristinsson and he does an exciting solo project as well.
07. Moonbeam – Motus (Applescal remix): I pitched the melody on this remix a bit to make it deep. The original mix by moonbeam is pretty different and i think it’s one of the best remixes i’ve done.
08. Pional – Alabama Dice: I only used the intro of the track. it’s in the same key as my moonbeam remix and i thought it was a good interlude to the next track.
09. John Talabot – Families (feat. Glasser): Great melodie, great vibe. John talabot is very popular at the moment and he deserves it i think. i’m looking forward to his album.
10. Tortilla Pass – When The Sun Is Here: This is a beatmaker. If you’re on soundcloud, he shares a lot of tracks.
11. Jonas K.P. – Day: This track is released on a cool label titled Fødselsdagsbarnets Rec.
12. Yasume – Slowly, Clearly and Calmly: This is an old song.
13. Sigur Ros – Untitled #2 (Sekuoia remix): Is from denmark as well..
14. Floex – Blow up: This is one of my favourite songs of the set. think i’ve listened this song about a 100 times.
15. Télépopmusik – Smile (Applescal’s Tribute Mix): My tribute to Télépopmusik.

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**ASIP is currently looking for artists to contribute to an upcoming release series – find out more.**
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