Full Circle Anniversary and Charity Compilation: now available

We’re very excited to share with you our ten year anniversary compilation titled, Full Circle. This has been well over a year in the making and was due to be released on the exact anniversary of August 26th, (the date of the first blog post in 2008), but due to our need to get a perfect press, it has been delayed a little until now.

The music presented in this compilation is probably the closest distillation of what has inspired ASIP over the past ten years. The ASIP website and its many versions; blog posts; guest mixes; even some of the older archived (now hidden) posts, were revisited to find the perfect tracks to put forward.

There was however, a few limitations in mind: (1) It had to be a track previously written about or featured in some capacity on ASIP from 2008-2018. (2) The track has previously not been released on vinyl. (3) The artist isn’t currently a part of the ASIP label family.

The end result isn’t a compilation of rarities, b-sides or label exclusives that you may have expected at a typical ten year milestone. Instead, it’s a compilation of music that has helped define ASIP as many people know it today. From drone and space ambient; to shoegaze inspired guitars; nostalgic electronica and melodic synthesizer music, Full Circle presents many of the elements that have been captured over the past ten years on A Strangely Isolated Place.

Pressed into the grooves of this record is some of the finest music to grace my ears that I felt passionate enough to feature on ASIP in the past, and now once more on vinyl - Ryan.

To help celebrate the occasion, all profits from this compilation will go to a charity called The Harmony Project: www.harmony-project.org. We felt that investing in and helping the next generation of potential musicians would be a fitting tribute to the overall concept of the release.

In more ways than one, we’ve come full circle.

For more information, links to buy and listen see the release page.

Thank you to all of the artists, labels and everyone involved in bringing this to life.

isolatedmix 53 - Anders Ilar

Anders first appeared on ASIP in 2012 with isolatedmix 34 and now returns to the series with another superb journey, diving deep into the depth of winters past and the varied sounds that have influenced him from the season.

You may be forgiven for thinking Anders hasn't released any music since his last isolatedmix, but the newly relocated Ludvika resident has been busy with colabs the likes of Yard. As Anders describes "Since my last album Elva on Shitkatapult in 2012 I focused on completing the first album of Our Loving Sun. A project between me and Chris Jones aka Yard, and a few invited friends on vocals, bass and guitar. We started working on the album in January 2011, so it has been a long time to finalize it. A 4-track EP was released on vinyl in October 2013 on swiss label Mina Records with a remix by Ripperton, and the Album was finally released on Bandcamp in October 2014"

During this time he also collaborated with Mina Records founder Claudia Ayala aka Masaya on a track called Stars where he provided the vocals and some additional production, set to be released in May 2015. Next-up Anders is going exactly where we want him to and producing a new ambient album titled Inuti. 

“At the start of 2015 I started working on a new ambient album. It will be called Inuti (Swedish for inside, or within). It’s soundtrack sounding with lots of piano. I’ve invited a few guests to provide some additional instrumentation, such as saxophone and other woodwinds, and bass, guitar and vocals on one or two of the tracks. I’ve also been collecting field recordings this winter - it’s all coming together nicely. ”

— Anders Ilar

Anders' isolatedmix is a segue of ambient musical styles and the perfect precursor to his new project, spanning multiple acoustic approaches from the likes of OPN and Bibio, alongside older-hats such as Tangerine Dream The Legendary Pink Dots and Dead Can Dance.

"This mix was created in late 2014, for the darkest time of the year as a sort of soundtrack to the winter months. The music was selected with great care to create a perfect theme for the darker days and long nights of winter. Elements of Strings, Piano, Horns and woodwinds co-existing with digital and acoustic rhythms, and desolate synthesizers. Bringing the mind to a calm bliss. Music that has inspired me recently and in the past". - Anders Ilar.

Skip below for Anders' narration to this perfectly curated isolatedmix. 

Download.

Tracklist:

1. Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Human Being
2. The Legendary Pink Dots - Premonition 13
3. Dictaphone - Jarszewko
4. Oneohtrix Point Never - Ruined Lives
5. The Legendary Pink Dots - Ballerina On a Rice Paper Leaf
6. Bohren & der Club of Gore - Midnight Walker
7. Bibio - Kaini Industries
8. Dictaphone - A Bout The Souffle
9. Anders Ilar - The Inner Workings
10. The Legendary Pink Dots - Pendulum
11. Shrubbn! - Echo 5|2
12. Bear McCreary - Refugees Return
13. Dead Can Dance - Windfall
14. Tangerine Dream - Sequent C
15. Wunder - Strings Of Clouds
16. The Legendary Pink Dots - Two Steps Beyond

Words about some of the artists/tracks from Anders:

Erik Truffaz & Murcof - Human Being
I first heard of Murcof after reading the name in a review of my own album Everdom from 2003. This track is from his recent album Human Being with Eric Truffaz on Trumpet. Fantastic stuff as always from Murcof.

The Legendary Pink Dots - Premonition 13
Legendary Pink Dots started in 1980 and has been in my aural input for about 30 years now, and these guys keep churning out great experimental  music to this day. For many years I almost forgot about them, but the voice of Edward Ka-Spel haunts me to great affect. Much respect. Included in this mix is four tracks spanning four decades, proving that music is the only way to live. Sing while you may!

Dictaphone - Jarszewko
Dictaphone, another great example of a successful marriage of electronics and acoustics. 

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Midnight Walker
Bohren & der Club of Gore play jazz as slow and deep you can get. I simply love their music, relaxing and soothing. And it even inspired me to start a collaboration with a saxophonist. I found one (Benny Morrison) and we are currently working on some tracks for a new album. Hopefully it will be finished this year.

Bear McCreary - Refugees Return
Bear McCreary has made some of the most excellent scores to date. TV-shows like The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica are blessed with his music.

Dead Can Dance - Windfall
Dead Can Dance are one of my all-time favourite bands and inspirations. Beyond words and beyond worlds! 'Within the Realm of a Dying Sun' is possibly the most beautiful music ever created. 

Tangerine Dream - Sequent C
Tangerine Dream (RIP Edgar Froese) are one of my earliest electronic heroes. This track from 1974 album Phaedra had to be slowed down severely to harmonize within the mix.
 

Anders Ilar | Web | Soundcloud | Facebook | 

isolatedmix 34 - Anders Ilar

Ever since I heard Anders’ 2008 self-released (and free) album Twilight Rainfalls, i’ve wanted to get the Swedish maestro to do an isolatedmix. Tracks like ‘Rain In All Familiar Places’ epitomise my love of electronica – sheer beauty, melody and emotion.

Since that release, Anders has produced another four albums, and has just released his latest on Shitkatapult, ‘Elva’. Deeper, more complex and raw compared to Twilight Rainfalls, this album is yet another defining, varied piece of electronica and experimental music in Anders armoury.

For his isolatedmix, Anders has taken care to choose tracks that are very close to him, or have influenced his sound of today. It spans nearly the many genres of electronic music and is impeccably mixed and sequenced. If you remember Anders’ mix for Resident Advisor, or his more recent selection for Secret Thirteen, you’ll know you’re in for a bit of twisted journey. Here’s Anders with an introduction to the mix.

Over the past 30 years or so I’ve had a deep love for electronic music. I’ll never forget when I was introduced to the music of Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre for the first time as a 7-year-old, and I was swept away. The sounds and the music opened up a new level of reality for me, transported me to a universe of enchanted worlds made of sounds. Over the decades, as the music changed and developed into various styles and genres, my personal preferences also changed with time. Always guided by a search for that sense of deep mystery and other-worldliness that the sounds inspired. Certain artists and musicians came to my attention, and their music became a big part of my life and identity. Music that has stuck with me ever since their vibrational patterns first hit my ears and fused with my mind and excited my chakras, resulting in a blissful state of awe and wonder, goosebumps often included. These tracks all have something that can only be described as magic. This mix is made up of a mere handful of tracks like this. Music that hits that special nerve. Soaking in mystery. Taking the listener for a ride through a few of my favorite magical moments in electronic music history from 1980 up until 2012. Enjoy!

Download.

Tracklist:

1. Intro – Tearjerker
2. FSOL – Just a Fuckin’ Idiot (Virgin 1994)
3. Dictaphone – Templehof (City Centre Offices 2002)
4. Rechenzentrum – Vrieshuis Amerika (Shitkatapult 2000)
5. Involution – Mango Seals (1997, Sub-Conscious Communications 2007)
6. Shrubbn!! – Echo 3|3 (Shitkatapult 2012)
7. Max Spransy – The Lights In The Sky Are Stars (Merck 2005)
8. Dictaphone – The E.song (City Centre Offices 2002)
9. Robin Guthrie – Halloween (Rykodisc 2005)
10. Skinny Puppy – Unovis on a Stick (1983, Nettwerk 1992)
11. Prothese – Couteau (1981, Art & Strategy 2004)
12. Depeche Mode – Oberkorn (Mute 1982)
13. SPK – Genetic Transmission (Thermidor 1982)
14. SPK – Post-Mortem (Thermidor 1982)
15. Dead Can Dance – The Fatal Impact (4AD 1984)
16. Tom Ellard – Traumat (1981, Sevcom 2005)
17. Skinny Puppy – The Pit (1983, Nettwerk 1992)
18. Severed Heads – In Her Hair… Guard Dog On Patrol (1982, Sevcom 2002)
19. Depeche Mode – Monument (Mute 1982)
20. The Tear Garden – Lonesome Tonight (Sub-Conscious Communications 2009)

Anders on web | Soundcloud | Facebook