Our good friends at Dewtone announced some bitter-sweet news recently. The deep and organic ambient and dub-techno label have put their entire Bandcamp catalog up for free (or a very low price to have it in your collection).
The label has been quiet as of late, so it might not come as a surprise that label founder Dustin Morris has been busy planning new ventures. This gracious move to open up the back catalog, perhaps signaling a change in direction sometime in the future. Fingers crossed we see Dewtone back with even more deep and emotional ambient music.
There's a wealth of albums to choose from, and whilst you should no doubt download every single release (not a bad one amongst them), we wanted to reflect on five standout tracks. It's a tough choice given the quality throughout the catalog, but ASIP has been supporting Dewtone from the very early years, pre-2012, so some releases have a little sentimental value attached to them. This made it slightly easier for certain tracks to stand out and pinpoint personal memories and moments as both ASIP and Dewtone evolved over the years.
Download the catalog on Bandcamp.
Bjorn Rohde / I Began To Float
Perhaps one of Dewtone's most ominous and sincere tracks, but Bjorn Rohde's, Forgotten Hearts is a story unto itself - heartbreak and adventure.
Purl & Deflektion / Growing
If you enjoyed Lav & Purl's A State of Becoming, there's plenty for you to dig into amongst the Dewtone catalog, with Purl featuring across several releases (as himself and some of his many other monikers) and Lav, too. But it was this beat-laden production with Olle Hallqvist (Deflektion) that really made me realize the never-ending innovative approaches ready and willing within Ludvig (Purl's) innovative mind.
Sebastian Paul / Zen Temple
One of the later releases on the label, Sebastian Paul's album Warm Night Fall, really struck a chord with me. Perhaps it was my similarly timed visit to Japan and a chance to reflect, or maybe the extremely engrossing textures and minutiae sound design. A lesson in doing so much with so little.
Segue / House of Cards
Dewtone also curated a selection of compilations that included artists and labels they admired and were inspired by called, Foundations. Their second edition, 'Foundations II', featured Segue, amongst many others, and his contribution, House of Cards formed my first introduction to his works, ultimately going on to release superb solo efforts on Silent Season, such as Pacifica.
Halo / Hollow City
Halo is one of those under-the-radar composers that deserves so much more attention. His Places Series EP, for example, and this album from 2012 on Dewtone. Tell me you can't hear the same delicate genius of Nils Frahm or Jon Hopkins in this track (and this album). And then remember. Pasquale, who is young now, let alone six-years ago, put this album together way before the nu-modern-classical-wave we know today.
Listen to Dewtone founder, Dustin's exclusive ASIP mix from a few years back, featuring many other favorites in a similar style to the label.
