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.

todos - Cold Shoulders

After twelve Kilchurn Sessions, you can only imagine how many tracks todos has selected, filtered, tried and ultimately cut from the bunch. It's what makes a mix so time consuming - you can come up with a 'playlist' but most of the time, these tracks wont blend together well, don't flow well, or just don't belong. I personally have a list of tracks which never really fit well in a mix despite my ongoing efforts - it includes some of my favourite music ever, but some tracks just don't work well as  part of a larger mix.

In Cold Shoulders, todos, has  managed to conjure a solid journey out of the many tracks he has left behind over the past few Kilchurn Sessions. Despite its connotations, this is as attractive a mix as any of the Kilchurn Sessions, and may just be the greatest reject mix you've ever heard.

"The previous 3 Kilchurn Sessions have seen many great tracks dashed aside, either they didn’t fit the mix, the mood or the feeling at the time. At the end of the day, they didn’t make the cut! Here, I have put many of them together, in a mix of their own. It’s not an official Kilchurn but takes a similar approach. Less time was taken with it, hardly any edits done or pain staking samples tweaked and added.  It is a collection of great “rejects”. Hence the name ‘Cold Shoulders’ I hope you enjoy" - todos.

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Steinbrüchel - ’08’
02. Swartz Et - ‘Yours Mine Ours’ / Brooke Blair and Will Blair - ‘Lights Out’
03. Christopher Willits - ’Now’
04. Gacha Bakradze - ‘Mississipi’
05. Need a Name - ‘Road to Berlin’
06. Theodore Shapiro, José González & Mark Graham - ‘Quintessence’
07. Turtle - ‘Us’
08. Christopher Willits - ‘Wide’
09. The Field - ‘No. No…’
10. Taiga - ‘East Breeze’
11. Burstbot - ‘Inherited’
12. Tom Raybould - ‘The End’
13. Seekae - ‘Another’
14. I Break Horses - ‘Heart To Know’
15. Rival Consoles - ‘Haunt’

isolatedmix 43 - Need A Name (Chasing Dreams)

It’s pretty hard to stand out from the crowd nowadays. I’m seeing less and less focus on ‘big albums’ or month-long hyped releases, and more attention being paid to a constant stream of quality – artists engaging their fans, rewarding them for their ongoing compassion and dedication. Artists that are embracing this new type of free distribution see regular Soundcloud uploads, free EP’s on Bandcamp, public discussions on equipment and techniques, and productions in partner with similar artists from the other side of the world.

One artist that has embraced this approach is Dario Lupo. He makes no secret of the fact he is on a parallel journey with his listeners; encouraging feedback, and consistently getting involved with likeminded artists through remixes and compilation submissions. And it’s because of this approach that Need a Name’s “nostalgic ambient music, featuring larger-than-space reverbs” has hit a note with many of us over the past few years. He’s the epitome of what many of the artists featured on ASIP strive for – a community of listeners engaged on his every note, his every upload.

Dario’s 2013 track ‘Road to Berlin‘ was one of my favourites to emerge last year – and one of only a few which were a free download on my ‘Reflection on 2013‘ mix. More recently, he’s remixing the similarly talented ‘Umber’, taking an instrumental-ambient style into other realms. And earlier this week, another free download that would give the likes of Kiyoko a ride for their money, titled ‘Everything is moving, but not the sky‘.

Dario’s productions are reflective and packed full of lush, sunny memories. This style, combined with his open approach to music production are what make him so appealing to many of us sharing the space – and it’s clearly echoed through his isolatedmix. “A collection of new discoveries mixed together with artists who changed my life in past and are changing it right now”; Dario’s mix pays homage to his blissful production style and his many influences over the past few years. With Umber, Keith Kenniff, Brambles and Hammock on board, this is a journey which will undoubtedly make you sit back and reflect on the better things in life.

Download

Tracklist:

01. Hammock – In The Middle Of This Nowhere
02. Brambles – Half-Gramme Holiday
03. Drops – Autumn Walks
04. Random Forest – The Best Of Us
05. Cass. – Illinois 1880 (Part 1)
06. Naal – W
07. Talquin – Embers
08. Umber – Clémence
09. Mosaik – Aerial
10. Hammock – Shored Against the Ruins… Drowning In Ten Directions
11. Lowercase Noises – Beauty Into Wreck
12. Aural Method – Breathe Deep Your Chorus
13. Keith Kenniff – Portraits Pt. 1
14. Chris Tenz – Chapter Two

Need a Name Web | Facebook | Soundcloud | Twitter | Bandcamp

Passing by: Winter Flags, Blair French, Need A Name, Hammock & Doyeq

Winter Flags and Blair French

John Beltran recently launched a new label, titled ‘Dado Records’ the label’s focus is on film music, spanning a variety of genres from cinematic to ambient and rock. I’ve found it hard to keep up with the relentless amount of talent it’s put forward so far but two artists jumped out.

Winter Flags self-titled album – a cross between Bonobo, Bibio, Tycho and I guess, the man himself, John Beltran, it’s packed full of gentle melodies, subtle percussion and all-around good vibes.

And forthcoming, an artist called Blair French, who’s sampler below sounds pretty spectacular. Some beautiful textures spanning all types of ambient styles, from instrumental to tape-loops. More info and links to buy via Dado Records website.

Need A Name – 2013 Collection

Talking of relentless production, Need A Name had a busy 2013 and I for one struggled to keep up with many of his releases. Luckily, Dario has put together this 2013 originals collection for ‘name your price’ on Bandcamp. Take a stroll through his sun-kissed beats and colourful palettes in this 13-track compilation. Download.

Hammock – An Introduction to Hammock

Another artist collection, this time from our favourite heart-wrenching duo, Hammock. I probably don’t need to praise these guys any more on here – i’m confident many of you are familiar with Hammock’s post-rock lullabies, but again, for ‘name your price’ this is a compilation that can’t be missed. Especially as it has my favourite track from their 2013 album Oblivion Hymns- ‘Then the Quiet Explosion’. Download.

Doyeq – soundsphere

Lastly, no ‘Passing By’ post is complete without some dub-techno. This one, coming from the consistent Subspiele label, with Doyeq – two guys from Moscow running on a world of “Moog Voyagers, Virus ti2, TC Electronic M3000… and no VSTi’s”. Lively and energetic, ‘soundsphere’ captures a classic dub-techno sound verging on minimal techno, reminding me of the likes of Mule Electronic’s outputs.Download.

Photo – the original to Doyeq’s artwork, by photographer malte.