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.

Passing by: Markus Guentner, Verdant Recordings, Audioglider & Todos

Markus Guentner – Golden Fall Mix

Not what you’re expecting from Markus, but for those not hemmed by genre this is a stunning detroit techno / deep house mix. Love it when ambient artists come out of their comfort zone, but then again, as shown with many of Markus’ recent remixes (such as his remix of Norge on Uncharted Places) he does like to stray into beat-heavy productions sometimes. This must be at least some of his inspiration right here.Download.

Verdant / Andy Green – Crashing Mix

It’s been a little while since we’ve been treated to a Verdant mix. Andy has weaved some stunners into this one, keeping it deep and unexpected the whole way. The Sight Below, Donato Dozzy, Robert Henke, Thomas Fehlmann and Claro Intelecto feature. Download.

Audioglider – Mixtape Vol.13

Roberto’s back with another dreamy mix and some of his recent inspirations. Never disappointing, always innovative and original. Starting beatless and progressing into more electronics and vocals the mix features Segue, Stumbleine, Vector Lovers, Hammock and Kyson amongst others. Download

Todos – Isolated

I must listen to a DJ Todos mix atleast once a week… If you haven’t heard his Kilchurn Sessions then PLEASE go listen – outstanding. This mix is very much along those lines, but more ambient focused, and featuring some of our favourite tracks of recent years intertwined with some hidden gems – an all engrossing journey as you’d expect from Todos. Download

Photo: LA flyover http://instagram.com/astrangelyisolatedplace

Passing by: Arovane, dalot, Petar Dundov, Fibreforms, Heathered Pearls & Leandro Fresco

Arovane – Ve Palor
I’m quite surprised I haven’t seen a trending topic on twitter or something after n5MD announced the legendary Arovane would be returning to production duties… This is big news! Fans of electronica have long felt his absence. The likes of n5MD’s Loess, and Crisopa have done well to fill the void of Arovane’s glitches, but his return is more than welcome. What to expect? Everything you wanted I guess. The formula remains the same – but the music is reinvented. Nine years is a long-time to be away but when you’re this good, time is irrelevant. Melodic, complex stuttering beats, the kind of music that good headphones appreciate and the mind struggles to comprehend. Available to pre-order on limited edition red vinyl via n5MD.

dalot – Ancestors
ASIP Uncharted Places remixer and (soon to be released) Places Series contributor dalot has been busy recently. First, her ‘Hands’ EP and now this stunning release on n5MD. The title track is emotional, delicate and haunting at the same time. But when the bvdub remix takes center stage and the strings come out to play, the original is taken into a whole new world – as you’d expect from Brock. Izumi Suzuki’s (Linda Bjalla’s) vocals compliment bvdubs more recent style featuring a host of vocalists and this one is no different, complementing the beautiful original.

But what really connects, is the story behind the EP and the emotion felt in the title track (both the original and Brock’s remix). “In December 2012, I spent two weeks going through and sorting out the photographs, notebooks and paper clippings found scattered in the drawers of my grandfather’s desk that was left untouched since 1996. ‘Ancestors’ is a reconstruction of fragments, not concerned with the accuracy of images and moments but with opening up the flood of memory mechanics to imagination and transformation”.

Northcape also features as remixer on the release (i’m a big fan and he is a great addition to a wonderful EP. Northcape’s take is more electronic focused, the vocal is reduced and the melody given space to shine through. ‘Ancestors’ EP will be available through n5MD on October 15th.

Petar Dundov – Sailing Off The Grid 
Petar Dundov returns after his rather magical album Ideas From The Pond with a similar stance of synth heavy electronic music. Progressive and expansive, i’m yet to identify any other producers who aren’t afraid to develop such a retro sound within today’s often hideous genre boundaries. The full album is available to stream below.

Fibreforms – Treedrums
“Long before KILN (Ghostly) turned to the sunset-soaked textures of Dusker, and the sonic-carousels of “Thermals”, they made music as fibreforms”. This new release on Infraction Records (the great repository for Parks first releases) is another gem that deserves more of an audience. Combining ambient, melodic guitars and addictive melodies spread across slowly developing drums, this is reminiscent of the kind of guitar combos you’d find from early Jonas Munk, but a little less psychedelic. In fact, this would be amazing to hear live. Buy the CD at Infraction Records.

Heathered Pearls – Loyal (reworks) 
Jakub’s ‘Loyal’ LP was a confident jump into the ambient lovers realm – a unique, fuzzy approach to some of the most relaxing and immersive music i’ve heard recently. Now, nearly one year later Ghostly returns with a set of amazing remixes of the album featuring Markus Guentner, Teen Daze, Sun Glitters and Loscil. The one that surprised me though, is the very first track – The Foxes in Fiction Tape remix – stunning!! Available at Ghostly.

Leandro Fresco – Egg Box 007
And lastly, our very own Leandro Fresco has an insightful interview for Relevant BCN and an accompanying mix. Find out about his relationship with Kompakt and news of an upcoming album whilst listening to Arovane, Marsen Jules, Boards of Canada and many of his own works. See the interview and original post here.

Main photograph / Eagle Creek

Passing by: Max Cooper, Segue, Mach V, Lusine and Silent Season

Max Cooper – Synesthetes Museum (Magnetic Mag Mix)

An adventurous journey through the British Museum and Max Cooper’s ingenious mind, this mix spans ambient, techno and historical recordings, all assembled around a turn-by-turn visit through the museum: “I mixed it in a way to be like a journey though the museum, turning corners and regularly coming across something totally different and unexpected, with each track being like a different exhibit.” More info.

Download.

Tracklist:
01. Max Cooper – Binaural Museum
02. A Winged Victory For The Sullen – Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears (Erased Tapes)
03. Max Cooper – Woven Ancestry (Unreleased)
04. Adam Johnson – Anex (Merck)
05. Peiyou Chang – Song of Gu Qin (Peiyou Chang)
06. Vaetxh – Randolph Pactali (Unreleased)
07. Bonobo – Cirrus (Ninja Tune)
08. ThermalBear – U Love (Last Night On Earth)
09. Rockwell – Fluf (Shogun Audio)
10. Xu Zhengyin – Dragon Boat (China Record Corporation)
11. Unknown Origin – Gregorian Chant – Edit
12. MMOTHS – For Her – Max Cooper Remix (SQE Music)
13. Unknown Origin – The Call to the Lama from Afar (Jade)
14. Rrose – Waterfall (EAUX)
15. Nils Frahm – Peter – Max Cooper Remix (Erased Tapes)
16. James Yorkston – Woozy With Cider – Jon Hopkins Remix (Domino)
17. Max Cooper – Binaural Museum

Segue – Sgustok Magazine Podcast 039

Following in the footsteps of Aus and Markus Guentner, Segue has prepared a mix for Sgustok magazine exemplifying his warm and engrossing approach to ambient and dub-techno. More info.

Download

Tracklist
01. Group Bombino — Tenere
02. Boards Of Canada — Ready Lets Go
03. Segue — Honest And Truly
04. Yagya — Rigning Tvö
05. Segue — Snow Dub
06. Rhythm & Sound — Range
07. Segue — La Rue
08. WZRDRY & SKRS — Ouptost 1.0
09. Dil Withers — Rainy
10. The Caretaker — When The Dog Days Were Drawing To An End
11. Concern — Mending
12. Ruhe — Ostinato II
13. Loscil — Fern And Robin
14. Segue — North Saskatchewan River (Excerpt)

Mach V – I Love You/You Won’t Let Me

A slightly different mix from Mach V this time around, focusing on his Drum’n bass roots and including much of today’s music that has stemmed from this style, including Joe Synkro, ASC, Ulrich Schnauss and dBridge (also featuring some pretty sweet transitions too!)

Download

Tracklist:

01. Mario – Let Me Love You (Lapalux remix) (free download)
02. Synkro – Open Arms
03. ASC – Glass Walls
04. Submerse – Cluster
05. Jack Dixon – You won’t let me (Synkro mix)
06. Bop – Song about my Dog
07. dBridge – 5th Floor
08. Grimes – Genesis
09. Bulb – Lonely Gravity
10. Om Unit – Ulysses VIP (free download)
11. ASC + Ulrich Schnauss – 77
12. Lapalux – Guuurl
13. Holy Other – Know Where
14. dBridge – Cornered
15. Yumi & The Weather – Not Again (Manni Dee remix) (free download)
16. Marley Caroll -Woodwork (free download)
17. Ital Tek – Pixel Haze
18. Fybe:One – Harmonic Curve (Deft’s footwork remix) (free download)
19. Bering Strait – Apart
20. Synkro – Reflection
21. Aegis – Reso (free download)
22. Eagles for Hands – Glitterall (free download)

Lusine – Mix for MTV Hive

I always bang on about how good Lusine was when I saw him in Berlin a few years back. Well this mix kind of helps explain my experience – groovy electronic music that would move any dancefloor. No download on this one yet unfortunately.

Tracklist:

01. Emeralds-Diotoma
02. Sei A- You Can Bring
03. Lake People- Point in Time
04. Hobo- Blackwell(original Mix)
05. Matthew Herbert- It’s Only (DJ Koze Remix)
06. Lusine- Another Tomorrow (Jon Convex Remix)
07. Thomalia- Alftavatn(Original Mix)
08. Kuniyuki Takahashi- Bamboo City (Original Mix)
09. Dominik Eulberg- Taeuschnungs- Blume (Ryan Davis ‘Narciss’ Render)
10. Mathew Jonson- Dayz
11. M.A.N.D.Y, Adultnapper- Kindling (John Tejada Remix)
12. Ultraista- Small Talk (Four Tet Remix)
13. Manuel Tur- Maybe Next Lifetime Feat. Blakkat (King Britt Dub)
14. Yakine- Disaster Drop (original Mix)
15. Lusine- Lucky
16. Todd Terje- Ragysh (Original)
17. ManmadeScience- Phase (Original Mix)
18. Pezzner- Chapter Two (Original Mix)

Silent Season – Campfire Stories

2hr:45min of deep electronic music curated by Silent Season head-honcho Jamie McCue, including some relatively obscure artists for you to explore. Be warned though, I found myself dancing around the campfire, not necessarily telling campfire stories…

Download.

Tracklist:

Docetism – Bonfire
Docetism – The Temptation of St. Anthony
Mikrokristal – Dark Introduction Ends
Sam KDC – Excursion
Sam KDC – Surrender
Aes Dana – Oxyd
Aes Dana – Adonai
Mon0 – Magnetic
Esko Barba – Parhelia
Esko Barba – Noctilucent Awakening
Blamstrain – 6pm
Intrusion – Angel
Intrusion – Intrusion
Intrusion – Tswana
Octal – Himinglæva #1
JS – Track 4
JS – Track 5
Yuka & Dino Sabatini – U4
Edanticonf – Planet (Abdulla Rashims Inca Edit)
Edanticonf – Planet
Tomas Rubeck – Factions
Sys – Nocturnal
Blazej Malinowski – Factory of emotions
Blazej Malinowski – Key
Refracted – Oo-koo-hé
Luke Hess – Awareness
Blazej Malinowski – Dreams of tomorrow
Skyscaper – Noctilucent Clouds (Kasm remix feat. SuhniSea)

Passing by: Alveol, Altus & The Green Kingdom

Alveol – No Point In Holding On

If there’s one label out there who’s sound I could pinpoint a mile off, it’s Dewtone. That’s not to say they are predictable, but more that everything they put out is right on point for me; warm, melodic and dubby – especially this man Ludvig Cimbrelius, aka Alveol. His latest album ‘No Point In Holding On’ is similar to his previous works as Purl (yes, that brilliant Purl and Deflektion album) and equally as addictive. Available to buy digitally here.

Altus – The Sidereal Cycle 4

Looking back now, it’s hard to believe I haven’t featured Altus on ASIP yet (apart from in my Modyfier mix). Free Floating, (Altus’ label) have featured, but it looks like i’ve been missing four amazing pieces of work by Altus up until now. His Sidereal Cycle’s are now four-parts strong and all equally as brilliant. This is what I like to call ‘classic’ ambient music, with very little immediate structure but an overarching sense of direction amongst some beautiful instrumental improvisation. You can download Sidereal Cycle 4 here, with links to all previous versions too.

The Green Kingdom – Dustloops: Memory Fragments

Some more warm-fuzzy goodness that believe it or not, isn’t on Dewtone, but instead on the equally brilliant SEM label. If you like the above Alveol, or even slow, melodic ambient dub-techno that the likes of Segue has been putting out recently, then you’ll love this recent effort byThe Green Kingdom. Download / purchase limited edition CDR here.