enh – Body of Blue

Even without a listen, this is a special album for me already. Ian Handsley was responsible for the second release on The Places Series, with ‘Roke‘, a powerful depiction of its namesake storm off the coast of Japan, reflecting the impact it had on his fragile B&B. This track was a definition on Ian’s talent and since that release i’ve witnessed his library of productions grow, to what is now a full CD release on Gterma.

If Roke was your first introduction into Ian Handsley‘s work then ‘Body of Blue’ will maybe surprise you a little. You could have been forgiven for thinking Ian would become a master-mind of dark, atmospheric ambient, live sound effects and in short, a parallel of someone like Biosphere. I’m sure he still has that side of him locked away somewhere, but Body of Blue is a slightly different upbeat and melodic collection of music.

Artist albums tend to either be one of two things for me; a pre-defined journey of accompanying sounds, or a collection of potentially differing music that defines an artist’s taste. No-one approach is better than the other in my mind. Take John Beltran’s recent ‘Amazing Things‘ – one of my favourite albums this year which spans a perfect horizon of electronic music. Then compare that to Boards of Canada’s latest – an intentional, complex subliminal journey.

On first listen, ‘Body of Blue’ is the former, a collection of some beautiful electronic music that spans atmospheric ambient, to synth-laden euphoria. The title track is a great example of what to expect; a slow, progressive echo of euphoric chords that never quite peaks – an intro that leaves you wanting more.

In ‘Nanmadol’, Ian adopts a silky distant female vocal that brings Balearic elements and subtle drum programming to an otherwise stripped back album. The albums simplicity is defined in Cicadarama – one of my favourites, probably because it hits home with my ‘trance’ routes – epic strings and an addictive looping melody, like ‘Body of Blue’ – another tantalising teaser that deserves to just grow and grow.

On second listen, you start to feel Ian’s inspiration for this collection. The clue is of course in the title track, and when you start to associate this inspiration with the tracks in hand, a vivid depiction of Ian’s view out to coast comes to mind.

Take the Markus Guentner style ‘Shipping’. What starts as a distant fuzz out of sight on the horizon quickly transports into an ever-approaching mass of power. In ‘Contact’, the slow reverberating synths struggle to touch the long-awaited shore and the degrading vocal glimmers with a failed hope of reaching it’s final destination. In ‘Fighting Against Your Lungs’, Ian takes what is normally a view above the horizon, to the depths of the blue – floating, with a drenched atmosphere and glimmers of light through an otherwise muddled unknown.

After explaining how I felt after listening to this a few times, I may have ruined that moment of wonder for you…I hope not. But at first, Body of Blue was for me, a collection of great music, but with the above in mind and my decision made on what Ian wanted to portray with this album, I can’t get enough of it.

Everyone’s perception of music is different, but that’s where most of my inspiration for the title ‘A Strangely Isolated Place’ comes from. Music that transports you to wherever you want to go, with no-one else’s point-of-view to ruin your own. ‘Body of Blue’ embodies this ethos.

Available on enh’s Bandcamp for a very fair price, or you can also purchase the CD with a 16-page booklet here.

Horizontal Excursions – Enantiodromia

Roger Martinez‘s ‘Horizontal Excursions’ project has undoubtedly produced some of my favourite ambient work these past years. Starting with a self-titled album, and then revisiting this guise to create the magical Places Series release ‘Symphonica Helvetica‘, Roger’s been busy working on this release, ‘Enantiodromia’ for an epic two years now.

For those familiar with ‘Symphonica Helvetica’ (and that’s over 12,000 of you on Soundcloud) you’ll know what to expect here. Taking inspiration from shamanic experiences, Roger crafts a vivid, hour-long journey that envelopes your inner-self.

Starting with a sincere, intense combination of pads and slowly plucked strings, ‘Enantiodromia’ descends into a much calmer state, with distant fizzes and balanced chords. This moment of calm quickly develops into a more intense combination of deep washes, short vocal samples and a gentle dripping of keys – sporadic bursts of light amongst a never-ending horizon. This seemingly random progression brings back memories of the KLF’s Chill-out albujm, with new sounds appearing after every 30 seconds – new textures and a deeper listening experience at every turn (just without the sheep and Elvis Presley samples!)

The guitar-manipulation returns, reverberating against a solid, menacing power, only to once again reach a calmer state – a reset before the next unannounced yet now expected wave. Unlike most ambient albums which tally over 60 minutes, ‘Enantiodromia’ is clearly broken up into sections, but meant as an entire listening experience – there’s absolutely no need for this to be track-listed or separated as its engrossing power leaves you hooked, patiently awaiting the next intense wave, trickling water and gentle glistening melodies.

After 30-minutes, ‘Enantiodromia’ takes a more structured progression, with stepped chords complimenting the stark contrast of intricate water trickles and vast swirling pads. High notes from a piano echo and bounce off the increasing ‘Gas’ sound and then, once again you’ve slowly slipped back into yourself, breathing a moment of calm.

This pattern continues, and ‘Enantiodromia’ depicts a rollercoaster of emotion, increasingly intense yet always delicate. Roger manipulates a wealth of sounds, of instruments, and feelings and this hour becomes a vivid landscape of ambient music. “Enantiodromia is all about opposites” Roger quotes, and like the up-downs on the title track, Roger compliments this release with a second track, ‘Close to me’. Like his difference in alias, this one features beats and is a beautiful example of a dub-techno track driven by a master-mind of ambient music.

Listen to the complete ‘Enantiodromia’ below, also available to pre-order, with full release on the 15th June 2013.

I realised that Roger is quite the enigmatic character so I fired a couple of questions over to him to get a little insight into his world.

For those relatively new to your music, can you explain your different approaches and what they mean to you?

Well, there are several ways through which my creative expressions flow. Whatever the stylistic differences, there is always one common factor in each of my art forms and that is the sharing and communication of an experience. Through music, I’ve for example experienced the feeling of true interconnectedness with people on a deep, essential level. Especially during live performances this is possible and it gives me the necessary inspiration and motivation to continue with what I’m doing. So it really doesn’t matter if it’s banging Techno music or contemplative Ambient music, my goals and motivation with both are the same.

Your first self-titled album was quite a beauty, how long does something like this take to put together? Which techniques do you use?

Well, it really depends. My upcoming Ambient album “Enantiodromia” took 2 years to complete. But sometimes I can produce a lot of material in a few months. I don’t have a steady workflow. What’s far more important is being sensitive to the forming of the right circumstances to be creative. Sometimes you’re on fire for several weeks, then you know that it’s time to get going, other times I’m totally drained for months, but for me that’s always a sign that there are other ways to enjoy life, so I travel or visit a good museum. That said, I’m not really obsessed with my music and art.

The techniques I’ve used to create the two Ambient albums are a combination of field recordings, ranging from nature recordings to recordings of shamanic ceremonies.

Was your Places Series release – ‘Symphonica Helvetica’ approached any differently?

More of the same actually. I have a big database of all sorts of recordings I’ve made whenever I’m traveling or visiting special events for instance. There’s a lot of inspiring and one of a kind material in there. For my Places Series project I focused on everything that had to do with the Swiss Alps because they’re a big part of my life at the moment. I often travel to Switzerland to do some intensive mountain hiking and enjoy the fresh mountain air and nature there. The Alps are one of the last places in Western Europe that still have certain very wild, untouched areas. In these areas you can still experience solitude and a deep connection to Nature and everything around you. In general my musical pieces reflect my life and the experiences that I’m having at that moment. In some way every musical piece is a testament to a certain period or experience in my life.

It seems your Horizontal Excursions work is few and far between, so what can we expect in the future?

Who knows, I’m currently busy working on a soundscape to inaugurate the opening of a bridge here in the Netherlands. Also, I’m now very focused on performances with live acoustical instruments. I like to call them musical meditations. I’m always working on what interests me and drives me at the moment, I’m constantly evolving and I am content with that dynamic.

Ocoeur – Light As A Feather (Exclusive stream)

“Au coeur” translated into English is simple: “to the heart”, so get ready for yet another great album to hold a special little place in your beloved 2013 music library.

A name which is brand new to me, Franck Zaragoza has previous releases on the Spanish netlabel Musica Vermella, and has now signed his new album with n5MD – a perfect home for such a vivid, melodic piece of electronica and exactly the type of release that helps hold n5MD in high regard amongst us melodic electronica fans.

An organic start, the album begins with ‘Light’, a dramatic soundtrack with quivering strings and a poignant melody – a darker side to something you may come to expect from Rhian Sheehan for example. It quickly takes an even starker dive with squelching beats and a distant echoed tinkering in ‘Resonanace’ which serves as a perfect prerequisite to a lighter track with beautiful instrumentation, ‘Reconstitution'; cello and violins taking center stage amongst an innocent foreground.

Don’t let this fool you into thinking we’re on to another soundtrack-esque album.’Dream Pursuit’ sets the tone for straight up electronic brilliance. If there are any deep techno DJ’s out there reading this, then you’ve just found a killer – ‘Astral Projection’. The dark and dingy club scene is primed and the crowd are gently rocking with the atmospheric chugging. The “holy shit what is this track?” moment. It’s tracks like this that inspire me to revisit my record collection and put together a mix with this as the pinnacle moment.

But don’t be forgetting the very first sentence of this post. This album has emotion and ‘My Love’ is it the heartbreaker. A distant rainy day, accompanied by a soft and gentle piano. Nothing else, apart from a gentle break in the album and sudden recognition that ‘Light As A Feather’ is going beyond your expectations.

The sharp, snappy beats that we come to love from many electronica n5MD artists such as (ghost), Proem and Crisopa, make their mark on ‘1.11’ and the album ends on a sweeping ambient number full of distant children’s voices and deep, prolonged pulses in ‘Envol’. By now,Ocoeur has you dangling from his fingertips, but should you invest in the album and get the two additional bonus tracks, you’ll fall victim to two of it’s finest moments. ‘Kids Playing’ and ‘Out The Road’ – I don’t even want to comment on these two, I just urge you to get this and experience the full journey from start to finish.

Yet another accomplished album which depicts a tale of highs and lows, joyfulness and dark, symphonies and glitches, intelligence and simplification. 2013, and n5MD has adorned us with (ghost) and now Ocoeur; this may be one of the label’s best years yet.

ASIP is lucky enough to have the first full album stream below and you can pre-order with immediate MP3 download now.

John Beltran – Amazing Things

Where to start with this one… I mean, if someone was to ask you about John Beltran, where would you start? What pigeonhole would he undeservedly be forced into? I’m pretty sure a lot of people wouldn’t even know who he is unless coming from some sort of techno background. Sure, after last years brilliant ‘Ambient Selections’ it would be easy to assume this was his bread and butter since the early 90’s. I mean, John did follow Aphex on R&S Records with a similarly legendary album (Earth & Nightfall) but if you dig a little deeper, his productions span the very definition of an electronic music spectrum, from latin infused downtempo to straight-up Retroactive techno.

OK… so apply that very thinking, that experience, and that mentality of an artist that just does exactly what he feels, and you end up with a pretty amazing album. “There was no real plan [for the album]. Some of these songs (“Clouds Pull”) are over two years old. This album is truly an accumulation of music inspired by my life as a new father but I didn’t write these songs for an album per say. I guess it was just written with a lot of love.”

You know those albums which immediately grab you, those albums that you think about revisiting later in the day because you feel like listening to something little chilled; or something more upbeat; something to wake you up a little? Well this isn’t one of those albums. It’s a collection of music that shape-shifts, evolves and then deconstructs anything you previously had in mind, rebuilding your feelings and thoughts alongside every new listen.

By far my favourite track on the album, “Clouds Pull” is a stark reminder of some epic 90’s piano work that is the epitome of the above statement; with every listen evoking something new, sparking elements of so many other musicians – be it sad, happy, elated or euphoric. Folk-esque, melodic tracks such as “Our Second Summer” and “Flower Power Submarine” seek a gentle introduction to the warmer seasons and wouldn’t look out of place on a Bibio record. This vibe continues with the likes of “Seasons Go”, echo-ing the new innovators of garage such as Fourtet, Burial and the ‘chillwave’ sounds of the likes of Stumbleine. Then there’s tracks such as “Medellin” and “Broken Mechanism” which are quite simply, brilliant ambient electronica, and need to be heard without any comparisons.

Many albums are named to define, but very few succeed. But I think you’ll agree, this one’s definitely amazing.

Buy at Delsin, including a limited Blue Vinyl edition.

Rhian Sheehan – Stories from Elsewhere

Every time I put my head down and write about an album from one of my favourite artists’ I check back to see how many superlatives i’ve already burnt on previous albums and posts, compare the differences, check the evolution and try to get a sense of any new direction the artist may have taken.

Whilst checking on Rhian Sheehan’s last album review, ‘Seven Tales Of The North Wind’ (which by coincidence was published exactly one year ago!?) and playing a few of the tracks from the album again to refresh my memory, it’s quite clear that Rhian has had a change of scenery with ‘Stories From Elsewhere’, or perhaps, been inspired by a different season. Where ‘Seven Tales Of The North Wind’ was a sunny autumn day atop a hill with the wind in your hair, ‘Stories from Elsewhere’ is very much the summers day with life and energy injected back into his approach. The Music Box and playful melodies make a welcome return in tracks such as ‘Creation Myths’, (I seem to remember Rhian featuring a few amongst 2008’s ‘Standing In Silence), and there’s even electronic undertones in tracks such as ‘Nocturne 1985′, hitting on dare I say, nostalgic M83 notes.

‘Sileo’ and ‘A Thimble of Sorrow’ provide a welcomed check back-in on Rhian’s blissful post-rock ambient state, pulling on the emotions and typifying Rhian’s exemplary approach to music scores and heart-aching string-work. Fans of Hammock’s recent offering ‘Departure Songs’ will feel at home here. Then Rhian really begins to get back to his best on the orchestral front, with ‘Nusquam’ – an epic piece which wouldn’t be out of place on any movie-screen and ‘Somnus’, where big guitars are balanced with tinkering pianos, only for the muffled melody of ‘Little Sines’ to play out amongst a perfect outro in ‘Lullaby Machine’.

It sounds like Rhian’s had a lot of fun putting this album together. All of his approaches from previous albums are evident and of course as brilliant as ever. I just can’t wait for the day I get see this guy live, accompanied by a full orchestra, with that tiny little music box upfront – Rhian, i’m happy to play that part of you need a spare hand!

You can buy the album on Bandcamp.