Porya Hatami – Shallow (Remixed)

Iran’s Porya Hatami has returned nearly one year after his much beloved album on Tench, Shallow, with a remix EP. Packed full of greatness, the EP enlists the help of many favourites that have adorned both ASIP in the past, and the label behind this new venture,Dewtone.

To start, Fen is a 21 minute track in its original form, so no easy task for any remixer when trying to distill into their own sound. Loscilreplicates the evolution of the track from the fuzzy beginning into a repetitive gentle tinkering; unwinding and dancing into glares of light.

Segue takes a similar approach but adds his signature layered dub to the track. This addition brings a new dynamic to Fen and by the end, a completely new track has emerged bar a few small complimentary samples, yet the warm fuzzy feeling still remains.

Compliments to the curator, Sven Laux takes the track up a further notch and enticing you into the compilation further, with more distinct beats and subtle pauses, teasing before the next rolling bass-line. Sven’s remix shines with a beautiful break around 4 minutes-in, where Porya’s airy pads are brought forward as very delicate strings.

Halo and The Green Kingdom take on After The Rain. With Pasquale, a veteran at rainy landscapes (check Europe), this track becomes a no-brainer and Porya’s synthesized drops are transformed into a picturesque moment which sees Halo adorn the track with a dream-like piano melody and distant background noise. Rain falling on a porch as you sit pondering the meanderings happening outside.

The Green Kingdom, akin to Segue, adds warmth and a Yagya-esque approach to After The Rain. Out of submerged bass-lines and a shimmering gloss, grows a beautiful dub-techno piece.

Their’s a similarity to the tracks on the original recording of the EP – the beautiful washes of ambient light and the tiny tinkering of bells remain true across the productions. Instead of starting from scratch on remixes or manipulating a melody, the EP has allowed for each remixer to take these fundamental elements and paint them in their own style – and this couldn’t be more true for the last track, White Forest.

From Purl’s bubbling beats and nikosf’s more upfront head-nodding dub-techno approach, to Arovane’s stripped-back, crackling analog piece that makes a heart-monitor-sound enticing and warm; this is a platform for each artist to shine in their own style and truly define what it means to remix a track.

Lastly, Bjorn Rohde, who’s know for a few differing production styles, takes an interesting approach to his remix; accentuating the many samples, sounds and emotion found in the original; clearing the clouds on a blustery day and shedding the light across the White Forest,just as a photographer gently kneels in the grass to capture the disappearing sun – signalled by the drone of a piano.

Available via Dewtone.com.

Read more on the release of Shallow and an interview with Porya from last year, here.

Tracklist:

1. Fen (By Loscil) 06:50
2. Fen (By Segue) 06:30
3. Fen (by Sven Laux) 09:05
4. After The Rain (by Halo) 05:30
5. After The Rain (by The Green Kingdom) 06:00
6. White Forest (by Purl) 08:30
7. White Forest (by nikosf.) 07:10
8. White Forest (by Arovane) 04:00
9. White Forest (by Bjorn Rohde) 12:55

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 1994 – 2015

… doesn’t exist. But as many of you know, a shed-load of tracks have been uploaded to Soundcloud by RDJ – totalling longer than his entire official discography, here.

I spent some time putting my favourite tracks in the style of SAW into one playlist below. There’s parallels to SAW II and the likes of Blue Calx with Red Calx, and more IDM based track we witnessed on SAW 85-92 with Chink 101 and my favourite, nocares.

I think any Aphex Twin fan will agree, some of these are absolutely brilliant and could easily live as a third edition to the SAW series. That’s probably not going to happen anytime soon, especially now Aphex is a Grammy-award winning artist – colab’s with Lady Ga Ga are just days away… (please don’t Richard).

Each track is downloadable, and there’s plenty of people out there making it easy for you, alongside the amazing RDJ geeks putting Google Docs together detailing every detail on each of the tracks.

bvdub – Tanto

If you’re a fan of Brock’s music, or are even lucky enough to have had conversation with him, then you’ll know a couple of things ring true about this elusive character.

Brock is a genuine artist, doing it for the love – not money or fame. He doesn’t thrive on promotion, doing the latest or greatest thing. He sticks to what he knows and does best, often with only marginal movement either side of his beloved sound and for this reason, he is one of the most respected artists in the industry today.

His music is some of the most thought-provoking and emotional pieces you will come across. His combination of distant vocals, soaring atmospheres and more recently, some very impactful and dramatic beats, have helped establish him as one of the best and most innovative ambient artists of today. His releases go as far as as Kompakt’s Pop Ambient compilations, and as close to home as his own imprint, Quietus.

He’s one of the most passionate people you’ll meet. Just read one of his interviews. There’s not many artists out there who will take the time to go into so much detail, be it a rant or not – it’s passion and it always shows in his music.

He’s productive. Four albums in 2013, two so far this year (and not counting the many before 2012). To quote from his 2012 interview: “What drives me to be so productive, quite simply, and at the risk of sounding trite, is that this music is what I live for. Without it, life for me literally would have no meaning…”

And after his best friend, his cat, Tanto passed away recently, Brock turned to the many aspects above that make him one of today’s greats and channelled his energy and focus into producing Tanto – his latest album and a personal ode to his best friend.

To go into describing this album wouldn’t sound right – it’s a personal journey, and one that is clearly evident upon listening. Fans of Brock’s music will undoubtedly enjoy it – some are calling it a return to his best, but the most important factor here is to support a cause which Brock believes in – and the life of a friend who has indirectly inspired the many Bvdub albums we’ve been lucky to enjoy over the years.

You can buy and listen to samples from Tanto direct on n5MD – 100% of everything from this album will be donated to the UC Davis Center for FIP Research. Available to preorder now and to buy from December 1st.

Kompakt - Pop Ambient 2015

Arriving earlier than normal, today we’re treated to our annual pilgrimage to the land of Pop Ambient. Alongside some regulars and as usual, a couple of new entrants to the series, Pop Ambient 2015 is yet another aural treat that never fails to disappoint, blending just the right amount of stand-out tracks and background beauty to ensure a memorable, yet distinct edition.

Beginning with Thore Pfeiffer, a new, young talented producer from Germany, the Pop Ambient sound we’ve come to love is in full-force, with gentle bells, swathes of pads and that hypnotising looping that is such a big part of this series and the many producers that have adorned it.

Like a train-spotting jigsaw, Kompakt presents us with yet another guise in Dirk Leyers – for any fan of Kompakt in general, you may know him from his Closer Musik project (alongside Matias Aguayo). Here, Dirk lays down a contemplative, bleeping, yet soothing track that changes up the compilations style, ready for the more intense and classic ambient sound of Gregor Schwellenbach; slow, burning and calming.

Our friend, Leandro Fresco follows, with one of my personal favourites from the compilation. Darker than his Places Series release, Leandro’s poignantly plucked melody overlays an enveloping mist of rolling clouds. Translating to ‘Nothing is forever’, Nada Es Para Siempre is the kind of track you wish lasted a lifetime.

Max Wuerden “generates sounds from silence if necessary” and it shows with his microscopic and complex electronics amongst Container Love – a stark contrast to Ulf Lohmann’s following, with epic reverse strings and distorted vocals on Refresh.

Pop Ambient is also a time for ‘firsts’. And don’t quote me, but what follows may just be one of Brock Van Wey’s shortest tracks to date. Clocking in at 6.19, In White Pagodas, I’ll Wait For You, is no less epic than his usual umpteen minute masterpieces though. Classic Bvdub with swirling, echoin vocals and powerful washes, it’s like the angels have ascended before only darkness remains.

Jens Uwe-Beyer, known to many of us under the pseudonym of Popnoname, hits dark and hard with pounding walls of static and euphoric progression that wouldn’t be out of place on Raster-Noton alongside Alva Noto and Ryoji Ikeda’s mind-bending visuals.

Ending the compilation, and marking a return from the very first Pop Ambient edition in 2001, Gustavo Lamas closes out 2015 with the a light and accessible definition of Pop Ambient. It’s the perfect reminder of Kompakt’s ability to take you into the deep, dark and endearing tones of the genre, and bring you back out smiling. And unlike many of the series’ releases, 2015’s feels like a much more defined journey than the rest. With age comes confidence, and with confidence comes a willingness to break-out from the norm – a norm which Kompakt set in 2001 and continue to evolve to this day.

Tracklist:

01. Thore Pfeiffer – Wie Es Euch GefäLlt
02. Thore Pfeiffer – Nero
03. Dirk Leyers – Daydreamer
04. Gregor Schwellenbach – Assperg
05. Leandro Fresco – Nada Es Para Siempre
06. Max Wuerden – Container Love
07. Ulf Lohmann – Refresh
08. Bvdub – In White Pagodas I’ll Wait Foryou
09. Jens-Uwe Beyer – Moewen
10. Gustavo Lamas – Jovenes Ambient (Remake)

Available on Kompakt in all formats from November 3rd, including a limited edition LP with signed fine-art print. Pre-order available now.

Manual – Selected Remixes, Rarities and Unreleased Tracks 2007​-​2014

Jonas Munk‘s pseudonym’s may have changed over the years, but there will always be one that hits home with me. From his work with Ulrich Schnauss on ‘Epic’ in 2010, to his more dreamy ambient guise as Billow Observatory (along with Jason Kolb of Auburn Lull), it was his work as Manual that I first fell in love with back in 2001.

His guitar-laden, summer washes have graced numerous releases on Darla, Morr Music and Make Mine Music, and with an elusive discography that’s pretty hard to track down (I was so grateful to find a copy of ‘Until Tomorrow‘ in a record store in Seattle recently) i’ve been frustrated and beaten to hear new (but old) tracks pop up out of nowhere every now and then. Take “Miraparque” for example – previously only released on this limited edition CD alongside Orange Crush back in 2008, it was Milieu that teased me with this track on his isolatedmix back in 2009 and it’s remained elusive ever since.

Take Manual’s remix of City Of Satellites‘ “Skeletons” – easy to overlook yet thoroughly deserving a release of its own; an absolutely beautiful track that defines the very meaning of shoegaze. Or ‘Camellia’ – a seventeen minute expanse of gentle guitars alongside an early 80’s vibe akin to Art of Noise.

This isn’t just an attempt to round-up a bunch of unreleased tracks either. The compilation is perfectly curated with more open-aired guitars and vocals upfront, slowly descending into Jonas’ more ambient works on Disc 2 – a likely introduction to his approach within Billow Observatory, should this be new to you.

This feels like a very-much needed and perfect journey through Manual’s expansive catalogue – I’ve often wondered why he hasn’t gotten more attention, and this release is proof that his work as Manual was an extensive and beautiful labor of love across the decade, and one that needs to be heard far and wide.

Available to buy on Darla’s Bandcamp in CD and Digital formats.