Purl & Sinius - Oceans Of Sound

There exists a subtle boundary between ambient music and beat-driven electronica. Dub-techno for example, is an obvious style and by that, I mean it often exists within a particular realm, with particular patterns, instruments and recognizable synths - it's hard to perfect but all too often, easy to replicate. And it's not often you find artists that leave you wondering where a piece fits all-together within that spectrum. Not everything has to be tagged or labelled, or even 'fit', but by the very nature of you struggling to place it, makes it all that more interesting and intriguing. 

One artist that continues to blur the boundaries of ambient music, is Purl. Ludvig's releases on Dewtone and Silent Season, have helped establish this expansive, bubbly, organic style which he is now synonymous for, and his latest album alongside Sinius, on Eternell, is another stamp on his lush, silky take on beat-driven ambient music.

With each track averaging around ten-minutes, Purl & Sinius' music is allowed the time and patience to grow and emerge. Be it a tiny cocoon, or a time-lapse of an entire habitat's emergence, each piece holds a sentiment that stays true throughout, yet develops unto itself as if it were an ever-expanding organism. It's this deep attention to detail that enriches each listen, and the swathes of glistening ambience that continue to carry you through like a bird soaring high in a jet-stream, looking down amongst the minute detail of the earths canopy. Crossing dense jungles, hitting blankets of fog, emerging in-front of majestic plains, this music moves you from all angels, and demands more attention.

It's an interesting partnership on paper, but one that makes complete sense once you're soaring with the transcending pads that no doubt come from Bass 'Flo's (Sinius) previous production experience (and who's Discogs page notes an upcoming album with Ulrich Schnauss no-less). Combined with Purl's organic and nurtured detail, it's a must listen to anyone that cares for ambient music. 

With so much detail amongst the ten pieces, mentioning individual tracks is like reviewing an entire album in itself. Oceans Of Sound, is best left up to you and the majestic night sky; or like the album art suggests, the beautiful dance of mother nature. 

Available on Bandcamp

port-royal - You Ware Nowhere (Remixes)

I'm a sucker for remix albums and I'm certainly a sucker for remixes by  a whole bunch of artists on this remix album of port-royal's, You Ware Nowhere.

With thirteen takes on port-royal's distinct glistening euphoria, you can expect the best of n5MD's powerful roster with a wide array of styles.  However, n5MD also opened this one up to a remix competition, so alongside the likes of bvdub, The Sight Below, Arovane and Ocoeur, comes competition winner Gustaf Fjelstrom. Not content with label regulars in full-force, n5MD also invited the likes of Atomnation's catchy electronica artist Tonik Ensemble and techno legend John Tejada amongst many others.

With Ocoeur's latest album coming down the pipeline soon, I was keen to see how he would handle the port-royal magic, and his take on Ain't No Magician is a nice little taster of Frank Zaragoza's upcoming album Reversed; melding modern classical styles with stripped-back electronica.

Remix competition winner Gustaf Fjelstrom elaborates on port-royal's unique style, taking the trance-like original down a notch and adding a touch of class, replacing the Italian's heavy synths with a subtle bass undercurrent.

Adding space, succinct drums and a twist of analog flair, Arovane opens up the vocal-heavy Alma M into a familiar IDM space, whilst fellow ASIP collaborator Rafael drives home the bubbling, twinkling expanse of Heisenberg as The Sight Below.

Tonik Ensemble lay down a dirty bass-line for Alma M serving up the polar opposite to Arovane's earlier careful caress. And in another similar extravagant take on the original, bvdub raises his notorious imagination level to eleven, with an energetic trip through a multitude of breaks, complex beats, trance-like pads and highly pitched vocals - undoubtedly a palette Brock had fun bringing to life. 

If you're not content with the range of styles so far, there's a touch of 80's flair and pop to a few of the remixes too, with John Tejada and Ambidextrous bringing out the european in port-royal. 

With such a wealth of energy, complexity and power in the original music from port-royal, the remixers certainly had a wealth of material at their fingertips, leaving us with an absorbing and intense listen from start to finish, and an educational journey across one of our favorite labels out there; n5MD.

Available now via n5MD and Bandcamp.

Tracklist:

The Last Big Impezzo (HatGuy Remix)
Disco-Adorno (Ambidextrous Remix)
Ain't No Magician (Ocoeur Remix)
The Last Big Impezzo (Remix by Gustaf Fjelstrom)
Alma M. (Arovane Amx)
Tallinn (bvdub's 46 Pieces of Estonia - feat. Aaron Molyneaux)
The Man Who Stole The Last Big Impezzo (Nseven Remix)
Whispering In The Dark (John Tejada Remix)
Alma M. (Tonik Ensemble Remix)
The Last Big Impezzo (Northcape Mix)
Karl Marx Song (To Destroy A City vs port-royal)
Heisenberg (The Sight Below Remix)
The Last Big Impezzo (Attilio Novellino Rework)

The Angling Loser, The Sight Below, Christian Kleine, Atomnation

The Angling Loser - Ocean Song

Forthcoming on ...txt, Lee Norris, Gordon Jones, Porya Hatami and Shintaro Aoki combine in this stunning track, taken from an upcoming album called Arena of Apprehension. An additional, more piano-centric track called Lady Of The Stream, is also available to preview.
...txt have previously responsible for Arovane's, dwell_tevvel_structure and look to be going from strength to strength.

port-royal - Heisenberg (The Sight Below remix)

There's an apparent port-royal remix album in the works titled You Ware Nowhere, and given it's at the hands of n5MD we can likely expect some quality output and some ASIP favorites to turn in a track. Proof in point, The Sight Below...

Christian Kleine - Coreal

You should know by now that we were big fans of City Centre Offices and its notorious electronica early 00's output. One of the artists involved in that movement was Christian Kleine, also known for being one half of the infamous duo Herrmann & Kleine (alongside label co-founder Thaddeus Herrmann). Christian returns with a new album titled, Coreal, self-released on Bandcamp, and it's a straight-up nostalgic trip back to the sound that helped define the infamous label. Beautiful, melodic, IDM/electronica - a certain style we haven't heard in quite some time. Available on Bandcamp.

Atomnation - 2015 Compilation

Applescal's label, Atomnation, had another great year on the release front, following a powerful 2014 including the release of Gidge (a firm favorite here at ASIP). And they're celebrating it by pulling together some sublime edits from their quality roster, including a new edit of Gidge's, You, a new track by Fran Seven and quite possibly one of the best house remixes I've heard in a while by Henry Salz. Unmissable and available on Bandcamp.

Dextro - In The Crossing

There's a unique style that exists in Dextro's music and it's one I've appreciated since I first heard his 2009 album, Winded. Ewan's combination of longing piano, euphoric drums and ambient textures is a rare recipe that straddles post-rock, downtempo, experimental and in many instances, ambient music. His upcoming album, In The Crossing, is his latest production capturing this enigmatic sound and we're lucky enough to hold an exclusive stream of the album prior to release.

Some of you may know Dextro from his inclusion on ASIP's Europe, in 2015, and it was everything I could have wished for to best depict his brilliant style I had followed for years. A swirling texture built to a crescendo of drums portraying the ascent of the Isle Of Barra. 

Dextro's upcoming album, In The Crossing, is another dive into a dramatic landscape. What starts as an unsettling and confident assault in Evacuate, soon transcends into a deeper journey. Perhaps the awakening was the rocking of the boat, the sinking of the ship, the crash on to shore, with a sudden realisation that survival is now your primary goal, amongst a barren and desolate land.

Dextro's gently rolling guitar follows the evacuation on Amor Fati, with crushing guitar drones caressing, then threatening and dancing in the background. Introducing the uptempo breaks and jagged synths of Break Off.  By now, the journey has picked up pace, and Ewan's experience with live performances dictating the flow of the recording, embracing a narrative and juxtaposing approaches to each track - Ewan's armory on full show just four tracks in, as Clearing, signals the melancholic piano we loved in his previous EP, Zero Circle.

One of my favourite tracks on the album, Clearing, is a crashing of energy, a realization of sorts and a chance to reflect before a more lively, brilliant, Silent. A swirling synth backed by a gentle chant, grows into a euphoric palette of glistening colors - a break in the sky. 

Sharp drums define a more downtempo-esque style in The Passage, with some lovely attention to detail in the guitars, as the track ascends into the powerful, climbing drones of Sum Poly; a slow post-rock style lullaby. Dextro saves his most epic treatment for last in Occupy, as heavy drones drown out an ominous string melody, immersing a tinkering beauty into a slowly sinking plateaux. 

Dextro has spent time narrating this album and developing the story, rather than trying to fit together individual pieces. Each track has an extremely distinct mood, a tangible feeling that's at times, extremely dark, or alternatively distinctly up-lifting. Either way, Dextro's strength with the album comes with his multitude of moods, told through his signature instruments and style. Brooding atmospheres, puncturing drums, melancholic pianos and just the right amount of electronic injection here-and-there, paint a beautiful, wet, windy landscape that screams adventure, drama and danger.

Embrace it with everything you've got.

In The Crossing will be pressed on limited 180g vinyl (200 copies) and 1000 Gatefold CD's through Bandcamp and available in all good record stores.

Anonymous Various Artists - Covert

Martin Boulton, the man behind the label, Touched, is doing the music world a favor in every sense of the word. Not only is he dedicating his label and any profits to a good cause, but he's also enlisting help from some of the best electronic musicians in the world along the way.

Past Touched compilations have featured everyone from Arovane, Autechre, Ulrich Schnauss, 808 State, Bibio, Christ, Loscil, FSOL, U-ziq, Hecq and Orbital to name just a few recognizable faces. So you'd be forgiven for getting extremely annoyed at the latest Touch release as this time, contributors have been kept a purposeful secret...

What does that leave us with? Well, it's an IDM/electronica affair. A sincerely great one, at that. The compilation is quickly becoming a guessing game amongst the die-hard and various names from IDM/electronica eras of great are being thrown out for consideration. Christ, Aphex, Boards of Canada, Mike Paradinas, Plaid, Autechre ... you name them, there's a sound, synth, analog glitch or ghostly drum pattern in here that will make you dig through your late 90's, early 00's CD's to try match the signature sounds.

It's hard to pick a favorite from such a solid bunch. The breaks of Streetscape sent me rocking. Charm, sent me back to the hey-days of the many big-beat Orbital parties I went to. Doloxan, Northwest Territories and Even If I Lose Everything made me revisit BoC's 'Tomorrow's Harvest' once again for a dark, nostalgic trip. 

Whether it's imitators of the real-thing, names shouldn't matter at this point. It's some of the best electronica you'll be hearing for a while. 

CD+ Digital available on Bandcamp.