Camara, Silent Harbour, Sand Circles, Massive Suits Quartet, Boreal Network

A spotlight on a few of the records I picked up last weekend after some friends came into town. We hit up Mount Analog (best in the city) and the rather intimidating selection at Amoeba Music. 

Camara - Before We Sleep

Understated and calming, Camara's, Before We Sleep is a lovely little album from the heart of Portugal. Like a cross between Fever Ray, Little Dragon and the powerful melodies of a Joy Division guitar. My favorite track, the opening lull of Skeletons In The Sand. Available on Bandcamp.

Silent Harbour - Hinterland

This was one of those moments where the cover drew me in - a beautiful snowy, icy harbour landscape. Turns out these rather ominous dark, dubby tones are an alias of Conforce, otherwise known for his straight up techno on the likes of Delsin. Jackpot. Available on Delsin. 

Sand Circles - Motor City

Previously only available on cassette back in 2012, this dive into a retro-synth world is a colorful picture of dystopian landscapes played out in an 80's video game. Boards of Canada meets Com Truise, now on vinyl. I also managed to pick up the new Motor City remixes EP which co-incides with the new press, and features a glorious remix by Northern Electronics mastermind Abdulla Rashim, heralding the original feel in a refreshing ambient take. Available on Posh Isolation.

Massive Suits Quartet - Full moon Wizard

A slightly odd one, picked up after being intrigued by the name (and a quick google search). "Full Moon Wizard” is a personal journey by it’s creator Grégoire Marty (aka Dandy Teru) delving into his love of original movie soundtracks and various composers. Crafting a sonic and aural odyssey for a movie that exists only in his mind and imagination".

Jazz, hip-hop, ambient and of course, soundtrack combine amongst a atmospheric-themed score for an imaginary dubbed out freak-film. Let your imagination run wild - a very pleasurable and intriguing listen. My favorite being the Theremin-waving The Odyssey Part 1. Available on Bandcamp.

Boreal Network - Itasca Roadtrip

It looks like this one has done the rounds, especially amongst the BoC community, but it's finally available on vinyl. Funky electronic vintage synth goodness - like BoC on a summer's day (not one of those dark, Tomorrows' Harvest days...) Available on More Than Human (vinyl) and Bandcamp (digital)

Kenneth James Gibson - The Evening Falls

Kompakt's Pop Ambient album series returns with its fourth installment by multi-faceted artist Kenneth James Gibson.

Producing under several aliases, most notably his minimal techno focused, 
[a]pendics.shuffle and as Bell Gardens alongside Stars Of The Lid's Brian McBride; Kenneth has earned the respect of many across multiple genres, but The Evening Falls will be his first full ambient production, and also marks the first Pop Ambient album release by an artist previously not featured on any Kompakt compilation.

With Leandro Fresco, Jens-Uwe Beyer and Thore Pfeiffer preceding this release, The Evening Falls leaves us keen-eared in anticipation from such an esteemed multi-instrumentalist, yet whilst talking with Kenneth, an ambient album seemed to have always been on the horizon: "I have always listened to tons of ambient music and always had plans to produce a full album like The Evening Falls. It just took a little longer then originally planned to get to it. I made this record in my head many years ago, it just didn't physically come out of me till recently. There was nothing stopping me, I just wasn't in the right state of mind to see it through. It took cruising at a slightly different pace then I was at before".

The Pop Ambient sound has seen a slight progression over the past few compilations, and for the album series to continue strongly, it would undoubtedly have to stray into previously unfamiliar ambient territory. With The Evening Falls, we see Pop Ambient's least electronic foray yet, as Kenneth takes us through a range of emotionally charged pieces, simple in format, intense in storytelling, including everything from "guitar, pedal steel, pianos, strings to synths and digital processing", alongside minimal field recordings. 

Spurred by a move away from LA to the town of California's Idyllwild, the album comes from his new-found inspiration amongst the mountains: "I'm surrounded by awesome nature up here in Idyllwild and having more of a connection to that changes everything in your daily life. It's very quiet and very dark here at night. At my cabin, when it's 7 or 8 pm it feels like 2 in the morning. That feeling had a big effect on the record".

The first progression in Pop Ambient sound you'll notice is the modern-classical, soundtrack style approach. Kenneth's music is organic in feel, with only the subtlest, static buzz of synthesizers, accentuating an otherwise purely instrumental album.  Instruments interchange in lead throughout the nine tracks, but one particular sound may spike the ears of the chill-out aficionados amongst us. 

In tracks such as A Conversation Between Friends, you may start to recall a notorious instrument from an infamous '90s album adorned with sheep, Elvis and steel-guitars. When asked about its potential influence, Kenneth tells us, "Kompakt head-honcho, Michael Mayer said one of the reasons he and Wolfgang Voigt liked this record so much was because of the pedal steel and their love for The Chill Out Album, and how the album brought them to a similar place. I only heard that record a few times when it came out but it didn't stick for some reason. I did however go back and listen to it again recently and really enjoyed it. 

I'm a huge classic country music fan and obviously pedal steel is a big part of that sound. I think between country music and Daniel Lanois' use of the instrument was the big inspiration for me on that end. One of my oldest friends David Cuetter was the man behind the steel on this album. He nailed it. We were skateboard kids into punk rock growing up in Texas. I would have never imagined that we would be working on this kind of music together so many years later. I'm also in a band called Bell Gardens and get to work with another awesome steel player named Julian Goldwhite on that stuff. I'm just a big pedal steel fan. It can work well with so many different kinds of music!"

As the steel pedal lulls us across the summer skies, a melancholic piano paints a slow pace in tracks such as, Weighty Repetitions and, Failed To Interrupt; the latter of which benefits from a glorious uplifting synth that acts as an opening scene to the more introspective soundtrack score of my favorite piece, Poured Semi Silently Upon You. 

Layered string textures play a vital role amongst the album, adding the warmth and padding that often comes with any of Kompakt's ambient outputs. Combined with minimal digital processing on tracks like The Art Of Forgetting Yourself, and Long Gone Canadian Summer, you hear the faint distant electronic-echoes that have inspired so many Pop Ambient albums over the years, but in a completely new light, portrayed by a truly talented instrumentalist. No better moments exists than the tense violins of Poured Semi Silently Upon You dramatizing a sublime soundtrack moment you'd come to expect from the likes of Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O'Halloran, or Bell Gardens collaborator Brian McBride. 

These elements of sheer beauty combine on a score that sits with the very best of composers, peppered with the faintest of electronic influences from its label curators. The Evening Falls welcomes a new dawn for Kompakt and their ongoing Pop Ambient album series as they push into a more experimental/modern-classical sound, whilst simultaneously serving up moments of welcoming reflection to keep you feeling at home.

Luckily for us, this doesn't sound like Kenneth's first and last jump into this majestic sound: "The follow up album is already started. I'll continue to do whatever I'm in the mood for, but there will definitely be more ambient music. There's a new [a]pendics.shuffle album coming out in July called "Aware Sequence Found Life" on my label Adjunct Audio. Lots of things always in the works..."

The Evening Falls will be available on Kompakt on Vinyl, CD and digital formats on April 29th.

Stream a continuos mix of the album in its entirety below.

Tracklist
01. To See You Drift
02. Long Gone Canadian Summer
03. Failed To Interrupt
04. Poured Semi Silently Upon You
05. A Conversation Between Friends
06. Lateral Decomposition
07. Broken Thought
08. Weighty Repetitions
09. The Art Of Forgetting Yourself

Comit - Trip 001

A new label and series from Texas drum'n bass outfit Warm Communications will debut with a very special colored 7" by ASC under the newly created Comit alias. 

Headed by Heath Looney, the label, Short Trips was originally inspired by mid-nineties electronica /IDM and ambient; no doubt the type we came to recognise from the likes of some of our favourites here at ASIP; City Centre Offices, Morr Music and Warp.

Whilst ASC is no stranger to us, this particular style is a new territory to his ever-expanding catalog. ASC has been producing some of the best drum'n bass, ambient and deep techno for a while now, so the release comes with high hopes of equally high production values. Luckily for us, inspiration and genre may change, but his style is as evident as ever.

Kicking off the release, Under Your Spell begins with a melodic synth reminiscent of the structure and style we found in early Hermann and Kleine tracks, but with the confident spaced-out stride of recent artists like Kiyoko / Bering Strait. The rumbling, creeping
atmospheres are pulled straight from the heart of ASC's deepest moments, creating a wonderful juxtaposition between the old and new styles at play.

On the flip, Contact High, comes closest to the style ASC has carved out for himself, with the echoes of a Drum'n Bass style reformulated into a more subdued style of IDM. The progressive pads we're used to seeing in ASC's ambient work for the likes of Silent Season, play the lead role against a sparse, heavy beat. 

The digital bonus, Soft Focus takes an even more patient, darker stance as the echoing pad is slowly adorned with hi-hats, claps and the undercurrent of heavy bass. Like a purposefully slowed drum'n bass track, it's a modern take on the nostalgic sounds you'll associate with the likes of Boards of Canada. Yet, whilst it's easy to imitate, Comit chooses to innovate - a sound that's evidently his, with a clear nod to yesteryear. 

Trip 001 (and all future Trips) will be pressed on 7" vinyl, with 001 featuring an exclusive digital bonus track. We're lucky enough to hold an exclusive stream of the A side, Under Your Spell below, alongside clips of all three tracks. 

We hear Short Trips has releases by Bering Strait and Ulrich Schnauss lined up for the near future too, so stay close to this one. 

Available May 13th on 7" yellow vinyl + digital. Follow the Short Trips Facebook page for more info or http://warmandred.com/

36 - Seconds & Forever (exclusive stream)

36 has always been one to conjure strong concepts, artwork and feelings amongst his albums. It's an approach I have always respected and as a result, have been a collector of Dennis Huddleston's records since the beginning. From the beautiful picture disc of Memories In Widescreen, the collection of 7" releases,  the Tape Series, or the detailed artwork of Dream Tempest; every releases has a bigger meaning or emotion to communicate. Dennis' latest album is no exception, as he explores an intrinsic and calculated framework to bring his respected ambient sound to life. 

“We stood on the edge of forever
One final dream into time
A silent voice in an empty room
The numbers; We never truly knew”

— Seconds & Forever

On the surface, Seconds & Forever is yet another beautiful 12" that expands the immersive and emotional catalog of 36 sounds. The Eno-esque pads that begin the A-side are soon transformed with the slowly evolving strings we played witness to in Dennis' Places Series release, Heather Spa, and a gentle, shining melody that often evokes the deepest of feelings we come to admire from Dennis' work.

Where past 36 albums would often focus or experiment with just one of the above elements in any-one track, you'll soon start to notice that Seconds & Forever is rapid in progression (where ambient albums are concerned anyway). New transformations become evident to the attentive listener, and if you're the keenest of ears (or mathematicians) you may realize Dennis's composition structure is planned down to the tee. 

“The entire record was recorded at 106.66bpm so that every 16 bars = 36 seconds of music, which is when each segment/loop changes and new elements are brought in, totalling 36 minutes of music. That’s where the title comes from, and the numbers became the concept for the record. When making it, I imagined someone at the end of their life, looking back on the choices they made, and understanding how key moments shaped them into the person they ultimately became”

— 36

To the unknown listener, this is 36 experimenting with the record button to glorious effect - perhaps a live session even, but with Music is Math in mind, and with such consideration, comes a calculated execution that ensures you're drifting for each of the 18-minutes sides. No beats or drastic evolutions, just subtle chords, pads and melodies shifting and playing-out like an extended live score. 

Part equation, part homage; Seconds & Forever is also a nod to some of the early pioneers of ambient/electronic music. As Dennis explains, the record was part-influenced by the "late 70's Tangerine Dream style-LP's, which were always 2 tracks, spread across multiple movements, with the interval occurring when the A side ends and the B side begins. Very few artists work to this standard any more, which is a real shame, as it makes for really enjoyable records in my opinion”.
 
The record also makes a new venture for 36 with the infamous Mystic & Quantum records (home to DMX Crew) who have adhered to Dennis' attentive detail-led presentation with a beautiful white vinyl press in a silk screen printed sleeve, limited to 200 copies.

Stream Seconds & Forever below, with pre-order available now.

Full release arriving 1st May 2016 via M&Q Bandcamp and Juno.

Roel Funcken - Iridium Flare

A perfectly suited aesthetic for the dynamic, every-changing liquid state of Roel Funcken's latest album, Iridium Flare. Roel's previous albums all don a similar look-and-feel, yet the shimmering and twisted metallics on this one are a perfect match for the electronic organism battling to emerge from the steel box that contains it. 

Most IDM can present itself as a mess - a cluster of drums, bleeps and synths that sometimes have no construct whatsoever. Beats stray so far away from the expected repetition; and the LED's light up a path so unclear you're often left wondering where the hell you'll end up - but that's the magic of IDM and what made the likes of Autechre famous in keeping a room full of heads trying to nod to a completely nondescript rhythm. A spectacle to say the least (even when the lights are off).

Iridium Flare has elements of this randomized IDM sound, yet never strays too far off the path, which is the perfect recipe for an IDM album built to be consumed personally.

Arovane'esque tracks like the opener Android Robinson sit at one end of the spectrum, rich in melody and atmosphere pinned against the ticks and punches of an entertaining beat structure. 

Greyzone Baxter's bulbous and engulfing synths play out like a live performance, as delays, echoes and filters toy with the omni-present streams of sound. Leaved introduces a lighter side to the album with a beautiful piano and vocal engulfed in the patterings and tinkering's of drum'n bass. Aggressive sounds are often underpinned with a subtle harmony; the clashing of liquid metal against the tough interior of its captor.

Iridium Flare is a class in balance and restraint. The sounds and manipulations
demonstrated throughout are carefully placed and never feel out of sync, despite the complexity of beats, progression and slowly growing electronic organisms.  It's an album built for intense listening, longing to be played out live in an epic futuristic setting. As far as Intelligent Dance Music goes, this one's begging to escape any confines you dare to place on it. 

Available on Bandcamp as Name Your Price.