Phaeleh - Illusion of the Tale

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Music to escape to. It's what you're escaping from, or where you want to escape to, that often decides how you perceive music. It's what makes it so subjective and personal.

It's why I love the phrase 'A Strangely Isolated Place'. We all live in a busy world, where everyone is just a button away. But you can be stood in the middle of Times Square, or on a 7.34am commuter train to London Kings Cross, and escape to somewhere completely different, with the right type of music.

This train of thought inspired Matt Preston aka Phaeleh's, latest album Illusion Of The Tale. If the title alone didn't give it away, then dig deeper. Seventeen tracks long, Matt created the album as a way of saying ... "take some time to chill the fuck out. I want the album to be an escape from everyday lives. I want it to be a soundtrack for people to let go.” He's describing the daily illusion given off from social media and the facade that everyone is hiding behind, but the common thought is the same - ambient music helps you do this, switch off, go some place else - ignore the bullshit. 

With such a powerful inspiration you're sat hear now wandering how intense the music must have to be to achieve this, but whereas some people need complex rhythms, loud noises and patterns to get lost in, Matt has opted for the simplicity and emotion of ambient and electronica that just edges, pushes, nudges you along to new places - a gentle journey that envelopes and folds, cushions and lifts you off to your destination of choice. 

Seventeen delicate tracks comprising of live synth recordings, Matt has also incorporated piano recordings, field recordings, outtakes from live shows, and in one instance, a track "made from his thumb holding the end of a cable running through a pedal board, then looped and pitched down.". Some have an emotional efficacy of someone like Mark Pritchard, in tracks like Frequency, some a dense and intriguing texture of heavier drone musicians in Absence Of Light, whilst others like Blue Night, shift a little more into gentle beats, echoing the likes of Solar Fields and Carbon Based Lifeforms. We're even treated to some space-esque vintage sci-fi synthesizers in District, my favorite from the album. 

Despite the numerous electronic styles, there's an overarching sense of similar emotion. It's never too dark, never too euphoric, and each track could've easily progressed into either territory. It's a dynamic sound that is easily taken one way or the other, which is why the album does what Matt set out to achieve. If there was a specific arc, or tracks that peaked, then you're often being taken along a predetermined journey, but with Illusion of the Tale, it's a story decided by you, the listener. On a good day, you'll go one way, on a bad day, another. Put it on shuffle and add a fourth dimension. With every listen you'll find something new and travel someplace else.

Available on Bandcamp. 

Read more on Phaeleh and listen to a recent ambient mix on The Ransom Note

Steve Hauschildt - Strands

You could say there's a resurgence of ambient music focusing on the strength, simplicity and soul of the synthesizer nowadays. There's not necessarily more of it (it's always been around if you dig hard enough), but it certainly seems like it's more prevalent. This might be due to more known artists switching up styles and giving it a go, but more than likely, it's more and more artists challenging themselves within a restricted pallet. 

I've heard several artists talk about this approach recently - our very own 36 and Merrin Karras being two of them, and fine examples of it. Today, with all the tools at our disposal and the likes of Ableton opening up entire new worlds of sounds, there's something challenging and exciting about getting the most out of an old piece of gear, or manipulating a single sound into your own.

Steve Hauschildt's latest album Strands might not be the epitome of simplicity that comes to mind with that introduction, but it's certainly another beautifully manipulated synthesizer focused album that echoes many of the genres earliest inspirations. 

From the opening track Horizon Of Appearances, sweeping synthesizers paint a picture of deep space exploration, and the constant anxiety of the unknown - a similar exploration in the swells of A False Seeming. The glistening, arpeggiating Same River Twice nods to early Global Communication and Steve Roach, and in a more IDM-approach; Ketracel pings classic highly-strung pads and squelches a-la Autechre & Arovane.  

With such a wealth of electronic inspiration present amongst the album, it's important to remember that Steve has been doing this for quite some time on the esteemed Kranky label. Just last year, Where All Is Fled bought us beautiful warm compositions like Vicinities, and in 2011, the sparkling patterns in Tragedy and Geometry. 

Hauschildt's latest, Strands, is yet another finely tuned, analog masterpiece that stretches the boundaries and possibilities of vintage, analog ambient music. From deep-space tones, to colorful textures and melodic IDM, this is also a reminder that despite my earlier comparisons, this type of music will soon stop echoing the sounds of yester-year, and instead be seen as a style that many of today's best producers are perfecting and pushing forward.

Available on Bandcamp.

ISAN - Glass Bird Movement

Berlin's Morr Music was responsible for some of the best electronica/IDM releases during the pioneering period of the early 00's, alongside labels such as City Center Offices. With the likes of Manual, Christian Kleine, and a rather brilliant Slowdive remix compilation, Blue Skied An' Clear, it's often easy to look back and think the label's best times have passed, but as proven here, one of it's most notorious inclusions, ISAN are back with some of their best work yet. 

The title of their latest release is a perfect reflection of the sound you can expect from Antony Ryan and Robin Saville (ISAN) - six years after their last. Working from different locations (UK and Denmark), the pair create glorious, shimmering patterns of warm electronica that are familiar, yet unmistakably ISAN. Many would claim to have been inspired by Antony and Robin, and it would be easy to draw comparisons that exist somewhere in-between the analog depths of Freescha, the innovative abilities of Aphex Twin, the melodic constructs of BoC, and the technical drum-patterns of Loess, but I do so only to draw attention to the brilliance of ISAN's music.

Tracks like 'Lace Murex' hit with an air of confidence, the crispness of a fine production, that makes the hairs on your neck stand on end, as the slow-burning melody creeps in amongst the pulsating, crunchy synthesizers, all set on a crisp day at the seaside, full of color and joy. 

Switch to the analog 'Rattling Downhill' to hear ISAN's fun retro side, manipulating simple synthesizer constructs into an addictive, progressive dance, as a spectrum of color swirls around your already hypnotized head.

As if demonstrating a breadth of approaches to a sound which is often easy to pigeonhole, tracks like 'Slow Rings' present a completely unique approach to this quirky electronica sound, leading into more ambient and inviting sounds in the softer album closer, 'Risefallasleep'.

As well as being another ISAN classic, this album is one of two things. It's either two master-minds of electronica finally polishing off tracks that have been finessed over 15-years or so, which still feel as fresh today as they ever would. Or Antony and Robin just decided, 'hey, it's about time we showed the world how great this type of music can be again' - like those people you meet who are just so damn good at something, no-matter how little practice they've had - they've just got it, popping up six years later to remind us how music can make you feel. Beautiful colors, happiness, and music that was made with fun and laughter. This is music that ISAN do best, and they do it better than anyone else.

Available on Morr Music and Bandcamp.

bvdub - Yours are Stories of Sadness

What hasn't already been said about bvdub and is left to say?

He's a man of many words and expression, often through his relentless music output. Some, have wished for more departures from his sound over the years - a signature sound at that. In Yours are Stories of Sadness, Brock gives a glimpse of change, just enough for him to prove he is never done evolving and in fact, reflecting is just as powerful. 

Brock's releases often vary in intensity and emotion. From the harshness of static, to the rollercoaster of varying song structures, and the pull of the soaring melodies; there's perhaps one thing that Brock hasn't played with before to keep us guessing, and that's track length.

Not to make this entirely about how long a track is, but not only have I wondered what Brock would construct in such strict circumstances, but he's notorious for the progression in his ambient music - so much so they should start naming an approach to ambient music after him...

With each track on this release 1/4 of the normal bvdub length of around 12+ minutes, and each depicting a time in which he remembered a moment from 4-years ago, this is the purest distillation of Brock we've seen to date. 

Each track starts as if it was embarking on a typical bvdub journey, but quickly forms its shape and purpose - be it a unique sample in track 3, Pop Ambient sounding synthesizers in track 5, Helios style organic warmth in track 9, more familiar heart-wrenching chords in track 14 or soaring static and synthesizers in closer, track 19.

bvdub notoriously isn't the easiest introduction into his own music (let me explain that a little). His tracks are often intense and emotional, yet placed for positions of quiet and personal listening. Finding the right moment to listen to bvdub is one of the reasons I don't listen to his albums more - they become destined for very special occasions, intense emotional places, and I think that's why he manages to connect with so many people on a much deeper level than most. You don't listen to one track of his, you listen to an entire album, and you're his companion in time of need, stress, celebration or reflection. Be it a close death, a friendship, or in this instance, fragmented memories, Brock is brilliant at painting these vivid emotions. 

With Yours are Stories of Sadness, Brock not only made his music more accessible, but he's managed to distill the many parts that make up his sound over the years into tiny fragments. You can hear everything in here, with nods to the past and a glimpse into the potential future. He's not one to show off, but if you needed a resume from Brock, this is it - perfectly executed and a summation of his many unique styles. If this is the sound of bvdub recalling memories from the past 4 years, this is also the distilled sound of bvdub from the past 4 years, but with one clear difference.

Unlike his previous works, where the painting was finished, these memories are purposefully grainy and incomplete. Like a 12-minute bvdub track, the remaining 8 minutes or so, are left for you to wonder.  And what better music to wonder with. 

"Unlike all my other works which are meant to be in the foreground, these are meant to stay in the shadows... to be the quiet and subconscious soundtrack... each not a story, but just a moment... that moment you realize. Unlike the norm, when I elucidate every second to near unbearable levels ;), this time how that moment materializes or continues is up to you..." 

Available on Bandcamp. 

Joachim Spieth - Evaporate

Joachim Spieth graced us with an isolatedmix last year, diving into ambient and deep techno - a form that many of us have known him by since the very early Kompakt Pop Ambient releases.

Since then, Joachim has invested time in his own label, Affin Records, slowly curating a solid line-up of techno artists, including some of Markus Guentner's earliest releases, as well as becoming an outlet for his techno-oriented releases. It's of no surprise then, to see a Joachim release on Affin, but this one's a little special.

A new two track EP, Evaporate covers the split sides of Joachim we love the most. Immersive, organic textures, with one side peppered in driving, ear-rattling deep techno, a-la Donato Dozzy, Luigi Tozzi etc and the other finding itself lost amongst the complex birdsong of a mysterious, dense forest; the kind you'll find ASC orchestrating, or even Dozzy's deeper project, Voices From The Lake.  

Joachim's roots in ambient music are clearly evident throughout and it's his respect for these deep textures that creates this solid slice of hypnotic techno music, and a must own 12".

Available on Bandcamp.