We’re excited to announce and introduce a new artist into the ASIP family, Sardinian composer Andrea Garau as Blinkar från Norr. The debut album Metaphors For Things is available to pre order today, with full release on February 17th. Expect deep and dark ambient underpinned by electro-acoustics and pensive emotion.
For more info, links to listen and buy visit the release page
**UPDATE**
Unfortunately, it is with a heavy heart that we have to postpone our London event. The recent travel restrictions mean it’s too much of a risk for me to attend from the USA and our European based DJs and live acts are also suffering similar risks. Not to mention the more obvious risk of a small, intimate venue. We hope to be able to reschedule this event in the future but for now, please stay safe, support music and enjoy it in the comfort of your own home!
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A Strangely Isolated Place presents an afternoon and evening at Hidden Sounds London. Featuring performances from Merrin Karras (aka Chymera), Quiet Places (a production trio consisting of Dennis White, Charlie May and David Gardner), local digger and much-loved selector Jane Fitz, and label journeyman, todos.
MERRIN KARRAS (Live - album launch)
After his debut album under his ambient-synth alias on ASIP in 2016, Brendan Gregoriy aka Chymera has been hard at work on his follow-up. Brendan will present his spaced-out synths on the rich Hidden Sounds system with music from his upcoming album, The Northwest Passage.
QUIET PLACES (Live)
When they’re not producing for Sasha or playing live on the recent Refracted tour, Dennis White, Charlie May and David Gardner have been busy creating their new project, Quiet Places. This will be the first presentation of the Quiet Places project in anticipation of their upcoming release on ASIP.
JANE FITZ (Vinyl set)
Jane is quite simply a vinyl and DJ institution in London - a collector, curator and selector of the finest order. Jane has been a big supporter of ASIP for years now, so it’s a pleasure to finally have her spin one of her infamous sets.
TODOS (Vinyl set)
Well known amongst the ASIP family, todos' Kilchurn Session mixes have become legendary and he was #1 choice to try and summarize ten years of the label and blog in one mix - he knocked it out of the park. We’re excited to finally see him present these infamous journeys on deck.
PLUS SPECIAL GUEST TBA.
Label owner ASIP will also be gracing the decks spinning some unreleased and upcoming test presses.
We’re most at home amongst the crates, with the chance to talk, dig and listen to new music, so we’re excited to present this showcase at Hidden Sounds London - a new record store with a beautiful Hi-Fi system (A pair of Ditton 44 sitting on a pair of customized Tannoy's Cheviots + various fillers, all running through a Rodec mixer).
We’ll be non-stop from 3pm til midnight. Food and drink available to purchase. Entry is free and there will be exclusive ASIP records and merchandise available.
LIMITED CAPACITY - RSVP/REGISTER HERE. Entry is free but RSVP is REQUIRED due to limited capacity and the need to keep things enjoyable for all. Please be ready to present ID at the door. We encourage you to arrive early as RSVP will not guarantee entry past 6pm if the venue is already full.
Dub-techno has kind of fizzled-out for me in the last few years. Not by design, but likely more as a comparison to how much I used to listen and dig for new music in that vein. Back in 2010, I stumbled across Sraunus who epitomized the best of genre with his debut album ‘Out Of The City’. It was a classic ASIP blog find, relatively unknown and deserving of more listens. Since then, Sraunus went on to release several more lovely albums with perhaps his most revered coming on Greyscale in 2017.
For those not familiar with Sraunus, the man behind the controls is Paulius Markutis - a Lithuanian producer originating from the post-industrial town of Panevežys. Sraunus escapes dub-techno clichés by placing his sound in strangely personal narratives that weave field recordings, delicate pop harmonies and darker emotional undertones. Any dub-techno listener, knows how hard it is to stand out in this field and Sraunus has gathered a respectable following for his consistent output over the years. But, as with all producers that dabble in dub-techno, ambient music is never too far away and provides much needed inspiration.
For his isolatedmix, Paulius decided to create an ambient mix, focusing on individual pieces of tracks in a hope to depict something new to the listener, moving from dark moods to bright, layering elements and intros into one rich tapestry - a truly immersive and technically flawless journey.
Tracklist:
01. Takashi Kokubo - 海のつぶやき
02. Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse - Circumference (4 Hz Theta)
03. ULTRA ウルトラ - クレジット u p g r a d e ° 21
04. Latin girl signing
05. Garrett - Awaiting the Light
06. Halftribe - Tuning Out
07. Field recording
08. Laraaji - Ocean Flow (Seahawks Deep Drift Mix)
09. Roberto Musci - Tower of Silence
10. Roberto Musci - Improbably Music
11. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Joy
12. Sraunus - Kolonista
13. Baubas
14. Untitled
15. Nouveau Life™ - アンドロイド未来
16. Dominykas Niaura - Gyvenimas ėmė ir prabėgo
17. Roberto Musci - Claudia, Wilhelm R and Me
18. Unknown - 展示
19. Ｖｉｒｔｕａｌ仮想中空（ＶＨＳ）- その日が来るとき
20. Sam Amidon - Lucky Cloud
21. Flaming Tunes - Restless mind
22. Baubas
23. Carlo Giustini - A1. Il Vicino (Si Muove)
24. Terekke - Swim
25. Blue Darkness - A Sleepless Town
Sraunus on Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud | Discogs
Leandro Fresco and Rafael Anton Irisarri return with their second cross-continental collaboration on A Strangely Isolated Place with 'Una Presencia En La Brisa' (A Presence In The Breeze).
The duo once again return to the dense, rich and otherworldly drones, exploring a concept of human connection.
Mastered by Taylor Deupree, and featuring artwork by Molly Smith and thousands of hand-drawn dots - the vinyl edition comes as a 12” Silver Sky color and digital download.
More information and links to buy
We’ll also have a limited edition t-shirt available through Everpress featuring the unique artwork by Molly Smith, screen-printed on a Unisex Heavy Cotton Gildan Hammer tee. Pr-orders for the tee are only available for the next 21 days, then the t-shirt will go into production.
This isn’t the first time I’ve felt compelled to share a release from Touched, but it is the first time I’ve been truly wowed by the effort Martin Boulton has gone to in aid of Cancer Research (and great music).
You can go for the epic end of the scale, and hunt down this wooden CD boxset containing full, new albums by the likes of Future Sound of London, and isolatedmix vets Scanner, Anders Ilar, Autumn of Communion + more, or you can scale it back slightly and get them all on digital (98 tracks). Or, if funds are tight but you still want music by The Orb, James Bernard, HIA, DF Tram, (Ghost), Atom TM + more, then there’s the ‘Touched by Silence The Compilation' featuring a more modest amount of tracks, still all for a good cause. All of the above, featuring designs by The Designers Republic.
I started at the compilation and with just this release alone, you’ve got some of the finest electronic-leaning ambient and ambient electronica of recent years. James Bernard is up there opening up proceedings, before a classic vocal dub track by The Orb, and a hypnotic piece by R&S vet David Morley. I also really enjoyed the DF Tram track, featuring an Orb-esque sample that sounds like an instant classic.
