isolatedmix 127 - David Douglas & Applescal

Two familiar names step up for our next isolated mix, with a highly conceptual approach that matches their new (and similarly conceptual) collaborative album, ‘Démarrage’.

I’m unsure where I would start if I were to create an album based on a love of cycling. Weirdly enough, it wouldn’t be the first electronic album to do so (See Kraftwerk’s, Tour De France, of course), but it’s obviously a big enough inspiration to spur electronic producers David Douglas and Applescal. After listening to t‘Démarrage’, it makes total sense, in more ways than one. The energy, euphoria, drive - even the pop of color and variation in approach - an effervescent continual movement throughout its 10 tracks.

Applescal contributed an isolatedmix some twelve (!) years ago now, and it remains one of our most popular in the series. Combining multiple styles across an addictive hour of listening, the session proved Pascal is a master at developing a conceptual narrative in mix form, and now evidently in album form. David Douglas, who has made numerous appearances on Pascal’s Atmonation label, with one highlight for me being 2014’s, Moon Observation’s, is similarly a man of conceptual understanding and many undercurrents, spending time scoring music for films and commercials, while also releasing under a new alias HATY HATY, which combines electronic and indie music tendencies.

I imagined a hybrid of styles to appear on their mix submission, and I wasn’t disappointed. But for it to also match the concept of their new album, takes it up a notch. The mix, goes as slow as Chihei, with the euphoric highs of The Paradise, sudden bursts of pace in Eversines, the anguish in Bersarin Quartett, and the comforting (I can see the finish line-vibes) of Ulrich Schnauss, in an unexpecting manner that’s on par with the unexpectedness of Fourtet’s not-so-secret secret side project.

“Just like our album "Démarrage," which is essentially a long mix of interconnected tracks, we aimed to tell a broad story with this mix. We love to approach music as a continuous mix, as you can set a certain different vibe and have tracks complement each other. Our mix for ASIP begins gently, like a warm bath, with the calming sounds of Chihei Hatakeyama's "Calm Sea." Later on, we bring up the pace with the remix from Roman Flugel. We end with a return to tranquility and introspection with work from Bersarin Quartett and Skúli Sverrisson. Just like on our new album, we added a bunch of samples of cyclists to capture the emotion of the race” - David & Pascal

astrangelyisolatedplace · isolatedmix 127 - David Dougls & Applescal

Listen on Soundcloud the ASIP Podcast or the 9128.live iOS and Android app

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Tracklist:

01. Chihei Hatakeyama - Calm Sea
02. Tomaga - Intimate Immensity
03. Kyle Hall, Kero - 19FT
04. Unit Moebius - Dolfinarium
05. Tambo’s House - Jhe Gu Jye
06. Dusky - Metropolis
07. C.A.R - Idle eyes. (Roman Fluegel Remix) Applescal body Edit
08. The Paradise - In Love With You (Alan Braxe Remix)
09. Fasme - Sweet Flux
10. David Douglas & Applescal - Galibier
11. David Douglas & Applescal - Galibier (Gruppetto)
12. ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ - ʅ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡(ƟӨ)ʃ͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡͡ ꐑ(ཀ ඊູ ఠీੂ೧ູ࿃ूੂ✧✧✧✧✧✧ළඕั࿃ूੂ࿃ूੂ
13. Eversines - Vlaag
14. Eversines - Vlaag (Beatless Version)
15. Ulrich Schnauss - A Letter from Home
16. Bersarin Quartett - Verflossen ist das Gold der Tage
17. Skúli Sverrisson - Instants

Applescal | Bandcamp
David Douglas | Website

ASIP - Deep Breakfast Mix 267

The Deep Breakfast mix series has slowly (quite quickly compared to my isolatedmix efforts!) become one of the greatest ambient-leaning mix series around, pulling in some of the finest curators and artists to grace our small world. From well-known artists and DJs to passionate music collectors, it seems Francesco, the curator, is intent on hosting a series truly meant for every corner of the ambient spectrum.

The name of the mix series gives you an idea of what to expect, and for my submission, I battled hard with what style to attempt in order to live up to the many great mixes that have been featured before. Breakfast to me - deep or not - can often be light and uplifting - chill or even dubtechno on some mornings. But similarly, a deep breakfast may also mean the edges of light at 4 or 5am… and this is more the route I went with this mix. Look out for some of the many upcoming ASIP tracks featured in this one!

Big thanks to Francesco for the invite, and I hope you all enjoy the mix.

Deep Breakfast Series · Deep Breakfast 267 ~ ASIP

Listen on Soundcloud or the ASIP Podcast

Download MP3

Tracklist:
01. swanasa - AHO (A Strangely Isolated Place, Forthcoming)
02. Hiemal - Pays D'en Haut I (Self)
03. Thomas Koner - Nuut (Night) (Force Inc)
04. Markus Guentner & Abul Mogard - While Hunting Nightmares And Dreaming For Peace (A Strangely Isolated Place, Forthcoming)
05. Ayaavaaki & Purl - Einstein-Rosen Bridge (Passage II) (LILA)
06. LF58 - Utopia (Northern Electronics)
07. Avsluta - It's Always Lonely Being Free (Self)
08. Pete Namlook & Bill Laswell - Angel Tech (Subharmonic)
09. STBL - Carousel Of Light (Self)
10. Mikkel Rev - Lauryl (A Strangely Isolated Place, Forthcoming)
11. James Murray - Grace (Home Normal)
12. Robert Rich - Summer Thunder (Self)
13. OKRAA - Canto Luminoso a la Luna (A Strangely Isolated Place, Forthcoming)

Illuvia / Earth Prism (ASIPV049)

Ludvig Cimbrelius returns with his third full-length album on ASIP under his illustrious ambient jungle/drum’n bass alias, Illuvia. Shifting focus from the stratospheric highs of 2021’s Iridescence Of Clouds, Ludvig now reflects on the meaning and spectrums of life on Earth.

According to my lifelong research, Earth appears to be a modulation of light. It is said that what the eyes receive are rays emitted by a star, whose flow of photons is invisible to the human eye until they are reflected and modulated by matter.

Matter — the patterned dance of charged particles appearing out of nothing. Simultaneously, it is observable that light converts into matter. And matter converts into light.

Logic tells me that they are one, appearing as two. And, as a consequence of their division and subsequent interaction, the spectrum of a world appears.

Being a manifestation of something as ethereal and ephemeral as light modulated by the dance of charged particles, the world feels surprisingly solid.

Less like a prism and more like a prison. That is what the surface tells us. 

Those who seek freedom look deeper.
–Ludvig Cimbrelius (Illuvia)

Earth Prism will be available on A Strangely Isolated Place on transparent vinyl, gatefold 2LP + digital formats from June 20th 2024. Mastered by Hollis Nolan, Lacquer cut by Andreas LUPO Lubich, featuring artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding. Please join us on June 12th for a Bandcamp album listening session.

Full details and links to buy via the release page

* Please note a slightly new approach where we are working to extend our preorder times, to capture more accurate numbers to press, and give writers and distro a better chance to do their thing. So please pay attention to the extended shipping timings on this release!

Theef / Sun & Smoke (ASIPV048)

Sun & Smoke is originally a 2-hour self-produced mix uploaded to Youtube and Soundcloud in 2018 by Greek artist, Theef. Consisting of unreleased productions, the set was uploaded as a safe space, with zero expectations of it ever gaining attention or release.

After many late-night listening sessions, ASIP contacted Theef to discuss how a release might come to life. Originally consisting of 21 tracks in total –with two subsequently released on Morevi Records in 2022– ASIP had the honor of curating and sequencing an album from the remaining 19 unreleased productions, finally landing on those that best represented the intention of the original mix and the feelings it evoked upon those first moments of discovery. 

The appeal of Sun & Smoke can be found in its purity. Built with no intention or audience in mind, the album traverses core elements of deep techno, trance and downtempo. Progressive atmosphere building, addictive underlying grooves, and expansive moments of euphoria; as a mixtape, Sun & Smoke is a zero-visibility haze of eyes-closed, body-moving, forward momentum. As an album, each track is now allowed the space to deliver on its own defining atmosphere. 

From the ambient leaning beginnings of Sky Textures and the title track, Sun & Smoke, to the electro tinges of Primal Age, and the metallic swirls and glistening synths in Approaching Stars, the parts now have the chance to become greater than the sum of its original whole. 

Mastered by Giuseppe Tillieci (Neel / Voices From The Lake) with artwork photography by Juan Fernandez (edited by ASIP), Sun & Smoke will be available on Transparent Red/Orange Smoke gatefold 2LP + digital.

RIYL DJ Healer / Traumprinz / DJ Metatron / Giegling

Full details and links to buy via the release page

Lapsed Pacifist / Hypatia (ASIPV046)

As a professional sound engineer by day, Colin Dunkerley aka Lapsed Pacifist, spends much of his time traveling and rarely gets to focus on producing his own music. Despite high praise from those who have become familiar with his work over the years, Colin’s previous productions have mainly consisted of shares with friends and DJs in smaller circles through his Negative Neutron alias. 

Colin envisaged a more pronounced and darker ambient style to emerge one day but struggled to dedicate the time. Hypatia came to life over an extended and fragmented period, with field recordings and loops of audio created on the go, later processed through his modular setup. In the autumn of 2022, Colin spent time collating and listening to these many fragments and field recordings, making notes in a book as he wandered around cold, unfamiliar places with headphones on, trying to shape disparate starting points into something thematically connected.  

The title of Lapsed Pacifist’s debut album, Hypatia is a reference to one of the many fantastical descriptions of imaginary places by Marco Polo in the book, Invisible Cities. Written as a dialogue between Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, the book became the inspiration and a clear parallel for how Hypatia came to be and what it means to Colin today. 

Attaching music to a place and time can become a very powerful and long-lasting memory. Across its eight tracks, Hypatia depicts fragmented glimpses of color and textures –a scrapbook of senses– traversing the optimistic first steps; the first smell of cold air; cityscapes burnt into your head; and the many emotions from exploring new places that stick with you longer than any photograph ever could. 

“The experience of moving between places so frequently can be fascinating but also dislocating and often quite lonely. I have so many small stories about places I’ve been, but I often think they aren’t necessarily real reflections of anywhere, no more real than anything Invisible Cities author Calvino dreamt up”. - Lapsed Pacifist.  

Hypatia is available on transparent Copper smoke 12” + digital, mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri and featuring artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding.

Links to listen and buy via the release page