Tag: live

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Thomas Köner – Tiento de las Nieves – Cloître

Thomas Köner is perhaps the Jules Verne of ambient-electronic soundscapes: his sounds seem to come from the deepest ocean, the centre of the earth, the vastest spaces imaginable. If you know his work, you will often immediately recognise his sound when you hear it – and maybe feel it before you even hear it.

Knowing his back-catalogue, the choice of a piano as the main instrument for his new album is somewhat surprising. Piano notes are clearly fixed in time, as opposed to the stretched sounds Thomas Köner usually applies. It is, in a way, a bit of a “rigid instrument”.

ambient music, other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

"Piano Acts"

Nils Frahm - Spaces

NILS FRAHM – SPACES
Possibly the most well-known artist mentioned here is keyboard wizard Nils Frahm. Whoever has seen him perform live will definitely remember that performance clearly. His music can be extremely melodic, making it accessible to a wide audience, yet he’s not afraid to search for some extremes during the process.
After each performance, people often asked him which of his albums best represented what they had just witnessed. Since such an album did not really exist, “Spaces“ was specifically assembled with that question in mind. And indeed it perfectly captures a Nils Frahm performance.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Hildur Gudnadottir – Leyfdu Ljosinu

Hildur Gudnadóttir ‘s latest release on the Touch label features two tracks:  the 4 minute introduction (“Prelude”) and the 35 minute title track: “Leyfdu Ljósinu” . 

The track division seems is somewhat artificial, since the “Prelude“ closing chord seamlessly introduces the start of the main title track. 
This recording is in fact a “live” recording (with no audience present. which means no distractive audience sounds).
It’s “just” Hildur performing over her multi-track recordings – no “post tampering” was applied afterwards.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Premonition Factory – The Sense of Time

Premonition Factory is the name of the ambient-electronic music project by Sjaak Overgaauw, a dutch musician currently living in Antwerp, Belgium.

‘The Sense of Time‘ is his second full CD, the follow up to 2010’s ’59 Airplanes waiting for New York’.

It contains eleven tracks of different length, presenting an impressive hour of well balanced immersive ambient sounds. Most are ‘classic’ ambient: slow washes of drones, sparsely interspersed with background electrics – a very peaceful sound overall. 

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

No Accident in Paradise

Contemporary electronic music is firmly rooted in Germany – I guess no one will argue that.
 
So is No Accident in Paradise, a four person “Live Ambient System”, or freeform ambient music project. 

No Accident in Paradise combines live electronics and keyboards with sampled electronic music recordings and rather stunning visuals by Robert Seidel. They perform at unusual locations that perfectly fit their music: check the video of the Therme Bad Schandau performance (below) for a good impression!

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Biosphere – Wireless

 

Biosphere - Wireless

There are not too may live-recordings in ambient music. With obvious reason: most of it is recorded in (home) studios and is optimized for use in private spaces and/or exhibition rooms.
The noisy live club environment is not the best place to consume ambient music.
Apart from that, ambient gigs and laptop concerts are not noted for their intense live experience. At most gigs, the performing musician might as well be checking his mail after starting the pre-recorded sequence.…the public wouldn’t really notice.

I remember watching a Biosphere live gig in Amsterdam Paradiso, way back in 2002.
Paradiso, like any club in Holland, is noted for it’s noisy crowd, chatting and twittering all through the concert. That’s the effect of having a bar INSIDE the concert hall (and of people coming to a Festival instead of devotees coming to a single concert).