Rion – Fireflies

Ian Hawgood will probably be a familiar name to most: apart from making ambient music he’s also running the well-respected Home Normal label. Ryo Nakata’s name might not immediately ring a bell, but he may be better knows as Ryonkt.

With Fireflies“, released on the Hibernate label, the duo works together for the first time as Rion.

Fireflies is “inspired by the magic of low light periods and the quietude of a summer spent in the countryside.”

While this description may sound like an introduction to any average drone-ambient album, the result of this collaboration is remarkably different from most others.

Good Weather for an Airstrike; Seconds Before Awakening; Aspectee; Ryonkt; Fog Lake

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention some of the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn’t find the time (or the right words) for a “full” review for. Still, I think they deserve your attention: use the links to find more info and hear previews.

Good Weather for an Airstrike - Underneat the Stars

Good Weather for an Airstrike – Underneath the Stars
Tom Honey (Hampshire, UK) originally set up Good Weather for an Airstrike to create deliberately soothing music to help ease the tinnitus problems he suffers from. His main influences are artists like Sigur Ros, Eluvium, Hammock and Stars of the Lid. “Underneath the Stars” melds “dreamy strings with hints of fragmented guitar tone, soft drones and a set of subtle field recordings.”

Nine

Seconds Before Awakening – Nine
As Seconds Before Awakening, Michael S. Walley creates a “soundtrack for dreams and dreamers alike”. “Nine” – the 10th album in the series that started counting from Zero –  is a 59 minutes long, slowly evolving deep drone. “I almost feel like this is the sound of nebulae and galaxies frozen for us to contemplate the shifting energy and interplay between matter and nothingness. These sounds remind me that infinity is real, here and now.”  
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