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.
STEVE ROACH & DIRK SERRIES – LOW VOLUME MUSIC
These two Grandmasters of Ambient music join forces again to create this “introspective musical palette solely dedicated to harmony, integrity and pure beauty.”
“In a world where the noise level of daily life has increased to a fever pitch, this release offers an essential sonic respite from the external distractions. These five delicate sound meditations are built upon a perfect blend of deep ambient characteristics: looping and lush textures and harmonics mixed with subtle, hovering, lattice-like forms. The tracks follow a zen-like flow, bringing the listener’s attention down to a distinct stillness, a single point; gently shifting, sparkling mirror pools of sound are revealed as meditations to reflect upon.”
LOREN NERELL – SLOW DREAM
“Field recordings from the world of sleep” – which prove to be Bali and Java (also the inspiration for many of Nerell’s earlier albums)
“Nerell’s four lengthy tracks are all-encompassing sonic environments primarily forged from extremely processed location recordings made during his trips to Bali. Rich drones and shimmering highlights skirt over the organic textures, processed and layered into subtle, delicate resonant spaces.”
MARIELLE V. JAKOBSONS – GLASS CANYON
“Jakobsons sought to strip down her creative process to primarily just synthesizer and violin as a way of focusing, as she puts it, “on where two timbres meet.” Throughout the record, whirring, pulsing synths flutter around elegiac arcs of bowed strings. The effect of these juxtapositions is staggering. Jakobsons’ preternatural abilities as a sound designer allow the otherworldly tones culled from her synthesizers to be wed perfectly to the radiant sonorities of her violin. The results are compositions that are at once classical yet somehow alien, intimate yet estranged, as though we’ve stumbled upon a conservatory located entirely elsewhere, untethered to the terrestrial.”
GRZEGORZ BOJANEK – REMAINING SOUNDS
“Modern Musique Concréte at it’s best: Expansive, lush yet gritty, this collection of experiments with breath, woodwinds, bass, and microscopic found sound is moving, odd, and comforting.”
FRANCOIS D’EYBASTENS – QUANTUM FIELD
Devastatingly beautiful electro-acoustic soundscapes, presented without further ado by the Textural Records . label. “The return of the done master”, – a simple statement, but this music definitely is way beyond drones. Presented as a “name your price” download – so don’t miss it!