ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Monty Adkins – Unfurling Streams

Monty Adkins he often chooses a single instrument to work with and then starts exploring its possibilities and manipulating its sounds.
And while the starting point and sounds are very different to begin with, he manages to create a ‘sound-field’ that is immediately recognisable.

“Unfurling Streams”, his recent release on Crónica, is based on recordings of percussion instruments made by Jonny Axelsson (a much praised percussionist with impressive experience in playing contemporary music by composers like Stockhausen, Ligeti and Kevin Volans) and Monty Adkins himself.

other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Piano Interrupted; Cassie/Kearley; Bill Seaman; Juxta Phona; Yamaoka

This “shortlist” is categorized under “Other Music” which means it’s only loosely related to what we call ‘ambient’.

Listen to reconstructions of Piano Interrupted‘s “Unified Fields”, your Inner Voicings with Dan Kearley and Daryn Cassie; intensely touching music from Bill Seaman; a playful Juxta Phona (which turns out to be Jason Corder) – to finally immerse yourself in the rhythmic patterns of Yamaoka

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Biosphere & Deathprod – Stator

Seventeen years – and quite a lot of releases – after “Nordheim Transformed”, Geir Jenssen and Helge Sten return to the split-album formula to release “Stator“, built on the same principles: each delivering individual tracks (three by Biosphere, and four by Deathprod).

In the history of ambient electronic music both Biosphere and Deathprod have gained legendary status. “Stator” shows why.

other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Michel Banabila & Oene van Geel – Music for Viola and Electronics

After they met when working together on Cloud Ensemble, Michel Banabila and Oene van Geel extended their collaboration which resulted in 2014’s “Music for Viola and Electronics”.

Both were so very enthusiastic about the new musical world that they had opened up, that they kept working on “Music for Viola and Electronics II”, which is released this month.

Judging by the (strikingly beautiful!) aerial landscape photography by Gerco de Ruijer on the cover, their collaboration will probably not end here: the crop of the (geometric) landscape on the Volume I cover photo is only partially harvested – by hand, line by line… a difficult, strenuous, but most rewarding work.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Machinefabriek/Rutger Zuydervelt: 3+1

Judged by his output alone, Rutger “Machinefabriek” Zuydervelt must be the ‘hardest working man in electronic showbusiness’.

This is a pick from the latest batch… but chances are that by the time you finished reading this post and listening to the samples his website will already have announced some newer releases…

Next to the recent albums “The Measures Taken”, “Sneeuwstorm” and “Loos”, you’ll also find a beautiful video registration of the Halfslaap performance with the Fox String Quartet at the recent 24 Hour Drone Fest at the LeGuessWho Festival in Utrecht last year.

ambient music, DREAMSCENES

DreamScenes 2015-03

Featuring tracks from Boduf Songs, Jeff Bridges, The Notwist,  Jordan De La Sierra and Sinikka Langeland , the march selection is not only hovering on the borders of sleep, but also on the borders of ‘ambient’ music.

Additional atmospheres created by Lauki, Markus Mehr, Ann Deveria, John Kannenberg, Hessien, Jasmine Guffond, Alphaxone, K. Novotny and Field Rotation.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Sakamoto-Illuha-Deupree; Chihei Hatakeyama; Lauki; Sonmi451; Roach-Metcalf-Thomas

From ‘mist’ to ‘mystic’ – with a selection of a collaborative improvisation by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Taylor Deupree and Illuha, new albums by Chihei Hatakeyama, Lauki and Sonmi45, and the ritualistic tribal ambient of Steve Roach, Byron Metcalf and Rob Thomas.