Two new releases of ambient pioneer Robert Rich recently caught my attention. Both are related to visual performances, and while they are very different, they represent the many facets of this prolific ambient music legend.
In 2006, Cold Spring records has re-released a record from 1993. It only recently came to my attention, so I would not have written about it on this weblog (for it would be ‘old news’) – if it’s thematic content wouldn’t be so shocking.
John Watermann‘s album is called ‘Calcutta Gas Chamber’ – and that about says all. Story goes that the recording artist has visited India in the early 90’s and came across nightmare-ish giant gas chambers that the Indian government used for ‘population control’.
Currently, I am preparing the Folio radiobroadcast for june, 26, which will feature some work played by Hilary Jeffery.
Jeffery is an English trombone player, currently living in Amsterdam. He plays quite a lot of different line-ups: with Jimi Tenor as well as with the Kilimanjaro Dark Jazz Ensemble, to name just two.
His musical output is equally diverse, ranging from experimental improvisational jazz to quiet drones.
One of his influences is trombone player James Fulkerson (who surprisingly also lives in the Netherlands!), with whom he also studied.
Ambient music collectors no longer visit the local record shop to find the latest releases. Most of the times, the titles are not even stocked. Still, the genre is lively and growing bigger than it ever was. Not through the ‘old’ distribution channels and brick and mortar shops, but through the internet mostly. This weblog only covers a small tip of the iceberg of the music available.
The past winter here was not very cold; it didn’t feel like ‘Winter’ at all. Australian composer Lawrence English must have foreseen this when he recorded the music for this album “For Varying degrees of Winter”, full of beautiful haunting electro acoustic music.
Good news for those of you that are fascinated by the current Buddha Machine hype (like me) : there’s a free download available of the album Uhrwerk by Pocka here.
It may not be as layered as Robert Henke’s ‘Layering Buddha’, but the sound of these Buddha Machine interpretations is very comfortable and authentic.
The recognisable Buddha Machine loops are enhanced by subtle bass guitar, piano, guitar pedals and software effects.
I had not heard Rudy Adrian’s name before, although this New Zealand’s musician seems to be around for a while. But when a single name pops up more than a few times in various ambient circles, you know it’s time to check out the release people are talking about.
Cold Blue Music, a Californian record label that everyone enjoying contemporary ambient/electronic/minimalism should follow closely, is about to release a cd called “The Tubes” by Michael Fahres.
On the title track of this fascinating album, Fahres recorded the acoustic effect of the rock tube formations on El Hierro: a breathing sound created by waves forcing air through the volcanic rocks. Mixed with Jon Hassell’s breathy trumpet playing and Mark Atkins’ haunting didgeridoo, this piece is an ode to the breath of life itself…
In between the growing names of contemporary (post-)classic composers, Greg Haines’ debut stands out for it’s own style. It’s not trying to be too ‘classical’, because it’s more electronic than just that. But on the other hand it’s not exactly ‘ambient’ too (to continue the previous post about the ambient subgenres: we could define this music as ‘classbient’ – classy classic ambient 🙂 )
The record label Miasmah namedrops some of Greg’s inspirations: Arvo Pärt, Ryan Teague, William Basinski… If these names mean anything to you you know where to go. And dont’ forget Colleen for the sound of the glockenspiel.
This is a great cd for the dark winter days coming up!
