Tag: dark

ambient music, MIXES, surround

Tristesse D’Automne (Mix)

This mix was created especially for Headphone Commute.
Thanks to H_C for publishing it, and for the beautiful introduction words:

Autumn is here. Darkness slowly creeps up just a little bit earlier. Clouds get grayer and swell up with rain. Trees shed their colors and tighten their belts. And people begin to prepare for winter. But among all the shadows there’s a small ray of light. And with that glow comes the music… For today’s exclusive podcast, Peter van Cooten weaves in layers of haunting soundscapes spanning the gray-scale of the ambient universe. It’s a gorgeous soundtrack to the season of tears… I hope you will enjoy!

ambient music, MIXES, surround

Broken Lines (Mix)


HAL's eye

If you have ever watched Stanley Kubrick‘s “2001 – Space Odyssey“, you will definitely remember the impressive scene in which the memory modules are slowly taken away from HAL, the ship’s main computer, because it started to disfunction and became a threat to the astronauts and their mission.
Just before his memory fades completely, HAL remembers being programmed to sing“Daisy”, one of his earliest digital ‘childhood memories’.

With this scene (as well as with HAL‘s name), Kubrick directly referred to the IBM 7094 computer (used to control the Mercury and Gemini space flights, as well as the Apollo missions) which was programmed to sing Daisy in 1961 – a remarkable accomplishment at that time!

Computer systems revolting, loss of memory, human utterings that seem to come from lost souls….
I guess you’d better be prepared for a dark and suspenseful listening hour …

If you have listened to this mix, I’m really curious to know what you think, so please let me know!
(and please let your friends know, also… just spread the word and make these mixes heard …  thanks for your help!)

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Banabila, Manuel Chantre, Beautiful Schizophonic, Linear Bells, Sequence 5

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.

SumDark

Michel Banabila – Sum Dark 12
Available as a digital download for some time, but now also as a strictly limited CDr edition. Contains four tracks that were the basis for Banabila‘s impressive (at times even terrifying) set performed at the Summer Darkness festival in Utrecht, 2012, as well as a 22 minute live recording from that performance.
Definitely showcasing the darkest of the many sides of Michel Banabila!

SixMilAntenas

Manuel Chantre – Six Mil Antenas
Soundtrack for the first 360 degree ‘Satosphere’ (Société des Arts Technologiques, Montreal) film, a “Journey in a futurist, psychedelic and non-linear universe”, inspired by movies like Enter the Void, Alphaville, The Holy Mountain and then some. This visual experience must be quite overwhelming in itself, but without the images this soundtrack is also very much worth listening.
Fun detail: this album is also offered as a concrete block with USB-port. I did not dare to ask for the international shipment cost of this particular one…

Manuel Chantre also offers another compilation of soundtracks for audiovisual installation on “Memorsion and other Works“, which features somewhat more ambient-oriented soundscapes.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Kreng – Works for Abbattoir Fermé


Kreng - Abattoir Ferme

When you realise that Kreng translates to ‘Carrion’ (or ‘Cadaver‘) and Abattoir Fermé means ‘closed down slaughterhouse’ , you know that you’re obviously not going to get a gentle new age treatment with this release.  

Following his two widely acclaimed previously releases L’Autopsie Phénomenale de Dieu (2009) and Grimoire (2011), Miasmah has now released a massive 4×12″ LP (+ 1×10″ that is not included in the digital download) boxset featuring music that Pepijn ‘Kreng’ Caudron created for various Abattoir Fermé theatre productions.

The set contains more than 3 hours of music (and that’s not even counting the 10″ containing music for the  “Monster” TV-series!). 

This music is “not for the faint of heart”. Definitely not. These sounds, in fact, may very well haunt you in your most frightening nightmares.
But as for cinematic (dark) ambient music, this is about the best, and most impressive, you will be able to find.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Listening Mirror – What’s Wrong with Miracles?

A closer look on this latest Listening Mirror album called “What’s Wrong with Miracles?”  shows that this is in fact one side of the mirror: there’s no trace of Kate Tustain‘s soft heavenly vocals on this release. 
(For that, you may want to check out the beautiful recent compilation overview “Resting in Aspic“ ) 

Compared to the soft vocal counterparts on the previous releases, Jeff Stonehouse presents a rather dark mirror on this new release.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Sun Hammer – A Dream in Blood


Sun Hammer

“A Dream in Blood” is the second release on the brand new (and very promising) Future Sequence label (or fourth if you count both massive Sequence  compilations).

Operating as Sun Hammer is experimental sound artist Jay Bodley, who previously has also recorded as The Setting Sun.  

The album title and the cover experience might suggest some extreme dark ambient here, but the album presents a fascinating mix of experimental and adventurous electronic music. I would not call this ‘dark’ ambient myself – though on the other hand I would not call it ‘light-hearted’ either..