Tag: environmental

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Solo Andata – Ritual

Although their debut “Fyris Swan” was released in 2006, Solo Andata gained the recognition they deserved with the release of the “Solo Andata” album on the 12k label in 2009.

The fact that their work was mastered by Taylor Deupree and Giuseppe Ielasi – household names in the world of ambient / electronic music – will probably have helped to attract the attention, but the music created by Kane Ikin and Paul Fiocco in itself was (is) impressing enough to immediately classify Solo Andata as ‘classic material’ of ambient soundscapes. 

Their new album, “Ritual” is the debut release of a brand new label: Desire Path Recordings.
And what a debut it is to start a new label with!

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Kyle Bobby Dunn – Rural Route #2


Rural Route

Shortly after his magnificient double album “A Young Person’s Guide to KBD“, Kyle Bobby Dunn delivers another two intricate drone tracks. This time on a limited edition 3″ CD-R (including immediate downloads). 

Compared to the double album, the two tracks on “Rural Route No. 2“ are sounding more ‘industrial’ and dark. Not exactly what you might expect thinking of nostalgic childhood memories…!

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Jana Winderen – Energy Field

Field Recordings  come in many varieties. From the documentary recordings, as true to nature as possible, to environmental soundscapes, using recorded sounds to create a completely new environment.

Presenting music by recording artists like Jacob Kirkegaard, Chris Watson and Jana Winderen, Touch Music is definitely one of the finest labels in presenting this form of sound-art.

After releasing her beautiful (live) recording “Heated: Live in Japan” last year, Jana Winderen‘s “Energy Field” is her new full album on Touch.
More-than-full, actually, for  (on-line) buyers also receive a free download of Jana’s live performance on the Today’s Art festival in Den Haag, in 2009.

ambient music, other-music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Various Artists – Herfsttonen

As the musical part of the “Landtonen” festival in november 2009, “Herfsttonen” (Autumn Sounds) celebrated the local district of “Okkenbroek“, near Deventer (in Holland).

This may sound as if it is interesting to local citizens only.
Not true! – That would mean the large part of the world would miss this great project!

The three compositions presented here are very different from each other, but they are linked by the theme, and by the environmental sounds of Okkenbroek. This album deserves to be heard out of the local context, too, because it is dedicated to preserving the kind of rural life that may disappear all too quickly.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Steve Brand – Circular Scriptures

Circular Scriptures is the very first (and until now: only) release of a brand new label: Relaxed Machinery, a label owned by John Koch-Northrup (previously a co-owner of AtmoWorks), claiming that “all artists receive 100% of their release”.

That fact alone sounds like a good enough reason to track down this album on one of the major download outlets or get it as CDR from the Hypnos store.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Favourite Places Vol. 2


Favourite Places

Since its original release in 2007, ‘Favourite Places‘ has been one of my ...favourite soundscape albums.

It presented music inspired by favourite locations of well known artists (like Biosphere, Taylor Deupree) as well as equally beautiful compositions by lesser known (to me) names.

The concept is as simple as it is challenging: ask composers to describe their favourite place – in sound.
This place must be exactly pinpointed with location details, so it should not be an imaginary place.

ambient music, RECOMMENDATIONS

Jacob Kirkegaard – 4 Rooms

Jacob Kirkegaard - 4 Rooms

If you record a room’s resonation, feed back the recording into that room and record it again, and do this a couple of time so that the feedback gets stronger and stronger, will the result reveal the ‘soul’ of that room?
And will something in this ‘soul’ reveal the fact that these rooms were once busy with people (church, gymnasium, swimming pool, auditorium) but are now completely desolated?
And will you be able to hear the fact that these rooms are all located in the Tchernobyl disaster area?

This, as you may guess, is not intended as ‘easy background ambient’.  The result is not unlike some of Thomas Köner’s work – but it’s the concept that makes is almost frightening.