Inner Vision Laboratory vs. Nepenthe – Ambit

Inner Vision Laboratory is a musical project from the Polish artist Karol Skrzypiec, who describes his music as ‘basically industrial dark ambient, also including elements of ethnic music, classical music, et al.”

“AMBIT” is the result of his online collaboration with Nepenthe (Daniel Krause) (whose alias probably refers to the ‘Drug of Forgetfullness’). (Note: See Nepenthe’s reaction in the comments below)

Machinefabriek – Machine Rooms

Lóng before I ever related the sounds to a musical context, I was fascinated by industrial environmental drone hums.
I clearly remember staying with my grandparents as a child during school holidays, fascinated by the steady hum of giant propeller ventilators from a nearby storage building.
This impression has never left me, and I fondly think back to these summer holidays as the fundament of a lifelong addiction to drones of industrial (as well as any other) nature.

Knowing this background, it’s probably not hard to understand why a new release by Machinefabriek, called Machine Rooms“, released on the Keshhhh label (curated by Simon Scott, and mastered by Rafael Anton Irissari) got my immediate and full attention!

But that is simply not enough to introduce this incredible album.

These are not ‘just’ industrial drones – these are delicate homages to machines that are supporting our everyday life. And continue to do so, even when they are hidden away, put out of use and slowly deteriorating….

Jeremy Keenan, Stefan Funck, Franck Condon, Glittering Hand, Kissy Suzuki

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn’t find the time (or the right words) for a “full” review for. 
Still, I definitely think they deserve your attention, with or without extra words!

Jeremy Keenan

JEREMY KEENAN – IMMATERIAL
“Created largely from recordings of two journeys by boat, on the River Lee Navigation in London and the North Sea ferry to the Netherlands, Immaterial explores the abstraction of emotional and perceptual traces in sound relating to journeys. The title track utilises sound garnered from the Institute of Making in London, with direct recordings of engineered materials exposing the raw process of extracting the composition from recorded sound.

Sleep Research Facility – Stealth


Stealth

It’s an interesting aside that the two masters of deep drone, some of the very few artists able to create soundscapes that seem to span the complete universe – Thomas Köner and Sleep Research Facility – release their new album in the same month.  

Five years after his latest album, Deep Friezeand eleven years after his legendary landmark debut Nostromo, Sleep Research Facility (Kevin Doherty from Glasgow, Scotland) returns with Stealth“. 

And, like watching the universe at night, the overall view of this album may seem the same – but the difference is in the details.
And the longer you watch, the more details you will see.

Various Artists – Loud Listening


Loud Listening

A lot ambient-electronic have a distinct industrial feel: the hum of giant machines and installations, soothing at some times, ominous – or even threatening – at other. Quiet and reassuring when distant, but loud and agressive when close. 

Though this may not be exactly what you expect of “ambient music”, it definitely is part of the sounds of our surroundings. Until the crisis may stop them, at least.

Loud Listening” is a free (!) compilation from the Crónica label, based on the environmental recording of four Italian soundscape artists: Allesio Ballerini, Enrico Coniglio, Giuseppe Cordaro and Attilio Novellino. 

Leonardo Rosado – The Blue Nature of Everyday

Blue Nature

Misfortune struck last week when Heart and Soul and Feedbackloop label curator Leonardo Rosado got robbed and found that the burglars took his laptop and SLR camera.

Though he was wise enough to have his files backed up elsewhere (be honest: do you store your important personal files in a location outside your house? Please do so!) – for a label owner in this digital age this is a downright disaster. 

Leonardo had just finished his own solo album The Blue Nature of Everyday”  (which sounds like an appropriate title now).
So, unintended, this album is now also his own charity release to help fund his new laptop and camera.