Still und Dunkel | AbandonedHallow Ground (LP/CD/DL) From the opening seconds of searing harsh noise rasp like a contact mic applied to a sheet of metal unto cat-claw-on-a-chalkboard effect, through electronic swells and resting in a spell of quick-clicking, Abandoned (English, ‘quiet and dark’) by Still und Dunkel rips through dynamic (d)evolutionary spaces. I should […]
øjeRum | Without Blood The Sun Darkens Cyclic Law (CD/DL) Paw Grabowski presents an incredible limbed (wings and arms) analog collage to contemplate over the course of Without Blood the Sun Darkens, under his moniker øjeRum. The run time, just under an hour, provides a cryptic expanse within which to lose the outside world – […]
Laura Luna Castillo | FolksonomiesCudighi Records (CS, DL) Strings and no-input in unison – the first track, ‘I See But Say Nothing’ of Folksonomies by Laura Luna Castillo takes the listener somewhere between a carnival and a forest cove. Tidal wafts of electronic sine waves and disguised dub are paired with soft strings – ticking […]
Monocube & Troum | Contemplator CaeliTransgredient Records (LP/DL) A first time collaboration between Andrzej Gladuszewski (Monocube) and duo Martin Gitschel and Stefan Knappe (Troum) that at first sounds like a space shuttle landing in a Bavarian village where the essence of folk music effervesces as ginormous engine thrusters enter new territory. There’s a disturbance in […]
Kloob | Unpredictable SignsWinter-Light (CD/DL) Unpredictable Signs is the fourth full-length release from from Spanish sound-artist Kloob (Daniel Ferreira) and his second on Winter-Light. Here we have a murky drone-ambient work mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (aka Sonologyst). Unreachable Realms is a haunting opener with breathy synths that seem perforated, seeping energy and elapsing time. This […]
An On Bast | Nothing Shapes Everything Marcus Fischer + Burke Jam | Vanitas øjeRum | on the swollen lips of the horizon Sonmi451 | Nachtmuziek Sven Laux + Daniela Orvin | The Writings Ambient is nothing new and its true roots are likely a bit of a mystery, cast in the shadows between a […]
Vargkvint | Hav Piano and Coffee Records (LP/DL) Vargkvint is Stockholm-based vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Sofia Nystrand (with co-production duties and more from Jakob Lindhagen) and other musicians. I believe this is her sophomore effort after releasing Brus on French imprint Soft Recordings in 2017. Hav is a refreshing re-engineering of the use of vocals within a mostly […]
William Basinski | On Time Out of Time Temporary Residence (LP/CD/DL) Originally commissioned for installation work by Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand (in collaboration with Jean-Marc Chomaz and LIGO) for the Limits of Knowing exhibition (Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau) these two pieces delve into the cosmic, as in the black holes of space. Opening with the intriguing title piece […]
Forest Management | Passageways (Whited Sepulchre Records) Deaf Center | Low Distance (Sonic Pieces) Evelyn Glennie & Roly Porter | One Day Band (Trestle Records) Li Yilei | 0:00 (Ferric:Flux) This short lot brings about some of the most current nuances in contemporary electronic music, on the ambient side of things. It’s sometimes hard to […]
William Basinski + Lawrence English | Selva Oscura Temporary Residence (LP/DL) Two new lengthy tracks on wax by a pair of the most gifted sound-based artists of our era, William Basinski + Lawrence English. Opening with Mono No Aware, a fluted drone permeates the space in soft modified tones. The vibration rises into your head […]
The Tapeworm Vessel Twelve Atmospheres (Klanggalerie; CD/DL) Twelve Atmospheres is the debut album by The Tapeworm Vessel (David Janssen & Sylvie Walder) which gets a much needed proper release upon its ten year anniversary on Viennese imprint Klanggalerie. Previously this session was only available in digital form to a limited audience and a handful of […]
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