• Music

    Perila – How much time it is between you and me?

    December 4, 2021 - By 

    Perila i(Alexandra Zakharenko) s a composer from Berlin of Russian roots releases one of the heaviest and, frankly, bleakest albums of the year.  I spent today trying to unwind a bit as the snow looked pleasant, but after watching Juraj Herz’s The Cremator, hearing this album left me in a somewhat dark place. The sounds are deep and cavernous.  It is, in fact, my favorite style of ambient music, as it becomes easy to get lost in the sonic abyss the artist is projecting through her lens.  There are two standout tracks on this album; Vaxxine, with gives me the…

  • Music

    E.U.E.R.P.I. – Timid Memories

    December 2, 2021 - By 

    We have a new band to follow, and they’re out of Bulgaria.  E.U.E.R.P.I. produce a sonorous and pleasantly dark ambient music that sounds heavily influenced by the works of Steve Roach, Matthias Grassow, or even Lustmord.  E.U.E.R.P.I. have proven to be as masterful at using field recordings, blending them into their live performance as documented on this record.  One to watch out for.

  • Music

    Scott Lawlor – The Mountains Cast Long Shadows

    November 23, 2021 - By 

    Scott Lawlor is an incredibly prolific composer out of Corinth, Texas.  He’s collaborated with scores of musicians and has many fine albums under his belt, but this is a one-track piece clocking in at a bit over 1 hour and 14 minutes.  It’s drone laden, cavernous in sound, and surprisingly warm, a bit like going for a walk under a volcano and feeling the magma and steamy water while you journey ever deeper into the bowels of the earth.  Well done.

  • Music

    Giedrius Kuprevičius – Erotidijos

    November 9, 2021 - By 

    Giedrius Kuprevičius is a Lithuanian composer with roots in theater music.  Erotidijos has a rather long history, originally being released on cassette in 1994, but the latest release adds around 30 minutes of music, and is available on vinyl as well as download. From his Bandcamp site: Erotidijos is a haunting yet hypnotic tableaux Kuprevičius originally created for a Stanislovas Rubinovas theatre play staged in 1994 in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Lithuanian composer was one of the founding members of the pioneering electronic pop outfit Argo and has written dozens of scores for stage and film over the past several decades, imbuing…

  • Music

    D^mselfly – DF​/​C30​-​RW

    November 4, 2021 - By 

    From Hreám Recordings‘ website: Originally released as a double-header with St James Infirmary’s ‘Apport’, here now on it’s own and sporting a batch of new jelly-green shelled and cased cassettes…. DF/C30-RW features six re-imagined and re-worked tracks from the first three Damselfly albums. Focussing on some of his more delicate arrangements, Damselfly’s 2020 versions breathe new life into the original soundscapes, where neoclassical meets ambient drone to serve you up an alternative sonic taste of his beloved home county of Sussex. I have to say that this release by D^mselfly is one of the most pleasant ambient discoveries I’ve come…

  • Music

    Taphephobia & IDFT – Kandu

    October 24, 2021 - By 

    For the Halloween season, our friends at Reverse Alignment Records (now run by the Unexplained Sounds Group Empire) out of Sweden and Italy have released an album which has roughly the same spirit as such post-Industrial/dark ambient musicians as Lustmord or Steve Roach.  Taphephobia is the brainchild of Norwegian composer Ketil Søraker, and on this album he is joined by the Iranian sound designer Behnoud, working on this album as IDFT. The tones one this album are long, sweeping, and as bleak as black water pouring out of a nightmare.  Perfect for the season.

  • Music

    Fallen – Ljós

    October 21, 2021 - By 

    Italian artist Lorenzo Bracaloni composes under the name The Child of A Creek / Fallen, and this release on ROHS! Records is quite a treat for fans of ethereal music.  It reminds me deeply of when Harold Budd collaborated with the Cocteau Twins, but in an instrumental form.  A truly calming release.    

  • Music - Spoken Word

    Oceanic Vibrations – Vol. 1

    October 19, 2021 - By 

    This is one I’ve been waiting to hear for some time, and it did not disappoint. American poet Shane Beck (who happens to be a very old friend) paired up with British electronic musician Dave Onley as Oceanic Vibrations to join their worlds together elegantly.  Beck’s voice lends itself to the soundscapes Onley produces, melding a clear, heartfelt and pensive poetry draped on top of music that reminded me of early-period Tangerine Dream or even Cosmic Jokers in the more pulsating parts.

  • Music

    Alejandra and Aeron – España 1998​-​2004

    October 18, 2021 - By 

    Alejandra Salinas and Aeron Bergman have been working together as sound and multimedia artists since at least 1997, and perhaps farther back, though their prodigious corpus vitae isn’t so clear on when, exactly, they began recording together.  One can surmise that they have been collaborating on CD since 1998, if this compilation is anything to go by. What do we find from their oeuvre?  Electroacoustic music that has a hazy, dreamlike quality to it.  There are gentle rumblings, drones and bits of electronic music that have a nearly magical quality to them.  It’s pleasant music with which to daydream –…

  • Music

    Yann Novak – Bathed In Light And Rapture

    October 14, 2021 - By 

    We’re lucky to have so many talented musicians and composers in Los Angeles covering all genres.  One of the most intriguing I’ve come across lately is Yann Novak, who hails from Wisconsin originally, but who is, like myself, a Southern Californian.  Yann has recorded with labels such as 901 Editions, Dragon’s Eye Recordings (which I believe may be his own label), LINE, Room40, and Touch, among others. His credentials are impeccable. This release on Room40 (all praise to Lawrence English for running a fine imprint) has as its cornerstone the composition The Ecstasy of Annihilation, which is 7:30 in length. …