• Music

    Federico Mosconi – Nocturnal

    Federico Mosconi has produced a perfectly melancholy album, one of those discs you will go to at 4 a.m. when the word feels like it will fall apart, yet magically sticks together through a combination of faith and music.  From his label DRONARIVM’s Bandcamp site: “”Nocturnal” is a trip that takes place during the night and ends at the break of dawn. A lonely and (sometimes) melancholic journey through a calm and deep night.”

  • Music

    Omar Ahmad – Inheritance

    Judging by the sole track available from AKP Recordings artist, the Brooklyn-based Palestinian-American Omar Ahmad, this album should be considered one of those albums you listen to at 3 a.m. in order to relax and be at one with God.  The chilled out atmosphere of the track Lapses is shimmering, but not overly so.  What won me over to this release was the interesting one-sheet I received with the promo kit: “At times recalling the emotional landscape of Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Cendre, Inheritance weaves an auditory narrative that evades genre constraints. Enveloping orchestral ambience gives way to hypnotic Arab…

  • Music

    MOREGO – Fascination

    Despite being in a very tough neighborhood, Iran’s new music scene is as healthy as ever, and thanks to Bandcamp, Soundcloud and social media in general, the wider world is finding out about what kind of talent is residing in the country.  Take our friend MOREGO, who produce an IDM-inflected psybient music.  There are gentle beats, floating interludes, and the album maintains a cinematic atmosphere throughout.  Great to chill out to.

  • Music

    Taennya – Natural Serenity

    Taennya is Tatyana Maslova, an ambient music composer from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.  The city is home to some of my favorite musicians (including Roman Stolyar and Sergei Belichenko among others), and it looks like I have another musician whose works will be on my playlist for some time to come. The tracks are instrumental, with big, cavernous washes of sound.  As far as ambient music goes, this gives off a warm, calming feeling without being saccharine.  You will hear beats and voices here and there, and these help to guide you deeper into this enveloping sound.  A very engaging release.

  • Music

    Joachim Spieth – Textures [Sound Library]

    Saturday afternoons tend to be a great time for me to let my mind wander a bit while I’m doing minor chores.  This Saturday’s release comes from Joachim Spieth, DJ extraordinaire, remixer and owner of Affin Records, one of my favorite modern techno labels.  This album is a departure from his normal oeuvre.  We have 57 tracks, most less than a minute in length, of ambient music which can be shuffled for hours of truly easy listening.  It’s not audible wallpaper like most ambient music is supposed to be, but it serves as a good soundtrack for drifting the day…

  • Music - Youtube

    Rettward von Doernberg – Night Drive

    Because this isn’t a Bandcamp release, and because I should be exploring more sites so that readers can enjoy an ever-widening array of music, I am happy to offer for your ears a track by Berlin-based composer (and an alum from the Musician’s Institute in my home town of Los Angeles), Rettward von Doernberg. Though the headline in his webpage had me a bit worried, reading “Indian, Chinese, Electronica and Orchestra: Four Musical Traditions – One Piece of Music,” it turns out that Rettward has the skill to blend these traditions into a quite workable piece of music. I do…