Too dense and sumptuous to be labeled ambient music, what Los Angeles’ own bu.re_ offers is a ride on the clouds on your way to something approximating Heaven. The drones emanating from these works are some of the warmest tones I’ve heard this year. Bravo.
Illinois-based label Somnimage has been on quite a roll producing some of the best post-Industrial and experimental music coming out of the United States. Today’s offering pairs Dan Burke (who won fame as the chief focal point of Illusion of Safety) and label owner Mykel Boyd (who has also performed with such luminaries as The Anti-Group and post doom romance). There are two tracks on this album – the first being a solid sample lasting 7 minutes giving a fine taste of what is coming, and a full track clocking in at nearly an hour of shifting drones, pulses and…
The combination of Micah Frank and Chet Doxas put a very different spin on the work of Saint Hildegard von Bingen. Instead of the deeply mystical Catholic music she is famous for, the duo, along with some impressive cohorts produce a rather filmic work which has the feel creating sound worlds.
Our friend The Mossad has released Paradorone, a two-track drone opus with such an overwhelming feel of foreboding that you it will envelop your spirit in some way. I recommend hearing this over a decent pair of headphones because you will really feel every tick, pulse and movement from these works.
Seah is an experimental music artist from Bradley, Illinois who produces long, sweeping ambient drone. There is an organ-like elegance to the compositions, especially with the first track, Unfurling, which meanders in a way that would fit in an old 1920s soundtrack of walking on the tundra. Many thanks to Somnimage for sending me this evocative gem.
Our dear friends at Kalamine Records have today released a compilation of dark ambient and electronic music that is in keeping with the label’s ethos. Artists featured include label stalwarts like Zumaia, Daria Galabriel and Voleurs. A solid comp.
As the name implies, Pete Swinton’s latest album is a series of gorgeous soundscapes that remind one of a more organic version of artists like Steve Roach and Robert Rich, but with more of a field recording vibe. Very nice for headphones.
Jettenbach were reviewed here once before, and as I quite enjoyed this noisy ambient drone work touched with elements of post-Industrial and Kosmische Kraut, I thought it good to share some new work by the project.
I’m used to expecting amazing things from composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Gburek, and certainly so when he pairs with violinist Karolina Ossowska, but this is a shockingly good album even with such expectations. The album has four compositions which are about as gentle and pleasing as anything I’ve heard in the past few years. It’s farther out than, say, Kosmische Musik, yet elegantly restrained. This is music for taking an inner journey and finding what terrain lies inside of yourself. Don’t think of missing this one, I implore you.
This work by Chinese composers Li Hongqi (violin) and Yang Haison (theremin) is a 52-minute piece of droning experimental music. The feeling of the recording reminds me of early Industrial music and it flows rather nicely. Thanks to storerecords out of Beijing for releasing this.