• Music

    Joachim Spieth – Textures [Sound Library]

    May 15, 2021 - By 

    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

    David San – Frabulloso EP

    May 10, 2021 - By 

    Thanks to our dear friends at Colombia’s fine techno label, Miniline, for introducing us to the work of David San.  This is a one-track release of danceable tech-house from a composer, whom I believe, works out of Colombia.  There seems to be an amazingly active electronic music scene popping up, to go along with the other, more traditional music which the country is noted for.

  • Music

    Subact – Life EP

    April 6, 2021 - By 

    Subact are based out of Dresden, Germany, and are friends of myself and my former blog, A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music.  They produce a very hyperactive electronic music sound, and the energy given out is dance-floor-friendly.  As well as dubstep, one can hear ragga, jungle, and if you can believe it, Krautrock.  Yes!  They have managed to be one of the few bands who have legitimately modernized the genre, rather than serve as retro band copying the masters (which I have no problem with, to be honest).  It’s good that the lads have managed to keep evolving as any good…

  • Music

    subduxtion – Deep Space

    April 5, 2021 - By 

    Philippe Gerber comes back to us with a new project called subduxtion which flows in a very different direction from other works on his label. subduxtion is the monicker of Christopher Gilmore, a composer I’m very new to.  This tends to go more into tech-house and minimal dub, and the beats are pretty vicious.  An impressive one-off.

  • Music

    Sean Khan – Starchild

    April 2, 2021 - By 

    I came across Sean Khan’s work a couple of years ago when he paired up with Brazilian jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal on a phenomenal record called Palmares Fantasy. He’s back on his own a new Samba-infused track and a remix of it for your listening pleasure.

  • Music

    James Lindsay – Torus

    March 29, 2021 - By 

    April 23, 2021 is a bit of a long way from today, but waiting three and a half weeks for what is a very impressive album is a small price to pay. James Lindsay is a Scottish folk musician who absolutely transcends the genre.  Having had the pleasure of hearing some of these tracks in advance, I have to say that James not only masters folk music incredibly well, but he manages to shift directions into contemporary jazz, fusion (a touch), Nu-Jazz and even hints of ambient music. I’m old enough to remember Scottish folk as being something quite different…

  • Music - Youtube

    Rettward von Doernberg – Night Drive

    March 27, 2021 - By 

    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…

  • Music

    Manne Skafvenstedt – Archway

    March 23, 2021 - By 

    This was a happy surprise.  Manne Skafvenstedt is a Swedish pianist, composer and producer who works in the fields of jazz, ambient, electronics and sound design.  His latest album, Archway, is a calming experience.  There is a sort of sweetness to this music, where the listener actually feels good enjoying these sounds.  It’s not the sugary nonsense one hears in lower quality New Age or modern ambient music.  This resonates, and it might be because he is also a professional sound designer while he’s not busy composing. I have no doubt that those who enjoy the works of Robert Rich,…

  • Music

    Yu Su – Yellow River Blue

    February 27, 2021 - By 

    Chinese-Canadian composer Yu Su produces an album that left me pleasantly surprised by.  Though I found this download under “ambient” music, it turns out that it may have more to do with the motorik music of Neu! quietly subdued by elements of dub, dance music and wee touches of Chinese traditional music buried underneath.  She has launched her own record label, bié Records, which is based in my working location, Beijing, China. As I plan to return in June, provided the government there opens the doors again, I’ll have to look the label up and see what else is coming…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Mailbox Records: Music for Another Sky

    February 24, 2021 - By 

    This collection of ambient music is curated by British record label Mailbox Records.  From their Bandcamp site: About this release: This compilation has been put together in order to raise awareness and/or raise money for the UK charity, Refuge. This means 100% of proceeds from all sales will go to them (after the standard deductions from Bandcamp and PayPal). It was 1971 when Refuge opened the world’s first safe house, so this year marks the 50th year they’ve been helping women and children escape a life of abuse and violence; the first to make the point that violence in the…