• Music

    Doltz – Koquu

    September 13, 2024 - By 

    This release by Doltz, a Japanese band released on the South Korean record label Huinali Recordings, came to me by sheer good fortune.  The music is far more interesting than most ‘ambient’ or techno music these days namely due to it being played on what sounds like a combination of traditional instruments and some electronic processing, though if it is purely electronic, the band have done wonders with the sound..  The pulses are gentle, individual tones have a haunting quality, and this should pass muster with the hardest core aficionados of the genre.  A stunningly good release.

  • Music

    Dionisaf – Shibui

    September 7, 2024 - By 

    From Chitra Records’ Bandcamp site: “Shibui is a simple, unobtrusive beauty that expresses original imperfection and intelligent restraint. The track titles are based on various polysemantic aspects of Japanese aesthetics and culture.” Simple, sparse electronic music.  Not quite ambient, but it’s easy to get lost in.  This is a fine release for headphone listening.

  • Music

    The New Human – Proximity Mantra

    September 3, 2024 - By 

    The New Human is, as far as I am concerned, the new standard bearer for fresh music in the IDM genre.  If you like groups like Boards of Canada, and of course, Aphex Twin, this is going to pique your interest.  From the Bricolage Records Bandcamp site: “For our next release, we welcome the enigmatic producer, ‘The New Human’, to the label with his stunning album, “Proximity Mantra”. “The New Human” isn’t afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve. Proudly incorporating the late 90’s/early 2000’s IDM methodology into his own techniques to create a curious blend of ambient, glitch…

  • Music

    Glós – World Enough

    August 24, 2024 - By 

    Glós produced an album in 2022 I thought would be worth sharing.  From our friends at Affin Records: “The trip to the sea was already a few days ago… arriving in the city, looking for orientation, the time of seclusion henceforth gave way to a melange of voices. a polyphonic mixture, meanings faded away in the room and again created the wish to hear nothing more. back in the room, in which seemingly nothing moved and time stood still. lost in thought, all the lights, voices, sounds of the streetcars, cogwheel of time… terminal station, deceleration. darkness and shadows…”

  • Music

    E-Clark Cornell – (S Sontag

    August 5, 2024 - By 

    The magnificent Kalamine Records introduces us to yet another astounding ambient music composer, E-Clark Cornell.  As his Bandcamp site says, this is music “…that celebrates the Intellectual, and intelligence in making Art.”

  • Music

    Cocoon – You’ve Arrived

    August 1, 2024 - By 

    For those of you old enough to remember the seminal French cold-wave band Clair Obscur, this album relates.  From Cocoon’s Bandcamp site: “Cocoon is Christophe Demarthe’s project. It continues Clair Obscur’s attempt to shift the frameworks of performance and reception, using the means of electronic music, video and performance.”

  • Music

    Passepartout Duo and Inoyama Land – Radio Yugawara

    July 31, 2024 - By 

    From the band’s Bandcamp site: “Passepartout Duo is formed of Nicoletta Favari (IT) and Christopher Salvito (IT/US), who since 2015 have been on a continuous journey travelling the world’s corners, engaged in a creative process they term “slow music”. Having been guests of many notable artist residencies and with live performances in cultural spaces and institutions, their evocative music escapes categorisation. With no fixed abode their musical pilgrimage brought them to Japan first in 2019, which prompted a deep connection to Kankyō Ongaku ‘environmental music’, a genre in which Inoyama Land is often associated with, soundtracking the duo’s first immersive…