Bass Communion – Ghosts on Magnetic Tape
September 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
The 2004 masterpiece Ghosts on Magnetic Tape by the musical mastermind Steven Wilson shows his versatility as a musician by creating evocative pieces of minimalism with the aid of processed field recordings as well as using old 78 rpm records played at half speed to achieve an aural, ethereal sound that is all together haunting as it is beautiful. The tracks feel seamlessly linked together but at the same time each inherits a uniquely different sound world.
The tracks make the listener feel very confined within the music, trapped in the pulsating sound, but at the same time drawn in and trying to capture all that is going on. It is that pulsating sound that is so near and dear to myself as a listener of Bass Communion because it makes the experience of intently listening to the record all the more satisfying and rewarding.
The piece, unlike most contemporary music (of which this is most definitely not) has no crescendo or memorable part to the music. It is one constant piece of flowing, morphing sound and should be viewed as such.
To even call it music in the traditional sense is a bit awkward and a moot point. The piece is an experiment in pure sound and what can be done with pure sound. A piece like this challenges what the regular tradition of what sound should be. I recommend this to any beginner of Bass Communion, as this was the first piece that I had heard by one of Steven Wilson’s alter egos and would not be writing this review if I had not heard his other Bass Communion pieces as well.
This is the most true-to-form piece by Bass Communion that I have heard and believe that it is was the sound that Steven Wilson was going for since starting this project.
5 stars – Sean Bradley
Buy Bass Communion – Ghosts on Magnetic Tape @ Amazon
Biosphere – Patashnik
August 1, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
Patashnik has been my favourite album for years: as I am on here to replace the snapped tape in immortal optical plastic, I thought I’d share my impressions. Its actually a good one to own on tape, for a bit of analogue comfort-noise and ease of continuously looping it.
First off, the album is haunting but hummable. Certain other works of Jensen’s (eg Shenzou) sound like a whale with wind but patashnik is an earlier work and remains more strongly in the dance-music tradition, plunging from ethereal heights to pulse-racing breaks with the fluency of a falcon, then cruising in an intellectually active but viscerally tranquil state of grace which can last for subjective days. One track I take issue with has the cheesy sample “…an Extra-terrestrial disk-jockey” repeated several times. In the end I re-recorded the tape with just the intro and the first part of the sample re-cued a few times (“can you imagine..?”). I also threw in the drum solo from a nameless sixties rock song to fill up the rest of the space, and provide a much needed bit of analogue palate-refreshment. 10 minutes of silence were another excellent adjunct to the music, at the end of the other side of the tape.
Listen and love.
‘Novelty Waves’ is the Biosphere song used in the Levi’s advert so many years ago. With its ominous melody and growling bass, it probably is the piece of work that Biosphere (Geir Jennsen) is best known for, but it hardly reflects his full sound. This song was recorded at the time when Jennsen was slowly moving away from the beat driven songs on his previous album ‘Microgravity’, into a much more ambient soundscape electronic field of music.
This album though is probably the best one to go for for first time listeners to Biosphere. It contains a mixture of beat driven and ambient soundscape tracks, as well as icy electro tracks and warm sounding electro tracks. Out of all his albums it is certainly the most listener friendly.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not innovative or cutting edge, far from it. Biosphere is widely respected as a man who can conjure up sounds which other electronic artists can only dream of. This album is quality from start to finish.
A landmark album in the field of electronica from the mid-’90s.
Buy Biosphere – Patashnik @ Amazon
Brian Eno – Apollo
June 1, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
In some ways, Apollo reminds me of the soundtrack to ‘2001’. They’re certainly not similar in musical style, but what brings them together is their dense and pervasive atmosphere. They both exude an astonishing range of moods – fear, triumph, beauty, mystery – all coming from the dark recesses of the universe but ending up resonating deep inside a personal inner space.
Whereas Stanley Kubrick used existing music to such perfection to accompany the free and fictional exploration of Jupiter and beyond in ‘2001’, so Brian Eno crafted a haunting and beautiful space odyssey of his own to accompany the film of the NASA lunar missions.
The eclectic, electronic mix acts as a kind of aural planetarium, taking us on a cosmic tour where harmonious melodies sit next to tuneless soundscapes. Tracks such as The Secret Place and Matta show us deep, dark and menacing outer space, eerie and disturbing, where low rumbles are interspersed with industrial-like noises and wild animalistic sounds. The moon here is less a friendly and comforting neighbour and more an alien and inhospitable cold lump of rock.
It all adds up to bring home the terrifying insignificance and solitude of earth. Should we somehow lose our moorings and go floating – slowly, helplessly – off into the vast depths, it would be a far from pleasant experience.
But then it gently shifts to warmer tones as you drift along the dark side of the moon, weightless and free from apprehension. So far (and yet still so near) from civilisation and sensory overload that your thoughts can turn inwards to meditation and maybe even some slight comprehension. Well, maybe not, but it’s a wonderfully pleasant journey nonetheless.
And then you can lie on the moon’s surface gazing up without fear at the stars to the rich and tranquil twangs of Silver Morning, Deep Blue Day and Weightless. Alien, synthesiser-driven sounds give way, possibly somewhat jarringly, to more human sounding guitars, but the seams are quickly forgotten. Such tracks make you think of all that’s right in the universe, perhaps as you cast a fond glance back to the mother planet and reminisce about all the good times you’ve had.
It is, however, the transcendent beauty of An Ending (Ascent) that caps off the album, perhaps the closest you can get to a musical epiphany and a truly celestial track. Famous from its use in films such as ‘Traffic’ and ‘28 Days Later’, it’s the shining Orion of an already sparkling album. In its entirety, a deeply moving experience
Buy Brian Eno – Apollo @ Amazon
Phaedra – Tangerine Dream
May 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
Tangerine Dream’s first disc for Virgin and an absolute classic! Brooding synthesiser sounds over complex pulsing sequencer patterns, where the intonation constantly shifted and where tunes and melodies and the other trappings of popular music are entirely absent from an album unlike anything else of its day.
The title track opens the disc and is the major work on it: almost 17 minutes worth of absolute perfection! Here you will find soaring Mellotron lines, hypnotic pulsating sequencer patterns and bass guitar lines, together with massive washes of synthesiser sound, all contributing to a captivating whole. There are some amazing moments where the whole tonal centre of the work wanders most disconcertingly: apparently, some of these shifts are accidental and are the result of some frantic retuning of oscillators while the recording was still in progress! The result, whether intentional or not, is arranged to perfection and still sends shivers down my spine even now, 25 years on! The second half of the ‘Phaedra’ track is a contemplative mix of singing Mellotron, deep Moog sounds and other shimmering synthesiser voices, which at times sounds almost orchestral in its textures. Incredible!
‘Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares’ is a beautiful ballad for Mellotron, played over long washes of phased sound and pulsed coloured noise. Its other-worldliness harks back to earlier Tangerine Dream albums, but the delicate Mellotron tones mixed with heavy Moog voices lend it a much more polished air and confirm that Tangerine Dream were now a true musical force to be reckoned with.
‘Movements of a Visionary’ uses bursts of coloured noise, heavily reverberated and echoed to create an eerie introduction to a sparkling shower of VCS3 sounds, over a simple sequencer pulse. An organ line insinuates itself slowly as more sequencer pulses enter, drifting in and out of phase with each other, while the whole orchestra of sounds explores various ideas, in a way that is reminiscent of works on the earlier album “Atem”. Finally, though, this track reduces to a simpler repeating pulse beneath a delicate synthesiser line, which brings it to a gentle conclusion in a way that is suggestive of a new style in TD’s music. A short study (Sequent c’ — pronounce that as “Sequent middle C”) using a single synth voice then brings this whole epic affair to a close.
In all fairness, I should also warn you that you only get 37 minutes of music for your money on this album, but that shouldn’t stop you from buying it. In fact, nothing should stop you from buying it!
Buy Tangerine Dream – Phaedra @ Amazon
Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children
April 3, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
Sitting in my new bedroom as the remaining few hours of 2008 dwindle, I bring with it my final review of the year, I present you with Boards of Canada’s “Music Has The Right To Children”. BoC are a duo who use the warmest electronic equipment and make it nostalgic, the kind that sticks to your insides and heart. Although this particular album isn’t from 2008, I chose to review this, as it remains memorable with hints of new flavors every year I listen to it.
Eighteen rhythmic tracks all beat heavy and all uniquely satisfying. “Wildlife Analysis” is a song with an almost thin membrane, sounding like the beginning of a documentary (kind of BoCs thing, look into their use of old documentaries). Briefly subduing the listener to a world yet to come, the all seeing ominous kaleidoscopic track “An Eagle In Your Mind” has now made its way into your ears. Many tracks, such as the innocent “Sixtyten”, circle around a simple beat that swerves throughout the course of the song. Never do the tracks rely on repeats, but openly refer to them time and time again (as a source?). Spacey “Kaini Industries” in its short time morphs to a wooden sound, and leads to wondrous “Bocuma”. A song that feels like it’s exploring and tapping into what your mind conceives it to be. “Open the Light” sounds like a realization a new way.
Don’t be fooled by “Roygbiv” although it begins with a heavy sound it becomes fun and easy going. Same goes with “The Color of Fire”, a track that may disturb some and cater to others toddler days. This is an album best taken as a whole. A few tracks just don’t meet the minimum time standards to be played alone, and some just refuse to paint on others canvases (lets call these playlist?!).
My personal pick off this album is non other then “Turquoise Hexagon Sun”. A song to me that feels spectator like, and full of good times, yet splintered with regret. This track is an ambient wonder, you distinctly can tell what you’re hearing (pool balls shuffling about, distant questions, brief chatter), but never in pristine clarity. This leaves ones mind to `fill in the blanks’, as years pass the blanks are like a crossword puzzle for an elder. As their diction grows some blanks are near obvious yet they tinker for a deeper meaning.
What I hope you’ve gained so far ,from this review, is although beat heavy it has so much more to offer then the casual `chill’ albums. People are rottenly too critical on loops and miscellaneous things to really feel the album, just continue grading them on X (sound, originality, cleverness ooo extra points!!! Etc). This is an album that can be heard through your ears, eyes, and mind. First few listens may not seem like much but it engulfs you eventually in a land blurry but familiar and never the less comforting. Soar through the skies back to your first flight, or relive the fresh pine air of those mountain park trails. Even uncover some of your day to day doings in kindergarten. Those 10.A.M. bright blue skies, those old shows…This is nostalgia and this is why it’s never bad to relive it. Just reminiscing of it makes people smile, well how about musically absorbing it?
The last thing I’d like to talk about is the albums nostalgic properties. Many remember listening to an old Zeppelin album or Soundgarden mix tape, they remember where they were and yearn for those times again. This album stays current, you might get nostalgia from listening to this album years later, but not sitting in your room with headphones on (like with Zep), it offers a new chapter to recollect upon. I’m sorry if any of this sounds confusing, but trust me on that one. Tells the past, present, and future without even knowing who you are or where you’ve lived. Does that not beat a crystal ball?
Boards of Canada you have done something many strive to do, and so few ever achieve. Memorable, warm, soothing, and just overall interesting, this is an album with high replay value. Some days you can listen to it, other days you can become part of it. So for my final few minutes, before I leave to go who knows where to watch the ball drop, I enlighten myself of a review I’ve been meaning to write. Could never find the right words except 5/5.
Buy Boards of Canada – Music Has The Right To Children @ Amazon
The Future Sound of London – Dead Cities
April 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
This album is a testament to advanced creative thinking. It always was ahead of its time, and i think it still is almost 8 years on. Nothing else exists that sounds anything like this.
Having been an FSOL fan for much of my life, i have never been compelled to write anything about them. Til now, mainly because of the fact that they are still going strong and their music is just as lush and atmospheric as it was a decade ago.
Where to begin. Dead Cities is the only record i have ever sold, probably due to the fact that it was seriously creepy, disjointed and a little bit worrying, especially when accompanied by the artwork, which was a little too apocalyptic for my tastes when i was 15 years old and still listening to Apollo 440.
What a pleasant surprise it was to reaquire this record 6 years on since parting company. FSOL don’t make music like most people do. Their live show is a testament to that. It can only be described as a living, breathing soundscape (anybody with the Lifeforms EP will recognise this), which changes frequently and evokes all kinds of emotions, from fear to joy. The attention to detail is quite staggering, the only other artist that springs to mind with such vision is Amon Tobin.
Daker techno moments surface with Herd Killing and We Have Explosive, which are probably the most accessible tracks on the record. Lesser known gems include Vit Drowning and Yage, a stunningly beautiful section of four tracks which include Everyone in the World…, My Kingdom, Max and Antique Toy. This particular section of the album is the backbone of it, where the rest of it fleshes it out perfectly and provides cohesion.
The closer is a gem. Just when you think all is said and done, FSOL have one last thing on their mind. The heavy metal thrash at the end is very interesting. It would seem almost like a therapy session for the group by trying to get something off of their chests and the signalling of an end of a musical chapter of the band. As we all know, their consecutive albums after this was their Amorphous Androgynous outings which were largely inspired by the instrumental experimentation that went on at this time in the band.
But why 4 stars and not 5? If anybody has listened to much FSOL, this album can only achieve 4 stars with respect to FSOL’s standards. Lifeforms (EP and Album), Accelerator and The Isness have a charm about them. Where these albums are about a celebration of life (amongst other things), this album is about paranoia and the inevitability of death and despair.
The apocalyptic feel of this album is well integrated into the music and artwork, along with their short film Teachings from the Electronic Brain, and it must be said that it does have its lighter moments in the form of My Kingdom, Antique Toy and Yage (I can’t get it out of my head), so it’s not all doom and gloom.
Maybe get the others before this one if you are new to FSOL. It is not a true reflection on the band as a whole, it serves more to demonstrate that “yes, we can go there if we want to” kind of mentality.
But then again, if you like good electronic music, especially those who like Mr Tobin’s work, Global Communication and to a lesser extent Brian Eno’s ambient outings, you shouldn’t be disappointed with this. A timeless classic. Just wish i never sold it in the first place.
Buy Future Sound of London – Dead Cities @ Amazon
Max Richter – The Blue Notebooks
March 1, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
Conceptually, Max Richter’s The Blue Notebooks– German-born composer mixes contemporary classical compositions with electronic elements in a dreamscapy journalogue featuring excerpts from Kafka’s The Blue Octavo Notebooks as narrated by Tilda Swinton– reads like a relentlessly precious endeavor, as new age music for grad students, the sort of record that sagely pats you on the back for being smart enough to seek it out. And yet in practice, despite the fact that it is exactly as outlined above, Kafka quotes and all, there is absolutely nothing exclusive or contrived-feeling about it. In fact, not only is Richter’s second album one of the finest of the last six months, it is also one of the most affecting and universal contemporary classical records in recent memory.
But how to describe music that relies so completely on seeming familiar? Richter may fancy himself in a class with Philip Glass, Brian Eno and Steve Reich (indeed, his hyperattenuated sense of minimalism owes to all three), but unlike his influences, he’s not remotely interested in subverting the traditional rules of composition. Short of one very beautiful moment that plunges an electronic sublow bassline into a deep sea of harpsichords and violas (see: the literally perfect “Shadow Journal”), there is nothing here to suggest that Richter is concerned with anything other than melody and economy. It’s a formula he singlemindedly exploits with staggering effectiveness for the balance of the album’s 40+ minutes.
Constituted mainly of sparse pieces that lean on string quartets and pianos in equal measure, The Blue Notebooks is a case study in direct, minor-key melody. Each of the piano pieces “Horizon Variations”, “Vladimir’s Blues” and “Written in the Sky” establish strong melodic motifs in under two minutes, all the while resisting additional orchestration. Elsewhere, Richter’s string suites are similarly striking; “On the Nature of Daylight” coaxes a stunning rise out of gently provincial arrangements while the comparatively epic penultimate track “The Trees” boasts an extended introductory sequence for what is probably the album’s closest brush with grandiosity. Richter’s slightly less traditional pieces also resound; both the underwater choral hymnal “Iconography” and the stately organ piece “Organum” echo the spiritual ambience that characterized his work for Future Sound of London.
If, however, there is one piece that fires The Blue Notebooks off into the stratosphere, it’s the aforementioned “Shadow Journal”. Featuring a lone viola, some burbling electronics, a harpsichord and a subterranean bassline, it establishes a simple, keening melody and then gently pulls it wide, like warm string taffy, across its eight minutes. The fourth track on the record, it is nonetheless its centerpiece, and on a larger scale, possibly a gigantic beacon for composers searching for useful ways to introduce dance music’s visceral, body-jarring qualities into the classical sphere.
But make no mistake, this is not Richter’s electronic/classical crossover, nor it is really his concept record. In fact, with songs that similarly forgo the temptations of complexity and choice so as to preserve their core ideas, it’s perhaps better thought of as his four-track demo, his lo-fi recording jaunt. It’s Max Richter testing himself to see what he can produce under restraint. Turns out it’s more than he might have otherwise.
Buy Max Richter – The Blue Notebooks @ Amazon
Helios – Unomia
January 1, 2009 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
This is the first album from Portland-based ambient artist Helios that I’ve had the pleasure of listening to, and I must say it was an incredibly eye-opening (or should I say, mind’s eye-opening) experience. We use words like “evocative” and “atmospheric” and “captivating” to describe certain kinds of music that elicit emotional responses of serenity and contentment. But until now, I’ve not really found many artists that do this so well. At the very least, Helios has discovered an unique niche in a genre that needs new sounds and aesthetics.
While much of contemporary electronic ambient music is overly manipulated, minimalistic, experimental, or reliant on sampling classical music and nature sounds, Helios takes the best aspects of the genre and mingles them into a complexly layered symphony. I realize this sounds cliché, but it’s truly the best way to describe the unique aesthetic presented on Unomia. The album covers the gamut from gentle instrumental riffs to melodic downtempo to well-integrated synthy electronica to crafty minimalist experimentation. It varies the mood from soothing to slightly dark to upbeat to almost brooding to serene.
Bottom line: this is an album to be experienced. Grab a glass of wine, dim the lights and plug this one in. I can pretty well guarantee you’ll enjoy the ride.
Solar Fields – EarthShine
December 5, 2008 by admin
Filed under Ambient Music
This is the fifth album from Solar Fields, released on Ultimae, but this in not your usual Solar Fields album, this is TRANCE! I am not going to go into depth about the track, but rather talk about my feelings about this fine piece of work.
Being a fan of Solar Fields, I did not know what to expect, and I rarely listen to samples, cause they dont really tell you whats going on. I did for this album, and I was pretty disappointed to be honest. Not the first time around, but the second and third. Thank god for that, cause it made my more interested in what the final work would sound like. So what about the album?! Well at a first listen, I was at home, and just skimmed through, and it was OK, but then I decided to go out for a walk, give the album some time and listen to it while having my thoughts on the music, rather than sitting here discussing on the forum (haha).
For the psychedelic lover, this is NOTHING, dont even BOTHER if you dont like normal trance or progressive. IF you are into the latter though, you will be into this album. It is VERY atmospheric, very deep and very melodic! Has some acid as well! I came to the third track (Black Arrow) track, while walking and I had to stop and sit down, cause otherwise I would have danced RIGHT THERE on the street. The tracks are rather long, varying from eight and a half minutes to 12 minutes (the longest track). This give time for progression, and this is what this albums is ALL ABOUT. Its about constant changes, progression, melodies and sounscapes that suck you in like the black hole.
Track number five (Spectral Nation) it gets a bit rougher, and you can feel that the course is Changing a bit, and it makes you think about what is to come. Of course, track six (Adjustment) is again very much the upper tempo and driving, just as touched on in track number five (Spectral Nation), but this time a bit more atmosphere. So what started out to be more regular trance transforms into really good scando progg, but still keeps the Atmosphere of the previous tracks! As last track (Cruise) its more trancey again, more atmosphere than the previous 2 tracks, but dont think that it does not have drive!
I love each and every track on this album, its a true masterpiece, and should be rated as 10/10 from me. If it was 1993, this album would have been released on Eye-Q or MFS, that is how much quality this album has!
Now, go and get this one and enjoy the same trip as I just experienced!
Buy Solar Fields – EarthShine @ Amazon
