Keaton Henson - Elevator Song (Ulrich Schnauss Remix) [Forerunners Bootleg]

We'll soon celebrate ten years since ASIP began (2008-2018) and looking back these last few months, I'm reminded of a time when "blogging" was at its purest. The hunt for music didn't reside on social media alone, nor was it served up to you in feeds or through magic algorithms. Instead, you had to hunt high and low on the internet, often ending up on an artist's own cobbled-together website directory, or a select few music blogs (many of which are no longer around).

In fact one of those (you could say) 'blogs', XLR8R, is still around and offering up the same kind of service it did all those years back, hosting free downloads of individual tracks or under-the-radar indie remixes. Albeit more recently than the times we reference above, in 2014, they offered the brilliant Ulrich Schnauss remix of London based composer Keaton Henson's 'Elevator Song' as a free download. A beautiful remix that epitomized the sound and remixing capabilities of Mr Schnauss and brought that synonymous ethereal shine to the original. 

As we get back to our blogging routes (check out this and this as an example if you weren't following us all those years ago), we thought it'd be nice to continue the age of free downloads, by offering a remix, of that remix, by Forerunners (Brenden LaBonte) via Soundcloud. 

Arizona based Brenden and his Forerunners project heralds from a house and trance background (just check out his Soundcloud for many great examples), but we were originally connected due to his passion for ambient music. Stumbling across ASIP some years ago, and a supporter of the label, Brenden decided to send me this track to see if it was something I wanted to offer up to a wider audience.  At first, I hesitated but then I remembered why ASIP even exists and began all those years back - the joy of sharing great music. 

“I am a passionate ambient fan and have been known to selectively rework, remix, and add production to some of my favorites so that I can fit them into live gigs or podcasts and share them with the world. This was exactly the intention I had for Elevator Song, and I think it came together well, at least for my purposes. Properly mastered and road-tested on dance floors worldwide, I felt like it was time to get this into the proper hands, electronic music fans who like myself would hopefully appreciate my humble take on an Ulrich masterpiece. ”

— Brended LaBonte / Forerunners

Now you all should know me by now too, as I have a soft spot for the more dance-floor oriented stuff of old, and this remix is nothing short of brilliant in the way it gradually builds upon the beautiful melodies both Keaton and Ulrich originally put into play.  

Both Brenden and I take great pleasure in presenting this to you all as a free WAV download below. Enjoy!

Forerunners Soundcloud | Mixcloud | Facebook

Original art by SIX37, @six37 on Instagram

Markus Guentner / Empire - now available

From fiery remnants, a universal rhythm emerged.
An ebb and flow of force and fate,
creating worlds within worlds,
forever connected by an infinite empire.

Markus Guentner’s story continues where his last album, 'Theia’  left off with another set of epic atmospheres and brave new worlds. This time Markus enlists the skills of harpist; Tom Moth, cellist; Julia Kent and fellow ambient storyteller; bvdub to complete the journey.

Head to the release page for more information and links to listen/buy or straight to Bandcamp.

Silent Season - Campfire Stories 42 (ASIP - Titan Kawaakari)

You are likely well aware of the brilliant Silent Season label by now, but you may not be aware of their brilliant mix series that's focused on inviting guests to tell a story - Campfire Stories - through deep ambient and techno music. Some of my favorite selectors have graced the series so far, and there's plenty to get stuck into. Listen to the series on Soundcloud. 

I'm honored to be a part of the series and because of the special place Silent Season has in my heart, I spent a long time making this mix as special as possible. It went through around five iterations, and I finally settled on a deep and meditative space-infused ambient mix that aims to be a nice compliment to the release of Markus Guentner's new album on June 11th. 

The mix includes some of my recent favorites by Rafael Anton Irisarri on Umor Rex, Dedekind Cut on Kranky, Terreke's meditative tape loops on Music From Memory, a track from Graintable's debut synth-odyssey album, and a deep cut from Powlos on Faint. Mixed in-between these comes several unreleased tracks and some self-released bits dug out from the ever-dependable rabbit-hole that is Bandcamp. All links to buy and support provided below.

Hope you enjoy the story, and thanks to Jamie at Silent Season for the deep forest hospitality. 

Download.

~ About The Story ~

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object in space, other than Earth, where clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found, including lakes, seas, rivers and rain.

Kawaakari is the glow of a river or stream in darkness or dusk, the gleaming surface of a shadowed river (Japanese 川明かり).

~ Chapters ~

1. Sophia Loizou - Divine Interference (Kathexis) 
2. qebrµs - ฌฎ๒๓๔ญ°°°°° (Self released)
3. Erica Etami - Contemplation (Self released)
4. Merrin Karras - Phaedra (unreleased)
5. Steve Good - Falling Upwards [Self released]
6. James Bernard - (unreleased)
7. Terreke - Ambien [Music From Memory]
8. Grand River - Flies [Spazio Disponibile] 
9. Graintable - 610 [Ransom Note Records]
10. Markus Guentner (with Julia Kent) - Refraction [A Strangely Isolated Place]
11. Dedekind Cut - Hollow Earth [Kranky]
12. Markus Guentner - Redshift [A Strangely Isolated Place]
13. Powlos - Of Theory [Faint Music]
14. Max Wuerden - (unreleased)
15. r beny - Vestigial [Self released]
16. 36 - DNI [unreleased]
17. Acronym - Pointless Endeavour [Field Records]
18. Rafael Anton Irisarri - Mountain Stream [Umor Rex]
19. Isorinne - Views From A Balcony [Northern Electronics]

Image/photo by Aperture Vintage

ASIP - Familiar Spectrums

I've spent this week creating an ambient mix for a fellow mix series/podcast (will be live soon, around mid-June) and whilst I absolutely love crafting considered mixes, I find myself immersed in certain specific styles of music for days on end without coming up for air. As I’m searching for tracks, I’m stumbling across other music that I haven’t listened to for a while - often from the same artists, or labels, but offering a slightly different style to your usual ASIP ambient journeys. Sometimes I need to eject out of a state of mind to truly appreciate what it’s like to be back in it.

Additionally, there’s no doubt that the “rave” side of house and techno is making a hard-earned comeback. Take Skee Mask’s latest album, which will undoubtedly go down as a future classic; Bicep’s self-titled hit, or the Touch Absence remix that’s pretty much every DJ’s secret weapon nowadays- and for a very good reason. I spend a lot of time listening to other styles of electronic music - be it techno, drum’n bass, jungle or other, and I don’t often get to put a mix together that strays from the normal expected ASIP-related stuff. However, I think this has some elements you'll find familiar and stays close in more ways than one...

This was fun to put together, I hope you enjoy it.

Download.

Tracklist:
01. Skee Mask - Flyby VFR
02. Sangam & Thugwidow - Sea Through Glass
03. Brio - Mening
04. Thugwidow - Spoilt British Liberals
05. Skee Mask - Soundboy Ext.
06. Borealis - Skyhall
07. Intex Systems - Resolve: Direct
08. Bandhagens Musikförening - Protokol A
09. Lanark Artefax - Touch Absence (Intimidating Stillness Mix)
10. Aphex Twin - Rhubarb (1159 remix)
11. Rising Sun - Oskar (Le Petite Prince Mix)
12. Bicep - Glue
13. Aphex Twin - On

Image by Daniele Levis Pelusi

isolatedmix 79 - Autumn Of Communion

Mick Chillage and Lee Norris come together as Autumn Of Communion. Between them, their music stretches into the deepest roots of modern ambient music.

Lee Norris' monikers range from the cult 90's electronica of Metamatics and Norken, through to the beautiful tones of The Angling Loser - a collective of ambient artists that also includes Porya Hatami and Will Bolton. Lee's also helming the ...txt label, which has played home to many AOC releases and just recently, a monumental boxset that features the entire AOC discography. ...txt has also presented us with some brilliant albums by Sage Taylor (aka Textural Being) (Raintime) and the more psychedelic ambient sound of Ishq (2016's Fhorm being a fave of mine), as well as becoming home to many of Mick Chillage's productions. 

The label and indeed AOC's sound is no doubt influenced by the legendary FAX label, which also presented Autumn Of Communion's most seminal piece to date, their 2012 self-titled masterpiece. The album was perhaps overshadowed by the unfortunate passing of FAX founder Pete Namlook in 2012, but you can think of no better home, or higher praise for the duo. Mick, is no stranger to this high praise either, with one of the most revered albums on the FAX label, FAXology in 2011, followed by releases on FAX-dedicated output, Carpe Sonum. 

The web of productions between them both runs deep into some of the genre's best rabbit-holes. Just last week, I was in a record shop in Bellingham WA, at a random second-hand record store. I got talking to the owner about the type of records and artists I was on the hunt for and he said, "I just bought something new last week from Databloem". Sure enough he went on to play a CD and out comes Mick Chillage's 2016 album, Paths. It's the type of music that breaks down boundaries and epitomizes the true early 90's ambient sound and arguably, Autumn Of Communion is the purest distillation of their combined works. 

For isolatedmix 79, the duo wade through some of the genre's finest producers, both old and new. Track-by-track, it's a who's-who of ambient music, but the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts - this AOC mix channels the very essence of pure ambient music and the many inspirations behind AOC. 

Download.

Tracklist:

01. William Basinski - 92982.1
02. Tangerine Dream - Sequent C
03. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Fullmoon
04. David Sylvian - The Healing Place
05. Billow Observatory - Plum
06. Tetsu Inoue - Elevator Drops
07. Dots - Dense
08. Cluster & Eno - Für Luise
09. Autumn Of Communion - Streams Pt4
10. Jochem Paap - Dx-Snth
11. Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie - Twilight

Autumn Of Communion: Bandcamp | Discogs

Artwork/image by Ricardo Gomez Angel