Five Years

It’s been five years to this day (26th) since the very first post on ASIP.

Looking back, it’s been an incredible journey and I never thought that five years later we would have amassed over 40 very special isolated mixes by some of my musical heroes, over 27 digital releases, again by a multitude of talented artists and more recently, our very first physical release in Uncharted Places. Not to mention an iPhone app, the Places Series map and of course, an amazing bunch of likeminded ambient and electronica lovers who I wouldn’t have otherwise met.

I’ve been helped along the way by some very generous people. Most recently, everyone who helped support Uncharted Places but for a couple of years now there’s been a little donate button at the top of the site and some very kind people have been so kind as to contribute directly to the ASIP cause. This money has helped push the site on further, from the small things to the bigger developments, we wouldn’t be here today without these people.

Everyone who donated directly to the site was asked to suggest their favourite track for a compilation mix which has been kept behind closed doors for over three years now. I could’ve kept this mix going, but I feel like it’s the right time to release it as a thank you to all of those involved and to help celebrate five years of ASIP.

As you can imagine, it’s more a compilation than a mix, spanning ambient, electronica, chill-out and downtempo but as a whole it does a good job in recognising the type of music we all enjoy here on ASIP.

Thank you to everyone involved in ASIP these past five years.

Download

Tracklist

01. Ulrich Schnauss – A Strangely Isolated Place
02. Cliff Martinez – Don’t Blow It (Submitted by Reef Younis)
03. Cream Sound – Not Alone (Underset Ambient mix) (Submitted by Vadim Tkachenko)
04. Cocteau Twins – Cherry Coloured Funk (Seefeel Remix) (Submitted by Roberto Sodano)
05. Max Cooper – The End Of Reason – Ambient Rework (Submitted by Pete Srdic)
06. Gel Sol – IZ (Submitted by Ian Borthwick)
07. Susumu Yokota – Love Bird (Submitted by Alexander Strachan)
08. DJ Food – The Dusk (Submitted by Eric Fletcher)
09. Lulu Rouge – Ninna Nanna (Featuring Trentemøller & Alice Carreri) (Submitted by Andy Schneider)
10. Kalliope – Lunar Landings (Submitted by Felix Schuermann)
11. Speedy J – Tesla (Submitted by Nicholas Dawson)
12. Bola – Heirairerr (Submitted by Scott Ivell)
13. Rim – We Can Row To The Shore (Submitted by Eiko Bron)
14. Signaldrift – Missed (Submitted by Ruben van den Belt)
15. Underworld – To Heal (Submitted by Arthur Ort)
16. Keith Kenniff – Branch (Submitted by James Burke)
17. Carbon Based Lifeforms – 20 Minutes (Submitted by Mads Linden)
18. Shelflife – My Coordinates to You (Submitted by Michael Dilliott)
19. bvdub – Don’t Say you Know (Submitted by Adrian O’Conner)

This compilation is dedicated to all of the people below who have helped support ASIP in recent years. Some of the track suggestions didn’t make the final mix but I want you all to know I am eternally grateful for your support: Vadim Tkachenko, Pete Srdic, Roberto Sodano, Reef Younis, Ian Borthwick, Alexander Strachan, Andy Schneider, Dustin Main, Eric Fletcher, Simon Hunter, Nicholas Dawson, Lionel Rigal, German Lewizki, Jonathan Lees, Andreas Gaisbauer, Michael Wiswedel, Krzysztof Szafranek, Michael Dilliott, Gustavo Rodriguez, Matt Gibbs, James Burke, Adrian OConner, Fatih Tuter, Julie Bender, Giles Croft, Volker Wieprecht, Felix Schuermann, Dave Ridley, Mads Linden, Ruben Van Den Belt, Aaron McLoughlin, Ian Borthwick, George Potter, Tim McGovern, Derek Davidson, Mike Grove, Michael Nilsen, Eiko Bron, Scott Ivell, Joakim Sandstrom, Jason Anderson, Tonn Poorter, David and Carla Palmer, Michael Stipicevic and Alex de Guzman.

And lastly, thank you to everyone who has supported ASIP (be it in monetary terms or not), it’s amazing to know there are people with a similar ridiculous passion in this type of music. Long may it last.

(Artwork created using some of my favourite landscape photos from the past five years, most of which you can view here).

ASIP – SpacesFM Guestmix

SpacesFM is one of my guaranteed audio stop-overs for ambient and cinematic music and has been for several years now, ever since I found a mix by the site’s curator, Latty. Featuring many exclusive mixes, interviews and features such as ‘The Composer Series’ as well as home to the Cinematics radio show which also airs on Frisky Radio (home to Nick Warren’s Soundgarden show no less). If you haven’t explored SpacesFM yet then there’s a backlog waiting for you, and now an additional bonus mix from me. It features some of my all-time favourite tracks from Autechre, AFX(Aphex Twin) and Alva Noto, man of the moment, Segue and the first preview of 36‘s forthcoming Places Series track, ‘Heather Spa’.

For more information and a little additional introduction, see SpacesFM. The mix will be aired daily at 8PM and 2AM GMT and you can alsostream and download here. The mix is also available to stream and download through the ASIP iPhone app.

Big thank you to Latty for the opportunity to feature.

Tracklist:
01. Floex – Zorya Polunochnaya (ASIP looping edit) [Minority Records, 2011]
02. Biosphere – As The Sun Kissed The Horizon [Touch, 1997]
03. Alva Noto – Is Otto Roessler Right [Unseen Records, 2011]
04. Alva Noto – Xerox Monophaser II [Raster Norton, 2009]
05. Loess – Retinue [Toytronic, 2003]
06. Heathered Pearls – Ringing Temple (Decreased Version) [Ghostly, 2012]
07. Jon Hopkins – Abandon Window [Unseen Records, 2011]
08. Nils Frahm – More [Erased Tapes, 2011]
09. Autechre – Autriche [Warp Records, 1993]
10. AFX – Analogue Bubblebath [Mighty Force, 1991]
11. Segue – Parchment [Silent Season, 2013]
12. bvdub – I Would Have Waited [Distant Noise, 2011]
13. Leandro Fresco – El Cruce Imposible [Kompakt 2013]
14. 36 – Heather Spa [astrangelyisolatedplace, forthcoming on The Places Series 2013]
15. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – a1 [Erased Tapes, 2012]

ASIP Polarlichter Places Series Special

I was kindly invited to put together a mix for the brilliant Polarlichter Radio show on Campus Crew Passau, hosted by Thomas Adamski. I chose not to curate just any old mix for this special occasion, but instead, focused on highlighting The Places Series and some of the featured artists inspirations.

I didn’t want to approach this mix by just including some of the tracks from the series like an extended promo; instead, I wanted to make it a little more insightful, dig a little deeper and explore the story behind the story. Each Places Series track describes a personal journey, and every artist has an inspiration. So, I asked each artist to provide an example track that may have directly, or indirectly inspired their Places Series release.

This formula meant I couldn’t approach the mix how i normally would like to, but it ended up being quite a journey, full of twists and turns, spanning the spectrum of music covered on ASIP. It was amazing listening back to the artists and their inspirations, noting the smallest of similar details or the evolution of certain sounds which have been made their own.

Each Places Series track, is immediately followed by it’s inspiration as detailed below in the trackist. I couldn’t fit all of the Places Series releases in, so I hope this persuades you to listen to and download the rest of the series.

Polarlichter airs every two weeks and you can keep up-to-date with shows on the Facebook Page. Up next, are mixes from the legendaryLoscil and fellow music friend Das Kraftfuttermischwerk. Previous shows are also archived on the Polarlichter Mixcloud.

Thanks to everyone who listened live to the show tonight, your comments and support. And a big thank you to Tommy for being such a great host and talking about ASIP (despite it being in German!) It doesn’t feel complete without his voice, but here’s the mix without the intro’s from Tommy!

Download.

Tracklist:
01. [00.00] ASIP023 Benjamin Dauer – Six and Twelve (Forthcoming)
02. [05.40-09.48] Leonardo Rosado – Amidst The Crowd A Love Story
03. [09.48-15.13] ASIP002: enh – Roke DOWNLOAD
04. [15.13-20.21] The Sight Below – At First Touch (Simon Scott Remix)
05. [20.21-27.47] ASIP018 Parks – Black Day, Silver Sea DOWNLOAD
06. [27.47-30.26] Belong – Very Careful
07. [30.26-33.04] ASIP017 Sonae – Traurigtag DOWNLOAD
08. [33.04-37.00] Apparat – Goodbye (Instrumental)
09. [37.00-39.34] ASIP005 Levi Patel – Dissociation DOWNLOAD
10. [39.34-42.40] Ólafur Arnalds – Lag Fyrir Ömmu
11. [42.40-49.26] ASIP025 Leandro Fresco – Almas Sin Prisa (Forthcoming)
12. [49.26-52.15] Brian Eno – Be Calmed
13. [52.15-57.22] ASIP007 Kevin Bryce – The Park by Franklin DOWNLOAD
14. [57.22-1.02.06] Boards of Canada – Everything You Do Is A Balloon
15. [1.02.06-1.07.26] ASIP022 Audioglider – Heathaze Days DOWNLOAD
16. [1.07.26-1.11.37] The Bear And The Sea – Sandblonde
17. [1.11.37-1.15.41] ASIP013 Public Transport – Rosenheim DOWNLOAD
18. [1.15.41-1.21.58] Ulrich Schnauss – Blumenwiese Neben Autobahn
19. [1.21.58-1.22.43] ASIP001: Kit – The Peace House DOWNLOAD
20. [1.22.43-1.32.11] ASIP001: Kit – I Grew Up Here DOWNLOAD
21. [1.32.11-1.40.38] Secede – Born In A Tropical Swamp

ASIP – White Light

This is one of the first mixes I've put together with a complete story in mind. It began after I watched a video which showed five men as they stood on the ground as an Atomic bomb was detonated 10,000 ft above their heads. You can watch the video here – it’s pretty powerful and thought provoking for so many reasons. For example, this ‘test’ would never happen today with real people, so I found it ridiculously intriguing to watch and listen to, but it also made me think about what would’ve happened for real, when a nuclear bomb was dropped during wartime. From the very first moment; what you see, what you would think, how the country recovers, the thoughts the victims go through, the hope it inspires and the new life it creates. Pretty deep I know, but I really enjoyed trying to pick tracks which invoked these emotions and told a story from start to finish.

Download

Tracklist:

01. [The Drop] “Five Men At Atomic Ground Zero”
02. [The Moment] Norge – 165 Minutes With You (Forthcoming on ASIP)
03. [The White Light] Segue – House Of Cards (Dewtone)
04. [The Realisation] Wolfmaps – Landforms (Futuresequence)
05. [The Angst] The American Dollar – Par Avion (Self-released)
06. [The Clearing] Four Tet – Peace For Earth (Text)
07. [The Realisation] Max Cooper – Gravity Well (Forthcoming on Traum)
08. [The Determination] Lusine – Make It Easy (John Tejada Remix) (Ghostly)
09. [The Hope] Loess – Sofar (Toytronic)
10. [The Return to Life] Crisopa – Gaviot (n5MD)
11. [The Complicated Memories] Onego – Ne Serdis’ (Forthcoming on Fuselab)
12. [The New Life] Martin Nonstatic – Vertraumt (Subspiele)
13. [The View From Above] Aurastore – Outside The Solar System (Energostatic)

ASIP – Shattered Sky

Watching it grow. Watching it break. Watching it melt away.

A mix made whilst watching the above… featuring a host of my favourite tracks both old and new, as well as an exclusive preview of Markus Guentner’s contribution to the Places Series.

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Module – The World Spins Without You (Imagineering / Self released)
02. Claro Intelecto – Still Here (Reform Club / Delsin)
03. Donnacha Costello – Rebuild (Composure /  Mindgames)
04. Loess – Viscer (3D Concepts / Toytronic)
05. Aeroc – Summer’s almost over (Viscous Solid / Ghostly)
06. Boards of Canada – Peacock Tail (The Campfire Headphase / Warp)
07. Orange Crush – Cosmic Shores (Self released / Free download)
08. Petar Dundov – Ideas From The Pond (From Ideas From The Pond / Music Man)
09. Chromatics – Tick Of The Clock (Night Drive / IDIB)
10. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – a1 (Stare / Erased Tapes)
11. åpne sinn – Still Transmitting (En Seier / Relaxed Machinery)
12. Markus Guentner – Dockside (Forthcoming on The Places Series / ASIP)