Ocoeur - Reversed

Ocoeur's 2013 album Light As A Feather, danced with all variations of electronica in one of the most accomplished albums of the year. Melodic breaks and glitch, crossed with straight-up techno, made this one of my most-listened to albums and is the type of milestone release which has helped define n5MD throughout the years.

Franck Zaragoza is back with his third album on the label titled Reversed, focusing on a beautiful modern classical approach - a stark contrast to the energy in his 2013 release. Only the subtlest electronic sounds emerge throughout the ten-tracks, carrying an understated beauty projected through elegant piano and strings.

This intersection of electronic sounds and modern classical has been made synonymous recently by the likes of Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and Max Cooper and it's a hard rank to join, yet Reversed is up there with the best of them.

Title track Reversed, Timeless and my favorite piece, Reverse Yourself, blend ambient textures and gently rolling beats, accentuated by strings, with only the smallest signature electronic glitches peppering each piece, reminiscent of Franck's earlier productions and further defining his signature sound. 

Opening track Flxo, and Souffle however, center around the piano and will make any modern classical fan draw the upmost respect for the entirety of the production - the simplicity and earnest approach you'd often expect from the most seasoned composers.

While the likes of Gionis and Time To Go and Chance, delve into more textured soundtracks, painting vivid landscapes and vouching for Franck as a master of soundtrack.

Ocoeur's ability to not only dive into this territory, but draw distinct, original sounds across the album is what demands attention. Subtle changes are all that's needed when you have the skill to let a beautiful piano do the talking. Reversed is an understated blend of my most beloved sounds and will undoubtedly be one of the best albums of the year for many. 

Reversed is currently streaming in full over on xlr8r and is available for pre-order on vinyl + digital through Bandcamp / n5MD. 

Ocoeur recently put together this mix for Self-Titled Magazine, featuring Floex, Nest, Brambles and The Green Kingdom.

Biosphere - The Hilvarenbeek Recordings

As The Sun Kissed The Horizon, is one of my favorite Biosphere tracks. It's a recording of (what to me sounds like) the empty fields after a bustling summer's day, as the sun slowly sets and people leave for home. It reminds me of my summer's youth, and every time I listen, I picture myself in that exact field, the same field I spent my summers playing football in, hanging with friends and generally enjoying my childhood. Music has the power to reinvigorate lost memories and despite me never hearing this until years later, this track brings back memories every time.

Biosphere's, The Hilvarenbeek Recordings were released last week and capture a similar emotional response. Across the four pieces, we're treated to a similar summer's day in 't Schop, which then develops into a warm, repetitive analog piece. Pipistrellus descends deeper into the grass and gives life to the small ticks, tweaks and sounds of the undergrowth as insects and birds come to life. Audax forms a more traditional Biosphere ambient piece with hollow expanses and a subtle melody as bass intertwines with a gaseous exchange, very similar to his N-Plants release. Strigiformes closes the release, with a vivid night-time landscape, featuring the shriek of birds and Owls amongst crumbling twigs and leaves. 

Biosphere is known for his field recordings, but they are sometimes lost amongst his more electronic productions, or in some instances, slightly too focused on extremely obscure sounds. This EP is the perfect middle-ground and defines the Biosphere I enjoy the most. A subtle mixture of beautiful ambient formed from some of natures finest textures - sounds that have the power to transport from your own relatable experiences.

“In 2013 Biosphere was invited by the Incubate festival in Tilburg to spend one week doing field recordings at the organic farm Boerderij ‘t Schop in Hilvarenbeek. These recordings were going to be released as a single-sided limited edition vinyl EP (100 copies) “for reviews/media/relations only! Unfortunately Incubate never managed to get it out. Last month, this record was suddenly released by the Dutch label New York Haunted without the artist´s knowledge and written consent. Nor did the artist get any chance to approve the artwork and the quality of the vinyl pressing. In fact, the artist has not even seen the record. ”

The Hilvarenbeek Recordings are available on the above mentioned limited vinyl and digital through Bandcamp.

ASIP Wantlist #3 Mike Cadoo (n5MD)

Mike Cadoo is a man of many talents and many guises, and I'm sure plenty of you reading this are familiar with his legendary label, n5MD and his post-rock epic-ness as Bitcrush.  

It was a crate-digging session with him and Brock last year at Substrata Festival that part inspired me to start this mini series; intrigued by the many musical influences that have shaped such well-respected people in the ambient community.

Here's five records Mike's on the hunt for, ranging from a classic ambient LP to modern classical, metal and industrial rock - a spectrum that no doubt influenced his interests and output for both n5MD and his own productions. 

1. Autechre – Amber [Discogs]

While my want-list is not in any specific order I think of this one often when I think of record I truly am looking out for in decent quality at price that is not too over the top. I'm not 100% sure if stock of the repress was lost in the Sony DADC warehouse fire in 2011 as it is "plentiful" on discogs. But the prices for decent quality copies are running in the mid to upper 200s not including shipping. I have special place for this album as it was the only CD I had with me on a west coast tour back in '98. The track Slip being the highlight of the album for me even to this day.

2. Skinny Puppy – Last Rights [Discogs]

I often have heated discussions with Skinny Puppy fans about this album and its predecessor Too Dark Park. I find that Last Rights still holds up to this day where Too Dark Park doesn't (please save your complaints - it's just one person's opinion :P ). I feel Last Rights' more decoupage of sound layering that is barely held together by Oglevie's production gives it a more timeless feel than their other more “fleshed out” efforts.   I have never actually seen an original pressing for sale. While even the 2XLP prepress is going for a decent price when they become available. There is also a Capitol Records version, from Germany I believe, where side A was erroneously pressed with music from a live Poison (yes that Poison) album. Not that I would want that one mind you...

3. Brambles – Charcoal [Discogs]

The LP of Brambles' Charcoal on the Serein imprint was crowd funded back in mid 2014. I completely missed out on it as I didn't even know that there was a crowd funding campaign for a vinyl version. Charcoal is very personal listening and there is no better format for heartfelt electro-acoustic ambient music than vinyl in my opinion. I find this release to be very similar in tone and mood to Last Days or Helios whom in addition to Brambles, I often immerse myself in. While the prices for these aren't as astronomical as some of the others on this list, it might not be as out of reach as I originally thought...

4. Swans – Cop [Discogs]

Showing my age? Well, so what... :) this is a record that I've wanted for quite a long time. There was a time when releases from Neubauten and Swans were played so much in my youth the neighbors I'm sure were wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Cop and the other Swans EP at the time, Young God, were so damn bleak and heavy. Cop was the clear winner in its dystopian weight. There is that heavy double drum stupor of Your Property that still gets my head nodding today. And Gira is so damn mad on this EP. He sounds genuinely fed up with something. Cop even out-weighed most of the metal of that era. While not on this list, I later found similar nihilism in Godflesh's Streetcleaner which I sorta think was the point.

5. God Machine – One Last Laugh In A Place Of Dying [Discogs]

The God Machine were a trio originally from San Diego Calif. They moved across the pond to the UK and then released two albums and a small string of eps on the Fiction label. They made a sort of atmospheric rock-quasi-metal that utilized a decent amount of melancholia and personal introspection. This album is their second and was released after the band had disbanded due to the untimely death, shortly after the album's recording, of their bass player Jimmy Fernandez. It came out in 94' when vinyl was less convenient and the vinyl was fairly limited in release. I did own the CD at one time and I remember that even being hard to come by back in 94.

Purl & Sinius - Oceans Of Sound

There exists a subtle boundary between ambient music and beat-driven electronica. Dub-techno for example, is an obvious style and by that, I mean it often exists within a particular realm, with particular patterns, instruments and recognizable synths - it's hard to perfect but all too often, easy to replicate. And it's not often you find artists that leave you wondering where a piece fits all-together within that spectrum. Not everything has to be tagged or labelled, or even 'fit', but by the very nature of you struggling to place it, makes it all that more interesting and intriguing. 

One artist that continues to blur the boundaries of ambient music, is Purl. Ludvig's releases on Dewtone and Silent Season, have helped establish this expansive, bubbly, organic style which he is now synonymous for, and his latest album alongside Sinius, on Eternell, is another stamp on his lush, silky take on beat-driven ambient music.

With each track averaging around ten-minutes, Purl & Sinius' music is allowed the time and patience to grow and emerge. Be it a tiny cocoon, or a time-lapse of an entire habitat's emergence, each piece holds a sentiment that stays true throughout, yet develops unto itself as if it were an ever-expanding organism. It's this deep attention to detail that enriches each listen, and the swathes of glistening ambience that continue to carry you through like a bird soaring high in a jet-stream, looking down amongst the minute detail of the earths canopy. Crossing dense jungles, hitting blankets of fog, emerging in-front of majestic plains, this music moves you from all angels, and demands more attention.

It's an interesting partnership on paper, but one that makes complete sense once you're soaring with the transcending pads that no doubt come from Bass 'Flo's (Sinius) previous production experience (and who's Discogs page notes an upcoming album with Ulrich Schnauss no-less). Combined with Purl's organic and nurtured detail, it's a must listen to anyone that cares for ambient music. 

With so much detail amongst the ten pieces, mentioning individual tracks is like reviewing an entire album in itself. Oceans Of Sound, is best left up to you and the majestic night sky; or like the album art suggests, the beautiful dance of mother nature. 

Available on Bandcamp

port-royal - You Ware Nowhere (Remixes)

I'm a sucker for remix albums and I'm certainly a sucker for remixes by  a whole bunch of artists on this remix album of port-royal's, You Ware Nowhere.

With thirteen takes on port-royal's distinct glistening euphoria, you can expect the best of n5MD's powerful roster with a wide array of styles.  However, n5MD also opened this one up to a remix competition, so alongside the likes of bvdub, The Sight Below, Arovane and Ocoeur, comes competition winner Gustaf Fjelstrom. Not content with label regulars in full-force, n5MD also invited the likes of Atomnation's catchy electronica artist Tonik Ensemble and techno legend John Tejada amongst many others.

With Ocoeur's latest album coming down the pipeline soon, I was keen to see how he would handle the port-royal magic, and his take on Ain't No Magician is a nice little taster of Frank Zaragoza's upcoming album Reversed; melding modern classical styles with stripped-back electronica.

Remix competition winner Gustaf Fjelstrom elaborates on port-royal's unique style, taking the trance-like original down a notch and adding a touch of class, replacing the Italian's heavy synths with a subtle bass undercurrent.

Adding space, succinct drums and a twist of analog flair, Arovane opens up the vocal-heavy Alma M into a familiar IDM space, whilst fellow ASIP collaborator Rafael drives home the bubbling, twinkling expanse of Heisenberg as The Sight Below.

Tonik Ensemble lay down a dirty bass-line for Alma M serving up the polar opposite to Arovane's earlier careful caress. And in another similar extravagant take on the original, bvdub raises his notorious imagination level to eleven, with an energetic trip through a multitude of breaks, complex beats, trance-like pads and highly pitched vocals - undoubtedly a palette Brock had fun bringing to life. 

If you're not content with the range of styles so far, there's a touch of 80's flair and pop to a few of the remixes too, with John Tejada and Ambidextrous bringing out the european in port-royal. 

With such a wealth of energy, complexity and power in the original music from port-royal, the remixers certainly had a wealth of material at their fingertips, leaving us with an absorbing and intense listen from start to finish, and an educational journey across one of our favorite labels out there; n5MD.

Available now via n5MD and Bandcamp.

Tracklist:

The Last Big Impezzo (HatGuy Remix)
Disco-Adorno (Ambidextrous Remix)
Ain't No Magician (Ocoeur Remix)
The Last Big Impezzo (Remix by Gustaf Fjelstrom)
Alma M. (Arovane Amx)
Tallinn (bvdub's 46 Pieces of Estonia - feat. Aaron Molyneaux)
The Man Who Stole The Last Big Impezzo (Nseven Remix)
Whispering In The Dark (John Tejada Remix)
Alma M. (Tonik Ensemble Remix)
The Last Big Impezzo (Northcape Mix)
Karl Marx Song (To Destroy A City vs port-royal)
Heisenberg (The Sight Below Remix)
The Last Big Impezzo (Attilio Novellino Rework)