ASIP - Mysteries of the Deep LXVII (Windows at midnight)

I am very honored to be a part of the great Mysteries of the Deep series, which has hosted some of my favorite ambient DJ's and producers over the years. 

The mix I put together was drawn from a scene in my head which involved a kid escaping his bedroom at midnight. After the initial jump down into the garden, the complex emotions as he explores uncharted territory follow. He's scared, intrigued, has a sense of freedom and joy, but knows he shouldn't be out there, as he explores close-by woods, and deserted streets under the yellow hum of street lamps.

A big thank you to Mysteries of the Deep for hosting and to Candace Price for the beautiful accompanying artwork. I hope you enjoy it. 

Tracklist:

01. Ourson - Night Roads [Self]
02. Arovane - Electroacoustic Session 7 [Self]
03. Harkan - Unnamed [Self]
04. 1 Mile North - Broken Corners [Wortcunner]
05. Rafael Anton Irisarri - Abandoned (too soon) [Self]
06. Secret Pyramid - VII [Proposition]
07. High Plains - A White Truck [Kranky]
08. Malibu - Held [PAN]
09. Richard A Ingram - Valehouse 2.2.01 [Medium Format]
10. Arovane & Hior Chronik - Dornenreich [A Strangely Isolated Place]
11. Broken_Canyon - (MISSING) (Sea Of Clouds)
12. 36 - Black Horizon [Self]
13. Steve Moore - Depths Of The Earth [Moon Glyph]
14. Abul Mogard - Unarmored Love [VCO]
15. Paul Wolinski - MidiFlood [Self]
16. Carl Stone - Kuk II Kwan (1981) [Unseen Worlds]
17. bvdub - 01 [Self]
18. Ourson - Night Roads + Carl Stone - Kuk II Kwan

isolatedmix 67 - Mike Cadoo (n5MD)

This one has been a long time coming. Nights in Seattle. Japanese BBQ. Third person twitter conversations. It took some romanticizing, but he gave in. Finally.

If you're an avid ASIP follower over the years, Mike Cadoo will be no stranger. As head honcho of one of our most admired and respected labels out there, n5MD, Mike has presented us with some of the most forward thinking and unique music of recent years. 

n5MD is today's living equivalent of influential labels such as City Centre Offices - (mark my words in a few years to come). Defying all genre norms and carving their own path, n5MD started on a format that was noble and unique (minidisc) and went on to grow, nurture and define some of the most interesting electronic and ambient music associated with the music we love here at ASIP.

Loess. bvdub. Lights Out Asia. port-royal. Winterlight. Preghost. Okada. Crisopa. (Ghost). Even names that have graced ASIP, such as Arovane, Dalot and Ex Confusion. The list of artists that Mike has cultivated is, and will go on to be, a big influence on this particular style of music. He'll likely be a little embarrassed at my compliments and superlatives, but that's what he gets for coming out into the ASIP spotlight with a superb mix of music. In many respects, it's like closing a little circle given how much Mike has impacted, aided, advised and inspired ASIP over the years. He was destined to put an isolatedmix together years ago. 

An artist in his own right, most recently as Bitcrush, recently as Dryft (hopefully again soon) and going further back as a member of Gridlock, Mike's musical taste can be traced back to extremes such as doom-metal, with post-rock influences , glitch and electronica gracing his many production guises. (check out his Wantlist) However, his isolatedmix is straight-up ASIP territory. 

Recent and upcoming tracks from dreissk, Leandro Fresco and RAI (thanks Mike) mixed with n5MD stalwarts Ocoeur and bvdub, and classic productions from Brambles, Dustin O'Halloran and Deaf Center, isolatedmix 67 is a classic in every sense - the friend, the label, the choices, and the mix.

Download

Tracklist:

01. Sarah Davachi – For Piano [Students Of Decay]
02. Belong – Remove the Inside [Carpark]
03. Ocoeur – Time Over (Ocoeur rework) [n5MD]
04. Jon Porras – Pleiades [Thrill Jockey]
05. dreissk – Near the Shore [n5MD]
06. Grasslung – Lay Down In a Ditch [Root Strata]
07. Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri - Bajo un Ocaso Desteñido [ASIP]
08. Moshimoss – Grottuviti [Dynamophone]
09. Brambles – In The Androgynous Dark [Serein]
10. Deaf Center – Lamp Mien [Type]
11. bvdub - Safety In Numbers [Self]
12. Fieldhead – Introductions [Self]
13. Dustin O'Halloran – Snow + Light [130701]

Mike Cadoo | n5MD | Bandcamp | Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud

isolatedmix 66 - Hior Chronik

Hior Chronik's adoration for the piano and cinematic movement was one of the driving forces as part of his collaboration with Arovane. 'In-between', combined the elegance and patience of a seasoned composer, alongside the technical and creative prowess of Uwe Zahn. The combination was a harmonious balance that will undoubtedly make an appearance again soon.

Since 'In-between', Hior has released some of his own works through Bandcamp, titled 'Old Tapes Early Recordings', as well as a steady trickle of piano sketches on his Soundcloud. But it's not just his inclusion in the ASIP family that merits an isolatedmix. Hior has put together several guest mixes and podcasts before, including this Deep Electronics ambient session, and I've always admired his careful considerations and appreciation for beautiful music. 

Isolatedmix 66 features ten tracks  from the heart of Hior's library. Dramatic ambient pieces balanced with delicate piano and cinematic productions in a mix that unearths some of today's many underrated producers. There's no doubt you'll be picking up at least one of the albums featured in this mix.

“While I was returning back to Berlin, I was listening to this music, and once again I felt I have no real base in my life about in which city I’m living. The place that I really belong was there, above the clouds. ”

— Hior Chronik

Download.

Tracklist

1.吉村弘 - Water Copy [Nuvola]
2. Secret Pyramid - IV [Proposition]
3. Tiago Benzinho - Wild Swans Shall Never Be Conquered [Self]
4. Valotihkuu - Sunrise Lullaby [Self]
5. Paul Jebanasam - Rites III [Subtext]
6. Celer - The Carved God Is Gone [Infraction]
7. Jedadiah Bernards - Preface [Self]
8. Hior Chronik - Epilogue
9. Jeremy De Tolly - One [Self]
10. Veroníque Vaka — Minning um Himinn [Moderna]

Hior Chronik will be playing live alongside Arovane on Saturday 22nd April at Berlin's Roter Salon, showcasing some of their productions from their joint album 'In-between'. Attendees may also be treated to some of their upcoming material too... event info. 

Hior Chronik | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | ASIP | Kitchen Label

todos - Kilchurn Session XV

It's 2017. It's almost February. Over the past six-or-so months, someone's been digging away at every corner of the web to find that perfect track for his infamous mix series. It's not an easy task as you'll know by his Cold Shoulders mix; plenty of music falls by the wayside in the process. It's what makes each edition of todos' Kilchurn Sessions that much more curated, synchronized and free-flowing than most of the mixes out there. 

This time, todos returns with some familiar faces to fall out the 2016 music hall of fame, including the melodic synths of Steve Hauschildt and Jonathan Fitoussi, two of ASIP's own, in Lav & Purl and 36, a new one from series stalwart Negative Neutron, and plenty of todos' trademark edits, overlapping textures and bursting mixing creativity. 

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Tracklist:

01. Inon Zur - ‘Liberty Lives’
02. Norwell - ‘TWB’ (Morning Edit)
03. Steve Hauschildt - ‘Same River Twice’ / Cut Copy - ‘January Tape Part 1’ Edit
04. Jonathan Fitoussi - ‘Oiseau de Paradis’ / Genesis - ‘The Fountain of Salmacis’ Edit
05. Scott Monteith - ‘Ghazal 7’
06. ADR - ‘King David’ Edit / VC-118A - ‘Specter’ / Barker & Baumecker - ‘Technogate’
07. 36 - ‘Expanse’ Edit / Norwell - ‘Brighter Days’
08. Barker & Baumecker - ‘Turnhalle’ Edit / Contrastate - ‘The True Believer’ Edit / Max Cooper & Tom Hodge - ’Symmetry’
09. FINK - ’Shakespeare’ (Nachbarn39) / Yann Tiersen - ‘Hurricane’ (Reprise)
10. Rain Dog - ‘Eyes On the Aether’ / Mike Luck - ‘Felt’
11. Barker & Baumecker - ‘Nocturnal’
12. Triames - ‘Closed Shell’ / Ian Boddy - ‘Quantum Of Memory’
13. Karnivool - ‘Om’
14. Lav & Purl - ‘Beyond Suffering’ (buy)
15. Lungwah - ‘Fond Embers’
16. Space Scavengers - ‘Sound Asleep’ / Grand Volume - ‘Fucker’ Edit
17. Shrine - ‘The Burden of Knowledge’
18. Negative Neutron - ‘Marked'

View previous Kilchurn Sessions below or check out todos  Soundcloud for more.

isolatedmix 65 - Würden & Pfeiffer

We start our 2017 schedule with two of ambient music's most recent strongholds, Max Würden & Thore Pfeiffer.

After arriving on Kompakt's Pop Ambient compilation in 2015, and making appearances with tracks in the subsequent two years ('16 & '17) both artists have helped shape the new-school of Pop Ambient artists and sound emerging from this notorious platform - an ever-developing, yet distinct sound from the mind of label boss Wolfgang Voigt. Thore also helped launch the Pop Ambient album series, following in the footsteps of Leandro Fresco, with his debut, Im Blickfield - a melodic and inviting sound that's synonymous with the series.

Whilst also in 2015, Max presented his album Retour on Wolfgang Voigt's other recently launched curated series, Exponate - a label which intends to, "open up new musical spaces and to sound out the increasingly liquified confines between abstract ambient music and art music, between electronica and new music". 

After a production together on 2015's Pop Ambient edition, titled Feinherb the duo intend to continue their plans of producing together. Max and Thore have been enjoying creating mixes in the meantime, with their first dropping Savvy Records last year, and more recently a Winter special on Kompakt last December.

For isolatedmix 65, we're treated to an amalgamation of overlapping textures and finely tuned atmospheres. Expect a similar approach to Markus Guentner's isolatedmix (Ten Years of Pop Ambient), which focused heavily on the Pop Ambient sound, but with some additional unique twists and turns that span the spectrum of influences for them both, all wrapped amongst some carefully considered, extended transitions. 

Mixing ambient music can be exploratory in approach given its similar capacity and textures, and the duo take advantage with many tracks played at the same time. Questioning when one ends and another begins will be a familiar experience throughout - but that's when you know you're wrapped in something so deep you won't want to surface. 

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Intro – Road Works / Open Fire
02. Anton Kubikov – Dekka - Pop Ambient 2017 (Kompakt) 
03. Marsen Jules – Yara 4 - Yara (Oktaf) / The Hunt For Red October (O.S.T.) – Plane Crash – The Hunt For Red October (MCA Records)
04. Gas – Pop 5 – Pop (Kompakt) / Efdemin – Ohara – Decay (Dial)
05. Higher Intelligence Agency & Biosphere – Augusta Road – Birmingham Frequencies (Headphone)
06. Markus Guentner – Paragon – Theia (A Strangely Isolated Place)
07. Max Würden – Perfect Moment - Or Lost (Farfield Records) / Pauline Oliveros / Stuart Dempster / Panaiotis – Suiren – Deep Listening (New Albion)
08. Thore Pfeiffer – Good Life – Pop Ambient 2017 (Kompakt)
09. Cory Allen & Marcus Fischer – Two / Twenty-Two / Seventy- Seven – Two / Twenty Two (Bandcamp) / Shades Of Orion – Liquid Shade – Shades Of Orion (FAX +49-69/450464)
10. Maps and Diagrams – The Shape of Things To Come – Air Texture Volume I (Air Texture)
11. Max Würden – Unterwasser III – Retour (Exponate)
12. Wounds – Losing Focus – Winter Ambient Box (Not on label) / Martin Schmitz – Orgel DX 10 - 50°58'2.19''N, 7°0'6.73''E (Noorden) / Main – Cavitation – Deliquescence (Beggars Banquet)

Würden & Pfeiffer | Facebook
Max Würden | Wuerden.com | Kompakt.fm | Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Facebook
Thore Pfeiffer | Kompakt.fm | Soundcloud | Facebook