Donnacha Costello - Stay Perfectly Still

Any new instrument, software, toy, or newfound capability to be creative is going to inspire you to be more productive. Just this past July, Donnacha Costello gave us his latest creation from his synth-inspired world- Love From Dust, and he's already tweaking the style and approach on his beloved Buchla Music Easel to bring us a new album, titled, Stay Perfectly Still. 

Love From Dust varied in approaches (which was outstanding given the overall simplicity in end-sound), invoking a certain Japanese feel alongside moments of complete ethereal, sci-fi induced space music. Stay Perfectly Still sees Donnacha refine the sound even further, getting closer to his 2001 ambient core and drawing parallels with productions such as Dry Retch. 

Melodies develop slower, layers envelope with more patience, distortion creeps unknowingly, tones become softer, the blanket gets softer, and you nod-off to sleep quicker. 

This Way, is the albums quiet interlude, to a quieter, That Way. Enso is the albums yang to Love From Dust's, track Farewell.  It's easy to draw comparisons between them both but you'll notice a maturity in approach, a taming of the beast, a taming of the Buchla maybe. Such a machine boasts such potential, and it takes skill to refine a sound rather than push it any many different directions.

Available on Bandcamp in vinyl and digital formats. 

Read more on Donnacha here, where I dive into some of my favourite tracks from his esteemed Color Series.

Helios - Yume

It's been three years since Helios graced us with a full-length album and in that time, those who followed him on social media may have seen the many soundtracks and scores he's been working on for the likes of Facebook, Apple and Google. A fitting job for such a talented artist and good on him for paying the bills through his talent, but it's been at the expense of his fans, craving new material under the Helios name. 

A successful Kickstarter campaign this year helped kick Keith's newest album into gear and we're now once again graced with his gentle, post-rock, ambient-blanketed touch.

Die-hard Helios fans will be pleased to know the sound we grew to love hasn't departed. A slightly more confident approach and some subtle experimentation and depth across instruments is more present; perhaps brought on by his recent soundtrack work. Uptempo tracks such as Pearls, and slow-burning melodies in Sing The Same Song Twice, are balanced against the grainy warm colors of album-ender, Embrace - my favorite track of the bunch, and Sonora Lac; featuring a gentle, teasing climax that so many Helios tracks sign off with. 

Keith's style is echoed in many of the artists we hear today and rightly so, from classical soundtrack influences, to guitar-licks, Helios' music continues to reign supreme. It's weird listening to this three years after his last album and thinking of all the artists I've listened to in this period that ring true to his sound. It's not to say Helios coined this style, but he was definitely one of the first influences for me, personally, in accessing the more post-rock / instrumental side of ambient music. I'm still to see him live, and live by his Live At The Triple Door, recording. 

I'm still a firmer admirer of his lighter, more textured ambient music such as Vargtimme, and his more recent Moeity, but there's no denying Helios still has the power to transcend genres and pull together a wide-encompassing, perfected sound that touches the soul. 

Available on Bandcamp in Digital and CD formats, with vinyl coming soon.

Neglect - Western Romance Novels

One thing I noticed whilst living in Portland (Oregon), is the ridiculous amount of talent, passion and enthusiasm for ambient music. The community is a fantastic crowd, and I was lucky to meet a few, even DJ alongside, and witness low-key gigs first-hand on many rainy mid-week evenings. I've been meaning to do a separate Portals feature on the city (which will come soon) as the scene is a haven for ambient music lovers, but until then, there's some great music emerging from my previous home which is too good not to share.

Lifelike Family are one of the collectives holding the community together through numerous local gigs and a consistent label presence. Both their shows and releases feature home-grown talent, focusing on some of the many ambient, drone, experimental artists that call Portland, or the greater PNW, home. The label has focused on digital and tape releases (yes, of course tapes are a thing in Portland) but in this case, the label suits the format. It's home grown, with releases in local stores and passed to friends, just like the good old days. And the music, for the most part is grainy, textured and immersive, perfect for the extra analog feels.

Their latest release comes from Neglect - local Portland artist Joseph Valentino. I was unfortunately unable to see Joseph perform during my time up there, and after being nudged in the direction of this release, I'm gutted I missed out.

Neglect's album, Western Romance Novels, seems to pull from a wide array of influences, forming some beautiful tones and textures. The entire album has the feel and patience of a Pop Ambient compilation, with gentle looping strings on tracks such as I Am At Home... opener, We All Want To Belong... and title track Western Romance Novels.

Expansive drones give the album some depth and measure, on The Presence Of Life and organic, evolving guitars liven up the journey on my favorite track of the bunch, Kayenta. Ocotillo Wells reminds me of Marsen Jules' finest pieces with its seductive Castilian guitar licks and ever-expanding delay. Ulf Lohmann or Klimek simplicity also comes to mind - both early Pop Ambient contributors, and you can even pair it with some Harold Budd or Brian Eno if you wanted a 35000ft view - the backgrounds have been perfected and the accentuating instruments subtle and poignant in nature. 

Comparing an entire album to a certain style or series, isn't a habit I want to keep - and you can argue any comparisons to Eno or Budd are pointless, but given Neglect will be new to many of us, I wanted to set the scene and make it a little more accessible to those willing to adventure. Put it this way, even if this album popped out of Wolfgang Voigt's Pop Ambient selections, I wouldn't have been surprised, which is some of the highest praise I can give for Neglect and his superb album, Western Romance Novels. 

I see how much hard work Lifelike and it's many artists and friends put into the label and shows, so supporting music like this is important. But when it's this good, they deserve every praise they can muster. So go like their Facebook page to catch an upcoming show, and chuck a few bucks their way on Bandcamp, either on this album or the many other greats that Jay + Ryan and the Lifelike crew are cultivating. 

Western Romance Novels is available on tape, or for name your own price via the Lifelike Family Bandcamp.

Donnacha Costello - Love From Dust

What seems like an eternity ago, I contributed to Donnacha Costello's fundraising campaign to help him build an album focused on the EMS Synthi - an instrument he had been on the waiting list for 13 years. Despite the overwhelming success of the campaign, Donnacha purchased the Buchla Music Easel instead of the more expensive EMS, but that didn't effect the amazing output which has recently seen the light of day on his latest ambient album, Love From Dust. 

Minimalism, perfected, Love From Dust is a set of warm analog tones, textures and slowly developing pieces that epitomise the vintage sound the synthesizer's creator would have dream't of. This isn't an experimental take on the  synth's capabilities; instead, it's a demonstration of a rare, sought after instrument at the hands of one of it's finest handlers, where all tracks were recorded as live direct to 2-track, with no overdubs or looping. Donnacha's ambient work on his album Together Is The New Alone is testament to his minimal and melodic take on ambient music, and the Buchla Music Easel has enabled Donnacha to take us to even newer places.

His intentions are clear from the very beginning, teasing out a beautiful bouncing melody on Niigata Moment; the warm sound of the synth easing you into the record. Donnacha then dives deeper with my favourite track, Ten Ton. Simple layers build across ten minutes, cascading into a fuzzy drone, demonstrating the elegant, yet raw power of the synthesizer at hand. 

Like the beginning of a sci-fi movie, Asteroid twinkles with mystery with an ominous undercurrent slowly appearing. The beauty of this once far away light, now quickly descending and appearing closer by the second, jarring against the uneasy orchestra that narrates its fall from grace. 

A vivid blinking of lights in Klar picks up the pace, demonstrating subtle changes in tone you'd normally hear underpinning a glowing techno track, helping you picture the Buchla Music Easel at work as Donnacha peers over his instrument, fine-tuning and iterating one button at a time.

Farewell, another favourite of mine, enjoys tones of space ambient we've come to find from the likes of Stellardrone, until the magic of the synthesizer comes to the foreground - a pulsating muddy drone juxtaposes the sparkling, elegant swirls that rise above it. 

Donnacha has always been one to find enjoyable melodies in his ambient works, and he's also one for subtle chord changes across expansive, yet minimal landscapes. This approach comes to fruition in Everything Is Going To Be, as a warping melody slowly degrades over 11-minutes. 

And finally, Unconditional, like a more subdued brother of the opening track, Niigata Moment; the slow rolling synth lulls your eyelids to a close - a perfect book-end to an exemplary album, and one of Donnacha's finest ambient productions yet.  

Available on Bandcamp.

Read more on Donnacha here, where I dive into some of my favourite tracks from his esteemed Color Series.

36 - Void Dance

It's fascinating to hear and follow an artist's journey in real-time. Imagine how many hours we all spend reflecting on notorious albums; analyzing their sound; when it changed; when it got better; which albums started to resonate; which albums you wished they didn't make. Boards of Canada, for example - a fascinating story of development; from the defining sound of Music Has The Right To Children, to the more psychedelic Geogaddi and the apocalyptic tone of Tomorrow's Harvest; it's the nuances in an artist's sound which help us relate and grow alongside them. But more often that not, it's done in retrospect. 

Some fifteen-plus releases after 36's (Dennis Huddleston) 2009 album Hypersona, I'm still hanging on to his ever-evolving catalog with attentive ears. I'm not sure if Dennis feels the same way about this album, but Void Dance, is, a defining moment for me as a listener and voyeur of his beautiful sound.

Void Dance begins with a very recognizable, yet distinctly more refined 36 sound. The soaring strings of Hold On reminding us of Dennis' Places Series release, Heather Spa - echoing desolation and destruction. The intensity quietens for Equinox, as if the event we just witnessed billows plumes of slowly spiralling smoke, and debris is washed ashore a quiet, yet previously beautiful beach, as you peer down from a tiny window miles above. 

Stasis Eject, taken from the previously released EP Pulse Dive (as is the title track Pulse Dive), marks the beginning of the more electronic sounding tracks; lifted straight from an empty shuttle hurtling around Earth's atmosphere - tension, shrouded in an envelope of silence, slowly growing as your suspected realization quickens. 

An interlude of BoC sounding synths signals a change in horizon - a new earth, a new planet maybe, in Meshi Echelon. The inquisitive and melodic Nova, sparkles and quickens with intrepidation, setting up the majestic Pulse Dive. This track, as mentioned before, was taken from 36's earlier EP and is a shining example of Dennis's new approach. Compare with early Global Communication if you will, it's productions like Pulse Dive that will go on to define Dennis' evolution, and when surrounded a quality album such as this, are given the true space and light to stand-out. 

The new life; the new planet; you paid witness to with Pulse Dive, is brought back down to ground level with Tomorrow's World, again, teasing another special moment in the following title track Void Dance. Featuring significantly more distinct elements than previous tracks, and evolving throughout the six-minutes, the evocative strings and glorious melody pair nicely as significant book-ends with the earlier Pulse Dive.

The first day draws to dusk, and a curtain of Diamond Rain slowly descends into the unrecognizable valleys you're sat beneath, spurring a moment of reflection in Sine Dust, finished with a soft gentle whisper from a fellow traveller, or indeed your inner-self.

As the album comes to a close, so does your journey into this new world as you slowly settle down for the night, and the soft, yet haunting sound of The Last Light, lulls you into a dreary state.

I often find Dennis' work to make for perfect mix endings - his introspective emotion is so vivid, especially in previous albums. Ending Void Dance; Endless, is however, one of his most evocative tracks yet, and a perfect reminder of the 36 power. Gone is the melancholy and instead, a feeling of fulfilment and opportunity, amongst the slowly descending pads and soaring synths, tethering a fine-line between all-out trance and bvdub style euphoria.

As you can probably tell by now from my own personal narrative, Void Dance is a masterpiece in storytelling. The 36 sound we've followed for years has evolved, and with it, born brilliant tracks such as Pulse Dive and the title track Void Dance. But more importantly, Dennis didn't let these tracks sit alone or amongst a sub-par album. Instead, he has crafted an articulate journey that accentuates this new style - the innovative, the norm, the style we recognize and the tracks we don't, into an album worth a thousand visuals. It's one thing crafting a couple of tracks and moving your sound forward, it's another positioning this within an entire record.

Void Dance is available to pre-order on CD and digital now at 3six.net