isolatedmix 61 - Christian Kleine

Classical trumpet. New wave. Post-punk. House. Hip-hop. Detroit techno...

It seems right to introduce Christian Kleine by describing his early influences, especially if you are familiar with his work. He could quickly become pigeonholed as an early pioneer of IDM and electronica, with legendary releases on Morr Music and City Centre Offices, but whilst this assumption is true for many of us, to this day he prides himself on his openness to musical styles and its many potential influences on his productions.

Christian's most notorious efforts can be heard alongside DJ Thaddeus Herrmann, as Herrmann & Kleine, or as a producer on Arovane's infamous Tides, but Kleine's detailed electronic productions have always remained true to his beliefs and signature sound. Listening back to his first album, Beyond Repair (2001), or his most recent release Coreal (2016), the ambient textures still hold strong amongst the mix of instruments, crunchy beats, glistening melodies and the odd Japanese train announcements. James Holden dropping Leaving you Behind in his Balance mix  (arguably one of the best mixes of all time) proved the timelessness of the sounds to come from Christian and Herrmann. Fifteen years of Kleine so far and we're still left wanting more of the same.

"I try not to exclude any kind of music from being heard in my life. Even at an early age I had a special interest in everything that's different from the ordinary. So at some point, when I was around 16 or so, I found no contradiction playing Detroit techno records in addition to (for e.g) Dead Kennedys, at juvenile punk parties. Some people had a different opinion and tried to stop me, but eventually some began to see some similarities in vibe and sound.  

I try to keep this sort of practice as a general principle in my life; to soak up what’s beyond or before, or what the connecting elements and attitudes in music are. As punk/post-punk, 90s hip-hop, drum&bass and later electronica were big inspirations for me, so was music which is just what it is - music not trying to be classified in any way. This kind of music can often be found from artists who are driven not by fame or money, but by passion and interest in melodies and sound itself - that’s where the most intimate and inspiring forms of music have their home and it’s a pleasure to dive into it. Just drift and let go…" - Christian Kleine.

Christian's ethos is both eclectic and unapologetic when embracing music and it just goes to show how superb both your productions, and your mixes can be when approached with such openness. Isolatedmix 61 is a detailed dive into a multitude of granular styles, with early classical and library influences, soundtracks and more recent ambient and electronica; all forming smaller parts of a bigger picture that Christian sets out to paint. 

Christian Kleine's latest album Coreal is now available on Bandcamp, or if you're more interested in his approach to production, jump into his Ableton software project Max For Cats. 

Download

01. Kagel - Nah & Fern (Montaigne - 1995)
02. Morton Feldmann – Two Hands/Intermission (Another Timbre - 2014)
03. Walt Rockman – Dangerous Deep Sea (Sonoton - 1980)
04. Tone Language – Winter's Thrill (Korm Plastics - 2000)
05. The Focus Group – Leaving Through (Ghost Box - 2007)
06. Christian Kleine – Endless Nights
07. Bola – Aguilla (Skam - 1998)
08. Gene Moore - Carnival of Souls OST (Citadel - 2006)
09. Dorine Muraille – 07 (FatCat - 2003)
10. Takagi Masakatsu – Flows (Karaoke Kalk - 2002)
11. V.A. Heroin – New Years Eve (Staalplaat - 2001)
12. Zbigniew Karkowski + Kaspar T Toeplitz – Le Depeupleur (Recordings Of Sleaze Art - 2000)
13. Raymond Scott – Sleepy Time (Basta - 1999)
14. Kawabata Makoto – I Miss You (Ochre - 2002)
15. Ooze Bap – Track 05
16. Jacob Druckman - Crystalline 

Christian Kleine Web | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Max For Cats

isolatedmix 60 - Porya Hatami

Porya Hatami first featured on ASIP at the beginning of 2014 as we geared up to his release on Tench, titled Shallow. The interview gave a short and sweet introduction to the Iranian producer and his respected field recording and live sampling production approach. 

Shallow, went on to receive the remix treatment on Dewtone, with many of our favorite artists contributing to a stunning release, including: Loscil, Arovane, Halo, Bjorn Rohde, Purl and The Green Kingdom. Porya also combined forces with Arovane and his analogue, granular style on the brilliant Resonance last year - a finely tuned craft of subtle electronics, as well as a partnership with Darren McClure in a similar vein, on In-Between Spaces.  

These partnerships have allowed Porya's subtle ambient manipulations to combine forces with similar artists to great effect so far, and 2016 sees him continue this trend as part of The Angling Loser, a collective alongside Lee Norris, Gordon Jones and Shintaro Aoki.

With all this pretense, it goes without saying that Porya was an obvious choice for the recent ASIP Arovane & Hior Chronik remix EP, where he adorned the powerful cello and deep drones of Past Creates The Future; creating an enriching, deeper and more minimal take on the original. He possesses an acute and powerful skill to manipulate the most delicate of sounds, drawing on single elements and expanding tones, rhythms and emotion. 

For his isolatedmix, Porya gives us a unique insight into some of his favorite tracks that have influenced his approach over the years. The minimal glitch of Raster Noton and Mille Plateaux, transcend into the ambient beauty of Purl, Markus Guentner and Gas before the warm energy of Gramm and Jan Jelinek's subtle beats complete the proceedings. 

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Shuttle358 - Frame  (Frame) [12k]
02. Modul - Kkun I  (Isol) [Raster Noton]
03. SND - 00039 d.6  (Stdio) [Mille Plateaux]
04. Robert Lippok - Open (Open Close Open) [Raster Noton]
05. Farben - Bayreuth (Textstar) [Klang Electronik]
06. Porya Hatami - White Forest (Purl remix)  (Shallow Remixes) [Dewtone]
07. Markus Guentner - Der Wustenplanet  (1981) [Kompakt]
08. Porya Hatami - After the rain (The Green Kingdom Remix)  (Shallow Remixes) [Dewtone]
09. Gas - Königsforst 04  (Königsforst) [Mille Plateaux]
10. Gramm - Type Eins (Personal Rock) [Source Records]
11. Jan Jelinek - Tendency (Loop Finding Jazz records) [~scape]

Porya Hatami Web/Bandcamp |  Soundcloud | Twitter

isolatedmix 59 - Martin Nonstatic: Inside

It's been an amazing 2015 for Martin Nonstatic, with his crowning moment arriving in the form of a stunning release on Ultimae Records. As I wrote last month, and as many have no doubt since heard, it's one of the best ambient electronica albums released this year, so I feel extremely lucky to round out this year's isolatedmix series with a very special effort by Martin.

After a busy few years producing the likes of Granite and rearranging his set up, studio, workflow and recording ­sample libraries, Martin decided to take himself back Inside again. Accompanied by "hundreds of hours of ASIP's beautiful mixes" (his words not mine!) Martin came up with the idea to curate several pieces of his material and create a live mix, dedicated to one of his favorite places.

Inside invites you closer behind the scenes of Martin's studio, through dusty crackled samples, dub chords, layered atmospheres, drones and sonic ideas salvaged from previous live sessions and recordings, found throughout his hardware and recording libraries. 

To make the mix even more special, we've had three parts of the mix mastered by NikosF and prepared for download over on Bandcamp. There's a minimal price for the release on Bandcamp for the people seeking extra quality, but the actual mix is as always, free to download below. 

Thanks to Martin and NikosF for the stunning effort and making our last mix of the year extra special. We hope you enjoy it.

Download.

Buy high quality on Bandcamp.

Martin Nonstatic | Web | Facebook | Soundcloud

isolatedmix 58 - Joachim Spieth

In 2001, the very first Pop Ambient compilation was released by Kompakt.

Track one; You Don't Fool Me. It was a sound that had me hooked from the very start, amongst a series that still reigns supreme today.

Joachim Spieth had the pleasure of kicking off the legendary series but is yet to return, unlike many other Pop Ambient artists gracing more recent compilations. Instead, Joachim focused on producing techno, going on to release across Kompakt and in 2008 establishing his very own label, Affin.

The label has grown to become one of the most respected outputs for minimal, techno, and indeed ambient music, playing host to two Markus Guentner releases; Counting Stars (2008) and Crystal Castle (2009) as well as fellow Pop Ambient contributor Gustavo Lamas, and many more cultivated artists from the mind of Joachim.

With such an esteemed background and deep interest in ambient music I invited Joachim to contribute to the isolatedmix series without any expectations of the sound he would put forward. As you'll hear, Joachim's gone back to his early ambient days, with a well-balanced respect for techno throughout. The dubby presence of Echospace Detroit plays an integral part and he's even been so kind to include one of Markus Guentner's ASIP tracks. 

It's also the shortest track list we've ever played host-to in the series, but with names such as Brock Van Wey and Echospace gracing the list, you can be sure this thing has enough depth to keep you submersed for years. 

Download

Tracklist:

01. Model 500 - Starlight (Intrusion Extended Dub) Echospace Detroit
02. Claudio PRC - From The Nebular Stars to The Mosses on The Granite Rocks - 06 Plantae - The Gods Planet
03. Markus Guentner - Limb - A Strangely Isolated Place
04. Brock Van Wey - Forever A Stranger - Echospace Detroit
05. Intrusion - Static Waves - Echospace Detroit

Tracknotes from Joachim:

Model 500 - Starlight (Intrusion Extended Dub) 
It’s an all-time favorite of mine. The original version touched me so much when I got into electronic music.. and years after I fell on this extended dub .... amazing... could be 20 min longer ...

Claudio PRC - From The Nebular Stars to The Mosses on The Granite Rocks - 06 Plantae
This is part of an installation at Botanischer Garten in Berlin. I was there when it happened. It was an amazing atmosphere... You can find the whole album as a free download on The Gods Planets Bandcamp shop...

Markus Guentner - Limb [available here]
Markus is a master of layering sounds... since our early Kompakt days I love his music.

Brock Van Wey - Forever A Stranger
...like voices of love...

Intrusion - Static Waves
Intrusion, another tune that should never end....

~

Joachim Spieth | Web | Affin

isolatedmix 57 - Sam KDC

Sam KDC has been an integral part of ASC's, Auxiliary label over the past four years, with a series of EP's, remixes and collaborations. In 2012 Sam partnered with ASC on the haunting Decayed Society, a release which marked a defining period for ASC as he ventured further into the dark ambient realm alongside notorious albums on Silent Season. It also solidified Sam as a strong-arm on the label when it came to ambient music - a style he had only dabbled with on previous releases alongside his many electronica, techno and drum'n bass productions.

A full-length album was always on the horizon, but none of us expected it to take five-years to come to fruition. As Sam goes on to mention below and where many producers often relate, it has to be the right moment, or you need to be in the right frame of mind to make this kind of music, especially the introspective, emotional side of ambient music. 

Sam KDC's new album, Late Night Innominate, is an ode to these very personal moments. Struggling to sleep, struggling to wake. Caught in a state of equilibrium, teetering on the edge of light, only to be pulled back into the shadows: "that feeling of recovery or those glimmers of hope"...

The album pans through heavy shaded textures with glimmers of color, slow burning melodies, haunting vocals and an ever present state of anxiety. Track (1) opens with warmth and optimism, before the more structured (and most relatable Auxiliary influence) on track (2) opens the floor for a more melodic expression. Each of the Untitled tracks are unquestionably yet subtly different, which is extremely hard to do across an ambient album - let alone your first. Pulling influences from his previous production techniques may have carved the way for more experimentation when it comes to the art of simplicity, but his play on loops and gradual builds is masterfully executed. My favorite track (5), concludes with the most energy out of the bunch, before a rumbling bass-driven, choral ending in (6), wraps up a stunning album that you'll find impossible to get lost in. 

Late Night Innominate, was released last week, but I've been following Sam for a while now, collecting his many colorful vinyl appearances and secretly wishing for a purely dedicated ambient album since his partnership with ASC on Decayed Society, so his isolatedmix comes at a perfect time. Sam has revisited the feelings that were invoked during the album's production process with a unique blend of emotional, soul-touching music. Some of the tracklist may look familiar, but in a similar vein to his album, the journey is encapsulating and entrancing, told through some of the purest and most heartfelt of producers and songwriters of our time. 

"I wanted to put together something that gave a little insight into where my mind was while working on the LP. It was a very on and off project because for me to write this type of music, I have to be in a very particular mental state, and it's not a state that's easily induced. It's like that feeling of recovery or those glimmers of hope, almost. Those moments where you've not given yourself over to full blown depression, where you can still function enough to get out of bed and care enough to record something. It's a rare state for me to be in, which is why the LP spans 5 years of recordings.

All of the music in this mix are tracks that have been with me in that special state. Some stemming back a lot farther than others, such as the Deftones or Nina Simone pieces. Some more recently, even coming into my life after the completion of Volume 1 of LNI, but still both nurse and reflect that mental state."- Sam KDC.

Late Night Innominate is available now via Auxiliary on marbled vinyl.

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Klimek - For Zofia Klimek & Gregory Crewdson
02. Mogwai - Helps Both Ways
03. Deaf Center - Oblivion
04. Tropic Of Cancer - Temporal Vessels
05. The Verve - Beautiful Mind
06. Alessandro Cortini - Dell' Influenza
07. Isis & Aerogramme - Stolen
08. Deftones - Be Quiet & Drive (Acoustic Version)
09. Dadavistic Orchestra - Strung Valve Checkout
10. Jenny Hval - How Gentle
11. William Basinski - Melancholia II
12. Dark Dark Dark - Hear Me
13. Nina Simone - Plain Gold Ring
14. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away

Tracknotes:

Klimek - For Zofia Klimek & Gregory Crewdson
I found this piece maybe 5 or so years ago, from a trailer for a film "Moon Lake" that my friend Gloria Petkova (who I worked with on vocals on Survive/Exist a couple of years ago)  was in. It haunted me and took some digging to find out what it was. I was aware of Klimek's work already from his Milk & Honey LP on Kompakt, and finding this piece lead to discovering his Dedications LP which is incredible. This particular piece really stayed with me though. 

Mogwai - Helps Both Ways
Come On Die Young has been in my life since those tender teenage years and I still reach for it regularly. One of those albums that you can just melt to. It was hard to pick just one track from it to play, they're all favourites. 

Deaf Center - Oblivion
A more recent recommendation from ASC. Haven't heard anything from Deaf Center which isn't instantly moving. 

Tropic Of Cancer - Temporal Vessels
When in the state that I spoke about earlier, Camella Lobo's work is perfect. Again, it was difficult to choose a piece of her's to include. "A Color" is probably the track I draw for the most, but I felt it's a little overplayed to include here, and this one fits the bill nicely.

The Verve - Beautiful Mind
It's just perfect. Goosebump inducing.

Alessandro Cortini - Dell' Influenza
Another recent one. I was never a NIN fan, and wasn't aware of Cortini's work until the release of this LP. 

Isis & Aerogramme - Stolen
One to sink into the floor with.

Deftones - Be Quiet & Drive (Acoustic Version)
I didn't listen to any form of electronic music until this side of the millennium, before that I was all about grunge, metal, punk etc, but always had a real fondness of the quieter moments. Nirvana's unplugged was my favourite LP of theirs from it's release and when Deftones released the Be Quiet & Drive single and this was on the flip, it's resonated with me on that very special level ever since then. One of those pieces I will have years between hearing, and then when I do, it's a moment to be fully submersed in nostalgia. 

Dadavistic Orchestra - Strung Valve Checkout
An ASC recommendation again. Bliss.

Jenny Hval - How Gentle
I think this is probably my soundtrack of regret. Not in a dark, remorseful or frustrated way, but in a curious almost playful sadness. A wondering of the possibilities of overcoming certain fears, for putting desire before preservation. That kind of thing. An almost lighthearted/dismissive contemplation of things that really cut to the bone, but pretending that perhaps they don't.

William Basinski - Melancholia II
Hearing Basinski's work for the first time all those years ago was a real turning point for me. I'd been a fan of ambient music for a while, enjoying albums by Brian Eno, Aphex Twin and the like of widely known artists, but The Disintegration Loops spoke to me on a level no other ambient had until that point. It was the first time a piece of music reduced me to tears upon the first time hearing it and opened up a whole new musical world for me. I don't know if I would have ever started writing ambient music if it wasn't for hearing Basinski. 

Dark Dark Dark - Hear Me
I really don't remember how this piece came into my life, but I'm very glad it did. One of those "Hanging on in quiet desperation" moments.

Nina Simone - Plain Gold Ring
I love Nina Simone, and Plain Gold Ring is the ultimate immortalization of longing for the unobtainable. 

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
More truth from the man. There's few LP's by Nick than I can really enjoy all the way through, as they often have a moment within them that's either a little too saccharine or a little too abrasive. But this album is amazing from start to finish. I would say it's his most accomplished work. The whole album is moving, haunting and very real and this piece that closes the album rings through long after you've finished listening.