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

isolatedmix 64 - Eluvium

Every now and then an album comes along that helps you witness the never-ending journey and evolution of music. Limitless, creative and inspiring, Matthew Cooper, aka Eluvium has consistently pushed the boundaries of his sound since his debut back in 2003, and his latest album, False Readings On, is perhaps his finest jump into the unexpected deep waters of ambient music.

It's an album that draws on contradictions, stark contrasts and a range of ingenious sound approaches, varying from experimental drones, to poised, angelic vocals. It's a subtle jolt in every direction; just when you thought you had him down; Matthew comes surging over the top with a dense smack in the face, full of deep textures and spine-tingling operatic highs.

With such an avid following after years of solid work, both as himself, and as part of Inventions (alongside Mark T Smith of Explosions In The Sky) it has been a dream of mine to see an Eluvium isolatedmix. Just like each of his albums, I would be wondering on his particular angle, inspirations and approach to any extended journey he might dive into. Without him saying so, Matthew's isolatedmix draws a strong comparison to False Readings On; juxtaposing, surprising and uninhabited, full of moments of beauty and of course, new and unique edits on old styles.

I also got the chance to ask Matthew a few questions, so press play on the mix and jump below to find out what Pixar, Portland and the Opera are doing within the world of Eluvium.

False Readings On is now available on Temporary Residence.

"So, I guess I was interested in building a sort of haunting but comforting place.  I wanted to feel like, as a listener, I was being pulled from dream to dream, or scene to scene, almost like the Kurosawa film “Dreams” . A mixture of melodies and feelings from the past all floating by. I also really enjoy the juxtaposition of old vocal stuff and more drone-noise stuff. I think they go well together, and I was really in the mood for some drone noise sounds from a few of my old favorites. I did some mild “toying” with some of the tracks, pretty subtle… but I wanted to carry it that much more into a strange and obfuscated realm, and it helped blend a few things together too.  Quite a few of the pieces are considerably shortened in order to help with the flurry of various images and feelings blending together. 

Thanks for listening and caring. It was enjoyable to put together. I like making things like this.” - Matthew Cooper/Eluvium.

Download.

Tracklist:

1. Rain & Static
2. Valley Of The Giants - Whaling Tale (Momentary Excerpt) [s/t]
3. Scott Tuma - Untitled 4 [The River 1,2,3,4]
4. Moondog - Cuplet [s/t]
5. Eluvium - False Readings On [False Readings On]
6. Chris Smith - Replacement (Excerpt) [Map Ends 1995-2001]
7. Billie Holiday - Please Tell Me Now (Softly Confuzzled Mix) [Collection]
8. James Ferraro - Memory Theater (Excerpt) [Marble Surf] + Chant De Meule / Milling Song  - Unknown Vocalists [Music Of The Ouldeme] 
9. The Ink Spots - To Each His Own [Greatest Hits] + Csengeri - Thunderstorm Field Recordings, +  John Cage / Stephen Drury - Dream (Excerpt) [In A Landscape]
10. Dinah Shore - When I Grow To Old To Dream (Gently Warbled Mix) [In Person With Dinah Shore]
11. Eluvium - Regenerative Being [False Readings On]
12. The Ronettes - Be My Baby (Slightly Melting Mix) [Best Of The Ronettes]
13. Thomas Newman - OJ Savice [In The Bedroom OST] + Croatian Folk Song +
Eluvium - Drowning Tone [False Readings On]
14. Gavin Bryars - The Sinking Of The Titanic [Obscure Records Edition]

~ Interview ~

Hi Matthew. Many thanks for taking the time to speak alongside your stunning isolatedmix. Your new album is probably my favorite release of yours so far and it sounds like it is for many other people. How are you feeling about it all so far? Happy with the response? Was it easy to get this one finished out of the studio?

Thank you for saying that, and YES. It really seems like people are responding quite strongly to the album. I’m never sure what to expect but I’m genuinely surprised by the positive thoughts people are sending my way. It makes me happy to know that so many people can connect with it. 

As far as getting it out and finished etc… it was a pretty difficult ride for me. I went through some bits of anxiety and distress during the process of making this one. Things are getting better now though and it feels good.

I remember reading that you holed yourself up to create an Inventions album. Where was this one conceived? How long did it take? 

Yes, for the Inventions records (so far at least) we have always gone to a house on the Oregon coast and created and recorded and mixed while looking out at the ocean.

This album was made in my home studio in its entirety. I believe the process from start to finish was probably close to a year or year and a half. I do take breaks to sleep and eat and walk the dogs though. Honestly it would be nowhere near that long that if I was actually always working in the studio. Lots of time is spent waiting too. I’ve never been the type of person that can just go into a studio over a few days and complete a record that I would be happy with… or maybe I could, but I doubt it. I really like to take a long amount of time to focus and finesse things and write pieces as they come and let the songs grow and have it all take place in the studio. So doing so in my own place makes the most sense.

I see the album as a very unique sound when it comes to the majority of ambient/experimental music out there right now. Was there an overarching idea behind the album and its approach? Did you set out to make something very different?

I did set out to make something different. I feel like it is a little more aggressive than anything I’ve done in the past. It also has darker themes throughout, which is new to me as I’ve usually tried to stay in the positive spectrum with my music.  The overarching ideas are themes of perspective, perception, belief, misinformation, cognitive dissonance, and confirmation bias within our individual selfs and as a society. And what these things do to the nature of the human being.

I can sense the stark contrasts, from washes of heavy drones, to piano and atmospheric orchestral elements. Can you tell us a little bit about the thinking behind this approach?

I generally don’t think to much about these things on an album basis. As the album just naturally creates itself for me. I do think along these lines on a song by song basis, though.  I tend to try to have an understanding of what I’m trying to convey once I have some bare bones laid down, and choose instrumentation based off of what I feel would best communicate that feeling. Sometimes it is also just throwing a ton of things into a mix and finding out what works and what doesn’t. If I have a melody line in mind, I sometimes know exactly what I want it to be played on. But sometimes I just have to play it on lots and lots of instruments and figure out which one actually feels best and most natural.. or most confusing, if that is the feeling I want to convey.

You’re obviously a talented multi-instrumentalist; what types of instruments, software and hardware were used in the making of the album? Do you have a favorite?

I was using a great many keyboards both modern synthesizers and broken old Casio's and Yamaha's. It also involved modular synthesis, quite a few VST synthesizers, some blank tapes and statics and wow and flutter from them, field recordings, samples, and some Youtube.  The modular synth is my current favorite. I’ve been enjoying using it for many different purposes for the past year or so. Beyond its application to any recordings, I just find it very peaceful to sit with and develop sounds on, and then just sit and listen for a while, and maybe make small changes, and then destroy it. It is like burning a painting after completion, or like a Tibetan Sand Mandala. 

“Do you ever have a dream that upon waking stays with you all day and makes you feel a little off about things?”

— Eluvium

There are lots of voices and operatic vocals featured in the album and they add a beautiful, unexpected element to the recording. What was the thinking behind these inclusions? Are you a fan of Opera?

I had two purposes for the lyrics. One was to ensure that there was a purity and richness that could reach out above the chaos and noise, but I also had specific words and sentences that I wanted to include throughout the album. They were created by taking samples of very very old recordings. I had some words that I translated into Latin and Italian, and then took the samples apart note by note and put them together to phonetically sound out the “libretto” of the album. I wasn’t always able to perfectly hit it, without sacrificing some musicality, so I’d let the music lead me. But i didn’t want the sounds to be meaningless. I knew no one would ever understand them, but it was important that they carried weight.  I do like opera. I’m not a huge fan or anything. I like the Arias. Doesn’t everyone like the Arias?

You mention dreams in your mix inspiration, was this also the case for the album? 

Dreams were not the direct inspiration, as I mentioned before about the concepts for the album. But I do think that they very much play a role in creating confusion within us and how we think we might feel about things. Do you ever have a dream that upon waking stays with you all day and makes you feel a little off about things?

Your music has recently been described as pop ambient, maximalism and ultimately, experimental. How do you continue to push the boundaries with your sound and approach? Do you set-out to make a distinct sound or is it purely experimental in approach?

I’m not sure. I guess it is very much experimental in my approach, and my consideration of what themes I will be looking at. But I think there is also an inherent “me” that will always show up and that is the connecting fabric of everything I do.  Also - quite simply, I get bored easily with whatever it is I’ve just done and simply want to try something different that I haven’t done before. Sometimes these changes are subtle and sometimes they are more dramatic. It isn’t quite so “planned” as some people/reviewers tend to think. I just go with the flow. Resistance is futile. I’d just consider myself lucky enough that people still care and enjoy what I do.  I know I haven’t made it an easy ride to follow, but it isn’t purposeful, it is just wanderlust, I think.  People try to draw a deeper picture than necessary when it comes to the route taken.

So, Portland. I lived there for 3 years up until a year ago (I'm gutted I didn’t bump into you or see you at a show!) The ambient scene was great though, with some really amazing people making it happen. Do you enjoy what’s going on there? Is it somewhere you’ll call home for a while? 

Haha. You should’ve just gone to the book store. I was probably in the fiction section.
As far as enjoying what is going on here. Absolutely, there is always very interesting music coming out of this area and the community is really great and for the most part supportive. But things change and the city gets bigger and loses some of those things along the way. It is the nature of life.  Honestly, I don’t even get out very much here. I’ve never truly felt like a part of the music scene at all, but that has less to do with the scene and more to do with my social anxieties.  Nonetheless, yes, with all the changes occurring and rapidly destroying the old town I loved so dearly, it is still home to me, and it will probably still be home to me once the cool points fade away too. — I’d like to travel and take in some other cities more though. Live in Europe for a while, etc… but the Pacific Northwest will probably always be home, in one way or another.

Is that the sound from the film 'Contact' at the end of 'Fugue State’?!

It is the sound of the transmission they receive which include the plans to build the wormhole machine. 

Lastly, based on your track title ‘Movie Night Revisited’, what’s playing at your house when we all come over for a film night? 

hmmm….so many to choose from… I’d probably start with something from Pixar. Then move into the dark comedy “The ‘Burbs” starring the more early physical comedy of Tom Hanks, and finish off with “My Dinner With Andre”. Those are probably my 3 favorites ( with the Pixar one changing title from time to time). But I’m also really into anything late 1940s or late 30s - so maybe “You Can’t Take It With You”, or “The Thin Man” series, or “Larceny Inc.” We’d be up all night. Why not Kurosawa’s “Dreams” while we’re at it.

Eluvium Web | Facebook | Twitter | Temporary Residence

isolatedmix 63 - Warmth

With previous releases on Etoka, Rohs! Records and MOSHItaka, Spain's Warmth has been a staple contributor to some of the many labels that keep the ambient genre a deep wealth of quality music. It's easy to push such labels aside unless you dive in and spend time absorbing the output- these labels provide a consistent source of exploration for ASIP and undoubtedly inspire many more.

After several releases, gaining love and attention from a wider ambient following, Warmth decided to release his best work to date on his own label, Archives - now another growing, well-respected home to ambient and dub-techno. The album, titled Essay, was the coming-of-age for Warmth, demonstrating his peaceful, atmospheric and lush approach to ambient music, and is already being heralded as one of the best ambient albums of the year. 

With such a defined style and admired respect for the ambient sound, Warmth's isolatedmix provides another platform for expression, taking us through some of his most admired pieces, showcasing some of the inspiration that shaped his productions, and an additional taste of his own work.

An introduction to the mix, in his own words:

"It all starts with a track called 'The Place', which I made especially for the mix. I started the project one afternoon; usually when I get some time to produce, but I woke up in the middle of the night. I could not sleep with the heat and I started working on the mix of the track. The last time I did that was years ago, but the truth is that it was quite inspiring to work on the project with the dawn light in the background, maybe that's why it ended up sounding a bit dramatic.

There is also a remix I did for a self-released track of Purl, titled 'Sagan', which should be released some time in the future. He is one of my favorite producers and I really wanted to get my hands on his music. At first I did something closer to the original track but I felt like that was not working and I ended up starting from scratch, using some of the ambient parts and adding some pads on my own to make an ambient version. 

You can also hear a track from the upcoming album by Purl on Archives 'Form Is Emptiness'. It is called 'Vissna' and is one of my favorites on the album, the track has a haunting and tense beauty. There are also some tracks from producers close to me that I really admire, as Logic Moon, Shuta Yasukochi, Tobias Hellkvist, Murkok or Robert Farrugia and pieces from artists who inspire me a lot, as Siavash Amini, Arovane & Hior Chronik and Hotel Neon".

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Warmth - The Place [Unreleased]
02. Purl - Sagan (Warmth Remix) [Unreleased]
03. Shuta Yasukochi - Tape Machine [Archives]
04. Murkok - Veda [Bandcamp]
05. Purl - Vissna [Upcoming]
06. Tobias Hellkvist - Vesterhavet 1 [Bandcamp]
07. Logic Moon - The Shape Of Room [Archives]
08. Hotel Neon - Remnants [Bandcamp]
09. Siavash Amini - Dusk [Futuresequence]
10. Arovane & Hior Chronik - Relief  [ASIP]
11. Robert Farrugia - Timbre [Archives]

isolatedmix 62 - Benoît Pioulard

A Kranky Records regular since 2006, Thomas Meluch has slowly but surely earned a swell of respect and admiration from the wider ambient community through his textured instrumental manipulations.

As well as his Benoît Pioulard pseudonym, Thomas has also produced alongside Rafael Anton Irisarri as Orcas, with two albums on Morr Music, and more recently, released my favorite album of his to date; Sonnet, which I was lucky to witness live on a hot Portland summer evening last year.  2016 however, sees a bitter-sweet production in his latest release, Radial; treating us listeners to some special unreleased productions, including his own take on an Aphex Twin classic, Stone In Focus.

Just like Aphex's ambient classics, such as Rhubarb, Thomas' interpretations and indeed his productions in general, reproduce this simplicity and swell of emotion.  Radial captures the very essence of Thomas's work, as a spectrum of degrading colors, gently shift in waves of warmth, static and blanketing drones.

Radial, comes under disappointing circumstances however, with Thomas recently breaking his wrist while hiking, hindering him from working and producing. Funds from the EP (currently name your price on Bandcamp) will go towards medical bills and lost hours of production. 

A track from the EP has the final word in Benoît's isolatedmix, appending a considered mixture of music that has helped keep him company since his injury:  "these are some of the records that I've found to be most healing over the past couple of weeks while mostly kind of cooped up at home with books, movies and cats." Healing indeed, as the mix drifts between soothing deepness in Warmth's recent ambient output; Markus Guentner's, Baryon; and Zane Trow's futuristic experimentations, alongside moments of uplifting light from Bibio, Chilly Gonzalez and Elvis Depressedly. 

Download.

1. Ant'lrd : Aplomb : Split
2. Andrew Chalk : Untitled : The River That Flows Into the Sands
3. Colin Stetson : This Bed of Shattered Bone : New History Warfare Vol. 3
4. Elvis Depressedly : Weird Honey : Holo Pleasures
5. Future 3 : Trmbns : With and Without
6. Warmth : Odessa : Essay
7. Memory Drawings : Sunstruck : Music for Another Loss
8. Markus Guentner : Baryon : Theia 
9. Saint Hildegard : Ave Generosa : A feather on the breath of God
10. E and I : A Perhaps Song : An Inch of Air
11. Chilly Gonzalez : Rideaux Lunaires : Solo Piano II
12. Zane Trow : Arcade : For Those Who Hear Actual Voices
13. Bibio : Wren Tails : A Mineral Love
14. Kyle Bobby Dunn : Duck-Faced Fantasy : Kyle Bobby Dunn and The Infinite Sadness
15. Benoît Pioulard : Madrigal : Radial

Benoît Pioulard | Web | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Facebook

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