isolatedmix 38 - Bulb

My first introduction to Bulb was his track, ‘Tenderness‘, one of the most atmospheric and emotional pieces of music I have had the pleasure of discovering. Since then, i’ve stayed close to Daniil Vavilov’s music, both his more beat-orientated electronica as Bulb and his ambient alias, ‘Fill’.

Daniil’s ‘Into The Deep‘ podcast has been my guiding source when searching for new electronic music, sometimes filed under ‘170 bpm electronica’ or ‘autonomic sound‘ – a unique blend of ambient, electronica and drum’n bass styles, that the likes of ASC, Synkro and dBridge have been associated with. When artists like these push the boundaries of genres, opening up new names, new mixes and new styles, I have nothing but appreciation for the people responsible.

Daniil’s ambient work is also pretty special, as previously featured on ASIP ‘Scenes‘ for example. But as Daniil notes below, his two alias’s are increasingly merging together and his latest ‘Insider EP‘ is a great example that I recommend checking out.

For his isolatedmix, Daniil has paid tribute to the many styles described above and his emerging convergence of ‘Bulb’ and ‘Fill’, putting together a very personal journey. Slithers of light and melody cut through this deep and emotional mix – another sublime addition to the series and a genuine insight into one of my favourite producers of late.

Introduction to the mix and track notes by Bulb.

Stereogamia is a reflection of my current state, that’s how I feel now. You can plunge into my world for a hour and look at it through my eyes in some way. I don’t know anything that would have a stronger impact on me than the music. It is my guide. It’s the first time i’m not using my alias ‘Fill’ for this kind of sound. It can be said that this division is disappearing now.

The first track by Accelra is similar to birth and growing up. Something perfect, a beautiful face with the cruel reality of trying to keep to your original self. I see something familiar to me in this, so I can feel it deeply.

Second track called “For” borders with a question: “For what?”. At the end of the track we seemingly near the answer but the conclusion takes us back to the beginning leaving the listener wondering exactly that.

The third track by Jacaszek portrays loneliness through its piano and chords. In addition – rustling, crackling, vocal and strings stir the memories.

For me “Eos” is about the fact that everything is cyclical and everything has its end. I love that low voice in the track. Someone says that I have one too.

‘Hunted Twice’ by Deaf Center reminds me of a chase or a hunting scene. I like how the very stressful and dangerous atmosphere at the beginning changes to a soft and warm sound. It feels like the light on the horizon.

‘Hover’ is a very strong track. I love this song, particularly the evolution in the middle. Sounds like something well hidden trying to break out. Perfect arrangement and effects.

The seventh track by ‘Allez Allez’ is the longest track in the mix. I think there’s an epic progression here. For me, this is not the kind of track that you should unwind in the middle. The transitions helps you float away.

‘Metallic Monks’, is great. It’s the soundtrack of the game of my childhood – ‘Fallout’. The first time I saw this game I was like “What a load of crap”. But shortly I realised it was the greatest game I had ever played and it definitely changed me. There was a huge, complex, exciting and truly post-apocalyptic world. Mark Morgan was responsible for some genius soundtracks.

‘Mistake’ is from my Syktyvkar friend – Volor Flex. I think this is one of his unreleased tracks that he sent to me. You should listen to his first album called “Tramp”.

‘Gravity Jump’, another soundtrack from “Limbo”. It’s a very deep and beautiful game. Yeah, I really love atmospheric games with great sound design…

‘Alpha’ is the atmosphere of inner tension, erupting through melody and sharp fragments of sounds, which refutes the illusion of serenity. The high and distorted guitar in this track is the peak of emotions.

The last one is by my Slovakian friend Keosz. I hear the striking lyricism, tragedy and beauty at the same time in this track. Is this the end of it all? Of the mix maybe…

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Accelra – Three Suns [Futuresequence]
02. Nils Frahm – For [Erased Tapes]
03. Jacaszek – Zal [Miasmah]
04. Ulver – Eos [The End]
05. Deaf Center – Hunted Twice [Type]
06. Ferrein – Hover [Farver]
07. Allez Allez – Defeatist (Somfay ‘Doubled Up Foldable Iona Rarity’ Remix) [free]
08. Mark Morgan – Metallic Monks [Fallout OST]
09. Volor Flex – Mistake [dub]
10. Martin Stig Andersen – Gravity Jump [Limbo OST]
11. Talvihorros – Alpha [Hibernate]
12. Keosz – Desire [dub]

Bulb on Soundcloud | Facebook | Podcast | Twitter

Ocoeur – Light As A Feather (Exclusive stream)

“Au coeur” translated into English is simple: “to the heart”, so get ready for yet another great album to hold a special little place in your beloved 2013 music library.

A name which is brand new to me, Franck Zaragoza has previous releases on the Spanish netlabel Musica Vermella, and has now signed his new album with n5MD – a perfect home for such a vivid, melodic piece of electronica and exactly the type of release that helps hold n5MD in high regard amongst us melodic electronica fans.

An organic start, the album begins with ‘Light’, a dramatic soundtrack with quivering strings and a poignant melody – a darker side to something you may come to expect from Rhian Sheehan for example. It quickly takes an even starker dive with squelching beats and a distant echoed tinkering in ‘Resonanace’ which serves as a perfect prerequisite to a lighter track with beautiful instrumentation, ‘Reconstitution'; cello and violins taking center stage amongst an innocent foreground.

Don’t let this fool you into thinking we’re on to another soundtrack-esque album.’Dream Pursuit’ sets the tone for straight up electronic brilliance. If there are any deep techno DJ’s out there reading this, then you’ve just found a killer – ‘Astral Projection’. The dark and dingy club scene is primed and the crowd are gently rocking with the atmospheric chugging. The “holy shit what is this track?” moment. It’s tracks like this that inspire me to revisit my record collection and put together a mix with this as the pinnacle moment.

But don’t be forgetting the very first sentence of this post. This album has emotion and ‘My Love’ is it the heartbreaker. A distant rainy day, accompanied by a soft and gentle piano. Nothing else, apart from a gentle break in the album and sudden recognition that ‘Light As A Feather’ is going beyond your expectations.

The sharp, snappy beats that we come to love from many electronica n5MD artists such as (ghost), Proem and Crisopa, make their mark on ‘1.11’ and the album ends on a sweeping ambient number full of distant children’s voices and deep, prolonged pulses in ‘Envol’. By now,Ocoeur has you dangling from his fingertips, but should you invest in the album and get the two additional bonus tracks, you’ll fall victim to two of it’s finest moments. ‘Kids Playing’ and ‘Out The Road’ – I don’t even want to comment on these two, I just urge you to get this and experience the full journey from start to finish.

Yet another accomplished album which depicts a tale of highs and lows, joyfulness and dark, symphonies and glitches, intelligence and simplification. 2013, and n5MD has adorned us with (ghost) and now Ocoeur; this may be one of the label’s best years yet.

ASIP is lucky enough to have the first full album stream below and you can pre-order with immediate MP3 download now.

ASIP025 Stray Theories - Frozen Skies

 

We’re so busy navigating concrete jungles and determinedly juggling schedules with mindless routine, it’s a welcome rarity for many of us to experience true postcard perfection. But walking in the shadows of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, Micah Templeton-Wolfe found that the snow-capped surroundings stirred something as he travelled through the south of the country. 

“’Frozen Skies’ captures the feeling of the first time I travelled throughout the South Island of New Zealand in 2005,” he explains, “I was truly amazed by the raw beauty of the landscapes, from the stillness of the vast lakes to the majestic heights of the Southern Alps. Every time I’ve visited this place, there is an overwhelming feeling of solitude, of being totally immersed in the vast and striking textures of this beautiful place." 

A track that hums into life from atmospheric beginnings, it feels like Karin Dreijer Andersson’s warped yelp is lurking, ready to wickedly cut through the drone. Instead, ‘Frozen Skies’ evolves into a track of yearning discovery, its moody, glacial pace mirroring the cold beauty of the landscape that inspired it. 

Awash with fleeting builds and yearning strings, it feels like a mournful journey of a dying day; the sun sinking into the glacial lakes in the distance, a soundtrack to just staring ahead and seeing life, not death, in a ruggedly endless horizon. 

John Beltran – Amazing Things

Where to start with this one… I mean, if someone was to ask you about John Beltran, where would you start? What pigeonhole would he undeservedly be forced into? I’m pretty sure a lot of people wouldn’t even know who he is unless coming from some sort of techno background. Sure, after last years brilliant ‘Ambient Selections’ it would be easy to assume this was his bread and butter since the early 90’s. I mean, John did follow Aphex on R&S Records with a similarly legendary album (Earth & Nightfall) but if you dig a little deeper, his productions span the very definition of an electronic music spectrum, from latin infused downtempo to straight-up Retroactive techno.

OK… so apply that very thinking, that experience, and that mentality of an artist that just does exactly what he feels, and you end up with a pretty amazing album. “There was no real plan [for the album]. Some of these songs (“Clouds Pull”) are over two years old. This album is truly an accumulation of music inspired by my life as a new father but I didn’t write these songs for an album per say. I guess it was just written with a lot of love.”

You know those albums which immediately grab you, those albums that you think about revisiting later in the day because you feel like listening to something little chilled; or something more upbeat; something to wake you up a little? Well this isn’t one of those albums. It’s a collection of music that shape-shifts, evolves and then deconstructs anything you previously had in mind, rebuilding your feelings and thoughts alongside every new listen.

By far my favourite track on the album, “Clouds Pull” is a stark reminder of some epic 90’s piano work that is the epitome of the above statement; with every listen evoking something new, sparking elements of so many other musicians – be it sad, happy, elated or euphoric. Folk-esque, melodic tracks such as “Our Second Summer” and “Flower Power Submarine” seek a gentle introduction to the warmer seasons and wouldn’t look out of place on a Bibio record. This vibe continues with the likes of “Seasons Go”, echo-ing the new innovators of garage such as Fourtet, Burial and the ‘chillwave’ sounds of the likes of Stumbleine. Then there’s tracks such as “Medellin” and “Broken Mechanism” which are quite simply, brilliant ambient electronica, and need to be heard without any comparisons.

Many albums are named to define, but very few succeed. But I think you’ll agree, this one’s definitely amazing.

Buy at Delsin, including a limited Blue Vinyl edition.

Rhian Sheehan – Stories from Elsewhere

Every time I put my head down and write about an album from one of my favourite artists’ I check back to see how many superlatives i’ve already burnt on previous albums and posts, compare the differences, check the evolution and try to get a sense of any new direction the artist may have taken.

Whilst checking on Rhian Sheehan’s last album review, ‘Seven Tales Of The North Wind’ (which by coincidence was published exactly one year ago!?) and playing a few of the tracks from the album again to refresh my memory, it’s quite clear that Rhian has had a change of scenery with ‘Stories From Elsewhere’, or perhaps, been inspired by a different season. Where ‘Seven Tales Of The North Wind’ was a sunny autumn day atop a hill with the wind in your hair, ‘Stories from Elsewhere’ is very much the summers day with life and energy injected back into his approach. The Music Box and playful melodies make a welcome return in tracks such as ‘Creation Myths’, (I seem to remember Rhian featuring a few amongst 2008’s ‘Standing In Silence), and there’s even electronic undertones in tracks such as ‘Nocturne 1985′, hitting on dare I say, nostalgic M83 notes.

‘Sileo’ and ‘A Thimble of Sorrow’ provide a welcomed check back-in on Rhian’s blissful post-rock ambient state, pulling on the emotions and typifying Rhian’s exemplary approach to music scores and heart-aching string-work. Fans of Hammock’s recent offering ‘Departure Songs’ will feel at home here. Then Rhian really begins to get back to his best on the orchestral front, with ‘Nusquam’ – an epic piece which wouldn’t be out of place on any movie-screen and ‘Somnus’, where big guitars are balanced with tinkering pianos, only for the muffled melody of ‘Little Sines’ to play out amongst a perfect outro in ‘Lullaby Machine’.

It sounds like Rhian’s had a lot of fun putting this album together. All of his approaches from previous albums are evident and of course as brilliant as ever. I just can’t wait for the day I get see this guy live, accompanied by a full orchestra, with that tiny little music box upfront – Rhian, i’m happy to play that part of you need a spare hand!

You can buy the album on Bandcamp.