Arovane – Ve Palor
I’m quite surprised I haven’t seen a trending topic on twitter or something after n5MD announced the legendary Arovane would be returning to production duties… This is big news! Fans of electronica have long felt his absence. The likes of n5MD’s Loess, and Crisopa have done well to fill the void of Arovane’s glitches, but his return is more than welcome. What to expect? Everything you wanted I guess. The formula remains the same – but the music is reinvented. Nine years is a long-time to be away but when you’re this good, time is irrelevant. Melodic, complex stuttering beats, the kind of music that good headphones appreciate and the mind struggles to comprehend. Available to pre-order on limited edition red vinyl via n5MD.
dalot – Ancestors
ASIP Uncharted Places remixer and (soon to be released) Places Series contributor dalot has been busy recently. First, her ‘Hands’ EP and now this stunning release on n5MD. The title track is emotional, delicate and haunting at the same time. But when the bvdub remix takes center stage and the strings come out to play, the original is taken into a whole new world – as you’d expect from Brock. Izumi Suzuki’s (Linda Bjalla’s) vocals compliment bvdubs more recent style featuring a host of vocalists and this one is no different, complementing the beautiful original.
But what really connects, is the story behind the EP and the emotion felt in the title track (both the original and Brock’s remix). “In December 2012, I spent two weeks going through and sorting out the photographs, notebooks and paper clippings found scattered in the drawers of my grandfather’s desk that was left untouched since 1996. ‘Ancestors’ is a reconstruction of fragments, not concerned with the accuracy of images and moments but with opening up the flood of memory mechanics to imagination and transformation”.
Northcape also features as remixer on the release (i’m a big fan and he is a great addition to a wonderful EP. Northcape’s take is more electronic focused, the vocal is reduced and the melody given space to shine through. ‘Ancestors’ EP will be available through n5MD on October 15th.
Petar Dundov – Sailing Off The Grid
Petar Dundov returns after his rather magical album Ideas From The Pond with a similar stance of synth heavy electronic music. Progressive and expansive, i’m yet to identify any other producers who aren’t afraid to develop such a retro sound within today’s often hideous genre boundaries. The full album is available to stream below.
Fibreforms – Treedrums
“Long before KILN (Ghostly) turned to the sunset-soaked textures of Dusker, and the sonic-carousels of “Thermals”, they made music as fibreforms”. This new release on Infraction Records (the great repository for Parks first releases) is another gem that deserves more of an audience. Combining ambient, melodic guitars and addictive melodies spread across slowly developing drums, this is reminiscent of the kind of guitar combos you’d find from early Jonas Munk, but a little less psychedelic. In fact, this would be amazing to hear live. Buy the CD at Infraction Records.
Heathered Pearls – Loyal (reworks)
Jakub’s ‘Loyal’ LP was a confident jump into the ambient lovers realm – a unique, fuzzy approach to some of the most relaxing and immersive music i’ve heard recently. Now, nearly one year later Ghostly returns with a set of amazing remixes of the album featuring Markus Guentner, Teen Daze, Sun Glitters and Loscil. The one that surprised me though, is the very first track – The Foxes in Fiction Tape remix – stunning!! Available at Ghostly.
Leandro Fresco – Egg Box 007
And lastly, our very own Leandro Fresco has an insightful interview for Relevant BCN and an accompanying mix. Find out about his relationship with Kompakt and news of an upcoming album whilst listening to Arovane, Marsen Jules, Boards of Canada and many of his own works. See the interview and original post here.
Main photograph / Eagle Creek
