Passing by: A Sagittariun, eyesix, Emancipator, Scyye & Christ

A Sagittariun – Dream Ritual

I’ve been listening to quite a few downtempo/lo-fi/electronica albums recently so thought i’d get a few together in a Passing by post. The first, a recommendation from my friend Dan, is a must have for any fans of The Orb, FSOL, KLF etc. ‘Dream Ritual’ is an evolving journey through some steadfast euphoric electronica; with ambient, dub, psychedelia, vocal samples and breaks keeping this record both unique and reflective to years gone by. Available via Bandcamp.

Emancipator – Safe In The Steep Cliffs

This album is four years old now, so probably wont come as a surprise to many of you. I’m gearing up to seeing Doug in Portland next month so i’ve been giving his albums a spin and this one is by far the stand-out. His more recent album ‘Dusk to Dawn’ is also worth a spin, but there’s a couple of tracks on here which are another level when compared. Namely, ‘Greenland’, reminding me of Thievery Corporation’s brilliant ‘Shaolin Satellite’ and ‘All Through The Night’ – an instrumental masterpiece that would blow Bonobo out of the water. Available via Bandcamp.

eyesix – eyesix EP

You’ll be quick to draw comparisons with Boards of Canada on this one, and it deserves it to be honest. Dreamy lo-fi from summer 2013 available as a ‘Name Your Price’ on Bandcamp.

Scyye – Timegazing

A much more eclectic mixture than those above from Scyye, but still honing in on that classic Electronica/lo-fi feel. My favourite track is perhaps one of the more ‘ambient’ on the album – ‘Green Garden Gate’ but the bleepy ‘Nion’ is up there – hints of Ulrich Schnauss in parts. While away an hour and you’ll stumble across all kinds of inspirations in this album – this is probably why I enjoyed it so much. Available as a ‘Name Your Price’ on Bandcamp.

Christ. – Distance Lends Enchantment To The View

Seeing as we’re already on the electronica/lo-fi tip, let’s go back to 2009 and to one artist who probably holds the title for ‘Most compared to Boards of Canada’ – Christ. Rumours are that he was part of the early Boards of Canada up until 1995. So if you’ve already got BoC withdrawal since last years new album, try this one out for size. Available via Bandcamp.

Passing by: Gallery Six, Moss Garden, Elysee, Tone Color and Jokers Of The Scene

Gallery Six – Morgunn

This little gem from Hiroshima-based composer Hidekazu Imashige is the perfect introduction to his catalog of ambient work. Take the time to explore a discography that includes collaborative efforts with India’s Twisted Perspective and Cracow’s Lights Dim. Download on Bandcamp.

Elysee – Something Special

16 meticulously constructed minutes that blossom at their half way point. Stick with it. This exceptional talent out of France fuses minimal elements and live instrumentation to convey very real emotion. Definitely follow up with his work for Canada’s Archipel and Berlin’s Sleep Is Commercial. Download on Beatport.

Moss Garden – In The Silence of the Subconscious

Lee Anthony Norris and Dimitar Dodovski combine ambient and techno theory for a gratifying, yet desolate full length experience. The album’s warmer moments contrast with chilly, dub-laden passages that leave you stranded with break-taking views. This promising duo have an earlier EP also worth your time. Download on Bandcamp.

Jokers Of The Scene

The clear favorite on this ambient-themed compilation from Adam Marshall’s New Kanada imprint. Not a roster generally known for their work in the ambient sector, but we’re starting to see a lot more artists try to reach out and expand their horizons. It’s often either a clear hit or miss. This piece from Jokers Of The Scene follows through. Download on Beatport.

Tone Color – The Last Day

Rich textures, vivid field sounds and emotive arrangements star in this beautiful full length effort from Manchester’s Andy Lomas. Rare to hear such expertly crafted sounds on an artist’s debut. A must-listen for any budding ambient enthusiast (oh, and the album is free).Download on Bandcamp.

Kaito - Less Time Until The End

If you’re familiar with 2013’s ‘Until The End of Time’, you may have been witness to the undercurrent of colour in Hiroshi Watanabe’s music, but by no means would you have been thinking about stripping it back. Yet here we are with an album that has found another layer. By mistake? I very much doubt it. ‘Less Time Until The End’ works perfectly, without any of the beats that were present before, and now stands on its own as Kompakt’s latest ambient offering in the midst of the more notorious Pop Ambient 2014.

Maybe it’s because I’ve come into this relationship without a great deal of listens on the original version. Revisiting it now, I have no excuse as to why – it’s brilliant. But this ‘beatless’ version is in every way just as good, if not better.

The start, is slow. “Smile” is perhaps the one track from the previous album that sounds much better with beats – but it sits nicely as an intro into what’s to come.

‘Sky Is The Limit” and “I’m Leaving Home” immediately envelope you into dusk over city lights with calm twinkling sounds, and a sense of intensity brought to life through swirling synths. The laws of a ‘beatless’ album are broken straight away in one track, with thuds of bass, but just enough to entice and tease the former lives of these big, complex techno tracks.

“Run Through The Road In The Fog” stands alone, with hypnotising patterns, strings and keys which overlap, dodge and melt into one another, whilst “Behind My Life” takes a lesson from Thomas Fehlmann – notorious Kompakt sounding synths wrapped in Kaito space and expansiveness. ‘Dear Friends’ is just plain and simple addictive.

This record is packed full or colourful journeys, built around subtle melodies and lush synths. It’s albums like this that helped me appreciate ambient music in the first place. Coming from an electronic background, it isn’t until you strip back some of the more complex productions that you realise the real value of a piece – the purist iterations and the beauty of simplicity that form many of today’s great musical journeys. Emotion, which was once partly hidden, is given the space and time to express itself.

Release on LP, CD and Digital on Kompakt, or iTunes.

Passing by: Tegh, Inventions, Loscil, The Green Kingdom and Ulf Lohmann

Tegh – Night Scenes

Debut full length from Iranian producer Shahin Entezami on Inner Ocean Records (First Porya from Iran, now Shahin!) This is classic, expansive ambient music that’s perfect for reflection, window watching and imagineering. Download from Bandcamp (Name Your Price).

Inventions – Entity

The mighty Eluvium and Explosions In The Sky guitarist Mark Smith are teaming up for a new project titled ‘Inventions’. This track, taken from the self-titled album, is absolutely breathtaking, and i’ll be on the order as soon as it’s available (1st April) via Temporary Residence.

Loscil – Fury

Loscil hits the road this month alongside Fieldhead and with it, comes a split-tour CD. “Although not a collaboration in the strictest sense, sounds were shared by each artist allowing for a sort of aural infusion between the compositions”. As you’d expect from Scott, another masterpiece, albeit perhaps a little more accessible than his previous dark and mysterious tendencies. Seems like the release will be available to those who can catch him on tour first, with digital following on March 10th on Gizeh.

The Green Kingdom – Expanses

This one’s been on Bandcamp for a few weeks now and i’ve seen a few of you guys picking it up already. For those aware of The Green Kingdom, this masterpiece will come as no surprise. Deep textures, field recordings, and dubby elements make for a defining piece of work for Mike Cottone: “This album is, for all intents and purposes, a homage to classic ambient and ambient techno albums of the past”. Available on Bandcamp.

Ulf Lohmann – PCC

I’m cheating a bit now, because the sample below isn’t even the full track, and i’ve already devoted a whole post to Kompakt’s Pop Ambient 2014. But just give it a listen. It’s bloody good. I wish the track was out there in its entirety. Read the full review of Pop Ambient here.

And last but not least, can someone please explain to this guy why Nils Frahm is a genius, and not a ‘piano mess’?

Photo @astrangelyisolatedplace

Interview: Iran, influences and the making of Shallow with Porya Hatami

Porya Hatami is up there with one of my greatest musical finds in 2013. He follows a long line of ambient producers that use field recordings and live sampling as the base of their work, but there is something especially inviting about his music. The Iran-based producer has a relatively young discography, but his keen ear and attention to detail have his tracks echoing trademarks of the most revered sound artists of our current decade. And where other artists aim to challenge the status quo, Hatami demonstrates restraint, leaving a much more accessible and emotional experience at the forefront.

His upcoming release for Baltimore’s Tench is a half-step away from his recent experiemental efforts. The 43-minute, 3-track, album presents a serene collection of sounds that enduce tranquility and peace of mind. Soft pads, fluttering chimes and recordings of flowing water create a zen-like enviornment that seems to conclude as nearly as quickly as it starts. I caught up with the producer to discuss the album, his homeland and what we can expect to hear from the budding music-maker this year.

“Shallow” is set to release on February 18th. Pre-oder the album on Tench.

For anyone discovering you the first time, tell us a bit about yourself and your musical background.

I was born in Sanandaj, Iran and that’s also where I grew up. I actually never had any formal musical training, other than a few piano lessons when I was 14. I’m pretty much self taught. I studied many different forms of music before starting to produce, but not until 2007 did I start experimenting with music making software.

Field samples seem to play an lead role in your music. Has it always been the goal to incorporate your environment into your work? Can you elaborate a bit more on your process?

Yes, my environment is a major source of inspiration. I’ve always felt it was a good idea to collect the sounds from the places that I write about. My process depends a lot on the project that I’m working on, but I usually start with a simple sound, it could be a recording of an instrument, a pad, a sound from a synth, or a field recording, then I start to build a track around it. I usually let my tracks sit for a few weeks, then I’ll go back to them and start working on them again. Usually the last phase of production is where I delete parts of the track to come up with the most minimal version possible, while still feeling true to the original concept.

You’re currently based in Sanandaj, Iran, a country not predominantly known for electronic music. Can you lend some insight into cultural life there and how that pertains to, or influences, your practice?

Sanandaj (Sine in Kurdish) is located in the Northern West side of Iran and is surrounded by mountains. There is a historic castle on one of the mountains that’s around 6000 years old. Having several hills spread over the city provides beautiful and unprecedented views from every point. We speak Kurdish and wear traditional Kurdish clothing.

There are so many forms of Folk music here, most of them are vocal-only, with simple rhythms, for example “Domana” and “Bartonana”. There are also some very  unique instruments, my favorites being the “Shemshal” and “Narma Nay”. My cultural background definitely affects me as an artist, but it’s mostly the nature and environment here that influence my music directly.

Where have your other musical influences come from?

My earliest influences were classical music, especially Richard Wagner, who I still listen to all the time. Then came jazz and blues, artists like Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Pink Floyd also had a huge impact on me.

Later, I got into 20th century avant-garde music, Morton Feldman, Stockhausen, Milton Babbitt, I learned about John Cage and indeterminacy, the minimalism movement and artists like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Brian Eno, Harold Budd and William Basinski were a major source of inspiration too.

I ultimately discoverd more experimental music from Warp records, Kompakt and ~Scape. Jan Jelinek’s Loop Finding Jazz records, Taylor Deupree and 12k had a huge influence on my work today.

Your debut album was picked up by Canadian imprint Inner Ocean Records, re-mastered and released alongside a remix package featuring prominent sound artists, how did that project come about?

I was asked by 2 artists for the stems to remix some of the tracks on Land, which lead me to the idea of compiling a remix album. I decided to ask some of the artists that I knew and liked to join the project. Fortunately, they all agreed to contribute and that’s how the album came together.
Regarding Inner Ocean Records, I knew Cory was interested in releasing it because he was a fan of  the original album. We talked about it and he agreed to release the original album as well, I wasn’t happy with the first edition’s packaging, so it was a good opportunity to have it re-mastered and re-issued alongside the remix album.

Tell us a bit about your latest album Shallow, where it was recorded and how your relationship with Marc Ostermeir came to be.

“Shallow” was recorded last Spring/Summber in Sanandaj. I captured all the field recordings around the city and the idea of writing this album came from this fen in a small village near Sanandaj. I’ve spent so much time there with friends. I used to go to record the frogs , but didn’t end up using any of those recordings on this release.

When I finished the album i was looking for a label. I didn’t know Marc personally, but I knew his music and I knew the label well. I sent the album to Marc, he sat with the release for a couple of weeks and then let me know he was happy to release it. He’s a lovely gentleman, he did the mastering and artwork design for “Shallow” too.

Aside from your upcoming Tench release, what other projects do you have lined up this year?

I have 2 collaborative albums finished and ready to release, one with Lcoma (Liam Coleman) for Unknown Tone Records and the other with Lee Anthony Norris for Carpe Sonum. They’re both coming in the first half of 2014. I also have 2 solo albums this year, one is finished and will be release this May/June on Dronarivm and the other will come out on Time Released Sound around September/October. I also joined the collaborative project called The Angling Loser (Lee Anthony Norris, Sir Cliff ) and we may release something later this year. I’m also working on a 3 way collaboration with Darren Harper and (Josco) Gerry McDermott.

Visit his personal Bandcamp page.