ASIP - Accent / Sustain

I’ve been in Portland for over a year now and have met some amazing people who are pushing forward a thriving ambient/electronic scene.On May 21st, I’ve been invited to DJ at what should be one of the biggest events to hit the Portland ambient/electronica calendar, a night organised by Sanctuary Sunday and Lifelike Family, at the infamous local haunt, Holocene. It’s a night focused on the more dubby/ambient/electronic sound – somewhat of a rarity it seems, but a sound that has been bubbling up around Portland more recently. I’ll be spinning vinyl only in-between three amazing local live acts including Apartment Fox, Sunhammer and Ethernet.

Here’s a little preview, including a mix, a few words with the event organizer and a spotlight on the artists playing on the night.

Ranging from expansive ambient, to melodic dub-techno and slightly more electronic stuff, this mix was pretty fun to put together and I was lucky enough to include a track from Gidge which doesn’t come out until September (keep your eyes out for that, it’s an amazing album). Lots of stuff on here which has been covered on ASIP so it should provide a nice refresher for those familiar with the site.

Download

Tracklist:

01. The Green Kingdom – Untitled [Dronarivm]
02. Markus Guentner – Ashes [Moodgadget]
03. Heathered Pearls – The Worship Bell (Foxes in Fiction Tape remix) [Ghostly]
04. Textural Being – Sept [Energostatic]
05. Martin Nonstatic – Subatomic [Dewtone]
06. Doyeq – Soundsphere [Subspiele]
07. Purl – Essence [Dewtone]
08. Yagya – Snowflake 6 [Force Inc]
09. Desolate – Endurance [Fauxpas]
10. Gidge – Huldra (Atomnation]
11. Borealis – Nightfall (Ben Lukas Boysen remix) [Origami Sound]
12. Norge – 165 minutes With You (Markus Guentner remix) [ASIP]

Coco Madrid: Event Organiser / local legend / winner of busiest party schedule

And lastly, I had the chance to ask the event organiser, Coco a few questions. As one of the biggest advocates for this type of music in Portland for many years now, it seems like everything she puts her name to is a great success in bringing the community together. I bump into her at every gig in Portland and i don’t think this lady sleeps…

What’s the idea behind the night and what can people expect?

“The idea came from the showcase I did with the Closer Festival, Tim Westcott, and Mike Jedlicka last year. One of the artists that will be playing at Accent//Sustain – Sunhammer, was pretty much the source for the inspiration. He caught us all off guard by doing a more beat oriented set where he normally would have done a sleepy drone vibe. He went a whole other direction that really stuck in the minds of myself and collaborator from Lifelike Family Jay No Parades. After months of gushing over the experience we decided that we needed to present a Dub Ambient/Submerged Techno night to the community.

You can expect a total Audio/Visual experience. The line up will consist of 3 Live PA artists and 3 DJs who will be playing vinyl only all night. We are also excited to present two analog visual artists that will be doing a TV installation and Video Synth setup. Come vibe, get a brain massage, and maybe do a little body movement”.

It’s a bigger venue than some of your other nights you put on – what pushed you to Holocene?

“Yes the Ambient/Experimental night that I organize (Sanctuary Sunday) has been in smaller venues. I really prefer an intimate setting for that particular event because of the listening only experience I wish to provide. However, I do many other larger monthly events that aren’t Ambient/Experimental that happen to be at Holocene. So of course Holocene was a natural choice. It’s my home club and whenever I can do something other than the two main nights there (SNAP! and Booty Bassment) I will always default to that venue”.

How would you describe the Portland ambient/electronic scene at the moment? What makes it different to other cities?

“I see the Portland Ambient/Experimental scene getting a revival of sorts. I used to do Ambient/Experimental events with PRA (Portland Radio Authority) and Mike Jedlicka 7 years ago. At that time many events were centered around the old Apotheke venue. With the closing of that venue I saw a downfall in Ambient events plus I took a hiatus to join the Dance Scene”

Coming back to the scene I have noticed the old heads are still working to keep things going (shouts to Daniel Menche), a bunch of young kids doing experimental basement shows that are blowing minds (shouts to Antecessor and Mike’s Basement), and then new promoters/artists (shouts to Lifelike Family) that wanna breath new life into the scene. So right now it’s still a bit disconnected but I think that it’s moving towards more intertwining of the these groups.

I do make an effort to invite all three of these groups to participate in Sanctuary Sunday. The intention is to get people from behind their computers and interact with each other IRL. It makes for am more dynamic experience and spawns more collaboration between people who wouldn’t normally meet.

As far as other cities, I can not speak to that. I have lived here for 20 years and while I have been to many Ambient/Experimental shows in other cities I really didn’t get a concrete impression of those cities scenes”.

What would you like to see change to help accelerate the amazing talent in Portland?

“Portland mostly needs more venues. The talent that is here is amazing but we just don’t have enough quality space to accommodate them all. Also more communication between Promoters/Crews in regards to scheduling events. I mean it’s going to happen but more active communication could help with cross promotion and less conflicting scheduling”.

And lastly, who are some local artists you’re excited about?

“Right now I am excited about the new releases from Lifelike Family. They will be releasing music from two people that I am very interested in, Temple Maps and Andrew Weathers. Each are completely different from each other: Temple Maps being 8-bit dungeon dub bass while Andrew Weathers explores songs from a specific old hymn book that will showcase minimal choral and guitar arrangements.

Another artist would be someone who is from the basement scene and previous Sanctuary Sunday guest, Misandrist. Dude presents a dreamy brain massage that’s best experienced in a semi dark smoke filled room and I need more of it!”

ASIP - Reflection on 2013

It’s been a pretty monumental year for me, both personally and for ASIP. I’ve moved to Portland, Oregon and started a new life in the Pacific North West and at the same time fulfilled a life-long ambition of producing a vinyl record (Uncharted Places). Being up here in Oregon has helped me experience a new world of music previously out of reach. I had the chance to attend Substrata and Decibel Festival in Seattle this summer and i’m slowly but surely getting to grips with the many great musicians and artists involved in the Portland music scene.

This mix doesn’t even begin to capture the music that’s passed through my ears this year, and that’s why I don’t normally do any “top tens” of “best of X ” – just have a read of the site’s monthly archives; it’s as close as you’ll get to the music i’ve liked this past year. This mix does however capture some of the stand-out tracks, many of which hold personal memories where i’ve been lucky enough to see them live, or tracks that capture the year’s best albums or labels.

It’s been an amazing 2013 for fans of electronica. We’ve been treated to Boards of Canada‘s first album in twelve years, Jon Hopkins has remained true to form and produced one of his best yet, and n5MD well… this mix could consist of nothing but n5MD music: Ocoeur, Preghost, (Ghost), bvdub, and Arovane have all presented us with some magical albums – the latter three I couldn’t even include in the mix.

Warp have had a good year too – not just with Tomorrow’s Harvest, but the BoC re-issues have pleased many die-hard fans, along withBibio‘s early 2013 release and Oneohtrix Point Never‘s most celebrated album to date.

Ghostly have well-and-truly established themselves as one of the most forward-thinking labels in electronic music; Shigeto‘s coming of age and Lusine‘s welcome return. The biggest Ghostly release for me though, the more recent Recondite, may fly under the ‘best of’ radar for many given it’s late release in the year. The Ghostly International showcase at Decibel was one of my favourite performances of the year and summarised the depth of talent on the roster.

And then there’s Erased Tapes. Nils Frahm‘s ‘Spaces’ is certainly my #1 album of the year – coupled with an amazing performance at Decibel it’s hard to overlook the innovative beauty of this young mastermind. Even though Ólafur Arnalds signed with a new label for his 2013 release, his performance at the Erased Tapes showcase is also on par with Nils, and ‘For Now I Am Winter’ is another absolutely gorgeous gem that shouldn’t be forgotten. Rival Consoles has also turned many ears this year – Ryan’s ‘Odyssey EP’ representing the more electronic side of Erased Tapes, which also looks set for a big 2014 with the news of a new Kiasmos album.

Don’t forget Max Cooper either. With consistently innovative remixes for the likes of Nils Frahm, several stand-out releases of his own and some of my favourite DJ mixes of the year, it’s been a landmark year for the Londoner.

The world of ambient in 2013 is hard to summarise in a mix, or even a ‘best-of’ list, it’s been such a good year. My bandcamp profile is probably a good place to start for the more independent/ambient releases i’ve enjoyed this year and in all honestly, this mix doesn’t represent that side of ASIP to its fullest. I’ve missed out so many including: 36, Grouper, Eluvium, How To Disappear Completely, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Segue, several Ultimae releases to name just a few… But, it’s been a great year for labels such as Dewtone with Alveol starting their 2013 perfectly, and Silent Season who unleashed an absolute beast in the form of the ASC double CD ‘Time Heals All’.

I’ve done my best to not be biased by including ASIP music or artists. Between them, there’s been so many good releases on other labels this year, namely Markus Guentner’s Moodgadget release, enh’s debut album, Park’s ‘Snowblind’ on Entropy, Audioglider’s debut on Section Records, Herbstlaub’s ‘Our Love Was Only Half Forgotten’, Kit’s stunning EP, and Stray Theories beautiful ‘Those Who Remain’.

Please support these artists and buy the music featured in this music, or where possible take advantage of the free download. I hope you enjoy the mix.

Download.

Tracklist [including links to buy/download].

01. Boards of Canada – Everything You Do Is A Balloon (Warmth remix) Free Download
02. Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead [Warp]
03. Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal [Domino]
04. Ocoeur – Astral Projection [n5MD]
05. Recondite – Riant [Ghostly International]
06. Bonobo – Cirrus [Ninja Tune]
07. Oneohtrix Point Never – Zebra [Warp]
08. Lawrence – In Patagonia [Dial]
09. Daniel Avery – Naive Response [Phantasy Sound]
10. Rival Consoles – Odyssey [Erased Tapes]
11. Nils Frahm – For (Max Cooper remix) [Erased Tapes] Free Download
12. Need A Name – Road To Berlin [Self released] Free Download
13. Ólafur Arnalds – Only The Winds [Mercury Classics]
14. Nils Frahm – Said and Done [Erased Tapes]
15. Max Cooper – Fragments of Self (Petrels remix) [Fields]
16. Rhian Sheehan – Thoughts on Nature [Loop recordings]
17. Hammock – Then The Quiet Explosion [Self released] Free Download
18. Stareaway – The Loss Of Breath [Couldn’t Care More]
19. Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters – Das Volk Hat Kleine Seele [Bureau B]
20. Luke Howard – August [Self released]
21. dalot – Night Owl [n5MD]
22. Lights Dim with Gallery Six – Echoes of The Ongoing Riot [Kaico]
23. Bjorn Rohde – I Began To Float [Dewtone]
24. Alveol – Empty Heart [Dewtone]
25. Preghost – Cliff Edge Ghost [n5MD]
26. ASC – I Share My Secrets With You [Silent Season]
27. Nils Frahm – Over There It’s Raining [Erased Tapes]

ASIP – Fragments from the horizon

I never know where a mix inspiration is going to come from, or where it’s going to take me. That’s the fun of it I guess. However on hindsight, this one did end up having a particular theme to it which i’ve tried to describe with the words below and the main artwork. I hope you enjoy the journey.

From the future, not forgetting the past.
Blinding light, softening texture.
Closer, touching the void.
Neons, to dark.

Download

Tracklist:

01. ASC – Satellites Final Voyage (Time Heals All)
02. Glossata – Lampsace (Pearls & Smoke)
03. Boards of Canada – Uritual (Tomorrow’s Harvest)
04. Symmetry – Over The Edge (Themes For An Imaginary Film)
05. Chromatics – There’s a light on the horizon (Drumless)
06. Daft Punk – The Son of Flynn (Tron OST)
07. Stellardrone – In Time (Light Years)
08. Jon Hopkins – Prologue (Monsters OST)
09. Andrew Thomas – M&K (Pop Ambient 2006)
10. Oneohtrix Point Never – Zones Without People (Rifts)
11. 36 – Dawnspace (Shadow Play)
12. Cliff Martinez – Rubber Head (Drive OST)
13. Global Communication – 8:07 (76:14)
14. Purl & Deflektion – Return Of The Sun (Growing)
15. Newa – Hedgehog (Martin Non-Static remix) (Hedgehog EP)
16. Tangerine Dream – Love On A Real Train (Risky Business OST)
17. port-royal – Stimmung (Ulrich Schnauss remix) (Flared Up)
18. Thomas Fehlmann – Von Oben (Gute Luft)
19. Olafur Arnalds + Nils Frahm – a2 (Max Cooper remix) (Stare)
20. Olafur Arnalds + Nils Frahm – a2 (Stare)
21. Ulrich Schnauss – Shine (Mint remix) (Cardboard Rocketships)
22. B12 – Void/Comm (Time Tourist)
23. Boards of Canada – New Seeds (Tomorrow’s Harvest)
24. Alva Noto – Xerox Rin (Xerrox Vol.2)
25. Biosphere – The Things I Tell You (Substrata)
26. Apparat – Wooden (Anders Ilar remix) (Duplex)
27. Ocoeur – Olakoté (Percevoir)
28. Bulb – Tenderness (Tenderness EP)
29. Bering Strait – Apart (Apart EP)

Five Years

It’s been five years to this day (26th) since the very first post on ASIP.

Looking back, it’s been an incredible journey and I never thought that five years later we would have amassed over 40 very special isolated mixes by some of my musical heroes, over 27 digital releases, again by a multitude of talented artists and more recently, our very first physical release in Uncharted Places. Not to mention an iPhone app, the Places Series map and of course, an amazing bunch of likeminded ambient and electronica lovers who I wouldn’t have otherwise met.

I’ve been helped along the way by some very generous people. Most recently, everyone who helped support Uncharted Places but for a couple of years now there’s been a little donate button at the top of the site and some very kind people have been so kind as to contribute directly to the ASIP cause. This money has helped push the site on further, from the small things to the bigger developments, we wouldn’t be here today without these people.

Everyone who donated directly to the site was asked to suggest their favourite track for a compilation mix which has been kept behind closed doors for over three years now. I could’ve kept this mix going, but I feel like it’s the right time to release it as a thank you to all of those involved and to help celebrate five years of ASIP.

As you can imagine, it’s more a compilation than a mix, spanning ambient, electronica, chill-out and downtempo but as a whole it does a good job in recognising the type of music we all enjoy here on ASIP.

Thank you to everyone involved in ASIP these past five years.

Download

Tracklist

01. Ulrich Schnauss – A Strangely Isolated Place
02. Cliff Martinez – Don’t Blow It (Submitted by Reef Younis)
03. Cream Sound – Not Alone (Underset Ambient mix) (Submitted by Vadim Tkachenko)
04. Cocteau Twins – Cherry Coloured Funk (Seefeel Remix) (Submitted by Roberto Sodano)
05. Max Cooper – The End Of Reason – Ambient Rework (Submitted by Pete Srdic)
06. Gel Sol – IZ (Submitted by Ian Borthwick)
07. Susumu Yokota – Love Bird (Submitted by Alexander Strachan)
08. DJ Food – The Dusk (Submitted by Eric Fletcher)
09. Lulu Rouge – Ninna Nanna (Featuring Trentemøller & Alice Carreri) (Submitted by Andy Schneider)
10. Kalliope – Lunar Landings (Submitted by Felix Schuermann)
11. Speedy J – Tesla (Submitted by Nicholas Dawson)
12. Bola – Heirairerr (Submitted by Scott Ivell)
13. Rim – We Can Row To The Shore (Submitted by Eiko Bron)
14. Signaldrift – Missed (Submitted by Ruben van den Belt)
15. Underworld – To Heal (Submitted by Arthur Ort)
16. Keith Kenniff – Branch (Submitted by James Burke)
17. Carbon Based Lifeforms – 20 Minutes (Submitted by Mads Linden)
18. Shelflife – My Coordinates to You (Submitted by Michael Dilliott)
19. bvdub – Don’t Say you Know (Submitted by Adrian O’Conner)

This compilation is dedicated to all of the people below who have helped support ASIP in recent years. Some of the track suggestions didn’t make the final mix but I want you all to know I am eternally grateful for your support: Vadim Tkachenko, Pete Srdic, Roberto Sodano, Reef Younis, Ian Borthwick, Alexander Strachan, Andy Schneider, Dustin Main, Eric Fletcher, Simon Hunter, Nicholas Dawson, Lionel Rigal, German Lewizki, Jonathan Lees, Andreas Gaisbauer, Michael Wiswedel, Krzysztof Szafranek, Michael Dilliott, Gustavo Rodriguez, Matt Gibbs, James Burke, Adrian OConner, Fatih Tuter, Julie Bender, Giles Croft, Volker Wieprecht, Felix Schuermann, Dave Ridley, Mads Linden, Ruben Van Den Belt, Aaron McLoughlin, Ian Borthwick, George Potter, Tim McGovern, Derek Davidson, Mike Grove, Michael Nilsen, Eiko Bron, Scott Ivell, Joakim Sandstrom, Jason Anderson, Tonn Poorter, David and Carla Palmer, Michael Stipicevic and Alex de Guzman.

And lastly, thank you to everyone who has supported ASIP (be it in monetary terms or not), it’s amazing to know there are people with a similar ridiculous passion in this type of music. Long may it last.

(Artwork created using some of my favourite landscape photos from the past five years, most of which you can view here).

ASIP – SpacesFM Guestmix

SpacesFM is one of my guaranteed audio stop-overs for ambient and cinematic music and has been for several years now, ever since I found a mix by the site’s curator, Latty. Featuring many exclusive mixes, interviews and features such as ‘The Composer Series’ as well as home to the Cinematics radio show which also airs on Frisky Radio (home to Nick Warren’s Soundgarden show no less). If you haven’t explored SpacesFM yet then there’s a backlog waiting for you, and now an additional bonus mix from me. It features some of my all-time favourite tracks from Autechre, AFX(Aphex Twin) and Alva Noto, man of the moment, Segue and the first preview of 36‘s forthcoming Places Series track, ‘Heather Spa’.

For more information and a little additional introduction, see SpacesFM. The mix will be aired daily at 8PM and 2AM GMT and you can alsostream and download here. The mix is also available to stream and download through the ASIP iPhone app.

Big thank you to Latty for the opportunity to feature.

Tracklist:
01. Floex – Zorya Polunochnaya (ASIP looping edit) [Minority Records, 2011]
02. Biosphere – As The Sun Kissed The Horizon [Touch, 1997]
03. Alva Noto – Is Otto Roessler Right [Unseen Records, 2011]
04. Alva Noto – Xerox Monophaser II [Raster Norton, 2009]
05. Loess – Retinue [Toytronic, 2003]
06. Heathered Pearls – Ringing Temple (Decreased Version) [Ghostly, 2012]
07. Jon Hopkins – Abandon Window [Unseen Records, 2011]
08. Nils Frahm – More [Erased Tapes, 2011]
09. Autechre – Autriche [Warp Records, 1993]
10. AFX – Analogue Bubblebath [Mighty Force, 1991]
11. Segue – Parchment [Silent Season, 2013]
12. bvdub – I Would Have Waited [Distant Noise, 2011]
13. Leandro Fresco – El Cruce Imposible [Kompakt 2013]
14. 36 – Heather Spa [astrangelyisolatedplace, forthcoming on The Places Series 2013]
15. Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – a1 [Erased Tapes, 2012]