Porya Hatami – Shallow (Remixed)

 
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Iran’s Porya Hatami has returned nearly one year after his much beloved album on Tench, Shallow, with a remix EP. Packed full of greatness, the EP enlists the help of many favourites that have adorned both ASIP in the past, and the label behind this new venture,Dewtone.

To start, Fen is a 21 minute track in its original form, so no easy task for any remixer when trying to distill into their own sound. Loscilreplicates the evolution of the track from the fuzzy beginning into a repetitive gentle tinkering; unwinding and dancing into glares of light.

Segue takes a similar approach but adds his signature layered dub to the track. This addition brings a new dynamic to Fen and by the end, a completely new track has emerged bar a few small complimentary samples, yet the warm fuzzy feeling still remains.

Compliments to the curator, Sven Laux takes the track up a further notch and enticing you into the compilation further, with more distinct beats and subtle pauses, teasing before the next rolling bass-line. Sven’s remix shines with a beautiful break around 4 minutes-in, where Porya’s airy pads are brought forward as very delicate strings.

Halo and The Green Kingdom take on After The Rain. With Pasquale, a veteran at rainy landscapes (check Europe), this track becomes a no-brainer and Porya’s synthesized drops are transformed into a picturesque moment which sees Halo adorn the track with a dream-like piano melody and distant background noise. Rain falling on a porch as you sit pondering the meanderings happening outside.

The Green Kingdom, akin to Segue, adds warmth and a Yagya-esque approach to After The Rain. Out of submerged bass-lines and a shimmering gloss, grows a beautiful dub-techno piece.

Their’s a similarity to the tracks on the original recording of the EP – the beautiful washes of ambient light and the tiny tinkering of bells remain true across the productions. Instead of starting from scratch on remixes or manipulating a melody, the EP has allowed for each remixer to take these fundamental elements and paint them in their own style – and this couldn’t be more true for the last track, White Forest.

From Purl’s bubbling beats and nikosf’s more upfront head-nodding dub-techno approach, to Arovane’s stripped-back, crackling analog piece that makes a heart-monitor-sound enticing and warm; this is a platform for each artist to shine in their own style and truly define what it means to remix a track.

Lastly, Bjorn Rohde, who’s know for a few differing production styles, takes an interesting approach to his remix; accentuating the many samples, sounds and emotion found in the original; clearing the clouds on a blustery day and shedding the light across the White Forest,just as a photographer gently kneels in the grass to capture the disappearing sun – signalled by the drone of a piano.

Available via Dewtone.com.

Read more on the release of Shallow and an interview with Porya from last year, here.

Tracklist:

1. Fen (By Loscil) 06:50
2. Fen (By Segue) 06:30
3. Fen (by Sven Laux) 09:05
4. After The Rain (by Halo) 05:30
5. After The Rain (by The Green Kingdom) 06:00
6. White Forest (by Purl) 08:30
7. White Forest (by nikosf.) 07:10
8. White Forest (by Arovane) 04:00
9. White Forest (by Bjorn Rohde) 12:55


isolatedmix 52 - Sebastian Mullaert

 
 

2006 and I’m sat in Crosstown Rebels HQ working as a label assistant. When I say HQ, I mean a house in Dalston (London) that doesn’t get-going until 10am and serves as a party house well into the early hours. My stay with Crosstown Rebels was short-lived, and back then the label consisted of just a few of us; head honcho Damian Lazarus (who has since taken the label into the techno-stratosphere) and Label Manager Matthew Styles (a successful producer in his own right) between them, putting out a unique blend of minimal-induced-techno unconstrained by a specific genre boundary.

One of the releases I remember from my time with Crosstown Rebels, was a track by Minilogue called Hitchhikers Choice. Not only was it a defining minimal-techno track, but it featured an amazing accompanying video – one that led to many more in the same style. Similarly, the music led me to even more; it opened-up my world to Traum Schallplatten. My favourite techno label was home to Minilogue’s previously released Certain Things, several other EP’s in the forthcoming years and ultimately Animals; Minilogue’s first album featuring an ambient disc alongside the quirky-minimal techno we all came to love.

A few years later, and Sebastian Mullaert, begins to peel off from his Minilogue partner-in-crime, Marcus Henriksson to create music in his own realm. The brilliant Mule Electronic becomes his home for several EP’s and eventually his latest album alongside Eitan Reiter,Reflections of Nothingness. This album has been on repeat for me recently; ambient and experimental; rooted in Sebastian’s techno roots and paying due diligence to the detailed live approach that went into its production.

It’s a story that spans nearly ten years, revolving around an artist I’ve followed since I first stepped into the music industry. Needless to say, this is very special isolatedmix for me, and another moment to help me reflect on an amazing journey over the years that’s led me to experience literally thousands of new artists and productions. From Minilogue’s own music, to the discovery of labels such as Traum Schallplatten and Mule Musiq, to Sebastian’s efforts today with Eitan Reiter.

As for what’s next for Sebastian, it doesn’t hold up. An EP on Traum was just released, called Direct Experience, another Sebastian Mullaert EP will be released on Joris Voorn’s label Green in May, and a new Wa Wu We EP will be released in the summer. A new solo album is on the horizon as well as a bunch of remixes for Jurek PrzezdzieckiLeo Anibaldi, Malbetrieb and Bluetech. And later this year, a live/DJ album with Ulf Eriksson who runs the Kontra Musik label.

The mix? Well. Where do I start. It’s a DJ mix at heart. It’s over two-hours long and pretty much puts an arrow through the heart of everything Sebastian stands for and has going on. Immersive ambient, minimal and deep techno, percussive elements and an over-riding sense of evolution. In the spirit of Sebastian’s trippy Animals, we’ll see you down the rabbit-hole.

“As most of us do, I love a wide range of musical expressions and energies and since music is they way I mostly express my creativity I also like to play with all forms of music. My DJ mixes over the last couple of years have been mostly aimed at dancing, but this time I’ve mixed music in a more alternative way; both ambient music but also slower dance music … enjoy the journey” – Sebastian Mullaert / Bali, February 2015.

Download.

 
 

Tracklist:

01. Ooze – Untitled
02. Tenniscoats – Aurora Curtains
03. Varg – Ohns Odegard
04. Function and Vatican Shadow – Things Known
05. Stressassassin – Raumwelt Signal
06. Bluetech – Untitled (ooze remix)
07. Fjader – Satori
08. Ooze – Restricted Flow (Porn Sword Tobacco remix)
09. Conforce – Abundance of selves
10. BLNDR – Isolate Frequencies 2
11. ESHU – Lansin
12. BLNDR – Metal Stretching (Incarnation 2)
13. Leo Anibaldi – Evocation (Wa Wu We Sneak mix)
14. Conforce – Temporary
15. Stephanie Syke – Hypno
16. ESHU – Cesium
17. A&S – Asteroid redirect images
18. Dino Sabatino – Vision Quest
19. Claro Intelecto – Night of maniac
20. Audrey – Dust Storm Salsa
21. Mathew Jonson – New Identity
22. Hakimonu – Cadence One Native
23. STL – One Day
24. Yagya – DeepChord Redesigns 5
25. J & L – Ramayana Chant
26. Tin Man – No New Violence
27. Donato Dozzy – K2
28. Son Sin – Upekah
29. Ooze – Trying Outwards (Ooze remake)
30. Wa Wu We – Untitled
31. Wa Wu We – Untitled
32. Higher Intelligence Agency – Orange
33. Lawrence – A Day in the life
34. Reiner – Lung
35. Bluetech – Untiled (ooze remix take 2)
36. Alucidnation – Prefer to Stay in

Sebastian Mullaert on Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter

Passing by: Crisopa, Offthesky & Pleq, Eyesix, Sraunus

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Crisopa – A Lucid Dream Kit

Spain’s electronica pioneer Crisopa has finally made a return to our beloved n5MD label with his new album. On first listen, we can expect much of the same melodic, soaring and complex beat-work we came to realise on his last endeavour with n5MD, Biodance. And you know what, I’m pretty pleased about it, as no-one else out there matches Santi’s colorful approach to this style of music. Available through then5MD Bandcamp on CD/digital.

 
 

Offthesky & Pleq – A Thousand Fields

You may have heard me bang on about Infraction Records a few times on here, primarily through discovering our very own Parks back in the day. They don’t put out many records, but when they do, they are always top-notch. Their latest, A Thousand Fields, is the first collaboration between Denver, Colorado based artist offthesky (Jason Corder) and Warsaw, Poland based musician Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz), both of which you may have come across before on labels such as Home Normal, Hibernate, SEM and Dronarivm. Needless to say, a bunch of experience and talent between them.

‘A Thousand Fields’ is tantalising and delicate, expressing many modern-classical elements. The preview track, Ashes of America, is one of the best soundtrack pieces I’ve ever heard.. no joke, it’s beautiful. Available on limited edition vinyl to pre-order now through Bandcamp.

 
 

Eyesix – Conet Communications Workshop

It was 51 weeks ago to the day we last posted about Eyesix, and he even got a shout-out in my journey through ambient article as an artist delving into the warm retro-style helmed by the likes of Boards of Canada. Well, his latest is no different to the comparison made back then, but that’s no means to discount such a lovely bunch of music. This kind of stuff is rare to come by and loved by many so get involved. Available on CD/Digital through Bandcamp.

 
 

Sraunus – Vibrant Dead Rock

2012’s Out Of The City, was one of my favourite ambient/dub-techno releases of late and ensured I kept a close eye on how Lithuania’s Srauns developed. Three years later and the evolution is clear with Vibrant Dead Rock. I was scared at first – a haunting piece of artwork and track-names akin to what you’d expect from that album title – some kind of death metal piece, but you’ll want to invest some time in this one. Some very interesting approaches that span drone, ambient and electronica. Some, veil potentially loud experimental pieces in distortion and delay, such as Galyma, some are atmospheric synth pieces such as Litorina, and some remain in touch with his earlier dub-techno work, such as Motina. A varied and worthwhile investment. Available on tape and Digital through Bandcamp.

 
 

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 1994 – 2015

 
 

… doesn’t exist. But as many of you know, a shed-load of tracks have been uploaded to Soundcloud by RDJ – totalling longer than his entire official discography, here.

I spent some time putting my favourite tracks in the style of SAW into one playlist below. There’s parallels to SAW II and the likes of Blue Calx with Red Calx, and more IDM based track we witnessed on SAW 85-92 with Chink 101 and my favourite, nocares.

I think any Aphex Twin fan will agree, some of these are absolutely brilliant and could easily live as a third edition to the SAW series. That’s probably not going to happen anytime soon, especially now Aphex is a Grammy-award winning artist – colab’s with Lady Ga Ga are just days away… (please don’t Richard).

Each track is downloadable, and there’s plenty of people out there making it easy for you, alongside the amazing RDJ geeks putting Google Docs together detailing every detail on each of the tracks.

 
 

Markus Guentner - Mix Archive

Markus Guentner – Golden Fall Mix

Not what you’re expecting from Markus, but for those not hemmed by genre this is a stunning detroit techno / deep house mix. Love it when ambient artists come out of their comfort zone, but then again, as shown with many of Markus’ recent remixes (such as his remix of Norge on Uncharted Places) he does like to stray into beat-heavy productions sometimes. This must be at least some of his inspiration right here.

Download.

 
 

Markus Guentner – Sgustok Magazine Podcast 007

After numerous contributions to the Kompakt Pop Ambient Series and last years ‘Doppelgaenger’ album release on Sending Orbs (home of Kettel and Yagya), Markus Guentner prepares a hypnotic dive into his trademark atmospheric ambient for Sgustok Magazine.

It goes without saying, fans of the Pop Ambient series will love this mix, as well as those that enjoyed the simple, looping warm synths, gentle textures and airy pads within the recent ‘Traumbient’ mix. Containing all his own productions, the mix manages to maintain a perfect amount of variety between the tracks and a subtle progression throughout – one to press play, sit back and get lost in.

Download

01. Opening
02. Babel
03. The Right Sight
04. Borders
05. Ocean Scene
06. Sunrise Begins
07. Rotation Of Stars
08. Beneath The Grass
09. Subway
10. Field
11. Certain Pattern
12. Ending


Markus Guentner - Fuselab Passage 12

The last mix featured on ASIP by Markus Guentner was a homage to some of his releases over the years on compilations such as Pop Ambient. This time around, Markus compiles some of his favourites for FUSELab with tracks from Kompakt label mates Klimek and Popnoname, ambient/post-rock maestros Hammock, king of lush bvdub and Rafael Anton Irisarri’s more techno orientated alter ego, The Sight Below.

Download.

Tracklisting
01. Aitokaiku – Verhot3
02. Chris mcnamara – Sleeping Car, Shunting Yard
03. Shuttle 358 – Tank
04. Markus Guentner – Keep Your Eyes Closed
05. The American Dollar – Starscapes2
06. Klimek – Sunrise
07. Kevin Shields – Goodbye
08. Hammock – When The Sky Pours Down Like A Fountain
09. Bvdub – Lest You Forget
10. Dettinger – Therefore
11. Markus Guentner – In Moll 2
12. Popnoname – Nightliner
13. Markus Guentner feat. La Grande Illusion – Baghira
14. The Sight Below – Shimmer