Arovane & Hior Chronik / Into my own - now available

Arovane & Hior Chronik return with their second album as a duo, following 2015's 'In-between'.

'Into my own' finds Arovane and Hior experimenting with distinctive feelings, styles and moments throughout the twelve tracks, creating an album full of twists and turns. Featuring a similar ethereal ambience to 'In-between', delicate instruments, field recordings and more melodic electronic influences are now apparent, forming a tangible storyline, as the duo leave you standing on the edge of a journey unknown, lost and lonesome, a soundtrack to anticipated escapism. 

Conjuring many moments of discovery as you step foot into this unknown world, the appreciation of finer details and textures slowly become apparent. You wander apprehensively across fresh autumn leaves, crisp from the morning's fog amidst a glowing soft light as day turns to night. 

Field recordings add a new depth to the duo's productions, alongside the frequent manipulation of the piano, harpsichord and vibraphone. The infamous guises of the Una Corda however, forms the backbone of the album; a guiding star as you navigate through a dense forest, unexplored crystal caves and shimmering rivers.

Balancing organic, analog tones and more metallic, experimental approaches, the duo have once again found a harmonious balance of ambient, instrumental and electronic sounds that transport you into a new world; a familiar yet unexplored territory that holds your hand, as you come into your own.

"One of my wishes is that those dark trees, 
So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze, 
Were not, as ’twere, the merest mask of gloom, 
But stretched away unto the edge of doom."
- Robert Frost (“Into My Own” - 1915) 

'Into my own' will be available on double transparent LP housed in a matte gatefold sleeve & digital download, with artwork by Nick Brzostowski. Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio. 

Buy vinyl & digital on Bandcamp.

Buy vinyl at Juno (UK/EU shipping)

“So lovely, just chiming, very simply in the dark of the night...”

— Mary Anne Hobbs BBC Radio6

Illuvia - Illuvia

It's easy for me to like Purl's new album as Illuvia. After all, his magical sounds alongside Lav brought us the brilliant A State of Becoming LP. One of the many reasons I took this release on, was because nothing else out there sounds quite like it. The duo managed to create this organic, breathable ambient sound that was meditative, yet full of energy. 

Illuvia, is one of Purl's many follow-ups released under his own label, Eternell and in my eyes, is a perfect continuation of the sound found on A State of Becoming. The organic feel is still present, albeit with less of a purposeful setting than ASOB due to Lav's missing field recordings; but in its absence, Purl replaces 'lean-back' sounds, with 'lean-in' moments.

With a stunning amount of detail, told through beautiful piano moments, drifting pads, and complex drum patterns, Ludvig dances between ambient soundscapes, breaks and full drum'n bass, as heard below in Illuvia (Exaltation). LTJ Bukem eat your heart out.

As Ludvig develops this very unique and distinct sound, I'm continually surprised by the pallet of sounds he pulls from; the combination of styles, and the ultimate end-purity of it all. It's a great example of how ambient music can also be imaginative, detailed, complex and melodic, yet still send you into another world. 

Available on Bandcamp.

isolatedmix 71 - Anton Kubikov : Ambient Landcast

The Biosphere-esque EP "Music For Currydoors" alongside Maxim Milutenko was my first introduction to Anton Kubikov. During my obsessive Traum Schallplatten era (see Traumbient), this track was one of many introductions to a wealth of artists who crossed the divide between ambient and techno. It was a small appearance on Traum, but gave a taster of what he can do alongside partner Maxim, where they were both busy producing as SCSI-9 and releasing on labels like Trapez, Force Tracks and Kompakt. 

Not necessarily known for ambient music at the time, Anton’s career has been largely rooted in techno as the founder of esteemed label Pro-tez. But as we’re about to find out, ambient music has always been a big part of his life, with subtleties creeping through and influencing some of his many releases over the years. Through more dub-techno EP's like 'Bushes/Moving’ and ‘Inner’, or deep techno EP’s such as ‘Before/After’ and ‘Aniko/Evora’, Anton consistently creates beautiful deep journeys within his extensive productions. 

That perception may now stray further into the ambient realm after releasing his first album on Kompakt’s prestigious Pop Ambient album series, titled 'Whatness'. After a push from label head Michael Mayer, Anton embarked on the full-length and threw his entire production armory at what is, an extremely varied and creative record. Using random noise generators, resampling, modular synthesizers and step-sequencers, Calimba, guitar, piano and even poetry, Whatness continues to break the ever-changing Pop Ambient umbrella. 

Anton’s mix, is a creative concept which we haven’t seen here on ASIP before, bucking the potentially expected dive into deep techno territory. Inspired by reading biographies of some of experimental and avant-garde's most prestigious pioneers, Anton discovered a unique approach to the mix:

"As if listening to different songs in youtube, I did not turn them off but began to layer on each other. I reached five tracks simultaneously playing, and fell into hypnosis. The idea of he mix was born. The main thing was to show the works of different years throughout the 20th century from the 30s to the 80s, when such music, it seemed to me, did not go out into the broad masses but remained amongst intellectuals”. 

An educational class featuring some this century's most defining experimental innovators.

Download

Tracklist:

01. Sofia Gubaidulina & Choir of the Moscow Experimental Electronic Music Studio - Vivente-Non Vivente [1989]
02. Eliane Radigue - Geelreandre [1979]
03. Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange - Falling [2014]
04. Morton Feldman - Two Pianos [1953-1969]
05. Bernard Parmegiani - De Natura Sonorum, Première série [1975]
06. Morton Feldman- Three Voices For Joan La Barbara-Legato [1989]
07. Else Marie Pade - Faust Suite: Faust & Margrethes Kærlighed [1958-1995]
08. Alvin Lucier -  Music for Piano with Magnetic Strings [2009]
09. Edison Denisov - Bird’s Singing [1990]
10. Oliver Messiaen - Oraison [1937]
11. Else Marie Pade - Syv Cirkler [1958]
12. Morton Feldman- Three Voices For Joan La Barbara - Whisper [1989]
13. Robert Ashley - Automatic Writing [1979]
14. Harold Budd - Bell Tower [2003]

Anton Kubikov | Facebook | Soundcloud | Kompakt

Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri - La Espera (digital EP) now available

As many of you know by now, we have had struggles with the final pressing of Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri's album, La Equidistancia. You can read more about it here.

In light of these problems, Leandro & Rafael worked to put together this new companion EP to help raise funds for their album repress. 

Continuing the theme of La Equidistancia, Leandro & Rafael explore more of their deep, swirling and mysterious textures. 'The Wait' is the sound of being barricaded in isolation, as the world moves around you.

Featuring a photo by Todd Diemer, the artwork continues the theme of La Equidistancia, pairing with the overall theme of 'The Wait', as the vinyl repress gets underway. 

Available on Bandcamp

Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri - vinyl press update & new EP

As many of you who've been following us know, there have been multiple unfortunate issues with the final vinyl pressing of Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri's, “La Equidistancia.”

Namely, the audio quality of the final pressing is poor, even though test-presses sounded fine and the artists approved it back in February. There are also multiple issues with the print quality and the color vinyl “marbled” swirl.

After going through two unsuccessful attempts at a final press, the manufacturer has made it abundantly clear they cannot create the final quality product we (and you) expect.

We will be starting from scratch with a new pressing plant, as we need to cut our losses, despite not being refunded in full by the current manufacturer.

Financially, we are at a substantial loss from this ordeal, which is a big blow for a small operation like ASIP (and of course, the artists themselves).  We also have to find an ecologically-friendly way to dispose of 1,000 copies of someone’s art (instead of shipping them all the buyers) which is extremely draining and hard to do.

Thus, to help soften the blow, Leandro and Rafael have created this companion three-track EP titled “La Espera”. It's a superb release in its own right and we're lucky Leandro & Rafael have prioritized their time and put their talent together once again.

Continuing the theme of La Equidistancia, Leandro & Rafael explore more of their deep, swirling and mysterious textures over this three-track EP. 'The Wait' is the sound of being barricaded in isolation, as the world moves around you.

La Espera, is now available on Bandcamp.

eBay auction of entire ASIP test press catalog...

Lastly, we've put up an entire catalog of test presses for auction over on eBay. This includes every ASIP release so far in test pressing format (black vinyl/white label) - 9 releases, including the sold-out Uncharted Places, Europe, 36 and many more. No one owns them all, these are from Ryan's (ASIP founder) personal collection, so be kind, and happy bidding! 

Thank you to everyone who has been on this rollercoaster journey with us, and continues to support and listen to our music. We have a standard which we want to keep to make everyone a proud ASIP vinyl owner.

We will keep you posted as the new press is underway. Anyone waiting to purchase the vinyl, it will be available in a few months once a successful repress is received.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we get rolling with another press.

We'll get there!

Ryan, Leandro and Rafael.