Jason van Wyk - Opacity

It's always easy to make comparisons in music, but they come in handy when you find something that mirrors musical styles that are hard to come-by, or moreover, hard to do well.

Jason van Wyk's new album on Home Normal bears a striking resemblance to some of our most recent innovators in the modern-classical space. Combining piano, strings, and soft pads that stretch to a limitless horizon, Opacity reminds me of soundtracks that would come often from the likes of Jon Hopkins, with tracks such as Glow and Beneath, combining poignant backgrounds with very simple piano or string melodies as heard in the likes of Monsters OST. 

Later on in the album, Jason brings more electronics to the fray, and suddenly Nils Frahm-style synthesizers bounce around more gentle piano pieces in For Now, Weightless and the more epic album closer, Eyes Shut. 

The only reason I call out these comparisons, is to urge you to listen. I can either do that, or continue with superlatives detailing how great this is... 

Available on Bandcamp. 

isolatedmix 72 - Wanderwelle

It's hard to break through with a distinct sound where dub-techno is concerned. From its Detroit roots, we've seen many artists adapt the style into deeper into ambient territory; adaptations into more 'dub' than techno; the addition of vocals; or dub-techno based entirely on rain recordings. And now, with Wanderwelle's full-length debut on Silent Season, we have another innovative take...

Those that have listened to 'Lost In A Sea Of Trees', will know that the album, despite being rooted in deep, dubby kicks, adds a new creative dimension to the sound we're used to.  Inspired by the mysterious pagan tribes that once roamed across the European woodlands, you find yourself transported back in time to a place you can only dream of exploring. Balancing wistful, floating atmospheres that depict an often hopeful journey, combined with apprehensive shades of darkness, mysterious whistles of wind, and slowly unfurling melodies, the album is a journey into itself - a new mystical expression of the often functional side of dub-techno. This is the Yin, to Yagya's Yang; as the rain clears and you make your way out into the dense forest. 

As if creating a part II for their Mysteries of the Deep mix a few months back, Wanderwelle's isolatedmix captures this mysterious pagan spirit perfectly, blending dense ambient and subtle churns of melodic dub-techno, all featuring a sense of exploration, mystery and unknowing:

"This mix contains sounds and moods that will transfer the listener to a mystic realm where foggy atmospheres and moonlit melodies will haunt its travellers. A world that consists of deep electronics where at times subtle ivory keys will rise like autumn winds that sweep through ruins of past days. A strangely isolated place where like-minded souls will cross each other's paths".

Wanderwelle's debut album on Silent Season is now available. 

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Gigi Masin - Talk to the Sea
02. Earthen Sea - Our Bloods
03. Susumu Yokota - Secret Garden
04. Varg - Öhn
05. Mkwaju Ensemble - Hot Air
06. Fjäder - Shades of Light
07. Milena Kriegs - Svadisthana
08. Varg & Abdulla Rashim - Metro Entrance II
09. Wanderwelle - Unreleased
10. Function - Ember (Field)
11. Sky H1 - Huit
12. Huerco S. - A Sea of Love
13. Isorinne - Composite City
14. Periskop - Immerse (Component IX)
15. Isorinne - Los Angeles 2017
16. Yko - Shiro (Max Loderbauer Remix)
17. Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri - Un Horizonte En Llamas
18. Woodkid & Nils Frahm - Winter Morning I
19. Anthony Linell - Royal Island

Wanderwelle | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Twitter | Facebook

ASIP - Patterns of Perception #22

The Opal Collective are a group of artists putting on some and parties in Berlin, alongside a superbly curated guest-mix series called Patterns of Perception. I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute, alongside the likes of Refracted and Jamie McCue, from our friends at Silent Season, and many other great artists. 

The mix focuses on atmosphere through ambient and techno, with some unexpected twists and turns, and you could say, even gets a little trancey... I wanted it to fit within the ethos and style that Patterns of Perception have curated, whilst also offering something a little different from the techno realm. 

Hope you enjoy the journey. 

Download.

Tracklist:

01. Black Swan - Voodoo Crimes [Self]
02. Arovane - Electro-acoustic Session 13 [Self]
03. Graintable - Lunar Tides [Self]
04. Monolake - Cubicle [Imbalance Computer Music]
05. ASC - Raging Seas [Silent Season]
06. Lav & Purl - Altered States [Amone]
07. Roel Funcken - Android Robson [Funcken Industry]
08. Donato Dozzy - Quadra Sette [Bunker NY]
09. Luigi Tozzi - Mefite [Mental Modern]
10. Jens Uwe Beyer - Moonshine Tangerine [Kompakt] 
11. Jesse Somfay - Can You See Me I’m Waving [Archipel]
12. nthng - It Never Ends [Lobster Theremin]
13. Tin Man - Glassy Acid [Global A]
14. Alessandro Cortini - Rimasta [Important Records]
15. Magic Mountain High - Smeared Texture [Air Texture]
16. Lord Of The Isles - Beatha [Firecracker Recordings]

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.