Illuvia / Iridescence of Clouds (Sea of Vapor)

 

The original process working alongside Ludvig Cimbrelius on his album Iridescence of Clouds, was an insightful journey through an artists’ meticulous mindset, as Ludvig let me in on the many iterations and versions of tracks he built along the way. I can be completely honest here; every single version I heard was brilliant he sent my way, but of course, his own artistic vision needed to be fulfilled, and certain versions were left by the wayside. Fast forward a year since the amazing response to this album, and we’re now treated to an entirely new album that is now presented alongside the original. Fully remastered by Ludvig himself to help fulfill every inch of his own vision in complete totality.

Now available on Bandcamp on Digital + 2CD Digipak, see the release page for full details and links to buy.

Illuvia expands upon his 2021 ambient drum'n bass hybrid album Iridescence Of Clouds, with a new suite of alternate and once discarded versions. Revisited, remastered, and presented as an extended digital album and double CD, with a new artwork version by Noah M / Keep Adding. 

"During the two-year process of creating the music that became Iridescence of Clouds, I ventured deep in attempts to give form to visions I’ve been catching glimpses of since my youth. Translating emotional landscapes to sound is somewhat of an undertaking when you care about every detail. As it often happens for me when working on an album, the alternate versions and discarded tracks were legion. Amongst them were everything from sketches to almost finished tracks that had been part of the album at some point, later to be replaced and left by the wayside. A while after the release I found myself revisiting these versions and outtakes, and I began gathering up a selection to form another album that I called Sea of Vapor.

It soon became clear to me that all these tracks felt emotionally tied to the original album, and I didn’t really have the sense that this new chapter wanted to stand on its own. That is when the idea of making a double CD came to mind—letting the two chapters come together as one story. Perhaps another reason why this idea resonated with me is that my early days of discovering and exploring the bright new world of atmospheric jungle and drum’n’ bass happened exclusively via the medium of CDs (and not uncommonly double discs). As shared in my entry for ASIP’s mix series [isolatedmix107], those CDs meant the world to me at the time and certainly left a deep imprint, perhaps even down to leaving me with an emotional affinity for the format.

So after another year of traveling through this vaporous rhythmic soundworld, it feels special to be able to present an extended edition of this album complete with a new rendition of the awe-inspiring original artwork by Noah M / Keep Adding (though the original version still leaves me speechless). As far as the music goes, there is no point in pretending that my journey with Iridescence of Clouds has been an easy one, but as a friend and fellow ASIP artist reminded me—maybe it shouldn’t be. And as time passes, it seems to me that the memory of our struggles fade while the beauty of our work remains" - Ludvig Cimbrelius

~

The digital edition of the album will be name-your-price for a limited time on Bandcamp, and all proceeds from digital sales will go directly to support the people of Ukraine. We encourage everyone to give as much as they comfortably can, and all together we will make a difference for those who need it the most right now. Human lives are at stake and your support matters. When we have received a big enough sum to make an impact, we will make an announcement and the sum of all the proceeds collected will be divided equally between Unicef Ukraine (www.unicef.org/ukraine/en) and Nova Ukraine (novaukraine.org)

 
 
 

Video: Markus Guentner / Here

 

A new abstract video created by Markus Guentner to showcase the closing track HERE, taken from his latest album Extropy.

The remaining copies of the 2LP are available on Bandcamp and a few select stores still have some in stock.

 

isolatedmix 117 - Refracted

 

After a superb debut album on the esteemed Silent Season in 2015, Alex Moya, aka Refracted has remained in high gear and top of mind when taking stock of some of the best deep techno producers of the past few years. Moving from his expansive tribal rhythms on ‘Through The Spirit Realm’, Alex has gone on to release a number of EPs and created his own output, Mind Express, whilst also becoming a sought-after live act with appearances at Parel-lel Festival and closing the legendary Tresor, nightclub in Berlin.

It was Alex’s set for one of our 9128.live takeovers from Astral Industries that really took my affinity for the producer to the next level, showcasing an intrinsic respect for minimalist ambient music and gloriously immersive tones, all without the deep rhythms often relied upon within his own productions. It takes a deep respect of both disciplines to balance the crossover of techno and ambient music, and Alex seems to have got it down to a T.

Hi Alex, where are you and what’s spinning?

I’m in my warm flat in cold Berlin and currently listening to DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist’s Product Placement, as the soundtrack for my writing.

I am sure many of us in the more Ambient-leaning world first heard you through your debut album on Silent Season. Since then you have produced a number of EP's as opposed to full albums. Have you been holding back?

I have very fond memories of the time I was working on that album. It was so early in my musical career that I felt really free creatively and could explore every path that opened before me. That somehow changed when things started to get serious and I saw myself “forced” to release more dancefloor-friendly material. I have finally managed to free myself from those constraints and have been exploring other sounds again for a while now.

I am confident in what I have learned and have been working on a new album that is practically finished. It is, in my opinion, a good balance between that early sound I had with all the knowledge and techniques I have acquired since then. It is made for horizontal listening. Slow rhythms, drones, quite psychedelic at times and with a lot of texture.

There was no purposeful holding back… I think the idea of working on something like this came at the perfect time. There was a story to tell and that’s what I feel a lot of albums are lacking. A story.

Can you tell us a little about your production approach? Are you mainly hardware, digital, or a mix?

I’m very into hardware but I also work in the digital realm. I think a balance of the two is the best way to go. Analog for the playfulness and sound and digital for the convenience and ease of use. Every tool has been carefully selected and has a reason to be.

I like to focus on few things and learn them, squeeze everything I can from them.

My favorite process is getting into the sound, sculpting the waveforms and maximising its potential with carefully crafted effect chains.

Are you getting back to playing live gigs now the pandemic is becoming ‘normal’? How did it impact you these past few years?

Luckily things seem to slowly go back to “normality” and for that, I am very grateful.

The pandemic impacted me in the usual way it has impacted other artists and performers and personally forced me to return to the corporate world from which I escaped many years ago.

It has been quite tough adjusting to the new reality and losing all the freedom I had worked so hard to get but at the same time, it has taught me that I can adapt to big changes like this and push through.

Having a stable income has freed my mind from a lot of stress and worry, and I feel very free creatively. The only problem is mostly finding the right time and mindset for music production.

You have a knack for deep abstract sounds. Who are some interesting artists or DJs you have seen lately, or are supporting that we may not know about?

I guess it will be hard to discover artists to your readers but there is a crew of very special artists in the UK who are all connected to Astral Industries. After some really fun events and travels together we have become very good friends. I am talking about Ario, o.utlier, hems and, Eight Fold Way. Amazing people, DJ’s and producers.

Hems and o.utlier have just started their own label called Titrate which already has a great first release from Hems. Stay tuned for more as I’m sure there will be some great music coming out on that label. ;)

Can you tell us a bit about your approach to your isolatedmix?

Well, seeing as it was a mix for your series I couldn’t just press record and play a bunch of ambient tracks. I carefully selected tracks that play well together, that I really enjoy and share common ground between them, while thinking of a sequence. So there are parts that are more orchestrated and others on which I am going with the flow.

There are tracks by ishq, Rapoon, Biosphere, Coil, Thomas Köner, Eleh, Windy & Carl, Ø, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement, Chris Carter and 2 unreleased tracks of mine amongst others.

And lastly, if we weren’t an ambient-leaning bunch, and you weren't making a recorded mix with this audience in mind, what kind of mix would you create?

Probably something quite similar and go nuts on the psychedelia.

~

Listen on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, or the ASIP Podcast.

Download

No tracklist available.
Artwork photo by Mike Petrucci.

Refracted | Bandcamp | Soundcloud

 

Video: Scanner Live on Bandcamp

 

Last week we held our very first live stream over on Bandcamp with Scanner, as he further reinterpreted his works that form his new album alongside Olga Wojciechowska/Strië, ‘Struktura Revisited’.

The full show was around 45-mins long, as Robin took the original material into a more rhythmic and dubby direction - listeners head nodding at home no doubt - but you can watch a small edit of the show below.

Make sure you’re following our Bandcamp page to ensure you don’t miss our next stream.

You can buy Scanner’s new album with Strië here.

 

Scanner Live Performance: Struktura Revisited

 

For the official release of Struktura Revisited' by Strië & Scanner, we have Robin Rimbaud, aka veteran electronic music producer, Scanner, performing live, taking his reinterpretations from the release, one step further.

A regular performer on Bandcamp live, Robin will be further improvising around his reworks, like a chamber of mirrors, rethinking, rebuilding, reinventing. He will remain online afterward for a chat with everyone to answer questions.

You will be able to purchase the new album during the Livestream, and ticket buyers also get an exclusive track from the album (which will not be made available publicly) and a free download of the ASIP 2021 Label compilation included in the ticket price.

All ticket funds from this event go straight to the artist for his live performance for which he has meticulously prepared especially for us.

Buy tickets on Bandcamp