Christmahanakwanzika

In honor of the holiday season so forced upon us, willingly and without resistance by most.

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Depth Perceptions

Originally posted back in 2010 a long out of print edition of 100 copies from a label long gone has been upgraded:

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P.S. Thanks TM!

e to the m to the t

I don't normally associate 'cult' and 'ambient' but so this label has been tagged.

By request.

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Q E

Vinyl rip, just for fun.

Enjoy. 

TTT

By request. Classic indeed.

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Morner - Kaisa Remixes EP (2015)

One of my favorite discoveries over the past few months has been the SenseNet label. The artist that goes by morner/mourner appeared on a few of the early compilations followed by actual album releases that really got my interest. There is a melancholy, an aching, a seeking in the music that hooked me right away.

A few of the tracks, including the one posted here, have women's names and the tracks have a certain sadness of unrequited love or longing unresolved that drives them. The remixes here range from drum n bass to dubstep to just about everything in between and they all carry the vibe.

Not free but pretty close. Show some love and dig into the IMMINENT label and prepare for some solid musical discoveries

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A Musical Statement

Excited to have stumbled across this one again. Truly incredible podcast/mixtapes originally featured on a Russian-ish website, was looking for it again while reviewing some of the older posts here and realized I had no copies of any of them.

A quick search yielded a blog with all of them updated. Gonna take a while to DL but well worth the time and effort. Thematic in nature these feature treasure troves of music, much of it that I've never heard which renders a new music education with each listen.

Most recent update was March of 2015 so I'm hopeful that more will come. In the meantime, episodes one to current can be found

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Instinct Ambient Series #1 - 10 (1995)

Was listening to #10 just this week on a long drive and it took me right back there. Such is the power of music.

Realized how much this is representative of this explosive period of time of creative growth in electronic music and how much electronic music has changed and how complex and dense it has become over the years.

This was one of the labels that gave room for freedom to artists who would ultimately help pave the way.

#1 Pharos 

#2 Ambient Systems

#3 The Generation and Motion of a Pulse

#4 Facil 

#5 The Erotic Nature of Automated Universes 

#6 Journey to the Sun

#7 Soil 

#8 Escape Tank

#9 ...To Abort Transmission 

#10 The Super Secret Symphony

The Yammouni Files (1992)

Many, many moons ago I began the pursuit of this cassette only release from what remains one of my favorite, though now retired, labels. I did not know of nor would have known of its existence prior to the advent of the Web but immersed myself fully once I stumbled across it. Electronic, dark, even dangerous, it spoke to me.

However, some of its earlier releases were released on tape based formats only. The I+T=R VHS containing the visual work of Richard Grant remains a collection in need of reissue/remaster on DVD or other similar format. I have the VHS and an audio rip of the music but it sounds like it was ripped from VHS. 

And then there was this one. A fantastic assortment of Australian artists who represent a lesser known side of the sound of electronic based music in the early 90s, this remains a hidden gem. Several of the groups/artists moved on to other projects but most of these artists remain encapsulated within that time frame and within this cassette.

I am still looking for the physical cassette to add to my collection but the format here is a one of a kind, direct from 'the original masters' you might say, and is available here, and only here, on HTCIS.

Sometimes you just gotta ask and the kindness and generosity of people will surprise you.

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Eurowarp (1996)

Cassette only promo release from the legendary label who has seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years as the 90s have become a thing again and us 90s children are living in the reminisce that middle age brings.

Think you'll like it.

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PierrotheMoon - Sample Story (2015)

These tracks keep dropping in that hook me instantly, diverse in style and different than the usual fare. It seems that whenever I look it is this artist.

First heard him on the 7.1 compilation, an incredible assortment of dub techno and other styles, found on The Studio Stereo BC page .

Don't know anything about him but as I continue to venture into his discography across the web, it seems he has been around for a while and is only now cracking my skull. 

Highly recommended.

'Name Your Price' offering

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Zwei Kreise - Athene Island (2015)

Formerly operating under the moniker as Axs, in the game for a long time now but restlessly pigeonholed into the 'dub techno' genre tag, Zwei Kreise evolved in order to allow him more artistic freedom. His 'dub techno' is certainly recommended but not one to stay comfortable in a particular genre, his creativity has now found room to breathe.

There have been many remixes under this name and a stellar cassette release but this is the first full album proper. It's a thematic whole and, as a bonus, includes some remixes from artists who represent a wide range of styles and represent, quite literally, the world. From the BC page write-up:

When in early/mid 2015 I felt like I was finally done with retouching the album, I enlisted the help of some fellow music producers. They are people that I both like as individuals and deeply admire as craftsmen, and I wanted them to provide remixes for the album. I am very grateful that they heeded my call : Canada's premier atmospheric dub sorcerer, wzrdryAV (aka. Kelly Claude Nairn) ; France's pride and joy, Zzzzra (under his new experimental alias Brutalisme) ; Korea's best kept secret, Xiami; and USA's very own underground electronic music mastermind, Milieu (aka. Brian Grainger, or Coppice Halifax).

Not free but at the price to pay it is a bargain.

Show some love

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Ohrwert - Reduct (2013)

Ohwert, aka Arjen Schat, was one of the earlier artists in the next wave of dub techno artists who took the foundation laid by the Basic Channel duo and built upon and expanded by the collaborative efforts found in the Deepchord/Echospace mythos and swirled it around the globe.

An incredible journey across a total of 18 tracks, long and deep, exploring just why this style is so intoxicating.

Complete remastered "Reduct” catalog originally released circa 2008 as 192 kbps MP3s, now available in the quality of your choice (up to 44.1 kHz / 24 bit).

HERE

ANAY

A label to watch with artists you need to hear. Amazing music still being made off the beaten paths.

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LSD

The gap between when something was new and when it circles back around again is collapsing. 

Transport to an alternate universe where nothing ages. 

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The Axamined Life Is Worth Listening

Amazing compilations from some of the most recognized and most 'need to know' names currently making dub techno along with some other varieties of sounds. Quite cutting edge, at a 'Name Your Price' offering.

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Concorde Compilation by Sense/Net (2015)

The Sense/Net label is back with another great compilation of roster artists. The output from this label has been increasing and has yet to disappoint.

Highly recommend this one and digging deeper into their BC page for other varieties of musical experience all at a 'Name Your Price' offering.

Be generous and show some love.

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(P.S. Those aren't eyes...)

Intrusion ‎– RA.153 (320 kbps) (2009) Re-up

Though this mix was originally shared on RA at 128 kbps, the version here at 320 kbps was not.

Back around 2011 or so, right in the midst of a slew of releases from the echospace [detroit] label  (on which I did invest and still invest silly amounts of cash) that were driven by demand from folks on a discogs dub techno forum this upgrade was dropped, also shared by the label.

If you haven't heard this mix, it's one of the standouts in the series and is perhaps the best introduction to the dub techno sound.

Originally issued at 128 kbps, here's the scoop (from the label, pretty sure from Steve himself) on this rip:

"I took it right from [the] hard drive...and converted it from an AIFF to a 320 MP3 using Pro Tools, I don't think there is a better way."

May just be dub techno's Goa Mix, this style of music at its peak as it veered off into new directions leaving imitators in the dust.

So, by request and for your listening pleasure, straight from the Echospace archives...

Here

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Tonepoet and Wings Of An Angel - Resonate/Reason Nitrate (2015)

Tonepoet's Headspace release was one of those hidden gems that I stumbled across on BC. So much music out there, some of it quite amazing, and this one floated to the top while shuffling through the ocean of releases on my (updated) mp3 player.

He is back, this time sharing the bill with another prolific artists, Wings Of An Angel, whose output is also nothing less than stunning. Ambient, drone, magic, whatever you want to call it this is highly recommended, especially with headphones.

HERE

He also has a netlabel that is well worth a visit

Rusted Sun

bvdub - Bandcamp

bvdub just dropped a bandcamp page yesterday. Go there now.

He's dug up the archives and unearthed some treasures. Show some love.

Quantity and quality from an artist who has created a truly unique sound that is easily recognize as his.

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Waiting For The Ri(gh)t(e)s Of Mu

Once was rare, now not so much.

Audio from video, thought to be a bootleg, forced to be withdrawn by the liberators of kopyright themselves.

This is them at the height of their grandiosity, swimming in the irony from which they could not escape.

In other words, essential.

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Waldeinsamkeit - Docetism (2015)

Pretty sure I've upped the Nichts label here before. The label has been silent on new releases, offering up a gem of a first album in the interim, but is back after a year of silence. Apropos, considering the nature of the sounds to be found.

"Waldeinsamkeit" - untranslatable German word for the feeling of being alone in the woods. Dub from the woods and a sign of life after a year of silence.

Nichts is a small netlabel devoted to ambient / drone / dub. Quiet, active sounds for an otherwise noisy world.

Check out Waldeinsamkeit 

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Trypping The Light Fantastych

Genre defying sounds that emanate from an original gravitational center which leaves the listener immersed without a frame of reference.

If you haven't heard these guys either as a duo, solo or in collaboration with a host of other artists, leap down the rabbit hole.

Highly recommended.

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Got A Little Black Box With My Dub In It

Sorry for the disappearing act as of late. Sometimes that thing called life gets in the way.

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Trip - Hop. Net Best Tunes 2014

As much I'm an old school fan of vinyl and cassettes (always hated CDs), digital and the Web rules. Sounds from across the globe from musicians that will never be filtered through the mainstream media outlets.

Another fantastic compilation I stumbled upon somehow, this one out of France. The BC site linked below only has two 'Best Tunes' comps but their main site is a virtual treasure trove of music. The comps are great introductions to music that may not otherwise get heard.

Artists I've never heard of but every track I've heard so far has been top notch. The 2013 comp is downloading now.

The 'Best Tunes' tag fits well. 

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