DakhaBrakha - Vesna

Play this and let it play all the way to the end. Coolest thing I've heard in a while and is the best kind of discovery, completely random and completely off guard. Almost turned off but let it just play (c'mon, what's 8 minutes of my life?) and glad I did.

I did find a Bandcamp page here but it doesn't look like there is anything to download.

Don't know any more than that yet but it seemed like the perfect Sunday morning share.

Gridlock

Unfortunately labeled as IDM (all labels are delimiting - "there are already too many names, it's time to stop", DDJ, 32), this album remains a classic no matter how it's tagged.  There is magic in this one.

Contains the full album plus the extended version of the last track only available on the vinyl release (plus a little bonus).

Essential.

Info

Cism Netlabel

Dub techno netlabel Cism was recently resurrected with the files below absent. Mr. Cloudy's "Long Wandering", featuring remixes by Marko Fuerstenberg and Grad_U, is easily one of my favorite tracks of his and also one of my favorite tracks from the new breed of dub techno producers. 

The Cismarine comp contains one of bvdub's earlier tracks available.

[cism_1] Various - Variants ‎(192)  2006

[cism_2] Syene - Koma ‎(320) 2006
[cism_3] Freund Der Familie - Avalanche EP ‎(192) 2007
[cism_4] Havantepe - Harem ‎(256)  2007
[cism_5] Various - Cismarine ‎(256) 2008
[cism_6] Mr. Cloudy - Long Wandering ‎(256)  2008
[cism_7] Christoph Schindling - Vacation ‎(256)  2008
[cism_8] Ohrwert - Gaussian Skies ‎(320)  2009

Files

mon0

The past few years have been dominated by the genre labeled as 'dub techno' (which frequently isn't so much 'dub' as it is virtual knob twiddling and is 'techno' only in the generic sense of the word) and it has become increasingly difficult to find artists whose work stands out. This isn't a criticism as it still takes skill to put together a series of sounds and make music.

Sometimes, though, certain artists stand out. mon0 is one of those artists. Though tagged as 'dub techno' his music veers into drone territory which adds a nice wrinkle to the sound and the beats that slowly emerge have an ether in which to swim. 

Highly recommended.

(Links are in the titles)

Proficisci (Kreislauf, 2009)

elements (Kreislauf, 2009)

monoplex (Kreislauf, 2010)

monolith (Kreislauf, 2011)

monolog (Sublime Porte, 2012)

Don't forget to check out the sites of the netlabels listed here. Incredible array of music, most of it free. Show some love.

Blackest Ever Black - The King Was in His Counting House, Or Hastily Cobbled Together Mix to Herald October 12th Showcase (2013)

If you aren't familiar with the Blackest Ever Black label here's your chance to get to know it and its guiding ethos. Some of the most original electronic based music around right now. Music in search of truth.

This was a mixtape created to showcase the event and the artists shown on the flyer image above.

Info

redxdye and bluexoranges

You know how you stumble across a blog and it looks interesting but there is no real reason to dig in because there are just so many sites that look interesting and there isn't enough time so we go back to listening to what we already know?

Over the past few months, mostly through the discogs dub techno forum, but slowly branching beyond that through various serendipitous connections, I have stumbled across the people behind the monikers and the music that so enthralls me.

The Red Dye blog is a netlabel which publishes music by a variety of people, perhaps most notably Axs, but others as well, who make dub infused techno and various others varieties of techno.

There are almost 20 releases here, all gratis, and all stunning in their diversity and execution.

HERE

A similar project, Blue Oranges follows a similar pattern and showcases a range of artists and musical styles. It's easy to flock around the latest releases by echospace and others who have established a cult following but remember that there are other artists out there who are pushing the envelope and experimenting with sounds.

I created a playlist of nothing but these tracks on my mp3 player and will be looping them for days to get lost in the sounds.

HERE

For those interested in Axs and his latest incarnation check out Zwei Kreise.

cv313 - The Igloo Interviews

By far, the single most influential artist of my past decade. Electronic music has been my passion since the late 80s/early 90s but it became increasingly difficult to find good quality music back in the heart of the Midwest as my tastes evolved. 

Sometime in the late 90s and into the early 00s, slowly emerging out of a long trance/house phase, P2P and file sharing hit. Instead of the unbelievably horrible, stale and commercialized music selection available through mainstream outlets I was introduced to the entire world.

In 2007, The Coldest Season dropped. It was the perfect music at the perfect time to fit the perfect change in my life. When Brock Van Wey's White Clouds Drift On And On dropped I knew I had found what I was missing and I've been immersed ever since. The music has deep roots in the 90s yet it continues to be polished and refined to speak in an ever evolving musical language. This music speaks to me in a way no other music has in the past decade.

Igloo Magazine has offered up a four part (there may be more, not sure) series of interviews with Stephen Hitchell, music maker and label owner. Though it removes some of the mystery, the origins of this music bring it that much closer to home and explains the pull it has on so many. Put on some dub and chill for a while.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

The CB Singles Complete

One of these tracks dropped into my playlist yesterday and it sounded sweet after not having heard it in quite some time. Their first two releases were game changers until they were all but absorbed into the swelling popularity of electronic music.

It's exhilarating, or annoying, trying to figure out the different versions from around the world but I think this about covers it. On one level you may feel betrayed; on another level, it's like falling in love all over.

Info

Static, Thunder and Waveforms

These albums are some of my favorite sonic tapestries that reside within my headspace. Designed for repetitive listening to take you deep into the late night ether.

80-minute long infinite-repeat sonic atmosphere for low-level ambient playback. Created to accompany the large-scale conceptual artwork of Michigan-based artist Kate Armstrong-Blanchard. This recording was infinitely repeated for days-on-end in museum settings. EQ and compression curves have been optimized for low-level playback (just above the threshold of silence). Hiss, crackle, and various "audio defects" are part of the source material, and intentionally maintained, as to preserve original sonic "air" and depth. Constructed with custom-built Granular Synthesizer, Publison Infernal Machine 90, Yamaha QX21 sequencer, and Sony PCM1630.

Info

...filtering, pitch-shifting and processing the material using granular resynthesis, aiming to achieve erosion and diffusion of the sound while preserve some of the original movements. The signal became the noise. The sonic sculptures...were created mainly by feeding short pulses of filtered noise into a complex network of granular delay lines. No natural recordings were used as source material - this is a completely artificial world. 

Info

...synthbox duties, contributing Fairlight IIx, Emu Emulator III, Synclavier II, tape loops and "Atmospheric Phenomenon" among other sources, [with] analog input with an array of Korg synthesizers, recordings of the dead, and field recordings made during periods of highly-charged paranormal activity.

Over ten tracks the pair transport the listener through ghostly sequences of ethereal drones, radio static textures and almost imperceptible tonal shifts, leaving lots to the imagination which should be stoked by the inclusion of recorded paranormal activity. 

Info

Blamstrain - Pay What You Want Week

A bit late to the party on this one but pay what you want for all his releases through the 16th.

Show some real support and enjoy the music.

HERE

Ponytea - Simón de Cirene (2011)

Discovered this one after discovering the Myrdal Take Them Home compilation. Ponytea works on sound architecture and frequencies creating reverb/delayed loops, atmospheres and ambiences which travel between the thin line of minimalism and Drone. 

As anyone who has been following I've been on a drone kick so this, along with the 'mystical' vibe fits nicely. Shades of Robert Henke's "Studies of Thunder" make their way into the headphones and overall it has a nice hypnotic quality to it.

He is from Monterrey, Mexico, a familiar haunt, and I've always wanted to find a local artist that I could see perform live during one of my trips. Hasn't happened yet but sometimes on the way you discover amazing interludes. 

Info and free download

HERE

Pina

Now first let me admit I know nothing about dancing. But I am a fan of WW whose UTEOTW and its inherent disjointedness remains one of my all-time favorite movies. For fans of the music of that film I highly recommend checking out the score here and the stuff that missed the soundtrack here.

The music grabbed me and there was something intoxicating about the trailer. I had a chance to see this in 3D in the theaters and was blown away. It's a powerful film that I highly recommend seeing. I still have no idea what it means but I was deeply affected and perhaps that is all the meaning that is needed.

The trailer is here:

Cold Fiction Music

The Cold Fiction Music netlabel has just uploaded a boatload of old releases to their site and also has two new releases out, one of which I am listening to as I type this. 

DJ Deep Warmth - It Happened (2014)

HERE

SecondFace - Changes (2014)

HERE

The label has been around for a while. Unfortunately, it does not have a feed so I am not able to add it to the sidebar for updates but I thought it deserved highlighting as their releases are always consistently top notch.

For a primer try their Futur[e]cho compilations I, II or III.

Releases are free but send support if you are able. A list of all the releases can be found

HERE

Bezdna Radio Essentials 030 (2014)

Amazing compilation...

Doing some work this morning from home and picked this one at random. Dub techno, ambient, drum and bass, some throwback 'indie' (when it was still indie), even a touch of jazz. I recognize some of the artists but most are new.

Looking forward to digging into to the other releases and other "Radio Essential" comps on their site.

Free and awesome

HERE

Richard Grant - a colourful storm (2012)

Speaking of Alan Lamb...

Stumbled across this mix Richard Grant did recently for the acolourfulstorm label which drops some really interesting mixes. This one has an industrial tinged edge, a little old a little new.

sect - alpha coma 

alan lamb - night passage (detail) 

perc - you saw me (free fife mix by tvo) 

piano magic - music for wasps 

ginormous - the sound of love impermanent 

school of emotional engineering - slicing the skin between my toes! 

lucy - eon 

decree - the last day 

black lung - the brazen cellar stomp 

tuxedomoon - the laboratory part 1 

maninkari - participation mystic 

cabaret voltaire - the arm of the lord

Info and free download 

HERE

Don't forget to check out the other mixes available on the site.

Wire Music

Alan Lamb - Primal Image (1998)

One of my all-time favorite albums. Can't recall when I first stumbled across this but it was most likely during my full immersion into the Dorobo back catalogue. Long out of print, it was expensive but I ended up buying it as I couldn't find it anywhere.  His Night Passage album often showed up on those "dark" (ooh, creepy) ambient websites.

These tracks were constructed in 1988 ("Primal Image") and 1986 ("Beauty") as a series of segments averaging several minutes each, with transitional overdubs at the seams, and with heavy use of EQ for harmonic balance and noise reduction. About 20 hours of source material was recorded using contact microphones on telephone wires over a cumulative period of 10 days in November 1981 ("Primal Image") and April 1983 ("Beauty").

Rhythm and music is all around us if we only would just slow down and listen. Highly recommended to listen in one setting, undisturbed. Quite hypnotic and meditative (with the occasional 'burst' of energy).

Info

Muhmood - 6200 Miles Of Silence (2009)

6200 Miles Of Silence is totally based on field recordings. Recorded in the Western Siberia area which is crossed by a few huge power lines going from East to West and from South to North. The idea was to render in sound the trip of electric currency flowing in huge masses across the vast empty spaces of Russia. The sound of the album follows the topography.

Free download and info

HERE

Loggerhead - Demons In Rapture w/ Demos (1994)

Richard Grant, the man behind I+T=R, the visual aesthetic of Dorobo, had posted a comment on a previous post:

good release this one, Milton M was a big fan of The Young Gods as well which had a big influence on this CD. i have a demo cassette with some different versions of some of these tracks - i think before Francois got his holds on them - i'll post it up in the next week or so. i also did another video for 'Stategic Womb' which i will put up on vimeo, it didn't make the Dorobo VHS as it was too long!

Long out of print, this sleeper from the mid 90s is well worth turning up loud.

Album

He was also kind enough to send the demo cassette mentioned above so it's a great opportunity to listen to the before and after as referenced in the comment left above.

Demos

Info

For The Monday Blues

By request...

I admit this was requested quite a while ago and I had never heard of this artist so I tracked it down and let it sit in the shuffle. I finally had a chance to listen to it and was instantly smitten as it is nothing like the usual fare. Like much jazz or minimalist music that, at first, sounds like chaos this was rewarding once I fought the temptation to resort to the familiar.

I could give you a description of the music but I'd be faking it or, more likely, copying what someone else wrote. For starters there is always Wikipedia or a more detailed article here. Maybe with a few more listens I can put my own words to it.

A tribute album by an artist familiar under a different pseudonym has been released in his own particular style which has brought this artist's music to light again.

Sunday Morning Dub

Smooth - Dubwärts (2013)

Sunday morning, trying to find something that the rest of the household would not stop in their tracks and look at me with a "what the hell are you listening to?" contortion in their faces. Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling and remembered this one from the Cyan Netlabel.

Dub techno with an almost jazzy feel in spots. May work better on a late night drive but a snowy Sunday morning is not a bad fit either.

Highly recommended.

Free download and incredible selection of music

HERE

And a little bonus...

Definitely hard to really stand out in the field of dub techno whose comfortable sameness is perhaps its defining feature but this one instantly stood out. 

Essential.

Info

CAK To MTY And Back...

75° in Monterrey, 4° five hours later when I landed in Ohio. 

Great mix here if you're looking for some diversity and some new tunes to track down. The tracks highlighted in blue are the ones that caught my ears. Most of them are current releases so are still fresh. Standouts were Track 24 (shades of "She's Lost Control") and Track 20 (shades of "Doot Doot") but embrace the whole mix and see if you don't find some gems buried in here (not sure why so much of the artist/album info shows up as blank as the ID Tags are all correct).

Part1//Part2

If you're looking for more long playing, drone material go 

HERE

Denovali Records: Nordic Lake Sounds Vol. V (Label Sampler) - 2014

Stumbled across this label after stumbling across N |13| - Prora (fascinated by the story of Prora - love when music educates) and, as I often do, went digging through N's back catalogue, some of which has been released on the Denovali Records label.

This is their latest compilation but the other four compilations are also available for download.

Featuring a range of styles from ambient to electronica to drone to noisier explorations it's a whole new world of artists and sounds from around the world.

Highly recommended. 

Free download and a wealth of musical offerings

HERE

CAKATLMTYATLCAK

Just got back from South of the Border where it was in the mid 70s compared to the -10° wind child at home as I write this. Photo above vaguely reminded me of the cover of Michael Stearns' Chronos LP.

I have a really long list of tracks from the journey to load when I find a moment. Encountered some new tracks that knocked me for a loop so I'll single those out so you can track down the "context" (i.e. the album) from which those were drawn. From country to industrial and everything in between, it's quite a mix.

However, one of the surprises of this trip was the plethora of "long players" (20 minutes or more) that dropped in the shuffle. It was relaxing, calming and meditative, something that doesn't usually happen while in shuffle mode. I am working on a book project so these long players really helped me absorb myself into the project and the travel. I have lately found myself gravitating more and more to "drone" type music such as releases by Docetism and N to calm a wayward mind so this was apropos.

Track 1 caught me at the right moment and held me captivated. With a brief echospace interlude, Track 2 dropped next in the shuffle to keep me on track. Track 3 dropped a little later and Track 4 is a bonus I threw in. Listen to Track 3 in its entirety and you'll understand why. Alan Lamb's wire music would not have been out of place as Track 5.

So, for your enjoyment (until I upload the mix), relax, put the headphones on and drift.

Part1//Part2

Morriconez - The Shaman Of Del-Mar Park (2014)

One of the greatest things about blogging is when artists send you a thanks for supporting them in the right way. It is a cool thing to get such personal contact but even better is to know that you are, in some small way, helping them out.

This mix comes compliments of the artist himself.

Cannot wait to dive into this one.

...a spring inspired continuous mix of... baroqueDUB-wifeJAZZ-popWORLD-psychTRACK something stuff. circa 1960/70. 

 all the best jeffrey

The Shaman Of Del Park

One of his other mixes under his Morriconez moniker, a stunning hodgepodge of artists and styles, can be found

HERE 

Logic Trance

By request...

Take a trip back in time to when this music was new and fresh. Hard to imagine 20 years have gone by so fast.

Logic Trance (1992)


Part1//Part2

Info

Logic Trance 2 (1994)



Part1//Part2

Info

SEQUENCE7

Amazing (free) compilation of ambient, drone, experimental, atmospheric soundscapes that will keep you occupied for days. The Futuresequence label has been around for a little while now and continues to put out excellent, high quality releases available both digitally and in physical formats. This compilation gives a teaser of what they are all about.

Keep in mind that the previous six Sequence compilations are also available. About that dream to vanish into that cabin in the woods for a few weeks to reconnect with the natural world around... 

HERE

A nice collection of mixes by a range of artists can be found on their site

HERE

P.S. Been a bit busy with the new year in full throttle, hoping to get some downtime to regroup and revisit the latest musical exploration I've been on.