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Hypnos News May 08, 2008

2008.05.08 (later)

We're pleased to be able to offer the second and third releases on the excellent new Somnia label (based here in Portland, and operated by Evan Bartholomew) on the Hypnos Online Store. Please note that these items are limited, in special hand-assembled packaging, and that we ran out of the first release quickly (and it's totally unavailable now).

	Evan Bartholomew - Secret Entries into Darkness (miscellaneous category) (Price: $15.99) "Evan Bartholomew brings another example of sonic storytelling to Somnia, moving from atmospheric float into pulsing minimal electroid rhythms. Fractaline analog grooves and micro beat construction establish a hypnotic base for a composed layer of ambient exploration to unfold. presenting a balance of analog moduler synth elements and complex dsp processing, Secret Entries into Darkness furthers Somnia's approach to cinematic modern music. 777 copies worldwide. soy ink on recycled paper, sewn, sealed in wax, signed and numbered." -Somnia Somnia002 track listing with MP3 samples: 1. mp3 clip 2. mp3 clip 3. mp3 clip 4. mp3 clip 5. mp3 clip 6. mp3 clip 7. mp3 clip... (more/buy)

	Emanuele Errante - Humus (miscellaneous category) (Price: $15.99) \"Somnia proudly presents a new album from respected Italian ambient composer Emanuele Errante. Humus unfolds slowly through a symphony of organic minimalism, evolving and growing over a course of 11 tracks. classical flourishes adorn warm and inviting textural sketches, and subtle electronic manipulation pervades a humid ambient environment. Reich inspired microcosmic rhythms unfold and undulate beneath wide pastel landscapes." -Somnia Somnia003 track listing with MP3 samples: 01. mp3 clip 02. mp3 clip 03. mp3 clip 04. mp3 clip 05. mp3 clip 06. mp3 clip 07. mp3 clip 08. mp3 clip 09. mp3 clip 10. mp3 clip 11. mp3 clip... (more/buy)

2008.05.08

Here are the latest releases, just added to the Hypnos Online Store, from the wonderful new German label Waterscape, which specializes in extremely limited 3" mini CDs of guitar ambience and other guitar-based experimental sounds.

All these items come highly recommended, and supplies are very limited. Please note that these CDs are short in duration, usually just over 20 minutes long.

	Jason Sloan - Static (Waterscape category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. "STATIC is a 22 min piece that is divided into two movements. The first is comprised of mostly organ sounds with a small amount of guitar, and the second is guitar only, which builds eventually into a wall of pure sound. One may be heavily reminded of Steve Roach\'s approach to space music. Highly recommended for space music fans and fans of shoegaze." - Waterscape Records... (more/buy)

	True Colour of Blood - The Cave of Knowlege (Waterscape category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. "Eric Kesner is the man behind True Colour of Blood. The Cave of Knowledge is a 22 min drone. Kestner perfectly combines dark ambient moments with minutes of pure clarity. Like most of the Waterscape releases this is a pure blessing for headphone trips into a world of shimmering guitar drones and ambient soundscapes." - Waterscape Records... (more/buy)

	Taiga Remains - Descend from Ivory Cliffs (Waterscape category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. \"Taiga Remains is Alex Cobb, who is also the man behind the Students of Decay Label in America. Descend from Ivory Cliffs is an almost 23 min drone-epic that mixes some of the most beautiful melodies your ear has ever listened to." - Waterscape Records... (more/buy)

2008.05.07

Our web site and email problems are mostly fixed, though things are still a bit glitchy. We thank everyone for their patience.

2008.05.06

We've had some problems today with the web server, affecting all aspects of the Hypnos internet presence, but especially the Hypnos Online Store, the Hypnos Forum, and email to all hypnos.com addresses.

Our web server company is working on the problem and hope to have it solved soon. Sorry for the inconvenience!

2008.05.01

New items just added to the Hypnos Online Store from the Databloem label out of The Netherlands.

	Mathias Grassow - Hightlights 1 (Databloem category) (Price: $13.99) 2007. Deep drones and tribal ambient. Cherry picked, re-mastered tracks from Mathias Grassow's rich archives ... (more/buy)

	Mathias Grassow - Hightlights 2 (Databloem category) (Price: $13.99) 2007. Deep drones and tribal ambient. Cherry picked, re-mastered tracks from Mathias Grassow's rich archives ... (more/buy)

	Mathias Grassow - Highlights 3 (Databloem category) (Price: $13.99) 2007. Deep drones and tribal ambient. Cherry picked, re-mastered tracks from Mathias Grassow's rich archives ... (more/buy)

	Mathias Grassow - Tiefweite Stille 2 (Databloem category) (Price: $13.99) "Atmospheres and drones flavored with tribal rhythms and Indian instruments." -Databloem Records... (more/buy)

	Mathias Grassow - Emerald (Databloem category) (Price: $13.99) "Re-mastered from one of Grassow's lost masterpieces from the nineties Ethno-ambient soundscapes Long droning pieces with incredible deep mood, perfect for listening in a candle-flooded ambient, in a church, or in your inner ˜psychic dome" Good for relaxation or meditation" -Databloem records... (more/buy)

2008.04.30

Another sure-to-please item added to the Hypnos Online Store from the always-popular Oophoi.

	Oophoi - An Aerial View (Glacial Movements category) (Price: $15.99) 2008, latest release from the fantastic new label Glacial Movement. Oophoi says: "When I've been asked to describe the Ice Age with an uninterrupted drone, I knew I wanted to avoid the cliches of the genre: dark rumblings, massive low frequencies, cold atmospheres. I had to describe with sounds the white landscape, the blinding light reflected by the frozen oceans, the abyssal silence.I have imagined myself in flight over this Sleeping Earth, a solitary winged-being surrounded by winds, air, water and ice. This led me to compose an airy drone with minimal variations and delicate tones, an homage to a pure, uncontaminated and remote land."... (more/buy)

Also on the subject of Oophoi, it's been rumored that a large number of his Umbra & Penumbra label releases will be allowed to go out of print fairly soon, so we are stocking up to make sure we're able to offer as many of them as possible, for as long as possible. Those of you who are collectors of the wonderful output of this related pair of labels (for those who don't know, Umbra is the imprint for full-length albums and Penumbra is for shorter, EP-length discs) may wish to consider grabbing up the items you're interested in, before it's too late. And to head of any questions in advance, this applies to Umbra & Penumbra label items only, not Oophoi releases on other labels such as Hypnos or Faria or Nextera.

2008.04.29

We've been BUSYBUSYBUSY here adding new items to the Hypnos Online Store. This time it's a series of new releases on the Faria label.

	Troum - Objectlessness (Faria category) (Price: $13.99) 2007. "There is a big gap between rational, verbal language and the pre-symbolic language of our emotional and unconscious mind. Music is perceived partly with our conscious mind, who can analyze it and reflect on it. On another part, it is perceived by our unconsciousness, by our primal consciousness that lies under the rational mind. The idea: Experimental music, especially that of a more droning character, can easier get in touch or be unconsciously connected with this primal state of mind. It is music that is linked with unconscious fantasies coming from a pre-verbal sphere of existence... the phase of life based on the dyadic interaction with the primal object, the mother. At this early stage, thereâ€™s no awareness existing of being a full separated Subject, and no other full separated Objects can be perceived. Inner and outer reality is the same. Spheric, droning, dissolving music is pointing unconsciously at this objectless sphere of existence. This release is dedicated to the idea of an especially formed pre-symbolic music. Artwork conception contain 4 cards and cover with art from english creator Pete Burn." - Faria Records... (more/buy)

	Calabi-Yau - Compactified (Faria category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. "Calabi-Yau (called in the names of two mathematicians (Eugenio Calabi) and (Shing-Tung Yau )) spaces may be that microscopic shape, deep inside the hidden dimensions of string theory. There are many such spaces... According to string theory, space-time isn't 4-dimensional as you might expect, but 10-dimensional. Where are the extra six dimensions? One answer is that they're compactified: roughly speaking, rolled up into such a small space as to be unobservable at human scales. You are in the forest, it is night, and in a moment you are in space, exploring the phenomena, for which there is no explanation and knowledge in our day... ¦And You hear the sound of loquacious water far away from You. The sky is in front of Youâ€¦You can observe all the planets to be clearly. And there are plenty of animals around You, which You've never seen before, which are so close, that they are almost touching You. Thought is equal to movement, there is no difference between them." -Faria Records... (more/buy)

	Aglaia - Unprofaned Twilight (Faria category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. "This is joint edition of Faria Records and Hic Sunt Leones. The fourth cd of Aglaia is born from the previous work but, in comparison with them, it develops a wider breath directly from the backgroundâ€™s sounds. The composition is softer and more refined. Again the sonorous world that here is explored is that one of the enchantment, of the mild sound fading. An unprofaned and inviolate twilight, where the different vibrations are balanced, without any sort of tensions. Time rolls by and space too. The sound is a natural matter and gives birth to an intense crepuscolar light. Listening to this music is like to see thousands of fine luminous rays, filtered through half-closed windows. A dance of dust in a never ending movement that catches the light around. With aglaia's sound we are in an electroacoustic microcosm full of vibrating signs. The first of the two long compositions suggests a natural and quiet landscape. The sound's mood is a sort of perpetual tinkling, wrapped up a voice coming from the space, that observes from afar. An harmonic accordance between different reality. The second, even though more intimate, is equally shining. Everything happens during a night where insects, spring-waters and moonlight match themselves together. A swarming midnight with underworld life." -Faria Records... (more/buy)

	Antonio Testa - Inframundis (Faria category) (Price: $13.99) 2007. "Inframundis (inland universe, latin) is a research of stalagmites and stalagtites sounds mixed with textures and drones; It's a meditative record and it creates a balance between biosphere and technosphere. The cd gets free all its energies, its little/big sounds, its hidden atmospheres, and microharmonies. The sounds, music, make us come back to the past, offering us the view of a World. The sound evokes angelical moments between the imperceptible evolution of the sound of the sky and the ethnic roots, natural instrumental sounds creating atmospheres which evoke in our imaginary visions and images of the most far places. It is an alchemic project of ancestral sounds. Deeply rooted in our unconscious." -Faria Records... (more/buy)

	Faryus - Lucid Dreams (Faria category) (Price: $13.99) 2007. "This album is devoted to a phenomenon of the Lucid dreams. A "lucid dream" is a dream, in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. During lucid dreams you have control over the dream characters and environment, as well as the ability to perform otherwise physically impossible feats. The feelings which you feel during lucid dreams are very similar to those available during a waking state. Often they surpass the \'usual\' with a saturation and intensity. This phenomenon has been researched by such well-known researchers as Stephen LaBerge, Robert Monroe, Carlos Castaneda, etc.. The 9th book of Carlos Castaneda - The Art of Dreaming explains more fully the events occurring within this album. The album is conceived as travel from the moment of falling asleep up to the depths of the infinite universe of the Dreaming: â€œVivid Dreamâ€ - this is a dream, where colors and events are extremely bright. After awakening we never forget these dreams, it remains in the memory as a very exciting experience. It is the first phase of lucid dreaming and the beginning of our travel. We can then find Clarity, passing through the first gate of dreaming to enjoy the Lucid Dream. Opening infinite opportunities of the universe of dreaming we begin our "Free Flying" obtaining the sanctum sanctorum of the dreaming universe - to the World of Inorganic Beings". -Faria Records... (more/buy)

	Vadim Bondarenko - Smoking Music (Faria category) (Price: $13.99) "Smoking Music was created in 2000-2004. Delicate made melodic ambient compositions. To creatÐµ this album Vadim used keyboards, clarinet, samples and piano. It is a good listening for everyone who likes misty ambient music and the creative work of Brian Eno or Harold Budd." -Faria Records... (more/buy)

2008.04.28

Ambient artist A Produce is a long-time friend of the Hypnos label, and released his newest album Smile on the Void on our label, in addition to the A Produce & M Griffin album Altara just before that. One of the earliest A Produce recordings has finally been released on CD, and we have it available for sale now on the Hypnos Online Store.

	A Produce - The Clearing (A Produce category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. Reissue of an early A Produce project, never before released on CD and somewhat of a departure from his later work. Trance Port is proud to release the final A Produce re-issue of his first album (1988), "The Clearing." "The Clearing" was originally released in 1988 in an edition of 500 LP’s. At the time, AP considered it “an album of conceptual space.” It was also very much a transitional album, AP having gone from playing guitar in the “dark dance band” Afterimage in the early 80’s to where he was headed musically and creatively in the 90’s on up to the present. The notion of the Trance Port label also evolved in the early 80’s, first as a cassette releasing label of what was evolving as the “L.A. underground” music scene. Many of the artists AP met during that time appeared on the two "L.A. Mantra" compilations issued on Trance Port during those years. Many also appeared on the tracks of "The Clearing" project. AP is thankful for those artists’ varied contributions on this album. It would not have turned out as well and as interesting a project without them. After release of "The Clearing" LP, A Produce began to drift into more space/ambient realms. Some of "The Clearing’s" original tracks have appeared on later compilations of my work. This is the first time the entire album has been rejoined as the whole it originally came from. An added “lost” track has been included on this CD release to complete the experience. For this release, all track tracks have been remastered by Loren Nerell and AP... (more/buy)

2008.04.27

This weekend we have another batch of featured items on Hypnos Online Store, this time from the Neu Harmony label.

	Syndromeda - Metaphysical Experiences (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2005. "Some artists provide their best work earlier in their career but Syndromeda just gets better and better." ----Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Otarion - Faces of the Night (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2004. "The album takes us through a restless, dream filled night. We begin 'Nightfall' with eerie metallic shimmers, deep bass rumbles and haunting but also quite ethereal wordless vocal touches. It\'s an extremely impressive start, out of which rhythms and simply stunning melodies emerge. Beauty and power are mixed together in the perfect combination. Every track here is perfection, there is no weak link. It is one of my favorite CDs ever; truly a pleasure to review and goes without saying that I think it is an essential purchase.\" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Under the Dome - Bellerophon (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2002. "This is a stunning album. It contains those trademark UTD style sequences as found on their first but it also shows a great deal of maturity, light and shade if you like. Equal attention is paid to the atmospheres and textures which balance the stormers. It also comes over as something of a concept album, right down to the early sci fi imagery of the artwork (think of Forbidden Planet). To get the most out of this album when you first get it keep it on constant rotation, playing it time after time- if your woofers are up to it that is. There is greater depth to the sound here than I have ever heard before.\" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Under the Dome - Wot No Colin? (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2003. "This is one hell of a powerful CD! It combines tracks from both the Hampshire Jam 2 and National Space Center performances, played completely live without any pre-recorded backing. There are two new numbers plus the sequencer-dominated tracks from \'The Demon Haunted World\' and \'Bellerophon\', most of the pieces running into each other without a break. Indeed it is a sequencer fest to end all sequencer fests! If you are a fan of retro sequencer music, this CD is absolutely essential. If you haven\'t tried Under The Dome before, this is an excellent place to start.\" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	The Omega Syndicate - Analogue Waves (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2004. "There is Berlin School, then there is Hardcore Berlin School, and then there is this! Xan and Dave Gurr, the guys behind he Omega Syndicate, really don\'t seem to care what some people might think. They like sequencers of the good old-fashioned style, subtle as a brick and don\'t see why you shouldn\'t crank them up, (and up and up)! Why should there be a limit to the number of sequencer lines you can have anyway? They let rip and just keep going. I mean, there are three tracks here averaging over twenty-five minutes each, one over half an hour with hardly a moment to catch breath. The sounds they choose are all so mid to late seventies, but of denser proportions than I have heard from anything actually coming out of that period. These guys are having enormous fun doing what they love doing, and this fun is infectious. It certainly left a smile on my face throughout the entire album.\" --Reviewed by DL from Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Syndromeda - Creatures from the Inner (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $16.99) "This is a double CD of epic proportions containing the most mature but also intense compositions from Syndromeda to date." -reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

2008.04.24

We're proud to announce our latest release on the Hypnos Secret Sounds imprint, Huronic Minor by Matt Borghi.

Artist: Matt Borghi
Title: Huronic Minor
Label: Hypnos Secret Sounds (Ltd CDR)

Matt Borghi - Huronic Minor

2008. We here at Hypnos have long enjoyed Matt Borghi's subtle atmospheric ambient music, and believed it deserved more attention. Many of Matt's CDs are out of print, and we've agreed to re-issue a series of our favorite recordings on the Hypnos Secret Sounds imprint. The first of these Matt Borghi reissues will be Huronic Minor.

Simple, restrained, and artful, these recordings deserve to remain in print, and we hope these reissues will help introduce more of today's ambient music listeners to the work of this important artist.

Track listing (with MP3 sample clips):
1. Leaving the Gates of the Open Harbor
2. November's Peculiar Calm
3. Gray Dawn Illumination
4. Point Aux Barques
5. The Longest Night
6. Red Sky Morning
7. Brooding Dark Waters
8. Distant Harbor
9. Silent Moor

"...drifting ambient music par excellence. Matt's forte is similar to that of Stephen Philips' - the ability to meld subtle synthesizer shadings and drones into mesmerizing cloud-like tone poems. I never got bored with this CD, although if a non-ambient fan would listen to it, he or she might think the sound was monotonous. But that is true ambient music¹s appeal. A startling shift of abrupt change calls attention to the music, thereby making it "non-ambient." Huronic Minor is that rarest of ambient releases, i.e. a joy to listen to in silence and be consumed by or equally effective played softly in the background as a sonic antidote for one's own confused or stressed out world so to speak. However one listens ton this highly recommended recording, the CD¹s worth and artistry are unmistakable. Added recommendation emphasis if you live near the Great Lakes or a fishing port on the Atlantic Ocean."
--Reviewed by Bill Binkelman, Wind and Wire (www.windandwire.com)

"The album speaks of grays and blues, reds and yellows and serenity and confusion. The juxtapositions are ambiguities as Matt teases listeners and baits them to decide where to go with the drift. The soul becomes the guide as Matt provide only provides the vehicle. This gentle set provides essential sonic exploration and meditation!"
--Reviewed by Jim Brenholts, Author, Tracks Across the Universe

"I think Huronic Minor is brilliant, and if I may say, completely different from your previous effort For Running Time. I don't know what to play first. I will surely chose two or three longer pieces and give them airplay."
--Reviewed by Vladimir Jovanovic, Inner Space Radio, Croatia

" Borghi has crafted a superb collection of dark drones, bruised wanderings, and ravaged ruins, glimpses of a psyche's attempts to deal with nightmarish realities. This is rainy-day fog shrouded doom-cast netherworld music. Fans of Roach, Robert Scott Thompson, 1980s Robert Rich "sleep tunes," and all such "melting brain" music will enjoy this! Recommended release."
--Reviewed by John W. Patterson, EER reviews

Hypnos Online Store listing -- price is $11.99

2008.04.23

One of our most popular and best-selling releases ever, Somnium by Robert Rich, sold out its initial pressing of 2,000 copies late last year. We've gone ahead and pressed another 1,000 so if you missed out the first time, you can still own a copy of one of the landmark works in ambient music.

Artist: Robert Rich
Title: Somnium
Label: Hypnos/Soundscape DVD

Robert Rich - Somnium (DVD)

2001. Back in print as of April 2008!

For those who are unclear about the format of SOMNIUM: it's an ordinary DVD-video disc, playable in regular, garden-variety home DVD players, as well as DVD-rom drives on you PC or Mac. It does not require (and in fact is not compatible with) a high-end "DVD-audio" format machine. To put it another way, it's a DVD-video with music only, no picture (aside from the menus). The DVD-video format was used because it enabled us to store 7 hours of continuous audio on one side of one disc -- no breaks in the program... no need to change discs or wait for a changer to swap from disc 5 to disc 6, for example. It is a stereo (two channel) audio program.

Technical questions aside, SOMNIUM is a re-creation of Robert Rich's famous "sleep concerts," which began during Robert's time at Stanford University. These sleep concerts have been much discussed, but few current fans of ambient/space music have actually attended them. Consequently, a lot of speculation and mystery has grown about the "legendary sleep concerts." Now you'll have an opportunity to stretch out in the dark and listen to some of Robert Rich's finest deep, subliminal ambience.... seven hours worth, uninterrupted!

Ready to purchase now, 7 hours of music playable in any DVD player, for $21.99, here:
Hypnos Online Store listing

2008.04.22

Here's another batch of items new to the Hypnos Online Store, this time from the Darla label.

	Windy & Carl - Antarctica: Bliss Out vol. 2 (Darla category) (Price: $11.99) "Time slows down, your heart rate drops, the massive sound of Antarctica as slow, heavy and breathtakingly beautiful as a glacier envelopes. Here Dearborn, Michigan\'s King and Queen of etherea follow their critically acclaimed second record The Drawing of Sound with a solid ambient epic. 47 minutes. 3 songs." Review from Darla Records... (more/buy)

	Fuxa - Venoy: Bliss Out vol.5 (Darla category) (Price: $9.99) "The nortious kings of Michigan space rock captured at the peak of their partnership. an interstellar trip via soundcraft in two overtures of soulful electronic bliss. Music for floating above the Earth's atmosphere or at least at home in a big cushy chair with your favorite libation." Review from Darla Records... (more/buy)

	Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - Before the Day Breaks (Darla category) (Price: $13.99) "After The Night Falls and Before The Day Breaks are not ambient. Both are instrumental, absolutely beautiful and as emotionally charged as any previous work from either artist. The pair of albums complement one another, each track with its twin on the companion piece, the two conceived as experiments in the dualities of music and emotion. As with all classic recordings from the Masters the listener desires repeated listening to absorb their full sonic implications. This is soulful music that allows one to find that place within where peace and perspective are achieved. It moves effortlessly to erase the chatter of modern life and inspire meditation on things important. It may help the listener better see their way forward." Review from Darla Records 1. How Close Your Soul 2. A Formless Path 3. A Minute, A Day, No More 4. She is My Weakness 5. Outside, Silence 6. Hidden Message 7. I Returned Her Glance 8. My Monochrome Vision 9. Turn on the Moon... (more/buy)

	ISAN - Digitalis (Darla category) (Price: $10.99) "English duo of Robin Saville and Antony Ryan make beautiful sounds, picking up their signals from deep space, like pulse coded informational rhythmic tone clusters of synthetic extraterrestrial folk music of cellular activities, breathing, bubbling, and fizzing with life. All instrumental, seven tracks, bringing to mind; Cluster, Microstoria, To Rocco Rot, and even grand daddies Kraftwerk. -- George Parsons, DREAM Magazine. At home. The synthesizer sounds great, warm, embracing, lively, almost alive. But what\'s that noise, that strange hiss? You open up the main wooden cabinet. You suddenly realize that this synthesizer once was alive. It used to be a bug\'s family living room. The hiss and the buzz is caused by, now long dead, little bug kids who glued themselves to the filter circuits and who tried to play table tennis on the A-C-adaptor. \"Should I clean the inside? Should I get rid of the cracklings?,\" you ask yourself. No way, you like what you hear. This keyboard is alive. ItÔs good that way. You close the door and start recording... If our mutual friend found beetles in his synth, ISAN'S equipment must be inhabited by proper salamanders, pattering constantly over circuits, stumbling over wires. Robin and Toe, the two mates operating this 'Integrated Services Analogue Network' (ISAN), appreciate the salamander\'s help and dedicated this whole album to their little friend. A couple of years ago, they both met in Leicester, discovered a common interest in "using dodgy old keyboards to make a dodgy old noise" and started recording together. Mixing the simple beauty of melodies generated with analogue keyboards and the bumpy, quirky rhythms old drum machines create when you switch them on, ISAN produce some of the most irresistible pop anthems the whole family can hum along to." Review from Darla Records... (more/buy)

	Hammock - Raising Your Voice...Trying to Stop An Echo (Darla category) (Price: $13.99) "Raising Your VoiceÉTrying to Stop an Echo is the anticipated follow up to HammockÕs debut, Kenotic, a record that All Music Guide described as ÒÉin every way a contender for classic status in the Shoegazing genre.Ó Although cherished in Shoegazer circles, KenoticÕs two months charting in CMJÕs Radio 200 and high profile appearances during NBCÕs 2006 Olympic Coverage and on NPRÕs All Songs Considered, Hearts of Space, Echoes and Musical Starstreams revealed that Hammock was also causing a stir among tastemakers and fans of Ambient, Post-Rock, Drone and Electronic. The duoÕs eighteen newest tracks will do little to change that cross-genre appeal. Raising Your VoiceÉTrying to Stop an Echo is characterized by the duoÕs hallmark: thick curtains of cascading electric guitars that merge into pure expressions of hope, stillness, joy and loss. Accompanied by strings, piano, ethereal vocals and an occasional undercurrent of percussion, these beautiful, layered guitar washes range from whisper-soft minimalism to moments of driving, slow-burn intensity. Simply put, Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson make music that is filled with human passion and emotion. Welcome to this winterÕs new soundtrack. \"Éa perfect combination of the swirling, amorphous beauty of ambient music and the passionate pulse of electronica." -Brian Baker, Amplifier Magazine... (more/buy)

	Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After the Night Falls (Darla category) (Price: $13.99) "After The Night Falls and Before The Day Breaks are not ambient. Both are instrumental, absolutely beautiful and as emotionally charged as any previous work from either artist. The pair of albums complement one another, each track with its twin on the companion piece, the two conceived as experiments in the dualities of music and emotion. As with all classic recordings from the Masters the listener desires repeated listening to absorb their full sonic implications. This is soulful music that allows one to find that place within where peace and perspective are achieved. It moves effortlessly to erase the chatter of modern life and inspire meditation on things important. It may help the listener better see their way forward." review from Darla Records Track list: 1. How Distant Your Heart 2. Avenue of Shapes 3. Seven Thousand Sunny Years 4. She is My Strength 5. Inside, a Golden Echo 6. Open Book 7. And Then I Turned Away 8. The Girl with the Colorful Thoughts 9. Turn Off the Sun... (more/buy)

2008.04.21

These arrived some time ago, and were added to the Hypnos Online Store, but we're just getting around to mentioning them... here's a great selection of the available releases from the incredible Canadian dark ambient label, Cyclic Law. These CDs are are great examples of beautifully packaged deep ambient, perhaps darker than most of what we sell here at Hypnos, but never abrasive or too aggressive. Fans of Lustmord or Sleep Research Facility or Lull should enjoy these. Also, Cyclic Law artist Svartsinn will be appearing on the upcoming Hypnos compilation CD, Message from a Subatomic World.

	Svartsinn - Traces of Nothingness (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) The 3rd offering from Norway\'s Svartsinn could be acknowledged as the end of a trilogy, the first opus \"Devouring Consciousness\" was an album containing stories made during what the artist explains as being some difficult and rough times. The second offering, \"Of Darkness And Re-Creation\", was the process of trying to deal with these struggles and reflect on them. \"Traces Of Nothingness\" is simply the reaction, result and the path ahead in this ongoing, seemingly endless darkness. A slightly more melodic, sad and obscure side of Svartsinn that still keeps the cold and dark atmosphere that defines his sound. First 1000 copies in special Digipack. 8 Tracks. Running time; 50:57 Track list: Traces Of Nothingness / No Passage To The Innermost... / Lost In Reveries / Misanthropic Odyssey / Through Apathetic Eyes / All The Colours Are Fading / ...But The Fire Burns No More / Emptiness Is Form... (more/buy)

	Visions - Lapse (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) New solo work from FrŽdŽric Arbour (Instincts/Longing For Dawn/Cyclic Law). This sonic venture takes us on an intense, solemn ambient journey through the minds eye and beyond. A transcendantal voyage through thick, droning layers immersed in richly obscure, ever evolving abstract sonorities fused with mysticaly charged passages, this is a relentless visionary experience through time and space, to realms beyond our imagination. First 1000 copies in Gatefold sleeve. 7 Tracks. Running time; 56:00 Track list: Abyssal Gaze / Auroral Glare / Visions / Passage / Lapsing / Devoid Of Shadows / Lightless... (more/buy)

	Gustaf Hildebrand - Primordial Resonance (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) Gustaf\'s second full lenght is a unique, evolved experience offering you to embark upon an odyssey through ancient and lifeless surroundings. Sweeping ambient soundscapes and delicate textures mingle with the distant shrieks of surreal machinery - conjuring up images of abandoned and forgotten places, clouded skies and dead cities where time has been standing still. A captured moment from a strange no man\'s land lit by a perpetual gloom, Primordial Resonance is a voyage only limited by the imagination of the listener. First 1000 copies come in an oversized fold out cover (A5). 6 Tracks. Running time; 45:19 Track list: Omega Continuum / Post Oblivion Fields / The Hollow Structures / Omnivoid / Ruins of a Failed Utopia / Wanderer of Strange Spheres... (more/buy)

	Northaunt - Horizons (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) 3rd full length album from Norway\'s most renowned Ambient Atmospheric act. HORIZONS is a collection of 7 long ambient landscapes, lonely sceneries on the verge of night, places we long for, places we have been, sanctuaries from mankind. This is desolation made audible, carefully constructed and layered with deep drones, melancholic tonalities and outdoor field recordings which makes this Northaunt\'s most haunting release so far. Includes a bonus Video file with an alternate version of the track \"The Wilderness\" First 2000 copies in a 6 panel Digipack 7 Tracks + Video. Running time; 60.00 Track list: Until Dawn Do Us Part / Night Came To Us / Horizons / The Autumn Sky / Night Alone / With The Stars As Witness / The Wilderness Bonus Video File: The Wilderness (Alternate Version)... (more/buy)

	New Risen Throne - Whispers of the Approaching Wastefulness (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) The latest offering and first for Cyclic Law of one of Italy\'s finest Black Ambient master. The main concept and transpiring feeling of this album and the title \"Whispers of the approaching wastefulness\" can best be described as the \"steps\" or \"journey\" leading to the acknowledgment of the approaching end of all things. \"Whispers\" represent doubts and thoughts about the prevalent decadence that is around and deep within us and \"wastefulness\" translates to the imminent, definitive end of all things, to oblivion... The album is divided into 3 chapters: I - Oblivious to unknown threat (first signs) Tracks 1 & 2, II - Acquisition of knowledge (signs) Tracks 3, 4 & 5, III - Advent of a definitive wastefulness (final signs) Track 6. NEW RISEN THRONE\'s latest opus offers a bleak and sorrow filled soundtrack celebrating death with little hope for rebirth... This Enhanced CD features an exclusive bonus video clip of the track \"Unknown (II)\" First 1000 copies comes in a 6 panel textured cardboard sleeve. 6 Tracks. Running time; 44:00 Track List: Signs Of The Approaching Wastefulness (I) / Blowing Funeral Chant / Signs Of The Approaching Wastefulness (II) / Prophet (III) / Aporrheton / Signs Of The Approaching Wastefulness (III)... (more/buy)

	Tholen - Sternklang (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) Sternklang is the expression of the intimate encounter with the whole, the direct connection with the stars and the vast universe, the sense of complete union with all the overdimensional attributes of what sourrounds us. With THOLEN, Eisen, the man behind this project has given us an aurally materialized glimpse of his numerous stargazing evenings...where the soundscapes are revealed while the stars seemed to gather and sing out of their primordial and powerful environment. The darkest hour is always the one before sunrise... In fold out gatefold cardboard sleeve. 1 Track. Running Time: 1:11:07 Track List: Sternklang1 / Sternklang2 / Sternklang3 / Sternklang4... (more/buy)

	Sinke Dus - Akrasia (Cyclic Law category) (Price: $13.99) Akrasia is an old question dealing with the weakness of the will. To behave \"akratically\" is when one acts against his better judgement, committing acts that are known to be wrong but yet still going through with the motion. Markus Lonebrink wanted to explore not so much the philosophical issues at hand, but rather the subjective experience of akrasia itself. To learn of the underlying motives of when one acts akratically. Certain events in the akratic process felt natural to him and it was those he tried to integrate into these soundscapes. There are no conclusions described in the music, but there might be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and perhaps the shadow of a hint of why we humans sometimes act as irrationally as we do. A shared quest to gain better knowledge of oneself through this self-revisionistic ambient journey filled with ethereally lush passages that give way to a truly visionary and immersive experience. The album also features a special collaboration with PŠr Bostrom of KAMMARHEIT. In fold out gatefold cardboard sleeve. 7 Tracks. Running Time: 45:50 Track List: The Premonition / Acedia / Remnants / That Which Was Lost / The Abyss / That Which Lies Beyond / Fortitude... (more/buy)

2008.04.04 (later)

More new items just added to the Hypnos Online Store from the Neu Harmony label -- imports from England.

	AirSculpture - TranceAtlantic (2 CD) (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $16.99) 2005. "These recordings were taken from the band's US tour in 2004. The first disc features Parts 1 to 3 of 'Walk The Locust' from their 'Gatherings' concert. The second disc features the three-part title track, which was taken from the late night live radio concert they did after the gig. Despite the word \'trance\' in the title there is nothing remotely dancey about this album but rather, (as well as the obvious pun), it refers to the effect the music will probably have on you. Even though there are some great sequences and rhythms here this isn\'t, for the most part, AirSculpture in sledgehammer mode. Rather they are being truer to their name, creating wonderful, spellbinding structures - works of art in their own right, out of pure air.\" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Max van Richter - Resurrection (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2002. "In keeping with the Arcane albums, 'Resurrection' encapsulates and extends the classic melodic/sequencer style which TD used to perfection in the early 80\'s. Debate still occasionally surfaces about the pro\'s and con\'s of using comparisons in reviews, but when you hear an album like this it is totally appropriate to make comparison with the very best EM ever made. Had Schmoelling or Froese released this as a long lost TD solo work no-one would have batted an eyelid as to its credentials, and it\'s stature as one of the best solo albums to emerge from the scene. It is totally magnificent, totally captivating, totally essential.\" --Reviewed by GG at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Javi Canovas - Light Echoes (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2006. "Javi will be a new name to many but he has, over the last few years, been perfecting his art. In 2005 he put his toe in the water with a self-produced album \'Impasse\'. It was well received amongst sequencer nuts. This early promise was not a \'flash in the pan\' as \'Light Echoes\' is a real cracker. The title makes it sound as if the album might be rather mellow but nothing could be further from the truth, as it is a hard-core sequencer belting epic where his complex sequences are allowed to let rip almost throughout. I loved this album.\" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	The Omega Syndicate - Phonosphere (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2004. "Lovely, thick analogue cosmic whooshing might sound like quite a standard way of beginning a track but there are ways of doing it- and there is The Omega Syndicate way of doing it! In electronic music the choice of sounds is vital and these really are impressive- indeed they are some of the best space sounds I have ever heard. Out of this stellar bliss first one high register sequence then another massively bass-laden one surge forwards. Again the sounds are awesome. They constantly morph and move in and out of the mix almost like gusts of wind surging one way then another in a storm, wreaking havoc as they go. Indeed you could say it is completely self-sufficient containing rhythm, melody, power and atmosphere all in its ever-shifting pattern of notes.\" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Otarion - Creator (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2002. "This doesn't fit into any particular category. It takes the best elements from retro, modern rhythmic, atmospheric- everything really, and puts them together to form one of the most enjoyable albums I have ever heard. \'Evolution\' was a triumph but on \'Creator\' the sound is even bigger, the hooks even stronger and there is so much of that mysterious factor that is hard to put your finger on that just makes you want to shout out in pleasure. Even the artwork created by Marcus Hildebrandt and put together by Gary Hall is stunning.\" --Reviewed bt DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	The Omega Syndicate - Apocalypse (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2006. "The coolest of cosmic sounds get the title track underway. This is really moody stuff. Three minutes in and a stunning (and I mean stunning!) melodic sequence strikes up along with some menacing cosmic guitar playing which adds that extra bite without dominating too much. There is the feel of pent up power about to explode. \'The Lycanthropic Principle\' cranks the sequences up immediately. A wonderful bass laden one erupts from the speakers accompanied by sympathetic rhythms and excellent tuneful pads. Extra bite is added in the form of superb guitar riffs nestling in the middle of the mix. Then to make this exquisite combination still better in comes the most stunning lead line duelling with the guitar. Some say that guitars can sometimes spoil EM but surely that can\'t be said of this, it just works so well. If Tangerine Dream had come up with a track like this in the last 20 years people would be in ecstatic bliss. It really is something special. \'Pixie\'s Playground\' is another winner. Shimmering metallic drones mix with sonic tinklings, a heavenly flutey synth line floating above it all. A bouncy melodic loop adds a little extra movement which is soon stepped up a gear as another wonderful bass sequence rolls into formation. \'The Global Extinction of the Wireless\' begins rather moodily with a melancholy melody just hanging in the air above delicate fizzing drones. A rapid tinkling sequence cuts through the calmness. A second joins it along with restrained guitar licks. Yet another sequence is chucked into the brew and we are now storming along in almost \'Force Majeure\' fashion. Things continue to gain added oomph, the guitar taking the main melodic duties but keeping fairly restrained, letting the sequences provide the powerful salvos. \'Masque\' starts like there is a UFO coming down to land then yet another awesome sequence rolls forward with steam hissing from its vapour trail. What we have here is of classic Arc proportions. The lead lines, one after another, are all b rilliant and could have come straight from Ian Boddy as Mark wielded the mighty modular." --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

2008.04.04

More new items just added to the Hypnos Online Store from the Neu Harmony label -- imports from England.

	Mark Shreeve - Embryo (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) "Originally released in 1980 on cassette, this was Mark Shreeve’s debut outing in the world of Electronic Music. This CD release gives everyone the opportunity to hear the music as it was originally intended, with the sonorous clarity and dynamics of the digital domain. Just to clear up any potential confusion, this isn’t a dodgy bootleg of a cassette copy , this is a full blown official CD release sourced from the master tapes, and it sounds superb. As the title suggests, this is an embryonic journey through some early EM influences, primarily Schulze and Tangerine Dream of the 70’s. " --Reviewed by GG at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Syndromeda - The Alien Abduction Phenomenon (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2001. "This is superb atmospheric picture music of the very highest order, conjuring up images of desolate alien landscapes. This album has it all, some of the best atmospheric passages you could ever ask for, but also rhythms and sequences which will shake the foundations. Amazing!" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Syndromeda - In Touch with the Stars (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2001. "What we have here is Syndromeda's performance at Jodrell Bank earlier this year. Its all new material recorded especially for the concert and what a gig it was. If you weren't there listening to this CD is the next best thing. The dark rumbling drones created for the beginning of the opener 'So So Far Away' are so deep they got a pile of CDs I had placed near a speaker to fall over. They were ideal for the cosmic setting of this performance, it was like being near some star about to go super nova. There is so much power here and yet at the same time a sort of peacefulness. This album has some of the meanest, deepest atmospherics as well as awesome sequences and rhythms. It should give the speakers a real work out - play loud!" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Mike Andrews - Time & Science (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2002. "A lovely, dreamy lead line floats above windy effects and shimmering drones. A powerful lead melody surges from the speakers over vast pads and explosions. Its extremely exciting, almost apocalyptic stuff.I think this album would appeal to fans of Otarion and Andy Pickford as it is music which is both immense in scale as well as melodically superb." --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Andy Pickford & Paul Nagle: S.T.D.M. - Ramayana (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2002. "This is an incredible album! The music is flowing, sometimes gently but at other times like a raging current. There are elements of trance in here but rhythmically much more inventive and the sequences stronger than much of that style. The melodies are also superb, often subtle but always captivating." --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Arcane - 33 1/3 RPM (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2004. "It was long rumored that the seminal 'Teach Yourself To Crash Cars' album was planned as a double. The myth grew when a copy of 'Pt 2' was supposedly spotted in a backstreet record shop in Berlin, next to TD's 'The Keep' LP. It wasn't until Buchloh's studio was being relocated that rumour became reality. In amongst a box of various EM albums was a white label master which simply had written on it 'Arcane 33 1/3 RPM'. It was unmistakably the long lost part 2, and this is a digitally remastered transcription of those sacred grooves which is presented here as the first two tracks. In keeping with the vinyl origins the packaging is a microcosm of gatefold reminiscence, with the CD itself mimicking its long-play forebears. It is hugely effective, and the moody imagery fits the concept to perfection. Overall this is an enthralling album, and the key features that make Arcane one of the very top EM bands of the moment can be found in abundance. The remastering has been handled very well, the packaging is great, it really is another outstanding chapter in this band's already illustrious portfolio. Quite simply a "must buy". --Reviewed by GG at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

2008.04.03

Lena's been very busy adding lots of new items to the Hypnos Online Store and this time, we have items imported from the Neu Harmony label in England.

	Jim Kirkwood - Tower of Darkness (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 1993. "Tower of Darkness' is a fair representation of Jim Kirkwood\'s work - eerie, Gothic, atmospheric and powerful all at once." -- Reviewed by Stuart J. Harris... (more/buy)

	Otarion - Evolution (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2000. "Mesmeric sequencing combine with the most infectious melodies to produce a hugely stylish collection of EM at its very best." --reviewed by DL from Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Paul Ellis - Appears to Vanish (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2000. "A lone organ sound gives the beginning of the first part a rather Gothic feel. This is compounded still further when at just over a minute it is replaced by angelic wordless vocal effects. You can just imagine the mist swirling round some abandoned monastery where the echoes of its long dead inhabitants still reverberate from one ruined wall to another. These all disappear before three minutes, the mood well and truly set as a deep note repeatedly resonates from the speakers and an ominous melodic motif makes proceedings seem even more sinister. In case you have been thinking that you have heard of this artist before but can\'t quite place him it might help to tell you that he is one half of Dweller at the Threshold.\" --reviewed by DL from Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Kubuschnitt - The Singularity (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2001. "We begin with a chaotic collage of sounds and effects out of which emerges an ominous drone and slow pulses. In complete contrast we then get a plucked string type lead line to which is added an absolutely fantastic melodic sequence - one of the best if not the best Kubusschnitt have come up with so far. What\'s more it just gets better, faster and more intense as we progress into the second part with yet more fantastic lead lines. If you want sequencer mayhem with strong melodies you will have it by the avalanche full here. I really can\'t stress too much just how good this is.\" --reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Various Artists - Okefenokee Dreams 2001 (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2001. "OK, a history lesson first. In 2000 Vic Rek organised a meeting of Tangerine Dream fans at the Okefenokee swamp. During the event Free System Project and Dave Brewer improvised a superb set of music. This was released as 'Okefenokee Dreams'. A year later the event was held again but this time Bill Fox as well as John Christian and Pete Ruczynski from AirSculpture joined in with the fun, all the musicians playing together on most of the tracks. What you get here on 'Okefenokee Dreams 2001, is a selection of the best tracks from these sessions.The appropriately titled 'Wildlife at the Okefenokee' initially features what sounds like heavy breathing or even snoring (!) of some large animal. A looped vocal sample then informs us that this is 'a great example of some of the wildlife here at Okefenokee'. It has to be one of the strangest starts to a CD that I can remember. A slow sequence comes to life and we settle down to more familiar territory. The sequence becomes more strident and a nice melodic lead line can be heard. A second excellent rapid sequence comes in mutating beautifully accompanied by spot on tron sounds and electric guitar lead line. Those people who wondered what the hell was going on at the beginning of the disc will now probably be in retro heaven.- wow! It is hard to think how this combination of sounds and pulsations can be bettered.\" --reviwed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

	Tomorrow's Tuesday - The Glimmer Room (Neu Harmony category) (Price: $13.99) 2002. \"\'Every day I die for Your Body\' begins with mournful thick pads. A slow heavyish rhythm brings the track to life then two melodies start up weaving around each other. As the track progresses more melodies come and go. Many of the tracks use a similar formula though all have a unique character of their own. This is fantastic and amazingly infectious music, I loved every track. Nearly all the numbers will rhythmically get your whole body moving- its impossible to stay still. Rarely have I come across rhythms that are so irresistible. Above all it tries to be enjoyable and exciting - and succeeds. It\'s a breath of fresh air!" --Reviewed by DL at Synth Music Direct... (more/buy)

2008.04.02

Today we have more new items added to the Hypnos Online Store, this time a selection of Steve Roach materials (both Steve's own work, and 2 works by other artists produced by Roach and released on Roach's new label):

	Steve Roach - Arc of Passion (Steve Roach category) (Price: $18.99, 2CD) 2008. Latest from ambient music great, Steve Roach. "Steve Roach's new 2-CD set seamlessly fuses three long unfolding soundworlds into a vibrant sonic odyssey. The result can only be described as a living, breathing Arc of Passion. As one of the great pioneers of electronic music, Steve\'s career has many musical highpoints; Arc of Passion proves to be another definitive statement along the path. Advanced response from listeners places this album at the top of the long list of must-have releases from Steve’s body of work. Steve reaches into his sonic palette to weave elements of his three definitive styles into a continuous, evolving flow. Rich harmonic chords, spiraling sequences and deep sky soundworlds move fluidly within this 2-hour set." --reviewed by Projekt Records... (more/buy)

	Brian Parnham - Mantle (Steve Roach category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. New release on Steve Roach's label, and produced by Roach. "This outstanding release plays like a surreal subterranean walkabout within the folds of Utah\'s alluring slot canyons. Steve Roach commissioned long-time friend and accomplished electronic artist Brian Parnham to drop into the deep end of his sound carving skills. The result presents an adroit sound artist coming into full form within this shadowed sonic wonderland drawn from the Earth\'s inner realms." review from steveroach.com... (more/buy)

	Nathan Youngblood - Asunder (Steve Roach category) (Price: $13.99) 2008. New release on Steve Roach's label, and produced by Roach. "Asunder is the debut release by Nathan Youngblood. Carved from dense harmonically rich acoustic and electronic material, this set of tone zones move at glacial speed, hovering very close to the Earth\'s surface for the duration. Emotionally contained in a sphere of isolation, the gentle tension effectively holds your interest subliminally, and continues to permeate into your physical and mental environment." review from steveroach.com... (more/buy)

2008.04.01

Here's a new item added to the Hypnos Online Store:

	Irezumi - Endurance (Miscellaneous category) (Price: $14.99) 2008. The first release from the brand new Snowblood label, which looks very promising. "Warm electronic sounds and beautiful melodies echoe the tale of a horrible disaster.Based on the theme of a tragic British Arctic expedition which ended with the crew dying, trapped in the ice. A heartbreaking tale of human endurance." Review from Databloem Records... (more/buy)

2008.03.03

Just a quick note about a live performance, here in Portland tomorrow night, by the band of Hypnos & Binary artist Dave Fulton, known as Milwaukie Three. They say:

Show!

1st Thursday! March 6th GK. Come see the Milwaukie Three3 play the best improvised set this side of Texas!

Show starts at 9:30. 3 bands!

Bring quarters and hearing protection!

And here's the mini-flyer:

Ground Kontrol is a fun venue in the Old Town / Chinatown area. Check it out.

2008.03.03

This one's been delayed for a while, but is finally ready. It's the Hypnos debut from Sense Project, and this album is as densely-packed with sounds and ideas as anything we've ever done.

Artist: Sense Project
Title: The Sublime
Label: Hypnos Secret Sounds, ltd 2cdr edition of 300

Sense Project - The Sublime

2008. This release is a departure for the Hypnos Secret Sounds imprint in that it will be a two disc set. Sense Project is an alter-ego of Robert Logan, who releases experimental electronic music under his true name, including the truly amazing debut CD Cognessence. Robert also composed the music for Alex Gibney's Oscar-winning documentary feature 'Taxi to the Darkside' along with Ivor Guest and Philip Sheppard.

The Sublime careens from drone ambient, to churning, confrontational Aphex Twin style rhythms, with perhaps more rich and diverse sound content than any album we've ever released. Normally we'd have reservations about releasing a double CD by a young, emerging artist but this one justifies its duration without question. If you're not sure about buying an ambient 2CDR release by a teen-aged recording artist (actually, he may be 20 by now... we should check before we go around repeating the "he's only 19" thing), just give the MP3 sample clips a try.

Track listing, with MP3 clips:

CD. 1 "The Sublime Part I"

1.) Vidék MP3 clip
2.) Rain Chimes (featuring Andrea Black on vocals) MP3 clip
3.) A Moment MP3 clip
4.) Solar Insect MP3 clip
5.) The Sublime MP3 clip
6.) Garden (featuring Sarah Sarhandi on viola) MP3 clip
7.) Isten MP3 clip
8.) Éjjel MP3 clip
9.) Death and After (featuring Francis Logan on violin) MP3 clip

CD. 2 "The Sublime Part II"

1.) Erdõ MP3 clip
2.) Mantis Religiosa MP3 clip
3.) Prime Mover MP3 clip
4.) Shards MP3 clip
5.) The Lamb MP3 clip
6.) Voice of Many Waters MP3 clip
7.) Cimbalom MP3 clip
8.) The Beautiful MP3 clip

Hypnos Online Store listing

2008.02.18

Here's another batch of new items on the Hypnos Online Store, this time from the room40 label. This is a fascinating new minimalist/experimental sound label based in Australia and featuring an interesting mix of artists from all over the world. Please note that many of these are 3" CDs of brief duration, but these are imported limited editions and many are already out of print. If you want more music than the 20 or so minutes that fits on a mini-CD, look at the 2CD compilation at the bottom. We have a limited stock of these items, and some will be difficult or impossible for us to obtain again.

	Lawrence English - Ghost Towns (ltd 3"cd) (room40 label) (Price: $15.99, ltd 3"cd") Recorded in the later half of 2003, this composition, falling just shy of 20 minutes is composed largely of field recordings. The only processing is via EQ and pitch shifting. The work is an abstracted impressionist sound portrait, sketching out the isolated soundscapes that exist, for the most part unheard, in these forgotten realms. REVIEWS 'extraordinarily gorgeous modern music concrŽte' --Signal to Noise... (more/buy)

	Philip Samartzis & Kozo Inada - h[] (ltd 3" cd) (room40 label) (Price: $14.99, ltd 3"cd") Australian electro-acoustic composer Philip Samartzis is an increasingly vital presence in the Australian sound community. His work over the past decade and a half has offered a prophetic vision for each of his chosen formats and aesthetic approaches. On h [ ] Samartzis is joined by minimal Japanese composer Kozo Inada, who brings with him an equally refined and austere sound sensibility. Between them, these two composers collaborate to produce a highly detailed work that juxtaposes, obscures and ultimately unites pure electronics with environmental recordings. These elements are set to work against and within one another, the results causing the listener to reconsider which sounds are emanating from the interwoven tapestry of source materials. Celebrating the rich tradition of acousmatic sound and musique concrŽte, this composition provides a potent reminder of the potentials of sound as a transformative and (imagined) narrative medium... (more/buy)

	Philip Samartzis / Lawrence English - One Plus One (ltd 3" cd) (room40 label) (Price: $14.99, ltd 3"cd") The turntable has enjoyed a varied history in the realm of performance and experimental music. From the early phonographic works of John Cage to the spliced cut-ups of Christian Marclay in the 1980s, the device has proven to be a versatile tool for the creation and transformation of sound. Following a joint billing at BrisbaneÕs Metro Arts Space in 2002, Melbourne based composer Philip Samartzis and sound artist Lawrence English shared a 30-minute performance that was to become the beginning of their on-going turntable duo. Both Samartzis (a member of the legendary Australian turntable group Gum) and English (a regular player with DJ Olive, Janek Schaefer and others) have long histories of live actions utilising turntables and together each of them brings a wealth of gestures and unique sonic qualities to the instrument. Recorded in early 2006, this edition captures the initial studio works from these two artists and seeks to reflect on the potential of the cyclical nature of vinyl and the surface noise that envelopes the very medium itself. REVIEWS: "four tracks of textured and highly mechanised looping machine music... with its hypnotic effects and ghosts of field recordings lost in the eddying patterns, 'One Plus One' is a real grower" --The Sound Projector... (more/buy)

	Richard Chartier - Current (ltd 3" cd) (room40 label) (Price: $14.99, ltd 3"cd") OUT OF PRINT - ONLY A FEW COPIES REMAIN Richard ChartierÕs sound installation and recorded pieces evoke a state of aural awareness. Working with a variety of minimal structures and refined sound sources, Chartier has been responsible for some of the most austere audio works of recent years. Aesthetically refined and creatively provocative much of his work has focused on the edges of perception, both in frequency range and amplitude. On Current, his latest work to be released in conjunction with his performances in Australia and Japan in late 2006, Chartier offers a multilayered sound field. Shimmering high tones filter amid a clouded layer of dense audio mist Ð across the 20 minutes, he creates a potent journey through crisp yet warm sound textures, metered pulses and spacious stereo field. The piece is thematically linked to the idea of travel by airplane - the disassociation of time and location Ð air currents above and the oceanic currents below... (more/buy)

	Taylor Deupree - Landing (ltd 3" cd) (room40 label) (Price: $15.99, ltd 3"cd") OUT OF PRINT - ONLY A FEW COPIES REMAIN With ÔLandingÕ American sound artist Taylor Deupree offers another vision of subtle shifting audio. A progression from the full-length Northern (12K), Landing matches acoustic instruments across broad washes of warm sonic texture and floating spatial movement. Removed from the falling sheets of silent snow swelling outside his home, DeupreeÕs Landing creates a generous and temperate sonic environment Ð both reflective and measured. An audio escape from chillier climes. BIO Taylor Deupree (b. 1971) is a sound artist, graphic designer, and photographer residing in New York. On January 1st, 1997, he founded 12k, a record label that focuses on minimalism and contemporary musical forms. In 12kÕs 10 years of existence Deupree has released over 40 CDs by a roster of international sound artists and has developed 12k into one of the most respected experimental electronic labels in the world. In September 2000, Deupree and sound artist Richard Chartier formed LINE, a sublabel of 12k that curates its continuing documentation of compositional and installation work by composers exploring the aesthetics of contemporary and digital minimalism. Reviews: "'Landing' is but another crowning achievement for the master of micro-tonal beauty" --Gaz-eta... (more/buy)

	Christopher Willits - Plants And Hearts (ltd 3" cd) (room40 label) (Price: $15.99, ltd 3"cd") Christopher Willits is a ceaseless creative force focused on teasing out the most from his instrument of choice Ð the guitar. With 'Plants and Hearts', he sets out on a divergent exploration of the tonal qualities of guitar, rendering out a composition that references in equal doses the minimal harmonic shifts of Terry Riley and the phasing works of Steve Reich. Incorporating 4hz isochronic pulses and panning at the same frequency, this work encourages the formation of 4hz brainwave patterns associated with states of meditation, deep relaxation, enhanced creativity, light sleep and lucid dreaming. From Willits: ÒI've always wanted to release a pure droning guitar piece and equally wanted to incorporate 4hz pulses and panning into something long form. These long drones, were recorded MS giving me some great stuff to experiment with, and allowed me blend these concepts in an unusual way.Ó... (more/buy)

	Tim Hecker - Norberg, Sweden (ltd 3" cd) (room40 label) (Price: $15.99, ltd 3"cd") Recorded at the Norberg Festival (Sweden) amidst the mineshafts and cluttered buildings strewn throughout parts the city, this 21 minute live piece summarises much of what makes Tim HeckerÕs music so vital and compelling. Adept at counter-pointing the most ferocious of distorted platters with smooth beds of ambient sound and potent melodic overtones, Tim Hecker creates music with a vast depth. On Norberg, this depth seems almost endless, as layer upon layer of sound are compiled into a swelling and all together visceral oceanic sound wave. Recently touring Australia and New Zealand and performing at ROOM40ÕS annual festival Open Frame, this CD comes on the back of some incredible live performances in the Southern Hemisphere. BIOGRAPHY Tim Hecker is a Canadian-based musician and sound artist, born in Vancouver. Since 1996, he has produced a range of audio works for Mille Plateaux, ROOM40, Kranky, Alien8, Force Inc, Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have been described as Òstructured ambientÓ, Òtectonic color platesÓ and Òcathedral electronic musicÓ. More to the point, he has focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft which is both physical and emotive. The New York Times has described his work as Òforeboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them wholeÓ. His Radio Amor was recognized as a key recording of 2003 by The Wire magazine. His Harmony in Ultraviolet was in Pitchfork's Top 20 of key recordings for 2006. REVIEWS: "[Norberg]... delivers generously off the bat, focusing on the dissonant contradictions of symphonic warmth and white noise evocation that have become the producerÕs highly recognisable trump card. This is well worth chasing down" --Exclaim!... (more/buy)

	Various Artists - Airport Symphony (ltd. 2xCD) (room40 label) (Price: $21.99, 2CD) Airport Symphony, commissioned by the Queensland Music Festival and Brisbane Airport Corporation, documents and synthesises the experiences of travel. Each piece represents a personal meditation on aspects of travel in the modern age and suggests ways in which we control, augment and ultimately exists in a time where almost no part of the face of the planet is inaccessible. Each of the pieces features a source recording made in and around Brisbane Airport between March and June 2007 Ðin a raw form or transformed by processing. Audio diary entries cataloguing the epic possibilities of flight, aero-passage and human bodies in motion and even at rest. Lawrence English, June 2007 Tracklisting: 1-1 David Grubbs Chimney Swifts (6:15) 1-2 Richard Chartier Retrieval Path (11:26) 1-3 Francisco L—pez Untitled #203 (12:51) Composed By - Francisco L—pez 1-4 Camilla Hannan Double Glazed (4:54) 1-5 Taylor Deupree Fear Of Flying (6:12) 1-6 Christophe Charles Airport Symphony, A Brief Life (9:38) 1-7 Dale Lloyd Airs For Beacons / Signals For Ports (5:22) 1-8 Marc Behrens 3 Winged Zones (10:17) Composed By - Marc Behrens Recorded By - Lawrence English 1-9 Toshiya Tsunoda Peak To Peak (5:00) 2-1 Tim Hecker Blue Ember Breeze (6:03) 2-2 Stephan Mathieu Lux-Scn (23:45) 2-3 Christian Fennesz* Verona (4:43) 2-4 Burkhard Beins Tarmac Berlin Edit (8:40) 2-5 Jason Kahn Transit (3:31) 2-6 Ulrich Krieger Noise Pollination (8:20) 2-7 Keiichi Sugimoto Tum (4:18) 2-8 Christopher Willits Plane (6:40) Recorded By, Mixed By, Edited By - Christopher Willits 2-9 Joel Stern Terminal Dreamer (5:37)... (more/buy)

2008.02.17

We've received many new items available now through the Hypnos Online Store, during this past few weeks, but have been too busy to keep updating this news page at the same pace we've been adding CDs to the store. Latest feature: the amazing Canadian dark ambient label, Cyclic Law. This label is making some of the most beautifully-presented CD packaging and artwork in the world right now, and we've imported some specially selected items that we believe should be of most interest to Hypnos listeners.

	Svartsinn - Traces Of Nothingness (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) The 3rd offering from Norway's Svartsinn could be acknowledged as the end of a trilogy, the first opus "Devouring Consciousness" was an album containing stories made during what the artist explains as being some difficult and rough times. The second offering, "Of Darkness And Re-Creation", was the process of trying to deal with these struggles and reflect on them. "Traces Of Nothingness" is simply the reaction, result and the path ahead in this ongoing, seemingly endless darkness. A slightly more melodic, sad and obscure side of Svartsinn that still keeps the cold and dark atmosphere that defines his sound. First 1000 copies in special Digipack. 8 Tracks. Running time; 50:57 Track list: Traces Of Nothingness / No Passage To The Innermost... / Lost In Reveries / Misanthropic Odyssey / Through Apathetic Eyes / All The Colours Are Fading / ...But The Fire Burns No More / Emptiness Is Form. . (more/buy)

	Visions - Lapse (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) New solo work from FrŽdŽric Arbour (Instincts/Longing For Dawn/Cyclic Law). This sonic venture takes us on an intense, solemn ambient journey through the minds eye and beyond. A transcendantal voyage through thick, droning layers immersed in richly obscure, ever evolving abstract sonorities fused with mysticaly charged passages, this is a relentless visionary experience through time and space, to realms beyond our imagination. First 1000 copies in Gatefold sleeve. 7 Tracks. Running time; 56:00 Track list: Abyssal Gaze / Auroral Glare / Visions / Passage / Lapsing / Devoid Of Shadows / Lightless . ... (more/buy)

	Gustaf Hildebrand - Primordial Resonance (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) Gustaf's second full lenght is a unique, evolved experience offering you to embark upon an odyssey through ancient and lifeless surroundings. Sweeping ambient soundscapes and delicate textures mingle with the distant shrieks of surreal machinery - conjuring up images of abandoned and forgotten places, clouded skies and dead cities where time has been standing still. A captured moment from a strange no man's land lit by a perpetual gloom, Primordial Resonance is a voyage only limited by the imagination of the listener. First 1000 copies come in an oversized fold out cover (A5). 6 Tracks. Running time; 45:19 Track list: Omega Continuum / Post Oblivion Fields / The Hollow Structures / Omnivoid / Ruins of a Failed Utopia / Wanderer of Strange Spheres ... (more/buy)

	Northaunt - Horizons (Enhanced CD) (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) 3rd full length album from Norway's most renowned Ambient Atmospheric act. HORIZONS is a collection of 7 long ambient landscapes, lonely sceneries on the verge of night, places we long for, places we have been, sanctuaries from mankind. This is desolation made audible, carefully constructed and layered with deep drones, melancholic tonalities and outdoor field recordings which makes this Northaunt's most haunting release so far. Includes a bonus Video file with an alternate version of the track "The Wilderness" First 2000 copies in a 6 panel Digipack 7 Tracks + Video. Running time; 60.00 Track list: Until Dawn Do Us Part / Night Came To Us / Horizons / The Autumn Sky / Night Alone / With The Stars As Witness / The Wilderness Bonus Video File: The Wilderness (Alternate Version)... (more/buy)

	New Risen Throne - Whispers of the approaching wastefulness (Enhanced CD) (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) The latest offering and first for Cyclic Law of one of Italy's finest Black Ambient master. The main concept and transpiring feeling of this album and the title "Whispers of the approaching wastefulness" can best be described as the "steps" or "journey" leading to the acknowledgment of the approaching end of all things. "Whispers" represent doubts and thoughts about the prevalent decadence that is around and deep within us and "wastefulness" translates to the imminent, definitive end of all things, to oblivion... The album is divided into 3 chapters: I - Oblivious to unknown threat (first signs) Tracks 1 & 2, II - Acquisition of knowledge (signs) Tracks 3, 4 & 5, III - Advent of a definitive wastefulness (final signs) Track 6. NEW RISEN THRONE's latest opus offers a bleak and sorrow filled soundtrack celebrating death with little hope for rebirth... This Enhanced CD features an exclusive bonus video clip of the track "Unknown (II)" First 1000 copies comes in a 6 panel textured cardboard sleeve. 6 Tracks. Running time; 44:00 Track List: Signs Of The Approaching Wastefulness (I) / Blowing Funeral Chant / Signs Of The Approaching Wastefulness (II) / Prophet (III) / Aporrheton / Signs Of The Approaching Wastefulness (III)... (more/buy)

	Tholen - Sternklang (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) Sternklang is the expression of the intimate encounter with the whole, the direct connection with the stars and the vast universe, the sense of complete union with all the overdimensional attributes of what sourrounds us. With THOLEN, Eisen, the man behind this project has given us an aurally materialized glimpse of his numerous stargazing evenings...where the soundscapes are revealed while the stars seemed to gather and sing out of their primordial and powerful environment. The darkest hour is always the one before sunrise... In fold out gatefold cardboard sleeve. 1 Track. Running Time: 1:11:07 Track List: Sternklang1 / Sternklang2 / Sternklang3 / Sternklang4 ... (more/buy)

	Sinke Dus - Akrasia (Cyclic Law label) (Price: $13.99) Akrasia is an old question dealing with the weakness of the will. To behave "akratically" is when one acts against his better judgement, committing acts that are known to be wrong but yet still going through with the motion. Markus Lonebrink wanted to explore not so much the philosophical issues at hand, but rather the subjective experience of akrasia itself. To learn of the underlying motives of when one acts akratically. Certain events in the akratic process felt natural to him and it was those he tried to integrate into these soundscapes. There are no conclusions described in the music, but there might be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and perhaps the shadow of a hint of why we humans sometimes act as irrationally as we do. A shared quest to gain better knowledge of oneself through this self-revisionistic ambient journey filled with ethereally lush passages that give way to a truly visionary and immersive experience. The album also features a special collaboration with PŠr Bostrom of KAMMARHEIT. In fold out gatefold cardboard sleeve. 7 Tracks. Running Time: 45:50 Track List: The Premonition / Acedia / Remnants / That Which Was Lost / The Abyss / That Which Lies Beyond / Fortitude... (more/buy)

2008.02.06 (later)

Here's another batch of new recommendations available from the Hypnos Online Store. Yet another batch of CDs imported from The Netherlands, this time from the Databloem label.

	Jason Corder & Opium - Autunno (Databloem/Dataobscura labels) (Price: $13.99) 2007. Jason Corder and Opium re-unite for another session of fascinating glitchy/ambient delight. 9 tracks. 52 minutes. Track samples: 01mp3 sample 1 02mp3 sample 2 03mp3 sample 3 ... (more/buy)

	Mathais Grassow & Jim Cole - Deep-Breath-Silence (Databloem/Dataobscura labels) (Price: $13.99) 2007. Droning pieces with incredible deep mood and human touch from Jim's harmonic singing Grassow and Cole at their best. Track samples: 01MP3 sample 1 / 02mp3 sample 2 ... (more/buy)

	Off the Sky - The Geist Cycles (Databloem/Dataobscura labels) (Price: $13.99) 2007. The geist cycles project began as a series of live sonic collaborations via Lexington (KY, USA) artists interacting to interpret an idea of life in transit to afterlife. The takes were later studio swept & fabricated with various piano arrangements and custom rhythmic texture. After repeated post-studio live performances, the tracks evolved into their current iteration. "Free-flowing, super inventive, cutting-edge material, and totally captivating from beginning to end. Jason Corder never fails to deliver." APK Track listing: 01 : fallopian silent film 02 : saturday morning indoctrination MP3 sample 03 : mother's milk stain MP3 sample 04 : feather in a needle 05 : the persistance of visions MP3 sample 06 : of acids an angels 07 : smoke span 08 : at the foot of an eastern elevator MP3 sample 09 : geist taxi 10 : waltzing the white light ... (more/buy)

2008.02.06

Today we're featuring some new recommendations, added not long ago to the Hypnos Online Store. These are four releases from the always-popular Groove Unlimited label, imported from The Netherlands.

Rudy Adrian - Par Avion (Groove label)
(Price: $13.99) 2007. "Par Avion - Sequencer Sketches vol.4" contains 48 minutes of sequencer music plus on the same disc a "bonus album" of "Starfields II" which are about 32 minutes of electronic atmospheres (darker and more electronic sounding than my usual "atmospheric music"). One of the sequencer tracks is a remix of a track that came out with E-Dition magazine and is a collaboration with Alpha Wave Movement.

"The first five tracks of Par Avion, nearly 50 minutes, are the sequencer sketches, starting with the dreamy title track. A brief French soliloquy courtesy of Rudy’s good friend Barbara Stone adds a unique twist to his familiar synthesizer sounds. Soft in pacing and mood, this makes a beautiful opener. Also mellow is “Bavarian Eagle”, with a fascinating sequence that sounds like a child’s toy or music box being hand-cranked to create the lilting sound. As Adrian does so well, this one slowly builds, picking up the pace and deftly layering in synth solos and various electronic sounds and effects. It is very much the classic Rudy Adrian sound, almost too familiar perhaps but enjoyable just the same. There are some nice segues as it moves from one section to the next over its 14 ½ minute course, in particular a mesmerizing section around the 10:00 mark. “Across the Canyons” is a collaboration with Alpha Wave Movement that flows quite evenly along. Though definitely sequencer based, this fourth volume of sequencer sketches is more relaxed throughout. “Soaring Birds” even features a lovely piano intro. Only “Sore Birds” really picks up the pace at the end. The last two tracks, nearly 30 minutes, are intended as a bonus album, quite different from the rest, a very ambient affair. “Starfields 2 – Part 1” starts with dark metallic shimmering sounds. If one could imagine music to accompany free-floating in deep space, it would sound something like this.

This is colder and harsher than Adrian’s mellower albums like MoonWater and The Healing

Index

Featured items

Hypnos News May 08, 2008