Currently listening, part 1

[APK]

Been enjoying

- Sakamoto / Illuha / Deupree :: Perpetual
The new one on 12K (from bandcamp). A very fine and delicate work. Worth every minimal cent.
- Pleq :: The Fallen Love
From his bandcamp site. A few years old. 10 out of 10.
- Flowers Of Hell :: Come Hell Or High Water
Curious mix of styles. Quite a bit of scandinavian feel, odd classical, and STOL.
I blame Scott M2 for getting me into this. It's very good wacko stuff. Bandcamp again.

[thirdsystem]

Edgar Froese - The Ambient Highway Vol 1.

[jdh]

Fantastic Journey-The Circular Ruins and Mystified.On BC.The song titles are a perfect match to the music, as well as the artwork.It really feels like a journey.Some similar sounds from track 1 make it into the last track so it should be listened to from start to finish.Sort of reminds me of Seti Pharaohs.The usual high standard mixing from APK.

A Broken Frame-Marsheaux.A song for song remake from the Depeche Mode album.This LP from 1982 was disowned by the band and it is one of my favorite.These new versions bring the sounds up to date while keeping the melodies intact.

[chris23]

Sakamoto + Illuha + Deupree - Perpetual
Recording of a live, improvisation session. As Anthony noted, it is [almost] worth every cent. There are parts of it that, not surprisingly, don't really hit the mark. But, on the whole, this recording is full of surprises and nice atmospheres, with some truly captivating moments.
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual

Steinbrüchel - Parallel Landscapes
Another new one from 12k. This has a few good tracks (track 03, for example), but, all in all, I didn't find the music very inspiring. Nice packaging though--with some beautiful nature prints.
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-landscapes

[Dave Michuda]

Ultimae Artists - ENFOLD 01
Spheruleus - Chronota
Janek Schaefer - Unfolding Luxury beyond the City of Dreams
Loren Nerell - Indonesian Soundscapes

[Mark Mushet]

Loren Dent Anthropology Vol. 2 & 3

Wow. The wait was worth it. This covers a lot of terrain and is a perfectly sequenced.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen Atomos

This is also sublime and is pulled in a more conventional, almost sentimental direction than SOTL.

Daniel Lanois Flesh and Machine

He needs to regroup and collaborate again. Maybe have someone else produce. He sounds like he's completely lost the plot.

Julia Rovinsky Dawn

Excellent harp transcriptions of Cage, Sakamoto et al. Her previous CDs have contained beautiful versions of Harold Budd and Budd/Eno tracks.

Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy and IV (remastered w/ extra discs)

What can you say? The extra discs are very much worth it, much to my surprise. Almost fully realized alternate versions of all songs.

Kate Moore Dances and Canons

ECM New Series release with too many uninspired minimalist piano pieces. Occasionally shines.

Robert Rich Perpetual

Epic. Reason enough to buy a BluRay player.

[chris23]

Alio Die + Parallel Worlds - Elusive Metaphor
This album is nearly perfect. The artists have really combined their talents in the ideal way--to create something that feels familiar and yet which transcends what either one of them could have done alone.
A few samples/Buy: https://aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/elusive-metaphor

Alio Die + Lorenzo Montana - Holographic Codex
Also super cool. I agree with folks who have noted that the first track feels a bit out of place. Which is too bad because it is the highlight of the release. But the rest of it is excellent too.
A few samples/Buy: https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/holographic-codex

[petekelly]

'Non stop Erotic Cabaret' by Soft Cell.
An excellently poignant album made more personal for me as I used to live in the 'Bedsit Land' that Marc Almond sings about (Leeds 6).

[thirdsystem]

Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom.



Just managed to get hold of this 1974 album today. Non ambient obviously but there are some ambient elements to it. An acquired taste Mr Wyatt possibly ! However this is a beautiful , melancholy slice of Canterbury Prog. Love it.

[Castleview]

Steve Roach - The Delicate Forever

Just catching up on a bit of a backlog that I have. Haven't listened to much ambient music lately.

I am enjoying this one a lot so far. Nice sounds and textures that I wasn't quite expecting.

[chris23]

I really like The Delicate Forever--especially the first track.

Recent spins:

Alio Die + Parallel Worlds - Circo Divino
I had passed this up a few years ago. But, after really digging Elusive Metaphor, I decided to give this a go when it landed on Bandcamp. It is excellent, much like the recent collaboration. These two really do some innovative work when they put their heads together.
https://aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/circo-divino

Eeem - Leaves Stories
A single long-form track that combines field recordings and ambient textures. Nice and soothing. Digital only.
https://emmanueltoledolaurihallikainen.bandcamp.com/track/leaves-stories-usnea

Si Matthews - Tales of Ten Worlds
New release from Carpe Sonum (CD isn't out yet, but the digital version is available for purchase). According to the CS cite, this is an album that Namlook declined to publish on Fax, but it still managed to gain some attention in the back channels. It is a treat. There are some absolutely amazing tracks on here (World 1 - World 4 are incredible, the first one being the "play it on repeat" stand out, for me). It has a bit of a retro feel and might make diehard Fax Heads feel a bit nostalgic.
https://carpesonum.bandcamp.com/album/tales-of-ten-worlds

[petekelly]

As good as it is unpronouncable:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj_F15P3goo&list=PLDxTHoi_b9O2xq3D3JfH-3BD917DbytwL

[Dave Michuda]

dirk serries - streams of consciousness  - I love me some ambient guitar!  This is excellent.  https://tonefloatikon.bandcamp.com/album/streams-of-consciousness-152401

Nathan Amundson - Western Songs - This is a very simple recording and that's why I like it.  It's basically one guitar strummed & improvised with a fair amount of echo.  Amundson describes it this way - " late night instrumental guitar jams evoking the vast, arid landscape surrounding his home state of Colorado."  Yup!   https://rivulets.bandcamp.com/album/western-songs

Robert Fripp - Glass & Breath  -  An un-Fripp-like minimalist recording of bell type sounds.  A nice free release from DGM.  http://www.dgmlive.com/archive.htm?artist=14&show=1167

[chris23]

Sonmi451 - The Limbic System
Standard edition from Time Released Sound. Typical Sonmi451, but the sampling has more of a jazz feel to it than some of his earlier work. Overall, a nice album with a few super strong tracks.
http://timereleasedsound.com/shop/releases/sonmi451-the-limbic-system-standard-version/

[Seren]

an afternoon of listening to music with a friend:
Lady Gaga, Tangerine Dream, Mozart, Chris Isaaks, Madonna, Patti Smith, Bocelli (I think), Vangelis, Synasthesia, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon....

[drone on]

Blake Gibson/Robert Davies--"Quiraing".  Very nice album of organic landscape ambient a la Grassow and Stearns.  If you liked the Amplexus label back in the 90s you will dig this.  Also David Parsons work is similar in spots.  Airy, stratospheric sounds morph into darker passages of drones that are occasionally a bit harsh. 

Solipsism-- thoth machine.  Jury still out on this one...

[APK]

Blake Gibson/Robert Davies--"Quiraing".  Very nice album of organic landscape ambient a la Grassow and Stearns.  If you liked the Amplexus label back in the 90s you will dig this.  Also David Parsons work is similar in spots.  Airy, stratospheric sounds morph into darker passages of drones that are occasionally a bit harsh. 

Yep, I received a copy from Dennis at Databloem recently and thought it had potential, but also found it overly harsh in the high end throughout much of it. Could have used some proper mastering on this one.

[APK]

- Christopher Hipgrave:: No greater hero than the least plant that grows

Lovely thing on the Home Normal bandcamp site. Precious, minimal, glitchy, granular.

[| broken harbour |]

Hey thanks for listening to Quiraing, and thanks for the constructive criticism. I probably don't need to mention this on a forum of mainly musicians, but make sure that whatever your listening device is, make sure the EQ is flat.  It sounds fine in my studio, on my home theatre and even on my iPod, but I did notice some high end harshness in my car, where I usually have the lows and highs bumped up a bit, once I set it to flat, it sounded fine to me.  *shrugs*

Also.... proper mastering just wasn't in the budget this time  ;D

[drone on]

My comment about harshness refers to the style, not any errors in the production.  To clarify, the album can get quite dark in places and the sounds are more harsh than the floating more ethereal passages.  I was not giving this a negative review based on this observation.