Currently listening, part 1

[cvac]

Steve Roach: structures from silence
Julio Di Benedetto: original light
Algaia: florealia nocturna
Oophoi: hymns to a silent sky, upuaut
Jaja: endless

Non-ambient, all vinyl:

John Coltrane: acension
Azar Lawrence: summer solstice
Buddy Terry: pure dynamite
Conrad Schnitzler: blau
Guided By Voices: bee thousand

[hjalmer]

fresh

hotel neon | hotel neon
arctica | animus | great itunes price
alphaxone | echoes from outer silence | favorite artist lately
glo | sovande
ugasanie | eye of tunguska
robert douglas | snowfall
simon slater | overboard

library

procer veneficus | saltwater and glassmoon
phobos | sector 4
oophoi/tau ceti | subterranea
nono orchestra | angels breaking
never known | on the edge of forever
mulm | the end of greatness
robert rich | below zero
simulacra | eidolon


h

[cvac]

Nun Stans - Elementa

-played twice yesterday, really like this one.

Chad Hoefler - Quiet Glow

-picked up during the SP $5 sale. Very good album, minimal, but with moments of activity.

Conrad Schnitzler - Rot

-quite primitive by today's standards but I dig this sort of thing.

O Yuki Conjugate - Equator

-sort of wrote off this group years ago, as I only liked their side projects like Slim Westerns or the Schutze/Hulme collaboration CD. This album is very good though. The group really needs to get some sort of site with lossless downloads going, only mp3s and compressed files appear to be available.

[chris23]

Autumn of Communion - Polydeuces
This is the new release by AoC. It is still "in press", but is available digitally. Great stuff: sequenced structures and vast ambient washes. AoC's own description notes that the album was largely improvised. I suspect that if Mick and Lee were to simply smash their faces on their equipment that the result would nonetheless move me to tears. Thanks for the head's up, thirdsystem.
https://autumnofcommunion.bandcamp.com/album/polydeuces

[thirdsystem]

Nice one Chris, think I may prefer the new AOC to the new Nachtplank. Both very good though.

Sad Cafe - Facades LP
Edgar Froese - Ages LP
Spock's Beard - Snow- triple vinyl



And now DSOTMoog 1

Varied listening but all very enjoyable.

[cvac]

The Beat: s/t

Classic power-pop, great songs, catchy as hell

Joe Henderson: black is the color

Early 70s jazz, very different from his 60s recordings, starts off funky then gets a little crazy towards the middle of the second side.

Linval Thompson: baby father

Nice record of early 80s dancehall, backed up by the Roots Radics, not a digi-driven as reggae would soon become.

Ornette Coleman: this is our music

Not nearly as wild as you'd think, quite listenable with plenty of melody.

Steve Roach: empetus 2xCD edition, arc of passion, life sequence

Outside of a couple albums I've liked for awhile, I have only started to appreciate his work fairly recently. all of these albums are great IMHO, I really like his sequencer driven work, which is a new discovery for me.

Tor Lundvall: early ambient recordings '91-94

A bunch of short, ambient leaning sketches, styles are all over the place but it's all fairly enjoyable. I kind of wish some of the pieces were a bit more stretched out and longer, I'm guessing these were all edited down from longer improvised recordings. Not familiar with his other work, have to check it out at some point.

Jaja: endless

Checked this out on Bandcamp based on comments here, quite impressed.


åpne sinn: en seier

This was actually listed under Jaja's "recommendations". Quite a nice album, beat driven ambient in places, good flow to tie everything together, engaging. I think the artist is working on a new album.


Sphare Sechs: enceladus

On my second listen now, good deep space ambient based on thick washes of drone that rise and fall in volume with other elements flowing in here and there. This is good, but I'm not blown away by it. Still glad I picked it up in my last CD bundle order from Malignant though.

As Lonely As Dave Bowman: monolith

This was a free download from Projekt awhile ago, only just got around to listening to it. Very sparse in places, the long track is heavy on the drone. Pretty good but not blown away.


O Yuki Conjugate: peyote

Streamed this to check it out. Not as good as Equator, IMHO.


Thom Brennan: mountains

My first album by the artist, I like this a lot. Bought the download from CD Baby because the current CD pressing appears to be a CD-R, not a big fan of those. Need to check out some of his other work. Anyone know why there was such a long gap between his first and second album? Just curious.


Offthesky & Pleq: a thousand fields

Very good album, I like this a lot. Bought the 24 bit album but haven't had a chance to listen in 24 bit mode yet. Lots of texture, good use of different elements. Needs more time to fully sink in.


Jorg Schaaf: sonar experience

Saw this talked up here and on Bandcamp, so I checked out some clips and ended up getting the album. This is sequencer driven stuff that is almost like experimental techno in places. Reminds me a bit of what Warp was doing in the 90s or perhaps the kind of stuff on DiN? Not sure. Whatever you want to call it, it's good. No idea why this artist hasn't made more albums.

[drone on]

Cvac:  Thom Brennan never really pursued a music career or sought out labels to release his music.  Seems like on average it's upwards of 10 years between releases in terms of major CD releases. He's the Kate Bush of Ambient.  I never liked Peyote by OYC much either.  Undercurrents and Equator are essential. 

Tonight it's "A Door in the Air" compilation  from the early 90s.  Excellent roster: Roach, Rich, Brook, Torn, plus others.  A couple Rich tracks here are still exclusive to this album.  The Michael Brook track kicks ass.

[thirdsystem]

That Jorg Schaaf album is excellent. A real mix of styles and genres. Always interesting.

Thom Brennan's music is some of my most listened to , all genres. My favourites are Mist and Vibrant Water, also have Shimmer, Beneath Clouds and Strange Paradise. All are superb.

This tends to be the music I listen to last thing at night to fall asleep to. I can leave the iPod running through all the albums. Just checked the stats there and have listened to Mist and Vibrant Water over 600 times. Must like these albums  :)

[Seren]

As Lonely As Dave Bowman: monolith

This was a free download from Projekt awhile ago, only just got around to listening to it. Very sparse in places, the long track is heavy on the drone. Pretty good but not blown away.

You may want to check out the first disc - Pod. I much prefer that to Monolith.

[cvac]

You may want to check out the first disc - Pod. I much prefer that to Monolith.

I'm guessing that one is much different in style?

[Seren]

It was as ambient but brighter tones and atmospheres

[cvac]

It was as ambient but brighter tones and atmospheres

I checked out some sound clips and it seemed much less sparse, I may have to buy it later.

[cvac]

Abercrombie Quartet LP

I have several albums by John Abercrombie on ECM that I picked up in the used bins. I like his guitar playing and this is a good album. I'm not sure if I like this one as much as Sargasso Sea though, that one is probably my favorite.

Asmus Tietchens - Litia LP

"Electropop" from his Sky Records era. Bureau B did a great job on this reissue. This was the first of the five SKY era LPs by him that I got and probably my favorite. While his more experimental work is arguably more accomplished, I think the stuff he was doing with this "lighter" records has its place and is fun to listen to.

John Serrie - And the Stars Go With You CD

I got into ambient music during mid/late 90s, so a lot of 80s stuff outside the big underground names (Roach, Rich, Greinke, etc) and Brian Eno I really know nothing about. I've been trying to check out some stuff here and there and this album was one of those. Found a copy for a whopping $4 and I like this a lot. Much less dated than a lot of ambient albums I've heard that are heavy on 80s digital synths.

Circular Ruins - Full Circle - FLAC

Very good album, nice use of subtle ticking rhythms on some tracks, good variety, engaging. Need to check out more from this project when I can. 

Forrest Fang - Phantoms CD

Picked this up on sale for $5 and really like it. Maybe not as amazing as "Sleepwalker's Ocean" but this is a great album. Track 5 is gorgeous.

Steve Roach - World's Edge and Dreamtime Return CDs

Not much to say here I guess. When I first heard Dreamtime several years ago I didn't like it at all. My opinion has totally changed at this point. Of these two I prefer World's Edge, mainly because it's darker and mixes in some of the deep space ambient with the "tribal" stuff.

David Parsons - Himalaya - Google Play Stream

I thought this was going to be too "new agey" for my tastes but I ended up liking it enough to put it on the "to buy list"

[Seren]

Steve Roach - World's Edge and Dreamtime Return CDs

Not much to say here I guess. When I first heard Dreamtime several years ago I didn't like it at all. My opinion has totally changed at this point. Of these two I prefer World's Edge, mainly because it's darker and mixes in some of the deep space ambient with the "tribal" stuff.

I love To The Threshold of Silence......

[chris23]

Plank and Ishq - Crows an Wra Volumes 1 - 3
These albums have been on repeat around here for the past week or so. Lee Norris + Matt Hillier team up for some other-worldly, altered states of consciousness-inspired electronic improvisations. The result is hypnotic. There are a lot of cool subtleties here, fun effects, and a whole lot of quirk. I can easily see this becoming one of my favorites of the year.
Samples: https://ishq.bandcamp.com/album/crows-en-wra-volume-1

[drone on]

Good to hear. Mine are on the way.  Should have released as a three disc set though.  Not a very cost effective release idea.  At least not for customers.

[SunDummy]

I've heard a few of the em:t releases over the years (Woob being a fave), but just discovered the whole discography on YouTube.  I've listened to all of them this week while working; wow, there are some really interesting sounds here.  Takes me back...

[cvac]

I've heard a few of the em:t releases over the years (Woob being a fave), but just discovered the whole discography on YouTube.  I've listened to all of them this week while working; wow, there are some really interesting sounds here.  Takes me back...

Woob has a ton of material on Bandcamp, including newer stuff, but I'm sure you already knew that. The Gas 0095 is also on there. Other than that I don't know much about em:t. What albums are your favorites?

[Castleview]

The Verve - A Storm In Heaven

Not ambient but I love it.

[cvac]

The Verve - A Storm In Heaven

Not ambient but I love it.

A big favorite of mine. Too bad they never made another album quite like it.

This album has a somewhat similar vibe:

http://bandcamp.sianspheric.com/album/somnium