Currently listening, part 1

[Joe R]

Steve Roach/vidna obmana - Well Of Souls --A classic revisited. This is easily one of my top five ambient albums.

[chris23]

Well of Souls = two thumbs up

Forrest: What are your thoughts on the new Robert Rich album you mentioned? I've only been able to find short samples of it online and can't really gauge it well from those alone.

Recent plays:

Aes Dana, featuring Miktek - Far & Off
A compilation of EPs from Ultimae. Masterful hybrid of ambient and various electronic styles. 
https://ultimae.bandcamp.com/album/far-off-24bits

Lav - Awareness
Nice ambient pads with lots of breathing room and a few special quirks to keep things interesting.
https://amone.bandcamp.com/album/awareness

[ffcal]

.Im intrigued how most piece that I have listen to start with  long single note drones out of the left channel and the right comes in a fair bit later. Curious and at first annoying in a way or better put attention demanding.

Julio, I think some of her pieces may have been intended for multi-channel playback or for at least speaker playback.  I prefer headphones, too, for the detail, though I'm probably missing some of the effect of having the sound bounce around in my space.

Another album you might like from an early 70s EM pioneer is David Behrman's On The Other Ocean.  He uses algorithmic software to interact with live musicians (oboe, cello).  Some of it is very beautiful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcjHQQxAJlk

Forrest

[ffcal]

Forrest: What are your thoughts on the new Robert Rich album you mentioned? I've only been able to find short samples of it online and can't really gauge it well from those alone.

Chris, I'm probably not the most objective person to answer this, since I heard a bit of while it was in progress and contributed some sounds that Robert manipulated and processed for his piece.  It's a slightly dark work, given the subject matter (life after humans are gone, but with other lifeforms emerging).  In terms of textures, some are abstract and soundscape-y, though there are also familiar ambient and melodic voices and tonal beds, too, and occasional percussion.  The pieces flow into each other nicely, much like Robert's other works.  I like it.

Forrest

[Julio Di Benedetto]

.Im intrigued how most piece that I have listen to start with  long single note drones out of the left channel and the right comes in a fair bit later. Curious and at first annoying in a way or better put attention demanding.

Julio, I think some of her pieces may have been intended for multi-channel playback or for at least speaker playback.  I prefer headphones, too, for the detail, though I'm probably missing some of the effect of having the sound bounce around in my space.

Another album you might like from an early 70s EM pioneer is David Behrman's On The Other Ocean.  He uses algorithmic software to interact with live musicians (oboe, cello).  Some of it is very beautiful:

Forrest

Yes she talks about quadraphonic setup in the interview, makes sense now.

Thats a beautiful piece Forrest......thanks, I will look into Behrman,s music.

[cvac]

Been listening to a lot of jazz lately.

Grant Green - Green Street LP
Ike Quebec - Blue & Sentimental LP
Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles LP
Horace Parlan - Speakin' My Piece LP

These are all 33rpm titles done by the label Music Matters. If you like jazz and records, you've probably heard of these. I'm late to the party, mainly because these LPs don't come cheap (the 45rpm titles even moreso), but I have to say they are worth it. The sound quality, jackets, and everything else about them (mastering, etc.) is top notch. Other than the Hancock title, I didn't have any of these albums before. Musically these are all amazing also.

Other jazz LPs:

Ray Bryant - Alone with the Blues LP

Solo bluesy piano album, surprisingly not as downcast as you'd think.

Ahmed Abdul Malik - Sounds of Africa LP

A mix of jazz, African music, and some other things, all very accessible and enjoyable.

Non-Jazz:

Ashra - New Age of the Earth CD

Heard this many years ago through a friend but didn't get around to buying it until now. Drifting synths, some nice guitar work, very good album. Not much more to say about this classic.

Andrew Chalk - Ghost Of Nakhodka LP

Up to this point I was really only familiar with Chalk's older Ferial Confine project (which sounds a lot like Organum). This is totally different, minimal electronics, drifting ambience. Not very layered or complex but enjoyable. Probably going to take more listens to fully appreciate but I dig it.

[cvac]

Aes Dana, featuring Miktek - Far & Off
A compilation of EPs from Ultimae. Masterful hybrid of ambient and various electronic styles. 
https://ultimae.bandcamp.com/album/far-off-24bits

I really like this one too. I tried to get into the older Aes Dana stuff but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

[chris23]

I agree, cvac. This one and Memory Shell stand out for me; some of the other releases seem forgettable.
https://ultimae.bandcamp.com/album/memory-shell

[chris23]

Steve Roach just uploaded a new long-form drift piece to Bandcamp, This Place to Be. I'm listening right now; it reminds me of some of the Immersion pieces.

https://steveroach.bandcamp.com/album/this-place-to-be

[DeepR]

Ashra - New Age of the Earth CD

Great album, my favorites are Deep Distance and Nightdust. The last one is a stunning piece.
Inventions for Electric Guitar and E2-E4 are also fantastic.

[ffcal]

Klaus Wiese made wonderful music for instance "Towers of the Night part I" that I absolutely love.
There is such a mystery and inner calm within the music. The music is so lively and played with such a sensitivity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLQK_PbYJv4

Yes, Ming Noir's a nice one.  My favorites of his are Uranus, Soma and Allah Infinity (Ruh).  He really gets a great organic sound from those processed Tibetan bowls.

Forrest

[DeepR]

Telomere - Lux Primordia

Ohhh, nice! I think better than his previous albums.

[cvac]

Opium - The Reborn of the Rebel Angel CD

A lot more upbeat, sequencer/beat-driven type sections than I expected, not that I am complaining or anything. This is the first Opium solo album I've listened to, so I'm not sure how it compares to the rest of his work.

Loren Nerell - Lilin Dewa CD

Dark, mysterious, heavy on the gamelan. Great CD.

Off the Sky/Pleq - A Thousand Fields HD FLAC

Finally got to listen to this without resampling to 16/44 over my new DAC. Definitely sounds better this way but that could be that the new DAC just has better sound than the one built into my integrated amp, not necessarily that the 24/96 files are superior to the 16/44.

[Seren]

Ming Noir, one of my favourites - Have not played it for a while so definitely time for a spin....

[Castleview]

Miles Davis - Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974

Bill Laswell did an excellent job with these remixes.

[DeepR]

Max Corbacho - The Talisman

Good stuff!

[judd stephens]

Moby:  Long Ambients 1. - Sparse and mostly pretty, and surprisingly good.  Not sure why I was so surprised... maybe thought it would sound too cliche', but Moby nails it.  Totally free download, over 3 hours on his site.  http://moby.com/la1/

Scott Lawlor:  Bells for an Imaginary Audience.  - not literally just bells I don't think- sounded like some gongs and bowls etc in the mix as well.  Sometimes albums of exclusively vibrating instruments can be over or underplayed, either too klanky and loud, or just too boring and uninspired.  Scott Lawlor does a good job balancing the space with the sound, keeping it calm while engaging.  Good stuff- https://ethereallive.bandcamp.com/album/bells-for-an-imaginary-audience-2

[cvac]

Been listening to the new Jeff Pearce album, great stuff, though I'm not sure if I'd rate it quite as highly as his last full length. You can listen to or order the album here:

https://jeffpearcemusic.bandcamp.com/album/follow-the-river-home

The album is on sale right now, $5 for the download, $7+shipping for the CD. I ordered the CD but have been listening to the download while I'm waiting for it to arrive.

Stratosphere - Rise

https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rise

Took a chance on this due to the Projekt sale. Some nice guitar based ambient veering between drones and lighter ambient washes. I really enjoyed this one and will probably be checking out some of the back catalog.

Intrusion - the Seduction of Silence

https://echospacedetroit.bandcamp.com/album/the-seduction-of-silence-2

I'm very skeptical of newer dub techno releases, but I really liked this. Very hypnotic but not generic sounding IMHO.

[cvac]

Intrusion - the Seduction of Silence

https://echospacedetroit.bandcamp.com/album/the-seduction-of-silence-2

I'm very skeptical of newer dub techno releases, but I really liked this. Very hypnotic but not generic sounding IMHO.

Yeah, I am a big BC fan and still have to catch up on a lot of Ernestus/Oswald releases I missed over the years. Those original BC and Maurizio 12''s and CD comps. still sound great today. The Echospace guys (Rod Modell and Stephen Hitchell) have been at it awhile (late 90s at least). I didn't like their early stuff but I think they have improved/developed/matured a lot since then. They have a huge catalog too.



Definately influenced by the BC family http://www.basicchannel.com/ Nice !!

[cvac]

Especially love Chain Reaction and Maurizio, so deep. Love the memories, love to listen the vinyls. Porter Ricks, Hallucinator, Vladislav Delay, Matrix, Fluxion.
I think I own one DeepChord record, a deep blue record - very beautiful, also nice sounds. Do you know the islandic Thule Records: Sanasol, Ozzy, Exos, Thor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qvt_6YCU24

I was never as into Chain Reaction as the BC and Maurizio stuff. I liked Delay and Monolake the best of the CR artists, though I think they did their best work post-CR. Porter Ricks I ended up liking later, still need to get that CD comp reissue that came out a few years ago. I don't know Thule but will look into them.