Review: 'Fragments + Distancing' cultivates a profound sense of meditative stasis with the use of a Moog Mother 32, custom built filters, and various Eurorack modular sequencers, modules, and effects. James continues his proven and unique efforts in creating ethereal tones on this latest collection of songs. Fragments was created by using a method of composition James has been perfecting, where he takes small pieces of unreleased music that he has written stretching over the last 10 years, and runs them through different modes and methods of granular stretching and FFT processing. In some cases, the original audio source was no longer than 20-30 seconds long. PITP is honored to share this collection of music.
Review: California's James Bernard is a much-loved regular on this label as well as being a veteran of the wider ambient scene who has been hard at it for more than three decades. His latest outing on Past Inside The Present with Anthene (aka Brad Deschamps of Toronto) is Soft Octaves, an album that finds them crafting a series of sounds using electric six-string bass. It has a huge range from the deepest depths to the wispiest of highs and each of the tracks here was recorded in one single take. The results are spellbinding indeed and the range of the bass's sonic ability is astonishing as it sounds at times like a cello, at others woodwind and is always intriguing.
Euph (Feelings In Finite) (Bvdubs' Re-Entries) (11:32)
Complete Nonsense (Calm & Chaos) (10:30)
Helix (Radiate In Red) (7:51)
Phosphorous (Elements Of Endlessness) (10:56)
Mars Rain (Freeze & Fall) (6:23)
Lost In It (Life In Lucidity) (10:29)
FM (Frequencies Of Forgiveness) (3:49)
Odyssey (Gazing Into Galaxies) (10:31)
Genetic Experiment (Symbols & Secrets) (2:24)
Review: James Bernard's 1994 ambient masterpiece Atmospherics is now 30 years old. To mark its anniversary the landmark record has been meticulously remastered and paired with a brand-new, track-by-track reinterpretation by Bernard's longtime friend and collaborator, bvdub. Together, these works span four slabs of wax and offer a profound exploration of ambient soundscapes that honour the original while also presenting some fresh, emotive perspectives. A must-have work for your ambient section.
Harmonies In Hesitation (feat Marine Eyes) (10:53)
Interactions In Isolation (8:20)
Halvings In Hypnosis (10:06)
Strategies In Struggle (9:03)
Lamentations In Light (8:18)
Formulas In Fathoms (9:25)
Review: Anyone who's cast even the most casual eye over their ever expanding catalogue will have realised that one thing Past Inside The Present do best is bring artists together for unexpected and inspired collaborations. Departing in Descent is the first collaboration between James Bernard and Bvdub but their creative conversation effectively started as far back as 1994 when the latter bought Bernard's Atmospherics album in 1994 when it was "mistakenly stocked" in his local house music store. He says it was and remains his favourite ambient album, so when the pair found themselves crossing paths for one night in LA years later, a collaboration was the only logical conclusion. The results are more organic and friendly on the ear than some ambient offerings, with real instrumentation meshed with walls of woozy synths and delays, but no less fantastical and ambitious for it.
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