Ambient / Drone Recommendations October 2016

Review: Norwegian producer Biosphere has released countless albums since his 1994 debut Microgravity on Origo Sound. The artist has been an important part of Jon Wozencroft's legendary Touch imprint, and that places him in a position of respect within the ambient landscape. He's up on Smalltown Supersound with a new album this time, and we're wondering how it took so long for him to reach this feat seeing as the label is native to his home country. But that's neither here nor there and, in reality, what's really here is a stunning collection of soundscapes that span a duration of seventeen tracks. You should think of this more as one piece of sound, a journey with a beginning, middle, and end. While it could work perfectly as a soundtrack piece, these sublime flurries of sound have been crafted to perfection and with the upmost attention; Biosphere's vision is concrete, full of movement and direction. What an album. Ambient pick of the week from us.

Review: Manuel Gottsching's legendary solo material from the mid '70s onwards is finally being reissued the way it deserves; full picture-sleeves unlike those tacky bootlegs that have been knocking about over the years. Thanks to Germany's MG Art we can now appreciate this wondrous music in all its glory and, we have to say, that 2016 feels just right for this music to be resurfaced once again. This is the Ash Ra Tempel producer's first solo LP from 1975, and we can clearly hear the krautrock influence deep in the tracks. However, much like his later material, there's an element of the desolate and purely electronic, a medium with which hie experienced and flourished. The masterful "Echo Waves" opens with a fluttering landscape that could make for the ultimate opener to just bout any DJ set, and "Quasarsphere" comes through next with its gentle waves of ambient delight. All incredibly forward-thinking, of course. "Pluralis" edges closer to what we'd term 'balearic' these days, but without all the gimmicky elements and, instead, full of psychedelic wonder and zeitgeist. This is so hotly recommended...

Review: Veteran deep house producer John Daly first released material as The Smoke Clears back in 2013, delivering a deliciously evocative fusion of ambient and IDM tracks for Further Records. Three years on, he's finally finished the follow-up, an eponymous LP for All City. Taking cues from Selected Ambience Works era Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Pete Namlook, HOLOVR and John Beltran, The Smoke Clears is a sublime collection of beat-less and gently percussive tracks that are variously picturesque, life affirming, bittersweet and mournful. Naturally, it's all beautifully produced, with the shimmering IDM sparkle of "In Time", and the intergalactic ambience of "Heaven Sent" standing out.

Review: Ooh this is special. The legendary Ultravox frontman and electronic pioneer John Foxx presents a special edition version of his Cathedral Oceans trilogy across 5 LPs! In addition to the three Cathedral Oceans albums, released over a timespan of some eight years from '97 onwards, Demon Music also slip in a hardback book and DVD relating to Foxx's art exhibition of the same name. This is how you do a boxset! Definitely one for the fans.