Review: Bersarin Quartett is the work of Thomas Bucker, who since 2012 has released his flagship ambient project via Denovali. The Munster-based artist employs a grandiose orchestral lilt to the compositions on Systeme, threading considered sound design touches in amongst the sweep and swell of strings that rise from his imaginary quartet of players. It's neo-classical with a plaintive, soundtrack-ready quality, but as ever Bucker weaves tension, dissonance and texture in amongst the foreground melodic content to make for a richly compelling listen.
Review: Germany's Bersarin Quartett - the imaginary invention of Munster musician Thomas Bucker - drops its fifth album Systeme. Whether the sole product of one man's imagination or the figurative invocation of orchestra-as-tulpa, it doesn't matter. This is an album of full-on metamodern electro-orchestral post-generations, the likes of which generations prior would've never heard before. Described by Denovali as "if Talk Talk, Tim Hecker and Skrillex were making music together and challenging our tolerance for ambiguity", we find this comparison apt if not eliding the real thrust of the record; the likes of 'Liebe' and 'Autopoesie' evidently draw on far more influences than mere composers, building a strikingly oneiric repertoire of crystalline fluctuations and timestretched neoclassical romances.
Review: Music on Vinyl gives the full treatment to Volker Bertelmann's epic score to All Quiet On The Western Front and serves it up on limited and numbered 180-gram audiophile transparent smokey vinyl with a four-page booklet featuring movie still to boot. Set during World War I, the film follows an idealistic young German soldier and received a leading 14 nominations at the 76th British Academy Film Awards, including one for Best Original Score. It is a truly immersive listen that captures the range of emotions conveyed in the film.
Review: Natalia Baylis based her first album for Touch Sensitive around the fortuitous discovery of an Italian-made CRB Elettronica Ancona Diamond 708 E organ at the recycling centre, in what now seems like a fated outcome for the Irish ambient artist. Feeding the wonky sound of the instrument into swirling pools of processing, she used one of her father's old photos of three ladies bathing in the sea to set her angle of approach - and so Mermaids came to be. Enchanting, mysterious and flowing like the ocean, we couldn't think of a more fitting title for this mesmerising album.
Review: Originally released in 2017, Phantom Brickworks by Bibio (Stephen James Wilkinson) was an ambient exploration of abandoned sites around Britain, blending improvisation and composition to capture the lingering human presence in decaying locations. Now, the sequel, Phantom Brickworks (LP II), arrives as a ten-track double LP, complete with an MP3 download code. Mastered by Guy Davie and cut by Hendrik Pauler, this new record shifts focus to more intriguing landscapes, both real and legendary. From vast scars on the terrain to memories buried in folklore, Bibio's soundscapes evoke spaces lost to time but still resonant in history.
Review: Billow Observatory returns to the fully ambient realms of their 2012 debut with a deeply introspective, percussion-free release that drifts through spectral soundscapes. Created by Jason Kolb and Jonas Munk, the duo's transatlantic collaboration has matured across four full-length albums marked by precision and emotional depth. Here, abandoning traditional structure, the album instead looks to harness the power of chance and randomness with shimmering guitar textures that crackle and dissolve like dust in water. It evokes a world slightly out of sync that is brooding, haunting and beautifully immersive while underlining their place as masters of refined, atmospheric ambient music.
Review: Billow Observatory is a collaborative project from Detroit-based Jason Kolb and Denmark's Jonas Munk which explores ambient with a certain post rock sensibility. Following gracefully on from 2022's Stareside album, this new LP in fact gathers together two separate EPs from the duo and presents them as one listening experience. There's a delicacy to tracks like 'Garden of Four Streams' which speaks to Japanese environmental music, but still the projects maintains its affinity for ethereal chambers of sound as much as fragile foreground sonic figures. This is a high-grade strain of ambient with a depth of sound which will capture your attention from the very start.
Review: Way back in 2006, when for various reasons they were suffering with insomnia, the Black Dog began making music when sleep deprived - a process the Sheffield trio say made their material more emotive and vulnerable. At various times since, they've returned to the idea, resulting in this album - a collection of immersive musical movements that frequently blur the boundaries between the enveloping ambience the IDM pioneers have become famous for in recent years, and (synth) string-laden neo-classical compositions. Of course, it's not all picturesque sonic beauty, with the paranoia and slow-thinking darkness sometimes associated with periods of sleep deprivation being translated into trippy, melancholic or sonically intense soundscapes rooted in drone and dark ambient. Throughout, it remains surprisingly emotive and - for the most part - pleasingly meditative.
Review: New York-based Black Swan returns with an impressive ninth album on ambient gold mine Past Inside The Present. The is the CD version (we also have it on cassette) and it's a record that blends analogue recording techniques to blur the lines between memory and reality. Influenced by musique concrete, ambient and dark drone traditions, the album is a continuous suite of 20 tracks that reflect a spirit navigating the physical world. Some are short vignettes while others evolve over longer play times with layered intensity. Standouts include 'Like Dust, I Linger' with its tender warble and 'Ad Infinitum' which is lit up with shimmering synths. It's another triumphant work from Black Swan.
Review: Using a variety of tape stocks, Black Swan creates a haunting atmosphere that evokes the sensation of uncovering long-lost, sacred recordings hidden in time on his ninth album, Ghost. The New York-based artist reveals that he was inspired by musique concrete and ambient while making the record, which is made up of 20 pieces that all form a continuous suite. Each track varies in length and complexity from short and sweet sketches to more elongated studies and that are made from intense layering and harmonic surges using an array of tape stocks. The result is a haunting, unearthly atmosphere that sounds perfect in this cassette format.
Review: This new record from Black Swan evokes a desolate post-collapse world that is detailed with haunting choirs, mangled tapes and distant industrial sounds. The album unfolds like a requiem by pulling beauty from the ruins of a collapsed society. With an hour-long narrative, it shifts between rippling hums and plaintive quivers of old cassettes, slowly revealing a heart that beats beneath the crimson haze. Tracks like 'Overture' and 'Back to Dust' offer cinematic grandeur and mournful exploration, while 'Pseudotruth' and 'New Gods' introduce eerie uncertainty. In the end, the album serves as a haunting meditation on loss, memory and the fragility of civilisation.
Review: James William Blades' score Pare De Sufrir comes via AD 93 and serves as the official soundtrack to A.G. Rojas' film of the same name. Known for directing music videos for artists like Jamie xx and Mitski, Spanish-born, California-raised filmmaker Rojas crafted his first independent film and it's a quiet, 48-minute meditation on grief and healing. Blades' composition captures Rojas' vision without ever having watched the film and he does a fine job of creating an evocative, operatic soundscape of orchestral and choral elements. Drawing from shared personal narratives, Blades layers field recordings, strings and voices that mirror the unspoken, fragile nature of loss and renewal into an intriguing long player.
Review: After a small 2022 self-release, experimental guitarist Guy Blakeslee's therapeutic and musico-psychonautic journey is re-released here by Leaving Records in their "all genre" series. The album serves as a balm, offering a refreshing sense of space, calm and possibility like a breath of fresh air on a stifling day. It also chronicles a musician's quest for meaning and healing in the aftermath of personal and collective upheaval that captures an emotional journey with transformative resonance. Extravision is a deeply reflective work that invites listeners to explore its meditative landscapes and experience its profound sense of hope and renewal.
Review: Blue Chemise's debut LP, Influence On Dusk, re-emerges after its original 2017 release of only 105 copies as this vital reissue. BAADM makes the sought-after album widely available with remastered sound by Christophe Albertijn and updated artwork that stays true to the artist's vision. Influence On Dusk is a unique cycle of fourteen electroacoustic compositions that are mysterious, sometimes haunting, and always filled with a gentle melancholy. This reissue marks Australian artist Mark Gomes' second release on BAADM following the more romantic Flower Studies in 2021 and is one that captures his evocative, introspective style in a new light.
Review: Rug Island, pressed on sunset orange vinyl, is the latest musical adventure from Bluey, following the success of Dance Mode! and featuring 16 brand new tracks from the beloved series. Crafted by Joff Bush and the Bluey Music team, the album draws from episodes across seasons 1, 2, and 3, inviting listeners to explore the boundless imaginations of Bluey and Bingo. Inspired by the Rug Island episodeia whimsical place where children's fantasies come alive and adults reconnect with their inner childithis album brings that playful spirit to life. Highlighted singles include 'Octopus,' a dynamic rock collaboration with King Stingray, the lively 'Onesies,' and the fresh 'Bluey Theme Tune (Vocal Version).' Other standout tracks include the nostalgic 'Fairytale,' the sea shanty-inspired 'Explorers,' the energetic 'Muffin Drive,' and the tender 'Turtleboy.' The album sleeve features a scene from Rug Island, with a reverse side that connects to previous releases, forming a panoramic view of the Heeler family's home. Rug Island is a delightful addition to any Bluey fan's collection, full of joy and imagination.
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