Ambient

[Music] Paul Schütze – New Maps Of Hell

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Australian-born, England-based composer Paul Schütze hasn’t been terribly active musically for a few years now, but not because he hasn’t been creative. These days, it seems that his passion is in making perfumes of exquisite quality.

Still, it’s nice to go back to hearing the masters after enduring a barrage of good, but not-quite-brilliant ambient music releases.  This classic was first issued in 1992 by Extreme Records in Australia and followed up by Big Cat in the United Kingdom.  Hopefully New Maps II will also be reissued forthwith.

[Music] music won’t save you: LJERKE – Ljerke (Eilean, 2018)

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LJERKE – Ljerke (Eilean, 2018) Ormai veterani della scena sperimentale olandese e protagonisti di innumerevoli collaborazioni (con Rutger Zuydervelt, Gareth Davis, in Piiptsjilling e The Alvaret Ensemble) i fratelli Jan e Romke Kleefstra hanno intrapreso in Ljerke un ambizioso progetto di improvvisazione che coinvolge trasversalmente linguaggi artistici e musicisti di estrazione affine. Accanto a loro […]

via — music won’t save you

Music Won’t Save You is Italy’s finest post-rock blog.

[Music] A.M Ferrari Fradejas – Requiem No. 2

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We’re treated to the year’s first Bandcamp surprise, thanks to our beloved friend A.M Ferrari Fradejas, currently based in Barcelona, Spain.

Despite its 13-minute length, the composition packs a lot of time changes, churning guitars, an eerie choral section reminding one of a solstice ritual melded with her trademark progressive/improvisational sound. I hope that either a full album is forthcoming soon, or that works in this style are further expanded upon.

Blissful!

[Music] Karolina Ossowska & Jeff Gburek – The Falls of Hyperion

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The incredibly prolific Jeff Gburek, currently based in Poland and partnering with violinist Karolina Ossowska, put together their latest labor of love, and though I don’t normally engage in Top-Ten lists for year’s end, I think it fair to say that this release is his most beautifully crafted, most thoughtful and profound releases.

The album was recorded in Romania and Poland between September 2016 and October 2017. On top of the incredible range of instrumentation, there are many field recordings which give a life to each track that one rarely finds in experimental music.

Of particular interest are the spoken word portions of Track #4, Hyperions 4 (Lift Not The Painted Veil). From the notes left by Gburek and Ossowska, the first text is a piece written by Percy Bysshe Shelley bearing the same name.  The second is a work penned by Gburek himself.  Both are read with a warm but darkened tone which envelops the listener as much as the instrumentation does.

Easily one of 2018’s best releases, regardless of genre.

 

[Music] Bandcamp Daily: The Best Albums of 2017

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Here are this year’s (disappointing, as usual) Bandcamp toppers of 2017. No Santiago Fradejas. No A.M. Ferrari-Fradejas. Nor Jeff Gburek. Nor Marco Lucchi. Nor Noël Akchoté. Nor so many other deserving artists who don’t offer up a plate of decent, non-offensive pseudo-soul, hip-hop or tacky dance music. Ah, well.

For your perusal, click on the links below. You WILL find some gems in here.

#1-20
#21-40
#41-60
#61-80
#81-100

[Music] Various Artists – Ocean of Sound – The 3rd Annual Report Volumes I & II

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Words fail to describe just how important Raffaele Pezzella’s contribution to dark ambient music is. He has singlehandedly curated compilations from artists as far away as Russia, Iceland, Iran and seemingly all points in-between while concentrating on his own venerable work. These two compilations house 229 tracks covering the best of the bleakest, blackest ambient available at the moment!

[Music] Conrad Schnitzler & Bernhard Wöstheinrich – 20070709

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Conrad Schnitzler was a legendary electronic music composer who passed away in 2011. Four years beforehand, he collaborated with a young fellow German musician called Bernhard Wöstheinrich, who was well over 30 years his junior. The collaboration produced one hour-long track which builds, grinds, throbs and swells in a way that is abrasive, yet pleasant.

The release is on Iatepus Media, and you can read notes from their album on the label site.