A beautiful new ambient tune – Sandman – from Torin Bell. Free download.
Torin Bell returns with Sandman and says “Long days end with short nights. The Sandman helps that sleep all the more worthwhile. Sweet dreams.” Opening with rippling piano and some wood blocks this takes drone tones into endless space. A total lullaby ensues, full of strings and a little IDM clatter. Do not listen and drive or operate heavy machinery.
Pilates Pusseh says:
“Today we will perform ‘majari’ or the cat pose. To do this, have your breakfast, lie on the carpet, fix your eyes on a random spot on the wall and stay like that until you have a gentle flowing vinyasa or it’s dinner time. Whichever is the sooner.”
Two gentle tracks for your wall contemplation. Catching Flies offers Komorebi and Little Glass Men offer Humans Are Special.
Catching Flies are back with more lovely downtempo delicacy. Komorebi (a Japanese word that roughly translates to “sunlight shining through the leaves of trees”) combines some acoustic guitar, some whoa whoas and shuffly beats to create something that’s an awful lot more than the sum of its parts. It really does give musical form to the title.
Free download
Little Glass Men were last here in August with Kelp. This time the curiously titled Humans Are Special. A dangerous thought at the best of times, I fear. But the track is lovely. More downtempo hip hop offers head-nodding pleasures.
This Tourist remix has proved awfully popular but it’s so nice I’m posting it anyway. I know nothing about the original, so let’s focus on the wonderful downtempo remix alone.
The opening is slow and stately with a harp rippling into view long before any beats are allowed to spoil the scene. Sets up a classic sense of anticipation. A bit like Sabres’ Smokebelch. And that anticipation is allowed to last for quite some time with vocals added but no peak allowed in. And that’s how it continues. In the wrong hands this could be teeth-grindingly awful. But Tourist knows exactly what’s required. A track so beautiful it makes you ache at it all.
Sometimes. Sometimes it’s all too much. And you want less from music. Not to blot things out but to have space in which to think. To mull. To muse. Here’s Marshall Watson with the ambient pleasures of Two Three to allow access to just that place.
New Yorker Sky Vettel has a new mini-album out – Sins From A New Perspective. A range of electronic styles but the ones that really hit home are the ambient ones, especially Ballet.
Last time Sky was here with a quick interview was back in August. Her new album arrives almost unannounced. Ballet is the opening track. And a brave one it is too. Starts with wobbly chimes a bit like the ones preceding the shop announcements of my youth. A space hum occupies the background whilst slow, unfolding chimes the foreground. As beautiful as a snowflake. The other essential track is Persistence. Altogether more perky, this is full of optimism and future haze. A blend of slightly off-kilter synths and radio fizzing.
Buy here.
Too early for Christmas? The adverts have been about for ages, so I don’t feel abashed. Have a synth symphony from above, courtesy of Jack Yellow and some NASA recordings. There’s more than a little hint of ELP’s Fanfare For The Common Man about this to me. But who cares, it’s so uplifting you should just enjoy. Free download.
Blurb:
Started this track with Native Instruments’ Massive synth. Harmony based on a piano recording at 120bpm. Added the famous ‘Christmas Greeting from Space’ in the mastering process.
Track free for download and personal use.
Share and enjoy – Merry Christmas!🙂
– JACK
There are days when I listen to so much stuff that I’m no longer sure what’s good anymore. Do I settle for ok, rather than holding out? And then something comes along that resets your view back to where the line for great ought to sit and reminds me not to settle for less. Here’s Steve Cobby’s mix of Blue 13 by Tempelhof & Gigi Masin that does just that. A stunningly beautiful ambient track. 10 minutes of stop-what-you’re-doing. Even at ten minutes you do feel it should be longer.
Released on four track EP with key interpretations from Jex, Drift Projects, Steve Cobby and Coyote.
December 9th on Hell Yeah Records
HYR7166
