Ambient Sunday is dreaming with Birds of Jupiter, and Danilo Pennone

•December 17, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Ambient Sunday is dreaming this week with Birds of Jupiter, and Danilo Pennone.

Birds of Jupiter is a Dutch artist but I know no more than that. Here’s what appears to be a first single I’m Still Here.

I’m Still Here is a gently dark dreaming track. Sounds are rich but slightly Spartan giving it a lightly minimal air.

At a shade over two minutes it’s awfully short for an Ambient track. But it packs a lot in among the spaces. Birds of Jupiter says “The feeling of this Song is drifting you in a nostalgic sentimental world where you have a short amount of time to enjoy the moment and peace on your mind.”

I’m not sure about the nostalgia but the drifting is definitely to the fore. This is proper floatation tank stuff.

Danilo Pennone from Rome, Italy was unknown to me. Turns out he’s a writer and everything (lecturer and music maker). Even has his own Wiki page. Here’s Red Silence in its Extended Minimal Version.

Red Silence in its original form is a jazzy number with some jazz guitar. Not quite what I’d post. In its Extended Minimal Version it takes on a very late night, low key, hushed sort of vibe.

Everything is a bit woozy. The sound of one drink too many but when your legs won’t quite work long enough to let you leave. This is a cellar bar at closing time.

The piano chords have the right amount of sorrowful and mournful and replace any beats. The guitar noodles quietly to avoid impacting the nascent hangover. The dreams here are of sadness and loss.

It’s been a good evening. But you will pay for it in the morning. This is the true late night drunk tank sound.

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Delicate IDM for the end of the week: Morris Cowan – The Stories We Tell Ourselves

•December 15, 2023 • Leave a Comment

As we approach the end of the week I’d normally go for something pumping or uplifting. Today, I’m going with some gentle IDM which matches my incoming manflu. Morris Cowan is provider (of the tune, not the manflu).

Morris Cowan is Adam Morris Cowan Taylor from Penzance, Cornwall. Listening to his work, that he’s released on labels like UK imprint Wigflex, or Köln’s Traum Schallplatten comes as no surprise. His work bears comparison to Aphex Twin’s more ambient offerings and people like Max Cooper.

Here’s The Stories We Tell Ourselves from the Notes album. It’s pitched somewhere between IDM, Ambient and delicate chill. It has a lovely organic and analog quality with burnished edges. A sort of deep patina if you will.

This is less of a surprise when Morris says “Mattel didn’t just make Barbie in the 80s, they also put out a wonderful little electronic drum kit called the Synsonics. This track features lots of hits recorded from one of these machines. Fizzy, bubbly, bouncy, drum sounds. Those are paired with a stack of found sounds, mostly generated from tapping bits of wood out amongst the trees. I always enjoy the layering of organic and electronic percussion.”

Away from the how of production to the what of the sound. This is lovely polyrhythmic IDM. It’s full of tinkling, childlike sounds that tumble over each other in a way that makes you want to hug them close.

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Angelic House sounds of the season with: Tatonic x Annabel Claire – Angel Biscuits (JSC EDM Version)

•December 14, 2023 • Leave a Comment

When someone offers a track I’m gonna be all ears. That’s what Tatonic is offering and it’s rather lovely Ambient Techno.

Tatonic is originally from the north of England but is now based in Melbourne, Australia. Here’s new release Angel Biscuits in its JSC EDM version form with vocals from Annabel Claire. As for the origin of the track Tatonic says it was “Inspired by a mix of Orbital and the upcoming festive season – hence Angel Biscuits.”

Angel Biscuits does share some common ancestry with Orbital (think One Perfect Sunrise in particular or gentler versions of Halcyon) but it’s not helpful to get bogged down in comparative analysis. This track is too lovely for that.

Tatonic says “I wrote the chords and melody on a synth, played a driving beat on the midi kit, offset with monster bass, nice build, but needed vocals so asked Annabel to come to the studio and improvise.”

What you get on Angel Biscuits is slow but epiphany inducing synths overlaid with gorgeous floating vocals kept wordless for that ethereal, floating vibe.

Synth melodies wander into view but beats are kept soft and back in the mix. This gives the whole thing an old school post rave come down feel. Everything throbs gently and keeps a hazy, blissed feel. This is just gorgeous.

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Back to the old school with: Iljunfant – House Mouse

•December 13, 2023 • Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for some House that’s not too taxing and gently uplifting I have just the thing for you from Iljunfant.

Here’s a light old school synth house track called House Mouse. Iljunfant is a ships engineer from Galloway, Scotland and explains the artist name “means “elephant” in Maltese. My nickname in my younger years was “Nelly”. My soul mate is half Maltese, so it seemed like a nice idea to go with this.” And presumably the Mouse scares the elephant.

House Mouse has a slightly dream house feel but avoids the syrupy nether regions of that genre. There are light but firm beats. The synths want to soar and there’s a lovely sense of uplifting melody. You wonder if that bears any relation to its creation. Iljunfant says he “Made this track during some bad weather days in the North Sea.”

This manages to be both slightly familiar but also fresh in its approach. It’s made with an awareness of the past but without in anyway being bound by it. After a tough day this left me with a smile on my face. The elephant knows, you know.

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Night night, don’t let the acid bed bugs bite with: Ear Mind Eye – Chores

•December 12, 2023 • Leave a Comment

And so to Australia with the neon acid rave sounds of Ear Mind Eye.

Normally, I’m not one for the tie dye acid rave revivalists. Too much day glo fractals brings me out in hives. But this new track – Chores – from Ear Mind Eye’s Instant Slack EP is damn fine.

Ear Mind Eye  (aka Coolaid Crowley) is from Canberra, Australia. It’s described as a ‘project’ which is “Hellbent on generating gyrations, sonic excitation and sensory awareness by redefining the idea of “rave” through a melding menagerie of psy, underground techno, infectious beats & charged breaks to be consumed under the stars and out in the sun.”

Well, this is England and the “Stars” aren’t visible as it’s raining (again) and there’s no “sun” because it’s bloody winter. And yet Chores delivers as a warming workout bringing a bit of aural light into your life and breaking through my curmudgeonly prejudices.

Chores takes early acid techno as a jumping off point, rather than a template. Beats bounce around all over the place. One minute techno seriousness, the next electro breaks unseriousness. There’s acid underpinning but they also remembered to bring the melody.

This whirls around in a happy acid psychedelic place all of its own making. Antipodean acid delivering aural alchemy. And if they could get a proper sleeve designer I could die happy.

EME is playing at the upcoming Tanglewood Music & Arts Festival on New Years Eve in Thornton, Victoria, Australia.

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Deep into deep house with: Nakiso – Seraphic

•December 11, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Let’s start the week with something not too challenging and more than a bit soothing. Some deep house from Nakiso.

Nakiso is a music producer based in eSwatini (until 2018 known as Swaziland) in Southern Africa. His work tends to the minimal and draws on work of Ben Frost, Philip Glass, and Paul Leonard-Morgan.

Here’s new track Seraphic, meaning angelic Nakiso says “Seraphic is a musical journey that transcends the earthly realm, embracing listeners in a heavenly and ethereal experience.” And he’s not wrong.

Seraphic pitches itself somewhere between deep house and ambient. But always has an ear for the ethereal. Disembodied vocals float around like the murmurings of the choir celestial.

The music manages to be both lush and minimal. Pads are hushed and the synths have that reverbed multi-track feel that echoes wide open spaces. Beautifully confident and engaging sounds. Love this.

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Ambient Sunday with Mount Maxwell – Ske Eye

•December 10, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Ambient Sunday is off to Canada with Mount Maxwell for a bit of contemplation.

Mount Maxwell is Jamie Tolagson from Vancouver BC. He’s the founder of the Hotham Sound label and his work is described as “a unique blend of analog synths and acoustic instrumentation.” There’s more than a little resemblance to people like the sainted Boards of Canada.

Here’s Sky Eye, the single from new album Littlefolk. It’s described as an “attempt to convey something of the joy and bewilderment of really ‘seeing’ the place where one lives, as if for the first time.”

The track is a mix of acoustic instrumentation all delivered in a sotto voce kind of way, alongside some gentle synth electronics. A breathy male vocal comes and goes. The track improves when it goes tbh.

This track is a beautifully subtle invitation to contemplate. What you contemplate is entirely up to you. These elegant sounds deliver both calming and moving emotional states. If BoC returned, I hope they’d produce stuff like this. Sky Eye really is that good.

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Moderate growth of melodic techno from: Get The Jackets – Harmonics

•December 9, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Driving melodic techno for Saturday night from Ireland’s Get The Jackets.

Get The Jackets is from Cork City in Ireland. He has a nice line in undersell saying “He would like to say he has taken the scene by storm but instead moderate growth has followed more moderate growth. Huge support has come from DJ’s such as his mother and brother so far” How about you add yourself to that list?

Harmonics is the featured track. This melodic techno but with the focus on the techno, rather than the melodics. There’s a darkness at the core of this track that is frankly thrilling.

This is driving techno for dark city streets. A track with an urban dark heart, this offers none of the county of Cork’s pastoral charms. There’s an inherent aggression at work here as the track winds itself up to successive peaks. Get The Jackets is totally happy to build you up to knock you down.

Perhaps that’s the essence of Get The Jackets? A sort of “You, outside now” feel. But what a techno soundtrack for a night out.

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Friday’s breakbeat party with: Lux Galore – ｓｅｌｌｉｎｇｔｈｅｄｒｅａｍ 家から遠い

•December 8, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Friday is getting down with Lux Galore and some light breakbeats.

Lux Galore is an artist from Copenhagen, Denmark specialising in vapourware and breakbeats. Here’s his new singleｓｅｌｌｉｎｇｔｈｅｄｒｅａｍ 家から遠い which features some nifty guitar work from RJ Pasin.

ｓｅｌｌｉｎｇｔｈｅｄｒｅａｍ 家から遠い is a delicious blend of a fabulous light guitar riff from Pasin, some pitched vocal, and breakbeats. It’s a heady concoction.

The central guitar riff is memorable and uplifting despite its brevity. That’s a classic but hard thing to deliver. No surprise that Lux Galore says “When I heard the RJ Pasin-sample, I instantly knew that I had to make something out of it! Guitars have been a huge part of my journey, and I never miss a good chance to use them.” And the breakbeats / drum and bass beats jump around giving the track a real uplifting party atmosphere.

I could live without the pitched vocal element but that’s a personal bugbear, since I have to do admit they do earn their place here. Lux Galore says they’re from a “mysterious, yet-to-be-announced project.” What’s harder to manage is that the track is so short when it’s so good and just ends in mid air.

Please, Mr Galore, could we have a longer version. Many thanks. AcidTed.

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More warming study beats for cold days from: Wing Vilma, and Mindless Meditation

•December 7, 2023 • Leave a Comment

I’m still in the mood for tunes to warm the cockles of your heart. Here’s Wing Vilma, and Mindless Meditation with two more warming but chilled tracks.

Wing Vilma (Milly Coleman) has been around since 2017. Her work uses electronics with field recordings giving everything an organic feel. She’s just released Snack Basket, a collection of synth-driven tracks. From this release enjoy Orchid Forest.

Wing Vilma says Orchid Forest “was written as a kind of meditation on finding joy at the last second of the final golden light of the day.” This is lofi synths offering joy, if not meditation. This is too perky for that.

Synths bobble around as children play in the background. This is consciously naive offering a sense of simple pleasures. But it’s not a simple track. There’s a lovely use of dark sounds in the bass and an almost trumpet melody line.

The track really benefits from that dark and light interplay. All very yin and yang. But also using ascending sounds to deliver that element of joyousness. Clever stuff that veers from usual study beat templates into something much more akin to IDM.

Germany’s Mindless Meditation from Munich returns here after almost a year to offer Mansion By The Beach from the Beach Manifestation EP. Mindless Meditation claims to be a psychologist, saying “As a psychologist I know: most people would benefit from more closeness to themselves, awareness and relaxation.” 

And Mansion By The Beach is definitely one for relaxation, harking back to an old school chill vibe. However, it does so with a fair old whack of hip hop beats that offer a solid reassuring thump alongside a sax/clarinet jazzy lead.

Everything goes with a swing but not so much as to upset your cocktail. This is one cool beach to sit on. Kick back and allow yourself to be transported. Meditiation recommended but not required.

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