Semèia Kài Tèrata, by Ensemble Ektòs

Incredible sounds (a mild cacophony) from saxes, percussion, electric guitar and . . . objects)!

This is a meandering ambient/experimental/noise collective of short compositions that intrigue, inspire & invigorate the listener as they journey up and down the twenty-two crafted steps of the Ensemble Ektòs.

Musical mumblings, groanings, utterances, expressions of sparse & creative syncopation and resonance are all part of their formula.
Distinctive tones reverberate & reflect upon one another; juxtaposed with silent passages between each metered step of your journey. The individual pieces reflect onto the whole of the composition . . . while at the same time, standing on their own as an indispensable/individual layer.

What one is left with, is a contemplative and meditative canvas of musically ordered machination.

~Ambient Landscape, 7.30.22
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“The Septuagint is the name in which the first Greek translation of the Old Testament is identified, datable to the 2nd century A.D. According to Aristea’s letter to Philocrates, in which the genesis of this version is mentioned, 72 sages from Alexandria commissioned by Ptolemy II were responsible for the translation. Within the text, the term “prodigy” (τέρας, tearas) is never found alone but forms an inseparable binomial with “sign” (σημεῖον, semèion), thus forming the expression σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα (semèia kài tearata).

Recorded in September 2019, Semèia Kài Térata is the first work by Ensemble Ektòs, a quartet of composers and performers based in Copenhagen. The work describes an austere yet imaginative path combining stillness with the use of silences. A ritual reiteration recalling the most extreme experiences of certain minimalism and microscopic attention to timbral stratification. Rigorous and evocative, with radical attention to the beauty of the whole sound set, Semèia Kài Térata well manages to identify that sense of mysterious inevitability evoked in the title, as well as the dark wonder that miracles often bear.”

~Marco Baldini

Players:
Michał Biel: Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone
Cosimo Fiaschi: Soprano Saxophone
Francesco Toninelli: Percussion, Objects
Hein Westgaard: Electric Guitar

Mostly Gray, by Thorny

This is a wonderful debut album: at once deliciously droney and glitchy with surges of dark caustitcity (which precisely fits my mixological wheelhouse!). Very much at home with artists such as Numina, Steve Roach & vidnaObmana, Mr. Ryan utilizes some wonderful ambient bass & synth work as he weaves an overcast atmosphere that envelops the listener; after previewing this on Bluetooth, via phone & automobile, we’ve already sketched out several tracks for the play-list of an upcoming podcast.

Nice job, J.D.!

Officially releases tomorrow, July 30th.
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The debut album from Vermont synthesist/bassist JD Ryan (Thorny), Mostly Gray is a decidedly gray ambient album inspired by the gradients we encounter in life, as well as some ruminations on the pandemic, aging, and the wonderment of cloudy mountaintops. Composed and performed on synthesizers and processed bass guitar by JD Ryan at Shabby Road Studio, Plainfield, VT.

Track list:

1. Waiting for What Never Comes
2. Nebraska
3. Surface Fractures
4. The End of Before
5. Top of the Fog
6. Malformations

Label: Witherwillow Sounds
Available at: https://witherwillow.bandcamp.com/album/thorny-mostly-gray
Contact: jryan@witherwillow.com
Release date: out now, available on streaming services 7/30/22
Genre: Ambient

Gear used:
Cliff Bordwell 6-string bass
Stambaugh 5-string fretless bass
various pedals
Waldorf Iridium
Moog Subsequent 37
Waldorf Iridium
Roland TR-8S
ASM Hydrasynth
& a few random softsynths



Video for track “Top of the Fog”
https://youtu.be/Aghc1tPL_o8

Ambient Clean-Room

Our podcast loading construct & shipping platform . . .

Dreaming of Summer in Winter, by Christopher Hanlon

Written and produced by Christopher Hanlon

Photography by Ashlynn Murphy / unsplash.com/@ashlynnjola
Mastering by Francis Gri / ksndmastering.com

dewtonerecordings.com

Released June 26, 2022

Minor Variations, by Earlyguard

One person’s noise is another person’s music.

Released January 1, 2019 

Music composed and produced by 
Thomas Frühwacht

Taking Flight, by tonepoet & cloudfall

Not long ago (January 8, 2018, to be exact), I was contacted by a Brazilian gentleman by the name of Grael who was putting out feelers to gather music for a documentary that he was creating about skateboarding in Carazinho, Brazil. The documentary brings to light the desperate situation that skateboarding in Carazinho is faced with in regards to a lack of support from the community. After offering any and all already released music, I sat down to write music that would fill the need. He didn’t use a lot of the tracks that I presented here, but that nonetheless gave me a reason to write and record some new music! I can’t thank Grael enough for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this. You can view Grael’s video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhTzKrDTtPs&t=90s. Thanks, buddy! 

I jumped at the chance to get on board to support a cause that is very near and dear to me. I grew up skateboarding, and I still jump on my son’s (too small) skateboard to rip up some concrete because I LOVE it! Making the music for this documentary means a lot to me in a way that I can offer the support the best way that I know how. It’s also a tribute the my skateboarding buddies in my childhood that dried my tears when I smashed my face on the half pipe. Haha! 

Given that my last 2 releases had a certain theme, I wanted this one to follow those same guidelines. In the end, the music here is meant to represent the span of the day from daybreak to sunset while taking in the experience, elation, and freedom that skateboarding brings. I sought to reflect the spectrum of human experiences during this timeline. 

Knowing the challenges that I faced, I got in touch with my buddy Nick, who goes by the artist name ‘CloudFall’, in an attempt to get some collaboration happening. His music can be found here: cloudfall.bandcamp.com. We had talked in length about doing something together, and despite our geographical and time zone challenges, we nonetheless managed to get a few songs together for this release. Thanks so much, CloudFall! 

Also, huge, HUGE thanks to Michael Henry for the easiest online communication when asking to use his artwork for this project. I scoured the web for hours, sent emails without receiving replies, and the best skateboarding picture that I’ve ever seen for this was the easiest one to get permission to use. I tip my hat to Michael (thanks, bro!), and recommend that you pay him a visit at his website: www.meetmichaelhenry.com. The guy is pretty much a genius in the photography world. I pondered on using his artwork only but went with using a different front cover art because of its minimally visual effect. I am honored to have his photo adorn the back cover, it is extremely fitting considering this release’s subject matter and precisely reflects what I feel this album represents. 

Another giant thanks to Max Ostrozhinskiy for usage of his front cover artwork. I got this from Unsplash (link is below in Album Credits). 

Lastly, thanks to the listeners for allowing us to do what we love and share what we create. Peace. 

//tonepoet//  

Released September 13, 2018 

Thomas ‘Tonepoet’ Lindsey: Guitar, Keyboards, Samples, Field Recordings, Vocals & Voices, Compositions, Cover Artwork, Mixing 

Cloudfall: Sounds, Piano, Guitar, Sonic Manipulations, Creative Collaboration 

Renee Izzi Bennett: Violin on ‘Light At The End Of A Tunnel’ 

Jonathan ‘Pistachio’ Pusztai: Mastering 

Front Cover Photo: Max Ostrozhinskiy (unsplash.com/photos/1nNtM9P-m0I) 

Back Cover Photo: Michael Henry (www.meetmichaelhenry.com

c O g ’23

c O g | Experimental/Ambient/Minimal/Noise | 77:56

A revamping of a mix from 2015 (which clocked in @ ninety+ minutes!)
Four new tracks (*), a reshuffling of the previous lineup & a run-time of just under 78 minutes makes this a LOT more workable as an intentional listening device . . .

Listen via Sync

01 Steve Roach & Dirk Serries – Bow *
02 l@bs – t r U e (interpolating Saul Stokes’ ‘Out of True’)
03 Erik K. Skodvin – Drowning, Whistling
04 Chris Russell – Allium
05 Taylor Deupree – Sleepover
06 Marcel Rocha – Thor Meditation (excerpt)
07 1 Mile North – In 1983 He Loved to Fly (edit) *
08 Deaf Center – Plateaux
09 Tony Levin, David Torn & Alan White – Sleeping Horse
10 Dirk Serries – The Burden of Hope
11 Svarte Greiner – Midnight Feast *
12 Khem One – Lunadronus *

Lichtzin, by Andrew Heath & Anne Chris Bakker

The collaboration between Anne Chris Bakker and Andrew Heath is overwhelmingly informed by both an open, minimal landscape and a love of process, allowing the sounds and music to form as you would unfold a map – each section revealing a new and uncharted vista. Texture and lower case, drifting drones, tones and fragile notes create music that hangs in the air – suspended in time and place. 

In 2015, an invitation for Anne Chris to play in the UK’s Resound festival cemented a friendship and mutual admiration of each other’s music. Early the following year, Andrew visited Anne Chris in the north of the Netherlands for a week of inspired improvisation – spending their time gathering field recordings, composing and of course, cycling. A huge volume of work was produced, painstakingly edited over the next few months to produce, Lichtzin. Pause and contemplate, for here are immersive driftscapes and drones which shimmer and pulse with fragile, half-glimpsed melodies.

Released September 25, 2017 

Music: Andrew Heath and Anne Chris Bakker 
Mix: Anne Chris Bakker 
Master: Chihei Hatakeyama 
Artwork: Andrew Heath 

Lichtzin was recorded in the winter of 2016. 

Many thanks to Chihei and White Paddy Mountain for making this release possible. Thanks also to, Zoë Heath and Renske Zijlstra for all their support.

Musique de Film, by Ümlaut

MUSIQUE DE FILM is a collection of soundtrack compositions for a series of short films created by me. The films and the sounds exist on 2 planes: first: the sound breathes life into silent images of motion; and second: pure sound invites the listener to conjure his or her own mental imagery. When I create a film, I first strip out all sound. I want to first tell a silent visual story. A point of inspiration is Brian Eno’s song Spider and I: “Spider and I / Sit watching the sky / On our world without sound.” Once my filmic story is complete (my world without sound), I create a complimentary audio world – the soundtrack to this silent world – as stand-alone music. By means of shifting sounds and textures, my goal is to touch upon beauty and emotion, through the use of loop-based repetition, textural nuances, hushed tones and droning backdrops that fade off into considered silence. These swirling masses of sound and beat-less borders transcend, at times, my weightless approach. All the more, if I add industrial noise, this layering process helps to retain the delicate beauty of the sound.

Released January 9, 2019 

Ümlaut is Jeff Düngfelder, a U.S. electronic music composer who is based in Queens, New York. The thematic concepts distinguishing his work are absence and silence; the ineffable exchange between viewer and image; random moments of stillness within a landscape in flux. The listener sets out on a richly layered journey into the unknown. With computer-as-instrument, fragments of sounds, textures and a warm palette of noise patch together. Found acoustics will tweak the listener’s inclination to reflect and discover. Manipulation of sound seamlessly juxtaposes the digital world with field recordings. The universal assimilates with the personal. As Rajneesh once said: “Sit very quietly, and when the scenery shifts, slip between it.”

Where Do We Go, by Peter James

Recorded between October and November 2018, Where Do We Go is my first album for almost 6 years, and it’s probably my most deeply personal to date, drawing on my sleep paralysis disorder experiences, and where they can take me. 

Included with the full album are 5 hi-res jpegs from my own photo archive, plus a slimline case liner. 

Released November 28, 2018 

All music recorded, produced and mastered by peter james 
door sample recorded at Pluscarden Abbey, 2017. 
birds recorded at various locations in Scotland & Cumbria. 
sleeve layout by David Gregson. 
sleeve water photography by peter james