Just came across this delicious blend of grainy, granular, experimental ambience from Youga — nicely done! ______________________________________________________
The seasons have changed almost completely, and the influence of seasonal patterns has a major impact on the agricultural system. The cultivation of food crops such as rice, pulses, or vegetables is still very dependent on the season. Dry spells that are too long or rain that falls continuously throughout the year can certainly result in crop failure, which in turn affects human activity patterns. In the continuous relationality of these events, sound emerges as a medium through which unexpected things happen, a force located in-between human and nonhuman agents.
Released February 14, 2023
Music by Youga Piano by Adrian Ade Mastered by Wahyu Kiky yudha Prasetya Artwork by Yoga Nugraha Design by Deden
. . . we mean slightly caustic, granular grit, replete w/ atmospheric & audiological tension that creates a sonic charge which reverberates across one’s cranial lobe —
I just received this, courtesy of Sandrine & Vincent over at Ultimae, this past weekend. It releases today, December 7th, and I found myself scrambling to script a mini-review as the curtain rises on this ambient-downtempo-techno masterpiece from Lauge (Denmark) and AES Dana (France). So, I popped the audio files onto my phone & listened while running a trail workout this morning & throughout the day on my car’s audio system.
Here, gentle listener, are my observances thus far:
This well met pair of techno-dubsters have really hit the mark with an album encompassing hushed & delicately woven ambient intros, sustained downtempo reverberance and beat-driven techno rhythms & syncopation that, when combined, create a powerfully driving, rich cinematic texture that leaves the listener anxiously awaiting the next track (and then the next!).
The downtempo borders and margins are (sonically) palpable; allowing the listener to peel back the aural sheeting of Ambient, Dub & Techno . . . like a sonic layer-cake of enveloping sound (an interlaced grid: a dense atmospheric environment). And, I might add, great bass-lines that are meant to pulse and echo though one’s car speakers at near-maximum volume!
Standout tracks for this listener are ‘Hiding in the Clouds‘ (which we’re already penning in for an upcoming edition of the ‘u n f o c u s e d’ series), ‘Terrene‘ (parts 1 & 2) and ‘Finnmark’ (see album info below to locate/access these tracks)
Well done lads! I’m already looking forward to your next musical outing together.
~Ambient Landscape, 12.07.22 _____________________________________ Release Dates: Digital : December 7, 2022 | CD : December 21, 2022 | 2xLP : late 2023
“Terrene” stands as the first musical encounter between Danish and French composers Henrik Laugesen and Vincent Villuis respectively known as Lauge and AES Dana.
A cornucopia of evanescent pads and elaborate rhythms with a distinctive downtempo vibe; a daedal story taking one on a magnetic peregrination through dense and contrasted sonic geographies, picturing the notion of temporality and space.
This mighty 10 track album elicits emotions and feelings and will leave you full of moxie!
Written and produced by Henrik Laugesen and Vincent Villuis. Mastering by Vincent Villuis | Ultimae Studios C&P 2022 Ultimae
zero dark thirty | Minimal/Techno/Post-Rock/Noise | 87:00
Up before dawn (@ dark) to hit the gym, the trail and/or Nordic Track . . . with coffee & . . . some beats!
Made for working out (with a little stretch-time @ the beginning) – a gift from me to, uhm . . . me as a reminder that, a la Jocko Willink: Discipline = Freedom! It also has the added advantage of blending in some nostalgia, especially Plastikman, Tibbetts, Add N To (X), Speedy J, Photek & noisy Brian Eno.
Strap on your seat belt & swab out yer ears . . . this one rocks!
01 Alessandro Adriani – Casting the Runes 02 Venitian Snares – Felbomlasztott Mentökocsi 03 Nine Inch Nails – The Waltz (surgical edit) 04 J.Peter Schwalm & Stephan Thelen; ……w/ Eivind Aarset, Tim Harries & Manuel Pasquinelli – Pluto 04 Plastikman – Consumed 05 Shifted – Seel 06 Lucy – Laws and Habits 07 Sendai – Inverse Array 08 Steve Tibbetts – Dzogchen Punks 09 Add N To (X) – FYUZ 10 Speedy J – Drill 11 Lucy – tof (Tommy Four Seven remix) 12 Photek – The Fifth Column 13 Tony Levin, David Torn & Alan White – Crunch Time 14 Brian Eno – Horse
As #Mixcloud has just announced it will limit Tier 1 accounts to 10 published shows as of December 2022 (no new uploads allowed unless previous podcasts are deleted – to a maximum total of 10), we will be making shows available via #HearThis. This is a promotion of Mixcloud’s “Pro” business model ($180/year, U.S.) — which I’m sure works for radio stations and professional D.J.’s . . but not for those of us uploading for the sheer love of the mix.
You may stream or download the podcasts on Hear.This for a total charge of . . . ZERO!
Our three November shows will be the last new releases on Mixcloud. Beginning in December, we’ll post on ello, HearThis & Twitter (as well as right here).
You could write a review about this new release by rand and call it a piano & electronica album; or you could label it an ambient album, or a neo-classical fusion album; perhaps an experimental album or a soft-techno & glitch album; you could even label it a Jazz or an Ether-Jazz album . . .
. . . and, in every case, you’d be right!
I’m labeling it a predominantly Jazz-based album (think ECM) with crossover ventures into ALL of the areas delineated above. What it is . . . is a beautiful set of piano pieces with (mostly) beatless, techno machinations, clicks, pops, swells & whirs woven brilliantly & seamlessly throughout . . . skilled sonic architecture.
The piano playing reminds me of Raphael Loher (Kali Trio) or Lucca Fries (Hely) with a hint of Nik Bärtsch floating in the background. The electronics provide an ethereal skyline for the piano’s grounded-ness: soft & hard compositional frameworks accompanied by soft, to mid, to slightly harsh techno/electronic treatments.
It certainly represents a new direction in crossover-genre, fluidly Jazz-based experimental sound; with each track a new beginning within the adventure (we’ll explore their 2 previous EP’s, i & ii in a future post).
Standout tracks for me: 9.3, San Gimigano, Permanent Green, Siegfried 2.0
Rand (Frank Bogdanowitz & Jan Gerdes) deftly capture the listener’s aural attention (as well as their imagination) with the debut of Peripherie – out September 9th!
randwill appear on 2 upcoming A.L. podcasts: an Avant-Garde/Experimental Jazz show this Sunday evening (U.S. eastern time zone); and an Ambient show in mid- September.
Ambient Landscape 