Categories
Ambient Drone Review Synth

Tomas Nordström – Ingentingskogen

Ingentingskogen or (according to google translate) ‘nothing forest’, is a new collection of drone works from Tomas Nordström, noughties techno survivor and one half of cult heroes Transexual Swedish Rebels (TSR), the greatest live techno act to come out of Sweden and possibly the world. So it’s always a welcome sight to see new material transmitting from his Stockholm base.

Ingentingskogen is solely based around the Sequential Circuits Pro One synth, layered through various effects whilst Tomas was learning to repair the instrument. The general vibe is quite dark, but varied in intensity, from the power drone zones of ‘Natten regnade I cmoll’, to the softer palettes explored in ‘Stampvall’. All of which demonstrates the juicy tonal character of the instrument, without drowning it in effects.

Lets hope this is just the beginning of more pure synth excursions from Mr Nordström!

Categories
Ambient Drone Dub Dub-techno Minimal Review Synth

Hoavi – Music For Six Rooms

Balmat – November 16th

Russian producer and Shells Rattle label owner, Hoavi brings 10 tracks of dubbed-out dreaminess to the Balearic-based Balmat label. Serious production values here, with filtered echos fluttering across lush, evolving synthscapes. Japanese minimalism meets Berlin-school dub techno.

The sharp attention to detail carries from the sound to the visual, with another gallery-worthy cover piece from José Quintanar.

Recommended.

Vinyl and digital at bandcamp.

Categories
Ambient Avant Garde Drone Electro-Acoustic Experimental Review Synth

Anthology of Electronic Music From Scandinavia

Unexplained Sounds Group – 5/11/21

Fast becoming one of our fave labels for cutting edge electronic and experimental music, Unexplained Sounds Group are consistently curating high quality various artist compilations, organised by global region.

This time, the expanding ‘sound mapping’ collection of CDs lands on the Scandinavian electronic underground as its point of focus.

The album is predominately drone-based excursions, ranging from cold, baron soundscapes, to densely layered synth excursions. However, on my first proper listen through, it’s the tracks that venture into more experimental tonal territory which really piqued my curiosity, with the wonderfully wonky ‘Ilmeisesti’ by vÄäristymä and the hypnotic ‘Nightbreeze’ by Havdis being particular favourites.

Order the CD/Digital now via their Bandcamp.

Categories
Ambient Avant Garde Beats Drone Electro-Acoustic Experimental House Industrial Minimal Wave Musique Concrète Radio Synth

Flatland Frequencies – Mutant Radio Show (Oct 2021)

Out latest session on Mutant Radio is now online, with resident selectors Luke Sanger, Jeran Portis, Toby Tobias and Sseagulls. Only the finest Elektronische, Musique Concrete, industrial no wave, om shanti house and library core.

Categories
Ambient Drone Review

NEVER TEMPLE ~ ‘Throwing Around An Invisible Ball’

Golden Ratio Frequencies – 5/11/21

Soaring, psychotropic drones, which manage to tastefully meld spoken word, cello and synthesised tones into a deep meditative experience.

An entirely mesmerising release which ticks all the boxes (for me) when it comes to drones. Evolving textures and shifting synth tones combine with beautifully ghostly vocal elements, the resultant effect is somewhat intoxicating. Would love to hear this live.

Order the cassette or digital via their Bandcamp

Categories
Experimental Industrial Minimal Wave Radio Synth

Jeran Portis – Mutant Radio October 2021

Field Recording (Holkham Beach, Norfolk, UK)
17 Años – Medio Mutante
Peter Pan – Los Iniciados
Russia – Elisa Waut
Way Out Of Living – Linear Movement
Surface Tension – Analysis
Time – Schicksal
Distortion – Philippe Laurent
Big Man – Plus Instruments
Reassurance Ritual – Das Ding
Witches – Secret Life
I Hear The Bells – Danton’s Voice
Nuclear, Sí – Aviador Dro
Vulcani – Carmody
Beli Dekolte – Oskarova Fobija
Golden Dreams – Deux
Categories
Ambient Premiere Synth

PREMIERE: Polypores – Sprites

Waxing Crescent Records

Very excited to announce an exclusive premiere of Polypores – Sprites, from his upcoming cassette on Waxing Crescent. A cute and bubbling piece, with sliding envelopes and LFOs gliding over quantised scales and tempo, giving the track a distinctly ‘modular synth’ feel, with a clean and modern tone. Check it out now on our soundcloud:

Flatland Frequencies · PREMIERE: Polypores – Sprites (Waxing Crescent)

In its overall mood, ‘Crystal Shop’ feels much lighter and more playful than his more intense long-form Gargantuan outing, released earlier this year via Frequency Domain.

Track names like Soft Energies and Dolphin Emoji, suggest a tongue-in-cheek response to the ‘new-age’ music tag, all too often misapplied by lazy journalists to new synthesised music that they can’t quite fit into the usual electronic genres.

To sum up, this is one of my favourite Polypores outings to date (and there has been many!), encompassing an adventurous approach to synthesis and freeform on-the-fly composition.