Vital Contrast is a gorgeous release coming 25th June from Paul Oednom on the ever-reliable Serein label, operating out of Wales, UK. Check the player for an exclusive preview of ‘Flux’, the opening track from the EP. Guitar and synths ebb and flow as one, into a psychedelic tapestry of tones.
Category: Ambient
The second album by Local T is here and picks up exactly where his 2019 debut left off. Suffolk Palms is another portrait of life by the sea on the east coast of england, packing enough beach snacks and summer optimism for everyone. It’s all about having fun, no thoughts, nothing else!
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💬 Artist notes:
Music made between March and May 2021 in Felixstowe, Suffolk.
Recorded live with:
– Sega Megadrive + genMDM w/ GENajam
– Dx27
– Kawai K1r
– Korg Er1
– Volca Kick
– Various shitty guitar pedals
Balmat’s first release comes from Luke Sanger, a Norwich, UK-based artist whose two decades of electronic music-making have encompassed a range of tools and techniques, from MaxMSP to modular synthesis. Along the way he has built an extensive catalog encompassing ambient atmospheres, abstract soundscaping, and more. With Languid Gongue, he puts multiple approaches into play. Experiments in microtonal composition balance out pieces in standard tunings, while esoteric electronic machines merge with familiar acoustic treatments and microphone techniques.
The result is a constellation of his signature sounds: freeform new-age fantasia; spring-loaded toytronic arpeggios; quartz-driven braindance clockworks. Drifting between consonant, almost lyrical compositions and shape-shifting textural sketches, the album drifts with the nonchalance of a sky-high cirrus cloud, and it glows as if illuminated from within. When we heard the material, we knew that it was the perfect choice to launch the label. To us, it sounds like a roadmap for points unknown.
Pre-order now via Balmat
Playlist:
| Vanessa Valencia Ramos | Plantas Medicinales Contra el Patriarcado |
| 白水 Baishui | Stranded |
| Ishmael Cormack | Critter |
| José Alfredo Rodríguez | vistiendo a un hombre muerto |
| Ishmael Cormack | Dandelion |
| Fiorella16 | Laura En Su Laberinto |
| Xylitol | Popcone |
| #DMTh5 | XXXX XXXX XXX XXX |
| Luke Sanger | Your Session Has Ended |
| Xylitol | Business Direct |
| 孫瑋 Sun Wei | Electromagnetic wave and vibration in Wetland Park |
| 李帶菓 Li Daiguo | Chengdu Tuberculosis Hospital |
| Ali Wade | Demons |
| Vavabond | 胎藏 |
| Malanai Ascending (Seahawks Remix) | Private Agenda |
Split cassette featuring two long form jams from drone duo The Transcendance Orchestra (aka Daniel Bean and Anthony Child) and label owner Ali Wade.
The A-Side features five melded movements: entrance, acceleration, abstraction, revelation and obliteration. Which range from contemplative tones, to hyper spatial widescreen drones. Flipping for Demon’s and Wade goes on an off-grid excursion, visiting some varied and impeccably produced textures, from clean and shiny, to the soft and clouded.
Looks like this is already sold out, that was quick. Digi still available on their Bandcamp.
It’s hard to keep up with all the amazing DIY labels these days. Woodford Halse is one particularly prolific outfit, releasing a couple of tapes and CDs every month. Here’s a quick round up of what to expect in June/July 2021.
As usual, lots of music from the label features in our monthly radio show. Pick of the bunch for me is the Xylitol tape ‘Inside a Stone of Cream there is a Language’, with bubbling resonant synth tracks like Popcorn evoking some serious Raymond Scott vibes and mellow library-esque moments with Business Direct.
Consider this post a heads up, as generally these releases sell out on pre-orders, so stay frosty people and keep an eye on their Bandcamp.
Title – Orpheus
Label – Woodford Halse
Catalogue Number – WF 32
Format – Cassette album with multi layered artwork (die cut outer sleeve, die cut j card and ‘cigarette card’ insert).
Pre Orders – 4th June
Genre – Electronic, Ambient, Soundscape
Title – Sessile
Label – Woodford Halse
Catalogue Number – WF 29
Format – Cassette album with multi layered artwork (die cut outer sleeve, die cut j card and ‘cigarette card’ insert).
Pre Orders – 4th June
Genre – Electronic, Techno, Ambient
Title – The Abbey of the Black Hag
Label – Woodford Halse
Catalogue Number – WF 41
Format – CD album with multi layered artwork (die cut outer sleeve, ‘cigarette card’ insert and booklet).
Pre Orders – 2nd July
Genre – Ambient, Drone, Experimental, Minimalism, Post Rock
Title – Inside a Stone of Cream there is a Language
Label – Woodford Halse
Catalogue Number – WF 30
Format – Cassette album with multi layered artwork (die cut outer sleeve, die cut j card and ‘cigarette card’ insert).
Pre Orders – 2nd July
Genre – Electronic, Lo-Fi, Minimal Synth, NDW
Title – Tre Sfere
Label – Woodford Halse
Catalogue Number – WF 26
Format – Cassette album with multi layered artwork (die cut outer sleeve, die cut j card and ‘cigarette card’ insert).
Pre Orders – 4th June
Genre – Electronic, Techno
Since free market reforms and opening up to foreign trade in the late 1970s, China has been among the world’s fastest-growing economies. Along with pulling 800 million people out of poverty, it has also become the world’s largest economy and with it a growing cultural and arts scene.
China’s experimental music and sound art scene began to take shape in the post-Tiananmen era in the late 1990s. A few musicians from the mainland’s underground music scene started to experiment with new ways of making music while the music industry co-opted the once revolutionary and independent rock music scene.
This particular collection of pieces runs the gamut of experimental styles, from music concrete to drones, arpeggiated synth pieces to field recordings. All achieved in a pure and focused dedication to the sound. A really stunning anthology musically and excellent curation from the label.
Recommended.
New livestream from Polypores online, check it:
Aura Minimum – Structural Lines (Ambience) [Space Of Variants]
Liuos – Gravimetric Analysis [Insectorama]
Schulz Audio – Perseverance [Insectorama]
Natur & Substak – Fusion Dub III [ODrex]
Altone – Touch [Insectorama]
DeepChord – DC14 (A1) [DeepChord]
Heavenchord – The Way I See It [Greyscale]
Fluxion – Waves [Echocord]
Monolake – Occam [Chain Reaction]
23.4 – Initial Ratio [Insectorama]
Mikkel Metal – Frico [Echocord]
In case you’ve been living under a virtual rock, ‘Bandcamp Friday’ is where the website waives their commision fees for a day each month.
On one hand, this results in every artist with an instagram account shouting further into the void. But on the other, labels and artists are now planning their release schedule around this day, to capitalise on releasing and pre-releasing new music. So it is certainly worth a dig!
Here’s our top picks from yesterdays busy, yet fruitful Bandcamp Friday (2nd April 2021).