Flatland Frequencies
Bit late to the party with this one, but it still deserves a mention, as there are still some vinyl left (!). Symptoms of Love bring the vintage sampling styles (ala Thomas Dolby’s Fairlight era) along with modern production sensibilities, in this lush 5-tracker on Sydney’s Planet Trip.
Dublin’s All City Records brings beat producer Kutmah on board, for a 10″ of quick ‘n’ dirty sampler-delic jams.
German electronic music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius has an interesting history. Born in 1934 he was an unwilling member of the Hitler Youth (membership was compulsory for boys over ten) and was a child actor in Nazi propaganda films. After the war, finding himself trapped on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall, he was imprisoned for two years following an unsuccessful attempt to cross to the west. Eventually, he managed to escape into West Berlin and formed the Zodiak Free Arts Lab with Conrad Schnirtzler.
Aarset and Bang take dubbed-out ambience to new depths, with this subterranean-sounding LP. A unique melding of musique concrète and dub, with echoes of ambience and shoegaze.
Seil continue their consistent output of mellow ambient releases, with a cassette containing 23 modular synth sketches from German artist Elinch.
Deep and heady drones from AHRKH. Two 30 minute pieces unfold at considered pace, resulting in distinct mind states from the experience.
Isle of Jura – Release: March 13th 2020
Ahh, the isle of Jura. Famous for it’s raw unspoilt beauty, friendly locals, whiskey and… Soundsystem? Paradoxically, the label of same name is actually based in Adelaide, distributed via Rotterdam and responsible for reissuing some proper classic tunes (Voice of Q 7″ anyone?). They also put out new music too it would appear…
It’s been over three years since Ali’s last full solo album Geomorphology. His latest excursion on Frequency Domain is called Microhumans and while it falls under the broad ambient label, like his previous LP, there is a lot to be discovered here.
UK-based Polypores (aka Stephen James Buckley) is no stranger to Flatland Frequencies, having listened to his numerous contributions to the excellent A Year In The Country series over the past few years.
Spoilt for choice right now, with so many artists and labels putting out a broad range of ambient music; from deep and expansive drones, to garbled and hissing tape loops.. Spaced-out synth jams, to deft vocal layering.
This selection represents a slice of either recently released, or upcoming records (and some unreleased bits discovered around the net) which aims to give a taste of this diverse genre.
Tracklist: