Yaghan - Yaghan's Land E.P

Liquid Frog Records: 2018

Before you ask, yes, this is titled Yaghan's Land from 'Yaghan', and yes, this is still the same Juan Pablo Giacovino project that would immediately after be referred to as Yahgan. And no, this isn't some weird typo or misprint on his part. Truth is the two had been interchangeable for centuries, with many other variants floating about in that time, depending on era and European interpretation. So it goes with Native American peoples, even ones living in as remote a region of the global south as one can get without crossing into Antarctica. If you want to be respectful and proper-like with their lineage, however, Yahgan is the correct name for history's southernmost mini-civ'. I'm guessing when Juan Pablo launched this side-project, 'Yaghan' was the version he was most familiar with, then promptly switched to the traditional 'Yahgan' after digging a little deeper into the subject. And since The Internet never forgets, just kept the original EP name and title as-was. 'Tis fine, really it is.

As for how early into Mr. Giacovino's catalogue this came out, Yaghan's Land came out quite early indeed. Bandcamp chronology dates this just after Wave Bio Collector, and since this was another release of his I had to submit to Lord Discogs' archives (that whole 'Yaghan / Yahgan' thing is gonna' be a doozy for moderators, no doubt), I have to assume it was self-released. Or maybe it came out on some ultra-obscure netlabel with, like, three releases on it? I'm getting way too deep into the weeds of these details! Somehow seems appropriate given how many of his N:L:E albums focus on micro-fauna.

Anyhow, the EP opens with a titular track, lasting a mere three minutes long. Okay, that may seem long if this was any other dance music genre EP, but as this is a pure ambient piece with cystaline synths and wind-swept atmosphere, you'd think more time would be spent settling us into the frigid Yahgan climate. It's also quite grandiose compared to the rest of the EP, follow-up Travelling a far more subtle affair. There's still that sense of being out on the frontier, but remote and isolated. Soft rhythmic patters and melodic pulses gradually emerge as singular synth strings ebb and flow in support, but never reach a rousing crescendo, keeping things on the calm and tranquil, even if a little epic vibe is implied towards the end.

On the other end of the EP are two parts of Rupture In The Echo, totally some twenty-three minutes of playtime. The first is also a mostly ambient affair, the softest pitter-patter offered as a sporadic rhythm. Simple synth drones and distant waves make up the bulk of this piece, a remarkably soothing journey of minimalist tones. In case you need a little more pep in your tunes though, Part 2 brings in actual ambient techno beat to the fray, dubby effects thrown on for flair. Cool, but I rather prefer the beatless option. Makes for nice dozing music.

Ruptured World - Xenoplanetary

Cryo Chamber: 2023

Just when you think you've heard it all when it comes to 'cinematic dark ambient', Cryo Chamber goes and throws yet another new angle into the mix. Or it's a style that's existed in some form or another, and this is just my first exposure to it. Come to think of it, even if not via dark ambient outlets, much of what I'm hearing on Ruptured World's Xenoplantary has existed in other mediums, but typically drawn out over the course of several hours, spaced between various forms of busy-work. I am, of course, talking about the spoken word genre known as the video game Datalog.

You scoff, but think about it: for as long as puzzle PC games have had the capability to provide audio clips of individuals gabbing on about daily activities or pet projects or failed experiments, we've heard some form of datalog. Sometimes they're implemented as clues to solving mysteries, other times they're sprinkled about as setting dressing. More commonly these days, they're used as narrative cheats in world building, where the quality of voice acting can range from transcendentally gripping to instructional video hilarity. Whatever your preference of such content, one thing is clear: there really isn't an after-market for datalog recordings.

Not that I imagine a huge demand for it, but you'd think with video game soundtracks so readily available, someone had an entrepreneurial flash in thinking all that voice work could earn a little extra scratch outside its gaming context. The closest we get, it seems, is just collected records of all the datalogs one discovers through the course of a play run, and typically only accessible in-game. I'm sure unofficial compilations float about YouTube and the like, but wouldn't it be neat to have all that material available on a nice set of wax? Or, even better: tapes! Really sell that authentic datalog feel, y'know? Okay, probably not, but that hasn't stopped Alistair Rennie from giving it the ol' college try with his Ruptured World project.

Whereas many artists may offer an introductory monologue or epilogue to a given work, Mr. Rennie makes his dialogue an integral part of his album narrative. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're full-on datalog outing, each recording interspersed with ambient music and cinematic drone. Yet nor are they audio books, as he'll garble the voice recordings with all manner of digital distortions, as though you're replaying them from some recovered, weathered archive of an explorer detailing their experiences – a datalog! What I'm sayin' is, ain't no way Scott Brick or Davina Porter would allow that in their works.

And what does Xenoplanetary offer within the Ruptured World milieu? A little survivor horror, a little sci-fi horror, a little body horror... typical dark ambient stuff. The music itself honestly isn't that terrifying, and sometimes Alistair's narration lends itself to wonderment rather than fear of his predicament. Of course, this being a Cryo Chamber outing, things can only end with an ironic existential crisis...

Tracing Xircles - Xenolith

Blue Hour: 2022

Not too much to dig into with this EP. The particulars are already mostly covered elsewhere on this blog, the names behind this moniker and all that. Well, half of it at least, as Tracing Xircles is a collaboration between Blue Hour head-honcho, erm, Blue Hour. Luke Standing, that is. The other goes by A-JX on Bandcamp, but Lord Discogs lists him as Simon Pilkington (also: AJ-X ...which is it!?). There isn't much else on him within the Discoggian tomes, so can't help you there.

In any event, the two paired up half a decade ago for a debut EP titled Gaia's Requiem. As befitting a record with that sort of name, it's a rather chill affair, but as this was still Blue Hour's early years (the label and the artist!), some exploratory works are allowed. By the time the two reconvened for a second record, Air Lock, they got back to the spacey techno pulse that defined much of Blue Hour's work. And when I finally stumbled upon this label, they had just put out their third EP, this here Xenolith. Not a bad run at all, but it's apparently gotten even better, landing a record on the Candy Mountain print, helmed by one-time Ostgut Ton favourite Steffi. She actually has a lot of little labels, including various Dollys. Becoming a regular Ellen Allien, that lass is – notch another artist I've overlooked for far too long.

Anyhow, this EP. The kick-off is also the titular cut, and almost immediately you're gonna' get transported back to the '90s with its big, brash broken beats. The echoing piano and sinewy synths don't hurt either, basically mixing and matching a lot of early rave and trance sounds into something of a New Beat soup, but done in an electro way. All with that ultra-beefy modern production, keeping things sounding as current as possible. If you turned down the gains, muffled the sounds, and flattened the dynamics... yeah, I could imagine this appearing on some long-lost Music Man Records B-side. Sounding 'modern-retro' has been one of Blue Hours' appealing traits though – it's why I started scoping them out, after all – so no surprises here.

Xenolith is about as 'pretty' as this EP gets, however, as follow-up Surface Level gets down to some serious electro business. Nothing too fancy with this one, just a steady thudding breakbeat, menacing robot sounds, and ominous backing synths. Blindspot gets a little fancier in its beatcraft, opting for something more skippity and post-dubsteppy. Future-shock electro menace vibes are still in full effect though.

But enough of that, how about some acid breakcore for a finish? Closed Circuit is definitely that, or at least treading as close to the realms of acid breakcore without actually going full tilt. I don't know if the Blue Hour faithful are really down for that. Or maybe they are, the label having multiple examples of the stuff scattered about. Still gotta' get on digging into more releases, I do.

Nightmares On Wax - A Word Of Science (The 1st And Final Chapter)

Warp Records: 1991

Probably not the only Nightmares On Wax album you're supposed to have, much less start with if you're beginning a Nightmares On Wax collection. Indeed, many point to Smoker's Delight as the true beginning of the NoW legacy, what with its clear demarcation within the trip-hop pantheon. Hell, the genre technically didn't even exist yet when A Word Of Science came out, though a few tracks here definitely helped create the DNA that would form the basis of all those depressive downtempo vibes. Nay, the Nightmares debut is still very much a product of its era, and that era includes the bleep techno of the UK rave scene, of which early Warp Records were prominent champions of. Who's got time to chill the fuck out when there's illegal parties to hop about?

Still, it's that Warp lineage that's retained A Word Of Science's cultural cache to this day. It sits at a significant crossroad, lodged between the LFO debut Frequencies and the seminal series debut of Artificial Intelligence. Where even though the ravey roots of the label are still present, time is spent on tunes feeling the downswing of a night, preferably enjoyed while loungin' about with a spliff in hand. A big part of this is due to the brains behind NoW, George Evelyn, leaving no personal influence off the table. He may have felt this was his one shot at getting his vision of music out there – a 'first and final' one, if you will. So even though the Nightmares On Wax story kicked off with some techno records, here come the funk, soul, and hip-hop samplings sharing album space with the warehouse tools.

Of course, if you're coming into A Word Of Science from the future, with little historical context, you could very well assume this being more of the trip-hop groove that defined Smoker's Delight. Right from the jump, we're greeted by Nights Interlude, their classic easy-going, laidback downtempo jam of jazzy solos and soulful strings. A tune so timeless, it continues to appear on 'chill out' compilations. A vibe so sweet, George basically opened Smoker's Delight with a remix of it. That's about it for such tracks on this album though. Playtime gets a little more sultry, Back Into Time a little more Steve Miller Band-y, and E.A.S.E more playful (you can hear Gorillaz in this one), but the rest of A Word Of Science...? Yeah, not so much.

Instead, you get bass-rattling, minimalist UK techno (A Case Of Funk, Biofeedback, Aftermath, Dextrous, Sal), stabs at vintage house (Coming Down, Fun), and a little Brit-hop for good measure (Mega Donutz, How Ya Doin', the beatbox outing of B.W.T.M.). Very little of this excels beyond the year from whence it came, their dated attributes front and centre. And hey, if you're down for such 1991 sounds, then A Word Of Science will serve you fine. For many though, an adjustment of expectations is a must. Maybe borrow your older uncle's nostalgia headphones for a session.

N:L:E - W:O:O:D

Liquid Frog Records: 2021

Yeah, yeah, get in your puns here, Beavis. I know you can't help chortling seeing two tracks titled Log, Butthead. I'll grant the dimwitted duo's commentary for the Christmas Yule Fire video is legendary, but not everything must refer back to that. Sometimes, a lump of fallen bark is just a lump of fallen bark. Still, I wonder if ol' Juan Pablo suspected some potential sniggering over titling an album Wood, hence breaking the lettering up with colons (“hehe, heh”). Also, he'd condensed 'Natural Life Essence' to N:L:E by this point, plus would soon adopt H:U:M for his space-leaning works, so maybe he was growing fascinated by the double-dotted punctuation. It must have been a brief flirtation though, as W:O:O:D is his only album released with such quirky titling. So far...

I feel well entrenched in Mr. Giacovino's particulars now, and there's little minutiae I can find surrounding this release. It seems, in his never ending quest to find inspiration in all the ferns and fauna of our realms, he finally found the forests with W:O:O:D. Why, then, does the cover art look like moss on stone? Gotta' save the tree beauty shots for the Caravan Of Healing Sounds series? Whatever the case, it's clear I'm dawdling to burn up self-imposed word count, so enough of that. Let's get into music proper-like.

Following a vigorous two-minute intro of shimmering synths, things get scaled back to chill-out territory on Ancient Echo, a calm, languid pace of digital dub. Eventually layers of bright synths emerge, though not as pronounced as the Intro. A gentle violin adds to the pleasant tone, and that's about it before a nice wind-down. Log gets dubbier with its rhythms, including all the traditional elements like off-beat pulses and endlessly trailing echo with flange thrown on. I've been digging these sounds the earliest ambient dub days, and ain't no way I've tired of them yet. Heck, the Walking Again Mix that closes the album even adds some philosophical dialogue, which is about as cliche as it gets. Ain't no bad thing from my end though.

Appropriately for a track inspired by the little skittering critters you find when you overturn said logs, Drill Bugs goes more minimal with sparse percussion and spritely melodies, while South Winds does the ultra-subtle psy-dub builder business. Speaking of psy-dub – or one-time psy-dub adjacent - Reforest [ Birds And Leaves ] sparks some vintage Ultimae Records vibes from yours truly, including the spacious dub effects that let you hear all the emptiness between bass throbs. Maybe not so widescreen as you typically hear out of Aes Dana's studio, but for a self-produced item, Juan Pablo comes remarkably close. Through The Cracks In The Wood gets back to the groovier ambient dub lane.

Yeah, groovier is a way I'd describe W:O:O:D, at least compared to the other N:L:E albums I've thus far covered. It's been a few since I've started on Mr. Giacovino's catalogue, but there's still a whole lot more to come.

Warmth - Wildlife

Archives: 2019

Agustín seems to have done well for himself now, finding his footing in a way overcrowded ambient scene. Something has to be that tipping point though, where one's success goes from ultra-niche hobbiest to algorithmic search engine approved. It'd be easy enough pointing towards landing some prominent names for his Archives print as one such tipping point, and having acts like Purl, Halftribe, and Gallery Six certainly were gets. I'm more curious about Mr. Mena's own output though, where his Warmth project was seen on equal footing as other ambient luminaries. It's not like his pre-Archives material was gaining much attention, mostly floating about various ambient and dub techno netlabels with little notice. Even his initial material on Archives didn't generate that much buzz.

Is Wildlife that one Warmth album you need to hear, even if you're not a fan of Warmth, then? Hard to say, but it certainly feels unique among his catalogue. Unlike other releases within Archives', erm, archives, this one does not feature some lovely bit of natural scenery. Rather, a big ol' mama grizzly bear adorns the album's cover art. At least, I assume it's a mama bear, as the inlay has a couple cubs running about, plus the Wildlife Addendum record features a shot of the whole family together. Right, having some sort of actual wildlife as the art for your album called Wildlife makes one-hundred percent sense, but what I find interesting is Warmth's Retrospective (2016-2021) collection also features a prominent grizzly. Agustín must feel some personal connection to these magnificent ursine to reuse their visage, is what I'm saying, which leads me to believe Wildlife is, indeed, that one Warmth album you need to hear, even if you're not a fan of Warmth.

Is the music any good though? Well, it's more ambient drone in that Archives stylee, so if you're down for more of that, you're likely down for this. I haven't tired of it yet, and don't sense I will anytime soon. Gads, there's just so much music in Archive's catalogue!

But yes, you have that fuzzy, dreamy timbre the best of dubby drone has to offer in Wildlife. Where gentle tones seemingly drift across fog covered mountain lakes at dawn. Where subtle, echoing sounds emanate from distant corners of pre-dawn shrouded forests. Where melancholic pads settle layer upon layer such that you're lost within their sonic embrace. Some tracks offer quiet, reflective moments (Owls, The Bear, Wildlife, Dawning), others a more disquieting tone (The Woods, Sonora, Shine, Soil). A couple artists add some acoustic flair to the dense synth drone (Pepo Galán in Shine, Robert Farrugia in Dawning), but this is primarily Agustín's show.

So yep, this is definitely another solid outing from Warmth, and if you're unsure where to dive into his discography, about as good as any place. Well, unless you want to get the whole kit and caboodle with Retrospective (2016-2021). Either way, you're getting at least one more release with a prominent Kodiak on the cover.

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: STEREOLAB

Some bands seem to exist just on the periphery of one's attention forever. A name you know you've seen many times, occassionally in association with some other artist you're fond of, or misattribute to a different act due to similarities. You may go decades never hearing a single song from them, or heard dozens without realizing it was them all along. In ye' olden days, the only way to get confirmation one way or the other was to scour the music shops, looking for any hints or clues that might trigger some memory synapses, spurring you further into actually listening to their catalogue, should the means and wants perfectly align. However, when I finally found out it was Cappella that was behind the line-up roll-call of the '90s Houson Rockets, I was disappointed to learn they didn't release much at all. Oh, and Stereolab is another such band, but at least they've released a whole lot more!

Primarily helmed by Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the band has seen many members rotate in and out (including an unfortunate death), mostly serving whatever musical angle they wish to explore. And explore many they have indeed, carving out a lane in the nascent '90s scene of lo-fi indie rock and electro pop. At least, that's what I assumed going in, but that's barely scratching the surface. With nearly two decades worth of music making, they had plenty of time dabbling in whatever floated their fancy. Didn't know if it'd make for a good 'sportsing' soundtrack, but I've been pleasently surprised before. So let's dive in.










This was a bit of a weird one for me. I can't say I disliked anything I heard, but nor was I inspired to buy up a bunch of Stereolab records for personal use either. Which is a bit of a shame, because this is a band that needs more than one listen for their music to truly sink in, not the sort that can be shrugged off as 'one-and-done', as most acts in these surveying exercises are. I feel like I owe it to them to at least pick up Dots And Loops, since that album was kinda' the catalyst in all this, but that feels I'm doing them a disservice settling on just one. Ah well, there's plenty of time to continue mulling it over - it's not like their catalogue is going anywhere, right?

Anyhow, now that we're coming upon the one-year anniversary of this little gimmick (and of me getting back into shape ...holy cow!), I figure it's time to take on a talent that I've long included in Mastodon polls for surveys, but for some reason has always brought up the rear: Tipper!

Various - Sven Väth: What I Used To Play (CD3)

Cocoon Recordings: 2023

Can I say how weird it is seeing photos of Cherub Sven? RIght, I've chosen his most puckish mug shot out from the ones included with the booklet as CD3's cover art, but most aren't that much older looking. I'll grant decades of clubbing will age anyone in rapid order, but he looks like a wee chile' compared to the soul-patch sporting harlequin of his Harthouse days. To say nothing of the Papa Sven look he adopted at the height of his Amnesia fame. Heck, for a large portion of contemporary punters, the grizzled German has always been 'that kooky uncle you love'. I, of course, knew of him earlier than that, such that the 'wet look era' came off quite shocking to yours truly, but man, just how young can this man actually get? Yes, I know that don't make a lick of sense.

We're into the rave years of What [Sven] Used To Play on the final disc, though nothing too bangin' or hype, so if you're expecting some vintage Frankfurt trance, this ain't it. Yes, even though we're definitely in the OMEN era, and even dip our toes into the '90s with tracks like Bobby Konders' Nervous Acid and Primal Scream's Loaded with Andrew Weatherall on the rub. Oh hey, it's that remix, which basically kicked off that whole 'rockers go rave' movement of the Second Summer Of Love.

Other essential rave classics here include A Guy Called Gerald's Voodoo Ray, Ecstasy Club's Jesus Loves The Acid (that's “Aciieedd!” to you), and Meat Beat Manifesto's Helter Skelter. You probably know this tune more for its wildly popular b-side Radio Babylon; aka: that one with the rhythm break knicked by a lot of folks after. And speaking of sampling, here's the first proto-plunderphonic single that charted, M|A|R|R|S' Pump Up The Volume (“Pump up the volume... Dance! Dance!”). Man, did that ever set off an arms race of throwing whatever one could into the production pot, soon after getting suits paranoid over what the actual legalities of all that cribbing of 'found sounds' actually was.

That's most of the familiar tunes sorted. Can't say I ever heard Foremost Poets' Reason To Be Dismal or Lhasa's The Attic, so it's cool filling out a couple personal blanks. The latter sounds like a very primitive piece of New Beat trance, so I can understand why Sven included it, the sort of tune that'd go on to inspire much of Eye Q Records' output. Just, y'know, up the BPM some twenty to thirty notches.

Rounding things out is a re-interpretation of Manuel Göttsching's epic E2-E4 from Sueño Latino – and by 're-interpretation', I mean sampling the tune for their own Balearic house jam. And what collection of early Väth vibes would be complete without at least one OFF track, in this case Electrica Salsa. I dunno', was this popular? I appreciate it for its historical context, but yeah, I'll take Rhythm Is A Dancer or An Accident In Paradise over that any day.

Various - Sven Väth: What I Used To Play (CD2)

Cocoon Recordings: 2023

By the by, I wasn't kidding in suspecting part of the reason this compilation was made was for the boutique vinyl market. In fact, I can't help but think it's the sole reason, as the record option features twelve 12”s. Yes, that means only one or two tracks per side! Which hey, is kinda' handy for record collectors who don't want the fuss of scouring the internet for original (or re-issues upon re-issues) of all these tunes. Yeah, some of this is undoubtedly redundant for serious black crack enthusiasts – having New Order's Blue Monday is almost mandatory for any proper collection – but at least they're all here in one box-set with Sven's seal of approval, right?

Speaking of, if I must levy a major nitpick over What I Used To Play, it's that the presentation is rather bare-bones. The included booklet just features all the various mug shots of Mr. Väth in the cover's collage. There's no liner notes about the tracks, no written blurbs about their history or what they mean to Sven's career. Not even some insight into his early days as a DJ at Dorian Gray in the '80s or setting up Omen later that decade. Highly detailed historical context doesn't seem to be the point of What I Used To Play, letting the music speak for itself. I suppose if you really wanted to know that stuff, you can easily find it all over the internet. Again, disappointing if you wanted more out of this compilation, but far from a deal breaker as a whole.

After an opening salvo of synth-heavy new wave music (holy cow, is Anne Clark's Our Darkness ever an early precursor to New Beat!), disc number two brings us to the midlands of American. That's right, folks, we got our acid (Phuture), we got our Detroit techno (Model 500), and we got Chicago house (Frankie Knuckles and Quest). Okay, hearing No UFO's and Your Love is rather redundant in my case, but at least Sven picked the less obvious We Are Phuture over Acid Tracks, not to mention a real obscurity in Quest's Mind Games (Street Mix). See, there's some merit to this compilation for even the hardiest of crate diggers!

Then CD2 takes turn for the ...world beat? Okay, not really, as that was really a thing yet in the '80s. More like jazz fusion musicians fusing whatever they could get away with, and if that included some Afro chant with drum machines, so be it. So we get the epic fifteen-minute digital drum jam of Jasper Van't Hof's Pili Pili, the pure percussive workout of Guem Et Zaka Percussion's Le Serpent, the Afro trumpet-boogie vibes of Hugh Masekela's Don't Go Loose It Baby, and the... wait, hip-hop of Sly & Robbie? I thought these guys were reggae and dancehall. What are they doing here sounding like something straight out of the vaults of Rick Rubin? Never would have expect such guitar shredding from these chaps.

Various - Sven Väth: What I Used To Play (CD1)

Cocoon Recordings: 2023

Hey, it's the return of the 'let famous DJs show off their neglected records' compilation! This once was a rather fruitful genre of CDs, several series springing up at the turn of the century, Back To Mine probably the most famous of the lot. However, as streaming services took over the market, it made more sense to curate sets and playlists of favourites on such sites rather than deal with the messy business of label legalities. And yet, interest in physical copies of such collections must have started up again, as I've seen a small resurgence in 'what I used to play' compilations. Heck, even Back To Mine emerged from the ashes in recent years!

I honestly have no clue what's spurred on this physical resurgence. Something to do with the boutique vinyl industry? A growing concern of just how 'everlasting' music left on the internet cloud truly is? Whatever the case, it at least gives me an excuse to fill in more blanks of my own collection.

Straight up, Mr. Väth's selection here isn't terribly adventurous if you're already well-versed in '80s club music. Granted, few of these tracks would get play on retro radio these days, and only a handful ever cracked the pop charts when they were new, especially in stodgy America. For a young German making his way in Cold War era nightlife, some of these probably were considered edgy and daring to rinse out. If you were looking for some ultra-deep digging on Sven's part though, this is clearly the wrong 3CD set to come into. He's showing off what he used to play, and that included plenty of familiar crowd pleasers for less discerning heads.

While there aren't any specific themes associated with each disc, there are some stylistic consistencies among each other, which is perfect if one intends to review Every. Single. CD. in the box-set. As I do! So let's dig into CD1 of Sven Väth's What I Used To Play.

Save a couple nods to early hip-hop from Whodini and Rockers Revenge, this is about as 'euro' as these CDs get. We got Kraftwerk! We got Yello (but not Oh Yeah, thank God)! We got Liaisons Dangereuses (such accent)! We got Clan Of Xymox (much darkwave)! Hell, even the Americans and Australians sound like they're trying to be Europeans! Lots of new wave fusions stuff (The The's Giant the most epic of the bunch), and lots of spritely Italo synths (Klein & MBO's Dirty Talk, A Split – Second's Flesh, Severed Heads' Dead Eyes Opened). Plus, a little Easter egg in closing out with 16 Bit's Where Are You?, the duo who'd go onto massive success as Snap! Oh, and team up with Sven as Off. Guess they really liked his guest vocals on this track. Come to think of it, I don't think I've heard Mr. Väth's voice outside a musical context. Just how thick of a euro accent does he actually have, I wonder...

Natural Life Essence - Wetlands

Liquid Frog Records: 2020

Yep, didn't take long at all getting back to a little N:L:E action. This is probably what a hefty chunk of the next year is gonna' look like on this blog: some item from Mr. Giacovino, some random psy trance CD, and whatever else I happen to get sprinkled among them. Hmm, may need to bulk buy something else to break that up even further, but what? A proper dark ambient splurge? Some random retro-jungle net label? Another in the seemingly endless ambient drone options? Or maybe a genre wildly outside my wheel-house, like contemporary outlaw country or Victorian opera! I'm sure there's some Bandcamp newsletters covering such things to get my feet wet with.

Keeping with a somewhat soggy theme of his explorations of our planet's various biomes, Wetlands finds Juan Pablo taking a tour of the marshier realms of our planet. He even recently released a sequel to this, but after I did the full discography purchase of his Bandcamp catalogue, so that won't be getting covered at this time (if at all). For an idea of just how relentless our intrepid Argentinian has been in releasing music, Wetlands 2 came out just a half-year after I bought all he (then) currently had, and is something like the thirteenth item out since. Oh, and another five items have come out on Liquid Frog Records after Wetlands 2! At this rate, by the time I get through all the material I have bought from Juan Pablo, he'll have essentially doubled his discography.

Straight up, there aren't a pile of field recordings in this album, so if you were coming in hoping to hear frogs croaking, crickets chirping, alligators growling, egrets squawking, and mosquitoes buzzing, you've come to the wrong record, my friends. I actually had to look up what variety of sounds you might hear in a swampland, surprisingly few noisy fauna existing in such areas. Not that I was expecting critters like whirligig beetles and water skippers being terribly vocal, but who knew frogs were so dominant?

Anyhow, Wetlands is a tidy little nine-tracker of pleasant chill-out vibes and dubby grooves. Everything sounds nice and spacious, letting echoing synth pulses glide into the distance. Melodies maintain a relatively calm and tranquil atmosphere, with enough variety such that tracks do stand out, even if the overall experience may not (Juan Pablo isn't straying far from the roads typically taken with this genre). I was given hardcore Kitaro flashes in The Bioreserve (those whistling synths!), Liliums features a nice bit of acoustic guitar plucking, and Water Hyacinth [ Moving And Full ] has a surprisingly thick bassline compared to the rest of the album, even getting a little 'croaky' at parts. Huh, would have expected that out of Frog Pond.

So another solid outing from Natural Life Essence. I've a feeling I'm gonna' be typing that a lot, no matter how deep I've gotten into his discography. I mean, that kinda' was a reason I bought the whole damn thing.

The Future Sound Of London - We Have Explosive 2021

fsoldigital.com: 2021

Of course this was up for a modern remix album. Aside from Papua New Guinea, it's possibly FSOL's most well known single. Not that it was their best, oh no. It's just when all of '90s electronic music reached its 'electronica' fever pitch, the blunt, big beat brashness of We Have Explosive made all the rounds of the compilation circuit. One can't help but suspect Brian and Garry made this as stupid-simple as possible, a far cry from all the psychedelic, 'future sounding' music they'd been making since signing with the Mighty Virgin. But hey, the trick worked, We Have Explosive remaining one of their most recognizable productions to this day. Nothing will get you hype speeding down super-sonic racing tracks like hearing those blaring digital alarms and funky guitar licks.

That did have me mulling over a question though: what else can you do with We Have Explosive? Or more importantly, was there anything else I cared to hear? The original and Herd Killing are all I know, and was quite content leaving it at that. Unlike various forms of Cascade and Lifeforms, I've never heard alternates of We Have Explosive floating about, leading me to conclude all that was ever needed out of it was accomplished with the album variants, the extended takes unnecessary to all but completists. And given the FSOL boys have long been uninterested in returning to boshy dance music, there didn't seem much room for further exploration of the track. Still, that doesn't mean they wouldn't give it the ol' London college try.

The original kicks things off, and though given a little extra production beef and flair, it's basically as you remember it in the years 1996 and 1997. Ah, the memories of that utterly bizarre music video with the bobble heads and plugs come rushing back. Implosive, meanwhile, takes things into rockier pastures – or psych-rock in this case, followed upon by a heavy, trip-hop take with Abandoned Housing Blocks Of Prypiat. Jonesing for something more experimental and modern? Tracks like Vaporise and Slide Door will have you covered, all skittery broken beats and minimalist soundscapes – almost sounds like they'd be more at home on an Environments CD.

Okay, so FSOL can take We Have Explosive into some nifty tangents, but c'mon, let's hear some real kick-ass stuff, mates! Detonation basically chops and screws everything up into a funky freak-out, Herd Killing is also given the 2021 're-beefening' treatment, Exploding ramps things up into drum 'n' bass territory, and Exotype... Holy shit, this is some menacing-as-fuck frantic breakcore shite! Ah, the 'what if' possibilities of FSOL going full IDM, eh?

A few more sampledelic groovers round out the rest, including Waiting Your Return, which borrows more from Vit Drowning and Through Your Gills I Breathe than We Have Explosive. Ah sweet, those are some of my favourite 'deep cuts' out of the classic FSOL catalogue. Well played, good sirs, you've given me more than I'd hoped for.

Tristan - Way Of Life

Nano Records: 2014

Well, I appreciate Audiodrome more now.

Not that Way Of Life is bad. For a collection of standard Israeli full-on psy, it's competently crafted, hitting all the high points it needs to without falling back on cheesy riffs or tired tropes ...often. One track does feature a triplet breakdown, which were a tired cliche even before the '10s took shape, but the sense I get from these tracks is they're mostly in service of giving the party people what the want, and little else. And if Tristan Cooke is fine with making such stuff, that's fine too. It's just, y'know, after hearing some of his more challenging tunes on his debut, it makes him settling on standard party psy so many years later a bit of a let down.

Right, it's not like I was singing high praises for Tristan's explorations of just how minimal psy trance could go on Audiodrome, but I did give a fancy tip of the hat for the attempt. I thought he carried on down that road, though come to think of it, I never really saw his name brought up in dark psy circles. Part of that, I assumed, was simply due to lack of releases. Following his debut, he put out another LP on Twisted Records - Substance - then went on production hiatus for half a decade. He re-emerged on Nano Records with Chemisphere, then took another seven years before coming out with this here Way Of Life. He's mostly stuck things out with single-song collaborations since, including pairings with ManMadeMan, Vini Vici, and a variety of Nano artists I'm in no hurry to scope out. Like, let me at least get through Suntrip Records' catalogue before dabbling in another psy trance label where, if some Discoggian claims are true, this album from Tristan is among its highlights.

Right off the bat, I couldn't help but think, “Oh. He's doing what everyone else is doing now. Huh.” Talking In Technicolour features all the things anyone with a passing fancy for modern psy trance will have heard: peppy plastic bassline, squawky synths, spacey fills, cheeky vocal samples. There are sections that remind me of Tristan of old, cybernetic sounds during the usually wibbly portions of any full-on track. When they're paired with so many stock elements though, little really leaps out either. Tracks like Time & Space, Excitement Generator and Parallel Reality are perfect examples, their early portions taken up by trippy, digital effects, Tristan at his best. Then the second half goes for a standard full-on build, dragging such sounds in tow whether they're suited for it or not. Again, not bad in of itself, just feeling like they could have been something far more daring.

I dunno'. Maybe Tristan received backlash for going as minimal as he once did, or knew those roads were creative (and financial) dead-ends. Nothing wrong with playing things safer in such a fickle scene as psy trance's. Just doesn't do much to stand out from the glut either.

The Shape - Waveshape Fiction

Anodize/Intellitronic Bubble: 2014/2020

This is the second half of the double album that included _Nyquist's Sonic Periapsis, the fun little gimmick from Intellitronic Bubble of including two completely separate LPs for the price of one. I guess this makes the official first one of these I've completed? Like sure, I've technically done that with the double deal of Skua Atlantic's Atlantic Fusion and Devroka's Processor Overlord, but only by happenstance of already reviewing the Databloem version of Atlantic Fusion. As for the second half of the release containing G-Prod's Space Time's Bubbles LP, that won't be for quite a while yet.

As a side note, why did the label abandon this concept after just a handful of releases in 2020? I get Lee and Árni focusing more on the vinyl side of things, CDs relegated to compilations. This was such a cool idea though, luring in potential new audiences with such plumb deals. Or maybe that's all it was ever intended to be, some nifty CD deals getting folks through the door, keeping them after for the real highlights of all those lathe cut records. Not a bad marketing strategy, nosiree, but man, I cannot deny hoping they make a small return to these 2-for-1 releases as well. They've been handy in nabbing re-released hard copies of some real obscure stuff. Why yes The Shape's Waveshape Fiction is one such item.

Though the alias may be obscure and easily forgotten, the man behind it most definitely is not, as this is another in a great number of Mick Chillage projects. Actually, check that: Mr. Gainsford doesn't really have that many outside his main one – it just feels that way because I keep running into them. Heck, this is the second time I have within these Intellitronic Bubble bundles alone (he's one-half of Skua Atlantic, in case you forgot). I wanted to make a 'Bill Laswell quip' here, but it seems inappropriate, so I'll let it slide.

Anyhow, I hear why Mick adopted a one-off alias for this record, as it's nothing like his usual Chillage tuneage. He was well into his Pixels phase with Anodize that same year (to say nothing of the sublime work coming out on Carpe Sonum Records), putting the unapologetic retro-electro of Waveshape Fiction well out of sorts from his discography. Heck, I'm surprised this even appeared on Anodize, though I haven't had much chance to properly dig into that label. Burned too bright too fast, sadly.

After the album kicks off with the more chill Stranger Than Fiction, we're thrust head-first into second-wave electro – think vintage Anthony Rother and Boris Divider, with a tad less menace. Super dope if you can't get enough of the stuff, but little in the way of surprises either. Mick handles the genre quite well, with a few earworms scattered about the broken robot rhythms and futureshock synths. Still, I get the sense this was more of a fun lark on Mr. Gainsford's part than any serious exploration of the genre.

SVLBRD - The Waves

Faint: 2023

I'd like to think by now, Agustin Mena has established himself quite well within the larger ambient pantheon. Not an easy task, mind, that scene utterly inundated with such artists everywhere (to say nothing of the looming prospect of A.I. ambient spewing itself all over streaming services). In the few years since I myself stumbled upon his Archives print (thanks, Purl!), I feel like I've seen the label crop up in many more places than ever before. Which is great for getting that all-important exposure, but kinda' sucks for those who still want to buy physical copies of their product. Dammit, it was so much easier snagging CDs before everyone knew they existed!

Fortunately, there's Archives' sub-label, Faint, featuring dubby ambient with more of a techno pulse, and doesn't sell out of CDs ...erm, quite as fast. Some still do, dang'nabbit, but at least it feels like I've more a fighting chance to nab a disc or two when they drop, Faint not getting quite as much attention as Archives. Eh, just settle for a digital copy? But MP3 files look awful on my shelves!

As with his main label, Agustin's sub-label catalogue features a hefty amount of his own releases, operating under the alias of SVLBRD. It's not quite as fruitful as Warmth, which isn't that surprising, since Mr. Mena seems to crank out the ambient drone in his sleep. These tracks require a little more, y'know, thought, and consideration, what there being rhythms and all.

Actually, if his most recent album The Waves is anything to go by, SVLBRD features a rather simple idea: Warmth layers of ambient pads, with sparse dubby techno in support. Hey, it's a remarkably effective idea, it's just at twelve tracks long, the album does grow a tad samey after a while. Don't get me wrong, the synth work is lush as anything you'll hear from the archives of, erm, Archives. It's just when you hear the same deep bass throb and skittery hi-hats fed through plenty of reverb without much variation, an LP can start fading into the background of one's attention without some variation of the base elements. So it goes for dub techno, though.

Right, there are subtle differences among the tracks. For one, most of the rhythms are of a broken-beat nature, so we're not dealing with a strict exercise in techno functionalism in that sense. The mood also does vary, some pieces chipper (The Cliff, The Bay, The Lighthouse), some reflective (Crescent Moon, The Crossing, The Reef). The Storm, apropos of its name, features more of a rolling bassline compared to the other tracks' steady boppin'. And of course, it wouldn't be an Agustin album without at least a few regular ol' ambient pieces (Anchor, Abyssal, Seas).

The Waves presents itself with minimal fuss, Agustin more or less jamming about with his core elements. It's nice while it plays, and though few tracks will leave a strong imprint upon you, you'll at least come away rather blissed after.