Slowdeck - Multiple Offenses

Waveform Records: 2002

Taken at first ear-glance, Multiple Offenses doesn't seem like much. A collection of bare-bones trip-hop tracks that, by the year 2002 when this album was released, would come off way dated, half a decade's worth at least. You might even think this was another case of Waveform Records losing the plot at the turn of the century, lost with regards of where to go next. Considering the string of albums that followed the release of this one – Omnimotion, Bluetech, Phutureprimitive, Pitch Black, plus the start of Sounds From The Ground's best three-album run – maybe this Slowdeck item was just some one-and-done unfinished business, like Skin To Skin, or Kozo, or Ras Command.

Well, partially right, but before getting into that, there's another tidbit of trivial surrounding Multiple Offenses that may surprise you. When I started buying music direct from labels, you bet Waveform Records was among my earliest destinations. They even had bulk deals, some of which you've been privy to post-splurge (it was no coincidence you'd see a few such runs in this blog's history). Yet one item was unavailable, indeed the only one that was sold out from their catalogue: this one.

And I thought to myself, gosh, must be something really special to have sold out. Or maybe prematurely discontinued? What even is this album, with is stark, black cover art and blood-red grimy tunnel with cage doors. Trip-hop, is what, and yeah, for a 2002 release, would have come off rather basic and simple and even dated. The genre had moved onto more ambitious, sleek, and even corporate version of itself at the turn of the century, so maybe this was more of a deliberate return to its stripped down, basic roots? Again, partially right.

So this is actually something of a reissue of several tracks produced by Lascelle Gordon, an individual who was involved in trip-hop's developmental years, if not ever getting much shine for his efforts. He was part of The Brand New Heavies when acid jazz was gaining popularity, and his work with Vanessa Darby as Heliocentric World will have your post Blue Lines Massive Attack triggers flaring. By the mid-'90s, he'd crafted enough music for a debut album of his own called Rock Oil on short-lived Orange Egg Records. I'm assuming Waveform Records had an ear for his stuff, even opening their Frosty compilation with one of his tracks as Eight From The Egg (Fuzz). And when I heard that particular track on this album as Slowdeck (label legal hurdles requiring a name-change, I wager), that's when it all clicked.

All that history, but is Multiple Offenses good? If you're down for a little more Phase 1 trip-hop, sure. It's vibey enough without drifting far from the basics of what you need from the genre, and Ms. Darby offers suitable pipes when called upon. It won't be replacing your Portishead records anytime soon, but there were only so few of those to begin with.

Kiphi - Move The Stars Here

Liquid Frog Records: 2021

I surprisingly haven't had many albums from Mr. Giacovino within this 'M' block. Yeah, there was the double session of Macro and Micro Ambient, but I can't help considering those one conceptual album in of itself. Exploring similar facets of the same idea, and all that. As we move into the back end of 'M', however, there's been little since, and glancing ahead, only one more after. Does this mean the bulk of that Liquid Frog Records bulk-buy is also winding down? Eh, I wouldn't count on it, though I'll probably be highly selective in how to approach a few more releases as they come.

Meanwhile, let's touch base with the artist on Juan Pablo's label that isn't Juan Pablo, but his... I'm still gonna' assume brother: Jose, or Kiphi as he goes by. And hey, great timing on my part here, the chap having just released another album this past week called Glowing Universe. Catch the wake of all that Kiphi media hype I'm certain is flooding the internet this very moment! Okay, that's unfair, pretty clear this remains a highly niche lane of music, no matter how much I may say some of it is worth checking out. Just, y'know, don't go and bulk buy the whole darn thing like I did, much less try to write reviews of it all either. That path leads to madness. Not death, mind you, just madness.

Kiphi though, he at least brings something a little different to the table. If you recall, Jose likes his use of arps, bringing more of a trancey, sometimes Berlin-School approach to the music found on Juan Pablo's label. When they collaborate, these attributes tend to be more window-dressing for your typical N:L:E jam, but here we get them front and centre. And as this is his second solo outing as Kiphi (not to mention about half a dozen collab's with Juan), Jose had plenty of time to hone his own craft with Move The Stars Here.

The album's titular opener certainly suggests he's leaving nothing off the table, doing that gradual build both Giacovinos love deploying in their music. Only this time, the synths are bright, cascading, bold, and even multi-layered as things progress further. And what's this towards the end? Brisk rhythms, inching ever so close to the realms of progressive breaks? Geez, with an opening like that, Move The Stars Here must be in for one rollicking ride of an album.

Yeah, not quite. There's still some nice momentum in the following slew of tracks, but it's all subdued in that psy-chill sort of way most of Kiphi's music tends to go. Only mid-album track Feelings and closer track Flying Angels get close to the same uplifting space as the opener does, which doesn't make Move The Stars Here a bad album by any stretch. It's just when you shoot such a significant shot right from the jump, it does leave the listener wanting after.

Warmth - Mourning Ghost

Archvies: 2023

Mr. Mena is nothing if not incredibly consistent. It's probably why I haven't indulged in his output that much despite having an extensive catalogue. You more or less know what you're gonna' get with a Warmth album, which is great for when you're in the mood for it, but how many slight variants of dubby ambient drone do you need, especially from one artist?

Like, I picked Mourning Ghost up when it was newish because it had some cover art I couldn't resist (derelict marine machinery, 'natch), yet Agustín's released around a dozen more items under the alias since! Granted, some of these are collaborations, while others are remix albums (or 'Slowed') – it remains a hefty amount of music to 'dabble in'. Great that he's got a solid work-rate going for him, but when I scope a few of these items out, it remains the familiar lane I've heard from Warmth all along. I guess that's why he's got SVLBRD, to explore other sounds.

Which, again, is just a long way of saying I've come across another ambient record that's difficult to detail since I've long since exhausted the broad particulars with regards to Warmth and his label. Heh, I'm starting to feel like poor ol' Mark Prindle when he struggled continuing his blog by keeping up with Every. Single. Brian Eno. Release. Okay, maybe not that self-destructive, but you get what I mean.

Words can only take you so far when detailing music that, by its very nature, is not intended to have lengthy descriptions about it. The whole point of ambient music is the 'less is more' approach. Why do you think the major rags only ever cover two or three highly prominent ambient artists in their life-span? Even the masters of purple prose exhaust their vocabulary in short order. Then there's me, some two decades on, still trying to come up with fresh angles in covering a genre of music that ranks number two (#2) on this blog's most frequent tags – 688 times, for the record (“Album” being #1 at a whopping 1,512 – heh, I loves me my LPs).

Anyhow, Warmth. There's something of a cold, morning chill vibe to Mourning Ghost, which isn't that large a stretch where Mr. Mena's music is concerned. Much of his muse tends to impart feelings of mist and fog at dawn, the atmosphere slowing heating as the sun pierces the veil. Not quite so with this album though, which you'd expect with a title with 'mourning' in it. Other pieces include Distant Sun, Indifference, Anhelo ('longing') and Presencia ('presence'). A lot of sombre, reflective vibes, is what I'm getting, as though that morning fog never quite lifts. Yeah, having lived by the ocean for most of my life, I know those kinds of days.

So yeah, I liked this, as I usually do whenever I listen to Warmth. Will I get another album from him? I don't know – probably, if the cover art lures me in again.

James Murray - Mount View

Slowcraft Records: 2014

When last I talked up James Murray, it was his collaborative album with Francis M. Gri, Remote Redux on Ultimae Records. That record was something of a surprise to me, far more abstract ambient and modern classical leaning than what I was familiar of James' output to that point, but then I only knew of his works on Ultimae. So you can understand my assumption the minimalist overtones was more of a M. Gri thing than a Murray thing. Had I actually kept tabs on his musical output between Ultimae outings, I'd have realized that wasn't the case at all.

Though to be fair, it's not like his Slowcraft Records was some whirlwind of activity either. Mostly a means of Mr. Murray to self-release his own material (plus a couple others), the label was clearly a passion project where he could indulge in music perhaps not so viable for the prints he was building a name upon. I dunno', having finally taken in some of his works released through Slowcraft, I could easily hear them making rounds on other abstract, modern classical ambient outlets like Dronarivm and the like. Still, something to be said for retaining the rights to the music yourself, especially if you're launching the label with a few sessions that are clearly of a highly personal, almost intimate nature.

Mount View is the third of an introspective trilogy from James, wherein he reflected upon times past. Floods kicked it off exploring the relationship of river overflows in the lands he grew up in, followed upon by The Land Bridge, its theme perhaps not so overt but clearly deeply personal. Thus Mount View claims to “close a circle”, possibly putting some finality on an aspect of Mr. Murray's life he had difficulties moving on from. Again, all highly personal concepts, so understandable he wouldn't be keen on shopping these albums about other labels. Who's to say any would be willing to take them on? That Ultimae Bump could only take you so far.

Anyhow, we're in musical territory that's rather languid and moderate, employing slightly harsh atonal drones as steady rudders while gentle melodic elements (pianos, bells, organs) provide direction and focus. Most pieces play out similarly, a soft lead-in before things crescendo, followed upon by a lead-out. Nothing feels terribly repetitive though, each track offering something unique from the other in its primary instrumentation. Well, aside from the back-to-back of Climb The Rise and Mount View, quite similar in chosen synths and progression, the latter coming off just a tad more chipper given the reflective nature of this music. The arpy nature of the backing synths in closer Remains was also something of a subtle whiplash, following how droning most of the album had been to that point.

While I can't say Mount View (or the others in this trilogy) are as expansive as Mr. Murray's efforts on Ultimae, they're definitely nice additions to his discography, should you be looking for a little more of his music.

Jamie Myerson - Moonshot EP

self-release: 2019

Though I can't say I was completely blindsided by Mr. Myerson's newfound, unrelenting commitment to cranking out atmospheric jungle cuts, it does feel a bit singular regardless. That's totally on me, my initial exposure to him skewing closer to his jazzy and downbeat efforts as heard on Ovum Records samplers. That his breaded-butter would actually be this lane was honestly not on my radar. And yeah, he's shown some diversity in this comeback as well – just gander at the lone EP I've thus far reviewed from him, The Influence Of Stars – but spacey d'n'b seems to remain his primary focus. Heck, he dusted off another ancient alias – JLM Productions – just to release more of this stuff on Spatial, a sub-label of ASC's Auxiliary.

Okay, all that sorted/confessed, which Jamie single am I checking out now – there's, just, so many to choose from, right? Right, so why not go back to the start, at least of his comeback, a duo release of Layers and Moonshot. At least, I'll assume they were simu-released, since they both have the same Bandcamp dates on them. As for why I settled on Moonshot over Layers, I thought the latter sounded too similar to The Influence Of Stars to warrant another purchase of space-synth noodling, so went with the one with some actual beats. Still not quite d'n'b though. Guess Jamie wasn't sure if there'd be as much interest in it again just yet. Ah, such innocent times, half a decade ago.

Since we are at the Myerson Relaunch, we're also in synthwave influenced sounds that initially caught my attention after I discovered he relaunched his career at all. Thus opener Universe 25 goes more cinematic, a slow orchestral build with requisite synths reminding us that It Is The Future – The Future Is Now, or however your '80s pulp sci-fi tag line went. The pace picks up with a dub techno groover in follow-up Diegesis, though featuring enough melodic momentum keeping it this side of interesting. Then the titular cut considerably ramps the action up, about as brisk a pace I've ever heard Jamie do that doesn't involve an Amen Break. It's almost, dare I say, trance, though more in that space-synth vein much of synthwave cribs from, but wouldn't quite call it an Outrun track. Finally, closer Kami is a fairly standard electro house track, building well enough for the three-plus minutes it runs.

Jamie would explore these sounds a little more in subsequent releases (mostly the ones featuring artwork similar to Moonshot, care of Julianne Elizabeth). For every one that features steady beats or ambient soundscapes though, it seems we're getting thrice as many d'n'b sessions along side it. And hey, that's great if you're down for that sound – Mr. Myerson remains most excellent at crafting atmospheric jungle. Just don't be surprised if I end up digging into EPs along Moonshot's avenue, as I feel there's interesting talking points to be had there.

Logic Moon - Moonchild

Archives: 2023

For a time, Tobias Lorsbach plied his trade in the minimal techno and tech-haus scene, as most good Germans did throughout the '00s. It's tough gauging his success at it though, as Disoggian data covering his Keinzweiter project reveals only so much. Over a dozen records and a couple full-lengths are respectable enough, but I don't see his name crop up in many significant compilations or DJ mixes either. Nothing immediately recognizable to my North American eyes anyway. He tried going independent with his own spontanMusik print, but that too fizzled out after a while.

I'll assume Tobias grew tired of the club scene, as around the time Keinzweiter was winding down, he debuted Logic Moon. Initially an ambient side-project created to make use of several field recordings he'd assembled, its remained his primary musical output ever since. And while he's shopped the project around on labels like Archaic Horizon, whitelabrecs, and Tecnofonika Records (not to mention a hefty chunk of self-released items), Archives seems to be his stable home for the past decade. And how I stumbled into him, naturally.

I'd like to say I've taken in a fair amount of music from Agustín Mena's print now, though obviously just scratching its surface with it variety of artists - sticking with mostly familiar names and whatnot. Thus much of the label's aesthetic has remain consistent among those artists, particularly dubby drone championed by Warmth. All this is a long way of saying that I was actually surprised by Logic Moon's more... modern classical take on Archive's style of ambient.

For sure there's still plenty of drawn out passages of pads and guitar reverb on Moonchild, just with as much emphasis on prominent melodies grabbing your attention too. As always, I'm drawn to 36 as a comparison point of how 'maximal' drone ambient can be, and while Tobias doesn't go to quite those extremes, the music on this album is definitely of a more 'upfront' nature compared to the typical fare I've heard out of Archives. And he doesn't hold back on this either, first track Star Storm erupting with a shimmering, wailing synth lead not even two minutes in (gotta' give at least a little subtle build to it).

Nearly every track out of Moonchild's dozen does this, some with more grace than others. It lends the album to less of a 'drone out, peace out' vibe than a record you can't help but pay active attention to, even if you try playing it as wallpaper music. And given the somewhat foreboding and ominous tone the album imparts (distortion at the peak of some synth swells doesn't help), not a recommended record to fall asleep to.

But hey, not all ambient must be of such nature. If you're down for something more cinematic in its presentation, Moonchild well serve you well. As for the rest of Logic Moon's catalogue, I'll definitely return to him down the line. Why settle for just one album, right?

Shambhala 2025 - When The Universe Manifests In Ironic Ways

I've been going to the Shambhala Music Festival for nearly twenty years now, though obviously not consistently every time. In fact, pandemic shut-down aside, this year had been the longest gap between attendance, my last visit back in 2022. Part of that is due to its rescheduling into late July rather than early August, placing it a mere two weeks after Basscoast. I like both festivals for similar reasons, but after attempting to do both in such a short time frame, I realized that just wasn't feasible going forward. I was gonna' have to alternate, and when my 2023 Shambs Year got scuttled for Reasons, had to wait until this year to go back.

So it goes, and by g'ar, I was gonna' go back with a vengence. Upgraded a bunch of camping gear for the first time in a decade, saved plenty of money to make the trip, booked an appropriate amount of time off so as not to conflict with Shambs volunteering... Only one thing remained: figuring out how I was going to treat this trip as a unique experience.

Sure, there's always some added wrinkle to going to Shambhala that makes it worth your while, but as I said, twenty years is a long time to keep going, and many aspects of the festival have grown same ol', same ol' for yours truly. Which is fine, some things I specifically look forward to when I return to my Farmily. Even something as simple as sitting in the river post-shift, book in one hand, beer in the other, chit-chatting with various randoms also part of Crew Camping. Other traditional things include testing my dancing endurance during the Ragga Rinse-Out at The Village, or putting in my representation among the Fraggles in the Fractal Forest, or closing the festival off with one last chai at The Grove/Labyrinth/Portal. Everything else, who knows, all dependent on who I end up hanging out with, what chosen adventure I partake in, and all the things that makes festivals such as these worth going to.

In a nutshell, I always look to manifest something new and unique with each round, experience something I never have before. And boy, did this year ever manifest a doozy...

At first I offered help to those struggling to haul their gear into the deeper forested areas of camping. An act of pure altruism, which had more than a few confused. But hey, I knew the struggle (used to camp in those areas before Crew Camping became a thing), and had nothing better to do that afternoon, so why not? After, I wandered about various camp zones contributing to trading posts (had a few trinkets and stickers to offer). I used to wander many such camp zones just meeting folks, so not terribly unique, but still doing something other than my usual routine. By third night, word was out that the 'Ultra-Deluxe' camp zone, beside the Crew Camping, was having a one-night party in there, which included crew to attend. So hey, why not go? That's something different!

All well and good, but this was still pre-show, the festival properly kicking off Friday evening. I worked my morning shift, had my river beer, then went to the Ragga Rinse-Out, as was my tradition for getting my headspace rockin'.

Where, not even an hour in, took a divit in the uneven ground at a bad angle, promptly spraining my ankle, and shelving me for nearly the rest of the weekend.

Now that... That was something new.

I'd sustained injuries at Shambs before: blisters, wasp stings, strained shoulders, and a serious case of knee tendonitis after one particular year. To wreck my foot just as everything was ramping up to high-gear though, forcing me into Tent Casualty status like some punter who'd partied too hard too early... Well, I honestly felt more humilated than upset that something like this happened with my years of exepience at Shambs. Indeed, I'm the one always mindful of potential foot injuries others might suffer, removing loose rocks and stray sticks from walking paths all the time. To say I had a serious case of the Mopes Saturday night is an understatement.

Still, by Sunday night, my foot felt 'healed' enough that I was able to at least put in a few hours out on the festival grounds: my representation with the Fraggles in Fractal Forest, my chai at The Grove. Plus, being unable to comfortably walk, I was reassigned my shift work to Kitchen rather than Enviro, which in of itself counted as an experience new and unique, and may do again when I return. Something I never would have considered had my injury not forced it upon me.

A complete wash then? No, not really, though I can't help but feel this year's Shambhala taken as a mulligan. Still, I always say go not for the music and stages, but for the experience. Just never imagined this year's experience would end up so painfully different than past years.