Solar Fields - Until We Meet The Sky

Ultimae Records: 2011

Though Random Friday is technically the last album Solar Fields released on Ultimae (odds n’ sods Origin # 02 notwithstanding), Until We Meet The Sky feels like the final one we got to hear Mr. Birgersson strut his stuff as only he can. Holy cow, that was over half a decade ago now, and as the label that Aes Dana built continues is steady journey into the realms of minimalist dub and downtempo glitch, I’ve grown ever more inconsolable that we may never hear such lush, unabashedly uplifting sonics as Solar Fields so often provided. C’mon, Magnus, when can we hear some new music? We all jonesing for a Solar Fields fix, yo’.

When this album first came out in 2011, I found it a reasonable, pleasant LP with enough enjoyable Solar Fields attributes, but not as strong overall as some of his previous efforts. The talking point surrounding Until We Meet was it was ol’ Magnus branching out from the psy side of things and into ‘shoegaze’ territory, the sort of chill-out that Ulrich Schnauss had long made his domain. There’d been hints of this style in Solar Fields’ palette, a gradual transition from Ultimae’s preferred psy-chill excursions as the years moved along. Six albums deep and with the label moving on in general, it seems only appropriate to finally indulge in a sound well outside one’s comfort zone.

The biggest difference in Until We Meet The Sky from previous Solar Fields albums is its recurring themes - specifically a simple piano melody that pops up every so often throughout. For one thing, we’ve seldom heard any piano from Magnus, much less as a leitmotif. He even indulges himself further in Sombrero, first playing it out as though in a grand cathedral, then distorting it to the point the track starts sounding rather like a Boards Of Canada offering.

Another noticeable tweaking of the Solar Fields LP form is the arrangement of tunes, giving us a more traditional ‘journey’ than his other works. Almost the entire first half of this album is beatless, exploring soothing meditative ambient, minimalist field recordings, and the like, with only the barest of beats coming and going. I won’t deny this can come off a tad tedious and meandering, especially compared to Solar Fields records that paced its uptempo and downtime moments more spaciously. Yet when he does unleash those vintage, massive, uplifting tunes towards the end for a couple grand finales (Night Traffic City, the titular cut), it all feels like one long build to a well-deserved climax.

Still, Until We Meet The Sky does take a while before getting a move on, which can turn away those who aren’t so patient. And unfortunately, the crescendo isn’t so effective out of context. Solar Fields practically demands you to take this album in as a whole, and for some that may not be enough. Given the dearth of such music on Ultimae of late though, what the hey, I’ll take it.

Martin Nonstatic - Nebulae Live At The Planetarium

Ultimae Records: 2016

Ultimae Records has put out a few live recordings in the past, but it’s not one of their main selling points. Even then, it’s mostly via the label’s second-tier acts, like Cell, Circular, and Scann-Tec. And even then-then, such releases are regulated to the digital-only realm, hard copies extremely rare. Their last live CD was H.U.V.A. Network’s Live At Glastonbury Festival 2005, released in 2010. Guess Ultimae was overdue for another regardless, but it feels odd they’d give Martin Nonstatic the honors, a relative new recruit to the French label’s ranks. Then again, it’s not like the print’s fielding a deep roster as of late, options for a ‘second-tier act live album’ exceedingly small. Heck, at this point, Martin’s practically part of the starting bench, one of the few artists with a full-length album out on Ultimae in the last few years.

Previous Ultimae live LPs featured recordings taken from festival performances, but Nebulae Live At The Planetarium comes from a more intimate setting. Aww, no crowd cheering ambience? Of course not, folks at the Zeiss Planetarium in Bochum, Germany likely far too tripped out on the dome projections, man. Unfortunate there isn’t an accompanying DVD video though, displaying the visual splendor of the event as the music within plays along. Then again, how can you replicate a planetarium projection at home? Clearly a typical TV or computer screen won’t cut it. Even a home projector doesn’t do justice, still reliant on flat surfaces like a wall or ceiling. And what about the lasers, man? Everyone knows a good electronic music show at a planetarium’s gonna’ have a far-out laser show. Eh, I’m not fussy, at least some YouTube clips of the event would suffice. No dice? *sigh*

Forget the visual aspect then. At least we’ll get to hear some nifty reinterpretations of Mr. Nonstatic’s tunes. Slight problem in selling that angle though, at least in my case: I honestly can’t recall much of his music. For sure I know I liked what I heard from his Ultimae debut Granite, and should I pop that album on again, I know I’ll enjoy his chilled-out, dub techno vibe just the same. As I mentioned in my review of that CD, however, very little of it sticks to my brain matter, and playing Nebulae back, I honestly didn’t notice any significant differences based on memory alone. I do have sparks of recollection in some songs – the low throb of Granite, the guitars of Distance B, the heavy dub of Out Of Silence - but aside from a more expansive mixdown benefiting a live planetarium show, I couldn’t tell you the difference between these and the album versions without side-by-side comparisons. Which I can’t say I’m interested in doing for this CD.

Really, I was hoping for more tunes from Martin’s back catalog, but ultimately Nebulae is just a remixed version of Granite. A fine downtempo, dub techno album for sure, but hardly necessary if you’re not interested in the sound.

Aes Dana Featuring MikTek - Far & Off

Ultimae Records: 2016

It’s been a while since the Ultimae ranks were active in any significant way. Between 2014-15, there were but three albums and three compilations. Wedged among them though, were also about a half-dozen EPs, three of which being Aes Dana collaborations with MikTek. If you don’t recall, he’s that new-hotness Greek producer that signed with Ultimae, released an album, and has appeared on nearly every compilation from them since. With such a roll-out for Mr. Aikaterinis, you’d think another album was promptly in the works following Elsewhere, but it’s been over three years since. And Far & Off isn’t a new MikTek album either; rather we’re dealing with a compilation of those three singles, from which Aes Dana gets the main credit, and MikTek has a featuring credit. What, couldn’t they have come up with a collaborative alias, like H.U.V.A. Network with Solar Fields? Say, whatever happened to that project anyhow? And Solar Fields in general, for that matter? It’s been so long since we’ve heard from Magnus, so very, very long…

So, those three records – literally, Aes Dana’s work with MikTek also Ultimae’s first foray into vinyl production - titled Cut., Alkaline, and The Unexpected Hours. These were released one per year, the final one coming out just this year with Far & Off shortly after. Talk about your long game, though given the glacial rate these were made, I wonder if Mr. Villuis had his mind focused on other business (those remasters!). Or maybe tales of backlogged vinyl pressing plants are as dire as I’ve heard. Hey, man, I know having such wonderfully mastered music available on the Black Crack format is super sexy and all, but it’s not that important. Besides, FLAC and DVD remains the superior audio source. Not that I should talk, mind you, remaining perfectly content with CDs ‘til the day I die.

Alright, enough dodging, pivoting, and tangenting. Let’s get to the music on Far & Off. Short review: there’s barely any music on Far & Off. Aes Dana and MikTek have crafted such minimalist dub techno and ambient drone here, I honestly feel like I’m listening to rice crackers. They’re absolutely delicious rice crackers, heady sub-bass tones, whispy piano chords, and even a little dalliance into glitchy-click microfunk rhythms, but still leaving me feeling rather empty after consuming them. Which Vincent claims is the intent, so aces on the execution, I guess.

I get the sense Aes Dana specifically made these tracks with the highest-end playback available, as I easily get lost in the vast, spacious sound design these tracks provide when playing them on my Senns. On anything else however, there’s barely anything there. Even cranking my main stereo (which, given thin-walled apartment living, is only adequate) didn’t provide much sonic depth, to say nothing of my laughable computer speakers. Hearing a few of these at a time, as proper singles, is probably enough; not for a full LP’s worth of run time when so little sticks to the mind after.

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Twentythree

Ultimae Records: 2011

Considering how often I big-up Carbon Based Lifeforms as one of Ultimae Records’ key acts, I sure don’t talk about their actual albums much. In fact, this is only the second full-length from the duo I’ve gotten to, the first being their debut Hydroponic Garden a whopping three years ago now! Still, it’s not like they have a vast discography compared to other famed Ultimae alum’, Twentythree just their fourth album in a decade – Solar Fields released about twice that amount in the same period of time. After this, all that’s left in CBL’s catalog is Interloper and World Of Sleepers, one of which I don’t have (no points for guessing which one). Oh, and companion piece to this album, VLA, though as that’s a digital-only release, odds are that’s gonna’ remain absent from this blog for the foreseeable future. Then again, I hadn’t counted on still being at this back when I did Hydroponic Garden either. The future: as mysterious as the infinite black above.

Just as we remain lonely in the cosmos, Twentythree stands isolated among its Ultimae peers, the label’s lone drone ambient full-length. For sure there’s examples of such works scattered throughout Ultimae’s catalog – Asura’s last LP for them, Radio Universe, was about half drone alone. Hybrid Leisureland, Cell, and CBL member Daniel Ringström (as Sync24) can get downright minimalistic in their songcraft. To go an entire CD runtime with barely a beat or hint of a rhythm though, it just hadn’t been done on Ultimae before or since. Guess that’s at least one necessary ambient sub-genre off the bucket list.

Naturally, recommending yet another drone ambient album is a tough task for yours truly, but CBL bring their subtle skill with acid to this peace-out party. Opener Arecibo does the standard layered pad work you’d expect of blissful, expansive space music, but with a touch of the TB-303 bubbling in the background, the track retains enough of a distinct sound such that it’s not lost in the slush of yearly drone. Indeed, the subtle acid remains a common attribute throughout Twentythree, even if only as faint as a radio signal from deep space. Follow-up pieces have other minute features, should you be in the mood for a studious playback. System is eerie and dark, with distant, spritely dub effects. Melancholic Somewhere In Russia makes use of field recordings, prog-rock guitar tones find their way into Terpene, Inertia harkens to a primeval time, and VLA (edit) gets proper dark in a way that Cryo Chamber would approve.

Through it all, Twentythree truly sucks you in, such that when the heavy use of earthly field recordings and dubbed-out wind chimes of Kensington Gardens hits, it feels as though you’ve returned to this planet we call home after a long, lonely sojourn of the stars. What more fitting note to end on then, than the ghostly, melodic space ambience of Held Together By Gravity, astro-chatter echoing from a distant place we’ll never see with our own eyes.

Martin Nonstatic - Granite

Ultimae Records: 2015

Ultimae's dipped a lot of toes and waded plenty of shores with dub techno in recent years, but surprisingly this is their first full-length album of the stuff. What, couldn’t Lars Leonhard have provided more than a couple of singles? Is his LP output contractually bound to BineMusic? That hasn’t stopped Martin Nonstatic from popping up on various labels. Okay, he hasn’t had as lengthy of a career as ol’ Lars, but he too made his full-length break with BineMusic some fifteen months prior. Before that, he was releasing scattered digital singles on labels like Silent Season, Dewtone Recordings, Subspiele Records, Deeptakt, and Kunst Musik. Stop me if you aren’t getting a serious Deutschland vibe yet.

Granite is Martin Nonstatic’s debut for Ultimae though, and the label’s only showing for new artist albums in the year 2015. Like that Digiseeds compilation, it came way late too, marking these past twelve months among their leanest ever for new music. Man, where are the veterans lately? Only Aes Dana’s teamed up with MikTek for a pair of EPs, but then I suppose ol’ Vir’s been busy giving all his early stuff another studio spit shine for the FLAC audiences. What I find most remarkable about Nonstatic’s entry here is this is the first new artist LP on Ultimae since MikTek’s debut with the label nearly three years ago. Not that Ultimae has an air of exclusivity in who they invite into their roster, but it’s certainly a rare occurrence when it does happen.

As for Nonstatic (real last name: van Rossum), yeah he’s a downtempo dub techno guy. Lord Discogs suggests if you like DeepChord, you’ll like Martin. Can’t argue on that front, but as there are so many downtempo dub techno guys out there, why should you spring for another? Because Ultimae reps him, obviously.

I know the label’s skewing away from psy chill into these grey tones hasn’t been the most popular of choices from older followers – I’ve spoken of it myself, missing brighter melodies or pulsing trance rhythms of yore’. And while Granite does have the odd sprinkling of melody complementing a steady beat, this is still dub techno we’re dealing with, where everything remains subdued in service of exploring all that staticky space between the timbre of bass throbs, electric guitar strums, and distant pads. But if all my years of sipping the Ultimae herbal tincture have taught me anything, it’s that such music is best served when the Ultimae Mixdown™ is at work.

Still, I can’t deny a difficult time getting Granite to stick in my head. Heck, I’ve sometimes forgotten about the darn CD, especially with the avalanche of discs currently occupying my backlog. Nor is this an album that’ll convince you on dub techno either, though fans of the stuff will definitely appreciate all that lush space Ultimae creates in their headphones.

And that’s why I’m currently entranced by the sounds of this album as they swirl over my earholes.

Various - Digiseeds: Compiled By Ambientium

Ultimae Records: 2015

It took nearly the entirety of 2015, but Ultimae finally released some new music. Okay, they had a single or two earlier in the year, even taking their first bold steps into the vinyl market, but it wasn't until the autumn months we saw anything for us foolish CD collectors. Not that I blame the label for a downturn, taking their time in digitally re-issuing older material for an ever increasing streaming market. Ah well, at least I still had Altar tiding me over.

Ultimae also appears to have spent this fallow year scoping their 'panoramic music' scene for new blood, inviting wandering ambient and chill talents into their fold. Ambientium, or Lubomir Cvrk to the Czech Republic Bureau Of Ambienting, hasn’t released much in his half-decade of music making, but has garnered a respectable cult following in that time. Mostly self-releasing his own material, he’s had a smattering of tracks appear on compilations from Kahvi Collective and Mindsrping Music in recent years, which was apparently enough for Ultimae to come knocking. That, and a few folks were making comparisons between the two as far back as Ambientium’s first album, Fractal Philosophy. Taking a quick listen to it, and oh... oh my! I’m getting some serious Distant System vibes off that album. Hard copy now, please!

Digiseeds, on the other hand, sounds nothing like Distant System (or Androcell, or any other Tyler Smith project). Rather, it’s a new concept compilation series from Ultimae, with Ambientium handling the helm in its first outing. Not sure if it’s Mr. Cvrk’s own series to do with as he pleases, or if it will feature a rotating guest of compilers; heck, I don’t even know if there will be a follow-up, as Ultimae’s had some difficulty in getting any new series going since Fahrenheit Project ended. Hoping for the latter though, especially if they turn out as good as this CD has.

Yeah, yeah, me saying an Ultimae release is good is like calling water wet. I can’t help it that they keep releasing mint material. Ambientium has gathered a remarkable collection of calming music here, where tones, textures, and timbre float through wide open sonic spaces. Its mood music for the mind and soul, best enjoyed on gray morning afters for a little uplifting of the spirit (probably). There’s familiar names in Lars Leonhard and Martin Nonstatic (trust me, he’ll be familiar soon enough) to utter unknowns like Mandrax and Synapsia (lone Lord Discogs entries!). There’s space ambient with One Arc Degree’s Seven Years Of Summer and Ambientium’s Heartbeat, to dubbier glitch with Ocoeur’s Outside and Cloower Wooma’s Human Disease. Mandrax’s Melting has a twee toybox piano melody that has me thinking it’d make for a nice life insurance commercial, and State Azure’s Vertigo has a little old-school sequencers going for it with the dubbed-out textures.

And thus another solid collection from Ultimae. Almost worth the whole year to hear some. Not so long until the next though, eh?

Circular - Substans

Ultimae Records: 2009

When I reviewed Circular’s Moon Pool last year, I mentioned their previous LP on Ultimae, Substans, was “a good album, but didn’t ignite much buzz”. While the second part of the sentence is true, I’m having difficulty supporting the first. I listen to this CD, hear things I like, sounds that are evocative, comforting, and interesting, even discern a loose mood around icy Nordic ambience, but God, does that latter third of the album ever evaporate in haste from my memory. Hell, even as it plays, Circular’s exercise in minimalist sonic textures and timbre fails to penetrate my cognizant synapses. I lie down with headphones, only to conk out after the uptempo cut Hurumburum (track seven out of thirteen). I go for a stroll with Substans on my other headphones, my only distraction the sidewalk in front of me – I start thinking of Transformers comics (!) during my wanderings. I literally have the album emanating from my living room speakers as I type this, and I completely missed hearing the guitar fuzz drone of Walking On Sand. Dammit, Facebook wasn’t that distracting for those three minutes.

Point being, a good album shouldn’t have moments that lose your attention. Once or twice, I can see it happening, as we live in an incredibly distracting world, but not with repeated play-throughs. I’ve thrown on Substans at least a half-dozen times since getting it a couple years back, and at least a third of it still remains a mystery to me. I can’t think of any other Ultimae release that’s accomplished this.

Such a shame. The surrounding tracks on Substans are fine pieces of music, if a little slight on execution. For the first third of the album, there’s a sense of sonic exploration, no two tracks similar in style, and typically alternating between low-key or a brisk pace. Rablekok has a deeply dubbed- out rhythm with gentle electric guitar treatments, whereas follow-up Little Girls Eat Chocolate is a charming piece of spritely chill ambience. Time Machine has a glitchy acoustic thing going for it, and is paired with darker ambient techno on Bits (Chernozem Remix). Wie Geht’s, Minsk? sounds about as close to vintage Ultimae psy-chill as this album gets, and appropriately enough has the prog psy Hurumburum come right after.

Finally, at the end of Substans, there’s Nothing But Dead Landscapes, a nine and a half excursion through droning ambient, pulsing ambient techno, and future-shock soundscapes, with a little electric guitar dub thrown in at the end for good measure. This track, above all else, deserves that Future Sound Of London comparison folks were often throwing about with regards to Circular’s music, and shows the potential of their songcraft better than anything else on here. Oh, and Biosphere too, especially with the icy ambient drone of Isroser right before it.

Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to recommend Substans for anyone other than Ultimae completists. Despite the “good album” ideas present, they don’t coalesce into a strong, long-form whole.

Sync24 - Source

Ultimae Records: 2007

First, I can't believe I neglected making the Carbon Based Lifeforms connection with my previous Sync24 review three years hence. Well, no, that's not true – I can believe it, because the honest truth is I had yet to explore CBL's discography proper-like. I knew there was a connection since Lord Discogs told me Daniel Ringström’s name was involved with both, but cluing in on the tasty prospects of a solo project from one of Ultimae’s top tier acts eluded my powers of clairvoyance. For, at the time of writing about Comfortable Void, I had no idea CBL were one of Ultimae’s top tier acts. I simply lacked the frame of reference to appreciate them as such (re: had yet to hear Hydroponic Garden).

Second, even with all this newfound knowledge and extra apperception for the Sync24 moniker and Comfortable Void, I remain astounded by Mr. Ringström’s first album under the guise. Not for any sort of musical dexterity or super amazing killer-combos of rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic mastery that shakes me to my calcaneus. Quite the contrary, Source is a very subdued record, relentlessly calm and quiet, with so much space between the sounds it feels like I’m Ant-Man lost in a post-modern museum. And Ultimae’s released plenty of ambient and micro-dub CDs of this sort the past few years, but Source came out in 2007! The label was still highly dedicated to expansive, widescreen mixdowns, two of their biggest releases in Asura’s Life² and Solar Fields’ Earthshine coming out later that year. You’d occasionally hear such minimalist music on Ultimae’s compilations, but almost always serving as opening tone setters or closing denouements. Aside from the groovy slice of acid prog-chill White Pixels, Ringström never lets his music rise above a simmer in liveliness or volume on Source.

It’s dub techno that encourages losing oneself in small details between the soft beats and distant pads, using some of Ultimae’s more familiar markers as guides: psy dub in Cryptobiosis, ambient techno in Biota and Mborg, moody evocative ambience in Walk On Spheres, Replicant and Suspended Animation, and heart-melting passages in From A To A and Woodland. Plus, something new was added with Memloop: dubstep! Okay, it’s closer to the Burial brand of future garage, what with those shuffly rhythms and deep sub-harmonic bass. Memloop is also so minimally produced, it barely has any relation to the genre Hyperdub was getting famous for in 2007. Yet, here it is, well before most everyone else started jumping on the dubstep bandwagon, and provided by one of Ultimae’s most unassuming records up to that point.

Turns out, the rest of Ultimae was feeling what Source did, many future releases growing ever more minimalist, dubbed out, and sparse in sound, all the while maintaining their lush production standard. It’s quite ironic then, that the follow-up Sync24 album would go in an opposite route from that, making tracks with Oomph to them. Oh, Daniel, must you go so iconoclastic with your label mates?

ACE TRACKS: March 2013

Man, how did September fly by like this? Normally I get one of these backtrack Playlists out by mid-month, yet here’s end-month rearing its head, and I’m way behind on this. I blame Spotify. No, not because another one of their updates buggered things up again, but the fact it’s running decently now, and it’s given me an opportunity to obsess over minutia in my collection. That got me itchin’ to re-organize my CDs once more, which needed some work anyway. I prefer keeping things together by music type, but I’ve gathered so many releases from particular labels now (Ultimae, Waveform, Moonshine, Fabric …um, In Trance We Trust), that it’s only right to stack them as a family too. And what of different eras of a particular genre? House alone has gone through numerous stages of development, so shouldn’t they be organized as such too? Then there’s the matter of artists and comp- ah, forget it. No wonder so many go the Big Cardboard Box In A Storage Locker route. Meanwhile, here’s some music from The Cloud that I reviewed back in March 2013.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Samim - Flow
Zenith - Flowers Of Intelligence
Khooman - Is A Flexible Liquid
Carol C - First Impressions
Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy VII: Original Soundtrack
The Dust Brothers - Fight Club
Various - Family Tree
Überzone - Faith In The Future

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 3%
Percentage Of Roc k: 5%
Most “WTF?” Track: The Fight Club tracks I guess, though that’s intentionally so on the Dust Brothers’ part.

Wait, I can’t put my CDs in storage. Just look at all those albums that Spotify doesn’t have! Good ones too, like Flowers Of Intelligence, Faith In The Future, Fight Club, and the OST of Final Fantasy VII! I guess Samim’s Flow was supposed to rest in that pedigree too, but as all records of his existence disappeared a year after having that summer hit, I don’t blame Spotify for not knowing of its existence. And if my digital backups suddenly go *poof* in a moment of external harddrive failure, how will I satisfy a whim in hearing Carol C’s delicious atmospheric jungle mix again? Back in the towers you all go!

As for the music that did make it, this was the month I reviewed all the Fahrenheit Projects from Ultimae, so expect a huge chunk of that. There’s also Vitalic’s Flashmob right at the very end, and scatterings of electroclash, metal, rap, and not much else. Yeah, sorry, the unavailability factor seriously nerfed the diversity of another playlist.

Aes Dana - Season 5

Ultimae Records: 2002/2008

So Ultimae have been busy getting their re-issues on, in particular label-head Aes Dana's early back catalogue. Only... it's 24kbs FLAC remasters, and not anything in a physical medium. *sigh* Maybe they'll get around to it again, but my hopes of having Memory Shell on CD with a classy photography booklet grows ever slimmer in the passing years (to say nothing of the ultra-rare Aftermath). Dear me, I hope Ultimae isn't considering a limited vinyl run of these? It’d be wonderful for consumers of the black crack, but we purveyors of aluminum are getting left out on the curb. They couldn't be so cruel!

Musings for later. For now let’s go back to Ultimae's early years, when you could count their roster on one Simpsons hand. Their discography included but a couple of albums and a smattering of compilations, all quite stunning - yes, even Fahrenheit Project Three, as it'd yet to be eclipsed. Vincent Villuis had already worked with Asura for Code Eternity, and was testing the solo waters as Aes Dana through Ultimae’s compilations, but he put off his proper debut for while, allowing other artists the spotlight to create buzz for the label. Heck, he’d probably have let Carbon Based Lifeforms release Hydroponic Garden ahead of Season 5 if they’d joined Ultimae a little sooner. I wonder if Mr. Villuis is just humble to a fault sometimes.

As for this album, it’s an Aes Dana LP, and as I’ve done this dance with y’all three times prior, I’m sure you can guess how this one’s turning out too. He pretty much nailed his moody, minimalist brand of dontempo psy from the onset, and Season 5 is no different in that regard. As this is a debut, however, there aren’t as many genre explorations as you’d find in his latter albums, this one mostly sticking to dark prog-psy grooves and dark ambient techno tones. Plus, with a running theme of the ‘fifth season’ of the year, we get the sounds of nature thrown in at various points. What is the fifth season, you ask? Not any specific stretch of days in the year, claims the PR blurb, but those transitional points between seasonal change. Huh, we have those all the time here in Vancouver. They’re those wonky days where it’ll be frigid and wet in the morning, but clear and warm by the afternoon: two seasons for the price of one solar cycle, and throwing your clothing options into utter disarray.

Season 5’s a solid enough album from Aes Dana, as all his albums typically are. If that’s not enough convincing though, consider this: little sounded quite like the music that’s on this album at the time. Even Ultimae was still mostly toeing the psy-chill and world beat line, and to have something as dark as Season 5 come out in that scene had to come as a surprise. We’ve grown all too spoiled by Aes Dana’s style by now, but given that context, it’s a remarkable record.

Hybrid Leisureland - Scroll Slide

Ultimae Records: 2010

Before getting into this album, what's the deal with Ultimae this year? We're nearly half way through 2015, and there's been scant material from the label - a couple singles from Miktek and Aes Dana, and that's about it. Perhaps they're going through another one of their occasional fallow periods, focusing on internal restructuring or recruiting drives for new artists. Ooh, maybe they're busy getting ready for another round of re-issues. That'd be wicked-awesome if some of their older material gets the physical format treatment again! Get the buzz out there, boys and girls.

Speaking of words that end with “uzz” (wait for it...), let's talk Scroll Slide from Hybrid Leisureland. The ambient project curated by Hidetoshi Koizumi has popped up on this blog once or twice (Connect.Ohm, Ultimae compilations), but this is the first time I'm diving into a proper solo full-length album by the man from Japan. Not that he has a whole heck of a lot to sift through, this only being his second LP out of three, one earlier on hopelessly obscure print Floor Limit, and a third on equally obscure print Double Life Records (Lord Discogs lists Hybrid Leisureland’s Variable as its only release, though has a catalogue number suggesting a few others out there, unknown to even The Lord That Knows All; methinks it’s an outlet for Mr. Koizumi’s studio though). He hasn’t been in much of a hurry to release material for its own sake either, a surprising approach for the sort of ambient produced under the Hybrid Leisureland banner. Laptop noodlers and synth droners churn out hundreds of such albums yearly, some artists releasing at least a dozen LP-length pieces in the same amount of time ol’ Hidetoshi’s put out three.

Perhaps that’s why Scroll Slide was mostly bypassed even with the greater exposure Ultimae offered. Folks enjoying ambient techno and psy-chill the label’s known for weren’t sure what to make of a pure ambient album of the sort Harold Budd and Brian Eno might have made way back in the day (or in the here and now for that matter). Every delicate touch of piano, soft layer of pad, or minute strike of percussion is treated with an impossibly sense of fragility, as though Hybrid Leisureland’s music was a piece of abstract art made of feathers. You figure it could fall over with the slightest breeze, yet it remains sturdy and sound, defiant against your expectations of physics. Um, I’m not sure how this metaphor translates to the music on Scroll Slide, but you can bet you’d hear these compositions on the speakers of such a gallery in Tokyo.

Each track Mr. Koizumi crafted holds up as individual pieces of music, not just mindless synth drone. Beyond that, however, there honestly isn’t much to detail, though with reasonable runtimes they never noodle about as so much similar ambient does. Think of Scroll Slide as a comforter blanket, leaving you feeling snug and warm within its fuzz.

Solar Fields - Reflective Frequencies

Ultimae Records: 2001/2008

You’d think Solar Fields’ debut album would get talked up often, but it’s hardly ever mentioned. For most, Magnus Birgersson’s project starts whenever they were first exposed to one of his later albums. The psy scene caught on to him with Blue Moon Station, the trance scene joined in with EarthShine, and most chill-out aficionados hitched their wagons with Movements. I’m sure late-comers were aware older Solar Fields LPs existed, but only the hardcore would invest in them, in part due to scarcity of limited issue runs. Then again, if you’re really curious, there’s always the digital realm, but that’s denying experiencing a Solar Fields album proper-like, hard copy in hand on a full sound system. You know I’m right!

*Ahem*. In all seriousness, I think Reflective Frequencies goes neglected because of how un-Solar Fieldsy it generally sounds. While Mr. Birgersson often hops genres with every full-length outing, he always retains a distinct emotional core within his music that’s uniquely his own, a warmth that can melt the coldest of hearts. Such attributes are seriously lacking on his debut though, where sound experiments and stark ambient techno rule the day. In all honesty, Reflective Frequencies sounds very much like a Future Sound Of London album, and I’ve no doubt you could fool a casual listener of that should one be so tempted to.

There’s future-shock trip-hop (6.7, Blue Light…, …Red Vortex, Inherit Velocity, Zero Rotation), cybernetic sound collages (Echoing Spectrum, Self Transforming Experience (First Movement), Overlapping Particles, Nea 3, Breathing Neutron Empire), and trippy ambient techno as heard echoing through dead cities (Floating Channels, Zone 12, Outlined Surfaces). Tell me those descriptors don't sound like a long lost mid-’90s FSOL album. And dammit, I know I shouldn’t make that comparison, but it’s hard shaking off. If you add a little extra psychedelia and a conceptual narrative to Reflective Frequencies, you’d have the album most folks expected Cobain and Dougans to deliver about the same year rather than The Isness.

Which still isn’t the best selling point for a Solar Fields debut album, is it? Ah well, for an ‘ambient techno by way of FSOL’ LP, Reflective Frequencies is plenty good, and contain little touches throughout that hint at the music Mr. Birgersson would craft in the future. Zero Rotation has a small amount of prog groove bubbling underneath, while Self Transforming Experience (Second Movement) and Outlined Surfaces are more in line with sort of psy-chill Ultimae was interested in promoting going forward. It wouldn’t surprise me if ol’ Magnus felt compelled to fall lock-step with the blissy vibes of the psy scene rather than continue exploring harsh electronics.

The liner notes mention Reflective Frequencies was recorded in 1999, and does it ever sound like a ‘90s album, many sections fitting for a cyberpunk thriller or PC game. It’s an odd outlier in the Solar Fields and Ultimae canon, an example of both producer and label still discovering their latent talents in a cybernetic realm. How Gibsony of them.

Solar Fields - Random Friday

Ultimae Records: 2012

Probably one of the most anticipated albums on Ultimae, this. Of course, followers of the label eagerly await each release, but Solar Fields' Random Friday had a little extra going for it. After Mr. Birgersson wooed many a forlorn progressive trance fan into Ultimae’s fold via his 2007 album EarthShine, they wondered whether he'd ever offer more in such an uptempo style. It didn’t seem likely though, the Solar Fields discography almost exclusively on the down beat save occasional one-offs on compilations and LPs. And yet, having explored so many different movements, altered states, origins, and meeted skies (?) in the half-decade following EarthShine, ol’ Magnus had to feel some itch in trying his hand at progressive trance again. Yes, another definitive statement for his career would do, that the first’s success wasn’t a one-off fluke, all the while granting the wishes of those hard-earned trance fans drifting from Ultimae after a string of all-too droney ambient CDs. Or he’d been sitting on some live material for a while that had no place in his other albums.

Whatever the impetus for Random Friday was, its announcement had fans salivating for the results. I mean, the concept sells itself: all the epic, widescreen lush sounds of Ultimae, impossibly uplifting emotional Solar Fields song craft, and now at a pace benefit of peak-time rinse out action. 'crackers still following the tired sounds of Armada and Enhanced could remain in their redundant corners of the trance scene at large; here was Solar Fields – almost exclusively not a trance guy, mind you! - bringing the goods like few others. Nope, no bog-standard prog-psy business on Random Friday, nosiree. This is the highest of the highs, the, um, best of what's left. The, uh, bomb-diggity? Damn it, why can't I get as excited for this album as others? It's all AstroPilot's fault, isn't it.

This is a good collection of tunes, no doubt, but that annoying Expectation Hydra once again rears its distracting heads – no matter how many times I cut them off, they keep slithering back, convincing me of what I wanted this album to sound like instead. Tracks like Cobalt 2.5, Daydreaming, and In Motion have great, groovy, atmospheric builds throughout, but they don’t lead to much of anything in doing so – it’s frustrating in the same way Progression was, a group you’ve probably already forgotten about again. Those are the openers though, the lead-in tracks (for half the LP!) before we get ourselves some proper melodic business for the back-end. This is also where Solar Fields indulges himself beyond usual prog-trance rhythms. Two tracks, Swoosh and Perception, are great, though I suspect it’s my Underworld radar convincing me so (gotta’ love that proggy cool groove). The other two, Landing Party and Lift Off, opt for tribal rhythm action (ooh, quadruples), which I’ve seldom liked, but d’em melodies doe’!

Although I’m not terribly enthused about Random Friday, that shouldn’t deter you if you’re looking for a little extra progressive trance in your diet.

Asura - Radio Universe

Ultimae Records: 2014

Though Radio Universe came out in the back-half of 2014, its Ultimae catalogue number suggests it should have come out at least a year earlier. Did Asura initially not feel satisfied with his latest LP and withheld it? Some legal hiccup with sample clearances? Waiting for the label to work out its dub techno 'grey' phase? Hoping to catch some backwash interest in space music once Interstellar hit theatres? The people wish to know these things! And by people, I probably mean only me, but I are people too, dang'it.

Ah, you noticed ‘space music’ in that sequence of supposition. ‘Tis true, Mr. Farewell has dabbled in the classic side of synth composition before, some of his best work the out-worldly pieces in his albums. It was only a matter of time before the sounds explored on tunes like Galaxies and Halley Road would feature in a full-length concept. For that matter, I’m surprised Asura’s taken this long for an attempt, but then he does have a rather sluggish output compared to his roster mates at Ultimae (and Altar!). Half-a-dozen albums in twice as many years is downright glacial against Aes Dana, Solar Fields, AstroPilot, namedrop, namedrop, and namedrop.

As for the type of space music we’re dealing with on Radio Universe, it’s primarily of the droning ambient sort. A beat doesn’t emerge until well after the album’s midway point, though second track Interlude Sky does have building synth arpeggios as a peak feature – you have no idea how much I was hoping for a fierce prog-psy beat towards the end of that one. Meanwhile, ten-minute long opener Overture has a little more cinematic, orchestral flourish, twelve-minute long Oblivion Gravity goes darker, eight-minute long Ascension In Blue feels rapturous and bliss, and one-minute long Gaea (Transit) sounds like those converted electromagnetic radio emissions of planets NASA likes giving out (and space drone composers love sampling). For that matter, I’ve noticed a bit of omnipresent hiss throughout all these tracks. Charles! Charlie! Charl-mang! Have you added the CMB to your music too? Nice.

As for the back half where the tempo picks up a bit, much of it comes off like standard Asura chill-out with HD production chops. Farscape 7 has a world-beat trip-hop thing going for it, Lonely Star’s got charming, melancholic piano but is undone by way-overdone side-chained bottom ends, Illuminations grooves along nicely enough, and Everlasting heads for the stars in blissed-out rapture. Frankly, the earlier drone compositions were more interesting, coming off bolder in their arrangements and sound design, though I’m not sure folks would be keen on a pure ambient drone LP on Ultimae.

Radio Universe is an intriguing listen, especially with good playback headphones or stereo. As a concept album, however, it falls a bit short, losing its way in the back half compared to the absorbing first. Probably will be a disappointment if you go in expecting another Life² (sorry, no psy here), but all said, it’s another solid offering of music from Asura.

Aes Dana - Pollen

Ultimae Records: 2012

Man, another Aes Dana album? How many have I already reviewed? Wait, only two up to now? It sure feels like more than that, though perhaps it's due to frequent appearances on Ultimae's other releases (collaborations, compilation tracks). Such is the benefit of running your own label I guess, though in Mr. Villuis' case, I suspect it’s more a case of enjoying working with the roster than any sort of ego. He's like the new Pete Namlook! Even physical copies of his label's older releases have grown exceptionally rare, demanding high prices on the trader's market. Well, okay, maybe not.

Pollen is Aes Dana's most recent album, coming out when he and Magnus Birgensson (Solar Fields) were aiming for a little uptempo action in their musical output. Then they discovered Miktek, and everyone turned dour and grey. Either that, or these past few years are an attempt at capturing a traditional raver narrative – the exhilarating, high-paced night of prog-psy dancing, followed by a lengthy comedown into dub techno and ambient's sketchy Sunday embrace. If so, what a daring, brilliant, and genius thing to do, turning one's label into an ongoing musical story, the sort of thing any journalist, critic, or blogger would eagerly look forward to writing about! Of course, the odds of this being so are negative five-percent, so I'll drop the absurdity (for now...).

Here's the point where I struggle describing how Aes Dana's sound doesn't stand out the same way the other Ultimae producers do. That, despite enjoying the downtempo glitch of opener Jetlag Corporation and slowbeat dub techno of Borderline, little ever quite sticks in my head where- Wait a minute! Is that a Roland 909 I hear in Conditioned? Holy cow, it is – you just can’t hide those distinct kicks and claps, even with the Ultimae Mixdown™ in full effect. To my recollection, the label’s never used that drum machine, and nor would they either, the house and techno that serves it best simply not part of their manifesto. And I’m not kidding when I said this is Aes Dana at his briskest, follow-up tracks Tree.Some and A Carmine Day some of the highest BPM tunes I’ve heard on any of his albums.

The back-half of Pollen finds Mr. Villuis going to his trusty standard of chill-out music by way of gothic and industrial influence, though even here something new’s been added. Well, new for the time this came out, as all the dub techno stylization became a running theme for the label since. For an initial foray into the sound, however, he accommodates himself quite well, especially so the final, lengthy cut, Low Tide Explorations - calming drone ambience with splashes of soothing field recordings and occasional rhythmic jolts.

For once, I’m happy to report an Aes Dana album has made a memorable impression on me. The fresh ideas from ol’ Vincent here has given us one of his best albums in years. Oh Roland 909, is there no magic you can’t do?

ACE TRACKS: February 2014

2014 itself went by reasonably swiftly, as the years are wont to do as you grow older. Looking back at what I’d reviewed in February though, I didn’t realize it went by that fast, marking the start of my sojourn through albums starting with ‘M’. I’m only mid-way through ‘P’ now, though to be fair, I’ve had a few lengthy detours along the way too. Still, it doesn’t seem so far back that I was reviewing Miktek and Cell for the first time.



Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Mechanophobia
Various - Masters Of The 1 & 2: History’s Greatest DJs
Various - Macro Dub Infection, Volume 1
Markus Schulz - Coldharbour Sessions 2004
Krusseldorf - Bohemian Groove
Speedy J - Loudboxer
Jean Michel Jarre - Chronologie
Enigma - MCMXC, A.D.

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 12%
Percentage of Neil Young: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Procs - Big Fat Snoring Lamas (because of course it would be)

Another fairly mellow playlist, this. Guess that’s what happens when one splurges on Ultimae back catalog, but ample amounts of dubby world-beat finds its way in here too. It was weird fitting Eminem into a collection of songs that includes Enigma and Jarre, but that’s also what makes listening to these so much fun, that sense of unexpected and unpredictable contrasts. Also, what's up with Cretu's first album being unavailable on Spotify? It's not like it's rare or anything - heck, that hopelessly forgotten Massive Passive psy trance compilation is there, but not MCMXC, A.D.? Senseless I says.

Aes Dana - Perimeters

Ultimae Records: 2011

Ultimae’s has four acts generally considered the label’s main roster: Aes Dana, Asura, Solar Fields, and Carbon Based Lifeforms (can Miktek be an honorary fifth now?). I’ve mentioned before that Mr. Villuis’ material doesn’t quite do it for me like the rest, but it took me a while to figure out why. His albums often lack big musical moments identifiable to his style, an element that can elevate an LP to George Takei levels of “Oh my…!” Asura will have a composition with stunning orchestral arrangements demanding of a major blockbuster, Solar Fields will have emotional high points that’ll melt your heart to mush, and CBL always find clever ways of making clinical ambient techno sound full and vibrant. Aes Dana though, I dunno. I struggle to recall any distinct pieces of music like I do MOS 6581, Sol or Halley’s Road.

For the longest time, I figured it was simply a case of Aes Dana lagging behind his compatriots in song craft ability. I mean, not everyone can be the best-of-the-best, and there's no shame in taking up the rear in a group of awesome talent – someone's gotta' play the part of Ringo, after all. Listening to Perimeters, however, I realized the reason for his lack of huge musical moments is entirely due to the style he cultivates. The dark, brooding synths, touches of gothic atmosphere, and rhythms owing some influence to trance's industrial roots - all great in creating a seductive mood maintained throughout the duration of an album's run-time. Shoehorning an epic climax or ear-wormy mega-hook would go against the Aes Dana stylee, and all the more power to Mr. Villuis for resisting the temptation to go outside that zone. It would only sound unnecessary and out of place.

*Phew*… it was a mouthful, but I had to get that nagging quandary solved. Hell, I still may come back to it with the next Aes Dana album I review, but I think I’ve finally got it covered why I do enjoy his music, yet always have difficulty recalling specifics. Okay, time to finally discuss Perimeters, then.

His fifth album, this one hints at a few new organic approaches to his style - opener Anthrazit has orchestral work, In Between features heavily treated pianos, and The Missing Worlds works a bit of acoustic guitar in. For the most part though, we’re dealing with an upbeat trance LP, tracks like Resin, In Between, Heaven Report, and the titular cut going at a brisk prog-psy pace. Most of the rhythms are rather clicky-minimalist too, though not to such a degree that it renders the music sterile – Aes Dana has more than enough evocative synths and pads at his disposal to ever let that happen. A few tracks start on the downtempo side before upping the BPMs, while others are content remaining in ambient drone’s territory. All said, a good album for those who like the dancier side of Ultimae. I know there’s a few of you out there.

Mahiane - Oxycanta III

Ultimae Records: 2013

Rising from the dead all zombie-like, it's Ultimae's Oxycanta series. No, wait, that's not right. “Zombie-like” suggests an ambling, horrific monstrosity whilst being a pathetic parody of its former self. Such adjectives could never be associated with an Ultimae compilation, at least not until Volume/Season 9. What other spooky, Halloween creature would suffice for such a comparison though? Vampires? Frankensteiners? Black Lagoon goons? Damn these attempts at seasonal reviews. At least the last Oxycanta had a seasonal theme I could wax poetic over. Coincidentally, I'm reviewing Oxycanta III a little over a year after it came out, just like I originally did with Winter Blooms six years past. Wouldn't it be something if the same thing happened should we ever be graced with Oxycanta IV: The Voyage Home?

Seriously though, Oxycanta III is a welcome surprise, and a nifty snapshot of how Ultimae’s evolved over the years. Mahiane, whom pieces together these compilations, maintains the unifying theme behind Oxycanta is of heart-healing music, an idea derived by the flora pictured on their covers. That’s an incredibly broad idea though, an association that can fit many forms of melody and harmony. Thus it makes sense that, as Ultimae went through a gray, melancholic mood through much of 2013, that Oxycanta III would follow form, a departure from the glitchier psy-chill on Winter Blooms.

And who should kick off this compilation than the name that practically kicked off Ultimae’s tonal shift: Miktek, with the track Drone Flower. Oh yeah, this is one droney piece of music, in that distinctive moody Miktek way – gotta’ love the gentle, distant piano work that accompanies the sombre pads though. The first third of Oxycanta III: No Need For A Sub-Title goes more the downtempo dub-techno route, some tracks from familiar Ultimae names (Aes Dana, Lars Leonhard), and others contributing for the first time (Fingers In The Noise, Muridae, Mer-A). Yeah, the label really got on that dub techno in recent years, which helped add another element to Ultimae’s growing bag of candies (I’ll get in these Halloween metaphors yet!).

The second half features the (then) returning I Awake and Circular, both offering tracks that you’d expect of them if you’re at all familiar with their prior work (I Awake likes short compositions that flits through genres from track to track; Circular likes lengthier tracks that flit through genres within a single track). It’s nice to see another Scann-Tec piece, and quite surprising finding 36, one of drone ambient music’s current best talents, making a rare compilation appearance. Overall, the second half of Oxycanta III is warmer and more musically diverse, as though Mahiane intended for a little sonic light to breach the relative downcast mood of the first half.

That general monochromatic mood, however, makes Oxycanta III less appealing than Winter Blooms. It’s still all lovely music in its own way, just not as evocative as its forbearer. Mind, it was a ridiculously high peak to top.

Mahiane - Oxycanta: Winter Blooms (Original TC Review)

Ultimae Records: 2007

(2014 Update:
I go on about how awesome Ultimae is and how they're one of my favorite labels and that everyone should immediately check out their roster and I'll shut up now. In truth though, it took me over a year after stumbling upon Asura's Life² before fully committing to digging into their catalog further. When I finally did, it was with this CD, again an impulse purchase based on the cover. The music within completely and utterly convinced me that Ultimae was a label I needed to keep tabs on, which led to further purchases from Solar Fields' Movements and the Fahrenheit Project series. You probably know how the rest of this story plays out by now.

Oxycanta seemed destined to have a short existence, scuttled like so many of Ultimae's compilation series as this decade turned. Lo', it returned last year. I guess Mahiane found inspiration again with the crop of new talent contributing to the label. It's... well, I'll save those thoughts for when I review it.)


IN BRIEF: ‘Tis the season.

As tempting as it is to start a winter-themed compilation of music with some sort of poetic metaphor tying into the frigid months of the year, my internal Corny-Countermeasure Procedure continuously denies me the opportunity – damn you, Corny-Countermeasure Procedure! Besides, for all the tranquil, pretty vistas a snow-covered landscape portrays, the reality of winter tends to be far more brutal. Ice storms, biting winds below fifty-degrees Centigrade, mucky gritty slush as snow melts, hideous displays of driving… there’s a reason so many birds flee to more hospitable regions of the world and several animals would just rather sleep through it all.

Being one of the more illogical animals of this world, however, humans prefer making the best of the cold climate while we can. Ice skating, skiing, festive light shows (it really does glow prettily off the snow), and, of course, music. At no other time of the year will you find more popular music directly tied to a season, such that we have to endure it over and over and over and over…

Sorry, I’m getting side-tracked. Oxycanta, then. The second of a somewhat infrequent compilation series put together by Ultimae co-founder Sandrine Gryson (aka: Mahiane), the obvious-to-everyone-now theme here is that of winter. Of course, this being Ultimae, the music dwells on the delicate and naturalistic aspects of the season, preferring to conjure images of quiet frosted forests and frozen-over streams, untouched and unspoiled by human influence. And it is stunningly beautiful to listen to.

Seriously, opener Strawberry Planetarium is ambient at its hauntingly best - layered pads and delicate timbre work together to create a sublime trip through tonal harmony. Along the way, spritely clicks and glitches add to the atmosphere; it’s like being trapped in lake ice as it slowly thaws. Of course, there really isn’t much of a song here, but then ambient seldom follows structure, merely going about its business as it sooths to the ears.

Much of Winter Blooms features passages and pieces of this nature. It isn’t until third track Flaktsystem from Amos that we have something resembling a proper song (though everything leading up to it is still engaging nonetheless). Even then, Flaktsystem is more of an excursion through tones and timbres, only this time with lovely piano melodies guiding us along laid-back rhythms. Aes Dana’s Nexus, nearly half-way through the CD, provides the first fully-formed piece of music, which is a quite a long while to wait. I’m sure this begs the question, then, of whether half a disc of lovely tonal textures and meditative passages is too much noodly music for the casual listener.

To this, I give a definite no. The beauty of Oxycanta is that it works in various ways. If you play diligent attention to the music, you’re rewarded with deeply considered harmonies, sucking you into a calming meditation of delicate tones and steadying rhythms, none of which ever dip into saccharine New Age mumbo-jumbo. If you just throw this on as background fodder, however, it’s equally effective as atmospheric ambient, setting a blissful mood that will tingle at the soul while you’re engaged in other activities.

Oh wait, you’re still wondering if that winter theme is ever-present - to a degree, yes. As mentioned, the first half touches upon the tranquil nature of the season; meanwhile, the second half delves into the less comforting aspects of winter: the cold textures of downbeat techno. Mind, Waters from Sgnl_fltr is something more akin to old-school trance, and quite brisk for a compilation of this sort. Beyond there, however, things get rather experimental, with clicks and glitches meandering around cold soundscapes; still, lurking underneath it all is some warmth, as though buried and patiently waiting for the season to change. And closer Nautilus from James Murray is definitely the perfect track to bring in some warmth, dipping into ambient dub’s bubbly waters with Far East influences.

As great as the music on Oxycanta is, though, it’s Mahiane’s arrangement of the tracks that gives this compilation that extra bit of shine. While not exactly a DJ mix, there are still nice blends between the each piece of music, and is sequenced in such a way that it rather plays like one long song. In the burgeoning age of digital downloads, it’s growing increasingly rare to find compilations of this sort, much less expertly arranged to form a cohesive flow. It’s reassuring to know this isn’t a completely lost art.

Eh? Oh, I guess you’ve noticed that, technically, Winter Blooms isn’t exactly current. Granted, as of this writing, it was released a year ago, but that’s beside the point. Like the season it draws influence from, there is a timeless quality to Oxycanta; while it may make better sense to listen to during the frigid months of the year, it works for any setting. Heart-healing properties indeed.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2008. © All rights reserved.

Solar Fields - Origin # 02

Ultimae Records: 2013

Solar Fields put out a lot of music at a ridiculous rate in the ‘00s, averaging one full-length CD every two years (to say nothing of remix albums, collaborations, and compilation exclusives). What’s almost frightening about that work ethic is how there was nary a drop in quality in each release, as though Mr. Birgersson could offer stunning, thematic LPs on a whim. Of course, that’s never the case, great albums almost always the result of meticulous pruning and editing, such that what does make the final product is the absolute best that artist is capable of at that particular moment of inspiration. What’s left over often ends up as b-sides for singles, saved for better-served albums down the road, or simply forgotten until such time extended or re-issue editions of albums come about. It would seem Solar Fields has chosen the latter option for his back back-catalog, most recently coming to light in a series of Origin CDs. Since Origin # 01 is already out of print (damn), we’re jumping right into Origin # 02. Yay?

Yeah, such a release is a hard sell to casual consumers of music – after all, wouldn’t all of Solar Fields’ best material already be available elsewhere? What point is there getting an odds-n-sods ‘leftovers’ collection if you hadn’t already gotten albums like Blue Moon Station or Movements? Everything on Origin # 02 comes from that era of music making (2003-2009, for the record), and if this material never made it on those LPs, or even Origin # 01, then this CD must truly be scrapping the barrel for leftovers. How mediocre can this sound, then?

Not one damn bit, foo’. This is Solar F’n Fields we’re dealing with here – I don’t think ol’ Magnus could make a weak production if he tried! The first half Origin # 02 features all the lovely sonic textures, blissy-chill vibes, and widescreen ambience you’d expect coming into a Solar Fields album. Hell, even if you don’t expect it – because it’s your first Solar Fields experience, I guess – they’re still stunning tracks. About the only quibble here is the lack of album narrative, but wanting that on a collection like this is utterly pointless, yes?

Okay, quality music as expected from Solar Fields – is there anything actually unique on offer with Origin # 02, something that we haven’t heard before? I dunno about that, as I haven’t heard the entirety of Mr. Birgersson’s discography. What threw me for a loop, though, were the final three tracks: The Missing, Falling Shadows, and Asteroid (Time Machine Lullaby). Those crackly pads, childlike melodies on old keyboards (especially on Asteroid), sense of ‘70s synth nostalgia… Holy cow, this sounds like Boards Of Canada! True, in a Solar Fieldsy sort of way, but it totally does share like the enigmatic Scottish duo’s aesthetic. Whether Magnus wanted to take a stab at their sound or it’s just a coincidence, I don’t know, but that alone makes Origin # 02 worth the price of admission.