Araceae - Nothing Will Last

Faint: 2022

Techno can be an uncompromising genre on the psyche. The robotic rhythms, the mechanical fetishism, the dehumanizing concepts, all notions leaving some feeling spent and depleted at a psychological level. The original Detroit maestros, they understood this 'duality' quite well, always looking to find the humanity in technological dystopia, but others sought to take things down the dankest, dark alleys you could find sexbots and cyborgs strung out on circuit boosters.

So it seemed was the lane Ryan Malony made for himself under the alias Uun. Though he technically traversed in dub techno's domain, it was less atmospheric in the ambient sense, going harder and grittier as you'd expect in a post-Berghain realm (think Black Asteroid). He farmed his music about several labels, some via his own means (Ego Death... *sigh* Another into the Bandcamp bookmark folder...), even getting a nod from Soma Quality Recordings. Maybe though, just maybe, all that unfeeling techno left Mr. Malony anxious, a desire to flex his muse away from something so primal and raw.

Ambient then, but he couldn't just abandon da' beats, so how about dub techno of that atmospheric vein? Sure, let's go with that, and wouldn't you know it, there's a label promoting the stuff too! Ultimae? Silent Season? Heck, DeepChord (got a Soma connection there)? Nope, going with Faint instead, the offshoot of Warmth's Archives print. Ah, well guess that'll do. Besides, Agustín needs more artists on his sub-label so it doesn't come off as a pure SVLBRD showcase.

This is the third album Ryan's released as Araceae, and possibly the most melodic of them. While Lunae Semita mostly stuck to your traditional 'dub techno as found on an ambient dub sub-label' style (a very particular niche), second LP Resonance Of The Absolute went harder and darker, the sort of sound you'd expect as the 'experimental' side-project of Uun. So it makes sense that Mr. Malony would wrap around to something resembling tonal harmony and, dare I say, relaxing mood music – can't knock those subtle chirping bird field recordings, even if the cover art is about as barren as frozen wastelands can be.

And Nothing Will Last starts out as you'd expect from a Faint release: ultra lush padwork, crisp atmospherics, and just enough of a rhythm to register as a heartbeat. Ryan definitely has that Archives aesthetic on lock. After an ambient interlude in Christmas Shadow (about as much an interlude as a four-and-a-half minute long track can be), the album gets more cinematic in the back-half with prominent use of orchestral strings and richly textured piano chords. Then final track Three Years basically gets its neo-trance vibes on, eleven minutes of simple escalating chords and arps over steadily building techno rhythms. It's a lovely piece of music, but kinda' sticks out in stark contrast to everything that came before, the thick sonic textures scaled back. Then again, you could say the same thing about most of Ryan's work as Araceae compared to Uun.

Children Of The Bong - (Not Sirius)

Disco Gecko: 2023

I... remember a time... not so long ago... less than five years hence... I remember a time when Children Of The Bong material was rare. Super rare. Ultra rare, even. When their entire output was relegated to a lone CD, some assorted compilation material, and a few demo tapes more difficult to find than even Boards Of Canada obscurities. When I felt lucky and blessed that I'd stumbled upon a Discogs seller of Sirius Sounds, finally letting me hear the album properly, as I would have 'back in the day', or whatever. How could I have known they'd get the spiffy 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition treatment just a year later?

Now, I'm not saying I'm upset we've been inundated with new material from the Bong World. I'm quite happy they're finally getting their flowers, even if it's mostly within a still very niche scene of music. Surprised by the out-flooding is more apt. For sure re-issue Sirius Sounds bundled with the aforementioned strays, and even a live session on a spiffy CD3. Then I catch wind Misters Goganian and Henry were teaming up with Mr. Marks' Disco Gecko to empty their vaults of even more material, and you bet I was there to grab a copy (erm, this here release I'm technically supposed to be reviewing right now).

It hasn't ended with just Not Sirius though! They put out a second archival album called Sonic Ambulance, which they admit is mostly just early sessions of them dicking about with the gear they were still figuring out. Then this year, Disco Gecko commissioned a buffet of remixes, thirty tracks in all. Geez, and I thought some of those Banco re-issues were getting overstuffed with bonuses. I think I'll stick with the first bundle of unreleased material, thank you. There can be such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Honestly though, Not Sirius stands strong enough as its own entity, a supposed, honest-to-Jah, long lost b-side album that never materialized. While a couple saw some airtime at live gigs or commissioned soundtracks, the Bong Boys admit many offered here were tunes that didn't quite make the cut for Sirius Sounds. Some, like dubby, dreamy Feedback Returns, or 'rockin' U.V.F. (Ultraviolet Frequencies), definitely sound like rawer forms of tunes on the mother album.

Really, that's what Not Sirius mostly comes off as, a slightly less-evolved version of Children Of The Bong. Which isn't a bad thing by any stretch, the music that did initially see the light leagues ahead of much else of the time. It's like listening to Polygon Window after hearing a bunch of Aphex Twin: yeah, the sonic palette is still there, just not quite as dynamic as elsewhere.

Oh, and I'm not pulling that Richard D. James name-drop out of my ass, final (digital bonus) track Aphelion Force reminding me some of Aphex's crunchier moments. I'm sure the Bongers were just as inspired by him as everyone else.

The Elusive Man - Not Forgotten

SpaceTime: 2023

I guess if there was one benefit of FireScope shuttering doors, it forced me to start exploring some of the label's featured artists elsewhere. Not that Darren Nye was an exclusive to the B12 print, indeed release just one EP with them during their expansion beyond being Steven Rutter's outlet. It was a significant step for Mr. Nye's own career though, in that he launched his self-release label shortly after, SpaceTime. I remember bookmarking it almost immediately, but never returned, letting it sit fallow in the massive folder of Bandcamp pages I've saved for future reference. And in that time, Darren's built up a ridiculously robust discography of music, well over one-hundred releases across various singles, EPs, albums, and such. Not just under his own name either, including aliases like PlanktonWarrior, SpaceTime (gotta' name something after the label, I suppose), and, naturally, The Elusive Man.

This alias was the one Darren mostly operated under for SpaceTime, saving his real name for contributions to other labels as he did with FireScope (including a couple items on Neo Ouija just this year). Best I can tell from a skim, this is the outlet for his more traditional takes with Detroit techno, but no way I'm gonna' sift through all his aliases and releases to confirm it. I don't think it matters much where you decide to dive into Mr. Nye's catalogue, as it's relatively consistent throughout. As for why I chose Not Forgotten for my jumping point, I'll let you guess. A). It was the most recent release when I did finally buy something. B). The album's title coyly reminding me that I had, in fact, not forgotten to properly check out SpaceTime. C). The cover art is blue.

Anyhow, as with so many FireScope releases, I don't have that much to say about the music that you couldn't read from so many other reviews of this style. Darren seems quite comfortable sticking to his retro-future techno strengths, such that he can crank these out after any ol' jam session. Maybe there's some items in his discography that get more conceptual or experimental, but Not Forgotten isn't that release. This is exactly as you'd expect from someone influenced by latter-era Artificial Intelligence, which is perfectly fine if you're in the market for that.

Even in particulars, we're hitting familiar beats. The more ambient intro InsideOut, though not so ambient with an actual bassline. The chipper, jazzier broken-beat offerings (Nothing Else, Just In Case, titular cut). The easy cruisin' session (Say Anything). The slightly more menacing electro cut (Clouded Memory). And outright genre dalliance in closer Ace Time Continuum, its almost purely jazz trappings bringing to mind another Continuum's own explorations into such sounds. Just needed a saxophone thrown in rather than those spacey synths, but the organ licks are smokin' regardless. I don't know jazz slang very well.

Could I have picked out a stronger representation of The Elusive Man's oeuvre than Not Forgotten? Probably, but it's a nice appetizer as is.

Dom & Roland - No Strings Attached

Dom & Roland Productions: 2009

Am I way overdue in giving Dom & Roland his due? Not necessarily, having dropped his name a few times in the two decades-plus I've been doing this. Typically in tandem when talking up some of my all-time favs' from the glory years of darkstep's emergence. What, have I, really? Let me check that... *blog searches 'Roland'* Haha, got a few Armin returns on that, mostly due to Roland Klinkenberg. Wasn't expecting that.

But yes, there he is mentioned on some d'n'b mixes I've reviewed, including the one (1) Dieselboy session I've thus covered. Could have sworn I brought him up twice or thrice when going on about Technical Itch's label in recent years, but I guess not. Point being, I've been hankering for a little more classic darkstep, and realizing there's a massive Dom & Roland gap in my library, aimed to rectify that.

Just... not something from his earlier period. I know it wasn't complete defined by Can't Punish Me, indeed the single coming out after his debut album. However, I also got real sick of that anthem appearing everywhere, such that it erroneously soured me on most music from Mr. Angas for a long time. Figured Moving Shadow would force him into milking that formula forever, or some such.

So here we time-skip to the late-'00s, Dominic now independent, and free to explore whatever music he so chooses. What's that, the Pendulum wave is dominating all that is d'n'b now? Do you hitch your wagon to that ride to stay relevant, then? Nah, says Dom and his Roland, he's gonna' get all conceptual and shit on this session. Exploring a more primitive side of his muse, unlocking the feral monsters that dwell within all junglists, with ample amounts of real drums and percussion. Still those vicious bass leads though, can't abandon them.

Actually, because we got such a nifty melding of future-shock and primal, No Strings Attached feels more like a post-apocalyptic outing, including a few cinematic gems like Ice Age and Hypnosis. Not to mention collabs' with broken beat vets like Amon Tobin and Timecode, plus newer casts like Noisia and Audio helping Dom keep at least one foot within contemporary clime's. Though admittedly, I thought Audio was another Mark Caro alias, the track Peace Keeper utilizing many a sound-sample from Tech Itch cuts. Some tracks keep things simple and to the point (Mammoth Hunt, 1134 with Hive), others get fancier with the drum work (Hypnosis, Jedi), plus that one obligatory goof-ball cut (Odd Job). Also, have we not heard so many Predator sound effects in jungle before as in Jungle Beast? Seems like an oversight in this scene, y'know?

Anyhow, No Strings Attached is pretty much what I was hoping for in a start into a proper Dom & Roland dive. Diverse, uncompromising darktech d'n'b, with enough musical evolution as an artist to stand out from the glut. Where can we go from here? A few places, I wager.

Sensurreal - Never To Tell A Soul

Beam Me Up!/Frame Of Mind: 1994/2000

We're pretty much at a point where nothing remains outright obscure anymore, so many musical artifacts of yesteryear easily available should you be savvy enough to look for them. I'm not even sure if Sensurreal's debut would count as one such item, what with having ties to Speedy J's first label Beam Me Up!, established when the Dutchman was going from strength to strength. The fact it only existed on his print may not have helped its fortunes though, Beam Me Up! only surviving a few short years. And while Jochem had enough scene clout to have his records released across many labels, this side-project of Gerd and Dirk did not, Never To Tell A Soul remaining an obscurity for many decades.

Now that much of Gerd's back-catalogue is easily available through his Frame Of Mind Bandcamp, there's no excuse to not at least give this one a listen-over. At least, if you've a hankering for some more mint early '90s techno-trance hybrid music. Maybe sliding closer to the realms of ambient techno on occasion? I'm sure that was part of the reason Mr. Paap gave a green light on this record, music following in familiar territory as his Ginger and G Spot albums. Or just wanted to do a solid for some fellow countrymen.

As this is an album from that Cambrian explosion of musical diversification that was the early '90s, you bet Never To Tell A Soul is rife with sonic experimentation. It never gets so overt as, say, The Orb's Orbus Terrum, still keeping a one foot firmly in techno's domain. There are periods where you can hear Gerd and Dirk having perhaps a bit too much fun in the studio with this, primarily on a few interstitial doodles. Or, in the case of the digital re-issue, extended intros and outros of their centrepiece tracks. I guess they were originally edited to fit on the CDs? Regardless, for every sublime bit of nifty beatcraft and melodic techno (dang, does Hardfall ever hit wonderfully at its peak), a little naff slice of obtuse sound experiment and bizarre loop choices creeps in too. Wouldn't be an 'IDM' record from this era if it didn't have that, right?

Right, so perhaps that's why the vinyl version of Never To Tell A Sell focused more on dancefloor functionalism, four extra tracks not on the CD being featured. Essentially doing their own brand of Detroit techno, with that slightly European melodic sense without ever dipping too close to trance's territory. And because you can add any ol' thing to a digital release, we get even more bonus tracks after that, including an outright banger in Anything You Want It To Be which sounds way out of time and place compared to everything else on this collection. Man, so nice everything ends on the Soulstar Mix of Hardfall (the single version, essentially), reminding you why Never To Tell A Soul earned its unheralded gem status all these years after.

Arctic Hospital - Neon Veils

Lantern: 2008

The wonderful thing about techno is how regional flavours emerged even as certain aesthetics dominated at a global scale. Yeah, you can say that about any music, but you'd think a genre that had such regimented roots in Detroit wouldn't have evolved much beyond that. Yet the Germans developed their own take, the UK had their say, various other pockets of Europe would add their voice, and even areas as far reaching as Africa and South America managed unique variants.

Then there's Japan, wherein a mega-rush of industrialized capitalism created a hyper-tech vision of the future wholly unique to their cities, outpacing nearly every other metropolis in the world. In doing so, their brand of techno came off not so retro-futurist or functional as other strains, but something almost jubilant even in the face of cyberpunk dystopia. Ken Ishii was the breakout star, of course, but many other folks came up through this vision as well, inspiring others to follow suite. Even those who weren't Japanese by descent.

Actually, I'm not sure whether Eric Bray isn't native to Japan, though I highly doubt it. Still, with his second Arctic Hospital album Neon Veils, he found a foothold with the launching Lantern, a sub-label of Tokyo print Plop, which he made his home for as long as he kept making records (Going Sun his last one). And why not? His brand of techno definitely fits that Japanese mould, ever evolving with layered sounds and percolating rhythms you could imagine soundtracking some Robot Carnival homage. It sure wouldn't slide in Europe, the folks over there still absolutely enamoured with minimalism. Maybe a little Detroit, when his tracks stray closer to electro, but man, there's just so much spacious sound-design in Mr. Bray's production too. It's like he's showing off cutting-edge technical marvels as much as making dancefloor tools. The sort you'd see at, oh, I don't know, a tech-fair with mecha and animation.

Even the tracks that don't immediately grab you will win you over in due time. Second cut Encompass takes a while to get its electro boogie tech-house bounce going, but man, once everything's layered and shuffling along, such a fun ride. Or Placement By Air, tripping on broken beats throughout, but still sucking you in with subtle sine waves and dubby treatements. Not to mention In Your Image, seemingly stumbling lost in the technical weeds before finding its footing, soon enough looping along with synth leads and pads as close to trance as this album dares. And these are the 'weaker' cuts? Dang, how dope is the rest then?

Pretty darn dope, I'd say, whether as fun techno tools are lovely headphone fodder (seriously, that sonic space!). Neon Veils isn't reinventing the techno pistons by any large stretch, but it's being done so astoundingly well, it's criminal so few seem to know of it. But hey, it was 2008, and Ricardo Villalobos had a new album out. Much more Very Important than some unknown on a far-flung Japanese sublabel.

E-Mantra - Nemesis

Suntrip Records: 2014

The trek through Suntrip carries on, and I cannot deny it feels more of a chore at this point. It isn't that I've grown to dislike the content from the label, but some forty-plus odd CDs deep into their catalogue has led to over-familiarity with their output. I may not know what to specifically expect with each release now, but I've a solid idea of what's to come, so unyielding faithful to their chosen niche as they are.

Which is why I found myself a little surprised I was actually anticipating finally returning to E-Mantra. By alphabetical decree, I haven't listened to any of his LPs since Arcana, one of the agreed-upon highlights of Suntrip's early years. I, too, agreed upon that assessment, and for all intents, his reputation of one of the label's premier acts remained intact for as long as he remained there. Cool beans, which means whatever may shake out in this unending sojourn through Suntrip, I can at least look forward to the next E-Mantra record on the docket. ...all the way down in the 'N' block. Darn it, maybe I should have sprung for one of his Altar Records albums in the meanwhile, say The Hermit's Sanctuary or Echoes From The Void.

Actually, had I nabbed those two, it would have given me a clearer idea of where Mr. Carpus' headspace was leading up to Nemesis. Those, as well as Silence (the Altar album I have covered, plus my introduction to E-Mantra) were all released after his previous Suntrip outing of Pathfinder. When you're averaging one (1) record per year featuring music more on the downbeat compared to your uptempo sessions, it kinda' suggests one's muse may be wandering elsewhere. At least away from the style that initially made your name.

I guess that's why Nemesis feels like E-Mantra going through the motions of what was expected of another Suntrip record. For sure it's still top-notch stuff, goa trance that's always energetic, always tasteful, knowing when to hold things back long enough before letting tracks kick it up a notch. Acid serving its squiggly trippy purpose, leads that feel propulsive without overstaying their time. It's just all, y'know, over-familiar.

Not until the last clutch of tracks do things skew a little from the norm. Mission Aborted goes 'older school' in using that ultra-compressed kick and focusing more on atmosphere than energetic synths. Orphic Hymn strays closer to the realms of regular ol' trance than anything psychedelic. And Shae Nab with Suufi Astrolab ends Nemesis on prog-psy, such a significant drop in tempo it may as well be a downtempo closer.

Yeah, yeah, but is Nemesis any good? Hey, I came in looking forward to hearing more E-Mantra, and I'm coming away looking forward to hearing more E-Mantra. He may have been thin of fresh ideas here, but he still remains (remained?) one of Suntrip's best producers. I still have two more in the pipe, so that's promising thoughts.

Spiritual Fields - Natural Conscience

Liquid Frog Records: 2021

While it's unsurprising I'd be coming back to the Liquid Frog Records 'verse so quickly within a new letter block, at least it's one that I haven't touched much upon. Aside from his recent ventures into dub techno as O:D:D, Spiritual Fields is probably Juan Pablo's least visited side-project out of them all. In fact, since I bulk-bought his entire Bandcamp catalogue a few years ago (!!), he's only returned to Spiritual Fields once.

Which may not seem like that big a deal – some artists only ever release one album in the same amount of time, much less something under a seldom-used alias. But then this is Mr. Giacovino we're dealing with here, where his Bandcamp page now hosts an additional sixty-eight releases since I bought there. Keep in mind there were eighty-six items available when I purchased what I did (yes, a weird coincidence that we're dealing with reversed numbers here, but stay with me...). That means he's added nearly eighty percent more music to his discography from when I first stumbled upon him via Neotantra, in just a few short years at that. And somehow, in all of that, he's only found the inspiration for one (1) Spiritual Fields album. Hey, man, when that allure of dub techno comes callin'...

In a way though, I can understand why this isn't an alias he felt needed much returning too. Of all his side-projects, this one feels the most redundant. Yeah, there's an obvious nod to the world beaty vein of ambient dub Juan Pablo often dwells in, but plenty of his other music retains elements of that too. And when the general market is well over-saturated with downtempo beats with Far East harmonies, Spiritual Fields doesn't stand out much from the pack either. It's music that remains nicely crafted, as much of N:L:E's work does, but is well traversed paths across the board.

Which is about as succinct a summation of Natural Conscience as I can give. Plenty of flowing pads with spacious timbre, some softer, dubbier rhythms coming and going, and sprinklings of sitars jamming with the trippy reggae melodies. Chaos In Nature towards the end leaped out at me more for offering some punchy beats that skip and stutter rather than do the usual languid bip and bob. It's all lovely sounding stuff, and if this was your first foray into the wider Liquid Frogs Records catalogue, I can imagine being intrigued by what you hear enough to splurge for more. Say, maybe the whole Bandcamp amount?

Not that it's what happened to me, oh no! Like, sure, Natural Conscience was the latest Spiritual Fields release when I did pop on over there, but it was a solid seven rows down from the most recent selections. Surely it was stuff like Space Radio or Ecovillage or Antarctica that had me going gonzo for the whole thing. No, it was all the pretty cover art, I'm sure of it. Sucker for cover art, always.

Subdream - Nameless Constellations

Exosphere: 2023

It's not that I distrust Bandcamp's Recommendation algorithm. I'm sure if I spent some time randomly clicking through on some of those items, I'd stumble upon a number of interesting releases. Still, there's a reason Fantano had a series called It Came From Bandcamp, wherein he'd scrounge about the website's most bizarre music folks would upload. And believe you me, the stray times I have randomly indulged the Recommendation algo', it's led to some very weird, amateurish stuff indeed. No, I'll stick to the artists I'm there to check out, and should their discography direct me to a few labels off the beaten path, all the better.

All that said, I discovered Subdream entirely because Nameless Constellations popped up in the Recommendation feed, and its lovely cosmic art lured me in as so much lovely cosmic art does. Why would this one in particular do so? Probably because, at the time, it was the most recent release from the Exosphere label, so got some preferential attention in the algo'. As for why this digital print would come up, I haven't a clue. Is it because Lingua Lustra's released a few albums there? Perhaps, though it may have more to do with Cosmic Replicant's The Waves, his thus-far last LP, also appears on Exosphere. Yeah, let's go with that. If there's anything Bandcamp knows for certain, it knows I likes me some Cosmic Replicant, though why it wouldn't have recommended that instead of Subdream, who knows.

Anyhow, I sadly don't have much info regarding one Michael Schubert. Seems to have floated about online circles with sporadic releases for the past decade, this and A Tale Of Distant Stars his most consistent presence on a label. Mostly doing ambient, but some synthwave leaning downtempo tunes here and there as well. And boy, I do hope he finds time to make more, because this is some exquisite stuff.

Okay, sure, we're still in the realms of 'planetarium ambient', space music best set to images of deep star fields and flying through colourful nebula. It isn't anything new under the G-type star of one standard luminosity scale. I've heard plenty of stuff like this before, and likely will again. But yeah, this hits just a little sweeter, perhaps a result of those synthwave influences. Heck, we even get a little acid action in Prismatic Forest, inching ever so close to Carbon Based Lifeform's own space ambient outing of Twentythree. Never a bad thing getting an associative namedrop like that 'round these here parts, but Cosmic Replicant works in a pinch too.

So Namelesss Constellations is nice, good even. Yet I'm more eager to start exploring this Exosphere label. Yeah, cool one of my fav's and another enjoyed artist are there, but look at all these new names: Isostatic, Stellarium, Active Region, Remote Vision, Chris Russell, Herne von Bòrmanvs, Transponder (3), Hinterland (7). All I need to do is remember it exists next time a Bandcamp Friday rolls around.

New Order - Music Complete

Mute: 2015

Should I be doing a review of this? After all, covering the 'radio friendly' version of this album is rather redundant on my part. The 'extended mixes' of Complete Music are vastly superior to these cuts, even if they are fundamentally the same songs. And given the state of The Backlog That Won't Stop, coupled with my utter tardiness in keeping up with my blog this summer, can I even afford additional indulgences in what I'll commit fingers to keyboard on?

Probably, but damn, I feel New Order's presumptive swan-song deserves more flowers than it neglectfully got. And wouldn't you know it, we're practically nigh upon its tenth anniversary of release (September 25, 2015). No, I did not plan this out, but it's nice that my recent, lackadaisical attention to music writing turned out this coincidence of happenstance.

So why should you give Music Complete another chance, even if it doesn't sound exactly like their iconic '80s songs? How about the fact that this record even exists at all? It had been a decade prior when New Order had released their last album (Waiting For The Sirens' Call), and with the departure of Peter Hook, seemingly putting an end to the band. No one would have thought less of them if they'd rested on their laurels, maybe did some reunion tours playing out the old hits, fading off into the sunset. They certainly didn't need to hit the studio again, missing one of their key members from their earliest days. And even if they did, no one would have batted an eye if whatever resulted from those sessions was just acceptable at best, music that was serviceable but hardly a touch on their best work.

They especially didn't need to make one of the best records in their whole dang discography. But they did.

Dang, maybe that's why they haven't been back to the studio since. Whatever creative spark and serendipitous synergy that resulted in Music Complete (not to mention Complete Music!) simply couldn't be recreated, so why even try? New Order made their 'statement' album, that even after all that time, they still had enough mojo to knock it out of the park. What better way to put a capper on a career than with a near-perfect high note, rather than struggling to maintain that momentum long after. Hmm, sounds weirdly prescient, for some reason...

Anyhow, no need to go into actual music details again, since I already covered that in Complete Music. This 'review' is really just a friendly reminder that, hey, one of New Order's best albums does exist, and it's totally contemporary in style and sound. If you'd rather take it in as shorter, manageable chunks as heard in Music Complete rather than lengthier excursions, that's completely fair. Just don't be surprised if you start jonesing for those more. After all, when the good times are this good, you want them to last as long as possible.

N:L:E - Mushroom Land

Liquid Frog Records: 2021

The Super Mario Brothers movie tie-in soundtrack that was a few years too early! Okay, that's silly even for me, Juan Pablo clearly more interested in actual fungi realms than the ones found on the other side of city sewer plumbing. I think this was the first one he focused more specifically on one of the more dominant forms of that particular kingdom, prior releases Seeds And Spores and Organic Adventures only touching upon them in broad strokes. Which I guess should provide Mushroom Land with some additional talking points beyond the broad strokes I default to with N:L:E reviews now, but... eh...?

Actually, it has been a while since I last talked up Mr. Giacovino's primary project, at least one that wasn't part of some conceptual mini-series. You'd hope some unique elements would be heard if he wanted to assign these pieces their own fungal-based focus. A few, yes, and since I needn't spend a couple paragraphs going over who we're dealing with, maybe it's time for a classic track-by-track review? Yeah, let's go with that.

Opener Entrance sees N:L:E engaging in another session of ambient drone, with dubby treatments on distant bright synths having me reminded of Kevin Braheny's New Age works. As with much of Juan Pablo's work, he never dips all the way there, keeping things just on this side of tasteful meditation, but the vibe remains.

The three track run of actual mushroom music - The Mushroom Guardian, Mushroom Land, and The Red Mushroom - do that N:L:E thing of offering differing styles of a similar musical motif. In this case, ambient version, the ambient dub version, and the psy-chill version, respectively. I cannot deny I was mostly ready to write Mushroom Land (the album) as just more of the same as I've heard from N:L:E for so long now.

Fortunately, things take a more interesting turn in the album's second half. While we're still in familiar sonic territory, at least Nucleus (N Mix) brings the tone down to mysterious realms. Following that with Drought Season (The Mushroom Trip), a track that's quite uplifting in its understated dubby way (it's that lead, harmonic melody, almost sounding like Uilleann pipes) brings welcome contrast to the listening experience.

Mushroom Land finishes similarly to how it started, Mycelium Dream getting in on that Braheny sparkly ambience again, while Spores From Space goes for the minimalist ambient drone, a moment quiet contemplation for the future ahead. Certainly more benign than what most 'spores from space' sci-fi will show us.

Wow, now that I've properly given this album my undivided attention rather than just playing in the background, I've come to appreciate it much more. It's almost like this N:L:E guy is really good at this music thing, and best enjoyed by not bulk-buying his whole catalogue and force-listening to it. Not that it isn't worth it (there's a lot of good stuff for an exceptionally cheap price), just needs smarter consumption scheduling.

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.

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?

Rockers Hi-Fi - Mish Mash

Warner Bros. Music: 1996

Seems ridiculous it's taken me this long to pick up something from Rockers Hi-Fi. As the kick-off artists of the seminal Ambient Dub series from Beyond Records, you'd think they were a shoo-in for top spots on my Want Lists. And indeed, their albums are reasonably cheap on most second-hand markets these days, so hardly difficult in procuring something from their lengthy history. Ah, that may be the kicker though, the bulk of their music coming out under this handle, whereas I was introduced to them by their original name of Original Rockers. That disconnect has always kept them out of my mind as O.G. Ambient Dub artists, even though that's complete and utter bunk.

And it's not like I couldn't have grabbed their first album as Original Rockers - Rockers To Rockers. After all, it got reissued under their upgraded handle of Rockers Hi-Fi a mere two years later once they jumped labels. Yeah, but I wanted the Original Rockers, because, um, purity of memory, or somesuch (original tracks with original uncleared samples too, heh).

Whatever, I'm here talking up their sophomore album, Mish Mash, because I spied it among a Discogs seller's wares while browsing other material. Just because it isn't Original Rockers doesn't mean I can't enjoy some downtempo dub jams. This even has Going Under on it, Glyn and Richard's stab at trip-hop, and their earliest collaboration with future running MC Farda P. And it got a big ol' remix package done by Kruder & Dorfmeister, the far more famous duo who cannot be denied having drawn influence from the Rockers' brand of dubby downtempo vibes. Granted, many future downtempo dub doods would be influenced by them – it pays to be among the first setting the template.

Mish Mash though... Well, it is a bit of a mish-mash of an album. Absolutely you have the reggae inspired tunes, including an eleven-minute opener in The 8th Shade. They also try getting fancy in their sampling, a gentle harp melody quietly playing in Uneasy Skanking before erupting with one of those distorted bass leads. There's even some dabblings of acid jazz with Now I Deliver and 90 Degree Fuzzwalk, including spoken word lyrics from Phoebe One (apparently a London MC of some note). Cool, but as mentioned, all kinda' rambly from an album perspective too, lacking something heavier to stand out from the quickly overcrowded downtempo scene of the mid-'90s.

So I was quite surprised and thrilled to hear Mish Mash go down more techno roads in the back end of the album. Aw man, do I loves me some '90s tribal reggae dub techno. While I wouldn't put Rockers' efforts above those of PWoG and Bandulu, cuts like breakbeaty Paths Of Life, deep groover One With Another, and jungly Queen Of The Ghetto (Ghetto Defendant) are worthy companions to that specifically niche style. Not so much the funk-sampling Copycat (Follafashiondropoffaconkatree) though, but I had to namedrop it here just so you could see how ridiculous the track's subtitle is.

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders

Jive: 1993

The debate of what, officially, marks the true end of the Golden Age Of Hip-Hop is one that will forever rage to the end of... Well, not humanity, but at least whenever this style of music has completely faded out of public consciousness. However long recorded sound formats are maintained, at least. I'm more curious of what folks would consider the Last Of The Records of this era though, which I'm sure is just as contentious a topic as demarcating a hard-line border to its end. Having finally dug through A Tribe Called Quest's discography (scant though it be), I can't help but feel Midnight Marauders must be up there in the discussion.

Yeah, yeah, a record released late '93 couldn't possibly be such – didn't the Golden Age last well past that? Probably, and I'm not discounting the albums that came after. I feel like those are outliers though, releases that bucked against a general trend in how the culture was evolving rather than defining it. When people talk about records that 'changed the game' - specifically emphasizing street hustle and thuggery with crossover appeal - a lot of those came out in '94 and beyond. Whereas Tribe's third effort feels like a cap on the more thoughtful, conscious, almost innocent side of the genre. Like, when I think of a 'golden age' of hip-hop, it's when all styles were still on equal footing, peacenik lyricists having just as much presence as gangsta' posturing, with plenty of room for variants between.

Anyhow, Midnight Marauders moves the Tribe into slicker territory compared to The Low End Theory, which isn't surprising in the slightest. The previous record seemed almost a fluke of serendipitous creativity, fusing vintage jazz music with hip-hop rhythms. A trick so simple in concept, but so difficult in pulling off while retaining not just critical plaudits, but approving nods from the brothers on the street. How do you even follow that up?

Well, you gotta' maintain that jazzy vibe, no doubt. The cello bass action, the trumpet solos, the flute loops, and so on. Yet they don't seem so obvious and in the forefront as before, heavier emphasis on rugged rhythms and turntable scratchin'. Almost as though Tribe were fully aware of how aggro hip-hop was evolving, so doing what they could to keep pace without losing the laid back identity they'd built for themselves. And lo', it works wonderfully, once again striking a remarkable balance between sounding contemporary without dishonouring the music that inspired them.

Lyrical topics, then? Mostly treading familiar territory, Q-Tip the chill everyman while Phife Dawg gives us a taste of the seedier side of Queens without getting too deep in the gunk. Also, lots more shout-outs to fellow rappers, which seems almost novel given the growing competitive animosity the scene was cultivating at the time. Hmm, maybe that's why Tribe rather faded after this record, unwilling to get caught up in all that mamma-drama. Folks liked their rap drama, after all.

Natural Life Essence - Micro Ambient/MicroAmbient 2

CYAN/Liquid Frog Records: 2019/2021

Can't have a 'macro' without first having a 'micro'. I mean, you technically could, but generally speaking, folks start with the 'micro' before moving on to the 'macro'. Concepts of 'micro' are so common, it's permeated pop culture far more than 'macro'. Gander: microscope, microwave, micro-organism, microphone, Microsoft. Now try flipping those with a 'macro'. Don't work, do it? Instead we get telescope, or mega fauna, or comedy-sized microphone, or Evil Corpo'. Heck, even in units of measurement, we have micrometres and micro-litres, but no 'macro' variant, just 'mega'.

Even if we are to accept 'macro' as an opposite measurement against 'micro', where exactly does the demarcation end and begin? Size is all relative, right? Typically we take a normal human as the median, everything larger being 'macro', and anything smaller being 'micro', which is fair enough. Sure, its completely biased to our perspective, but we're the ones measuring things to our scale. Should we encounter something more dominate than the scale we use, I'm sure we'd appropriately adjust. Or not, stubbornness one of humanity's defining characteristics.

So where does that leave ambient music? Like, it's easy to point out when something sounds 'micro' versus 'macro' (or whatever specific terminology you wish to utilize) - if I was to play a 36 piece after an Andrew Heath composition, the contrast would be stark indeed. At what point does noodly synth drones pass from the 'micro' to the 'macro' though? Can't help but feel like that's one of those impossible lines to pin down, something entirely subjective to interpretation and perspectives of one's own experience with the music. If anyone can point towards The Perfect Ambient Track That Divides Between The Micro & The Macro, let me hear it!

ANYhow, Juan Pablo released the first Micro Ambient while he was still peddling his wares through CYAN, so fairly early into N:L:E's lifespan. I wouldn't really call the music offered on this album especially 'micro', mostly bright synth pads performed in a minimalist fashion – more meditative than anything. I guess compared to his regular output to this point, it's more pure ambient than his forays into downbeat, but even tracks like Micro-Path and Micro-Lake have enough of a rhythmic pulse to keep these being an entirely lowercase session. They sure wouldn't sound of place on one of the Macro Ambient albums.

You'd think Mr. Giacovino would reassess what a 'micro ambient' album should entail after exploring the 'macro' side of things, and he kinda' does with the sequel. MicroAmbient 2 is certainly more subtle compared to the first, though not without its own rhythmic moments too. Just, y'know, performed in a smaller fashion compared to most other N:L:E music.

Having listened to all these 'micro' and 'macro' ambient session, I find the first is the best, if for no other reason than it feels more like a complete album. Which makes sense, since it was released on a different label than Juan Pablo's own.

Avith Ortega - Metastasis

self-release: 2018

(a Patreon Request)

I've known Mr. Ortega for a while now. Not personally or anything like that, but the typical social media connection chatter that occurs when folks cross paths via similar interest groups. Felt it necessary to at least clear that up, just in case some folks claim 'paid for' bias or whatever in covering a Patreon request from him. Silly, I know, but there's always someone like that out there.

That said, I honestly had no idea what sort of music made up his repertoire. For some reason, I assumed techno, just because that was typically the sort of music most producers made in those circles – maybe something a little IDM leaning? Glancing at the cover art for Metastasis, however, that notion quickly evaporated. A style colder, then, perhaps reflective, moody, atmospheric. Ah, dub techno, right? Not right? Well gosh, better just listen to the darn thing.

So first track Dissemination Of A Belief is little more than a small slice of dark drone, the sort of thing that would open any number of Cryo Chamber albums. That's followed upon by Unfortunate Destiny, which is relatively moody as well, but with its trip-hop rhythms and warbly synth leads, really lends itself to a Boards-like vibe. Not so on the nose as, say, Faex Optim, but definitely sharing the same lane. So, wait, is Metastasis gonna' be a dark ambient excursion or a melancholic shoe-hop session? A little of both!

Actually, what this really is, is music inspired by the Silent Hill series. I've never played the games, but I know plenty about them through gaming culture osmosis, and with that knowledge going through Metastasis on a second playthrough, it makes total sense. All during my first run, I couldn't help but feel like I was listening to music from some sort of psychological thriller anime, what with most tracks lasting but a few minutes long. Tone would sometimes radically shift too, a caustic piece like An Erratic Entity jumping to something almost peppy and chipper in Palliative Room with but a brief spit of sonic doodling in Surrounding Dense Breeze between. As said, I've never played any Silent Hill, but I've played more than enough games to have situations change on a dime with music supporting such tonal switches.

Guess that brings the question whether you need to be a fan of Silent Hill to enjoy Metastasis. As someone who didn't make that initial link but still got the vibe regardless, I'd say no. That said, this album probably works best taken as a collection of pieces inspired and intended for an unrealized game or show rather than its own entity. At eighteen tracks long and not even an hour runtime, many sections will pass by as little more than window dressing or transitional snippets bridging the set pieces together. Like, holy cow, but am I ever wandering about some pre-rendered city backdrop as a low-polygon character while Morbid Curiosity plays out! No, wait, that's Legend of Dragoon.