Plaid - The Digging Remedy

Warp Records: 2016

The challenge with starting up a discography collection of long-running acts is figuring out where to start. Do you nab the agreed-upon classics first, then work your way down, with probable diminishing returns? Go in chronological order, from uncertain, interesting beginnings, through peak seminal works, then trudge through a long run of average material? Maybe go about it in an unconventional manner, say alphabetical order! But nay, most gather albums dependant upon two factors: availability and affordability. And it just so happens that the most available and the most affordable are either the newer albums, and the classics (thanks, re-issues!). Oh, and that one mid-career dog LP no one ever speaks of, found in every used shop and discount bin. Every legacy act has one of those in their catalogue.

Anyhow, Plaid, a duo I'm finally digging deeper with, as there's only so far one can go with Handley and Turner's Black Dog works. Under this moniker, they've released ten albums, two soundtracks, a couple collaborative projects, and who knows how many singles (The Lord That Knows All claims seventeen). Having only dabbled with their post-Dog music, I was stumped on which albums I should have if I want to become a Plaid fan. The fact they don't really follow conventional album traditions hasn't made things easier, most LPs looking like scatterings of whatever they're making at a given time, themes and concepts be damned. Thus I felt the blind purchase was best, gathering up whatever was most affordable and letting the London lads hit me for all they're worth, preconceived notions be damned. So if you're looking for a proper retrospective of Plaid's career, I dunno, instead ask that Wonky Angle guy to do it.

Of what I splurged on, alphabetical stipulation states I must review The Digging Remedy first, which also happens to be their most recent offering. Aw, now y'all expect me to review this in context with their greater discography, and here I am with no frame of reference.

Actually, I can say The Digging Remedy is exactly the sort of Plaid album I was expecting from a recent effort. Contemporary, but eclectic enough that it doesn't fit in any era. Lots of stylistic jumping, tunes mostly hovering around the three-to-four minute mark, a clear sense of producers comfortable with their tools and trade, showing little fear or restraint in exploring whatever sound they wish. An opener that has something of a John Carpenter vibe going for it? Sure things. CLOCK featuring big, super-stuttery chord stabs and dreamy melodies. Yeah, guy. A funky shuffle with The Bee? Shuffle away, boys. Something dubsteppy for the braindancers in Yu Mountain? I'll buy that. Treading back to techno's domain in Saladore? Let me get my robot on. A twee, acoustic ditty for a closer? No problem.

So The Digging Remedy delivered, but for thoughts on how it holds up compared to older material, check back later in the summer. Should have gotten to Not For Threes by then.

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Derelicts

Blood Music: 2017

Nope, this is still too weird to me, my brain still unsure what to make of Carbon Based Lifeforms being part of the Blood Music family. Leaving Ultimae Records, that's fine. It was clear Misters Segerstad and Hedberg weren't gonna' mesh with Aes Dana's shift into dub techno, so finding alternative outlets was inevitable. Maybe they'd follow Asura to the Altar Records camps, perhaps get chummy with another growing ambient techno print (Carpe Sonum, Databloem), or remain completely independent with their own digital Leftfield Records. The allure of vinyl out on the market though, it's just too much to ignore, and if any Scandinavian label has proven itself as the go-to distributor of niche vinyl, it's Blood Music. What I wouldn't give, though, to be a fly on the wall (a gremlin in the inter-tubes?) to hear the sales pitch on this particular marriage. “Oh yes, what your death metal label really needs is an acid-chill space ambient act – it'll totally bring in those lucrative psy-trance kids!”

Still, this new deal at least gave us re-issues of their old material, plus a whole brand new LP, their first in half a decade! (not counting some score work for the movie Refuge) Where might CBL's muse have drifted since the pure space drone of Twentythree? So many tantalizing paths they may have taken since, perhaps adopting trendier sounds like Ultimae and Silent Season's dub techno indulgences. Or maybe they'd explore completely new territory, venturing into the realms of shoegaze chill! I mean, they are technically on a rock label now, so it would fit.

Nah, guy. If anything Derelicts sounds like exactly what it is, a new album on a new label giving a potential new audience a general overview of their established style. It's a safe album in the Carbon Based Lifeforms discography, sticking to what's always worked best for them – downbeat songcraft, subtle acid, spacey pads, moving melodies – with a couple fresh ideas that even the eldest of fans can enjoy. Right, there's no MOS 6581 on here, but at least a little Potosynthesis. Really though, Derelicts has me thinking an album where Interloper and Twentythree were fused together – the immediacy of the former, and the spaced-out ambience of the latter.

Tracks like Accede, Derelicts, Equilibrium, Dodecahedron do the downbeat acid-chill thing, while 780 Days and Loss Aversion go for the wide-screen crescendos. Elsewhere, Nattväsen works another twee, spritely fairy-tale chill tune, complete with the requisite innocent-yet-creepy British child dialog. Mixed among them are plenty of pure ambient pieces, all still vibing on that Twentythree space drone, and mostly presented in tasty four-to-six minutes portions. If you need more though, closer Everwave is fourteen minutes of proper ambient bliss, so don't say CBL doesn't hook you up with the proper shit, yo'.

Dan and Johannes may not have evolved much with Derelicts, but it's still a fine album, their style intact and unique from much else out there. Especially on Blood Music. Blood Music...!

Global Communication - 76:14

Dedicated: 1994/1997

The only 'ambient house' album you're supposed to have, if you never really messed with the genre in the first place. Yeah, the Proper Critics of the music world have kind things to say about Adventures Beyond Ultraworld, Chill Out, Lifeforms, both SAWs, and a few others. For some reason though, Global Communication's lone LP always ends up in the 'best of' lists and 'Most Important Ambient Records' recaps from outlets that seldom give raver music much credit. Is The Orb just too stoner-goofy? Boards Of Canada too childish? Pete Namlook too dorky?

There's no denying 76:14 is a class album from Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard. Already finding some techno success as Reload, the duo took a stab at the trendy (lucrative?) chill-out market with this new alias, showing just as much skill fusing ambient and associated genres of old (Berlin-School, New Age ...yes, really) with the beatcraft and dubby components quite common with their peers.

For sure there's charming pure ambient numbers like 4:02 and 12:18, harkening to the days of early Eno and Hearts Of Space. Not content navel-gazing with the pioneers, 9:25 and 7:39 adds some funk-hop rhythm to the pleasant synths and harmonies on display, while 9:37 goes all spaced-out with distant, minimalist dubby pulses – some serious Fax+ vibes on that one. Elsewhere, 8:07 and 5:23 may as well be the same track, building on a simple, pulsing arp with complementing synths and melodies straight from the book of space-synth Tangerine Dream. And who can go a 76:14 review without mentioning 14:31, a composition time and again hailed as among the highlights of early '90s chill-out music (that metronome!). Overall, the result is an album that doesn't stray too far from what ambient music of the era offered, but uniquely engaging enough to stand out from an over-stuffed scene.

Good music aside though, I'm still left wondering what it is about 76:14 that always places so high in lists compared to everything else released in the early '90s. Make no mistake, there were a lot of LPs put out at the time, many with synths and sounds similar to what's on offer here. Tom and Mark at least show stronger songcraft compared to others, no composition coming off as meandering, noodly music for its own sake. That's a remarkable ability considering some of these songs' lengths (hint: it's the titles).

I dunno. The more I listen to 76:14, the more I suspect it became a favourite of Serious Music Critics because it didn't have the same level of hype as the Orbs and Aphex Twins. Nor did Global Communication have such marketing muscle behind it like Virgin or Warp Records, Dedicated more known for their alt-rock releases. And without a major label licensing their tracks out, the music didn't flood the compilation market either. 76:14 was thus an album that you got to discover on your own, and were richly rewarded for your exploration. Small surprise many got so attached to it.

Various - (~)

(~): 2000

TRACK LIST:
1. Delerium - Heaven's Earth
2. S.E.T.I. - Mare Crisium
3. One Dove - Transient Truth
4. Bindu - Light At Heart
5. Deep Forest - Twosome
6. Influx - Dreamscape
7. Lore Carson & Graeme Revell - Fall In The Light
8. Banco de Gaia - Touching The Void
9. Banco de Gaia - 144K?
10. Rhythm Method - Goa: Season Of The Monsoon
11. Young American Primitive - Expanding
12. Pentatonik - Movements: Part 2

This was my first attempt at an actual DJ mix CD, and boy howdy did I ever go gonzo with its presentation. Fancy fonts, super-slick paper, pretentious liner notes, plus multiple copies to hand out to friends and family. For I had a tool in my (roommate's) possession that would allow me to craft a collection of music on par with the Northern Exposures and Global Undergrounds of the world: a cracked copy of ProTools! Of course, I didn't know much about the software to do a whole heck of a lot with it, but it was enough to make long, lengthy mixes such as I'd never been capable of in my way early efforts with live CD mixing (before turntable mimicking jog wheels were much of a thing).

As I've not become some expert, famed creator of globally recognized mix CDs, this obviously didn't turn out as I'd envisioned. A glance at the track list is a good indication why. The idea was to tell a story, with each track a distinct chapter, alternating between uplifting and melancholic moods. In trying to appeal to two audiences (friends and family), however, I left both confused and uninterested with my effort.

The obscure, underground ambient techno sounds from S.E.T.I., One Dove, Influx, and Young American Primitive was too unfamiliar for the family folk, while my peers were disappointed by the inclusion of so many 'poppy' offerings from Delerium, Deep Forest, Lore Carson, and Bindu. Maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to sequence them in an “up-down-up-down” fashion. Maybe it would have worked if I'd had a larger library of music at my disposal. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

So while some choices are naff (really, Year 2000 Sykonee, two songs in a row from The Magical Sounds Of Banco de Gaia?), there are a couple clever moments too. I'll defend the mix between Twosome and Dreamscape to the day I die, plus that hard cut from Goa: Season Of The Monsoon into Expanding works great after teasing the YAP cut throughout Rhythm Method's build. And since my copy of the Strange Days soundtrack was lost in the Great Pawning Of 2002, this remains my only outlet in hearing that lovely tune Fall In The Light that closed the movie out. Holy cow, was that ever a great soundtrack. I should buy it again. Can't be more than a couple dimes on the used market these days.

ZerO One - zerO One

Waveform Records: 1998

I never realized this before, though it makes perfect sense with nearly twenty years (!) of hindsight available. Through the high times and the lows, it seems the two acts that have consistently kept the lights on at Waveform Records HQ is ZerO One and Sounds From The Ground, and now that I've taken in plenty of their offerings, I understand why. Kevin Dooley, he has a similar songcraft sensibility to Misters Elliot Jones and Nick Woolfson, striking that perfect middle-ground of competently made, easy-going, dubby downtempo vibes. Never have I heard anything from them that was bad, boring, or bunk, but seldom do they reach the upper echelons of their genre either. Very, very good, absolutely, some tunes doing that heart melting thing many downtempo acts have subjected the ol' blood pumper to. I can't say I'd ever recommend ZerO One or Sounds From The Ground as an introductory act to this scene though, their roles more like a hearty side-dish complimenting the main course. Buttery mashed potatoes to the beef-steak of Kruder & Dorfmeister and Higher Intelligence Agency. Yet, for as long as they've floated around each other's circles, it's surprising they haven't collaborated at some point. Strange, that.

Anyhow, it all starts somewhere, and for Mr. Dooley, that's with a two-decade old (!!) self-titled debut album. Amazing that the ZerO One brand has kept on keepin' to this day, as listening to this CD in the context of the year 1998, I'm surprised anyone gave it much notice. Ambient techno such as this hadn't been in vogue for at least a half-decade, vanguards of the sound like HIA and Autechre having moved on with their respective careers to other pastures. If you were making super-chill electro-dub, chances were you were adopting contemporary production tricks like glitch effects or retro synths into your arsenal. Not ZerO One though, his stuff simple and refined – no need for fussy gimmicks when your musicianship if perfectly fine as is. And Waveform Records, they like themselves some MOR ambient dub more than anything else. Keeps the label's followers sated while they indulge in leftfield shoegaze rock, or whatever it was that Liquid Zen dude was on about.

Now that I've reached the third paragraph, it's time for the obligatory particulars among the eight tracks that make up zerO One. Waken and Trust have nifty little acid lines playing throughout. Nothing To Fight About and Hell is Cooling Off playfully bounce along, while On The Threshold gets as close to ambient techno as I've ever heard Mr. Dooley go. If you want something straight out of HIA's cookbook, super-chill Mind Over Mind has you covered. And I can't complete this review without tying it back to Sounds From The Grounds somehow, so Seek Not Outside Yourself and I Like That reminds me of that duo, if they'd been brought up in electro's realm instead. Seriously, why haven't these two camps collaborated yet? I'm sure Waveform wouldn't mind in the slightest.

Various - Y9: Nine Years Of Psychonavigation Records

Psychonavigation Records: 2009

It's been nine years since this label released a 'nine years retrospective', and the tale of Psychonavigation Records has since been... colourful. At this point, the print's been reduced to little more than an outlet for Keith Downey's No Mask Effect albums, though they did finally release that Sea Biscuit reissue first announced over a year ago. Come to think of it, that's a tasty little ambient techno classic I wouldn't mind having. Bet I can find the Astralwerks version for a good price on Amazon these days...

As a label retrospective, Y9 is a curious item. Who celebrates nine years of business? No one, for no other reason than the Western world demarcates the passing years by powers of ten: decade, century, millennium, etc. Thus ten years of activity is a recognizable achievement, while nine years is not. Maybe that's unfair to nine, and really, any length of time maintaining a project beyond a couple years is an achievement of sorts, but there's this lingering sense that, if you could do it for nine years, why not push for that extra rep of ten? It's just over the horizon, one Gregorian calendar away. Did the Psychonavigation Records crew of 2009 not figure they'd make it to year ten for some reason? Simply wanted to buck the convention for the sake of quirkiness? Is there more significance to nine years than ten in Irish folklore?

Whatever you want to say about their business practices, few discount the musical talent Psychonavigation Records brought in over the years, and Y9 is as handy a showcase of that as any. It touches upon all the genres they dipped their fingers in, from the early jazzy trip-hop dabblings (Buckminster Fuzeboard's Local Tone, Aza & Eoin's Miles & Miles, P.P.Roy's Cop Theme) through the ambient and Boardsy nods (Gel-Sol's Your Day In The Sun, Enrico Coniglio W & J Theme, Seán Quinn's I'm Here (Twice), Ciaran Byrne's Curtain Moon).

And while acts like Roddy Monks and Eedl gave the label an early in with ambient techno (from which they'd almost exclusively continue promoting), back then Psychonavigation was commonly rubbing shoulders with shoegazey indie sorts like Soul Gun Warriors U-Mass and Tiny Magnetic Pets (I swear I've heard the tragic-twee pop of Spinning before). This stuff kinda' went overlooked as the label's lifespan carried on, but it does paint a picture of a print willing to take chances on just about anything flying under the radar. Heck, Rarely Seen Above Ground's Talk Back Crawl Back is some straight-up boppin' garage rock, featured on a double-LP outing called Organic Sampler, and primarily performed by one man, Jeremy Hickey. That's dope, yo'!

Of course, my musings on Y9 are irrelevant, as it doesn't appear available on any official outlets anymore, so odds are slim folks will find this CD. Some of the artists do have their own Bandcamp pages though, so if any of this music intrigues you, do 'em a solid and scope out those options.

Bauri - Vinkelvolten

FireScope: 2017

Bauri is Martin Abrahamsson, a very bearded person in the world of techno. He started out in the late '90s self-releasing material on his own Saundart print, but soon got picked up for an album called Slacker Journal by Lee Norris' original label Neo Ouija. The project then went into mothballs for a while, as Mr. Abrahamsson teamed up with Thomas Jaldemark as Donk Boys to release trendy minimal plonk-house. When that grew out of fashion, Martin dusted off the Bauri alias and joined forces with Nihad Tule for a run of Serious Minimal Techno on Drumcode.

Somewhere along the way, his earlier IDM-leaning works under the guise got picked up for compilation duty on the cancer charity label Touched, rubbing shoulders with many IDM and ambient techno legends old and new. As B12 also recently released music on that label, it follows that they came into contact with Bauri this way, and is how Bauri has an EP out on their Firescope print now. Or, y'know, Mr. Abrahamsson just heard about B12's label through the grapevine, and sent them some stuff for consideration. Occam's Razor, and all.

In any event, Bauri's come full circle with Vinkelvolten (translated to... “angle volts”? “angle revolt”? Angle-something, according to Google Translate... my Scandinavian is mayonasse). After all those years chasing the trends, he's gone back to the genre that's forever unbankable but always adored by die-hard electronic music connoisseurs: ambient techno. Unless he did at another point between this and the clinical dub techno of RISE586, though Lord Discogs doesn't suggest so.

Opener Warm Fuzzy Feeling makes no bone about what sort of vibe you're gonna' feel. The moment you hear that lazily bobbing acid bass and gentle melodic leads, all the ancient Apollo and Warp compilation memories will flood through your brain matter. Warm Fuzzy Feeling has more of a vintage Aphex-chill vibe to it though, whereas the following three tunes edge closer to the realms of Boards Of Canada. Maybe not so much in generating those hazy hauntologic triggers, but certainly in providing the laid-back trip-hop rhythms with an IDM aesthetic. Or is that a Plaid thing? I need to hear more Plaid to confirm.

Kirmumxyl is fairly simple, a nice beat with minor clicky-glitch effects complimenting a gentle melody. The titular cut goes comparitively abrasive on the rhythm end, with lots of click-clack and bleepy electro sounds, but the melody is no less chill than anything else. Final cut Amethyst is the closest Boardsy tune here, coming off playful and cheery, Bauri even throwing in playful skippity vocal snippets. It's certainly a far cry from the Serious Techno he'd been making, and might be a shock to those who only know him for that (or even Donk Boys) – pleasant or not likely dependent on your particular taste. For those who were vibing on Mr. Abrahamsson since the Neo Ouija days, however, they'll definitely enjoy Vinkelvolten a great deal. It's practically tailor-made for such tastes.

Various - Quinq

Spiritech: 2017

Just how insane is the alphabetical backlog I'm currently trudging through? This is my second 'Q' album in a row. You might recall that I only added a second 'Q' album to my entire collection just last year. This backlog has effectively doubled the quantity of something that previously took up ~0.13% of all the music I have. I've quite often gone on about “The Odds!” and whatnot, but this... this beats all, y'know? I didn't think there were enough 'Q' albums in my very specific niche of musical interests to make this happen – no must-have classics that I can think of at least. Plenty of producers, though.

Quinq was intended as the five year anniversary for Lingua Lustra's tiny yet robust digital label Spiritech. Not only a celebration of staying afloat in an overcrowded ambient market, but a statement of intent to keep the fire burning for as long as possible! Quinq is also apparently Spiritech's final official release, the label discontinuing operations almost right after it came out. Aw, now where will Lingua Lustra flood the market in perpetuity? Everywhere else, that's where! Seriously though, it's a shame they pulled the plug when they did, having just ventured into the demanding domain of physical production. Ah well, at least there's still their Bandcamp page, and its nearly eighty offerings. Not a bad five year run, that.

As per label anniversary rules, Quinq rounds up artists past and present as a showcase of the print's various talents, featuring fresh tunes unused in prior releases. At least, I assume they're unreleased, almost none of these tracks appearing in Lord Discogs' archives. Then again, nearly half of Spiritech's full discography remains unsubmitted to The Lord That Knows All – heck, I've uploaded these past few reviewed items myself. You'd think someone at Spiritech HQ would have been on the ball about that, but I guess Mr. Lustra had better things to do, like making his eighty-zillionth ambient piece.

You think I'm exaggerating, but four of the nine tracks on Quinq come care of ol' Albert Borkent. I guess it's appropriate, seeing as how he made up approximately 77% of Spiritech's output. Interestingly, they're all lumped at the end of the compilation, as though he's letting the other artists have some shine before taking us out with his usual, skillful ambient. Yeah, his music remains kinda' noodly and leans heavily on classic approaches to the genre, but is never boring, with enough field recording touches and dubby treatments keeping you engaged.

Still, I've heard more than plenty from him, thus it's the other artists that pique my interest. Olexa's Lyrical Love has shades of psy-dub, State Azure 's Mono has a chill trance vibe going for it, Ascendant's Sursamen treads into ambient techno's waters, while Data Rebel and Snufmumriko do their own droning ambient takes. Definitely want to check these guys out further. Might even break my 'Buying MP3s Iz Bad' rule to do so.

Lorenzo Montanà - Nihil

...txt: 2015

Now this is just ridiculous. Twice this has happened now? In the same backlog, no less?? Right, I won't deny I slightly gamed the results in this occurrence. I only realized I had a pair of albums titled Genesis after noticing them both slotted together, a funny coincidence things turned out as such and nothing more. When I decided it was time to start a KMFDM collection, however, my cursory research in where to dive led me to Nihil as an option, a title that struck me as curiously familiar. Oh yeah, that's because I'd recently sprung for a Lorenzo Montanà album called Nihil. What are the odds of that going down? If this blog focused on death metal and bleak drone, pretty good odds I'd say. Mr. Montanà don't play that way though, ambient techno with a modern sensibility his primary lane. For sure you could abstract some darker themes out of his various works on Fax+ and Psychonavigation Records, but that he'd go full “Latin nothing” never seemed an option where Lorenzo was concerned. That's dark ambient's domain, yo'.

Just as well, then, that Nihil is about as close to the realms of dark ambient as I've ever heard Lorenzo go. We're not talking Cryo Chamber levels, of course, but there is much emptiness in the music crafted here, about as pure an ambient album I've heard from Mr. Montanà, though he apparently went this route a year prior on Carpe Sonom Records too. Nihil comes care of ...txt though, released shortly before Lorenzo completed his time trilogy of albums with Psychonavigation Records, making him among an elite few producers to have music on four of the most prominent Namlook-inspired labels of recent history. Only one missing is Databloem.

As a debut piece for ...txt, Nihil is a rather unassuming collection of compositions: five tracks long, some breaching fifteen minutes, others barely scraping by in nine. Having primarily digested Lorenzo's IDM-leaning sounds, I have to say I was taken aback by the near-complete lack of rhythms throughout the album. Opener AfA has its first four minutes doing the space-drone thing, before long joined by a lonesome woodwind, with subtle synth leads finally giving the piece some momentum. Sprinkles of soft percussion is heard in the distance, but that's as far as rhythms go here. Elsewhere, tracks like Lake Of Vagli and Goqui opt for pure ambient drone, the former rather foreboding and menacing, the latter more tranquil and relaxing – a little Berlin-School melody in the latter-half of Goqui don't hurt either.

Then there's Arabesque Mist, with meandering, slightly askew ambience that has me thinking SAW II Aphex Twin, but with additional acoustic guitar strumming. And Geometric Quantum, finally offering a little rhythmic backbone for its burbling, dubby synth leads to cruise over. It then switches pace midway, going Berlin-School for the remainder. Or '90s Fax+, whichever you feel is the more Proper-Vintage take on this sort of sequenced, modulating, bleepy space-chill music.

ACE TRACKS: November 2017

So there's this YouTube reviewer I stumbled upon sometime in the summer, who I feel deserves what little extra attention my minuscule rub might provide, but I must admit I've been leery about doing so. I can't give him a glowing recommendation because I'm not entirely a fan of his format. That's not really a dig at him in particular though, as he utilizes a music reviewing format that many YouTubers do, including that Fantano dude who's apparently the biggest music YouTube reviewer around. Well, self-described “busiest” anyway.

Straight up, I don't like “individual looks at camera and talks about an album” vids. I get that it's easiest to film and edit, but I'm often bored and disengaged by it, even if the content within is interesting. I've watched, like, only two of Mark Grondin's reviews, but still frequently check out the transcripts at his Spectrum Pulse blog. I think it's because I'm spoiled by music reviewers from the Channel Awesome contingent (Todd In The Shadows, Rap Critic, Luke Spencer's Rocked), who splice in supporting images and video footage of the material they're covering. Or the round-table discussions of Dead End Hip-Hop, where ideas and opinions are bounced around among knowledgeable heads – probably the format I'd go with, if I ever got into video reviews. Point is, if you're utilizing video to do reviews, then utilize it. Otherwise, what I'm getting is little more than what can be achieved in the written form, and at least there I can enjoy it with my preferred internal monologue.

That all said, the reason I've kept tabs on this one particular dude is because he's doing something I haven't seen anyone else do: he's reviewing electronic music new and old, popular and obscure. Gee, that sounds familiar, don't it? Maybe not to such a ludicrous extreme as I've been doing, but I've got more than a decade on him, plus don't have to worry about things like filming and editing (much). I also don't necessarily agree with all his opinions, maybe only 40% of the time - that could just be a generational thing though. Still, the fact he's even attempting to cover such a wide range of electronic music is impressive enough. This past season he's tackled DJ Shadow, LCD Soundsystem, Sounds From The Ground, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Four Tet, ODESZA, Rezz, Paul van Dyk, Shpongle, Dynatron, Galantis, Bicep, Disclosure, Avicii, plus a retrospective of The Chemical Brothers' entire discography. Who else has indulged in such diversity? Not Resident Advisor, that's for sure!

Again though, I feel he still needs to modify his format into something better for me to give it a high recommendation. I think I've kept tabs on him just to see if he gets there, and I have seen gradual improvement. If you're not too hype on the channel though, I wouldn't be surprised. Oh, the name of it? The Wonky Angle. Yes, he's an Orbital fan, which gives him a very specific leg up on me in that regard: ~775% more Orbital coverage!

Gosh, that was a large tangent. Here's this past November's ACE TRACKS playlist:




MISSING ALBUMS:
Liquid Zen - Liquid Zen
Namlook • Montanà - Labyrinth 4
Namlook • Montanà - Labyrinth 5
Various - Home
Various - Beach House 04.02
Aythar - The God Particle

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 5%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Still anything Oak Ridge Boys related (no, really, is this leading to anything?)

I know I'm making progress in this massive alphabetical backlog of mine – 23 reviews in November dictate as such – but man, it sure feels like a drag. I started the month in the “G”s, and have only just finished off the “M”s. I look at the little CD rack that houses my “To Review” pile, and it's somehow still full! Like, it was full when I began this backlog at the start of October, and it just keeps refilling, no matter how far along I get. How does this happen!? And don't get me started on the new backlog forming behind the current one – had to overflow into my PS1 games rack to accommodate it.

Overall, this playlist is fairly standard where this blog's concerned. The usual ambient, ambient techno, dark ambient, house, techno, and trance, with sprinklings of genre outliers for fun. Will probably be similar next month too.

Autumn Of Communion - Metal

...txt: 2017

I know, I know. More music from these guys? Aren't there any other modern ambient techno dudes out there I should be checking out? What is this anyway, their fiftieth album in 2017? Actually, and surprisingly, just their first as Autumn Of Communion, though obviously Misters Norris and Chillage have kept themselves busy elsewhere. It's simply a case of me diving deep into some discographies all at once, playing catch-up over the course of a year. Creates an illusion of over-exposure, especially in this unorthodox order of reviewing the music I buy. Just be thankful much of their music's released in scarce quantities. Imagine if I actually could snatch it all up in one shot.

As with every Autumn Of Communion album lately, Lee and Mick went into their latest session with a goal in mind. And if you know what that goal specifically is, please tell me, because I sure haven't seen any PR stating what it is. Like, I know there's always the respectful nods to ambient techno of the '90s, all the while subtly pushing the sound down contemporary roads, but what was the inspiration for Metal? Music for its own sake? Eh, sounds good enough for me.

Actually, if there's anything that marks a difference in these tunes compared to prior albums (that I've thus far heard), it's a heavier emphasis on rhythms - real, propulsive electro beats, a couple of which one could even shuffle to. Not that this is an outright techno album by any means, lengthy stretches of each track noodling about in synth pads or bleepy electronics just as much as any typical AoC LP. With tunes averaging ten to thirteen minutes in length, however, that's plenty of room for blissy lead-ins, head-bobbin' peaks, and calming outros. It also gives each track sturdier trajectory, less about that free-form Fax+ music making than most AoC records so often go.

Thus we get tracks like opener Actinium (89, Ac, useful for radiation therapy) having pleasant space pads and twitchy bleeps, eventually giving way to dubby broken beats for a while as spritely melodies play in the background, followed by some minimalist synth play. Meanwhile, Tungsten (74, W, one tough bastard) is more chill, getting in on that spaced-out vibe while laid-back electro rhythms cruise along. Neptunium (93, Np, helps us make Plutonium) is all ominous and mysterious, with bleepy rhythms that have me recalling HIA if Bobby Bird had been less playful. Longest track Molybdenum (42, Mo, we'd die without it) gets bouncier in its beats, then switches to something more strident in the second half – feels like I'm watching a documentary of a microcosm doing amazing things. 'Shorty' track Manganese (25, Mn, steel and aluminum alloys, yo') is a charming, dubby outing of ambient electro, while closer Radium (88, Ra, cool glowy shit!) gets back on that strident beat, and includes the closest thing to a big, hooky 'anthem' I've ever heard from Lee and Mick. Planning on some festival sets, eh?

Namlook • Montanà - Labyrinth 5

Fax +49-69/540464: 2012

The 2-Channel Stereo mix? Yeah, it's pretty dope, especially when I have my trusty Sennheiser cans on. Sounds are nicely spaced apart, well layered, pan from side-to-side as warranted, fade in the distance when called upon. I dunno though, I feel like I'm missing out on a critical component in how this is supposed to sound in DTS 5.1 Surround, as Namlook and Montanà envisioned their compositions while jamming away in Pete's studio. Or maybe the standard stereo is the proper take of Labyrinth, and the 5.1 is just a nifty (expensive) bonus for those with cutting-edge audio gear available. The technology is still rather niche, after all, only hardcore audiophiles having much interest or means of experiencing it, especially when most music is still released as 2-Channel stereo. Maybe if earplug and laptop speaker technology advances to such a degree that 5.1 is universally achievable, then we'll see more 5.1 masterings. Until then, music production should do as 3D does for home movies: it's there to utilize, and maybe the flick makes some cool use of it, but it shouldn't be a requirement for a 'full experience'.

So here we are, already at the end of the Labyrinth series, cut entirely too short by Pete Kuhlmann's passing. Who knows whether he and Lorenzo would have continued doing these at the same rate, but I've no doubt they'd still be making these to this date if they'd had the chance. Mr. Montanà's proven to be a prolific producer himself, and whenever Namlook found a New Best Music Buddy, he'd ride that creative synergy forever and a day. Unless ol' Pete got himself a different New Best Music Buddy, we could have been up to Labyrinth 10 now.

As it stands though, Labyrinth 5 is the last, and a solid final entrant it is. For one thing, no weird, off-putting acid bassline noise! (yeah, still can't get over it) The opening Path XXXII works a spacey, chill electro vibe, with all the familiar elements from Misters Namlook and Montanà in play for over fourteen minutes. This actually makes it the second longest track of the whole series, the first being the nineteen-plus minute long Path I opening the first album – most Paths average six to ten minutes, showing remarkable restraint given Namlook's history of long, noodly compositions, no matter who he's paired up with.

Path XXXIII lets Lorenzo's beatcraft stretch a little, with complementing Moog synths and charming bell tones. Path XXXIV gets darker and dubbier, using droning pads and burbling acid to great effect. A chipper Berlin-School styled cut marks Path XXXV, while Path XXXVI brings things closer to contemporary vibes, save some extended guitar diddling from Namlook. As the final Path, XXXVII doesn't have much going for it, a simple, chill tune more in Lorenzo's style than Pete's. A fine wrap-up for this particular album, but kinda' limp as a conclusion to the series. Not that Namlook and Montanà planned it as such.

Namlook • Montanà - Labyrinth 4

Fax +49-69/540464: 2011

Yeah, I caved on these. How could I not? I've said plenty that finding first run Fax+ albums in circulation is extraordinarily rare, so when I heard Lorenzo had actual hard copies of his Labyrinth sessions available through Bandcamp, you bet I scoped what was left. What I hadn't counted on was these being double-disc albums, presented in traditional stereo and DTS 5.1 audio. I knew Pete Namlook had taken a fancy to this supreme audiophile technology on some of his works, but didn't realize it was every album he worked on from as far back as 2006's Air V + Jeux Dangereux. He'd even started re-issuing ancient Fax+ catalogue in this format, as seasonal compilations called The Ambient Gardener. Guess that's one way to make extra bank on old material, but man, does it pinch paying for a format you have no means of hearing properly.

Anyhow, Labyrinth from Namlook and Montanà. Lorenzo had debuted on Fax +49-69/450464 with Black Ivy in 2009, and must have made quite an impression with Mr. Kuhlmann. Not only did the two immediately start collaborating, and not only did the resulting sessions generate five albums in a two year time span, but it also put Pete's endless sessions with Move D on the back-burner. Talk about your combo-breakers! I'm not sure why Namlook took such an instant interest in Montanà; just liked the cut of his beatcraft? Perhaps, Lorenzo's minimalist, unfussy ambient techno glitch unlike much of what Fax+ had been promoting the previous decade. Not that Mr. Montanà's take was entirely unique itself, but it must have been enough of a fresh sound for Namlook's ears to get his inspiration fired up again.

I have to say though, if you're just jumping into the Labyrinth series with volume 4 as I have, it may be off putting. Opening track Path XXVI starts with a weird, rubbery acid bassline and sparse, empty rhythms that sounds more like Plastikman than either of the players involved here. It's nearly two minutes before we hear melody in support, including choir pads and those vintage spaced-out synths that's been a Namlook staple since forever. The whole piece plays out in typical Fax+ meandering style, though comparatively 'short' at only twelve mintues in length. The sounds are nice, but man, I can't get over that out-of-place bassline. Path XXVII starts off with one too, but at least its accompanying sounds fit the odd tone better – rhythms chug at a dubby, chill techno pace, and oooh, Pete's breakin' out the guitar jams for this one.

The remaining Paths mostly keep to a similar feel, all rather spacious, dubby, and minimalist without ever going into dub techno's dry sterility. Path XXVIII gets a bit funkier, Path XXX more chill-out, and Path XXXI works in dubbed-out synth stabs that echo across the channels (bet this sounds great in 5.1!), but overall Labyrinth 4 is far too sparse in music to recommend beyond fans of this sound or Namlook completists.

Aythar - The God Particle

...txt: 2017

It feels like all my recent Aythar coverage has been leading to this, The God Particle. Yeah, it's Mr. Tamás' most recent effort, but it's his first proper album on ...txt as well. Considering the rarefied air Lee Norris' print currently occupies within ambient techno circles (painfully limited CD runs help), that's no small feat. Not to mention the compilation Dream Of Stars from a year ago served as something of a primer to the Aythar stylee, should you have missed the Carpe Sonum Records debut or his prior self-released material. So while The God Particle is technically his seventh full-length, I can't help but think of it as the first in a new stage for his career: from outright obscurity to ambient techno mini-fame ...which remains pretty darn obscure nonetheless.

Right, I may just be building an idea of “Aythar's Next Chapter” in my head. For sure many artists develop their sound over time, but it's left me with an expectation that The God Particle should sound significantly different and evolved from earlier works. Let's hear what Mr. Tamás has up his sleeve in the right here, right now. Or from last year, The God Particle apparently digitally self-released in 2016 before given this spiffy CD remastering. Well, doesn't that just shoot my narrative in the kneecaps.

Fortunately, Aythar does add some new wrinkles to his sound with this album, so I'm sated on that front. Opener The Sirens Of Titan is all kinds of dreamy, spacey ambience, with sweeping distant pads, burbling arps and spritely synths floating about the sonic ether. The titular follow-up gets in on that ambient techno front, starting out with a minimalist pitter-patter rhythm before escalating, echoing arps join the fray. As the track develops, it threads the line between mint Berlin-School modulations and light IDM manipulations without ever committing to either side. Meanwhile, Return To The Moon gets its dubby psy-chill vibe on, coming off like a long-lost track that didn't quite make it on one of Ultimae Records' Fahrenheit Project compilations.

If it's not clear yet, there be variety on The God Particle, Aythar seemingly trying out various flavours of ambient chill music both new and old. Healing Nature reaches way back to the olden days of Hearts Of Space (without getting too deep in the New Age sap), while Arctic Night's near eleven-minute runtime flits through some good ol' Fax+ ambient techno, and kinda' reminds me of Asura's Galaxies in the process. Molecular Flow almost comes off like something Orbital might have made if they ever contributed to Apollo Records, Pulsar like a latter-era cut from Ultimae (dub-glitch, yo'), and Mission To The Stars... I'd make the Sonic Voyagers call-back, but that might be too obscure even for ambient techno dudes.

Front to back though, The God Particle is solid material, mixing old space ambient with psy-chill and IDM aesthetics. Perhaps not the most original sound on the market, but Aythar does it right by my biased standards.

ACE TRACKS: October 2017

Well hey, that was a productive month of reviews, wasn't it? Sure helps to set yourself a specific deadline to meet a goal, filling yourself with determination to see it to fruition no matter the cost. Only... no matter my fortitude in my hopes of reaching the end of the 'Z's by the end of the year, I don't think I'll make it after all. I mean, just look at this past month alone, twenty-six reviews, and just squeaking by the 'F's in that time. Dear Lord, 'A' had nine alone. Now imagine what a heavier letter like 'S' or 'T' are holding in this alphabetical queue!

One thing that struck me as curious is how front-loaded some labels ended up with this. Believe me when I say I've bought from a wide range of prints this past summer, some familiar, but others delving into for the first time. Under normal circumstances, you'd think material would be spread out more evenly, but I've essentially shot my load with Carpe Sonum Records and Dronarivm albums; meanwhile, nary a Cryo Chamber CD in this lot, to say nothing of a couple newer entries. Ah well, at least good ol' Waveform Records will pace out nicely in this run. For now, here's the ACE TRACKS for October 2017.




MISSING ALBUMS:
Jafu - Add To Cart
Grey Area - And Then The Clouds
The Oak Ridge Boys - At Their Best
Si Matthews - Aurora
Ajna & Dronny Darko - Black Monolith
Cyril Secq & Orla Wren - Branches
Autumn Of Communion - Broken Apart By Echoes
Aythar - Dream Of Stars
The Oak Ridge Boys - Favorite Songs

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0% (no, Oak Ridge Boys country doesn't count; Chemical Brothers are more rock than them)
Most “WTF?” Track: Anything Oak Ridge Boys. (this is all leading to something, isn't it?)

Yikes, is that ever a lot of missing albums. I think nearly a third of the tunes on this playlist aren't actually on Spotify (yet), but if you happen to have them in your Local Files, they should play just fine. Man, what are the odds of someone having Autumn Of Communion, Jafu, and Oak Ridge Boys in their directory though? 2 in 7.6 billion? I'm certain I've a doppelganger somewhere out in this wide wide, mad mad world. Maybe we'll cross paths on Kerguelen Island.

Biosphere - Cirque

Touch/Biophon Records: 2000/2016

I never thought I'd own a copy of this album. Hear it as some point, sure, as most things old and adored eventually find their way onto streaming services. I might have even bought a digital version - that pile of hay growing on my back can only stack so high. But lo', I stumbled upon an online shop that had actual physical copies of Cirque available, after which I remembered that Microgravity had seen a recent CD re-issue. It didn't occur to me that Geir Jenssen would do the same for his out-of-print material from Touch, but thank lawdy he did, Cirque finally within my grubby hands. Now, about those Namlook and HIA collaborations...

I get ahead of myself. Cirque came out in the year 2000, the fourth official body of work Mr. Jenssen solely released under the Biosphere banner. Not if you include his score for the movie Insomnia, that is. No, not the Christopher Nolan flick with Pacino and Robin Williams; the original Norwegian version from which it was inspired from. Yeah, I can dig the Biosphere stylee fitting with a murder thriller set in the endless day of northern summer. Prior to that, he'd released a little instant-classic by the name of Substrata, to say nothing of his seminal ambient techno work earlier. Tough acts to follow, but considering Cirque is held in the same lofty alpine palaces as its predecessors, there must be something to it.

As with Substrata, the gradual move from pulp sci-fi towards earthly tones is evident in Cirque. You still get that icy, isolationist vibe though, like out in the remote reaches of wintery European realms, though Alaskan can do in a pinch (Cirque has a dedication note to Christopher McCandless, a backpacker that tried to traverse the Alaskan frontier – it didn't go well). Thus we get titles like Nook & Cranny, Miniature Rock Dwellers, Black Lamb & Grey Falcon, Algae & Fungi, and Too Fragile To Walk On. Because if you're inspecting the fauna of Biosphere's homestead, you're likely not to find much else more riveting than lichen.

And like Substratra, that sense of remoteness is accentuated by the minimalist approach Geir applies his craft here. For sure the music sounds full and immersive, but so often impossibly distant too. Nook & Cranny lazily lopes along with a dubbed-out rhythm as gentle strums echo towards the horizon. Le Grand Dôme gets a little groovier and bassy in its beats, but is no less obscured by its dub treatments. Iberia Eterea works in some jazz shuffle with its cold, precise melodies. Even the brisk d'n'b rhythms of Algae & Fungi are strangely obscured by their distant tone, despite their reverb enveloping you as though you're hearing it inside an ice cavern.

Throw in some tasty 'traditional' Biosphere tunes as a bonus with the 2CD re-issue, and you've another mesmerizing piece of work in Geir's discography. Makes holding out for a physical copy that much sweeter for your truly.

Vector Lovers - Capsule For One

Soma Quality Recordings: 2005

If I had spotted it in an A&B Sound, or an HMV, or even a (*snicker*) Best Buy, absolutely I'd have bought Capsule For One no matter the cost. Okay, reasonably so – such a CD selling for over thirty Canadian bones is too steep no matter how much I adore an artist. Seeing it at the 'regular price' of twenty-five on Amazon always put this on the back-burner though, longer, longer, longer, until it became a rarity on the standard market, price jacked to stupid amounts of money. Why it never occurred to scope out Soma Recordings own webshop, I can't explain. I just assumed they'd do business through Amazon like so many others, but nope, independent and remarkably affordable. I swear this isn't meant as a plug for Soma, just an overlong ramble-excuse on why I skipped out on Vector Lovers' sophomore album for so long. A very lame excuse, I cannot deny.

Now that I have taken in Capsule For One, enjoyed its various toy-box electro melodies, bobbled my head to its various tech-house grooves, skitter-skatterd my brain to its sporadic IDM beatcraft, and double-taked to actual sung lyrics in Melodies & Memory (not even by a robot! Maybe a kawii cyborg tho'), one question remains: would I have liked this when it was new?

Don't get me wrong – if nothing else, Capsule For One would have been a grower, an album that I'd come to appreciate even if it didn't blow my mind right out the gate. I can't understate the degree to which Vector Lovers' did though. An album that featured music and ideas I'd never heard before. Themes that appealed to both my casual enjoyment of sci-fi anime and lonely, lovelorn walks through big cities. Electro and house blended in ways I always imagined they should be, not as they currently were (dammit, 2005).

Capsule For One touches on these too, but not with the same poignancy as its predecessor, Martin Wheeler making room for braindance electro instead. Overall, it's a more aggressive album, getting on that hectic Detroit pace than the easy cruise of neo-Tokyo. When those minty spritely melodies crop up, it doesn't deter the propulsive momentum of tracks like Arrival, Metropolis, Substrata, Microton (that bassline!), Nostalgia 4 The Future, Boulevard and To The Stars. Even the chill moments seem uneasy with their surroundings, less nostalgic for times past and more apprehensive for the future we venture into.

Vector Lovers can still craft a tune that pulls the ol' heartstrings though, City Lights, Empty Building, Falling Rain, Melodies & Memory and Neon Sky Rain carrying similar tones and sounds as found on his debut. They come off a little lost among the tougher electro and techno, however, like characters intended for a different series. They're fine in providing chill downtime, necessary refuges in an ambivalent cityscape. I'm just missing that amazing album narrative from Vector Lovers, is all. Spoiled for choice as always.

Autumn Of Communion - Broken Apart By Echoes

...txt: 2016/2017

The Broken Apart series marked a change of direction for the boys behind Autumn Of Communion (Lee Norris and Mick Chillage, if you're just joining us). After a fruitful run of self-titled albums, the duo consolidated them into a memory stick box-set (mini-box!) as a summation of that period of work. Not that they were done working together, new material still being released at a steady pace after. Can't say I've heard much of it yet, but ooh, what I wouldn't give to nab a CD copy of Polydeuces. Say, 15% above regular retail?

Still, even if the creative embers between the two remained nice and toasty, there had to be an itch to try something unique. What else was there though? They'd both released music on CD and digital, had taken the move into box-sets, and everyone goes the vinyl or tape route as a collectible option (as if ...txt CDs weren't 'collectible' enough). Maybe try their hand at an ultra-deluxe DVD 5.1 recording, or go stupidly obscure with 8-tracks? Instead, they opted for the neglected CD3, otherwise known as the mini-disc. I'm surprised there's even still a market for them, but the computer I built this year still has the familiar indent in its disc tray, so I guess there is.

Thus it came to pass that the next major Autumn Of Communion project would focus on utilizing this format. Two sets would be produced, consisting of five individual tracks running the full twenty-two minute length of five mini-discs, contained within a box-set apiece. Naturally, I totally missed the boat on Broken Apart By Sunlight and Broken Apart By Moonlight, but hey, Lee & Mick had a few leftover tracks that ended up on one of ...txt's Nagual mega-compilation memory sticks. That wouldn't do for AoC completists though, an even extremely limited amount of Nagual sticks produced. So, the two tracks were released separately as Broken Apart By Echoes, first as a digital download, then on CD with an additional track. *whew* I think that finally brings us up to speed on this project. How many words left do I offer myself for the actual music then? Oh dear...

Broken Apart By Echoes Pt. 1 does the grand, wall-of-sound synth ambient drone thing, gently fading off in the back third into something a tad less opulent sounding. There's also a twitchy, oscillating transistor tone running throughout most of the track. Pt. 2 is a calmer, soothing piece of ambience compared to the former track, a little astro-chatter sprinkled in here and there among the gentle tones and blissy melodies. Pressure your planetarium DJ to play this one at some point. Pt. 3 brings the dubby ambient techno beats for half its runtime, then moving onto more conventional space ambient stylee for a lengthy lead-out. Think I like this one best, just because there's more going on in it than the other two. All are solid offerings though, as can be expected from Autumn Of Communion at this point.

Si Matthews - Aurora

...txt: 2017

After years floating in the periphery, Si Matthews' mythical Tales Of Ten Worlds finally came to light in 2015. Alright, 'mythical' is laying it on a little thick, but it was a good album for fans of '90s ambient techno, the sort of release folks from back when would constantly name-drop as 'must have'. As it'd been gestating in cryostasis before seeing daylight, however, Mr. Matthews had plenty of time to tweak it to perfection upon release. What would he do for a follow-up though? One doesn't drop a debut album that makes it onto 'Best Ambient Of 2015' lists without some expectations in the sophomore effort. Maybe not so much in this particular scene, where commercial aspirations are comical, but a little preconceived hype never hurt no one.

Okay, it does, in that it ofttimes leaves one wanting in first impressions. Two years after Tales Of Ten Worlds, we finally got Aurora on ...txt. Given the work rate of some of Si's peers, that's quite the gap between albums, with nary a contributed compilation track elsewhere in between. Yeah, not everyone can be like Lee Norris or Mick Chillage with their fifty albums per year (roughly), but I suppose not everyone can dedicate their whole life to constantly releasing music either. It don't pay the bills so good as years past.

Still, with all that time between albums, Mr. Matthews no doubt had plenty in his reserves, tweaking and pruning material for a magnum opus on par with- wait, Aurora is only five tracks long? They're long tracks, the shortest around ten and a half minutes, the longest over eighteen minutes, but that still feels rather slight given the time between LPs. I was expecting more, and I can't imagine me being the only one.

What we do get is five distinct pieces of spacey, dreamy ambient techno that gradually evolve as they play out, never losing the plot along the way. Opener A New Star In The Night Sky is the soft, chill sort that has me thinking of stargazing on a Balearic beachfront. A Portal works a simmering, bleepy vibe as it cruises along comet tails. Aurora itself does the ambient/New Age thing that has me thinking classic Iasos. Celestial Orientation has Apollo-era ambient techno in mind, with dubby, bleepy rhythms from the book of vintage Biosphere, though never going so cold. Twin Pines brings things back to modern sensibilities in its use of soft pads and velvety timbre, wrapping you in a comfy, snuggly blanket of sonic bliss.

As for the airs of petty self-entitlement in this review, I'm just laying my personal bias right in front. It took me a bit to get into Aurora, for a whole litany of stupid reasons not the fault of Si Matthews. Now that I've actually given it the time it deserves, I do enjoy it, but man, was it ever hard letting go of those initial biases. Don't let them control you too!

Aythar - Astronautica

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016

Aythar is Tamás Károly Tamás, who- wait, his name without the middle is “Tamás Tamás”! Holy cow, that stupid joke in the Super Mario Brothers movie actually has validity! You know, where the Mario Brothers are in the cop office giving a testimony, and so not Italian Bob Hoskins says his name is “Mario Mario”, while John Leguizamo is Luigi Mario. Because they're the MARIO Brothers, get it, so Mario's full name must be Mario Mario! Cripes, was that movie balls. At least the theatre line-up was almost non-existent, a novel experience after Jurrasic Park was busting all the blocks at the time. Good God is this ever a horribly long, dumb tangent. I promise I'll never do this again ...until I do do this again. (hee, hee, 'doo-doo')

Where was I? Ah, right, Aythar. The alias itself first properly emerged around 2010, but Mr. Tamás has made music for much longer than that. Go to his Bandcamp, you'll find “rudimentary and amateur” productions from as far back as the early '90s. When he finally went more public with his works, it was still by independent means, self-releasing five albums in the span of a half-decade. Still, his ear for Berlin-School ambient and space techno was too good to keep under wraps forever, thus now finding himself on two of the most prominent labels promoting the stuff in Carpe Sonum Records and ...txt. This here Astronautica is his debut album with the former print, and his first physical release period. Well, if you discount old tape stuff never meant for commercial release, but if Aythar somehow becomes as adored as Boards Of Canada, you bet those items will fetch stupid amounts of money!

As the tasty retro cover art implies, Astronautica has its sights squarely on space music, the opening titular cut featuring Apollo 11 radio chatter. Yeah, we've heard these recordings many, many, many times in electronic music, but I never tire of 'em, always drawing me out into the cosmos with those intrepid cosmonauts. What I've also heard before are those opening synth pads, almost a direct lift from the old Pete Namlook track of Pulsar as Pulsation. Because if you're gonna' impress the Fax+ community, it's always best to crib from an obscure track, amirite?

Actually, it's a very tasteful crib, Mr. Tamás making it clear it's intended as an homage. I'll buy that. Aythar even provides a dancefloor version as the original Pulsation EP did, though clearly his Deep-Tech Remix is much sturdier than the hard trance of Transpulsation.

And the rest? Mystical Clouds does the beatless ambient-techno thing. Alien Worlds Part 1 goes widescreen ambient that could make AstroPilot gush, while Part 2 goes more blippy-bloopy as a Detroit techno guy would. Reactor and Space In My Heart stretch further back to the Berlin-School era, while Moon Landing returns to dubbier, Fax+ era ambient with more astro-chatter. All in all, definitely scope out Astronautica if your old-school itch needs a strong, satisfying scratch.