Dead Melodies - Legends Of The Wood

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Simon Heath may have rejected the Far-Flung Sons Of Camden Town's Dead Cities concept, but perhaps that completely fabricated recounting of mine implanted the seed for a need of artists with 'Dead' in their handle. Yes, surprisingly, Cryo Chamber has lacked any such aliases. For a dark ambient label, that just won't do! How can you have a print wheelin' an' dealin' in the macabre-fantastica without at least one musician explicitly dedicated to the dead. It doesn't have to be dead organism or the like - even conceptual death will do, like the death of civilizations, or the death of rational thought. It's touched upon here and there in albums, but Tom Moore finally brings a straight-up, no bullshit handle where music goes to die. So, he's a brostep producer?

But seriously, if you're looking to make 'anti-music' of a sort, where melodies are intentionally deconstructed into a moribund state, drone in its purest sense is one of the genres that does the trick nicely. Experimental IDM wank too, and whatever noise arsonists are up to as well, but I highly doubt we'll ever see such stuff on Cryo Chamber. Well, maybe a few noise moments, if the concept calls for it. Nothing like scaring the bejeezees out of someone like a screaming banshee after a long period of disquieting pads.

Tom Moore had released a couple albums under the Dead Melodies moniker prior to this debut with Cryo Chamber, and is part of a post-rock drone duo called Understated Theory, mostly releasing material on the Norwegian print Sparkwood Records. No guesses as to what music they peddle, though some of the artist names there do bring a smile to my face (Nuclear Whale; The Elephant Frame; [MIIIIM]; Above, Convenience Store!). Dronny Darko has also released a collaborative album on Sparkwood, so perhaps that's where the Cryo connection comes into play. Or maybe not, but having all these disparate dark ambient labels interwoven like Lolth's web is something I quite enjoy believing.

Legends Of The Wood is as clear a concept title for an album as you'll ever find, Mr. Moore intent on taking you on a tour through some ancient, old-growth foliage. From A Trial Of Crows And Blood, upward upon On Devil's Hill, past The Hooded Nine (always cloaked figures, always), bear witness to A Malevolent Rising and a Wretched Masquerade, though finally all ebbing into a Beautiful Coalesce. Great titles, all of 'em!

The music itself, such as it is, mostly relies on sustained guitar tones, drawn out into moody dirges as various field recordings provide context in this journey, especially sounds of water sloshing about. Huh, are we in a forest, or a swamp? Some of these tracks are even rather calm and soothing, such as the opener with a fire crackling and spacious ambient timbre making me recall way-early Vangelis. Overall, Legends Of The Wood is a very droney album, but more than makes up for it in pure atmosphere.

Alphaxone & Dronny Darko - Forsaken

Cryo Chamber: 2017

I thought this would be it. After many, many, many months, almost seven deep into our current calendar year, I'd finally (finally!) get out my first review of a 2018 release. I mean, there's precedent for it, my last couple years of critic-blogging establishing a pattern of sorts. Lollygagging on the current stuff, but not that Cryo Chamber hit, oh no. They're almost always first out the gate, since they're a label I keep most up-to-date on, with albums released at such a steady clip you're never left wanting for material. Odds have always been in their favour that they get the FIRST glory, and wouldn't you know it, this particular release features two artists that have even been part of those pole positions, Dronny Darko and Alphaxone. Can you blame me for having it stuck in my head that this collaboration album between them was a 2018 release then, and would be my first review of a release in this year? But nay, that is not the case at all, Forsaken rather coming out mid-2017, and it's only now that I've actually gotten around to it. Damn it, though, I could have sworn it was a Dronny Darko album that would do the deed, and something regarding 'cryo' at that. I'm forgetting something...

Anyhow, I got this album because how could I resist a pairing of these two? Alphaxone has built a career on crafting droning soundscapes leading you into alternate dimensions (or space), while Dronny Darko crafts droning soundscapes for when you're already in these alternate dimensions (or space). It's a match made in heaven-Hell (or whatever that labyrinth cenobite realm is), and I couldn't wait to hear what weird, strange, twisted, perverted, conceptual head-space these two would take me. Fiery towers in washed-out graylands? Deep explorations of quantum realms where only Event Horizon madness dwells? Ooh, such tantalizing, very fantasizing!

But nay, we instead get something... conventional? Like, Forsaken does have a definite narrative, but it isn't anything specific, at least to the degree 'Xone & Dron' have done before. The track titles are mostly broad, generalized moments of an inward journey - Immersion, Enter The Gates, Dissolution Of Thought, Approaching, etc. - but there's no indication of where are why this journey is taking place. The assorted imagery in the CD package also shows pictures of foggy city-lines and sail masts, which gets my 'dark ambient boats' triggers all a'twitter, but still doesn't clue me in any further exactly what's forsaken here. And speaking of the CD, why do the tracks have fades between them? It's clear this album is a continuous mix, but the fades makes it sound like we're taking a commercial break between tracks. I can only assume this was an oversight.

All that nitpicking aside though, the music (such as it is) perfectly captures Alphaxone and Darko's droning strengths, involving you in a weird journey of discordant tones and strange sounds. I just wish I knew exactly where I was going.

A Cryo Chamber Collaboration - Yog-Sothoth

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Some time ago, I quipped that, in their relentless rate of output, Cryo Chamber would eventually release an album for every letter of the alphabet. As yet untapped, I even suggested 'Y' being a likely contender in their near future, perhaps for one of their massive collaborative projects - there had to be some Old World denizen with a name starting with the letter they could draw inspiration from. Indeed there is! Not that I knew it existed, mind you, my knowledge of Lovecraftian lore generally gleaned from pop culture references (you know you got it made when South Park is riffing on you). Still, when the label announced the release for Yog-Sothoth, you bet I double-taked.

This... had to be sheer coincidence. Like, the artists involved must have been working on the project well before I joked about such an occurrence going down, right? But, what if it's not? What if, somehow, someway, I influenced these men and women into taking this creative path? How can that even be possible? Do my words transcend space-time, existing outside our universe to shape the trackless river of our plane of reality? Might a future-Me have used my time machine to whisper intents upon unsuspecting composers? What else might I do with this awesome and terrible power? What must I do...?

*ahem*

I skipped out on the last Cryo Chamber Collaboration because, at 3 CDs long, Nyarlathotep came off overstuffed for what I'm willing to take in these concept projects. Yog-Sothoth pares things back to a tidy two discs, but includes a nifty booklet with artwork, quotes, and scriptures within a hard-cover case – makes you feel like you're opening an ancient tome. Sixeteen of the twenty artists involved I've covered in some capacity, so here's a list of those that are new to my eyes: Gydja, Kristoffer Oustad, Darkrad, and Neizvestija. They range from Norway to New Zealand, truly encompassing what it means to do collaborative work in a globally flat digi-space.

Yog-Sothoth itself is regarded as an even Older One than that attention whore Cthulhu, existing outside our universe as an omnipresent gatekeeper between realms (insert whatever 'gatekeeper' meme you wish). The music here generally reflects that, in that each artist doesn't so much lead you on a continuous journey, but offers glimpses between different moods, tones, locales, and vistas. Though I'm hardly versed enough in each musician's style to tell who's piece is currently performing and when, there are noticeable transitions throughout each hour-long composition. Dark and foreboding passages will lead into droning soundscapes with field recordings, sometimes followed upon by minimalist melancholic melodies, and so on. Some transitions of tone are so apparent, Yog-Sothoth honestly at times comes off more like a compilation or continuous mix of individual tracks rather than a singular piece of varying elements. Which solicits the question of, on a conceptual level, where does the former end and the latter begin? Depends how many people are involved in the ongoing creative process, I suppose.

ACE TRACKS: January 2018

Four months now. Four. Months. Ef-Or. Nearly one-hundred reviews later. And yet, I'm still not finished this alphabetical backlog! Man, remember when I first started it? I 'member, especially those first few albums, wandering about the local neighborhoods in the first days of autumn, taking in all those... *checks October 2017 reviews* Those Dronarivm albums, and those Mick Chillage works, not to mention an honest-to-God dubstep album. Why, that far back, I reckon no one reading this blog even knew what an Oak Ridge Boy was. It all feels so long ago now, so very long ago, and we're still far from the finish line. Three more letters of the backlog, then it's on to the final three letters of the alphabet, then after that it's... hmm, I'm not entirely sure. Do I keep right on going into albums that feature numbers in their title? Explore other ideas for review material? Perhaps finish other outstanding projects first? Offer myself a little break? Actually, I've plumb forgotten how to 'veg', downtime these days mostly just me having a breather between work and writing. OCD's rough that way. Meanwhile, here's the ACE TRACKS for January 2018.


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Ras Command - Serious Smokers (The Best Of Ras Command)
Simon Scott - Silenne
Seaworthy - Sleep Paths
Geometry Combat - Tanz Der Schatten
Legowelt - TEAC Life
Rainbow Vector - This Way

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 5%
Percentage Of Rock: 5% (though it sure is soft)
Most “WTF?” Track : Daft Punk - Drive (you've probably forgotten this is how they first sounded)

So TEAC Life isn't on Spotify, which on one hand I'm kinda' thankful for because sorting those additional nineteen tracks would be mind-numbing. Plus, with all the Soma techno on hand, having that much techno would go redundant on this playlist. On the other hand, they're all dope tunes, techno that everyone who likes techno should hear – ah well, there's still the Bandcamp option.

Overall, a funny playlist, this one. Techno dominates, but every so often, it gets broken up by a little synth-pop ditty, or a rapping Japanese lass, or a '70s hit you've heard thousands of times on your local radio.

SiJ - The Time Machine

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Did you know SiJ does solo albums too? Of course you do, because I've said as much in the past, though even these aren't technically always solo either. When Vlad Sikach initially launched the project, he had help from a couple associates, including Anna Vorobyeva on synths and Alena Perepadya on field recordings and photography. Hey, the design aesthetic was just as integral to the SiJ manifesto as the sound aesthetic, so it counts! Anna and Alena have remained a consistent presence, but many others have joined Vlad for collaborative work under the SiJ banner.

For instance, the Way To Dream album is loaded with 'em. Alena's there! Anna's there! Textere Oris is there! Robert Rich is there! Creation IV is there! Leon Milo is there! Owl is there! Zebraphone Collective is there! Toiletrolltube is there! AMK, jmggs, & Sala are there! Even Endless Meloncholy is there – the producer, not the mood, though given this is a dark ambient project, probably that too. Point is, whether it's Vlad on his own or with a bunch of help from his friends, the SiJ name can represent a lot of people if need be.

And so it goes with The Time Machine, which looks like a solo album from SiJ, but definitely is not once you dig into the credit notes, many tracks having an extra hand in the production. Anna's back for some synth action on two pieces, as is Textere Oris on one. Keosz pops up to add some flute tones to Vision Of Hell (credited as a sample, so maybe not him specifically), plus a bunch more I'm not immediately familiar with. However, Vadim Grin (Dream Twice), Stanislav ToSo (Particula), Tanya Lieben, and Anna Sikach have all worked on prior SiJ releases, so Vlad's at least in familiar company with this outing.

The Time Machine is about taking a trip through time, obviously, letting the listener in on some sights and sounds of past and future. And since this is a dark ambient release, you bet it's gonna' be all grim and desolate and self-reflective. Can't wait to hear how SiJ sucks you in with some creepy, ominous foreshadow with opener Forwards In Time. Uh, wait a second... this, isn't creepy or ominous at all. In fact, it's downright calm and lovely, like ambient-proper. Yeah, there's a tiny amount of twitchy field recordings in the background, but man, I'm feeling right blissed out by this opener. Are we sure this is a Cryo Chamber release?

Nah, guy, the rest of the album playing out as expected with the players involved. Minimalist, barren, melancholic ambient music with plenty of field recordings to spare. It's all absorbing stuff, though I almost have to skip the first track to vibe on it, Forwards In Time putting me in such a conflicting headspace compared to what follows. Interesting that the peaceful closer Shrine Of Dark serves as a nice contrast though, as if SiJ has sandwiched his bleak soundscapes in hope.

Tholen - Sternklang

Cyclic Law: 2007

I've been collecting CDs for a quarter-century now, a good two-thirds of my lifespan. In most of that time, they come in standard jewel cases or digipaks, with an occasional spiffed-up box-set thrown in for good measure (cardboard, vinyl, wood). About the oddest things I've gotten were the metal tins from Fabric and the recycled jackets from Silent Season. These past couple months though, my God have the packaging variations ever exploded. The weird plastic cases from Spiritech, the stitched cover photos from Slaapwel, not to mention a truly bizarre offering in Wednesday Campanella's Superman (soon...).

Of all my recent hauls, however, Cyclic Law has proven consistently inconsistent, running the gamut from thick hardcover photo book (Vortex's Morloch), ultra-shiny digipak (Psychomanteum's Oneironaut), and now this for Tholen's Sternklang. What is this, exactly? I've never seen anything like it before, a simple six-panel cardboard sleeve, with an extra inch of height. Dear me, that'll never fit in a CD tower! Good thing I've long since converted to open shelving for music storage. Impracticality aside, I cannot deny it does provide better cover art.

Enough about packaging – what do we have here in Tholen's Sternklang? For that matter, what does sternklang even mean? *seven... minutes... later...* Geez'it, that Wiki page sure is filled with highfalutin music theory. Apparently “Star Sound” is a three-hour piece composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen, to be performed in an outdoor setting and involves five choirs, intoned harmonic sounds, ninth partials of the overtone series, and in proportions of the constellations Boötes and Coma Berenices. I... think Tholen's piece just uses the title as his own point of inspiration. It's definitely not as long as the Stockhausen composition.

According to Lord Discogs, Tholen – previously Rostiges Riesenrad to the folks at Grottenvolk Rundfunk – hasn't released much, this being his debut album under the alias. It's an ambitious outing, a single seventy-one minute long track taking up the CD, though the Bandcamp option breaks it up into three Parts. It probably could have been indexed further, clear segments and passages different from one another as it progresses through, but then you wouldn't be forced to hear Sternklang as a whole, as intended by the artist.

Throughout it all, Tholen takes you on the sort of dark, cosmic sojourn I've come to expect from Cyclic Law (and, er, Cyro Chamber): droning, cinematic, claustrophobic, empty, enthralling. Most of the early portions are taken up by spaced-out dark ambience, with ghostly whispers and distant sounds echoing from the infinite black. Things grow more tense by Part II, with heavier emphasis on abrasive guitar tones and piercing sonics. Part III returns to the drone for a while, indulges some minimalist mechanical menace (no, I don't want to go into cryosleep!), eventually capping off with prominent forlorn synths and melancholic melodies, as though whatever sights we saw on this cosmic journey forever fade from memory, lost to the ravages of an indifferent universe. So it goes with dark space ambient, doesn't it.

God Body Disconnect - Sleeper's Fate

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Definitely a surprise that Bruce Moallem returned to the story arc he started in Dredge Portals. How much is left to tell about a man lost in a coma? We've already explored the past memories, the self-reflections, and the damning judgments. All that remains is the final climb up Jacob's ladder, but the last track off Dredge Portals made it clear the narrator wasn't destined for such a fate any time soon, trapped in a forever loop wandering his own psychosis. And perhaps that still remains, though taking in Sleeper's Fate, I get a sense there's conclusion here, a new path taken behind a previously locked door. Literally, one of the many field recordings being a key unlocking a door.

Y'know, I'm not so sure I can call what God Body Disconnect does with sounds is field recordings. When most producers make use of such sounds, it's as sonic dressing, ambient canvasing, and other 'aural painting' analogies you may think of. You may hear babbling brooks or falling rain or stampeding wildebeest, but it's all in service of setting mood and tone for the composition being presented, seldom a narrative device. Mr. Moallem, however, is so precise and focused in his use of such sounds, it's like I'm watching a movie play out without watching anything on a screen.

The opening titular cut, for instance, places us back at the scene of the narrator's attack. There's falling rain, distant thunder, radio chatter from nearby cop cars, a screaming ambulance arriving, and through it all, a dying man's haggard gasping breath, his throat choking from blood welling up through his mouth. And I'm right there, in this man's viewpoint, as vividly as though watching such images play out on celluloid. Only after this scene plays out do we get some music playing, a sombre piece of strings, pads, and echoing guitar, though even this feels like a 'credit roll' portion of the album before we return to the actual film.

Sleeper's Fate essentially plays out like this, long stretches of 'foley recordings' (can I call this a thing?), with the narrator traversing empty corridors and past hazy memories. It's not too dissimilar to Dredge Portals in that way, but whereas the atmosphere of that album could feel damning and claustrophobic, there's more sense of openness here, lighting once shadowed recesses of the narrator's state of mind.

To put a finer point on it, the whole reason our viewpoint character is stuck in a coma is because, no matter how much he thinks he wants death, he just can't let go of life. Sleeper's Fate is about finally giving in, and the release that provides. The back-half of this album features the most music, almost all of it the sort of soothing ambient that's antithetical to a dark ambient label. Has our narrator awoken from his torturous Hell? Is he walking in the literal Garden Of Eden? Guess we'll have to wait for a third God Body Disconnect for an answer.

ACE TRACKS: December 2017

That's another Gregorian calendar done, and there's one thing I can say I'm truly disappointed in this past orbit of Sol. No, not American politics, I got over that almost immediately – if anything, things could have turned out even worse if they didn't have some of the densest idiots running that daycare circus. Some other projects kinda' stalled this year, but that's not entirely in my hands, so I can let that slide. And while the world has had its ups and downs, I'm strangely okay with how things are heading. Maybe it's blinkered optimism or complacency, but for all the rough, nasty crap folks had to endure, I feel like it was as though lancing a festering boil that had grown into a vicious tumour, a necessary operation for things to get better. It was a year of shitty people over-reaching with their shittiness, and actually getting called out for it, some even suffering consequences from it. It's a start.

No, what irks me the most about 2017 is it was somehow my least productive year, at least with regards to this blog. Of these past five years, I've generated the least amount of new reviews, and while that's partly due to taking a month off, that doesn't provide my only excuse. Hell, I did the same in 2014, and still cranked out a bunch of reviews then. And yes, other projects did take up some time, but I was still taking college classes in 2013, which were just as much a distraction as anything. Really, I got nothing, the lower review turnout just an inexplicable happenstance of the year 2017. And of course, this means I'm somehow still not finished with my regular alphabetical run. This decade though, I promise!

Anyhow, here's the ACE TRACKS for December of 2017.


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
WestBam - The Roof Is On Fire
Various - Quinq
SiJ & Item Caligo - Queer Reminiscence
Out Of The Box - Out Of The Box
Various - Nu Balance
Lorenzo Montanà - Nihil

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 4%
Most “WTF?” Track: If not Oak Ridge Boys again, maybe Wednesday Campanella, just for how unexpected it is.

Yep, three months later, and the alphabetical backlog is still chugging along. I've only just hit the 'S' portion of it now, and trust me, like it's regular queue brother, 'S' is a beast – will take me at least half a month to get through that. Then it's onto 'T', 'U', etc. I'd like to say I'll be finished with everything by spring, but, y'know...

Phonothek - Red Moon

Cryo Chamber: 2017

If you asked me in early 2016 whether I'd buy Phonothek's second album sight-unheard, I'd have wondered who you were even talking about, the duo not making their debut on Cryo Chamber until mid-2016. I get the inquiry though, how first impressions can go a long way in determining future purchases. Simon Heath's dark ambient label has provided me with a lot of first impressions, more as a means to sate my own morbid curiosity of what sort of music lies behind any particular piece of cover art. Some discoveries have led me digging further into artists' discographies, but most are one-and-done deals for yours truly. That's not a bad thing, time devoted to music exploration limited as is – after casting a wide trawling net, you pick the ones you want to keep, and return the others to the cold, dark sea.

I was totally expecting Phonothek to be one such cast-off. Yeah, the cover art for Lost In Fog has a cool looking tower and all, which was enough for me to scope them out – might it be some sort of Mordor-drone? Beyond that, however, I didn't expect much, the album itself not especially hot on the tongues of dark ambient specialists compared to other frequently name-dropped artists. I sure as heck would never have guessed I'd buy a follow-up album the moment it was announced. There's just something about that trumpet playing though, so alluring, so hypnotizing... so seductive, like an enchantress' mesmerizing dance against a grey, windswept backdrop. Or an apocalyptic Hellscape of a world torn asunder by venturing too far across the Roche limit, in this particular case.

If Lost In Fog dealt with a near-future of barren wastes and emptied societies, Red Moon takes us even further, whatever remnants of civilizations reduced to a feral state even as their world literally collapses around them. Cool concept, bro, though I don't think Phonothek quite reach that level of 'cinematic drone' in this offering. When I think of the end of all that there is, I expect to hear that distinct crushing drone Cryo Chamber is so often replete with across their releases: distant rumbles of earthquakes, or collapsing mountainsides, even cascading thunder storms time-stretched into unearthly roars. Red Moon comes off rather small in scope, less about painting grand canvases and more about relaying the mood and tone of those existing in such a clime'. And boy do those trumpet solos ever portray a bleak, despairing atmosphere indeed.

Again, Phonothek's approach to dark ambient is more in line with modern classical and freeform jazz, utilizing various instruments in unconventional ways to create abstract music. This can range from simple piano, trumpet, woodwinds, or strings, to filtered percussion, orchestral swells, ghostly whispers, or whatever samples are causing that burbling, churning sound throughout. And once again, I find this all strangely hypnotic and entrancing, as though Phonothek are snake charmers, and I'm beholden to their swaying suites of desolate dirges. What, me worry of impending doom?

Gustaf Hildebrand - Primordial Resonance

Cyclic Law: 2005

Dark ambient set in the impossible emptiness of deep space? Love it! Droning emptiness painting a portrait of lost civilizations of times long past? Fascinating! Derelict husks of aquatic transportation? That's... oddly specific, isn't it? Yes, and I've come across a few instances of such cover art, all of which I'm strangely drawn to. I don't know what it is – maybe growing up in coastal climes? - but seeing abandoned boats rotting on dry land is some of the most captivating, harrowing imagery I've seen associated with this genre of music. How did these vessels get there? Was there once a large body of water that dried out due to over-usage or climate change, like Lake Chad and the Aral Sea? What of the folk that once lived on those shores and rode in these vessels, where have they gone? Was there a once prosperous people that thrived off these waters, only to be brought to ruin through their own nearsightedness? All these boats, once integral parts of a functioning society, little more than skeletal, moldy shells, soon reclaimed by the land surrounding them. Throw in a backdrop of two moons, well, you got my attention indeed, Mr. Hildebrand!

Gustaf made his debut on Cyclic Law with Starscape, the sort of dark space ambient I probably would have picked up from the guy if the boats of Primordial Resonance hadn't caught my attention first. Also, I don't know if there's a CD option left, as there wasn't with this particular album either, only discovered after purchase. Eh, it's been over a decade, so no fault on Cyclic Law's part there, but at least update your Bandcamp pages with such details, eh?

Primordial Resonance takes things down to more earthly realms (because boats!), dealing with ye' tragic tales of townships torn asunder from our mortal coils. Think that's a pretentious wording of phrase? One of the tracks on this album is called Ruins Of A Failed Utopia. It features Gregorian chants, among other things like desolate emptiness and abandoned, sickly, grinding machinery continuing to chug and churn long after their utility, usefulness, or reason for existence has any meaning or bearing. Makes me want to leap into this piece and spit some WD-40 into the poor contraptions.

So yeah, Primordial Resonance is the sort of dark ambient that's all about decay and desolation, though each track offers a little variety between them so it's not one long, constant depressing drone. Omega Continuum has distant wails as though the area's deceased still carry through the wind. Post Oblivion Fields adds wind chimes to foreboding menace, eventually retreating into empty caverns. The Hollow Structures... dear God, is this where the Cenobites hang out? And what's with the crying baby at the end? Wanderer Of Strange Spheres is more subdued in its drone, almost giving the listener a chance to reflect on the scenery they've just witnessed. Me, I'll be shivering in one of those derelict boats, thank you.

Psychomanteum - Oneironaut

Cyclic Law: 2011

When browsing about for music, it's always the album art that sells me on it. Who's the artist or what's the genre generally comes in a close second, but now that I've started digging through dark ambient's coffers, those points are almost irrelevant. Yeah, there are many thematic variations throughout this scene, but the associated art won't go out of its way to trick you – if there's a post-apocalyptic city-scape or weird demonic creatures on the cover, you're gonna' hear stuff that paints such pictures in your headspace within. As I've got a major weakness for the Cosmic Fantastical, it's always the space themed albums that get my attention first, and you bet I couldn't resist one of fancy colourful nebula dancing in the forever black, serving as a hairpiece for a disembodied, statuesque head. I had no idea who Psychomanteum was, exactly what an 'oneironaut' is, or specifically what sort of dark ambient I'd be dealing with. There's something spacey going on though, so that's good enough for me.

Turns out I'd dealt with this duo after all, even name-dropped them a year ago now. A short-lived two-piece outfit, Psychomanteum was helmed by Robert Kozletski and Jakob Detelić, the former of which you might recall has a newer solo project called Apócrýphos. If you don't recall, eh, don't feel bad – I totally forgot about it myself. It's hard keeping track of all these dark ambient dudes and their main projects, side-projects, collaborative projects, and alternate dimension projects. If I end up with a copy of Shock Frontier's Mancuerda Confessions from Malignant Records, and somehow still forget it's another release from ol' Robert, I deserve a right smack upside the head.

As for Psychomanteum (that name's a lot harder to type than you'd think!), they made their debut with this Oneironaut, provided a few additional tracks to various compilations on Cyclic Law and Kalpamantra, then disbanded a mere year after, Mr. Kozletsky drawn to other interests, leaving poor Jacob behind (he has no other Discoggian credits). Seems a lot of dark ambient disciples lament this dissolution, many enthralled by the scant offerings they provided with their lone LP.

I can buy into that, Oneirnaut the sort of mellow, droning meditative style that suits the album's theme (dream walking and all that). Tracks flit between melancholy reflection and empty nothingness, at times calm and soothing, other times leaving you feeling naked and bare against yourself. Along with the subtle synth pads and moody drone, flutes, ritualistic chants, sparse rhythmic percussion, and dubby, unearthly echoes add to the overall canvas. A lot of stuff I've heard before, true, but Psychomanteum show wonderful skill in crafting their sonic journeys, more musical than most drone artists go without being overtly obvious about it.

It's dark ambient that's not about challenging you with macabre perversions or existential nihilism, but serving as a guide for your own lucid explorations. Indeed a shame this is all we got from them.

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.

Vortex - Moloch

Cyclic Law: 2016

It's difficult wading through these bleak, murky dark ambient shores, many upon many labels having sprung up this past decade offering grim, morbid, desolate sound-spaces for our troubled times. Like, I doubt the '50s had as much depressive music to offer (lots of weird 'art' noises though). Still, I've name-dropped Cyclic Law a few times, the Montreal/Berlin label having shared some talent with Cryo Chamber, most notably Kammarheit (Cities Last Broadcast) and Apócrýphos. Where's the fun in digging into another label for familiar musicians though? Nay, let's unearth some new cats! There, that album with the neat cityscape cover art. Ooh, a lovely photo booklet is included. Gotta' love those juxtaposed pictures of Manhattan decadence and decay.

Vortex (26) is the side-project of Marcus Stiglegger, who first made his mark in musicdom with :Golgatha:. Lord Discogs lists the group as “German apocalyptic and ritual folkband”, an apt descriptor for a lot of dark ambient. They had some minor success, even releasing a couple albums on Cold Meat Industry, but have been quiet most of this decade. Seems Vortex has taken Mr. Stiglegger's attention now, Moloch his fifth album under the project.

The concept of this album is simple enough: Marcus strolled through the Burroughs, and found himself inspired by what he saw, especially the neighbourhoods everyone so vividly remembers from '70s sleaze masterpieces. He had a sense that the City itself was a deity demanding soul-crushing sacrifice to exist within its realm, perverting your humanity just to make ends meet in an unforgiving clime'. Having lived in a City for a while now, I know the feeling - Vancouver's a cruel mistress sometimes, who'll chew you up and spit you out into the harbour if you don't know what you're doing.

As a dark ambient album, Moloch hits most of the standard points for a concept such as this. Rounding up about a half-dozen keyboardists, electric guitarists, and his own additional treatments (percussion, voices, ...flute?), Mr. Stiglegger coerces an industrial score for wandering a twisted vista. Opener City Of Steel sets the tone with abrasive drones before emerging with a gritty, orchestral dirge filled with distortion, as though marching through dead, urban squalor. Towers Of Glass breathes menacing drones while gentle synth tones offer a tranquil respite from the horrors surrounding you, but even these are eventually subsumed by the ever-present murk.

Most tracks play out in similar fashion – drones painting inhospitable pictures of urban existence, but Skyline stands in stark contrast to everything else. Even if the opening piano is unsettling, it's still more melodic than most of Moloch's been. It soon fades though, an omnipresent drone lulling you into a strange comfort of being, before a vicious guitar squall erupts, like a feral beast from the shadows - yet even that eventually takes on a comforting familiarity. Not those harsh, clanking noises at the end though, bursting forth out of nowhere, knocking even the beast back to its shadows. There's always a bigger tower in the City.

Atrium Carceri - Kapnobatai

Cold Meat Industry/Cryo Chamber: 2005/2017

So Simon Heath reissued a bunch of his early Atrium Carceri albums on CD, which is nice, as those initial Cold Meat Industry runs are well out of print at this point. It kinda' feels like the project's come full circle now with Cryo Chamber, the label first set up, among other things, to offer digital downloads of those albums. Then it grew to include new projects, other artists, creative challenges, and a little extra swag on the side too. I suppose it was inevitable that Simon would rescue his original works for another run of CDs, waiting for a time such that their Cold Meat rights expired following that label's closure. As such, only his first three have been physically resurrected on Cryo Chamber, Cellblock, Seishinbyouin, and Kapnobatai. I've a feeling Reliquiae's gonna' take a little longer.

Heath's Atrium albums on Cold Meat were heralded because they blended older, industrial dark ambient aesthetics while suggesting a larger canvas than creepy weird music for its own sake. Such is the case with Kapnobatai, an album I picked up because I just gotta' find out what's the deal with that bizarre cover art. What is that, a mask? A demon head? An alien skull? The title itself offers no real clue, as it refers to cloud-dwelling, meditating shamans of Scythian descent, typically by way of burning cannabis flowers. The liner notes relay the inner monologue of an embittered individual as he surveys a land he and his ilk once ruled, only to have been overthrown by lesser sorts, now mocking him as they pass by. Pretty sure that was the whole point of crucifixions. Still no closer to discover what the deal with that cover image is though.

The opening tracks of Enclosed World/Liberation and Behind The Curtain Of Life definitely does bring me back to the early days of Delerium, with choir pads, unsettling synth sounds, and disembodied dialog samples. (yes, Delerium is about my only firm frame of reference when it comes to old school dark ambient) Impaled Butterfly takes things a step further, offering up copious amounts of anime dialog. I keep thinking it's from Cowboy Bepop, just because there's a brief harmonica tone among the sci-fi sound effects, marching rhythms and distorted pads. It probably isn't though, just because I'm fairly certain Kapnobatai isn't supposed to be a sci-fi album. Definitely plenty of industrial body-horror goings-on in later tracks though (Synaptic Transmission, Monolith Of Dreams, Stained Pipes, Thermographic Components, The Corrupter).

While there's elements of the 'cinematic drone' Heath would implement with greater frequency in later albums, Kapnobatai is still mostly playing by Cold Meat Industry's O.G. industrial rules. Which is fine if you prefer your dark ambient claustrophobic, dehumanizing, and horrific. Cryo Chamber showed me there was another way, one that could get introspective and strangely calming in the face of a bleak world (also, grand narratives!). Yeah, the label was hardly the first to do this, but it at least opened the door for yours truly.

Paleowolf - Genesis

Cryo Chamber: 2016

Holy cow, what are the odds of this happening? Yeah, I've come across a couple instances of it in this endless excursion through my music collection. Eurythmics and Michael Mayer both had LPs called Touch, Moby and Märtini Brös have albums called Play, and Labyrinth is shared by both Juno Reactor and the Namlook-Montanà collaborations (teaser!). It hasn't come up often though, which is interesting in of itself. Either my 1300+ sample size isn't large enough to draw conclusions, or musicians are more creative with their album titles than I thought. Still, that doesn't dissuade the astounding fact that, within the very small sample size of 'Sykonee's 2017 Summer Purchases', I ended up with two albums titled Genesis. There's even a tribal vibe between the two, but the similarities end there.

Paleowolf is another dark ambient prospect called up from the farm leagues for a Cryo Chamber tryout. Heh, not really – it's actually a side-project from one Scorpio V, who made a couple critically-hailed albums for Cryo Chamber as Metatron Omega. That one leans into the ritualistic side of the genre, and Paleowolf does as well, though with a significant primeval bent. We're well before any human civilization, folks, times about as tribal as we've ever been. Not even a series of ravaged ruins to explore in this primitive setting – mankind probably hasn't even figured out how to make a fur hut yet!

The Paleowolf project is four albums deep now (ooh, that Megafauna Rituals has nifty artwork!), first appearing on Echoes Of Koliba Productions with Primordial. Genesis is his second album, adding Cryo Chamber one more sub-micro genre of dark ambient to its ever-expanding canvas. Gotta' fill all the niches, amirite?

Actually, the trick worked, as I cannot deny being at least curious about this stuff. How it relates to other forms of dark ambient? What sort of sounds might creep in when the genre has a heavy reliance of twisting recognizable field recordings into perverse parodies? Whether Cryo Chamber's record of 'cinematic drone' would translate well in a primordial realm, placing me among hunter-gatherers as we prepare for fire rituals, mammoth slaying, and cave bear evading. Oh, of course the latter would be the case!

So you get lots of tribal drumming throughout Genesis, some placing you in the thick of things, others echoing off distant valley mountains obscured by Ice Age fog. Plenty of deep-throated, meditating chants too, with an additional war chant for Hunter II. Some compositions use primitive instruments, like horns in Archaic Eon, and a didgeridoo in Eastern Tribes. And yes, a couple electronic sounds crop up as well, mostly in the form of droning tones, treated effects to voice chants, and subtle melodic touches from synth-pads. Still, they don't distract from the overall feeling of hanging out with neolithic peoples, eating charred Megaloceros meat, and wondering whether death will come from a sabre-cat attack, a competing tribe from over the mountain, or that strange wall of ice inching closer every day.

Ajna & Dronny Darko - Black Monolith

Reverse Alignment: 2017

I never intended to get into dark ambient. It was, at best, the type of genre that I happened across if an established act I enjoyed dabbled in it (Delerium, Juno Reactor, Bill Laswell). Still, I found it interesting, some cursory research into prominent albums intriguing me for sampling, but never would I have considered immersing myself into the scene. Then along came a happenstance crossing with Simon Heath, discovery of Cryo Chamber, and you all know the rest of the story. After two years of strictly following this one label though, I've grown itchy to hear if there's more out there I can vibe on. Is there ever a lot out there to sift through though, a scary intimidating domain one can easily get lost in, giving up in despair from the futility of it all. I need some guiding hands, artists within the Cryo Chamber fold who contribute elsewhere. Ah, Dronny Darko, he'll do.

I've gone over Mr. Darko's history well enough, so let's touch upon his partner for this particular project, Ajna. A bit of a busy-body the past half-decade, he's released nearly twenty digital EPs, a few albums, and has material on labels such a Petroglyph Music, Kalpamantra, and... Treetrunk Records? Heh, unusual name. Do they by chance specialize in 'roots' music? Haha, haha, ha- oh, it's experimental ambient (described as fractal/generative... g'uh?), phonography, and field recordings. Okay then. I can expect Mr. Ajna to be one of sorts of dark ambient composers then, with lots of spacious, empty drone, with subtleties drawing you deep within your sub-conscious. Sounds like a right proper pairing with Dronny Darko then.

Indeed so, the two collaborating a couple time prior to the release of Black Monolith. In fact, CD1 of this double-discer consolidates a couple of their singles released on Petroglyph Music, the three track EP Facing The Void, and the single track EP 1000 Years Of Cryosleep. At over forty-three minutes of empty desolation, broken up by intermittent discordant sounds and forlorn tones, the latter definitely feels like you're locked away in forced, perpetual slumber.

I'm not sure whether this was all intended as a prelude, but as those singles created a mini-narrative to hang off (essentially falling into a black hole, surviving the trip through cryosleep), it's nifty that Ajna and Darko followed it up, with Reverse Alignment presenting it as a two-CD feature. As expected, disc two of Black Monolith is what we find on the other side of this one-thousand year trip to the unknown. Seven tracks, each a perfect eight minutes in length (oh, Oleg), offer mysterious drone, claustrophobic sci-fi sound effects, and that general sense of unease one gets when exploring realms unfamiliar and unknowable.

Yeah, it's all rather 2001: Beyond The Infinite - what can you expect of an album titled Black Monolith? That sequence remains ripe ground for creative sorts, and while Ajna and Darko are treading concepts well explored, their complementary styles provide another worthwhile entry in this field.

Cryobiosis - Within Ruins

Cryo Chamber: 2013

Another day, another artist on the ever expanding Cryo Chamber roster. Seems I can't go a few months without talking about someone for the first time on this label. Heck, in a way, I've already covered nearly all of them in one of those Cryo Chamber Collaboration albums, but it seems I'm on an unconscious task to give Every. Single. Artist. on Simon Heath's print their own special spotlight too. Including this one, I've now talked up twenty-three artists with music on Cryo Chamber, and there's still a bunch more I've never mentioned (Aseptic Void, Dark Matter, Wordclock, Metatron Omega, Paleowolf, Hoshin, and more... oh God, are there ever more!). Is this dark ambient outlet becoming its own version of a black hole, seemingly sucking in all manner of musicians into its bleak gravity well? No, that can't be right – I've come across quite a few other labels with just as massive of contributors to their discographies. Cryo just has something that keeps me poking about more, wondering how this new name or that overlooked producer might offer a different spin on the genre's morbid aesthetics. Also, sweet, sweet CDs to buy. Gotta' have ma' physicals!

Cryobiosis isn't exactly new to the Cryo family, in fact one of Mr. Heath's earliest recruits to the Chamber house. Cristian Voicu first debuted with From The Depths on GV Sound, yet another dark ambient/drone/experimental net label that's harboured such talents as SiJ, Songs From A Tomb, Morbid Silence, Astral & Shit, Radio Noiseville, and... Primus? Uh, anyway, ol' Simon liked Mr. Voicu's voice enough to invite him over for an album deal. He's released two since then, Within Ruins the first of them. It's fairly easy to hear why the Cryobiosis stylee caught on with Mr. Atrium Carceri, both having an ear for those post-apocalyptic tones and atmosphere, exploring abandoned dwellings in decayed husks of civilization. It's just, going by this album, Cryobiosis doesn't quite have the same sense of narrative flow as Atrium Carceri does.

For sure his craftsmanship with each track is easily on par. Opener Enthrall has all the morbid drones, discordant pads, and skritchy sound-effects that have you feeling like your wandering the broken rubble of old buildings. Some tracks offer piano calm while fumbling through dripping ceilings and puddles of black water (Frigid Silence, Recollection, Forgotten). Others ramp up the claustrophobic field-recordings and forlorn tone (The Corridors Beneath, Corroded, As The World Decays, Departure). And some pieces are pure depressive drone as you wander aimlessly through the dark (Murkfall, Through Debris).

Where am I going with this though? What exactly am I seeing? Is there a story behind the scenery, or does it exist only for its own sake? There's merit in such an approach to the genre, but I cannot deny being spoiled by many Cryo Chamber releases crafting distinct stories guiding me through more than vivid, unrelated imagery. If that's all Cryobiosis set out to make though, then Within Ruins definitely succeeds there.

Halgrath - The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance

Cryo Chamber: 2014

Halgrath already has the distinction of being among the first artists invited into the Cryo Chamber fold, her Out Of Time album released when the label was almost nothing but Atrium Carceri and Sabled Sun releases. With her sophomore effort for Simon Heath's print, she added another first to her accolades: an album containing cover art with actual colour! Green trees! Blue skies! Contrasting white, making the colours pop! Alright, it's still a tad muted and shadowy, but compared to the typically bleak, black, grimy brown, blood-red grayscale most Cryo artwork entails, The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance is practically hot neon. Strangely, I haven't seen another Cryo Chamber album utilize such a colour-scheme ever since. Has Halgrath claimed a monopoly of healthy green trees for the label's cover art? Guess it pays to call 'dibs' on such things.

While Out Of Time was a fine showcase of Ms. Agratha's various takes on dark ambient's myriad moulds, at twelve tracks it had a tendency to wander as an album, its loose 'Limbo' theme never quite coalescing into a strong narrative. On this one, she's pared things down to a tidy eight, and boy does it make a difference. For sure she still indulges herself from dark drone to ethereal ambient to orchestral Occult, but all in service of this album's theme.

With a title like The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance, I was expecting something über-epic, like a tale of clashing countries and cultures, leading to cataclysmic battles and the dire consequences of such devastating destruction. Then I remembered two things. One: this is only eight tracks long, hardly enough space to parlay such a narrative. Two: this is dark ambient we're talking about, and the genre almost never depicts a grand, Game Of Thrones styled opera. But boy does it ever love detailing the apocalyptic aftermath, especially as told from the perspective of a lone survivor.

That's not what this album's about either, though. Nay, The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance is yet another introspective piece, and apparently a rather personal one at that. Essentially a retelling of dramatic events in one's life ('war') and the struggle to overcome them to some semblance of self-healing (“acceptance”). In the hands of a lesser artist, this would probably come off sounding trite and cliche, but Halgrath is easily up to the task of telling this tale. There's moody, droning openers (Acceptance Of Inner Self, Consecreation), melancholic ethereal pieces (Afflatus, The Opposite Mind And Mutuality, Cold Breath Of Mountains), mournful piano dirges (Epic Journey And Oblivion), and meditative ambient closers (Deep Immersion And Repose, Your Soul Is Just A Particle Of Stars). Along the way, you get operatic chants, discordant strings, claustrophobic field recordings, and even occasional tribal drumming. Yeah, I'd say that runs the gamut of a Halgrath album.

Out Of Time was good, but The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance is great, offering a tantalizing sampling of everything dark ambient provides in a focused journey.

Ugasanie - White Silence

Cryo Chamber: 2013

We've had too much sunshine on the West Coast this summer. Even the nearby Sunshine Coast is looking up at fat ol' Sol and asking, “Dude, let up a little?” And no, blotting out the sun with a thick haze of forest-fire smoke doesn't count. If anything, it makes it worse, scattering the sunlight such that it heats the surrounding air even more, creating intense humidity even us city slickers find suffocating. Why can't it be like the clogged atmosphere of a deep, cold winter, sun rays reflecting back out to space from whence it came? If I can't experience a winter in the summer, I can at least vicariously live one through another album from Mr. Malyshkin, and all his bitter, frozen ambient textures.

This is the first of (currently) four albums Ugasanie released on Cryo Chamber. Yep, took me this long to finally get to where it all began with this partnership, but an important one nonetheless. For most of its initial years, Simon Heath's print promoted the standard dark ambient styles most associate with the genre: post-apocalyptic mood music, industrial bleakness, psychosis soundtracks, with a dash of the ethereal occult for flavour. White Silence added an additional layer to their grayland tapestry, that of remote isolationism within bleak, frigid settings. It's an aesthetic that others had explored in years past, but it was Cryo Chamber's first foray into such frontier, establishing a fearless streak that no dark ambient domain was off limits, no matter how fringe.

Of course, you're wondering if Yet Another Ugasanie Album is worth your time, especially if the previous ones I've covered are entirely too niche in topic for those only just dipping your ankles in dark ambient's onyx waters. Studies in northern madness, aurora borealis meditation, and weirdness in Tunguska are find and dandy, but sometimes folks just wanna' wander the tundra wastes on a sight-seeing tour. Spoiler: there's a whole lotta' nothing out there, maybe a stray bird call or wolf howl piercing the emptiness.

Still, as White Silence was an introductory of sorts for Ugasanie with the Cryo Chamber posse, it's only fitting that the music within is rather broad in scope too. Track titles like Permafrost, In The Northern Lights, Under The Cover Of The Polar Night, and Tundra Fogs usually help set the tone of most other albums from Mr. Malyshkin, but here they're simply another piece of the polar picture he's painting for us. Even the opening track, The Island Of Terrible Death, doesn't lead us to a specific event, merely taking us to the titular shore for a look-see before moving on. Ooh, creepy and ominous.

Another thing that separates White Silence from other Ugasanie albums is his use of melodic timbre. Yeah, it's still that minor-key dark ambient synth pad, but it's more than the typical atonal drone he does in most of his works. That just might make this album his most accessible, if anything in this scene can be deemed as such.

ACE TRACKS: May 2017

You know what coincided nicely with me listening to all that jazz, man? Finally finishing up a series that has quite the love affair with jazz music itself, not to mention a whole lot of other Americana: Cowboy Bebop. I’d catch snippets here and there over the past two decades since it came out, but never sat down with a proper DVD set and binge-watch the whole thing. And to be honest, I still haven’t! Sure, I borrowed the series from a friend, but that was last autumn, and only this past May have I concluded my session.

Because I know these twenty-six episodes is all there is to the series (plus a movie), I wanted to savor each and every one, stretch the experience out as though watching it like a regular TV show. And by g’ar, I pulled it off too! For sure I was continuously tempted to hop to the next episode, the next disc, just to see What Happens Next, but my resilience and fortitude paid off, Cowboy Bebop now having settled into my memory membranes like a fine wine rather than a cheap beer. Of course, now that I’m going through the show again with the alternate audio track (what, doesn’t every anime fan do that?), I’m burning through the show again in no time. Whee!

Oh, how was Cowboy Bebop? Yeah, it’s a dope show, but I’ve spent plenty ‘nuff time rambling on about it here, so let’s get to ACE TRACKS of May 2017.


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Stormloop - Into The Void
Mystica Tribe - Island Oasis
Mick Chillage - (M)odes
MO-DU - MOD01
ASC - No Stars Without Darkness
Fjäder - Shades Of Light
Vernon - Soundstream

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 5%
(Percentage Of Jazz!: 15%)
Most “WTF?” Track: Either one of the creepier dark ambient offerings, or an impressive jazz solo.

Yay, a ‘big’ playlist again! Sure does help that I’m on a good reviewing clip once more. Not sure why I’ve got a little mojo back compared to earlier in the year. Maybe I was excited to review four CDs of jazz? Not quite, though getting through some of these ‘V’ albums has definitely been fun. For such a small letter in my library – we’re already more than half-way through it! – some of my all-time favorite albums lurk in this bundle. It won’t be long before wrapping this one up, then another modest backtrack, then onto the last of the ‘big’ letters in this project, ‘W’. Fans of water-themed music rejoice!