Alphaxone - Edge Of Solitude

Cryo Chamber: 2018

Speaking of Cryo Chamber artists I've a lot of catching up to do, here's Alphaxone! Again, I was able to keep pace with his rate of output, all the way to this particular album, plus that collaborative outing with Xerxes The Dark (Aftermath). Since then, however, Mehdi's released two more solo records, plus another collaboration with Mount Shrine. And, that's not all, another collab' with ProtoU due out even as I type these words! I swear by Azathoth's mandible, I did not plan to be covering these two artists back-to-back right as Back To Beyond was ready to drop. I almost feel obligated to cover it now. I mean, sure I'm likely to pick it up eventually, but should I forgo my strict, orderly queue to capitalize upon a flash chance of circumstance? That's how it starts though. Cheat just once, and chaos is the only outcome.

I've mentioned in the past that Alphaxone's general musical trajectory was slowly but surely in ascent from our earthly realms (after having arrived from altered dimensions). Edge Of Solitude completes the journey, taking us as far into the foreboding cosmos as he's ever taken us. Ooh, this ought to be some mint space drone, I wager, perhaps on par with fellow Cryo Chamber alum Silent Universe (aka: Ugasanie). Let's throw this bad boy on and get swept away in existential dread.

Things start out with Environment, a rather lush bit of layered ambience that wouldn't sound out of place on a Silent Season record, even containing the faint sounds of birds chirping as it fades out. Wait, what? Oh, I get it, Mehdi often starts his albums out with something more calm, luring you into a sense of security. I'm sure the next track, Road To Nowhere, will get us deep in the cosmic drone. Ah, hm, no, it doesn't. This is rather calm and soothing as well. Maybe a touch of the mysterious and slightly melancholic, but nothing ominous about this piece either. Solar Halos does have an oppressive drone going for it, but switches gears midway featuring a building bell melody. What's this, actual songcraft in my dark ambient?

I know it's only the opening three tracks, but Edge Of Solitude has to be one of the most un-dark ambient albums I've heard out of Cryo Chamber. Sure, you'd find the occasional piece that may feature a little melody, whether a piano or guitar or strings or trumpet, but nothing quite so 'uplifting' as these bells in Solar Halos.

Alphaxone does come correct with the darker stuff in the middle of this album, though even here there are traces of serenity. Echosphere almost goes full Tomita with its synths, while the desolation of Lost Horizon brings back the tranquil field recordings of some outdoor park. And when the final two tracks get back on that traditional ambient vibe, I can't help but feel remarkably relaxed, a mood I never thought I say about a Cryo Chamber release. Anymore like this?

ProtoU - Echoes Of The Future

Cryo Chamber: 2018

I've fallen way behind on this label. You may think two years isn't much of a gap, but Cryo Chamber remains relentless in its rate of output, over fifty albums Simon Heath's print has produced since I last splurged. It ain't for a lack of interest. Even glancing at their recent releases, there's a pile of items immediately catching my eye. Some things gotta' take a backseat though, and it'd be silly of me to snatch up a pile of new albums when I'm still sifting through the ones I picked up last time. Okay, maybe that new Sabled Sun CD, at the very least.

Even ProtoU, I feel like I've slipped on. She was among a handful of artists I'd kept pace with when she first debuted with Dronny Darko on Earth Songs. The streak was broken in my missing The Edge Of Architecture, and though I got her next two albums, she's released two more since. I think the only Cryo Chamber project I have gathered all releases of is Sabled Sun, which seems appropriate, given it was that project that lured me in the first place.

Sasha's hinted at an interest in leaving our earthly realms in her Stardust collaboration with Alphaxone, but Echoes Of The Future is a full-blown cosmic outing. Okay, not quite, more of a launching, as the remnants of whatever civilization remains on our planet hopefully seeks a better life than what they leave behind. Not that the 'music' within is explicit about it – not even the track titles are clear in their narrative. Nay, I had to scope out the Bandcamp PR blurb for the the album's concept. Even if some of these pieces are interesting in their own right, it helps having full thematic context when hearing atonal drone.

The first couple tracks are fairly typical of dark drone, though Interlinked fades out with the sounds of radio chatter, like receiving transmissions from abroad. 4325d shifts gears (heh) into the mechanical, as though you're wandering launch pads devoid of humans, yet filled with giant sentinels waiting to be sent to the stars, steam and fog gently floating from their frames. There's a sense of subtle awe in your surroundings, but sadness too.

Mid-track Drawings Of Nebula marks a sharp turn in choice of soundscape, a heavy synth drone almost pushing down on your ears. It carries on like this for a while, though once again, voices from beyond are heard as the track fades out. The next two tracks mostly get back to the dark dronescapes with some field recordings flourishes, though I can't help but zone out while they're playing. Vessels Of God, on the other hand, brings in a mournful melody that wouldn't sound too out of place in a 36 ambient piece. True, there's a fair amount of static and astro-chatter distortion, especially towards the end when the melody is practically subsumed by it. Still, a surprisingly hopeful ending to a generally bleak album.

Cosmic Replicant - Echo Light

Melusine Records: 2017

Y'know, I'd almost forgotten that Cosmic Replicant was a psy guy. Which seems silly considering how many of his albums have come out on Altar Records, a psy-chill label through and through. I suppose it's because my initial introduction to him was not strictly psy, Mission Infinity leaning closer to the realms of ambient techno and all things robotic. Then he started releasing dub techno EPs, and pure ambient long players, showing a far wider range of musical interests and influences than his first few psy albums would have suggested. So you'll forgive me for being a little stunned to hear a regular ol' psy-chill and prog psy outing such as Echo Light, thinking Pavel had moved on from this and all.

It does leave me wondering where this album actually fits within the greater Cosmic Replicant discography. Sure, Lord Discogs says it came out in 2017, but that was two years after his last outing with Altar Records, Pulsar Activity. That album was more a return to prog-psy after Mission Infinity, but considering he followed it with Landscapes Motion (the dub techno one on Pureuphoria Records), I can't help but figure Pavel was already exploring other sounds in the intervening years. Did he have these tunes on hold for some future date? Or was this a favour to the relatively young Melusine Records, a little extra suitable content for their catalogue? Speaking of, hoo-boy, but did E-Mantra ever find himself a home there.

Some of the tunes on Echo Light had appeared on other compilations, but for the most part, this is all original material. Nothing too fancy about it either, fairly standard as far as psy-chill and prog psy goes, but Cosmic Replicant always was among the stronger producers in this field, especially when stacked against his Altar Records brethren, making his lack of CDs downright criminal. Seriously, The Nature Of Life really deserved a hard-copy option.

I wouldn't go so far as to say this album is as good as that one though. As mentioned, Echo Light basically hits all the usual markers this genre offers. The chill opening cuts, the gradual build in tempo as the album plays out, including some tasty slow breaks coupled with a groovy basslines and spaced-out synths (so good in Drop Sens!). By the time the proper prog psy shows up mid-album, we're well warmed up for some steady beat action in Road To Home, with synths gradually building layer upon layer. It's honestly just 'Prog House Techniques 101', but if it ain't broke, etc.

Puls Of Life ups the tempo about as high as Cosmic Replicant ever goes (it's almost goa!), and an ambient piece finishes off Echo Light. Yeah, at only eight tracks, this album breezes by, with little in the way of surprises or genre dalliances. I wouldn't go so far as to say Echo Light is 'half-assed', Pavel still quite good at making psy-chill and prog-trance. Just don't go in expecting anything else of it.

ACE TRACKS: April 2021

Well, this certainly was an improvement over last April, eh? Does this mean we're finally getting back to some semblance of normalcy? Ah, I wouldn't count on it, especially given how things are rapidly deteriorating in places like India. Not out the woods yet, not by a long shot. (because, y'know, we all gotta' get our 'shots', eh? Eghh... gallows humour)

I've had some other worries these past couple weeks though, specifically with my back. I've always had back issues, but this was a new one, where a vicious knot formed just below my left shoulder blade. I thought I'd worked it mostly out during my day off, but nope. When I woke up the next morning, not only had it come back, but my entire mid-section had tensed up. Well, poop, guess I gotta' get me some of those BTC drugs for this situation. And they helped for a bit, but foolishly, I aggravated the dastardly knot again while at work, to such a point I could barely bend over or reach far. Looks like I'll have to get actual physio for this problem.

Then, something damned near miraculous happened. I got myself an EVO (Vancouver's car share program) to drive home, and whoever last had it left the seat warmer on. Which felt quite nice and relaxing on my back on my commute. When I got out, I noticed almost all the tension in my back was gone! Whaa...!!?? I take a hot shower shortly after, and wouldn't you know it, my back's feeling fine! That's not to say I'm not still dealing with minor aches, but just like that, the worst of it evaporated. Or, I dunno, maybe it was the drugs finally taking effect.

That charming tale out of the way, here's the ACE TRACKS for the month of April!


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Disco Kandi 05.04
False Mirror - Derelict World
Purl - Deep Ground
Si Matthews - Decoding Signals
Circle Of Pines - Dark Water Pond
Ikjoyce - Cosmonaut

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 12%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Maybe hearing Jump again, and remembering how good it is.

Woof, a lot of missing albums this month, which unfortunately sticks out more due to shorter playlists than years past. Mind, about half of them are from Lee Norris labels, and if there's anything that chap's been resolute in, it's not succumbing to Spotify's dodgy business practices. And hey, I feels ya', but until Bandcamp can provide as versatile a playlist-making app, Spotify it remains.

Musically, it's a decent assortment on offer. A little techno, a little house, a little rap, a little leftfield... and a whole lot of ambient. Yeah, most of 36's Dreamloops are here, but figured they're best served at the end. Indulge them if you dare!

Plaid - Double Figure

Warp Records: 2001

Back to the lands of Plaid, taking another tentative step beyond the classics and the currents. Actually, check that, I'm pretty sure Double Figure is considered one of the duo's better works, but it's hard finding definitive consensus within their fanbase. Opinions and proclamations run almost as idiosyncratic as a typical Plaid track list, a little something for anyone, but seldom something for everyone. I heard mostly positive things about this one though, so figured it a worthy continuation of my explorations in their wider discography.

And don't Double Figure waste little time in getting tunes stuck in the ol' noggin'. Opener Eyen is a chipper, jaunty of a whistlin' tune, with just enough of an IDM menace lurking underneath such that it doesn't fall into twee silliness. Follow-up Squance, on the other hand, drops an instantly hooky bassline with a skippity beat and jubilant brassy synths. After that, Assault On Preceint Zero works a groovy techno rhythm with punctual synths and... gosh, does this every remind me of Orbital.

Come to think of it, a lot of Plaid reminds me of Orbital, at least whenever the Hartnoll brothers would get more experimental. I'm surprised I never made that connection before, the two duos inhabiting such vastly different corners of the 'electronica'-o-sphere. It ain't like Plaid's getting the same level of crossover fame, their tracks almost never winding up on any commercial compilation or soundtrack. I do wonder if either of them noticed the similarities though. Maybe Orbital did, since they included the Plaid track New Bass Hippo on their Back To Mine collection. I'd like to think Andy and Ed would have returned the favour had they been tapped for an edition that compilation series. Guess including Chime on their throwback set for XLR8R is a nice alternative.

Anyhow, there's a whopping nineteen tracks on Double Figure, though five of them are taken up by little sonic doodles, or Taks. Yep, it's the same trick that was pulled on The Black Dog's Spanners and all their Bolts. That still leaves a hefty chunk of running time for all manner of typical Plaid musical indulgences. Jazzy ditties like Zamami and Ti Bom. Braindance spazzies like Silversum and Twin Home. Straight-forward Warp techno titties like Ooh Be Doo and Porn Coconut Co. Tunes with synthy shinies like New Family and Sincetta. And whatever Light Rain is supposed to be. Trip-hop with squeaky bubblies, I think?

In any event, Double Figures is another solid outing from Plaid, with a decent amount of tunes that you'll want to come back to a few more times down the road. It's only real fault is it's just so darn long, all those Taks giving it a bit of a bloated listen. I suppose it helps space some of the quirkier tunes apart, but Plaid's never worried about that before or after. Maybe they felt it a nice nod to Spanners? Eh, it made a bit more sense there, what with such disparity of genre hopping.

Various - Disco Kandi 05.04

Hed Kandi: 2004

Right, don't need to get deep into this one. I've talked plenty about Hed Kandi, its various compilation series, the rise, the buy-out, the fall, the continued existence. Heck, I've already dabbled in their disco series twice now, so no need to get more detailed about something as self-explanatory as this.

Eh, before I talk the music, you want to know where Disco Kandi 05.04 falls on the grand timescale of Hed Kandi's lifespan? Oh, somewhere in the middle. I think this was one of the last before Ministry Of Sound came along, doing away with the numerical titles after. Disco Kandi became just another yearly DJ mix series, the first track of this new direction a remix of Fedde Le Grand's Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. As if you needed a more perfect example of Hed Kandi's brand losing the plot under the Ministry's 'guidance'.

Not that everything was flying high while still under Mark Doyle's supervision. Even here, one can sense a bit of struggle in filling out two CDs worth of up-front disco leaning house music. Change was unavoidable by the year 2004, most producers chasing that lucrative 'electro' craze, leaving things like 'funk' and 'soul' behind. There were hold-outs, of course, with many regular Kandi contributors featured across these two CDs. The days of finding hot up-and-comers were long gone though, few future hits makers found on Disco Kandi 05.04.

As always, disc one gives us the mid-tempo garage, exuberant Latin, and soulful side of house, with names like StoneBridge, Basement Jaxx, Funkstar De Luxe, and Joey Negro (as The Sunburst Band here) keeping things in familiar Hed Kandi territory. There's also that Axwell kid doing a remix on Mambana's Felicidad, but is more of a standard, loopy French house rub and anything 'Swedish'. The only track I recognize from elsewhere is Seamus Haji's go with Belezamusica's Running Away, though I can't help but think this is a remix of a cover? There's a fair bit of that going on between these two discs.

Oh yes, we get a couple of such tracks on CD2 (the late-night option), including Mr. Haji having his own go with Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. There's also Soul Central doing rather generic cover of Strings Of Life, a tune that I'll never understand the appeal of (those 'strings' always sound like ass). King Britt is here with a decent little acid boogie number in I Can't Wait (Milk & Sugar on the rub). Armand van Helden is still trying to ride that French house thing with My My My. And gosh, is that a touch of the space disco in opener Solaris from DJ Gregory? Sure sounds like it to me.

Overall, Disco Kandi 05.04 doesn't offer much that you wouldn't have heard before. It's just more of the same from the Hed Kandi brand, but as a slice of fluffy, funky house on a rainy day, it'll do the trick.

Lorenzo Montanà + Mick Chillage ‎- Deviazioni Cosmiche

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016

I generally like Lorenzo. I generally like Mick. Yet between the two, I don't think I've heard a solo work of theirs that makes me sit up and shout, “That's the JAM!” Not that you'd expect such a proclamation from a pair of producers who typically reside in the ambient techno domain, but I know I've thought such things in their collaborative projects. Mr. Chillage in particular has had several such moments impact my brain matter when working as Autumn Of Communion or Skua Atlantic. And that doesn't mean such a track doesn't exist within their vast discographies that I've yet to hear (Mick's Over Ingia on Saudade is the closest yet), but I do wonder if such a moment will ever leap out. Maybe I should have sprung for that twenty-five CD box-set of Chillage's discography to find out?

What I'm getting at is with their powers combined, surely Montanà and Chillage might produce such a “JAM!” I've been waiting for. They certainly have similar lineages: early career markers with Pete Namlook's Fax+ label, some trying times with another label after, continued releases on well-regarded prints like ...txt, Fantasy Enhancing, and Carpe Sonum Records. I like to imagine the two crossed paths somewhere in the Carpe Sonum office, started sharing war stories about their time dealing with the unmentionable one, and felt enough creative synergy to have a stab at a collaborative project together.

I dunno though. Something doesn't seem to quite click whenever I play Deviazioni Cosmiche. It's like Lorenzo and Mick are two puzzle pieces that look like they should fit together, but are meant to go in different parts of completed picture. It makes a bit of sense, Mr. Montanà's approach to ambient techno more on the IDM side of things, Mr. Chillage's more on the dubby side of things. It's not completely incompatible, but there are many stretches throughout this album that feels like two guys doing some low-key ambient techno noodling with little direction of where each piece should go. Which is fine if that's the intent, but man, it can't be a good sign when whole chunks of Deviazioni Cosmiche just flutter away from my memory membranes minutes after playing.

Ironically, this dilemma is the result of one of the more interesting tracks, A Legacy. It's a gentle piece of ambience, with a tasty touch of vintage Fax+ psychedelia. Trouble is it's the second track, and when the surrounding pieces are more upbeat, this blissful tune lulls you into such a sense of calm, you kinda' zone out from everything else. Which is a shame, because in isolation, tracks like Vinctos Temporis and Microscopic+Mechanisms+Moon have plenty of nice things going for them (being upwards of fifteen minutes in length each helps).

It's not until second-to-last track The Last Pulse Of The Universe that my attention is forcibly dragged back, a surprisingly brisk tune from these two of spacey electro and... oh my, is that an acid solo? Damn, now that's the JAM!

False Mirror - Derelict World

Malignant Records: 2010

If you must point to any album that sparked my interest in dark ambient beyond passive curiosity, it's this one right here. Prior, I figured the genre consisting of either macabre industrial horror or suffocating existential drone (with some pagan ethereal worship thrown in). If you'd told me the scene also contained reflections on post-apocalyptic settings... Well, I'd have believed you too, since that seems right up the genre's wheel-house. Okay, okay, but what if... with landlocked seacraft? Ooh, now that's something super specific I'd never considered. You're telling me there's music that contrasts our engineering triumphs with our apocalyptic hubris, a perfect soundtrack for traversing the Aral Sea region? Tell me more!

Still, if the cover-art of Derelict World captivated me so, why has it taken me this long to review it? Wouldn't this have been among my first purchases? Yeah, funny thing happened, mostly by way of a Cryo Chamber. This album may have sparked my interest, but it wasn't until indulging Simon Heath's print that I actually started buying up dark ambient releases. By then, I'd forgotten about the intriguing CD with the captivating artwork, who it was from, where I even last saw it. Many years passed before it finally crossed my eyes again, wherein I'd taken in a fair bit of the stuff from various corners. It felt like obligatory duty to get Derelict World by that point, whether it was good or not.

Fortunately, it is good. As False Mirror, Tobias Hornberger had released a few albums throughout the late '00s, including dataObscura (and there's the reconnect). When he got the chance to debut on long running industrial print Malignant Records, he didn't hold back in creating nothing less than a magnum opus. Well, something with an immersive narrative at least. The concept is simple enough: the end of the world, a torrential cataclysm of predictive but unknown origin, and its aftermath. Is it though? While the track titles and prose within the liner notes imply as such, perhaps this is more of a psychological horror. I sure had images of The Lighthouse floating about my head-space as Derelict World was playing. Probably because part of the album's narrative includes finding refuge in an abandoned lighthouse. Or is it?

Musically, Derelict World is all about that omnipresent drone-tone, varying intensity and mood as the story unfolds, with field recordings filling in the gaps. Given the cover art, it's surprising hearing so much water dripping and sloshing about hollowed husks of metallic dwellings, especially in the final stretch of tracks. Final piece, The Sea Of Oblivion, is quite fascinating, drones gradually fading off until all you hear is the quiet lapping of small waves against the shore. It plays out like this for many minutes, to such a point you may not even notice it any longer. After a while, a gentle dirge emerges, as though our viewpoint character has found solace in whatever realm they now dwell. I've had dreams like this.

Purl - Deep Ground

Silent Season: 2011

Now this was fortuitous of me, finding an O.G. CD of not only any ol' Silent Season release, but a Purl one at that. Mind, this isn't one of the label's initial run of CDs, lacking their distinct gatefold design with recycled cardboard casing. Far as I can tell, this album came out with the launch of Silent Season's 'download series' (hence catalogue numbers being SSDxx), so it makes sense they'd spend less effort on a CD option. Wasn't the label mostly a digital one in the first place though? I guess, but growing positive buzz at the start of the '10s probably spurred on a little re-launch in the process.

All well and good for Silent Season, but there's a nice additional talking point to this CD where Purl is concerned, in that it's his first album to receive the CD treatment at all. True, it was just his third LP released, but for a chap who's put out a couple dozen albums this past decade, hard copy editions remain rare, especially the earlier half of his career. In fact, he never put out another CD until his Silent Season follow-up Stillpoint (so sayeth Lord Discogs). As his profile has grown, Purl's expanded his reach across more labels that do offer physical options, making these initial steps beyond the only-digital realm nifty little artifacts of a discography on the rise. So goes the line of marketing in the collector's world anyway.

And what sort of sounds may we find on Ludvig's debut Silent Season outing? Dub techno and ambient drone of course – it's the label's brand, after all. That may not seem such a big deal since it's familiar ground where Purl music is concerned, but his prior couple albums had been mostly pure ambient exercises with dubby overtones. Rhythms were not really part of his repertoire yet.

On Deep Ground however, he goes all out, unleashing the fiercest, freshest beats that- No, not really. First proper track Sus is actually quite laid back, a distant techno rhythm gliding along a gentle backing synth, sounding not too out of place on an old Aphex Twin collection. Elsewhere, Storisende feels almost proggy with its comparatively prominent chugging rhythm, its backing layered pads no less blissy than anything else in Purl's discography.

The over-arching influence of dub techno couldn't be ignored though, and Under Trädens Rötter sounds like it could have come from one of Wolfgang Voigt's Gas sessions, though more mysterious than ominous. Sargyll, meanwhile, goes real deep into the dub muck, its rhythm barely a low thrum as sound echo off cavernous spaces.

It's not all dub techno, half of Deep Ground made up of ambient pieces of varying length (shortest: three, thirty-three; longest: ten, thirty-nine). They're all nice affairs, typical of Purl's style at the time, but oddly sequenced, making the album's flow a little wonky in the process. By no means a deal breaker though, Deep Ground definitely worth scoping out among Purl's many LPs.

Si Matthews - Decoding Signals

Fantasy Enhancing: 2019

It's sometimes a struggle starting these Si Matthews reviews. Albums and artists with rich histories or crazy stories are fun to write, and Mr. Matthews had a humdinger right out the gate. It was a tale of perseverance and triumph, overcoming odds and seeing one's hopes and dreams coming to fruition. Okay, I'm overselling, but the background behind his debut album Tale Of Ten Worlds was a nice feel-good story, one that's honestly hard to top. Since then, Si's kept a steady pace, and while one can glean some sort of narrative out his discography, it hasn't been as captivating as that opening chapter. Is it even necessary writing such a thing? Probably not, but oh, it makes starting a review so much easier.

After a strong showing with the double-LP outing Across The Ether on Carpe Sonum Records, Si returned to the single CD format with his debut on Fantasy Enhancing. He's mostly stuck with this label since, working with Sven Kössler on multiple releases. That gives Decoding Signals at least one talking point, being the last time Mr. Matthews put out a solo work. Highly unlikely it'll be the final time though, Si the sort of chap undoubtedly burbling with ideas worth exploring down the road.

Decoding Signals feels like an introduction to Si's stylee for those just joining him on Fantasy Enhancing. Which is weird, since I'm pretty sure folks following this label are mostly migrants from Lee Norris' other prints, including ...txt, where Si released Aurora. He isn't that far below the associative surface of what would be considered the Lee Norris Iceberg Theory (or whatever that current meme is), is what I'm saying. If Decoding Signals is somehow the first Si Matthews album a few have come across though, it's as solid an entry point as any.

Mostly, we're still in Si's sweet spot of retro-leaning ambient techno, though with more emphasis on the 'techno' part than previous albums. Not that he's lacked in the rhythm department in the past, but the basslines just feel more prominent here, decent body movers for music that's more about head-space trips. Okay, not all the tracks are like this. Opener Signal 1 goes in on the softer pitter-patter of IDM while spaced-out synths transmit from the deep cosmos. Meanwhile, follow-up 3rd Planet does one of those lo-o-o-ong Berlin-School builds, such that you wonder if that's the whole track (ahh, Vivona flahsbacks!). Halfway through the fourteen-minute long track though, a steady beat comes in, changing the vibe of the tune to something more of a laid-back cruise than an urgent lift-off.

The remaining tracks don't take nearly so long in getting to the business end, some going heavier with the space-hop (Syntagma), others deeper into the Detroit futurism (Automation). And ooh, is final track Signal 2 every airy, angelic, as though being lifted to heaven. Not an uncommon way to end a space-themed album, but something seems more poignant here. *reads liner notes* Ah, yes indeed.