Camara, Silent Harbour, Sand Circles, Massive Suits Quartet, Boreal Network

A spotlight on a few of the records I picked up last weekend after some friends came into town. We hit up Mount Analog (best in the city) and the rather intimidating selection at Amoeba Music. 

Camara - Before We Sleep

Understated and calming, Camara's, Before We Sleep is a lovely little album from the heart of Portugal. Like a cross between Fever Ray, Little Dragon and the powerful melodies of a Joy Division guitar. My favorite track, the opening lull of Skeletons In The Sand. Available on Bandcamp.

Silent Harbour - Hinterland

This was one of those moments where the cover drew me in - a beautiful snowy, icy harbour landscape. Turns out these rather ominous dark, dubby tones are an alias of Conforce, otherwise known for his straight up techno on the likes of Delsin. Jackpot. Available on Delsin. 

Sand Circles - Motor City

Previously only available on cassette back in 2012, this dive into a retro-synth world is a colorful picture of dystopian landscapes played out in an 80's video game. Boards of Canada meets Com Truise, now on vinyl. I also managed to pick up the new Motor City remixes EP which co-incides with the new press, and features a glorious remix by Northern Electronics mastermind Abdulla Rashim, heralding the original feel in a refreshing ambient take. Available on Posh Isolation.

Massive Suits Quartet - Full moon Wizard

A slightly odd one, picked up after being intrigued by the name (and a quick google search). "Full Moon Wizard” is a personal journey by it’s creator Grégoire Marty (aka Dandy Teru) delving into his love of original movie soundtracks and various composers. Crafting a sonic and aural odyssey for a movie that exists only in his mind and imagination".

Jazz, hip-hop, ambient and of course, soundtrack combine amongst a atmospheric-themed score for an imaginary dubbed out freak-film. Let your imagination run wild - a very pleasurable and intriguing listen. My favorite being the Theremin-waving The Odyssey Part 1. Available on Bandcamp.

Boreal Network - Itasca Roadtrip

It looks like this one has done the rounds, especially amongst the BoC community, but it's finally available on vinyl. Funky electronic vintage synth goodness - like BoC on a summer's day (not one of those dark, Tomorrows' Harvest days...) Available on More Than Human (vinyl) and Bandcamp (digital)

Mark Pritchard, Sasha, Herbstlaub, Echaskech

Mark Pritchard - Under The Sun

Last year, we were treated to a surprise return of Global Communication, and despite the remix of Dusky's, Skin Deep, being just one half of GC behind the controls (Tom Middleton), it was as brilliant as ever. Mark Pritchard can therefore be excused for not making an appearance, as it seems he has been busy prepping a return to his ambient form with an upcoming release on Warp. The teaser track Sad Alron, sounds beautiful, almost Autechre/Aphex in style, but it remains to be seen whether the remainder of the album will expand on this style or veer into his more recent hip-hop style... let's hope the former. 

Available May 12th on Warp. 

Sasha - Scene Delete

Sasha is undoubtedly a massive influence on me and my love for dance music, and given his legendary mixes such as Northern Exposure and Involver often dabbled with the more downtempo of intros and atmospherics, it's of little surprise to see him try a full ambient/downtempo album. The press for Scene Delete is quoting influences from the likes of Nils Frahm and Max Richter yet the preview tracks sound nothing like the minimal modern classical sounds of the infamous Germans... I can't help but think this is just an attempt to sound relevant to the re-emergence of two awesome producers. The teasers sound like the many tracks that have opened or ended an infamous Sasha set, and whether the influences are audible or not, it doesn't really when you're as experienced and reliable as Sasha. Scene Delete sounds like an ambient album he was destined to produce, even if he was locked in a room by himself for the past ten years. 

Available April 1st on a multitude of lavish, expensive formats. 

Herbstlaub - Softly Hidden (Stray Theories remix)

A switch in gears to some ASIP alumni, with Herbstlaub prepping a new album titled Seems Like Time To Remember, Seems Like The Moment To Forget. His bubbly organic sounds and haunting, melodic backgrounds return, alongside a very special remix by Stray Theories.  Both Herbstlaub and Stray Theories have free releases on ASIP as part of The Places Series.

Pre-order on Bandcamp.

Echaskech - Certainty of Tides EP

Echaskech have been a part of ASIP since the very beginning over eight years ago, so it's immensely pleasing to see them still churning out the good stuff, and sticking to what they do best. Their new EP Certainty of Tides is available for pre-order, and in true Echa' style, it's another slice of sublime electronics; hard to pin down, and hard to put down, whether you're at home or dancing the night away. 

Pre-order on Bandcamp.

Hecq, Eskostatic, Selles, Low Light, 36

Hecq - Night Falls (remaster / repress)

You may remember Ben Lukas Boysen's epic 2008 album Night Falls as one of the best forays into modern classical by a primarily electronic producer. Haunting and powerful, the album has now been remastered and repressed 'to apply a more contemporary sound standard'. Vinyl copies are just 300 strong so be quick and at the very most, 299 as I just snagged one. Available on Bandcamp.

Eskostatic - Sjoenevad Lake

The first track to arrive from a new partnership between Martin Nonstatic and Marcel (Eskobarba) sees the duo dive deeper into their respective territories as Eskostatic. Evidence and promise of a extremely complementing ambient partnership. Free download available on Soundcloud.

Selles - Sunwarper

I stumbled across this album thanks to the ever-dependable Igloo Mag, who billed it as a combination of Ulrich Schnauss and Tycho, which is sure to get heads-turning. However, unlike many productions that sell this parity, Selles does a good job in spanning the broad spectrum of shoegaze inspired electronica, particularly on the Manual/Schanuss-esque Glass Tourists and Haze of Another Day.  Available from Bandcamp. 

Low Light - Cinema Atmospherica

The Oscars are soon to arrive, but like me you're probably not too excited about the visual feast of celebrities and likely more interested in whether Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto's OST for The Revenant is going to clean-up. It better, because it's one of the finest soundtracks to emerge in a while.  Taking inspiration from this OST, the always great Low Light has put together this emotional scores mix, featuring some of the more recent greats as well as some classic scores. Free download available. 

Talking of soundtracks, you may be interested in this analysis of Howard Shore's genius behind The Lord Of The Rings OST. Amazing.

36 - M&Q Podcast

You can always count on 36 to put together a choice ambient mix. Featuring tracks from Max Richter, Global Communication, Markus Guentner, ASC and Acronym, it's definitely a mix fit for the ASIP world, penned as 'hugely emotional' in style and boundary. Free download available on Soundcloud.

The Angling Loser, The Sight Below, Christian Kleine, Atomnation

The Angling Loser - Ocean Song

Forthcoming on ...txt, Lee Norris, Gordon Jones, Porya Hatami and Shintaro Aoki combine in this stunning track, taken from an upcoming album called Arena of Apprehension. An additional, more piano-centric track called Lady Of The Stream, is also available to preview.
...txt have previously responsible for Arovane's, dwell_tevvel_structure and look to be going from strength to strength.

port-royal - Heisenberg (The Sight Below remix)

There's an apparent port-royal remix album in the works titled You Ware Nowhere, and given it's at the hands of n5MD we can likely expect some quality output and some ASIP favorites to turn in a track. Proof in point, The Sight Below...

Christian Kleine - Coreal

You should know by now that we were big fans of City Centre Offices and its notorious electronica early 00's output. One of the artists involved in that movement was Christian Kleine, also known for being one half of the infamous duo Herrmann & Kleine (alongside label co-founder Thaddeus Herrmann). Christian returns with a new album titled, Coreal, self-released on Bandcamp, and it's a straight-up nostalgic trip back to the sound that helped define the infamous label. Beautiful, melodic, IDM/electronica - a certain style we haven't heard in quite some time. Available on Bandcamp.

Atomnation - 2015 Compilation

Applescal's label, Atomnation, had another great year on the release front, following a powerful 2014 including the release of Gidge (a firm favorite here at ASIP). And they're celebrating it by pulling together some sublime edits from their quality roster, including a new edit of Gidge's, You, a new track by Fran Seven and quite possibly one of the best house remixes I've heard in a while by Henry Salz. Unmissable and available on Bandcamp.

Neel, Donato Dozzy, Just Music, Dewtone

Neel - Live at Free Rotation '15

From one of our favorite producers comes a rare live set recording, featuring tracks from WNDFRM, Global Communication and a host of other warm, driving atmospheric techno artists. My experience seeing VFTL a few years back was still one of my most memorable gigs of all time and Neel is still evidently pushing the magic far and wide. Available to download on Soundcloud.

Phonatic - Dozzy Dives under 120

You can't really have Neel, without Dozzy, so here's a tribute mix by Phantic that captures some of Dozzy's more subdued (<120bpm) ambient productions as himself, in remix mode and as half of Voices From The Lake. Available to download on Soundcloud.

Ambient Zone 2: Just Music Café Vol 5

Just Music have been around for over ten years now and are solely responsible for introducing the world to Jon Hopkins, and ASIP friends and favorites, Echaskech. Just Music's newest compilation shouldn't simply be glanced over as your average chill-out compilation simply because of the rather cliché title. Melancholic ambience from Digitonal, an individual piano piece from Jon Hopkins, driving atmospheres from Xspance, and that infamous ethereal-Schnauss sound from Echaskech grace this compilation, curated by the mighty Chris Coco. This is the type of music that I used to write about when I first started this site, and it makes me happy to know it's still going strong today. Available on Bandcamp.

Dewtone - Reflections

Dewtone have been relatively quiet recently, but that hasn't stopped Dustin and his collective from piecing together some of their finest work over these two Reflection compilations. Remastered and edited for re-release, the compilations capture the very essence of the label with tracks from some of their most notorious releases of recent years including Purl, Deflektion, Martin Nonstatic, Alveol, Sven Laux and ASIP's Halo. Available on Bandcamp.