Collected: Vol 6

Dreamfish - Dreamfish

There are a few LPs I have been hunting down for a long time now, and the original Dreamfish 2LP is up there. I've never seen it in the wild, and a Bandcamp comment suggests only 500 copies were originally pressed back in 1993. Silent State is slowly working through some of the most majestic titles from this era, and now Dreamfish is up for reissue, with preorders on Feb 7th. Read this interview I did with Nils from Silent State a while back who is on a mission to share more from the Namlook estate.

Snad - Bubblescope

I’ve been on a Smallville kick recently - well, probably since the Joe Davies album reminded me they exist, and they constantly churn out some of the best house music going. This latest one from Snad was playing in Passenger Seat Records in Portland when I asked what it was… of course, it turned out to be on Smallville. A lovely slice of dubby relaxing house music to float away to. The B-side, the standout.

Kiln - Seltzer Boa

Every year since 2021, Kiln has offered up a single through Bandcamp on January 1st, as a sonic snapshot of their groovable electronics. Many will know of this group through their releases on Ghostly, defining a specific sound that is perhaps the most organic and instrumental way possible to approach the listenable side of early IDM. Look out for more from Kiln arriving very soon….cough cough.

PFM - Equilibrium VIP

It’s not often you get an unreleased gem from one of the kings of atmospheric / liquid drum’n bass making an appearance on Bandcamp. PFM has been dropping a bunch of singles on his own bandcamp in recent years (often deleting the releases once people have downloaded them), but looks like this one is set to stay, with a vinyl press to boot.

Roller.

Simon Littauer - Modular

Everyone hates on Instagram for many reasons, but once in a while, if you follow bunch of music nerds, it presents you with… more music nerds, jamming in front of their expensive rigs. Most sound as you’d expect, but Simon Littauer’s got a knack for intertwining some absolutely beautiful pads and melancholy amongst the complex analog glitch and breaks. This album is name your price right now, too.

Find these albums and many more over on my Bandcamp Collection.

James Bernard / Atwater (ASIPV014) now available

With productions dating back to 1994, James Bernard has gained a cult following for his combination of atmospheric analog beats and modular synthesizers. His debut album, ‘Atmospherics’ is often heralded as a classic by the diggers who stumble across it, and James’ 'Unreleased Works' are a hidden gem of early 90’s electronica (if you’re lucky enough to own a copy on CDR of course).

James has been busy experimenting and refining his modular setup over the years, to the extent that a full album of beautiful music, created live in one take on a sunny afternoon, comes to life once more here on ASIP.

‘Atwater', was performed live during a 2018 'Modular On The Spot’ event, held in Los Angeles’ North Atwater Park. With his custom analog modular rig, a small set of speakers and a generator, James took the afternoon audience on a glistening tour of the beautiful sounds to emerge from a Moog Mother 32, custom built filters and various Eurorack modular sequencers, modules and effects.

After hearing James' set, ASIP proposed presenting the music in permanent form for everyone who missed that special day. James initially took the chance to recreate the set and edit versions ready for a release, but after careful consideration, it was decided to release the raw unedited live version of his set (mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri) forever cementing that special moment and irreplaceable emotion found in North Atwater Park that one afternoon.

Visit the release page for more info, the latest stockists and links to buy

Additionally, we had our very first label night to celebrate James’ release on Sunday 24th Feb, with James playing the record live on his modular setup, followed by an exclusive first-time performance of his classic record ‘Atmospherics’. James was supported by a lovely set from Hark Madley on modular.

Below, some pictures from the night.

A big thank you to Stellar Remnant for hosting us.