Sraunus, Kaito, Desolate, Mikaël Delta and Hior Chronik

Sraunus - Novellas

Sraunus sneeked an old EP up on Bandcamp this week. Originally released on Blikmuzik in 2014, it's of the atmospheric, deep, dubbiness we've come to expect from Lithuania's finest.  The first three tracks echo drift and bounce in traditional form, but the fourth track, Grey, presents us with something a little more light-hearted, capping off a superb little release. Available on Bandcamp.

Kaito - Snow Flow/Light Stones

Hiroshi Watanabe and his project, Kaito last adorned our ears with his album on Kompakt - a beat-less take on Less Time Until The End. This new two-track EP signals a potential return for Hiroshi, with the first track, a secret gem he's been playing at live shows, finally setting sail, and a second brand-new production constructed during his recent live shows.

Both feature soaring strings we witnessed on his Kompakt output, but they now come with an almost post-rock, cinematic feel. Big sounds, even bigger crescendos and altogether, a completely unique take on techno music only an innovative producer like Kaito could muster. Available on Bandcamp.

Desolate - Withering Beauty EP

I'm a big Desolate fan, he's one of the very few artists I'll take a chance on and purchase a vinyl without having to listen first. And that's exactly what happened with his Withering Beauty EP whilst i was recently perusing Amoeba Records.

When I got home to give the record a spin, I was surprised. It was like the darkness had lifted from Sven's previous releases - a much lighter, lounge-esque feel to this record, reminding me of early Kruder & Dorfmeister or Thievery Corporation stuff, especially Hazy Memories... Sven Weisemann can do no wrong. Vinyl available on Bandcamp.

Mikaël Delta and Hior Chronik - The First Ray

Hot off his ASIP release with Arovane, Hior Chronik returns with another collaborative
project, this time with fellow Greek artist Mikaël Delta.

Mikaël has a long list of productions under his belt and is well known for his work in Greece, particularly for his soundtrack compositions. You can only imagine where these two netted out, and you'll be just as pleased with the output. Hior's treatment of the finer details, delicate piano and melancholic atmospheres, are accentuated by an entrancing storyline, fit for a movie backdropped against the burning mountain skies. 

Hior is quickly becoming a sought-after producer for this type of detailed, granular, soundtrack style. His presentation and multitude of emotions that carry throughout his productions, are palpable and quite simply, unmissable, especially on this release with Mikaël. Available on Bandcamp.

bvdub, Miktek, Synkro, Northern Electronics

bvdub - Lost Ambient (and more from the archives)

That day has come. Brock has embraced the world of Bandcamp and we're set to be both musically better-off and monetarily worse off. He's not just uploading any old crap either, we're treated some lost ambient tracks, as well as a twenty-six track compilation titled tech from times past. For once, Brock's titles are as a literal as could be, and in this instance, it means we've got some old ambient gems and tracks from his techno roots to dig into. Available on Bandcamp.

Miktek - Ambient Network III

For the Ultimae followers out there, Miktek will be old-hat to you by now. As a past home to Carbon Based Lifeforms, Solar Fields and many other space-ambient style astronauts, the label is a breeding ground for this style of  music. However it's nice to see the individual artists break-out to give us something plucked from their back catalog - the brilliance of Bandcamp. Miktek treats us to a unique collection of delicate sounds that will appeal to any lover of slow-paced ethereal soundscapes. Available on Bandcamp.

Synkro - Changes

As one half of Kiyoko, Joe Synkro has long been a household name for Drum'n Bass followers, however it's Joe's evolution in this sound which is attracting listeners from across genres. Similar to the likes of ASC with his progression of the autonomic sound, Synkro's heritage in Drum'n Bass has led him to explore more atmospheric sounds, underpinned with some unique beat-work and a general push-back on any genre pigeon-holing associated with such styles. You'll find some lush ambience wrapped in scattered beats, old-skool Jungle, and OPN-style choral, synth work amongst the many iterations in Changes. Available on Bandcamp.

Northern Electronics (RA Label Of The Month mix)

Something a little different, a mix from the land of RA. Northern Electronics are causing quite a stir in the world of techno with their barrage of deep swells hemorrhaging from the mind of label head Abdullah Rashim. Both Varg, and Acronym have produced some stunning favorites of late, and I'm not even a tenth of the way through the label's extensive catalogue on Bandcamp. Dig deep and you'll find some truly amazing ambient music hidden as preludes and intros to the many banging techno albums, along with styles progressive, immersive styles normally associated with Voices From The Lake. 

So what better way to get to know the label than this mix. Deep techno that will speak to anyone wishing for a darker pulse in their heartbeat.  Download available on Soundcloud.

Everyday Dust, Girių Dvasios, Virtual Dream Plaza, Yagya

Everyday Dust - Combination Nova

Sparkwood Records have featured in a couple of Passing By features now, through Scyye, and Eyesix if you can recall. Here they return with an multi-disciplined record collating remixes of previously released Everyday Dust records. The floating deepness of John Lemke and the guitars of Zenjungle book-end a rather splendid compilation that will appeal to ambient and dub-techno fans.

Available on Bandcamp.

Girių Dvasios - Ratu

This record has really hit a sweet spot with me. I think it's a combination of the quality dub-techno production that underlays each track, the slightly nostalgic trance-like chants and the complete uniqueness of it all. Girių has combined Lithuanian chanting with dub-techno to form an absolutely brilliant record that will have you mesmerized.

Available on Bandcamp.

Virtual Dream Plaza - Night Lovers

I fell into a untranslatable warp-hole that seems to combine vintage/80's sounds and lush ambient textures, half-an-hour at a time. Virtual Dream Plaza's music is tagged as Vaporwave, which apparently "...sometimes serves as both a critique and a parody of consumerist society, '80's yuppie culture, and New Age music, while sonically and aesthetically showcasing a curious nostalgic fascination with their artifacts" - well ladies and gentlemen, there's something new for us all.

I'm only a couple down from Virtual Dream Plaza's Bandcamp catalogue, but with each one, 30-minutes just washes over me, and those album covers just add to the weirdly juxtaposed animosity and warmth I'm feeling from each record. 

Available on Bandcamp

Joris Voorn - The Wild (Yagya Remix)

Yagya has just turned in this gorgeous remix for tech-superstar Joris Voorn. It's signature Steini, but there's some real up-beat energy amongst the always glorious swathes of pads. There's some other great remixes on this album too, specifically Mathew Dear's and Nobody Home's. 

Available at Beatport. 

Chasing Dreams, Adverb, Another Fine Day, Arovane & Peter Benisch

Chasing Dreams - Everything Feels Infinite

I'm still in awe of the collaborators that Hior Chronik pulled together on his masterpiece, Taking The Veil, but here we have Chasing Dreams (also known as his previous Need A Name, for his isolatedmix) starring amongst some of my favourite artists including: Moshimoss, Data Rebel Good Weather For An Airstrike and Stray Theories. 

Dario's (Chasing Dreams') style is always hard to pin down exactly, but as you'd expect from such a name and album title, Everything Feels Infinite is an emotional and powerful piece of music. Each song (or idea) that was conceived, was seen through to the end without disregard - a new approach for Dario, along with the 'blind' collaborations. Where many artists will try to balance an album with highs and lows, Dario has created a relentless continuation of beautiful productions, rooted in ambient, but likely appealing to lovers of modern-classical, shoegaze and post-rock. 

Available on Bandcamp.

Adverb - JADI

Etoka Records continue to bolster their already brilliant digital catalogue with Adverb's JADI, their very first CD release. Adverb has been responsible for numerous outputs on the label so far and I'm yet to falter any of them. Textured ambient that plays on it's own simplicity and meticulously manicured textures, you can find something interesting in all of the eight tracks on JADI.

Available on Bandcamp.

Another Fine Day - A Good Place To Be

Another Fine Day, aka Tom Green, is no stranger to many of the ambient/chill-out aficionados. His 1994 album Life Before Land is often placed in the same legendary realms as many of the early 90's ambient pieces we have come to love and Tom is also responsible for playing a part of The Orb's early productions. 

You can tell A Good Place To Be stems from a veteran of the scene, with its timeless feel and quietly confident ploy, each track is based around the piano toying with vivid scenes such as The Spanish Blues, or Child's Play - be it classed as chill-out, downtempo, lounge or simply instrumental, Tom does a great job sticking to the basics and making something great, that will undoubtedly stick around for years to come. 

Available on Bandcamp

Arovane - Woven (Peter Benisch Remix)

Uwe sent me this video recently in lead-up to a new remix compilation for Touched. The label has been releasing some monumental compilations in the past few years with all proceeds going towards Macmillan Cancer Research, and this new upcoming remix compilation is off to a great start with Peter Benisch remixing one of Arovane's previous contributions. Peter Benisch is a Swedish musician who, whilst also making beautiful ambient music, can sometimes be heard prepping electro bangers for Tiga's Turbo Recordings.

Sweeping, epic ambience takes over Uwe's analog plugs, a very similar approach to what you'll hear in Arovane's upcoming release with Hior Chronik. 

You can follow Touched on Facebook to hear news of the next remix compilation.

Cio D'Or, 36, Benoit Pioulard, Echogarden

Cio D'Or - All In All

I've been a big fan of Cio D'Or since a mix she put together with Donato Dozzy some four years ago on mnmlssgs. Just last month, I got wind of a new 10" EP titled Off & On, and if that wasn't enough, the techno producer just dropped her new album, streaming over at Fact.

It's a work of genius, with Fact calling it 'atmospheric' - I'd say this reaches new levels of whatever defined atmospheric - it's straight up driving techno with beautiful compositions, heart-wrenching strings and pure emotion at the core. This might be a little too much for the ambient aficionado's on here but I urge you to play Tomorrow Was Yesterday from the tracks below and go from there... you probably wont re-emerge for quite some time. 

Available via Semantica on May 19th.

36 - Deep Space Mix 26

ASC's Deep Space Mix Series has attracted some of ambient's very best over the past few years. bvdub's had a spin, as has Sam KDC and of course, ASC himself. 

Now's it's turn for Dennis Huddleston aka 36 to step-up, with tracks from Aphex Twin, William Basinski, Slowdive and Hans Zimmer. Dive deeper into space. 

Download / view original post on Auxiliary. 

Benoit Pioulard - ISO50 Colorcast

I was lucky enough to experience Benoit's live show at a Record Store Day party last week at Beacon Sound (Portland). Showcasing some of his latest music from his release on Kranky titled Sonnet, it was an intimate insight into the mans subtle loops and shimmering melodies, and his latest mix for ISO50 reflects on many of these influences, from the gentle ambience of Cepia, to the folk sounds of Bibio. 

Sonnet is available via Bandcamp.

Tracklist

01, Assembler/Responder, Palmer Station, Bishop & Clerk
02, Alex G, Serpent is Lord, DSU
03, Duane Pitre, Section III, Feel Free
04, Bibio, Dinghy, Green
05, Ricky Eat Acid, In my dreams we're almost touching, Three Love Songs
06, Dirty Beaches, Pacific Ocean, Stateless
07, Carl Hultgren, I Walked Alone [Instrumental], Tomorrow
08, Cepia, Me and My Gin, Cepia
09, Foxes in Fiction, Glow (v079), Ontario Gothic
10, Jib Kidder, Yesterday's Gone [Robitussin Ramble by Benoît Pioulard], Steal Guitars: Fencing Partners

Martin Nonstatic & Frank Sebastian - Echogarden Vol.1

A hefty dub-techno compilation compiled by two of our favourite producers of the genre. This will no doubt introduce you to plenty of new artists and reaffirm our belief that this soft dub-techno sound, is surely becoming bigger and better - all thanks to many of the artists featured here.

Available via Bandcamp.