#NoBanNoWall Bandcamp recommends

Today, Bandcamp are donating all of their profits from sales to ACLU. Read more about this great initiative here. To help with your splurge, here's 10 recommends you can purchase to contribute to the greater cause. 

Touched - Covert II EP (Touched)

Do double good in the world, by grabbing Touched's latest mysteriously produced IDM monster. The producers behind these records remain anonymous - but if it was Plaid, BoC or Aphex, I wouldn't be surprised. Proceeds from Touched go toward Macmillan Cancer Relief. See past Touched reviews here.

Jonathan Fitoussi - Imaginary lines (Further Records)

One of my favorite records from the always dependable Further Records, also donating their profits. Some great melodic, analogue wizardry - and two LP's remaining at the time of writing. 

Specta Ciera - Signal Return (Energostatic)

This album's set as name your price, so don't go entering '0' - in fact, you never should, as it doesn't add an album to your Bandcamp collection for other people to explore. So find some $ for this great dub-techno album by Specta Ciera.

Faru - Through Darkness Comes Light (Silent Season)

Buy it, if nothing, for its optimistic title in times of darkness. But hey, if you're not superstitious, you'll love the depth of this debut from Faru on our friends Silent Season. I fell asleep to this album last night and 'Sunrise At Bratan' should be enough to persuade you.

Crisopa - Transhumante (Self)

Crisopa  (n5MD alumn) hasn't popped up on these pages for a while now, but his new album dropped just this week. Don't let the artwork fool you into thinking this is anything other than some unique, melodic and intelligent electronica we've come to love - start with 'I am the lord of these ruins'.  Again, name your price, so be kind.

Ben Woods - A World Without Color (Self)

Ben's been creating the kind of emotional, modern-classical/ambient/post-rock music that the likes of Helios, Hammock, Rhian Sheehan etc have made very popular. Ben's latest release is much more raw than many, more instrumental and attached, perfect for daydreaming and window watching. 'Endless Lines of Infinite Light' is my fav from the album. Name your price so be kind. 

1-Mile North - Awakened By Decay (Self)

If you like your guitars and lean more into the post-rock side of ambient music a-la Explosions In The Sky, this album may be your cup of tea. There's also a lovely 2xLP up for grabs. 

Steve Roach - The Early Years (Soundquest Music)

This has been on high rotation for me in recent weeks. This digital-only bonus, entitled The Early Years, features two amazing long-form sequencer pieces circa 1982. Steve Roach's music is a rabbit-hole of original synthesizer work, and this is as good a place as any to start. Name your price, so be kind.

Fourtet - Randoms (Self)

You're a fan of Fourtet in one way or another, even if you don't know it. Not only did he create a 'Banned country' playlist, but he's embraced Bandcamp like no other, and whilst also giving away profits, homes exclusive albums like 'Randoms' on Bandcamp. People like him help get efforts like this off the ground. And that 'Gillie Amma I Love You' track is just magical. 

Composure - Ambient Techno For Japan (Labyrinth)

Lastly, this compilation is from 2011, and was originally set up for the Japan quake-relief. However, it's one of those gems that needs to be in any ambient/techno fans collection, and probably just sits in your wish-list right now, waiting for when you've got a spare $20 to drop... change that and buy it. The CD is folklore, but the digital is here just for you...

If none of those got your cash out, then check out my full collection on Bandcamp here.

Murcof x Vanessa Wagner - Statea

Classical reinterpretations are easy to come by, but not many are fulfilled with such meticulous grace and innovation, as Murcof and Vanessa Wagner's, Statea. 

Wagner, a French pianist and Murcof, an electronic musician of microscopic execution, could have each approached the infamous tracks on this album with their own individual styles,  but instead chose to combine. The result is a thoroughly unique and innovative take on the original music, with subtleties of each artist adorning separate tracks, turning decade-long proven piano melodies and patterns into even finer detailed textures for the modern day listener.

John Cage's 1948 piano piece In A Landscape, slowly descends into a chamber of suspended atmospheres and static, as the recognizable keys begin to tinker. Arvo Pärt's opening signature is slowly drubbed into submission by an pounding electronic beat reminiscent of Alva Noto and the most epic of film soundtracks. Aphex Twin's delicate piano piece, Avril 14th gets a rework he may just be happy with (unlike Kanye's rip), with a touching disposition that makes the original somehow even more beautiful. And while Erik Satie's Gnossienne n°3 may not be the most recognizable of pieces from that name, it's the perfect light at the end of a dreary, dream-inducing intro, that sets a scene for the end of the world.

This is an album of intricacies that could have only come from two producers who know the original material so well, only they could have manipulated and shaped it into the successes you'll hear on Statea. If you need an introduction to some of the world's most revered composers, go hunting down the original material. If you need an introduction to two people pushing the boundaries of sound and what a remix can become, look to Murcof and Wagner. Wins all around. 

Available through Infine on Bandcamp, digital + LP.

Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk - Passage (video premiere)

A duo of versatility and uncompromising musical output, Ulrich Schnauss and Jonas Munk are no strangers to our ears. In the past fifteen years, the pair have gifted us with some of our most admired albums and collaborations, and neither seem to be letting up anytime soon.

Ulrich, whilst in the midst of releasing his latest opus, No Further Ahead Than Today, is also now a part of the legendary electronic outfit, Tangerine Dream. And whilst Jonas hasn't been as relentless with his output in the midst of his family time, he has still found the time to re-ignite the spark that saw their revered skills combine on 2010's self-titled production. It was an output that came together almost naturally, with both artists possessing that ethereal, melodic take on shoegaze inspired electronic music; one, a master of the synthesizer and the other, the guitar.

When asked what pulled them back into the studio, Jonas makes it clear they were destined to continue what they started."We've been working together for quite a long time now and I can't remember ever getting stuck with a piece or feeling uninspired during a session. There has always been a really good work flow, with things rolling naturally. So when we both had some available time in early 2014 we figured it might be a lot of fun to start something new". Ulrich continues, "I think we always had some kind of silent agreement that we'd eventually continue - sometimes it's really just a question of fitting it into the schedule somehow."

The new album, Passage came to life through a variety of sketches, originally ideated by Jonas in Odense, (listen to Jonas' isolatedmix dedicated to the sounds of his hometown), bringing them over to Ulrich's London studio, with the pair then obsessing until completion. This revisited dynamic seemed to be a welcome change for Jonas, who enjoyed Ulrich applying his magic to his original sketches amongst the wonderful cave of equipment and synthesizers adorning the studio; "Once there's a fundamental idea going Ulrich will be adding most of the synths and be in charge of effects processing and so on, and I'll add guitar parts and perhaps come up with suggestions sound or structure-wise", Jonas says. going on to elaborate how much he enjoyed those days in London with Ulrich: "I always find it very inspiring doing these daily 14 hour sessions, totally immersed, with nothing else on my mind. It's quite different from my work flow at home – I've got a family now, so I usually head to my studio after dropping off my kid in nursery, work for 6 hours, before rushing back to get on with daily life. In London it's all music, except for the occasional coffee or Indian food break".

With Jonas' signature guitar work and Ulrich's synchronization, chord manipulation and warming analog sounds, it's easy to point to a variety of influences on the sound emitted when their powers combine.  This mutual respect for each others strengths made it easy to point towards specific ideas, with Jonas asking Ulrich, "could you try a really creamy early 1990s synth-pad in the intro" or "could we make this more new-agey in a vintage kinda way" or "This needs more Simple Minds". The response from Ulrich heard bouncing across his north east London studio: "Jonas: bring some Fleetwood Mac to this part, goddamnit!"

If you recall their earlier album, these inspirations would definitely ring true as a general theme throughout. With Passage however, it's a little harder to tell. The album is much more varied in approach, a purposeful result, as Ulrich mentions: "the 'method' actually, is to avoid developing one, and to capture the joy of recording without being tied to the framework of a certain concept instead - we keep surprising ourselves by what we end up writing. from my perspective we've managed to create a varied album that's not stuck in a particular genre - a piece that's inspired by 80s Californian New-age maybe followed by a slowed down tech-house groove, coupled with folky guitars". 

Album opener Amaris (see the exclusive video by London based photographer and film maker Nat Urazmetova below) forms the bridge between the last album and Passage - featuring a recognizable Schnauss structure punctuated with Jonas' guitars. However the album quickly introduces other signature moments and structures. The more euphoric reverb of Intervention : Sol; the Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream influences on Intervention : Stjerner; the sparse drum-beats reminiscent of Joy Division (obviously not as gloomy) form the back-bone of MST,  and the classic chord-step progressions we've come to enjoy from Ulrich transcend moments within Spellbreaker.  

It's not all accidental euphoria though, as Ulrich describes,"the rather narcotic, somnambulist vibe of the song 'Anywhere But Here' is at least, to a degree, the result of my excessive aspirin consumption during the recordings. Now it's actually one of my favourites".

As Jonas goes on to describe the main differences between this album and the last, it's clear both he and Ulrich had fun building on an already perfected relationship, likely bringing in new ideas and energy from recent projects to form another unmissable piece of work. "Even though we deliberately stayed away from any overall concept, to my ears this album ended up with more of a laid-back vibe in general – compared to the more euphoric vibe of the self-titled album. Which is something I didn't really think about until very recently. It's like there's a mild breeze blowing through all of these tracks". 

Simplified and unrestricted intentions undoubtedly bring out the best in these two. 

Passage will be available through Jonas Munk's newly created Azure Vista Records, with pre-orders available on Bandcamp now.

Lav & Purl - The Present Moment

Lav & Purl have existed as individual artists for a while now, with both making appearances on the collective Dewtone, and Purl  also contributing his unique, melodic pulsing ambience on Silent Season, with the much loved album, 'Stillpoint'. 

The Present Moment is the second release by the duo, after the recently released EP 'Earth And Beyond' on their own label, Amone Recordings. This delicate, nurtured track, combines beautiful sound recordings from Lav (Christopher Landin) alongside piano and drifting melodies from Purl, (Ludvig Cimbrelius). I won't get into much further detail on this track however, as it's the start of something much bigger...

This track was a part of a larger album originally, but earned its own release as it distinguished itself from the other tracks with a softer, calmer atmosphere. The remaining tracks from this production will form ASIP's seventh vinyl release, titled 'A State Of Becoming' and arriving in early 2017 on double vinyl. 

So, here's a taster of what's to come!

Download on Bandcamp.

Phaeleh - Illusion of the Tale

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Music to escape to. It's what you're escaping from, or where you want to escape to, that often decides how you perceive music. It's what makes it so subjective and personal.

It's why I love the phrase 'A Strangely Isolated Place'. We all live in a busy world, where everyone is just a button away. But you can be stood in the middle of Times Square, or on a 7.34am commuter train to London Kings Cross, and escape to somewhere completely different, with the right type of music.

This train of thought inspired Matt Preston aka Phaeleh's, latest album Illusion Of The Tale. If the title alone didn't give it away, then dig deeper. Seventeen tracks long, Matt created the album as a way of saying ... "take some time to chill the fuck out. I want the album to be an escape from everyday lives. I want it to be a soundtrack for people to let go.” He's describing the daily illusion given off from social media and the facade that everyone is hiding behind, but the common thought is the same - ambient music helps you do this, switch off, go some place else - ignore the bullshit. 

With such a powerful inspiration you're sat hear now wandering how intense the music must have to be to achieve this, but whereas some people need complex rhythms, loud noises and patterns to get lost in, Matt has opted for the simplicity and emotion of ambient and electronica that just edges, pushes, nudges you along to new places - a gentle journey that envelopes and folds, cushions and lifts you off to your destination of choice. 

Seventeen delicate tracks comprising of live synth recordings, Matt has also incorporated piano recordings, field recordings, outtakes from live shows, and in one instance, a track "made from his thumb holding the end of a cable running through a pedal board, then looped and pitched down.". Some have an emotional efficacy of someone like Mark Pritchard, in tracks like Frequency, some a dense and intriguing texture of heavier drone musicians in Absence Of Light, whilst others like Blue Night, shift a little more into gentle beats, echoing the likes of Solar Fields and Carbon Based Lifeforms. We're even treated to some space-esque vintage sci-fi synthesizers in District, my favorite from the album. 

Despite the numerous electronic styles, there's an overarching sense of similar emotion. It's never too dark, never too euphoric, and each track could've easily progressed into either territory. It's a dynamic sound that is easily taken one way or the other, which is why the album does what Matt set out to achieve. If there was a specific arc, or tracks that peaked, then you're often being taken along a predetermined journey, but with Illusion of the Tale, it's a story decided by you, the listener. On a good day, you'll go one way, on a bad day, another. Put it on shuffle and add a fourth dimension. With every listen you'll find something new and travel someplace else.

Available on Bandcamp. 

Read more on Phaeleh and listen to a recent ambient mix on The Ransom Note