The NRG - Live '94

My friends and I have an ongoing private joke where we (non-musicians for the most part so no chance of it ever happening) would set up a band/electronic act one day, that doesn’t really exist.

We already have the name, branding and who gets to play lead singer (it’s not me, unfortunately). We would make a fake website, and ACE the social media game, sell fake merch etc etc. We were only half-serious, I guess (right guys?) as it sounds either crazy, or like people with too much time on their hands, or both… very possible given the world today.

Well now someone beat us to the punch and has done so in spectacular style. The minor difference, however, is that these (guys/gals) are evidently, actually musicians and have created a rather lovely album, despite the fact that the story, gigs, flyers, tickets etc surrounding it is, apparently all made up.

In what is maybe a dig at today’s social-media-driven hyperbole, or just a fun way to present music The NRG are a forgotten electronic music act from the 90’s that play ‘Stadium Ambient’. And yes, you’re probably already getting the KLF vibes if that term, color pallete and name didn’t already push it over the edge.

The concept is pretty amazing, but so is the music. You can compare it to The KLF’s Chill Out of course, but it definitely leans more towards The KLF’s more upbeat music in energy and rave nostalgia, despite some very glaring references to the OG Chill Out album (Pedal Steel anyone?)

You all know how much I love that album (I put together a whole new reinterpreted mix for it) and I’m sat here wishing these old geezers from Sheffield (or whoever they are!) would have approached me to release this superb album. It would have been as magical as the thoughts in Jimmy’s head and two steps towards completing some kind of imaginary trifecta one day (it has to be a pyramid right?)… The KLF Reinterpreted Mix [CHECK]… The KLF Reinterpreted album…[CHECK]…

Now I sound like a loony.

Live ‘94 is available on Bandcamp

And you should definitely check out the website for this release.

V/A - Touched by Silence

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt compelled to share a release from Touched, but it is the first time I’ve been truly wowed by the effort Martin Boulton has gone to in aid of Cancer Research (and great music).

You can go for the epic end of the scale, and hunt down this wooden CD boxset containing full, new albums by the likes of Future Sound of London, and isolatedmix vets Scanner, Anders Ilar, Autumn of Communion + more, or you can scale it back slightly and get them all on digital (98 tracks). Or, if funds are tight but you still want music by The Orb, James Bernard, HIA, DF Tram, (Ghost), Atom TM + more, then there’s the ‘Touched by Silence The Compilation' featuring a more modest amount of tracks, still all for a good cause. All of the above, featuring designs by The Designers Republic.

I started at the compilation and with just this release alone, you’ve got some of the finest electronic-leaning ambient and ambient electronica of recent years. James Bernard is up there opening up proceedings, before a classic vocal dub track by The Orb, and a hypnotic piece by R&S vet David Morley. I also really enjoyed the DF Tram track, featuring an Orb-esque sample that sounds like an instant classic.

Available on Bandcamp

Violeta Vicci - Autovia

You often hear me gushing about todos’ mixes. If you don’t then, (lucky you!) you can experience his latest for yourself here. But point being, todos has an amazing ear for creating vivid ambient excursions along with finding beautiful music amongst all the madness.

It was todos latest mix that led me to discover this track (and album) by violinist and composer Violeta Vicci.

Like many violinists and experts in their field, it sounds like Violeta Vicci (full name Violeta Barrena-Witschi) has honed her craft in the presence of the very best. Just a quick glance at her bio reads like a classical-music virtuoso resume, and her Discogs one-liner is a knock out by anyones accounts: “She has collaborated with artists such as Thom Yorke, Elbow, Jonny Greenwood, Clint Mansell, Baxter Dury, One Eskimo, Eliza Doolittle, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Pink” …

But Autovia is surprisingly Violeta’s debut album, produced with the expert hand and ears of Martin “Youth” Glover (Killing Joke), who appears to have pushed from a purely classical world into a more avant-garde, electronic guise.

The track that led me to discover Violeta, ‘Violet Light’ has the innovative and ambient qualities of a Nils Frahm, the poise and talent of a composer like Max Richter (especially his Vivaldi reworks) and the instrumental technique of a cellist like Julia Kent. Those are all references so you know where to start with Violeta, not comparisons - essentially this record continues in this guise to various degrees, some more soundtrack, some even more euphoric, and is not to be missed.

Available via the label Painted Word on vinyl and digital.

Celer - Xièxie

Celer’s latest album, Xièxie, is a daunting undertaking at first glance. Not only does it read like a travel diary, but in-between the ten-plus minute tracks are interludes, sound recordings that narrate the beautiful textures that bookend each glimpse into Will Long’s trip to China.

It’s a tale of juxtaposing sounds that come together as a sublime narrative of travel. Field recordings form intros - instead of becoming part of the main tracks (as you’d likely expect from an album like this) - but thats the point. Upon each moment of significance, Will takes you elsewhere, painting a glimpse of voyeurism and scattered, slow motion activity. Drawn-out loops of dreams from a window turn into water paintings and a pensive, dystopian backdrop.

Everything moves faster than we can control. Days are just flashes, moments are mixed up but burned on film, and all of the places and times are out of order.

Simple and refined, this will become my perfect recommendation for anyone looking for the sharp point of emotive ambient music - it’s all here: narrative, escapism, texture, story and reflection. One to get lost in.

Available on Bandcamp in digital and vinyl editions.

The Time Released Sound Around The World Ambient Program

Time Released Sound are one of the very few labels that go above and beyond when it comes to the physical representation of their releases. So much so, that often, each individual piece is unique and tells its own story. From vintage photographs, to hand-crafted packaging, the TRS label has now gone so far as to include individual themed travel booklets for each CD.

If the packaging alone wasn’t enough to entice the collectors out there, then the music may just be the push you need. I joke, it’s a superb lineup of ambient musicians. From Purl, to Hotel Heon, offthesky & Pleq, and How To Disappear Completely, the compilation captures some of the very best audio travel companions.

…a physical, limited edition, hand assembled version of 125 copies w/factory pressed discs housed in vintage, 60 year old modified travel booklets. Each of these colorful 40+ page booklets from the 50’s is part of a series of 75, and is dedicated to the history and customs of a particular country. Each booklet has been reconstructed, printed in, and is sewn and rebound with additional vellum maps, atlas pages, vintage hand written sheet music, and cards from an antique travel game. Each “mail art” booklet is shipped in a seriously artified and hand-stamped 7’’x 9” cardboard mailing envelope, is hand addressed and labelled with a mix of old and new postage stamps, that are cancelled by hand. Bring the world to your door and listen up!!