Myth of the Near Future (Saffron Slumber, Specta Ciera, Carl Sagan’s Ghost) (2010)
A new split EP from CSG, Saffron Slumber, and Specta Ciera. A Three-part composition, available on the Circles and Lines netlabel. Check it out, and remember…
Free! It’s the new expensive.
Carl Sagan’s Ghost – The Colonial Spa EP (2010)
Take a relaxing trip with me, your host, Carl Sagan’s Ghost, as we travel to The Colonial Spa – a low-orbiting satellite spacestation where beings from around the galaxy gather to relax, trade, and converse.
This is the first EP in a series dedicated to creating a fictional space through music – or, perhaps, writing the music one might hear in such a fictional space. It is a bit of a departure from my previous albums; it’s a little more beat orientated, some might even say it’s of the minimal-electronica sub-genre.
I hope you enjoy it.
Wixel’s 2009 project
Self-Released
Up until a few months ago, I thought that my releasing 6 albums this year was pretty ambitious. I’ve always wondered why bands take so long to write and record an album. It’s pretty silly that fans have to sometimes wait for years between releases from their favorite artists, especially when “professional” bands don’t have to worry about day jobs, and especially now with the ease of recording on the go and self-releasing. So yeah, awhile ago I felt ambitious. But I was quickly humbled, and now this dude makes me feel lazy.
Wixel’s 2009 Project – an album every month.
And he’s done it. The project has been finished, on time. And what’s more, the albums are good. Yes, some of them are quite short, and sometimes the compositions and songs aren’t totally fleshed out, but dangit, when you have this much material those things don’t really matter. Judged as a whole, this is a stunning accomplishment.
I’ve heard seven of the twelve albums. What I like most about what I’ve heard is how Mr. Wixel changes things up style-wise while maintaining his own unique vision. While all of the compositions are ambient in nature (with a strong focus on mood and atmosphere), he’s also added in some genuine songwriting, lyrics, and all kinds of neat little things like fieldrecordings. Thus far the entire project feels organic, and he is capturing the differing moods of the changing year with skill.
He’s released all of the albums as free downloads, but he’s also taking donations for each one. I suggest you download some of them to see if you like him, and then make a sizable donation on some others. He has released a limited number of physical versions of each album. From what I’ve heard the original pressings all sold out, but I think he’s planning on another run.
My favorites of the seven I’ve heard:
This is a stunning ambient album.
A little more indie-rock in style – reminds me of Elliot Smith and early Pink Floyd. More song-orientated than Clouds, but still highly evocative and atmospheric.
The End is the final release of the project. I was wondering how Wixel was going to finish things off, and he couldn’t have done it any better. This is not a triumphant sounding end to an epic project, but rather the music conveys a sense of tiredness, and feelings of wanting to relax after a long day (year) of work. But there is also a sense of joy in these three extended compositions, of looking forward towards a brighter future after having proven to one’s self that the nearly-impossible can be achieved.
I’ve never heard a more ambitious project from any musician. And that Wixel is doing this without the financial backing of a label – apparently in his spare time – makes it all the more worthy. This is a monumental achievement in the realm of the recording arts. This is the kind of thing that the major awards should be reserved for. Bands who make millions while only releasing one album every couple of years should be ashamed of themselves – this is where it is at. True artistic craftsmanship of the highest order. A DIY project that makes all others shine a little less bright.
Lucette Bourdin – Silver Moon
Netlabel – Earth Mantra
Lucette Bourdin’s Silver Moon teeters dangerously upon the precipice of New Age and Dark Ambient, two styles of ambient music I don’t care for; New Age because it tends to be soulless, lacking an edge, and is rarely (if ever) interesting, and Dark Ambient because it is dull and murky , lacking texture, and is rarely (if ever) interesting.
Good ambient music should be approachable on two levels: it should be able to drift into the background becoming unobtrusive atmosphere, and it should be able to be engaged as an interesting form of music. Silver Moon does both of these things and more.
In many ways this album probably sounds like prototypical ambient music, at least to those who rarely listen to it. That is, I imagine that this is what most people think of when they think of ambient music. However, there is much here to offer even the most jaded listener of this misunderstood genre, all thanks to Bourdin’s deft ability to create interesting textures coupled with deep and ominous drones offset with peculating electronic rhythms and just enough melody and harmony to keep things memorable.
“From Their Shadowy Cote”
“Now the Moon”
******
Doyeq – Condition Delay
Netlabel – Electronica RU
Giving Adverb a run for his money in the best minimal techno release this year is his own label mate, Doyeq. Spend enough time listening to the amazing artists on this label and you will probably come to the same conclusion as I have – Russia and the Eastern European countries are the place to be for minimal tech. Must be something about the environment that is conducive to this kind of stark minimalism.
The only problem with this release is that it is a little too long. It’s billed as an EP, and yet it is 8 tracks and 54 minutes long. At half the length it would have been twice as brilliant.
Might as well continue the Electronica RU love with their newest sampler:
It’s a sprawling 37 tracks long, and contains examples of just about every kind of minimal electronica there is – dub, techno, house, you name it. These label samplers are a great way to discover bands, so check it out.
******
Derrick Hart – Songs From A Cross (The Sea)
Netlabel – 12Rec
The best straight up indie-rock I heard all year. This 4-track EP is stunning. The songs are complexly arranged, expertly produced, and executed with the kind of sonic perfection one might imagine coming only from a more professional label like Merge, Touch n Go, Darla, or Thrill Jockey.
Hart’s voice is strong and honest, lending a familiar quality to the pleasant and melodic music surrounding it. “You’re Winning So I Quit” is the stand out track here; it is simply a beautiful song. I wouldn’t be surprised to find this guy on a bigger label after this – if that’s something he wants. I don’t know.
******
Relative Q – Small Craft Exercise Caution
Neltabel – One Dot
Instrumental, electronic post-rock at its finest, with a healthy dose of drum machine, loops, and prog-like synth.
If you can’t groove to this track, you can’t groove.
Well OK, so that’s not really true. I understand the subjective nature of groovitude. But dammit, this tune is just too good. I love the simple and powerful beat, and that synth lead is awesome. One of my favorite tracks of the whole year. If you dig that, you’ll probably dig the rest of the album.
******
Rho – October Turncoat
Netlabel – No-Source
If you can’t tell by now, I really like guitar-based ambient music. Especially when it’s drenched in otherworldly f/x and created using interesting sonic textures.
Rho’s October Turncoat is just such an album. As a matter of fact, it may be the best such album I’ve heard all year. This is kind of “best of” collection with songs culled from two of the band’s commercial releases. I haven’t heard those, but I can say that this album does work as a cohesive unit; it doesn’t sound like a simple collection of songs, but rather an album.
The opening track “Simpl” is amazing. Lush guitars coupled with some nice drum loops and electronics make it interesting on a variety of levels. “JW2″ the second track opens with the sound of a guitar seemingly recorded underwater on an old tape, before evolving into a nice little acoustic jam.
******
Sleeping Me – Lamenter
Label – Phantom Channel
Washed out guitar bliss, drenched in reverb and delay, stretching into the horizon creating otherworldly sonic textures and drones. Yeah – this is good.
“Northern Pacific”
“Bleeding Riverbed”
******
This is not CC licensed, but you can download it for free from the band’s website. You can also purchase it on iTunes.
And it is awesome. The best shoegazer I heard all year. The title song reminds me of a long lost song by Chapterhouse, circa Whirlpool. The album is brimming with beautiful, shimmering guitars, great drum work, driving baselines, and drowned out vocals. However, Pilot Cloud also injects a healthy dose of prog-rock into the mix and they aren’t afraid to play a straightforward riff or lead/solo part when the moment strikes.
It’s the best of the old mix with the best of the new. If you even remotely like shoegazer and dream-pop, this album should be in your collection.
******
Inverz – Slow
Netlabel – Phantom Channel
A wonderfully modern take on the ambient genre, mixing electronic glitch, with drones and acoustic work. The opening track “Home End,” is exquisite. With minimal vibes, field recordings, guitar, and drifting electronic textures, Inverz conjures a digital world full of haunting beauty and stark imagery. This is a perfect album for a dark rainy day.
******
Saine – Clockwork EP
Self-released
Saine’s Clockwork EP is a fantastic little album of chilled-out electronica. The opening track has a dub-like feel, and even includes some harmonica samples, thus adding an organic element to the mechanized clockwork of the electronic sequencing. Each of the remaining tracks echoes this quality. Saine deftly injects a real human touch to a genre that can all too often find itself sound too sterile and cold.
******
Feldmaus – Spaces
Netlabel – Passage
Spaces is an intricately produced and arranged electronic ambient album mixing elements of drone, glitch, and electronica. The opening track, “Sunbeams in High Grass,” is one of my favorites of the year. It sounds like a dusty memory shown on a dirty old movie screen through an old worn out projector unable to play the audio without fading in and out, and with some serious wow and flutter and warble.
The entire release is kind of like this. And it is an engaging listening experience from beginning to end.
Planet Boelex & Lisa’s Antenna – Little World
Label – Soft Phase
Upon my first listen I loved this release so much it became my year-long goal to get a release on the same label – Soft Phase – a label owned and operated by Ossi, the main artist behind this incredible album. I’m happy to say that I achieved my goal.
But that’s not the point. The point is this: with electronic music this good is released for free, I cannot fathom a need to purchase any. This album is incredible, and if not for a highly, no – insanely – ambitious project edging it out it would have been my favorite release of the year.
Little World is melodic, sensual, full of passion, nuance, and deft programming skill. It’s machine music with heart and soul, and the added vocals by Lisa’s Antenna bring a beautiful and haunting atmosphere to the already densely textured compositions.
******
Valzi – I Nvr <3 U
Net Label – Petite & Jolie
Chip Tunes – 8-Bit generated sounds. Nintendo music. Perhaps the buzz-genre of the year.
This is by far the best chip tune album I’ve heard all year. It’s endlessly interesting, inventive and melodic. I’d love to see the game that should have been made to coincide with this release.
******
Talking Makes No Sense – The Winter Drones
Self Release
This one costs about $8, but you can stream the whole thing for free from Bandcamp.
If you enjoy noisier, more drone-based ambient, with some semi-harsh feedback and lo-fi scratch, then definitely check this album out. It was a recent discover of mine, and I wish I would have stumbled upon it sooner. All the more proof that the CC community needs something like iTunes to get the word out. Definitely check this out if you’re into stuff like Belong and Tim Hecker.
******
Crepusclum – Sing on in Silhouettes
Netlabel – 12Rec
Sing on in Silhouettes is an absolutely gorgeous guitar album. The compositions feature mainly acoustic guitar, with accents from various electric guitars, bass, and some very light electronic/FX/loop work.
Lots of nice finger picking, chord strumming, and lead playing here. It reminds me a bit of old Tortoise, or Duruti Column in its timbre and mood. The second track, “Reflected in Clouds,” is a fantastic little tune, and “Abaculus Perspective” stands out with the added female vocals.
******
Various Artists – Mixotic 161: DJ Millerindub – Fonosintesis
Netlabel – Mixotic
An excellent DJ mix using a number of CC licensed ambient/chillout tunes. There is some absolutely amazing stuff on display here from Philip Wilkerson, Mel, The Inventors of Aircraft, and a number of other artists from a number of different labels, many of them focusing on a different style of ambient music. The styles here range from classic drone, to field recordings, to piano-based compositions, and on to more experimental stuff.
The mix does what any good mix should: it takes the listener on a sonic journey through a soundscape draped with beautiful noises. It’s a perfect album to get yourself acquainted with a number of different artists, and it is perfect for late nights such as this.
******
Bleeding Heart Narrative – This Octopus is Going to Eat Your Face
Nelabel – Distance Recordings
Cello and Piano. Chaos and order. Noise and nuance. Drones and melody. Bombast and subtlety. This album is made of many things, helping it to be one of the most inventive, creative, and interesting albums I’ve heard all year.
2009 is the first year in which I listened to more music released for free than music released commercially. As a matter of fact, there is so much quality music being released for free that I am not purchasing any commercially available music in 2010 – perhaps even longer. The biggest problem with this music is that there is too much being released – it takes a lot of time to evaluate all of the releases. The Creative Commons group of musicians is amazingly talented. As part of that group I’ve made many good acquaintances this year, and will continue to foster these musical relationships in a number of future projects.
Of course I am lucky that I tend to gravitate towards ambient/electronic/experimental music these days, as these genres are offered in abundance by a huge number of netlabels.
So yes, this list will consist mostly of ambient/electronic music, mostly. So, if that’s not your cup of tea, no big deal.
These are really in no particular order except for one which will be mentioned as the Numero Uno release/project of the year. This list is also an ongoing WIP, as I’m still getting caught up on some releases.
Enjoy.
*******
Adverb – Monument EP
Nelabel – Electronica RU
We’ll start things out with a bona fide masterpiece. Adverb’s Monument EP is a triumph of minimal techno. While The Field gets all the praise (and his stuff is pretty good), Adverb is where it’s at. This EP trumps The Field’s 2009 release and then some. Minimal techno is all about restraint and precision. Each beat, chirp, blip, note, and hit must be placed in exactly the right place for the right reasons, and Adverb knows how to do this. With carefully composed and structured electronic soundscapes, Adverb creates a lavishly textured atmosphere that sounds futuristic and nostalgic. It’s the perfect music for late night quiet time.
Electronica RU has quickly become one of my favorite netlabels, and a number of their releases will be appearing here.
******
Off Land – Commute
Netlabel – Resting Bell
Creating a sense of place, an atmosphere in which the music exists, is an important quality to ambient music. As listeners, it is good to feel connected to the ambient soundscapes thus creating sensory context. Offland’s 3-track epic, Commute, does this very well. This album is based upon the artist’s hour-long subway commute. It’s the length of a single round-trip commute and was composed and arranged around a number of field recordings made of the actual subway trips. While listening to this it is easy to imagine being on a subway, staring out at the world as it zips past your window; a perfect composition for an early fall evening, as the sun is setting and the cold chill of winter hangs crisply on the air.
******
Western Homes – Are Empty
Netlabel – Rack and Ruin
A wonderful little album of whimsical, indie, electro-acoustic-pop. Mixing the best qualities of lo-fi noise, ambient, indie rock, and electronica, Western Homes creates an album that is at once familiar, but altogether fresh and exciting. This is an album that I imagine “the kids” being into, something that Pitchfork or Tiny Mix Tapes might praise if they didn’t overlook CC music. It contains a number of short, poppy tunes with good lyrics, acoustic guitars, synth loops, drum machines, and fuzz. It is, in a word, fun.
******
MAAP – MAAP:E1
Netlabel – MAAP Music
The Multiple Artist Ambient Project is something I launched in September of this year, and as only 1/16th of the collaboration, I feel justified in mentioning here, as it could shed some light on some other deserving artists.
This project was started in an effort to foster more creative collaborations within the CC community; to build relationships between the artists and the listeners; and to help the creative output of the individual artists.
It is basically an interactive listening experience that will grow and mutate as more artists and listeners get involved. It was inspired by Brian Eno’s theories of generative music, The Flaming Lips’ album Zaireka, and the In B Flat project.
On each of the 5 compositions, a basic key, mode, and tempo was selected. It was then up to the artists to record a part using these as a guide. Control over the finished composition was partially relinquished, as the artists were encouraged to go in as blindly as possible.
I then uploaded the parts to a website on which the listener can mix their own version of each composition, thus creating their own ambient album. The different parts can also be downloaded and mixed in a DAW, and I am encouraging anyone who is interested to do so. All of the music is CC licensed giving the user the right to mix, remix, add, and create derivative works for non-commercial use.
Some of the artists and listeners are also releasing their own versions of the first Excursion. Mine was the first to be available, and the second, by Lights Galaxia (my label and band mate) will be released early next week. Hopefully many more will come.
This is basically an album that keeps on giving. Excursion 2 will be breaking ground in February, so if anyone here is interested in joining please stay tuned for more information.
******
Maudlin of the Well – Part the Second
Not all of the releases mentioned in this thread are electronic/ambient. This one couldn’t be further from those genres.
Part the Second comes highly recommended to fans of Long Kin Killie, King Crimson, Mogwai, old Mercury Rev and other great prog/post-rock. This album is fantastic – probably the best prog-rock album I’ve heard all year. It’s a wonderfully orchestrated and arranged mixture of symphonic rock with post-rock elements that help to make it more than a simple throwback or emulation. That can be a problem with modern prog – much of it really isn’t progressive, but instead is strives to sound like the prog-rock of decades past. Maudlin the Well’s album doesn’t suffer from this problem, but it expertly takes steps forward while recognizing the roots of the genre’s aesthetics.
******
Chris Tenz – Forlorn Memories
Netlabel – Soft Phase
Forlorn Memories is haunting and beautiful, soulful and personal, captivating and expertly produced. Guitar-based ambient music doesn’t get much better. Tenz weaves lavishly arranged ambient compositions with acoustic guitar, piano, a little bit of feedback and noise, and lush synth-string passages. It’s the perfect album to listen to curled up on the couch with a good book on a gloomy, rainy day.
******
Gorje Hewek – Sur-Dramatic Nature
Netlabel – Fragment
This four track EP is another excellent example of minimal electronica/ambient done to near perfection. It is a short, singular work that shines with precision arrangements and compositions. I’d love to see and hear someone like Makoto Shinkai use this music for an anime, as it possesses similar introspective qualities.
Fans of Ghostly’s Tycho will probably dig this
******
Ten and Tracer – Tsotsitaal
Netlabel – Acrerca
Fans of noise-based, soundscape ambient looking for a brilliant album, stop looking. Here it is – it’s free, and totally worthy of your time.
Tsotsitaal is a complex album, one that is not readily accessible. It’s light on the melodies and harmonies, heavy on the crystalline-like atmosphere and digital textures. It is an album of nuanced sound; some of the tracks are barely audible as the sounds drift in and out of the stereo field.
Ballardian in nature, it makes a perfect soundtrack to a work of stark, urban speculative fiction.
******
Marconi Union – 13
Self-Released
(It looks like they’re charing about $3 for this now…it was free, though)
Marconi Union – OK, these guys are so awesome that after listening to their music Brian Eno hired them to remaster a bunch of his albums. They’re also super nice guys, and they really like Carl Sagan’s Ghost a lot, so that is also awesome.
Their best album by far is Distance – it’s actually the album that got me back into playing music a couple of years ago.
13 is a collection of MP3 tracks (B-sides, new tunes, remixes…) released via the band’s website. It’s a good representation of the duo’s styles. Ranging from dub-ambient to light trip-hop, and yet always maintaining their signature sound. They’ve lately enjoyed a bit of commercial success with one of their compositions being used in a Palm Pre commercial, the one with that creepy looking girl.
Carl Sagan’s Ghost – At the End of it All (2009)
1. At the End of it All (guitar Travis Hartnett: http://www.myspace.com/travishartnett)
2. Increasing Presure
3. Hallowed & Hungry
4. Solitude I
5. Solitude II
6. The Patience of a Saint I (Field Recording on parts I and II by Specta Ciera: http://www.myspace.com/spectaciera)
7. The Patience of a Saint II
8. The Patience of a Saint III
9. Take a Moment (guitar Travis Harnett)
Notes:
At the End of it All is an album birthed out of failure. Two failures, really.
The first failure was in it’s theme. Initially, this album was supposed to be an atmospheric celebration of Spring and Summer, something warm, something happy. However, that didn’t quite pan out. As I began to compose and then finalize these compositions, I noticed that the album was taking on a darker tone. What I ended up with was an album that seemed to contemplate death. One could argue that things do die in the Summer, due to a lack of watering, but honestly this album does not remind me of the Summer months at all – it surely belongs to the months of October and November.
However, I should mention that I don’t think the album is overly depressing. It is somber, but there is still a hint of hope and happiness in a number of songs. This probably stems from my own personal belief that death is not the end, but simply a new beginning.
When I first thought of doing this album, I envisioned it as a collaborative project between my friend Ryan Tallman and me. I thought it would be fun to pass unfinsihed tracks back and forth. I was anxious to get things going and so I began to compose and tweak, and tweak, and fine tune, and compose some more. Before I knew it, a few of the tracks were finished. I sent some stuff to Ryan, but he was busy with his wife having a baby. That was cool, I thought I could wait. But being the impatient musician that I am, I continued to work on the album until it was completely finished. Failure number 2 – a collaborative effort became a singular one.
At the End of it All represents a turning point for the Carl Sagan’s Ghost project; turning into what I really don’t know. For one, recording this album has rekindled my love for the guitar; a number of the compositions feature guitar, far more than my earlier ambient efforts. The final track, Take a Moment, is almost entirely made from sounds generated by the guitar, mostly played by Travis Hartnett, and manipulated by yours truly.
The centerpiece of the album is a nearly 30-minute long composition called The Patience of a Saint. Ironically enough, this piece tried my patience more than any song I’ve ever recorded. I went through at least five different versions of Part III before finally nailing it (I hope), and the entire thing existed just out of reach. I’d compose, mix, and master, taking a few steps forward, only to find that I’d actually taken a few steps back. But at the end of it all, it came together, and now I’m quite proud of it. This composition will actually be one that I will perform live sometime in early 2010. I’m getting a full band together, and turning it into an hour-long performance. This will be recorded live and released next year.
Enjoy the listen, and thanks for your time.
I’m proud to say the MAAP:E1 has launched, and it turned it better than I could have imagined. It’s great to see a project like this come to fruition.
Also up for grabs is the first artist mix of MAAP:E1, mixed by yours truly, Carl Sagan’s Ghost.
I’ve been listening to the various parts and mixes for months now, and I haven’t grown tired of them at all. As a matter of fact, I’m still discovering subtle nuances. I might actually do a second mix in the near future. As usual, the album is available here for free.
Download Album (114mb – Zip format – high quality, DRM-free MP3)
There is just too much good music being released these days. Please – stop! I don’t have the time to listen to it all…
A brief run down of a few of the things that are making my ears happy:
Adverb (again) – Adverbial (available on iTunes), and the Retaliate EP.
Once (twice) again I am wowed by Adverb. This is minimal electronica at its very, very best. I wish I knew more about this guy and his approach.
***
Porcupine Tree – The Incident (Commercial release)
Steven Wilson is one of the best producers and musicians working today, and his newest PT album is really great. A long double-LP, and a concept record, The Incident demands to be listened to as a single entity. It is truly an album, not a collection of songs. And unlike the other prog-double LP recently released (Embryo), The Incident is produced and mastered with a skillful ear and hand. The album feels alive, with room for the instruments to breath within the stereofield.
***
Mikael Fyrek – I Step Into the Advent
Another nostalgic release from Mr. Fyrek. There is a strange irony associated with so much electronic music. While the music is made with futuristic and technologically advanced instruments, it often possesses a strong nostalgic mood and atmosphere, and this album exemplifies this irony with great skill.
So I am “officially” a member of The Lights Galaxia now. The First EP (on which I did very little) was recently released, and we’re working on a full length album to be released sometime next year. We’re also looking at growing the Luxus Arctica netlabel in the near future. 2010 should be a promising year for new musical projects.
