Ghostly 2012

2012a_largeA facebook friend recently steered me in the direction of the album Dive by a band called Tycho. Tycho is an ambient electronica act that is really superb if you like Boards of Canada. Tycho releases albums on Ghostly.com – which is not exactly a record label, more like a storehouse of art-related items that happen to include music. So Ghostly.com has a handful of free releases, by their own collective of artists. So far I have listened to the 2012 release, and it is nice. Not quite post-rock, not quite ambient, it’s all mellow and chilled and relaxing and pretty much perfect. I am looking forward to checking out all of their artists, and in the meantime I have Ghostly 2012 on pretty much on constant repeat in the Jeep. It’s really perfect driving music. So go check them out asap. You will not regret it.

Ghostly 2012

 

Blossom – Blue Balloons

Mellow guitars start this release out, but it doesn’t take long for the nicely mellow breakbeat to show up. Blue Balloons is reminiscent of Revolution Void and Boards of Canada, though not as all over the place – these tracks are more structured, and would be perfect background for some trip-hop vocals. I especially love the big fat square bass synth in my favorite track from the album and that is track 5 – Nightbeat. All in all, this is an excellent release, one of the best I’ve heard this year.

Blossom – Blue Balloons

Mark.Nine – Artificial Horizon

Mark.Nine cover artMark.Nine brings a great set of tracks to the table. Very reminiscent of BoC, Mark.Nine utilizes breakbeats over washy synths that create a perfect mood for chilling out. This style could be called ‘inspirational breakbeat’. Artificial Horizon contains fifteen tracks that sort of fade into and out of your head, instilling a flying feeling. Very interesting for the detail oriented type, this is one of the best finds in quite a while.

Surbahar – Gopal

GopalSurbahar (the artist, not the instrument) has released two tracks for us to enjoy. The first, Gopal, is a mellow, dub like ambient electro piece that is sure to chill you out. Next up is Radesha, a guitar laden instrumental with plenty of ethnic percussions and breakbeats that move on into an ethnic vocal to keep you interested all the way through. Surbahar brings an excellent release to the table, be sure to check out his previous release on the same net label.