Starcadian has just released another video. I posted his last one, HE^RT not too long ago (scroll down just a tad and it’s right there). The new video is every bit as superb as the last one. Recalling cyberpunk imagery reminiscent of Blade Runner, it tells a good guy / bad guy story set in the neon glow of a club in Chinatown. Really, if you haven’t listened to the album yet, get on Spotify and do yourself a favor. It’s called Sunset Blood. Every track on it is great music. Also, watch carefully, you’ll notice that The Pilot is in the club.
Tag Archives: atmospheric
The netlabel LASER VISA offers a pretty cool release by various artists from their stable as a tribute to Yuri Gagarin. These artists sound like they’re straight out of 1985, in a good way. Artists like Ambelion from Ukraine (Ambelions track White Sky Is Blue stands out in particular) and Ergrover, also from Ukraine (who’s track Prototype is exceptional) represent various countries in eastern Europe that remember very well the oddysey undertaken by Yuri Gagarin back in the early 60’s as the first human in space.
As for the music itself, this is how electronic music sounded back in the pioneer days. The final track is absolutely outstanding. Hearkening back to MODEDIT and other tracker programs with the Tron-esque sounds, if you were a hacker / geek kid back in the day, or if you just enjoy lofi electro, then check out this release, and in fact the entire catalog of LASER VISA.
Entertainment For The Braindead – Roadkill
Let’s see, how can I describe this? Post-Bluegrass? Hillbilly ambient? Plain old banjo weirdness? Whatever genre you want to try and pigeon-hole this in (ok ok, I’ll go with Experimental), it’s extremely awesome music. Haunting, pulsing rhythms. Bowed instruments. And a banjo. Far away, ethereal vocals. It’s hard to believe she is from the city of Cologne, Germany, and not some sort of Appalachian free spirit stepping out of the mountains, barefoot with banjo slung across her back, singing an eerie melody that echoes off the surround mountainside. This is a definite must listen.
Lowercase Noises – Ambient Songs
Andrew Othling, aka Lowercase Noises, offers a superb album of ambient guitar music. Clocking in at almost two hours, the music barely moves but is somehow filled with motion, giving the sense of floating along on a galactic river full of light while watching the universe move from past to present to future. This is a sort of ambient postrock, as it is guitar driven with heavy use of effect pedals. Andrew posts much of his work on youtube, along with instructional videos of how to achieve his effects, He also offers three of his other albums (which I have not listened to yet, but have on my short list) on his website. You can also visit his facebook page and let him know his work is appreciated.
Sudio – Soulstrip
A smooth release of three tracks. This reminds me of cold winter days in a quiet spot in the woods, with leaves silently falling around and sunlight streaming through the tree tops. You know, one of those strange, quiet experiences we all have from time to time that is just between us an nature. Sudio captures all that and somehow puts it into a set of house tracks that is guaranteed to get your toe tapping. Subdued drum beats that glitch out from time to time. Mellow strings fading in and out. Deep basslines to rumble your speakers. Blipping synths like popcorn in your ears. Check this one out.
Nettless – From Beyond
Nettless has created eight tracks of beautifully flowing, ambient space music. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Wixel – Clouds
Wixel dreamed up a project in which he would record an album a month; he followed through, bringing to life twelve albums of music (not all of which I’ve checked out at this point). His album from February 2009 stands out to me, with five tracks at just under thirty minutes. Each track is reminiscent of a certain aspect of atmospheric water vapor grouping; for instance, the first track, Cloud Formation, is a rambling and haunting ten-minute build that puts the evaporative process in sonic form. The second track, Rising Clouds, is a slow paced, smooth yet grating discord of sound that makes you feel as though your floating upwards into the sky. Track three is a disonant mish mash of ambient acoustic guitars backed with meandering sounds that tie it all together. Track four, In Clouds, is a fuzzy bit of static that drones on giving the impression that you’ve arrived in the middle of the cloud layer, about to break through into the sunlight at any moment. And when that moment comes, 3:26 later, you’re in a Fog Rainbow, a melancholic soundscape of cloud-like sounds with an atmospheric vibe.