Results for ‘soundscapes’
Of the many releases and compilation contributions of Bad Sector I have but a few of the latter. I never really listened to this Italian project and with this new album I guessed that was about time. “Cmasa” contains strange soundscapes, not really (dark) ambient, but collections of sounds, samples and here and there a voice. The music is minituously compiled and interesting to listen to, but not really my kind of music.
Links: Bad Sector, Power & Steel
Free online compilations can be a nice way to learn about new projects, but I must say the fact that the length is no longer limited by the amount of information that fits on a disc, things become quite absurd. After the 5 hours Emissions compilation that I reviewed recently, here we have a one file, 800MB and 8+ hours compilation with dark ambient, industrial and a lot of experimental electronic music. I have by far not heard the whole thing when I write this, so this is not really a review, rather an announcement. I heard some nice tracks along the way, but also a lot of too vague experimentalism for my taste. When you are interested, get this compilation here.
Most Of The Taciturn is a Chinese dark ambient project and they release this mcd (5 tracks, 20 minutes) on the Chinese label that also released the newest Dead Man’s Hill and l’Effet c’est Moi albums. It comes in a very nice digipack, but the soundscapes are a bit too monotous for me. So there is a market for this kind of music in China too? And they manage to get their limited releases here too, since these albums are not very hard to get here.
Links: Midnight Productions, M.O.T.T.
Well well, the Dutch scene seems to be ever becoming more active and interesting. Without regards for scenes and tags people go from one style to another which makes it rather difficult to keep up with. So I also missed Hadewych’s very limited demos and the first version of this self-titled album. Two years after the initial release, there is a luxery rerelease on Tuchtunie (165 copies) soon to be followed by a ‘regular’ release limited to 300 copies. Hadewych makes very experimental dark music. Dark soundscapes made with electronics, guitars and voice combined with ‘IDM’-beats at times and samples. The first part of this 50 minutes album is a bit ‘drone rockish’, lateron the sound becomes more ‘soundscapish’. The result is something quite different and highly interesting and another promising project coming from my own country.
Links: Hadewych, Tuchtunie
At this year’s WGT I bought the shirt of this album (since it wasn’t black) and I figured I might buy the album with the shirt! As you all know, Inade makes dark but meditative dark ambient soundscapes and their latest album is no exception. “Incarnation…” is not a masterpiece, but has some very good tracks and some nice experimentation with sounds and voice. For some reason also this album has arguments with my cd-player, just like that other Inade cd that I have and contrary to all my other cds. Anyway, much better dark ambient than the recent CMI releases and also for lovers of the more ‘ritualistic’ side of the genre.
Links: Inade, Loki Found
I first thought that this was a new album, so I was a bit disappointed that “The Luminous Experience” sounds too much like Raison d’Être, but this is actually a live recording! More even, this was recorded in the Netherlands. I do not think I was there in Enschede, not sure how I missed it. The music reminds of a show that I did see in Antwerpen with a great film of ‘rotting boats’ on the background. Anyway, slow dark ambient soundscapes with industrial sounds and gregorian singing. Raison d’Être, do I need to say more?
Links: Raison d’Être, Cold Meat Industry
I have neglected to properly follow this Dutch project. I do not have the previous album on CMI. Foundation Hope does not really sound like the average CMI act. There is dark ambient, but much more experiment, sometimes with slow orchestration like other CMI acts, but also with distorted/noisy sounds and strange soundscapes. I have heard this album a few times by now and I cannot say that I completely adore it, but it sounds interesting nonetheless. It is something different in the dark ambient and soundscapes field for sure.
Links: Foundation Hope, Cold Meat Industry
This compilation is not as good as the “Erotic Morgue” compilation of the same label that I reviewed recently. “Moon Patrol” is not as dark and not as noisy, more dark ambient soundscapes and drones. Not that this cd is boring, but you will have to be more into soundscapes than into noise with this one.
Link: Alampo Records
Kasper van Hoek is the very active man behind the HeilsKabaal label. On this 3″ cd Van Hoek seems to follow the tradition of the famous Dutch Staalplaat label: minimalistic and experimental electronic music; I think I best describe it by the term “soundscapes”, but the term “audio-collages” that the label uses is probably a more fitting description. “The Past…” has one track of almost 24 minutes and is a remix of a live performance done with eight speakers in a special set-up. Nothing much happens in the music and I can only say that this is not my cup of tea.
Links: Kasper van Hoek, HeilsKabaal
A week or so ago I ran into Machinist and decided to order “Cyclus I”. While doing that, my eye fell on another release called “Black Block” which is a magnificent dark ambient soundscapes album. “Cyclus I” slightly differs in style, it is more “noisescapes”. Again there are three tracks, but this time only making half an hour of music. The first track is a bit too monotous noisy and not all that great. The other two tracks are darker and better, but also more noisy (especially in some parts) than “Black Block”. I guess this is more of the sound that I expected (hoped for), but I think “Black Block” is better, especially regarding atmosphere. But… the second and third track of “Cyclus I” are not bad either.
Links: Machinist, Betontoon
