I've been sifting through some old files and taking a look at some unfinished House tracks I never got round to posting. As most will be familiar, my main interest in terms of releasing productions lies with Ambient music. But I've been programming House beats and rhythms for years, and here are four good examples. They probably won't stand up against professionally matered tracks, but at least you'll get a good example of the sort of Tech House I like to mess around with.
TRACLIST:
(1) Audio Gourmet - Ergonomic Cacti (Harry Salsava Remix)
(2) Dimuso
(3) Zone 3.32
(4) Fractional Atoms
http://www.archive.org/details/HarrySalsava-CumulativeWorks
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
MDAC003 Monthly Discerning Audio Chart, January 2009
Another month passes - the very first one of the year in fact! As you will discover, the month has been largely a netlabel-listening affair. This is of course a bonus for blogspot readers, as I've linked directly for easy download...enjoy!
HAMMOCK - "Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow"
This album was inspired by the live performances of Hammock, and treads more towards pure Ambient territory than in previous releases. I've been aware of Hammock for some time, but until this, I'd never really given them much of a chance. If the future holds more of the same on the horizon, then I'm definately switched on! This is blissful Ambient music at its best - up there with some of the drone masters! Worth downloading the whole album for full appreciation...
MUSICA INMOBILIARIA "J.Elorza"
After scouting around for some new netlabel material recently, I came accross this! Psychedelic madness from Colombia...I really like the use of electronic sound manipulation and real, unusual instruments. It's deep, it's dubby but yet some of the most psychedelic stuff I've heard in a long time; madness! I've singled this track out as the real winner, but it's worth looking around for some of the other stuff too, as it all delves a range of texture.
http://www.archive.org/details/sern30
ALEX TIUNIAEV "Two Beautiful Days"
Two superb deep dronescapes from an excellent Russian producer. Seemingly minimal and slow in nature, it's easy to overlook the sheer level of detail and expertise weaved into this Ambient album. Strange vocal washes, subtle tones and feint glimmers of ancient tribal instruments all build a fantastic meditative journey for the listener...
At time of writing, this is the latest release on netlabl Earth Mantra. This a wealth of brilliant Ambient tones of extremely high quality available for free download here; it'd be foolish for a fan of the genre not to stop by for a look round:
http://earthmantra.com/release-detail.php?id=69
STEPHEN PHILIPS - "Lightness Of Being"
The prolific, multi-directional drone 'sculpturer' Stephen Philips backs a recent dark release on www.darkwinter.com with this delightful album of light textures. The idea was to directly oppose the dark release with something much lighter and optimistic. All four tracks are long-form Ambient drones with subtle change and detail.
Dark Winter is a very well laid out netlabel with some fantastic darker releases available, and has always been a place I check back to periodically to download some new material. Its newly set up sister label Endless Ascent has handed a talented Philips his first chance to release on the label.
Download here:
http://www.endlessascent.com/ea005.html
TRENTMOLLER - "The Forest"
From my DJing days, I've bought a lot of Trentmoller's dancefloor friendly material for gigging as his production is always top notch. Since getting into Ambient, a lot of my friends in House music have encouraged me to check out Trentmoller's 'Ambient' work. I've always shrugged this off as I have obviously delved much deeper into the drone genre. So finally, I've been looking into this area of Trentmoller's production work; whilst I wouldn't classify much of it as Ambient, I've really enjoyed his intelligently programmed IDM stuff. 'The Forest' is in particular a firm favourite - its sheer level of detail is mesmerizing, and its such a beautifully warm track too!!
SLOW - "Room Phive"
I'm always checking back to the Resting Bell netlabel for new Ambient material, and recently I've particularly enjoyed this four-tracked Slow release. Whilst not entirely pure Ambient/drone as such, it's gentle and subtle enough to warrant a download having had a quick scan through. Upon closer inspection, the 'non-ambient' aspects reveal themselves as delicately programmed detail of the highest standard!
The album effortlessly spans a few of the experimental/abstract electronica sub-genres and is generally a compelling listen throughout. The real winner for me is 'Pool'. It's very deep music that will be a firm favourite for me in the forseeable future!
http://www.restingbell.net/releases/rb049-room-phive
ENTIA NON - "Escarpments"
Now then! What a spectacular discovery! Upon download and first listen to this E.P, I've been downloading much of James McDougal's previous material and have thoroughly enjoyed every tiny micro-second of sound. His programming and ability to weave delicate tones are overwhelmingly well programmed. There's a quite few artists in the netlabel that are unbelievably talented, and McDougal is certainly one of them. This release deserves a special mention, as it's introduced me to the exquisite work Entia Non.
His production is and will be something of a huge influence to me as an Ambient artist - was actually listening to some of his work whilst I was out field recording, and just found it so inspiring!
http://semlabel.com/iod/ep/IOD006/
MEL - "So"
'Mel' is a new direction for netlabel artist called Aogu Yoshida. I've previously downloaded a lot of his On14 stuff, and have long been enjoying those electro-acoustic compositions. Now as Mel, Yoshida has begun to sculpt drones and tones in a new direction. This is an excellent album for introspective, contemplative listening. Subtle rhythms add punctuation to a delicate electronic masterpiece.
Test Tube, as many will be aware, is a prolific netlabel with over 150 free high-quality releases. This in particular can be downloaded from the following link:
http://www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/releases/tube152.htm
I agree with Pedro Leitao on the stand-out track recommendation - Swee is an excellent release that for me, just sums up a cracking album!
MOVE D - "Looking For Grasshoppers"
Lush deep broken-beat affair from an old Move D album 'Pop For Dwoozle". Move D is genre-hopping producer David Moufang, whom I've been following for a while; I patrticularly enjoyed his self-titled Solitaire album in the late nineties. As Move D, Moufang is nothing short of prolific, with loads of material available on various labels spanning nearly 15 years.
So plenty of stuff to get to grips with, but I recommend starting here with this laid-back groove.
KIT WATKINS - "Music For The End"
Having read the write-up for this Earth Mantra release, I was persuaded to take the plunge and download this longform hour-length release from 2008. I'm yet to explore further than this release, but Kit Watkins has produced several projects for Earth Mantra. This one is extremely gentle new-age Ambience of excellent standard. Watkins is an accomplished instrumentalist, but is also capable of arranging it all with some subtle drones. It is great for background listening, relaxed lounging on rainy days or night time pre-sleep meditation.
HAMMOCK - "Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow"
This album was inspired by the live performances of Hammock, and treads more towards pure Ambient territory than in previous releases. I've been aware of Hammock for some time, but until this, I'd never really given them much of a chance. If the future holds more of the same on the horizon, then I'm definately switched on! This is blissful Ambient music at its best - up there with some of the drone masters! Worth downloading the whole album for full appreciation...
MUSICA INMOBILIARIA "J.Elorza"
After scouting around for some new netlabel material recently, I came accross this! Psychedelic madness from Colombia...I really like the use of electronic sound manipulation and real, unusual instruments. It's deep, it's dubby but yet some of the most psychedelic stuff I've heard in a long time; madness! I've singled this track out as the real winner, but it's worth looking around for some of the other stuff too, as it all delves a range of texture.
http://www.archive.org/details/sern30
ALEX TIUNIAEV "Two Beautiful Days"
Two superb deep dronescapes from an excellent Russian producer. Seemingly minimal and slow in nature, it's easy to overlook the sheer level of detail and expertise weaved into this Ambient album. Strange vocal washes, subtle tones and feint glimmers of ancient tribal instruments all build a fantastic meditative journey for the listener...
At time of writing, this is the latest release on netlabl Earth Mantra. This a wealth of brilliant Ambient tones of extremely high quality available for free download here; it'd be foolish for a fan of the genre not to stop by for a look round:
http://earthmantra.com/release-detail.php?id=69
STEPHEN PHILIPS - "Lightness Of Being"
The prolific, multi-directional drone 'sculpturer' Stephen Philips backs a recent dark release on www.darkwinter.com with this delightful album of light textures. The idea was to directly oppose the dark release with something much lighter and optimistic. All four tracks are long-form Ambient drones with subtle change and detail.
Dark Winter is a very well laid out netlabel with some fantastic darker releases available, and has always been a place I check back to periodically to download some new material. Its newly set up sister label Endless Ascent has handed a talented Philips his first chance to release on the label.
Download here:
http://www.endlessascent.com/ea005.html
TRENTMOLLER - "The Forest"
From my DJing days, I've bought a lot of Trentmoller's dancefloor friendly material for gigging as his production is always top notch. Since getting into Ambient, a lot of my friends in House music have encouraged me to check out Trentmoller's 'Ambient' work. I've always shrugged this off as I have obviously delved much deeper into the drone genre. So finally, I've been looking into this area of Trentmoller's production work; whilst I wouldn't classify much of it as Ambient, I've really enjoyed his intelligently programmed IDM stuff. 'The Forest' is in particular a firm favourite - its sheer level of detail is mesmerizing, and its such a beautifully warm track too!!
SLOW - "Room Phive"
I'm always checking back to the Resting Bell netlabel for new Ambient material, and recently I've particularly enjoyed this four-tracked Slow release. Whilst not entirely pure Ambient/drone as such, it's gentle and subtle enough to warrant a download having had a quick scan through. Upon closer inspection, the 'non-ambient' aspects reveal themselves as delicately programmed detail of the highest standard!
The album effortlessly spans a few of the experimental/abstract electronica sub-genres and is generally a compelling listen throughout. The real winner for me is 'Pool'. It's very deep music that will be a firm favourite for me in the forseeable future!
http://www.restingbell.net/releases/rb049-room-phive
ENTIA NON - "Escarpments"
Now then! What a spectacular discovery! Upon download and first listen to this E.P, I've been downloading much of James McDougal's previous material and have thoroughly enjoyed every tiny micro-second of sound. His programming and ability to weave delicate tones are overwhelmingly well programmed. There's a quite few artists in the netlabel that are unbelievably talented, and McDougal is certainly one of them. This release deserves a special mention, as it's introduced me to the exquisite work Entia Non.
His production is and will be something of a huge influence to me as an Ambient artist - was actually listening to some of his work whilst I was out field recording, and just found it so inspiring!
http://semlabel.com/iod/ep/IOD006/
MEL - "So"
'Mel' is a new direction for netlabel artist called Aogu Yoshida. I've previously downloaded a lot of his On14 stuff, and have long been enjoying those electro-acoustic compositions. Now as Mel, Yoshida has begun to sculpt drones and tones in a new direction. This is an excellent album for introspective, contemplative listening. Subtle rhythms add punctuation to a delicate electronic masterpiece.
Test Tube, as many will be aware, is a prolific netlabel with over 150 free high-quality releases. This in particular can be downloaded from the following link:
http://www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/releases/tube152.htm
I agree with Pedro Leitao on the stand-out track recommendation - Swee is an excellent release that for me, just sums up a cracking album!
MOVE D - "Looking For Grasshoppers"
Lush deep broken-beat affair from an old Move D album 'Pop For Dwoozle". Move D is genre-hopping producer David Moufang, whom I've been following for a while; I patrticularly enjoyed his self-titled Solitaire album in the late nineties. As Move D, Moufang is nothing short of prolific, with loads of material available on various labels spanning nearly 15 years.
So plenty of stuff to get to grips with, but I recommend starting here with this laid-back groove.
KIT WATKINS - "Music For The End"
Having read the write-up for this Earth Mantra release, I was persuaded to take the plunge and download this longform hour-length release from 2008. I'm yet to explore further than this release, but Kit Watkins has produced several projects for Earth Mantra. This one is extremely gentle new-age Ambience of excellent standard. Watkins is an accomplished instrumentalist, but is also capable of arranging it all with some subtle drones. It is great for background listening, relaxed lounging on rainy days or night time pre-sleep meditation.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
AGCD023 Various Artists - "Plethorama Volume Three"
After being prompted for a CD of this style of music, I deemed it necessary to compile volume three of the Plethorama series.
There's a slim chance a copy will be available to anybody really, as it's not an officially verified compilation. However, I'm sure those that are actually into music, won't mind having a route around to see if they can download the tracks individually. Or at least listen to them...
I mean, it only costs 79p on iTunes for instance, so you'd be paying less than if say the CD were to be verified as an official release.
The Plethorama compilation itself takes a jazzier approach and treads some new ground from previous CDs. Check out the tracklist and see if you can get a copy of the tracks for yourself...
001 Phil Ranelin - "Sounds From The Village"
002 Jan Jelinek & Triosk - "Munmorah"
003 Conjoint - "New York Mary Disaster"
004 Savath & Savalas - "Two Blues For Marion Brown"
005 Parov Stelar - "For All We Know"
006 J.Axel - "Deepness Is Served"
007 Kruder & Dorfmeister - "Black Baby"
008 Hird - "Burn"
009 Boozoo Bajou - "S.I.P"
010 Marc Moulin - "I Am You"
011 Koop - "Tonight"
012 The Rebirth - "The Journey In"
There's a slim chance a copy will be available to anybody really, as it's not an officially verified compilation. However, I'm sure those that are actually into music, won't mind having a route around to see if they can download the tracks individually. Or at least listen to them...
I mean, it only costs 79p on iTunes for instance, so you'd be paying less than if say the CD were to be verified as an official release.
The Plethorama compilation itself takes a jazzier approach and treads some new ground from previous CDs. Check out the tracklist and see if you can get a copy of the tracks for yourself...
001 Phil Ranelin - "Sounds From The Village"
002 Jan Jelinek & Triosk - "Munmorah"
003 Conjoint - "New York Mary Disaster"
004 Savath & Savalas - "Two Blues For Marion Brown"
005 Parov Stelar - "For All We Know"
006 J.Axel - "Deepness Is Served"
007 Kruder & Dorfmeister - "Black Baby"
008 Hird - "Burn"
009 Boozoo Bajou - "S.I.P"
010 Marc Moulin - "I Am You"
011 Koop - "Tonight"
012 The Rebirth - "The Journey In"
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Eyes Flutter Beneath - Inside The Dream Laboratory (Pre-release Info)
I'm pleased to announced that my first release as Eyes Flutter Beneath will be available for free download on Phantom Channel on the 2nd February 2009.
It is called 'Inside The Dream Laboratory' and will be assigned catalog number PHCH007.
With reduced volume drones, field recordings and hazy sound effects, Eyes Flutter Beneath productions are designed to induce states of sleep and dreams.
The fusion of these reduced dreamy drones and field recordings taken from everday life is to be christened 'BioDrone'.
The rest of this 40 minute E.p will be available for download on the release date, but in the meantime I've begun drafting a Myspace and have decided to include one of the tracks so that you may listen:
Sunday, January 11, 2009
AGCD022 - Harry Salsava "Zone 3.32"
I've been getting increasingly more involved with Ambient music and pretty much all of my musical activity has been with drones and Ambient sound. House/Techno gigs have seemed to dwindle right down to a minimum as I've been mainly concentrating on my other projects.
I still really enjoy House music though - you just can't beat a loud system, a dingey bar and loads of crazy people dancing around like lunatics to them groovy beats.
I've got a whole stack of things lined up for the future as far as Ambient's concerned, but in the meantime I've cooked up a nice techy track, which is available for free.
I've not had chance to really get everything right on this one, but the main frame of the groove should be in place, and the general gist of the track should sound pretty good to fans of the genre. You're welcome to download it and use it as you wish.
The track should represent the style of House music that play when I'm asked to spin for gigs. I used to play a lot of deeper pieces, which these days I just really enjoy listening to or playing at low key gigs and parties. But with DJing, I like to have a crate of records that are more groovy and stripped down. The type of records that sound awesome through a huge system, played LOUD!
If I decide to make any improvements on the tracks, I shall update the link.
In the mean time, let me know what you think.
In the mean time, let me know what you think.
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Pseudonym
First of all - a new year seems to have sprung itself upon us...so it is historically necessary for me to wish you all a fruitful 365 days at this juncture.
With the new year's arrival, I bring news that is of great change to the gradually inching Audio Gourmet empire: I shall begin releasing Ambient works under another guise.
From this time forth, I shall be occasionally operating as 'Eyes Flutter Beneath', which is a name inspired from REM sleep (as I got thinking about dreams and the like).
I have completed the first release under this moniker, and it should be out very soon on an as yet un-specified netlabel near you.
In terms of how projects as Eyes Flutter Beneath will differ from that of Audio Gourmet, I am as yet unsure. I've adopted one or two new approaches to producing Ambient music, along with those I've learnt since writing as Audio Gourmet and fused them together to create a new manner of production. The first official release under the pseudonym 'Eyes Flutter Beneath' will reveal these subtle nuances; a natural progression within the confides of my journey as an experimental sound artist. If you can stay awake, that is!
You will be duly notified as and when the release is available for free download...
With the new year's arrival, I bring news that is of great change to the gradually inching Audio Gourmet empire: I shall begin releasing Ambient works under another guise.
From this time forth, I shall be occasionally operating as 'Eyes Flutter Beneath', which is a name inspired from REM sleep (as I got thinking about dreams and the like).
I have completed the first release under this moniker, and it should be out very soon on an as yet un-specified netlabel near you.
In terms of how projects as Eyes Flutter Beneath will differ from that of Audio Gourmet, I am as yet unsure. I've adopted one or two new approaches to producing Ambient music, along with those I've learnt since writing as Audio Gourmet and fused them together to create a new manner of production. The first official release under the pseudonym 'Eyes Flutter Beneath' will reveal these subtle nuances; a natural progression within the confides of my journey as an experimental sound artist. If you can stay awake, that is!
You will be duly notified as and when the release is available for free download...
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