Monday, February 23, 2009

MDAC004 Monthly Discerning Audio Chart, February 2009

Chart number four, and another month of discovering some excellent music that is both weird and wonderful. There's all sorts of styles here - so if you listen to one of the tracks and are not keen, there's every chance you'll find something you'll enjoy if you look around for some of the other tracks.

ZENITH/MIKROKRISTAL - 'Oneirographic'
"Slowly emerging as an excellent portal for fans of light/drone Ambient, Endless Ascent has just released another stunning release. Having just written an album about sleep/dreams, I was drawn to the subject matter of this album. It's very very well put together, and I enjoy every nano second of gentle sound! Be sure to check this one out, particularly Phase Four - the vocal soundwash is unbelievably haunting..."
http://www.endlessascent.com/ea006.html

NIGEL SAMWAYS - "Veilleur De Nuit"
"Another month passes and I've discovered yet more talented fellow sound-designers. This four track album is from British artist Nigel Samways, released on the netlabel section at Experimedia. What I like about this release, is that it sways effortlessly between recordings, drones, sounds and distant echoes of noise. It doesn't necessarily stick to one steadfast theme, and listening to the album gives off the feeling that you are aimlessly wondering through a busy city in a daze. Be sure to download your copy via the following link:
http://www.experimedia.net/index.php?main_page=free "

BRIAN GRAINGER
"On listening, my conscious mind is not overly familiar with this album. Yet it is my subconscious that informs me that I've spent a lot of time listening to this over the last month. This release has been a regular on my sleep playlist, and I'd recommend it to anybody who likes to stick some drones on at night-time. This is an old netlabel release which is excellent subtle Ambient/drone music of the highest standard...download here from the RAIN netlabel:
http://www.useirecords.ovh.org/rain/rain012.html "

PANOPTICA - "Tecnica Manana"
"Try to keep this list of tracks as varied as possible as I listen to all sorts of styles. Here's a nice bit of laidback downtempo/IDM to relax into. Fans of my 3 course mix series should enjoy this one; good iPod music is this for when you're on the go..."

SOUNDS FROM THE GROUND - "Move On"
"Music you listen to doesn't have words in it, they say to me...well often not! As I am able to appreciate sounds that go beyond what the vocal chords can produce. Plus, I think that it takes an excellent singer to be able to suit whatever other sounds are in the tracks - you can't just be a half decent singer and start 'ruining' whatever melody has been produced. But here's one of the rare tracks in my collection that I feel the vocals complement the track and vice-versa. It's got that melancholy rainy-day feel to it - perfect for accompanying a late night wander home."

ASTRUD GILBERTO - "Who Needs Forever" (Thievery Corporation Remix)
"Some more of that nineties-esque downbeat electronica. The kind of music that is often wrongly labelled 'Ambient', but is still good nevertheless. 'Chillout', they also call it. I tend to just call it good music, to be frank. I'm not going to listen to it and spend three minute half-listening trying to work out what to file it as!
I've included two tracks from this Verve Remixed album that I picked up from HMV at Lincoln recently. Was off on a shopping trip, and this was playing in the background. I probably appreciated it a lot more, as I'm used to hearing an absolutely dreadful array of commercial nastiness in these stores."

ELLA FITZGERALD - "Wait 'Til You See Him" (De-Phazz Remix)
"Second standout track from that Verve CD - wasn't going to actually buy the album until I'd heard this one. Really nice languid remix of this classic - more of that nineties sounding downbeat electronica that is often over classified. Fitzgerald is obviously a classic singer and a huge talent and approaching her material from a remix angle is not to be taken lightly. Very tastefully done indeed by De-Phazz."

JAN JELINEK - "Western Mimikry"
"Included some Jelinek stuff on another chart, and I have to say that I'm a fan! This is very unusual the way the notes subtley change pitch and keep true to the groove somehow. Very intelligently produced; nice and laid back in a sort of post-rock way."

FRANK LEICHER - "Lazy Weather E.P"
"Bought my first batch of House/Techno records since September this month...and this techy joint is full of groove. 'Lazy Weather' is a lightly-tribal edged dancefloor cut, remaining interesting enough for spinning at gigs. On the flip, Christian Burkhardt works it into something that exploits the dancefloor territory further. The B side is much trippier with its synth washed rhythms, but I wouldn't deem it un-spinnable. More of a back-to-mine record for those later hours.

ALPHA WAVE MOVEMENT - "A Quiet Innovation"
"Scrolling up, it appears I've not included much Ambient! So looking through what I've been listening to this month, I remembered this absolute beauty. This is superb Ambient music, and for me it encapsulates everything that the genre is about. It is pure bliss to listen to, it really is."

Monday, February 16, 2009

AGCD027 Audio Gourmet ('mixtape') - "The Dessert" (3/3)

Since last year, I've been occasionally working on my 3CD series which resembles that of a meal, in audio form. Of course, the nod towards a culinary topic is only really in the title, seeming as I am obviously unlikely to muster free food for everyone!

Metaphorically, however, the hint behind the food/meal theme is presented through means of the omni-directional 'flavours' of sound on offer...Bit of a cliche, I know! But given that I go about the moniker of Audio Gourmet, it seemed almost necessary to create something towards a 'meal' theme.

So, here is mix CD number three, 'The Dessert'. It's really quite eclectic, with influences from jazz, dub, IDM, folk, chillout, downtempo and minimalist electronica thrown together, making for an interesting 'pudding'.

TRACKLISTING
001 Dientztag - "Peaceful Piece"
002 Dienz Mixed Ensemble - "Collage"
003 Just Kidding - "Souldier"
004 Daisuke Tanabe - "Mutualism"
005 Salfetky - "Spit Your Soul"
006 Opiate - "Stp!"
007 Eris Aphelion - "37.77 AU"
008 Mapstation - "In The Loss Of Clarity"
009 Gaston Arevalo - "Aparte"

The links to all three courses are as follows:

THE STARTER (Downtempo/Chillout)
http://www.archive.org/details/AudioGourmet-TheStartercd13
THE MAIN COURSE (Ambient/Tribal/Electronica)
http://www.archive.org/details/AudioGourmet-MainCourse23
THE DESSERT (Jazz/Downtempo/Electronica)
http://www.archive.org/details/AudioGourmet-theDessertcd33

Sunday, February 15, 2009

AGCD26 HARRY SALSAVA - "For The Vermillionth Time"

It seems I have a ton of projects on the horizon; from Ambient albums to Techno gigs, there's plenty in the pipeline. Somehow, despite the obvious time-consuming nature of being into music and the likes, I managed to churn out this tech-House groove in next to no time.

The actual style of the track is tinged with a lot of different influences, as you will notice. I've been into Deep House for as long as I can remember, and whilst this is a pretty techy cut, there's a noticeable deep feel throughout.

I did note about the 'CD cover' artwork...until after less than 24 hours, I decided it was that ludicrously dreadful, that I must delete it!

LINK:

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

ANOTHER NEW ARTIST PSEUDONYM


As I aim to make the Audio Gourmet guise more of an overall page name for this blog, I've been brainstorming some new artist names for my Ambient music projects. First up, with my most recent release 'Inside The Dream Laboratory', we have Eyes Flutter Beneath; a guise held for sleep-inducing Ambient projects.
Now, I shall be operating as Spheruleus, a guise which I hope to use as my long-term Ambient/Drone production title. I've near enough got two albums ready for release and have two separate netlabels pencilled-in to feature these. You will indeed stay reliably informed as and when further details emerge.

MYSPACE PAGE LINK:
www.myspace.com/spheruleus

The Audio Gourmet moniker will continue to be used for this blogspot, as sort of a 'label name' if you like.

Before concluding this post, I'd like to extend my gratitude to Mark Green, for allowing me to use a photo he took in local woodland for this picture. I've treated the picture, adding a film grain effect and some text to create the main emblem/icon/picture for Spheruleus projects.
Thanks again Mark!

Monday, February 2, 2009

AGCD025 EYES FLUTTER BENEATH "Inside The Dream Laboratory"

With my first official netlabel release of the year, I am proud to introduce this short sleep album available for free download on Phantom Channel.
It is produced under my new pseudonym 'Eyes Flutter Beneath' and is a 40 minute affair; with each track simmering down slowly until the listener is likely to be asleep or in a generally relaxed state.

It's the kind of drone/ambient sound typically associated with work as Audio Gourmet in the past, but the soundscapes are stripped back and less prominent. Just the subtlest of unpolished drone washes are accompanied by gentle hiss, static and field recordings.

TRACKLIST:
(1) Six Years Dreaming
(2) Slow Waves
(3) Random Firing Neurons
(4) Strewn Fragments Of Thought
(5) Melatonin

LINK:
This is the seventh Phantom Channel release. Please take time to look around the label at the other works too - there's some excellent stuff here!
http://www.phantomchannel.co.uk/?blogentryid=4455884