An example of artwork for forthcoming release 'Frozen Quarters'...

With the iminant release of 'Frozen Quarters' soon to be upon us, here is an example of what the accompanying artwork is likely to look like...

This piece of work itself was created by talented French digital artist Monstror. For more information, visit http://monstror.blogspot.com/

In the meantime before 'Frozen Quarters' is released, you can get to grips with the label's wealth of quality musical material here: http://www.underthespire.co.uk/

MDAC014 Monthly Discerning Audio Chart, January 2010

Happy new year all! January has been a month where I have been immersed in some terrific music. And of course towards the end of the month, it has become almost customary that I share it with you. This time last year, my 'Monthly Discerning Audio Chart' consisted of a mere sentence about each album. Nowadays, the list is near enough a reviews section and requires some degree of typing on a rainy Friday afternoon!
It would be all to easy just to put them off until Tuesday and get myself in the studio to process some new sounds I've recorded...but, I'd best resist. Here goes...

RYONKT - "Window To The Room"
I've been waiting for this to come out on limited CD release label Under The Spire for some time now and I have to say, now I've got the album, it is not what I was expecting from the artist. I must admit, I'd expected that Ryo Nakata may have honed the beautiful electro-acoustic sound collages he is renowned for and released an album full of these on this label. Interestingly, he has instead gone down the drone route and has woven a collection of sleepy soundscapes of simple, minimal construction.
My first listen to this album involved it being loaded onto the iPod and listened to on repeat for hours as I slept. It didn't take me long to nod off to these shimmeringly beautiful tones. Indeed, stripped back drone music has been done countless times before and it is difficult to REALLY stand out in this scene. That is, unless you are able to do it just right and oh how Ryonkt has managed to do just that. This is an album so delicately drenched in subtle detail that it is going to take most of the year for me to be fully acquainted with it as a whole. Field recordings are usually fragments of detail that an artist might record to add extra sound and narrative to an album - in Window To The Room, they are used throughout in a sparing fashion and reduced to very low volume. Minimal is a word thrown around a lot these days, but as I say, to get it just right, it takes that little something special...and here, we have a perfect example.

SHAULA - "Haze"
Also out on Under The Spire is 'Haze' by a relatively unknown Japanese artist called Shaula. Before this, little is written about the artist around the net and so it is intriguing to listen to this collection of dusty guitar-drones. The album itself reminds me in places of one of my favourite releases of 2009: Pillowdiver's 'Sleeping Pills'. It's a similarly heady collection of drones and guitar compositions that is just brimming with tone and tiny detail. The pieces vary in length, some are more drone based than others and some pieces bring the harmonic tones of Shaula's guitar to the foreground. There are subtle underlying field recordings and detail throughout, dispersed on a bed of noisy drones. This is a superb release and is simply not to be missed. As Under The Spire is a limited run CD only label, you'll not be able to get an mp3 or FLAC version. Therefore, you'd be advised to head over to http://www.underthespire.co.uk/ and order your copy...

VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Hibernate Sampler Volume One"
At the tail end of last year, British label Hibernate Recs released a free sample album featuring an hour of music already released earlier in the year by the label. Hibernate as a label is reasonably new in the scene and with this sampler you can get the perfect taster of what it is about, if you haven't already bought anything from them before. I can vouch personally that much is on the horizon for the label in 2010 with some top artists penned for release and various shows throughout the year.
Now, as a sample release, we've a collection of drone and electro-acoustic tracks varying in length and tone. It makes for a superb listen and an excellent introduction to the label and the artists respectively. What's more, it's free!!! All that is required is that you join the mailing list as a way of staying informed about up and coming releases on the label. Visit http://hibernate-recs.com/ for more information, to download your free sampler or to order one of their releases.

NORTHENER - "1976"
British musician Martin Cummings produced a very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable electro-acoustic/ambient album for Hibernate Recs released in October last year. Designed for a continued listening experience, the tracks merge in and out and flow in a different manner to the typical fade techniques you'd hear from most artists in the scene. This is perhaps the main ingredient to this listening experience as it prevents the need to skip tracks, in fear of missing something! The album is full of guitar tones, plucked, played or sculpted into a drone wash and it is punctuated by an array of field recordings.
The album effortlessly merges from slightly more epic moments, to moments of tranquility and restfulness.
For me, the guitar is the driving force for this album and it provides a melody that will ensure continued listens from me throughout the year.

LANGUAGE OF THE LANDSCAPE - "Memories Fade Under A Shallow Autumn Snow"
I had just finished downloading Chris Tenz's album 'Forlorn Memories' on the Soft Phase netlabel and set about my usual routine of scouring my favourite netlabels to learn of new releases. I hopped over to Phantom Channel, a regular port of call, to discover that along with Cory Zaradur, Chris Tenz has put together a new album under the guise of Language Of The Landscape. To be honest, I had not heard of either artist until that very day and I am delighted that I did. For this album is one of the best I have heard in a while. This sits comfortably with my opinions of Phantom Channel as a label as the last three releases on it have been simply stunning. The one gripe for me lies with the typer's-cramp I endured whilst writing in the track titles on iTunes. Every name/title on the album is very long!! Not to worry - it matters not, since this is breathtaking ambient music that I am glad I downloaded. These three pieces never become chaotic or awash with noisy drone fragments. It just offers an unparalleled stillness that is hard to capture without the music sounding as if it is missing something. This album is very very restful and still throughout and has been designed perfectly.
DOWNLOAD HERE: http://www.phantomchannel.co.uk/?blogentryid=4545254

RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI - "Daydreaming"
On Boomkat, I was introduced to a vinyl edition of this now classic Miasmah album from 2007. For me, this is the first I'd heard of it for some reason. 2007 was a year when I'd only just discovered ambient music properly, so for me, I guess much of that year was about purchasing the obligatory titles from backcatalogs by the likes of Brian Eno, Steve Roach, Robert Rich etc...Considering the genre has been going for a lot longer than 2007, I have missed much fantastic music from the past. I cannot complain however, since one of the joys of music is of course discovering albums you have missed over the years. Which is all too easy to do! So, here with Daydreaming we have a collection of delicately draped piano soundscapes littered with occasional sound effects and accent noises. It's a formula that has been imitated by many previous artists and a formula that is still a source of inspiration today - taking almost classical music values and sculpting gentle cinematic ambient music through means of electronic manipulation. It is a well known and well explored formula, but one that I can't see me ever getting tired of. Irisarri has produced a masterpiece here, and it is well worth getting since it makes for a beautiful listening experience.

AKIRA KOSEMURA - "Polaroid Piano"
On the modern classical versus electronic tip, here we have a new release on by Japanese artist Akira Kosemura. Throughout 'Polaroid Piano', we are treated to a beautiful array of delicately playful short piano melodies that are accompanied by creaks, clangs and scrapes. All of the tracks are playful, melancholy and almost child-like in tone. What keeps me listening is that it is all so very simple but there is just so much to listen to. The one track that I am not keen on if I am honest is 'Tale', which features children's voices. It is just a little too saccharine for my palette. However, that aside, the rest of the album makes for a solid piece of work by Kosemura and I will be relaxing and smiling to this music for much of the year.

IAN HAWGOOD - "Snow Roads"
The prolific and talented Ian Hawgood sparks off his 2010 with a release on Dragon's Eye called 'Snow Roads'. A predominantly drone and field recordings based album, this one is absolutely full of detail. It's another fine album that marks a thoroughly solid start to the year. Some tracks are short and chiefly field recordings based, others are mainly drone orientated and some are a combination of these elements. On listening to this a lot over the month, I feel that this is some of the best work I've heard from him to date and I shall enjoy listening to this collection of music for a very long time. It is so gentle and the mood of the drones and melody shifts from the restful to the eerily mysterious. In between these changes in mood are very short field recordings pieces that allow the mind to drift off to unspecified far away places. This is a thoroughly well written album that simply cannot be missed.

THE LOWLIGHT MIXES - "Slo-Mo"
I like many am a regular listener to Dave Michuda's Lowlight Mixes, a selection on soundscape collages he mixes using various tracks from the ambient, drone, electro-acoustic and modern classical scene.
With 'Slo-Mo' we are treated to some gentle and restful material from the likes of Budd & Eno, Celer, Porzellan, Lexithimie and ahem...my good self under my Spheruleus guise. Some of the tracks have been time-stretched to suite the mix (hence the mix title) and generally, this is as good a selection for an ambient mix as you're likely to find. Pieces tastefully chosen woven together well by Dave just as we'd expect.
You can download the mix by visiting here:
http://lowlightmixes.podbean.com/mf/web/rb8jra/slo_mo.mp3

CARL SAGAN's GHOST - "At The End Of It All"
I was intriugued to discover that fellow Earth Mantra artist Carl Sagan's Ghost had released a new album at the end of last year on the Soft Phase netlabel. I wasted no time and downloaded wthout a prior listen, since much of his output is first class ambient music. And 'At The End Of It All' certainly doesn't disappoint. If anything, I think it even somehow manages to top his release on Earth Mantra 'Darkness And The Light'...and that's saying something. The soundscapes here are so very professionally put together. The whole album is so very atmospheric. It can be so difficult to create immersive soundscapes to this high level it is difficult to explain the talent that is apparent throughout this release without just urging you to head over and download it. The fact that this is free download material is astounding. This is some of the best pure ambient music I have heard in a very long time...

MDAC013 - Monthly Discerning Audio Chart, December 2009

This month, I've been busy with work and Christmas preparations yet somehow, thank goodness, I've still managed to unearth yet more exceptional music from artists and labels across the globe...too busy to write ALL of the reviews though!!!! They will follow soon...

RICHARD SKELTON - "Landings"
First up, this one came as a suprise for me when I stumbled across this new release from Richard Skelton. I knew he'd been building up to another release after having read about it online, but I expected to hear about it a bit more before it actually came out! Immediately, I hit the 'buy now' button and ordered this 2 X LP album excursion of electro-acoustic and modern classical genius. Thankfully, I managed to get my order in quick enough to secure my free bonus CD-r of 'Riftmusic' too!
My record decks had been unplugged and relegated in favour of using the four-way extension to meet the lighting demands of our Christmas tree...I made sure I could hook them back up again, poured myself a cup of coffee and sank into this stunning album by an absolute giant in the modern classical scene. Skelton's whole package of mournful, melancholy instrumentation recorded in and around the West Pennines and presented in beautiful, understated cover artwork is something that makes me physically unable to resist purchasing any of his material.

LE LENDEMAIN - "Fires"
A couple of months back, Library Tapes teamed up with British cellist Danny Norbury who's also only recently released his debut album. In 'Fires', the delicate piano-based dusty instrumentation of Sweden's Library Tapes is perfectly complimented by Norbury's beautiful cello playing and we have a big modern classical album which for me, is one of the biggest releases of its type this year. I've been listening to some older Library Tapes material of late and it's broadly a dusty collection of piano based material deliberately dressed up as forgotten and antiquated. I've also listened to the afore mentioned Norbury album a lot recently. With 'Fires', the two come together and craft some of the most breathtaking modern classical music you're likely to have heard this year. From the very first few notes of opening 'Fiore', you know you're in for something very very special indeed.

DIRAC - "Emphasis"
This four track release by Austrian trio Dirac is one I have been playing heavily all month. Across the net, it has been described as drawing influence from ambient and drone genres, the electrio-acoustic scene and also, it shows glimmers of jazz. Throughout these four slow, minimal and gently unfurling tracks, this selection of influences will become apparent. The opening piece features a very subtle linear drone with carefully drawn out detail to lull you to a meditative state. Next, the palette is varied with some blurred jazz guitar played in languid fashion with gentle sprinklings of simply gorgeous piano notes and rattling field recordings and dismembered percussion. Third, in 'Bantu', we have some drone and electro-acoustic elements bubbling away from the offset with delicately balanced accent sounds from various sources. This is my personal favourite track of the album. Then finally 'A Rest In Tension' closes this masterpiece with a shimmeringly beautiful ambient drone piece.
This album is a very minimal take on electro-acoustic music and it is not for the impatient listener. Give this album plenty of time to express itself and you'll realise just how superb it is. It may be minimal, but there is a wealth of detail to explore throughout the entire album.

HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR - "Without Sinking"
More wonderful modern classical music here, from the young and talented Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir. The scene is rich in talent hailing from Iceland with the likes of Johann Johannson and Olafur Arnalds to name but a few. In 'Without Sinking', Hildur has sculpted a mysterrious masterpiece to elevate her name amongst this growing roster of talent. She plays the cello and explores a range of deep, misty and sinister sounds that she can lift from it and arranges it all in this otherworldly fashion. At times, the instrument is used to create ambient drones that linger, slowly fading and at other times it is played with more vigour to give a more epic sense to the listener. My personal favourite is 'Aether' and it features what is presumably a guitar based opening and delicate accents again derived from her instrument of choice. It sums up an album that doesn't just do one thing - it ebbs and flows and is full of varying tone.

SOLO ANDATA - "Fyris Swan"
With a long awaited follow up to this album only recently out on 12k, you'd expect me to be raving about this Australian artist's recent self-titled release. But, it reminded me about their older work 'Fyris Swan' available on the same label and released back in 2007. I went back to 'Fyris Swan' and have been bowled over so much by the sheer magic in this album that I haven't really even had chance to listen to their new project!
Solo Andata are a huge part of the electro-acoustic scene in the way that they fuse a multitude of sound sources from instruments and field recordings into playful, melodic melodies. It is easy to see how and why they are so revered when we look at 'Fyris Swan' and think of the sheer talent that was required to make that album - a whole two years ago! Solo Andata are destined for big things in years to come...I'm off to check out their 2009 release!!!

LIBRARY TAPES - "Hostluft"

THE GREEN KINGDOM - "Twig and Twine"
I've been a fan of The Green Kingdom ever since I got into Ambient music. Increasingly, I am keeping a close eye on the electro-acoustic scene and I think that it is with The Green Kingdom's early netlabel releases that I am to attribute my first interest to the genre. This year, with Twig and Twine, we are treated to a delightful melodic album of electro-acoustic songs accompanied by subtle drones and field recordings.
At times, these drones take centre stage for the slower, moodier pieces and at others, the gentle guitar melody takes the limelight. This album is delicately balanced from start to finish and I believe this could well be their very best material to date.

INVERZ - "Slow"
The Phantom Channel label has been going from strength to strength throughout the whole of 2009 and now with this 13th release, we're approaching what could be an even better second year for the label. The closing release for this successful year is from Greece's Inverz and what a treat it is.

JACOB NEWMAN - "No Midpoint To Infinity"

Top albums of 2009

I've been charting the music that I've particularly been enjoying over the course of each month for the whole year and now, as we draw towards 2010 I'd like to leave this year with a list of the ten albums I have enjoyed the most. Usually, when I write the lists each month, there is no order of favourite as such. With this list, I have decided to rank it in order of my favourite album of the year:

(1) Pillowdiver - "Sleeping Pills"
(2) Richard Skelton - "Landings"
(3) Seaworthy - "1897"
(4) Goldmund - "The Malady Of Elegance
(5) Richard Skelton - "Marking Time
(6) Nicola Ratti - "Esope"
(7) Lucette Bourdin - "Golden Sun"
(8) Le Lendemain - "Fires"
(9) Dirac - "Emphasis"
(10) Sylvie Walder and Entia Non - "Bewilderment"

Spheruleus - "Frozen Quarters" penned for release on Under The Spire

I can officially announce that the first Spheruleus CD-R venture is to be released on Under The Spire recordings. Below, I'll run through a couple of things I can confirm about the album:

FIELD RECORDINGS
The album, entitled 'Frozen Quarters' spans 14 short tracks that all feature recordings made in and around my locality in an attempt to preserve and capture my day-to-day environment.
I've recorded snippets from various household objects, sounds heard outside and some unusual ideas I've had along the way. The most unusual of these involved climbing into a huge empty waste-disposal skip to record instrument takes and picking up tons of natural reverb along the way...
I have completed an hour-long mix of all of the many recordings I made for the album and plan to release it on a netlabel as a precursor to the full album.

TONE
The melodic elements throughout 'Frozen Quarters' are mostly derived from various instruments I've acquired throughout the recording of this album. You can hear sounds of keyboard, zither, trumpet, piano, harmonica and guitar. I'd say around 95% of the compositions made with these instruments were done by myself through experimenting with different melodies and chords. This is an approach that is pretty new for Spheruleus, but one that I am becoming increasingly interested in. Although I do love electronic and synth based music, I am fascinated by how playing instruments to provide a sound-source for further electronic treatment can really add an organic warmth to my sound design. What's more, is that with the album concept being about preserving an environment to capture its essence, an organic and real experience has been lifted through means of these instrument recordings. Rather than create a synthetic representation of the environments, I have managed to actually been able to be part of the process through such instruments.
I would never normally refer to myself as a musician or instrument performer since I've never had any form of teaching. But my natural ear for sound and music has meant that I have been able to lift some interesting sounds and tone from this small collection of instruments.

RELEASE DATE
Regarding the release of this album, not much is known or set in stone as yet. Although, I do imagine it shall be available in 2010. If it is too long for you to wait, you can check out four of the album tracks on the Spheruleus Myspace page:
www.myspace.com/spheruleus

THE LABEL
Under The Spire is a British label set up this year by Christopher Edwards. The label and the artists that have released on it have had a solid year and for 2010, we can expect it to grow further with the inclusion of releases by some excellent artists, such as Ian Hawgood, Jasper TX, P Jorgensen, Ryonkt, Segue and many more...
The date for the new Spheruleus album is a while away from being confirmed of course but in the meantime, please check out Under The Spire and support this superb label:

http://www.underthespire.co.uk/

New tracks on Spheruleus Myspace page

Indeed, I'm not a devout Myspace user and I can't proclaim to give the Spheruleus Myspace page the care and attention it deserves. Yet, I managed to get some new tracks on the player within the last couple of weeks, so please head over to have a listen if you will.

The tracks are from my forthcoming album Frozen Quarters which will be released on a CD-R label next year. The album features 14 short tracks totalling an hour long and the four tracks featured on Myspace are:

Colophon
Frozen
Gossamer
Vignette

VISIT: www.myspace.com/spheruleus

More on 'Frozen Quarters' soon...including the label announcement and more on the album concepts.

MDAC012 - Monthly Discerning Audio Chart, November 2009

At last, I have sat down and sorted out my iPod so that any new releases and purchases can be listened to on the move! It has of course meant the deletion of everything that was already on my iPod...but the bulk of my music collection has been saved on an external hard-drive or I own a CD copy of it. This does however mean that I am to spend all my spare time sat feeding CDs into my laptop and waiting for iTunes to import it.

Still, I've plenty of new listening experiences for my iPod this month and thus I have 10 of my favourite listed below:

PILLOWDIVER - "Sleeping Pills"

Firstly, a mention and couple of paragraphs must be written about this stunning album by German guitarist Pillowdiver. As always, this list of music never tends to sway a bias as to which was my favourite album of the month but I think I can make an exception here with 'Sleeping Pills' since I have stumbled across an album that I am certain to enjoy for the rest of my time on this earth. Somehow, I missed it back in May when it was first released - for whatever that reason was, I regret not buying it sooner. I've seen the beautiful cover artwork dotted across pages ever since its release but failed to take the plunge and download.

Still, I have it now and have been thoroughly enjoying this work of art all month.

It is an album that chiefly features the languid guitar compositions of Rene Margaff, sat on a bed of droning feedback, noise, hiss and field recordings. My favourite piece has to be the first track 'Twenty -Nine'...

IAN HAWGOOD - "Before I Let The Sunshine Rot"

Ian Hawgood is a prolific artist both in the netlabel community and otherwise, who is responsible for the running of label Home Normal. 'Before I Let The Sunshine Rot' is an album that for Ian preserves many a memory from his travels across Seoul, Lecce, Paris and Pennsylvania. The melody is a delicate mixture of drone tracks, brief interludes and guitar songs. The sounds and noises that sit gently beneath are a collection of recordings I assume to have been made in his travel destinations - telling a story of many a moment throughout his excursions.

The title sums it up 'Before I Let The Sunshine Rot' - I can imagine this refers to releasing the album to preserve his experiences before his memory of them begins to fade.

for us, this is a thoughtful album with a strong concept and story to think of as we sink into this beautiful music.

Download here, for free:

http://www.archive.org/details/IanHawgood-BeforeILetTheSunshineRotphch012

TOMASZ BEDNARCZYK "Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow"

Tomasz Bednarczyk is a young Polish sound designer and here with 'Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow' we have a collection of ten delightful drones, deep and rich in form. The drones themselves are usually linear and change form only subtly; the detailed, gentle changes and nuances require great attention and focus. That said, it is all too easy to drift away and overlook these tiny details without thinking. The drones aren't huge pieces - instead they generally quite short, allowing you a brief pause of contemplation or time to spend a moment drifting off somewhere else. When track six 'The Sketch' arrives, we are given a moment away from the general feel of the album, as a delicately deconstructed piano arrangement covered in a dusty hiss stimulates our eardrums. Then, as gently as the overall feel of the album we are tuned back to droneland to see the remaining minutes out in typically delicate fashion. This is a fantastic album and I shall be keeping a close watch on Tomasz' future output.

DANNY NORBURY "Light In August"

British cellist Danny Norbury has previously worked on projects with Library Tapes, The Boats, Nancy Elizabeth and now he turns his talent to the Lacies Records label to release his own solo album 'Light In August'. This album is a cinematic arrangement of sorrowful cello melodies accompanied by light piano keys and although at times it feels melancholly and mournful, the real emphasis is on beauty. This is purely organic music in a modern classical sense but nevertheless, it is relaxing and Ambient in its gentle nature.

SEAWORTHY "1897"

Another big release for 12k - a highly renowned label putting out all kinds of artistic electronic music. Here, we have '1897' by Australian

The album is a magnificent mixture of field recordings, musique concrete dark ambience, drenched with reverb and of course, most importantly a superbly assembled array of guitar melody. Reverb is the key ingredient to this superb album. Not the kind of reverb added as an additional studio treatment process but reverb cast live, inside a disused ammunition bunker in Newington, Australia.

It's this approach that really has me interested in Seaworthy. It really adds something to the album in an organic sense that is a really tangible listening experience.

This is an excellent album of drone, guitar, natural recordings and natural reverb. It is NOT to be missed.

THE LOWLIGHT MIXES - "Beyond This Window"

It is between two Ambient mix blogsites that I am to attribute my intense obsession with this mellow, relaxing and lazy style of music. One is The Hydrogen cafe and the other is Lowlight Mixes. Both provide long form mixes of sublime and gentle ambient music that got me hooked on this whole idea of Ambient music and made me want to find out more and eventually come to start writing my own material and exploring my own ideas. Mixes are a different experience to albums, E.Ps and tracks in the way they collaborate many different artists work together as a collage for the ears. The true talent of course lies within the individual artists' works, but the ability to assemble a mix of these works in a tasteful and ordered manner is an artform within itself. Here, Dave from Lowlight Mixes assembles his latest offering, including electro-acoustic pieces, drones dark and light, delicate piano pieces and underscoring field recordings. He's put together several classic mixes over the months and years but I think I shall be giving this a regular listen on long walks or periods of rest when I have time to soak into this wonderfully programmed listening experience. Download for free: http://lowlightmixes.podbean.com/mf/web/p59x58/beyond_this_window.mp3

HERZOG - "First Summer And The Running Dream"

As Resting Bell slows down its release policy, we have time to soak into an album of artsy electro-acoustics and sound design by Bill Bawden who has also released as Herzog on quality netlabels 12rec and Serein. Like quite a lot of Resting Bell's releases this is a short album, lasting just half an hour. Short albums are not a bad thing of course! Ambient music is designed for times of rest and introspective contemplation and often in this culture of chaos and business time for a full hour-long listen is restricted. So, 'First Summer And The Running Dream' features five tracks of varying lengths containing an array of melodic tones that are littered with gentle, dusty, glitchy noise. The word glitch often puts me off music when used to describe it, as it conjurs up thoughts of losing an eardrum thanks to a harsh noisy din rammed down my ear canal. Fortunately, when I have used the term glitch here, I can witness that this album's 'glitch' credentials are of gentle, much more ambient nature. Little crackles, reduced hiss and noise all add texture to these mellow soundscapes. The wonderfully titled closing track 'Lately I've Been Dreaming Of Drinking Sound From A Fountain' rounds off this half-an-hour perfectly.

Download for free: http://www.restingbell.net/releases/rb075-first-summer-and-the-running-dream

JASPER LEYLAND - "Sediments"

A shimmeringly beautiful release from back in 2008 here by Jasper Leyland is available for free download on the mOAR netlabel. Jasper Leyland is a North Yorkshire based sound designer who's real name is Jonathan Brewster and here with Sediments he concocts the perfect balance of mellow drones derived from acoustic instruments, field recordings and gentle instrumentation. This whole 6 track album is a window of mature sound design. Perfect balance is indeed the term for this project. There are occasional passages of near-silence, which as many know when done right, really add something to the overall pace of an album. The music slowly unfurls and reveals itself in new areas throughout this wonderful mellow set of tracks. Time stands still when listening to this album...Download for free: http://www.and-oar.org/moar_catalog_moarp32.html

PETER BRODERICK & MACHINEFABRIEK - "Blank Grey Canvas Sky"

Here we have a recent release by two highly talented artists. The mighty modern classical artist Peter Broderick meets prolific sound artist from the Netherlands Machinefabriek. The two masterfully craft this album of treated instrument passages and electronic sound manipulation into a collection of largely experimental abstract tracks. The two may seem an unlikely pairing but they have worked together before and here in 'Blank Grey Canvas Sky' it is evident that there is much respect for both artists different approach to recording ambient music. A fine balance has to be struck for two opposing artists to record a project together as one and you will hear, this ethos has been abided by for the recording of this album.

SEREIN "RE-INTRODUCTION" (Compiled and mixed by Huw Roberts)

This hour long mix by Serein label owner Huw Roberts forecasts a selection of forthcoming label releases set for 2010 and is blended with some familiar tracks from Serein's netlabel days. Most notably, there is a track 'Wheatstone' from the highly anticipated Nest album 'Retold', which is to be released on January the 31st 2010. The turn of a new year is always an exciting prospect for music enthusiasts, since a lot of artists and labels prefer to hold out for the end of a year and release their new material as the new year is upon us. And as you can see from the tracklisting, we're in for some treats from this label which has always been superb. I thoroughly enjoyed much if not all of the netlabel output in the past and I am certain to add myself to the customer list as the year turns and get myself a copy of Nest's 'Retold'. Expect a review too... In terms of this mix, it's been well assembled by Robert's - the tracks are placed perfectly and it's a very compelling, delicate listen. I had this on a few times in the evening, slumped back on the sofa with a cup of coffee. It's going to be a great 2010...

Download the mix for free:

http://www.serein.co.uk/forecasts/cast001/reintroduction-huw-roberts