Loscil - Submers
Arovane & Mike Lazarev - Aeon
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Summvs
Vladislav Delay - Anima
Farben - Textstar
Loscil - Lifelike
Loscil - Lifelike
I've been most drawn to the bottom 3 records in the player this week. Anima by Vladislav Delay is a lovely one hour piece based on just two processed chords which weave between a bunch of ambient sound effects. It's mesmerising. I'm always fascinated how such simple ideas can yield such impressive results.
The Farben is also excellent - as described last week it's similar to Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records but a bit more "clubby". Actually it reminds me of some of Luke Vibert's work (an artist with an impressive catalogue of music who strangely hasn't appeared much in this blog to date) (actually, on just checking, he has appeared 6 times which is pretty good to be fair, and more than I remembered).
Finally Lifelike is Loscil's latest album released last year and is most impressive, not least because it is beautiful, but also it's markedly (and surprisingly) different from his previous work (it's so easy for artists, especially instrumental ambient ones, to keep repeating themselves). This is much more melodic and mainstream than his stiller ambient records - it's almost "new age" but manages to avoid spilling over into that generic sugar coated wallpaper type music (you know, "Panpipes to Relax To" etc.) through it's consistent high quality. The melodies, arpeggios, loops and Nils Frahm like gated modulations are lovely and are backed by interesting atmospherics and textures. This just could become my favourite record of his. It will be interesting if this more accessible album retains it's longevity in my consciousness. Another brilliant minimalist cover too.