Pure synths (no samples) and drums lead to an instrumental or melodic techno album. Made not for dancing, but for attentive walking.
Gridline is the music project by Serbian artist Predrag Grujic. Starting in 2012, he released several albums and EPs on the two-sided Japanese label Bump Foot (Bump for techno et al., Foot for ambient, IDM, …). This is his first Bump release, and quite quiet at that. Melody lines and only subtle beats make this more (artsy) pop than dance music. Its liberal use of cold sound textures and reverb occasionally remind me of a church organ.
Continue reading “Gridline – [2014] Videogame”Soothing ambient glitch hop. Skilfully crafted sound textures that excite your ears and calm your mind.
Welcome back to the present (releases of 2019, that is)! This week’s review does not come from my well-fed queue, but instead has been freshly caught. Artist Aevio mixes organic field recordings and synthetic music. The result is not strictly ambient, but calm enough for casual listening.
Continue reading “Aevio – [2019] Bioluminescence”Cinematic downtempo electronica. Could be a sci-fi soundtrack, just lacks a movie.
Movie soundtracks fall into a nice niche between classical and ambient music. This album adds a bit of electronic finesse to this formula. If you want to add a bit of cinematic splash to your musical diet, give this album a try. Emotional string sections meet orchestral and electronic beets. The occasional clicky-bleep sounds add to a slightly futuristic vibe.
Continue reading “Everlasting Dream – [2011] Echoes From the Future”Trippy synthwave techno ambience. Slightly experimental, yet thoroughly enjoyable as upbeat background music.
Minimal, vowel-free netlabel MNMN Records pumps out a steady stream of diverse, slighly experimental music. This item with catalogue number 483 surfs on the edge between synth wave and glitchy ambient. 9 tracks, each longer than six minutes, make for a pretty spaced up ambience. Continue reading “Erugo Purakushi – [2017] SPARK”
Groovy relaxed vibes. Electronically produced jam sessions.
This old gem from the earlier years of Jamendo was one of the early motivators that searching for excellent music outside the realm of radio and CD retail stores was fruitful. If you need an ear pleaser that can provide a decent background track to a late night sit in with friends, give this one a go. Continue reading “Revolution Void – [2006] Increase the Dosage”
Bassy classy instrumental hip hop. Vocal samples introduce each song, but then instrumental samples reign.
This blog has seen its fair share of releases from netlabel Dusted Wax Kingdom. Somehow, they manage to consistently select for artists that produce the label’s signature sound of vintage sound samples, mixed with contemporary beats and effects. So does this recent album by MEDL4. Continue reading “MEDL4 – [2017] Anima Mundi”
Non-cheesy world lounge. A striking balance between combining multiple music and ethnic styles, and producing a coherent musical release.
I am usually sceptical of loungy world music attempts for being shallow, flat listen-and-forget experiences. This album defeated that suspicion thoroughly: not only do all tracks have more than enough depth, they all seem to have their own inspiration. Continue reading “Triplexity – [2008] Live in Triplex City”
Faux antique trip hop. Twenty songs, over one hour of vinyl samples, including dust specks, enhancing the faux antique sound, replaying against the backdrop of subtle modern beats. Great instrumental hip hop with trip hop influences. The tracks are loopy on the surface, but the repetitions slowly evolve time, new samples fading in or out throughout. Continue reading “Tony Mahoney – [2013] Dark Blue”
Trippy glitch electronica. This album leans more towards the experimental side. It might need some time to be heard in total. But it might yield some exceptional moments in return. I better let the artist explain:
All of the other songs are from personal experiences both good and bad and the making of this album is the process I turned to, to help me deal with them. It’s my hope that perhaps someone having had a similar experiences, might identify with one of the songs and perhaps find comfort in that process.
Convincing downtempo trip hop. Ok, “convincing” might sound a bit too corporate for this lush piece of an album, flirting with ambient genre elements. French artist Jean Patier really knows how to turn the knobs to create deceptively simple chill out tracks. Read on for my two (from 10) favourite tracks and the release link. Continue reading “Auditive Escape – [2013] Profound”
