yeah, I see the link but the cover image wasn't there. just needed to know what I would be nabbing. thanks!

odd
the cover shows just fine for me.
google sleeparchive or go to discogs. it's a pretty cool album cover.

yep. isn't it cool?!

Theres a new Eluvium release that leaked (another one this year?)

it's on this blog if you want to get it.

This is actually compilation of "Lambent Material" and "Talk Amongst the Trees" with three bonus tracks.

So hopefully the bonus tracks are good.

So... I've seen a few people in here talking about this Stars of the Lid. As someone who's never really listened to a lot of ambient aside from what's in Another Green World, is this a good place to dip my toes in the water?

While Another Green World isn't exactly ambient, Stars of the Lid is definitely a decent place to start. The ideal starting point would be Eno's Ambient One, which is one of the best records I've ever heard. Seek it out, it's beautiful.

And of course the other ideal starting point being Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2.

And yeah, even by the time of the instrumental tracks on Another Green World, Eno was already doing stuff like No Pussyfooting, which sounds a lot more traditionally ambient than almost anything on AGW. But still, a song like "The Big Ship" is so remarkable because it manages to be a lot busier than what most people consider "ambient" while still retaining the sort of beauty that distinguishes so much of the best ambient music. Sort of like Endless Summer, to an extent.

The other recomendation that I would throw out there for getting into ambient music is Eluvium's Talk Amongst the Trees. It is a little more lush and it has a little bit more going on. At least it worked for me.

I might even go as far as saying that the opening track on Talk Amongst The Trees, "New Animals From the Air" is far better than anything Stars of the Lid have ever done (and Stars of the Lid are probably my favorite thing in ambient right now, or ever really).

Milieu - New Drugs For Nuclear Families Of The Seventies [Milieu Music, 2007]

1. Summer Honey
2. Plume Train
3. Space Piano
4. Boulevard Haze
5. Luke's Rusty Drum
6. Daughter
7. Dionysus In Reds
8. Easily Along
9. Alice Flagg
10. Echo Spectrum
11. Tropic Casanova
12. Family Opium

Philoktêtês says:
As the age-old adage goes, there are some things you can count on in life, such as death and taxes. Well it looks like we can now add "a monthly new release from Milieu (Brian Grainger)" to that list. Following his Of The Apple and a handful of CD-R's from earlier this year, Grainger now gives us New Drugs For Nuclear Families Of The Seventies. For the most part, the Milieu catalog is divided into two camps: fuzzy, washy drone (Beyond The Sea Lies The Stars) and beat-driven ambient (In Hills Made Of Clouds). While Of The Apple could be seen as a true predecessor to Beyond, New Drugs clearly follows in the footsteps of the more upbeat Clouds. This is, as Grainger calls it, beat-based psychedelia. While I happen to prefer drone Milieu to IDM Milieu, there is no denying the beauty of Grainger's work. Although the word "organic" gets thrown around a lot in the post-BoC world of IDM, here the descriptor actually fits. In fact, it is this over-arching organic feel that permeates throughout every Milieu release, regardless of which camp it fits into. Any concerns of Grainger spreading himself too thin are quashed about 30 seconds into "Summer Honey". Thankfully, over-saturation does not apply to music this therapeutic.

has anyone had a chance to listen to sleeparchive?

i gave it a once over a couple of days ago and it sounded pretty good, but i definitely need to spend some real quality time with it.

great find though Artem!

haven't listened yet, but I got it on my drive. just got a lot of stuff I'm hooked on right now and can't fit anything in between really. loving 2007.

Kranky are reissuing and remastering their first release, Labradford's 'Prazision' one of my favorite albums ever. If you haven't heard it please pick it up when it drops once again.

I'm about halfway through this and it's really painful and boring. Even more than that Pan Sonic album that's been sitting on my shelf untouched for the last 4 years. I wonder if I should even bother with the rest of it.

you're breaking my heart, undo.

Me too - but for different reasons. What's wrong with "that Pan Sonic album"?? It's a good one, although Kesto is their masterpiece.

Cylob, Rephlex's code-writing soldier who solders his own computers together, has unearthed some Cylobian Sunset-era treasures. I can't believe this stuff has been sitting on the shelf for the best part of 15 years.

Cylob - Bounds Green



Tracklisting:

01] Morning
02] Go
03] Company
04] Out
05] K
06] Lithpipes
07] Tide
08] Calling
09] Skylight
10] Hidden
11] Unsurrounded
12] Long..

Bruegz, you're a god 'un. Cylob's awesome. 'Rewind' still one of the greatest ting pon Earth:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5yrA-BpWECI"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5yrA-BpWECI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Fantastic record. Thanks for the link and tip!

Is that the original mix? I've never heard that version of the song before. Killer video too.

Watching that makes me want to dust off the The Braindance Coincidence. Think I will.



Yeah, I've been listening to it loads over the last week. Basically melancholic braindance but I posted it in this thread because I think its the ambient elements that mark it out from the crowd. I think it compares favourably to his more recent stuff too.

thanks for another bruegel! I'll give this one a spin in the wee hours tonight.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=17491052

h//p://www.mediafire.com/?fnwjzufrzed
no one paid attention to this in the dance floor thread so I'm moving it over here. It's great, has a nice flow to it.
RIYL: Aphex Twin's I care because you Do, Magnetophone, ambient IDM stuff. And I think some post rock/M83 fans would like this too.

Not sure, to be honest. Reckon it's the version I'm familiar with though.


Yeah, takes me back to starting university and getting into the electronic music. Good times.

so this is pretty awesome. and they're just unreleased stuff of his? what are his essential albums?

His output is kind of all over the place in terms of styles. I've sort of lost track of him since Rephlex dropped him but Cylobian Sunset is one of my all-time favourite releases on the label....a melodic beauty and it makes sense that the material on Bounds Green was crafted at the same time.

I'm definitely going to have to get that one, cuz I'm all over this. The analog sound he works with is just so pure sounding. Love that.

Fantastic piece. Not sure what it has to do with ambient though. Unfortunately the overuse of the vocoder gets a bit old. The karate dancer is great in this.

Read the thread then you doddering arse.

This thread's really been dead for a month and a half? You've gotta be kidding me.

I love ambient music so much. And this has been where I've found the best of it over the past year, or however old this thread is. I'd probably quit the board if only there was some way I could get a constant feed of the posts in this topic.

This White Rainbow album is so good, needs to be said again.

Yeah, man, I kind of let it go. Thought everyone had lost interest of it.

Anyway, since I'm hungover this morning and can't get out of bed, here's my ambient albums of the year with short tossoff reviews:

1. White Rainbow - Prism of the Eternal Now
The most fresh sounding ambient record I've heard all year. Whenever I spin it I just want to put it on ear bleeding levels for maximum effect. Every song is it's own little world. Total mindmelter. I should probably write a better review of this, track by track, eh whatever. Just everyone on the board buy it if you like weird music! Not too many of you left around these parts.

2. Stars of the Lid - Refinement of the Decline
Have they improved upon their sound since Tired Sounds? Not really, they are still the same old sublime music makers, but they did change up their game significantly. The production on it is clear and bright, unlike any other of their previous murky sounding releases. You can actually hear the horns and strings on this one; they don't combine into one sleepy drone. This has changed the personality of the music quite a bit. It took me a couple listens to get over that. Once I did I fell in love with it. It's a refreshing listen, an orchestrated ambient. Kind of like SoTL moved on from their David Lynch world and took a walk out in the sunshine, made this album.

3. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
People are calling this ambient so I guess I'll include it in here because I fucking love it anyway. To me it's like a drone rock electronica record. Completely utilizes the 'less is more' trance aesthetic endorsed by Spacemen 3 and others. Like Seefeel on uppers or something. Anyway, it's the kind of record I can put on and get immersed within, and it totally blows me away every time.

4. Christian Fennesz/Ryuichi Sakamoto - Cendre
I was getting so tired of 'piano ambient' stuff and wasn't expecting to like it much at all, but after one listen I couldn't deny the fantastic partnership. The fennesz/sakamoto collaboration reminds me so much of Eno/Budd's The Pearl, they must have been thinking of that album in mind when they made it. Fennesz's sounds are unobtrusive and blanket the music with a humid atmosphere. Sakomoto has a delicate ear for melody. A perfect album for summer evenings. Drink some tea and watch the sunset, faggot.

5. Jasper TX - A Darkness
This one came out of nowhere. All I can say is it's totally beautiful. There are elements of chiming post rock guitar, strange samples that fade in and out, and then it just get's totally spacy. Great album to fall asleep to.

6. Eluvium - Copia
Totally orchestral ambient record. Very meditative, peaceful, but also dreary. Elegaic would probably be the best word to describe the album as a whole. I haven't been in much of an elegaic mood lately, so this isn't exactly my cup of tea for now. But it is a beautiful record that hits the mark more often than straying.

7. The World on Higher Downs - Land Patterns
Beatiful and lushly produced post rock ambient. the songs kind of meander a bit, but the music is kind of intoxicating. Maybe it's the production or the excellent choice of intrumentation.

8. M83 - Digital Shades
This one has gotten under my skin now. At first it bored me, but now I like it quite a bit. Very simplistic and minimal, but the beauty that M83 have achieved in the past is still there in spades.

9. Andrew Pekler - Cue
What a fun album to drive to! A modern Krautrock piece. Driving drumming and strange bleeps and bloops.

10. Milieu - Of the Apple
I haven't listened to this enough but when I did the other night I was in heaven. This guy can take you to another world. The only weakness is that there are too many tracks. Very hard to digest as a whole, and I find that frustrating.

edit: Forgot about Porn Sword Tobacco, should probably be in at number four or five.

Well anyone can post in the thread, it's not your sole responsibility to keep it going, even though it bears your name.

Thanks for the list, a good guide for the rest of the year. I never stopped to think about just how much The Field sounds like Seefeel, but that's really true.

This is just such a beautiful album. It is so soothing and therapeutic. Ambient fans who have somehow avoided Milieu up until now, definitely check this out. Then go back and check out Beyond the Sea.



Any chance of an up of this? I've been meaning to check it out for awhile now.

sure

hp://www.mediafire.com/?6kyyyfux4gd

I'm sure I'll love the Milieu record, just haven't made any time for it really. Beyond the Sea...was one of my top records of last year.

Still need to hear this one.






It's a grower. Sounds better on speakers than headphones too. Guy knows what he is doing. I'm definitely pumped for the new album. It's finished and due for release in January.

"Recorded in 2006-7 with mostly analogue equipment, using up to 50 year-old tapemachines, filters and generators that end up being the soft cushion in these cold location (field) recordings."
Brainwashed:
Though Nilsen utilizes field recordings from a variety of "cold" places (Sweden, Iceland, and the UK), it is never a crutch to fill in gaps in the sound. Instead, it is another pale shade in his sonic pallet, alongside vintage microphones, early analog synths, and modern DSP tools, that constructs a thick painting of frigid landscapes that still manage to ooze a natural warmth. The expansive field recordings that open the disc seamlessly segue into a processed, edited form that coalesce with the high pitched tones, all icy and glacier. Soft tones and melodies mix with a heavy, thick organ sound like the foghorn of a ship far off in the distance.
Other tracks revel in bizarre synthetic textures, the vinyl surface noise like crackles of "Icing Station" and the strange organic rattles of "Finisterre" are both some unknown combination of classic technology with modern processing, and the field recordings are among the few that actually give some sense of life in the barren cold: birds chirping and singing songs within the noisier elements.
Elements of noise, not in the harsh, punishing sense, float to the surface in "Black Light" and "Viking North." The noise sounds not as if it is coming from a distortion pedal, but more the product of the old tape equipment used being pushed beyond its limits. It is a very unique analog form of clipping that sets the noiser elements apart from the more lazy practitioners. Its appearance in "Black Light" is especially effective, as it is the apocalyptic climax to a sprawling piece of bleak, dark ambience with some subtle percussive elements buried deep the misty mix.
The Short Night, despite its singular title, is more of a collection of times and places frozen in space. Each of the tracks are entities unto themselves, and placed together form an excursion into the dark, frigid, and desolate, yet still maintaining a core of warmth and humanity. Unsurprisingly, BJ Nilsen and Touch have produced yet another winner.
Tracklisting:
1 Front (14:24)
2 Finisterre (9:35)
3 Pole Of Inaccessibility (6:33)
4 Viking, Cromarty… (0:06)
5 Black Light (4:16)
STREAM ABOVE TRACK HERE http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/10/142...ack%20Light.mp3
6 Icing Station (2:16)
7 Viking North (10:53)

A very intricately planned, dark piece of work here.
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?a2xhh5yzmbx

Thanks a million for Cue, avec. I really like "Steady State."

Oh yeah, it's a pretty good album. Glad you like it.


pretty excited about this, in fact I'm just about to put in my order for it:
http://www.kranky.net/
We are proud to reissue the debut album from Labradford, as well as the premier kranky release, originally issued in October 1993. Prazision LP not only announced the arrival of Labradford, a new force in organized sound, but also set the standard for kranky as the prime example of what would soon be the label's forte; releasing challenging work that will stand the test of time. The album has been given a proper mastering job for the first time, and the B side of their debut 7" single has been added to the A side that appeared as an addendum on the original release.

The debut album from Labradford, as well as the premier kranky release, was originally issued in October 1993 to a surprising amount of acclaim as well as a fair bit of confusion. What was one to make of these beatless atmospheres cum pop songs that had very little to do with contemporary "indie-rock"ª? The album was typically lumped into such newly minted sub-genres such as "lo-fi" and "post-rock" even though there was no connection to any such imagined scenes. Lo-fi? You can hear Mark Nelson breathe between vocal lines for chrissake. Must be the lack of cymbals and hi-hat that accounts for that fallacy. Post-rock? Does this catch-all phrase for disparate musical groups and sounds even imply anything concrete or encompassing? Alas, just another label that quickly became meaningless.
What is clearly evident upon listening to the album anew is that this is not a dated or stale work by any means. It could just as well have been recorded in 2003, or 1983 for that matter, as in 1993. It does not contain any of the markers so typical of pop music that would place it in any time frame, no production touches or instrumental sounds that would identify it as being the product of a specific period. At the very least, Labradford created a timeless work, one that still challenges the listener today. More to the point, they created a masterwork.

I could easily drop $50 or more on Kranky releases right now if I wasn't a such a poor bastard.

Label of the year, easily.

Machinefabriek - Grom


01 Grom (23:34)

mp3 @ 320kbps
pass:slarty

http://www.machinefabriek.nu/

35 cd/cdr releases in two years, this guy needs to settle down a little

new Tim Hecker

You don't like it? I'm gonna give it a listen now. Here's some other stuff that's been floating around too. A 21 minute live performance from Norberg Sweden
hxp://www.sendspace.com/file/rywhae

MWVM -- Rotations
h,,p://www.zshare.net/download/5104419214a50a/
password for it: haloid
http://www.myspace.com/mwvm
"Only a year and a half after their debut release, mwvm (aka Michael Walton) has already entered and settled into a much colder territory. Taking a step forward, Rotations moves its ten tracks on a single flowing journey through shivering layers of guitar and fx coatings."
.

Although I don't really participate in this thread, just wanted to say that I'm very happy it's alive again. These particular nooks of the SOMB and their various authorities - the metal thread/Sask, Vivian, Burzum, Bruegel, throughsilver; the psych thread/Ted Falconi, Paves, captjackblack; and this one with undo/avec/helmet - are really the threads that keep me obsessively checking the SOMB. A day with a new post is, usually, a good day.

Something to look forward to. I can't wait.

Any chance for a reup on the Milieu? Also is anyone looking for the Kiln: Dusker? - as I can up that in return.

Thanks

Izzy

They've been talking about doing tour dates in the USA for a while now, saying they're lining them up. I hope they can follow through.