Ambient
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The notes for Adrian Dziewanski’s new album The Trail Loops Back make an insightful connection between the Vancouver musician/poet’s work and early ambient compositions. “Dziewanski utilizes environmental recordings, found sound and prepared instruments as pathways into deep-time sonic meditation. His music harkens to an exquisite stasis that was once the focus of western music’s ambient…
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We’ve become accustomed to anonymity in art. As egotism has grown increasingly acceptable in popular culture, the decision to release work under a pseudonym is recognized as a progressive statement. It’s about putting the art first. In this respect, it’s a kind of selflessness that we could do with a great deal more of. It…
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Listeners who find the title of this new Superalma Project album’s opener a bit on the nose can hardly be blamed. “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” has an obvious resonance in the Age of Trump. But then artists have been quoting George Orwell for decades, convinced that they were living in…
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At first blush, Belfast’s Ghost Signs appears to be playing a bit of a joke on us with this new release title. A Temporary Loss of Transience, put another way, is a short-term break from the absence of permanence. That somewhat circular definition may be entirely appropriate given Ghost Signs’ penchant for tape and guitar…
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One of the funnier moments I’ve experienced as a music lover came just about 30 years ago. Brimming with excitement, I brought a John Cage CD I’d purchased over to play for my girlfriend’s big brother. “It’s composed for prepared piano,” I beamed. This was ill-advised. I was entirely incapable of describing what prepared piano…
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The contrast between the gentle ambient sounds Pepo Galán is well known for and Carlos Suero’s penchant for thick, dense electronics is central to the appeal of this new collaborative effort. The duo has produced a layered, ominously visual album. Galán’s work on the cover captures the feel of these five new works perfectly. Dark…
The Moderns 