Ambient
-
Long-time fans of ambient music will recognize the parallels between Nhung Nguyen’s wonderful playing and the great Harold Budd’s penchant for spacious, unabashedly pretty piano solos. Her new disc An ordinary narrative is far from ordinary. It is a great success. I’ve written about Nguyen before. She’s been producing both modern classical and ambient music…
-
Polar Seas Recordings has two handsome cassette/download releases out June 2: the aforementioned Echoic Architecture by Endurance and this new one from Brad Deschamps. Those who follow the label will recognize Deschamps as the label’s curator and as half of North Atlantic Drift. This iridescent beauty is his eighth release under the anthéne name.…
-
A third of the way into Joshua Stefane’s new 60-minute recording under the name Endurance, it appears certain we’re in for a purely minimalist tour of his favourite drone sounds. This is by no means a criticism. The globetrotting Canadian researcher and translator who now calls Nara, Japan home can be fairly credited with…
-
Oleksiy Sakevych has produced another winner. The Vacation is his fifth full-length disc under the Endless Melancholy brand. It is this month’s must-listen. After the success of 2015’s Her Name In A Language Of Stars, expectations have ridden pretty high ahead of this new release. Despite the Kiev-based artist’s self-deprecating insistence that he’s been…
-
Liverpool’s Mike Sweeney has had a remarkable start since launching earthborn visions last year. Principally a solo project (he credits “occasional, ad-hoc collaborators”), Sweeney has seven LPs and three EPs on his resume. This new disc will make you want to dig into that back catalogue. It’s beautifully composed and skilfully produced. Featuring elements…
-
Another new release from the innovative Touch label, this one lands Friday. In addition to issuing a number of fine recordings, Touch sponsors a mentorship program that helps artists with grant applications, business counseling and more. It’s an impressive outfit. Robert Crouch is a solid addition to the stable. His latest, Sublunar was recorded live…
The Moderns 