Electronic
-
From the start, Giuseppe Cordaro’s new solo album offers listeners a simple elegance that comes as a great relief at the end of a difficult year. Simple, but not at all simplistic. The Reggio Emilia, Italy-based composer delivered eight new pieces to us last month that stitch multiple genres together seamlessly. Among them are ambient…
-
Oslo’s Benjamin Finger has a new nine-track CD out today. Unlike Ghost Figures, the collection of piano improvisations reviewed here earlier in the year, this is a multi-layered work featuring electronics, strings and vocals. It is luxurious. The first indication that this album is something special comes as “Ultraviolet light” rumbles to life. The slow…
-
After two years and more than 40 cassette releases, Belgium’s extraordinary Audio. Visuals. Atmosphere. label has a vinyl release for us. Ontmanteling is an eight-piece noise work by fellow Antwerpian O Ratel Ratel. Recordings like this one are often described as sound sculptures. If that term strikes you as a bit grandiose, you’re not alone.…
-
Five minutes into Andrew Osterhoudt’s (a.k.a. Channeling) new three-track mini album, you may find yourself wondering if this follow-up to his self-titled debut is going to be a rather straightforward drone affair. It’s not an unpleasant beginning. Understated distortion adds a welcome grittiness to a gentle, neatly presented introduction. But appreciating “Drift’s” subtle progression does…
-
It may be a coincidence that Pepo Galán’s extraordinary new album Human Values Disappear landed today, almost exactly one year after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. Intentionally or not, he has captured perfectly the bewildering emotions of 2017. The album’s promo sheet describes the work with a dark metaphor: “a boat that travels…
-
One of the things that excited people about ambient music in its early days was its unique tendency to absorb whatever other sounds the listener’s environment had to offer. This remains a big part of its appeal. Occasionally though, ambient works are produced that have the capacity to monopolize our attention. Rotterdam-based Rutger Zuydervelt (a.k.a.…
The Moderns 