The new LP from Francisco Sonur for Giraffe Tapes is a gentle & considered ambient exploration of life’s pleasing imperfections, a whispered appreciation of the joys of human connection tinged with an acknowledgement that nothing lasts forever.
As the clouds start to darken the northern Portuguese skies & prepare to soak the land, this somewhat melancholic ambient EP from @nfyatf will sound just right as I look out the window and lose myself in solitary thoughts.
Succinct synth & guitar tones from Leo Abrahams flit around this largely convivial sonic gathering hosted by @figureight8, imbuing a warmth to proceedings & placating the tenser moments which seem never too far away in this age of misinformed opinion.
Nice up your day with @SOULSUGARMUSIC as harking back to the Golden Age of reggae as his top ranking crew drop the dub versions of their summer soul & funk vs reggae soundclash LP to feel good, hip shaking, toe tapping, vintage vibing effect.
Hints of Latin music’s folkloric past weave their way through San Ignacio’s rich, man & machine made world, warming the electronic ecosystem & adding even more depth to this already lush, intricate soundscape.
It’s surprising how some ambient can be so stereotypical but next level with it’s impact or lack of, (often the point) @Gallery_Six takes lots of familiar sounds & tropes but manages to find that soothing yet simultaneously engaging & enchanting sweet spot.
Laid back jazz meets hip hop grooviness from @Shayhazanmusic for @batovrecords , created during Covid restrictions from remote contributions, then lovingly stitched together & given a North African vibe from his jazz inflected sintir/guembri playing.
I have to slip in the new label release whilst I’m at it
Wind down your week with @iutakahashi 's Interspace EP & all its ambient, minimal, light of touch, precision soundscape glory. She really is one of the leading ladies in the overwhelmingly male Japanese ambient world.
Really interesting to hear Adrian Knight deviate from the soulful sounds that initially caught my ear into languid ambient constructs with an occasional somnolent smooth jazz patina. A lovely gentle, soothing listen via @regionalattract
The full collection of reworks of New Age masterpiece Keyboard Fantasies, by an incredible array of new generation artists are now out in handy one click LP form & are unfailingly wonderful. Welcome to the new age of New Age.
So happy new year all, let’s hope 2022 is a bit perkier than the last two
After looking up holiday in the dictionary I took a bit of a break over Christmas, but the constant tsunami of new music waits for no man so off we go again. Here’s 3 mellow ones to ease you into 2022.
Head out of your door & keep walking, listening as you go. Go past the suburbs & chemically muted fields of crops & eventually as you escape human constructs you’ll hit the planet’s most wondrous sound - nature. If you’re in any doubt check out @melissagpons’ wonderful field recordings of a Brazilian rainforest. (Thanks to the excellent @stravelsblogblog for the tip)
Shimmering & tingling like the start of an all night inner awakening, the psilocybin vibing new age of New Age frequencies from Sunmoonstar (@t45hi) are connecting all sorts of hitherto untrodden neural pathways & lighting the way to brighter days.
Hit the link in the profile to listen or
A surprisingly mellow start of year transition transmission from @thebreathingeffect, as they take a jazz fusion break & explore the world of woozy drones, hazy soundscapes & ambient acid folk to fine calming & charming effect for @alphapup.
Big news from my label project this week. The Ben McElroy LP was made The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Month. It was scheduled for a release on the 28th but we rushed it forward (on 2 days notice!) to take advantage of the press.
Winter melancholy meets spring’s warmth, guitar led, string adorned Alt-Folk loveliness, a fine way to start your day.
Hope you enjoy it.
Apart from all that excitement, it’s still been a real ambient start to the year with loads of nice horizontally inclined bits and bobs dropping, here’s a few picks:
Not to mention a bit of fresh sounding dream pop fusion:
and this Fourth World slice of technoid tribalism & industrial folk fusion from Jakarta’s Uwalmassa collective via the ever reliable resequencers of Gamelan’s genome DIVISI 62
