Proton Kinoun – Apeiron

i actually had several other releases 'in the queue' to write about on this blog, but a new release came to my attention today that is so stunning that i absolutely had to write about it. 'Apeiron' is a new release on Omnitropic, a brand-new ambient and downtempo sublabel of Ektoplazm, who have quickly become one of my favorite new netlabels, as i mentioned previously.
Apeiron, by danish producer Proton Kinoun (aka Kasper Weensgaard), is a breathtaking flight into deep space-- massive slabs of star-dusted ambience, rich, deep, infinitely expanding, and occasionally punctuated by pulsating fractal rhythmic energy. if there was a perfect soundtrack for flying through white-hot, star-forming nebulae, this would be it. an absolute must-have for all fans of organic soundscapes and immersive spacemusic.

The Lights Galaxia - Global EP

a very nice ep came to my inbox a little while ago- global ep by The Lights Galaxia, with production support by Carl Sagan's Ghost who i featured earlier. this release marks the first output from the new netlabel Luxus-Arctica records International, and if this release is any indication, they are off to an very good start.
soft, melodic, and melancholic-- moody guitar and rhodes melodies glide over evolving soundscapes and subdued clicking rhythmic pulses. atmospheric, expansive and 'global' yet intimate and introspective at the same time. beautifully evocative music for autumn.
for a slightly more wordy and very amusing review, head on over to Catching the Waves, who were nice enough to plug this blog as well!

Frequent Sync - Familiar Fields

this morning a massive fog rolled in on the city, so i decided to go out and take some photos, as i am wont to do in the event of unusual or photogenic weather. my soundtrack while photographing the moisture-soaked trees and river was 'Familiar Fields' by Frequent Sync, a collaborative duo between Darren Harper, who's album Time Forgotten i previously featured, and Jacob Newman, who also has a release on Earth Mantra. this album perfectly evokes the otherworldly atmosphere of a landscape obscured in fog. elongated tones and a nearly motionless pace distort time and space in a most pleasantly disorienting way.
the album is published by the seedsound netlabel in high-quality mp3 and streaming, and is also available in lossless flac format on the artist's own website captured space.

Darren Harper - Time Forgotten

Time Forgotten is a new release on Earth Mantra, one of my favorite destinations for creative commons ambient music.
floating weightless ambience-- long expansive washes of luminous tones-- distant echoes of the natural world, all mixed to perfection. deep and rich, yet minimal in approach-- ideal music for sleep, meditation, or escaping the third dimension for a time.

Brioskj - Mirror

full-length idm LPs are somewhat of a rarity in the netaudio world, but for those craving a little more than the usual 20-30 minutes of idm goodness, Mirror by Brioskj, the most recent commercial release from Kahvi is a very highly recommended purchase. 59 minutes of the finest kahvi-style ambient idm: beautiful sunny synth melodies, refreshing chillout atmospheres, light fluttering beats, and plenty of "that extra sparkle that Kahvi is famous for." perfect positive moods for bright summer weather.
the album is currently available on iTunes, emusic, Amazon and Rhapsody.

ManMadeMan – Children Of The Light

one of my favorite netlabel discoveries recently is Ektoplazm. they have just about everything i look for in a netlabel-- a simple but distinctive website design, a nice variety of sounds while staying centered on a specific genre (in this case, psytrance), high-quality production values and professional mastering, a reasonable release schedule, plus lossless flac and wav downloads.
one release which i particularly enjoyed recently is Children Of The Light by ManMadeMan. the style is based in Ektoplazm's signature trippy psytrance sound, but also ventures into downtempo, ambient and chillout atmospheres. pulsing synths and beats are deftly combined with reverberated pianos and voices for a thrilling, mind-bending journey. music which is equally at home on the dacefloor, in the lounge, or in your headphones.

hiddenplace music mix 6: Rudy Adrian special

Download mp3 (160kbps, 85MB)

i try to always let the artists know when i feature their music on one of my mixes. when i wrote to New Zealand musician Rudy Adrian that i had featured one of his tracks on my macrocosm mix, he offered to put together a special selection of tracks for my mix series. i've thoroughly enjoyed everything i've heard from Mr Adrian, so i readily agreed. the resulting mix of tracks, taken from a few of his earlier albums, is a blend of soft organic sounds as heard on Desert Realms, well as some more rhythmic, sequencer-based spacemusic. and as a special bonus, Rudy included an exclusive live in-studio improvisation to end the mix. definitely a treat for all fans of synth-based ambient music!

tracklisting:

(00:18) Sub Antarctica from SubAntarctica
(11:57) Kinetic Flow from Kinetic Flow
(31:10) Turquoise from Kinetic Flow
(41:33) Le Songe Du Singe from Kinetic Flow
(54:57) Happy Memories from Kinetic Flow
(59:47) Ancestral Legacy from MoonWater
(63:49) greeting/introduction from Rudy Adrian
(66:30) "Unique track"

photo: Smails Beach, Dunedin, New Zealand by S. M. Stewert