Akara - Extradimensional Ethnography

Ancient & modern, acoustic & electronic, sacred & sensual, ethereal & worldly... the music of the Akara project collapses dualities and guides the listener into a state of aural samadhi with a sonic ceremony in the form of an album called Extradimensional Ethnography. this transcendent album is an absolute must-have for fans of globally-flavored grooves with a psychedelic touch, and has quickly become my top favorite release of 2011.
the album can be streamed in full on bandcamp, and is also available on CD and from the usual digital outlets

Secret Archives of the Vatican

having already released several LPs, compilations, and free singles, Secret Archives of the Vatican has recently put out two free EPs, The Glidepath and Wisdom Truth. ive been following their podcast and original production for some time now and i think its some of their best work so far. the Secret Archives style is well-defined: an exotic far-east-flavored blend of dubstep, downtempo and "global beat" with a bent for post-religious and anti-establishment themes. Deep wall-rattling bass, crisp rolling beats, dubby echoes and middle-eastern/arabian instruments, along with a smattering of spoken word make these eps a thrilling ethno-musical journey into a post-apocalyptic future.

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

Francesco Lettera

normally i really cant stand sequenced orchestral music, but in the case of music by Francesco Lettera, the composition is of such quality that i can forgive the occasionally cheesy sounds (although, on the whole, the sequencing sounds quite good). the digital orchestral sometimes lacks the 'punch' of a live performance, but the composer has done a very admirable job of infusing the music with a great deal of evocative expression and lively capriciousness. Mr Lettra has two quality releases on the somewhat enigmatic netlabel dharmasound: Vertigini, and The wizard of OZ. drawing on a wide range of influences- most notably Danny Elfman, perhaps along with a few cut scenes of Mahler, a flashback to Vaughn Williams, a tiny reference to Prokofiev or Stravinsky- these releases should appeal to fans of music with a grand, panoramic quality.
thanks to the Machtdose podcast for turning me on to these releases.

The Incognito Traveller EP

here at hiddenplace music, i normally like to keep a nice variety of music between posts. however, in searching through the aforementioned No Copy Protection netlabel, i came across a release which was so fantastic i had to feature it.
anyone else who has played with ACID or other loop-based recording software knows how easy it is to make bad loop-based music. but every so often, there comes an artist who knows how to spin the loops with just the right mix of flavours. jazz drums, latin percussion, muted trumpet, antique piano, and even an charming french language song make up The Incognito Traveller EP, providing some of the most listenable sample-based music i have heard in a while. prepare to be whisked away into the world of smoky cafés and lazy cobblestone streets, tinged with the mystery and intrigue of a classic spy movie.

shameless self-promotion

in a shameless bit of self-promotion, i've begun to put together a music section of my homepage, including my ambient/worldmusic albums, experimental stuff, and a couple dj mixes. far from perfect, but its a start at least..