lost in a sea of sound

Here is a box set of extremely high caliber meditative music by Tristan Magnetique. If you are interested in finding physical copies, apologies to be made at this instant. The forty copies created sold out speedily. These were gone before Lost in a Sea of Sound received a copy, so this description ratcheted down one notch in the sense of urgency. But this composition should not fall into obscurity, an important collection of works reflected in the exquisiteness of the sounds within. A lengthy set, roughly an hour and a half of recorded music, matched in magnitude by sheer creativeness in diverse tranquility.

When thinking of the name of this set, Tristan Magnetique, the first question asked is, who is this. Seems like a person, not a project or band. This box set on the label Otomatik Muziek is the first recorded works of Tristan. Maybe the label found original cassettes in a thrift store or a music collection lost over time. There is the story of the unknown artist Blind Joe Death. O…

The dazzling world of ambient attributes. An aural landscape extending in infinite directions, sonic ridges or indentations drawn like lines across the vastness. Solid features, their beauty clouded until perspectives reach above. Bedrooms has pushed forward into the consciousness. When the tape ends, a sonic moraine has formed. Notes like earthly debris left resonating in after thoughts. These tracks are fully organic, hearkening to eras gone before. Billions of years of movement, current deliberations will only shallowly understand. 

This cassette titled Moons is special. Michael Chau as Bedroom capturing sounds from distant reaches. His use of the tangible, piano, vibraphone, chimes, even beats at times, landing Moons directly in the forefront of the mind. Combining this approach with synthesizer and patience, produces an ambient soundscape exuding corporeal distinction. The ethereal undertones have been grounded, pulling Moons through the accumulation of sediment many mid seventi…

Finger picking, Americana, pop, world vibe....  The new release by He Arrived By Helicopter is collection of well done pieces. Christian Gibbs, the creative force, flying listeners from country to city, across land and sea. There are moments of guitar genius, sounding like this is a Tomkins Square release, but those flicker to the divine pop feel of something from MJMJ Records. But for the world eclectic sound, right at home on Very Special Recordings.

The Shiny Hostel is a difficult diamond to describe. Too many cuts creating a myriad of facets, all polished and beaming sonic splendor. The best place to begin is probably the guitar playing tracks. There a quite a few of these gem stationed throughout the twelve tracks. All with different sensibilities and flares. Think of deeply felt string vibrations of Michael Hedges, but sometimes the more traditional connections of Glenn Jones and Jack Rose. The two stand out vocal tracks, Cold Damn Truth and Hemoglobin are simply dazzling. Chris…

From deep inside the walls, vibrations resonate. Sounds from the outside are muted and not comprehensible. This is the station of the masses, outside noble strongholds, ceremonies within are left for wonder and speculation. German Army has opened up a window, a place to hear the proceedings clearly. These temporary gateways have been occurring all over the world and for well over a decade now. Hearing the services within completely fills expectations and goes on to transcend imaginable boundaries. The populace gives thanks.

Thirteen tracks in roughly forty five minutes makes Kowloon Walled City a diverse and lengthy composition. With so many tracks, there are moments diving into circuitry and static, but the electronic haze has been slightly turned down for this record. The articulate percussion seems to take center stage. Like some ritualistic right of passage, listeners feel the stately heaviness. Gamkonora, Waioli and Sahu are three selections emphasizing this observation. The same…

Endurance put the sounds to tape this year, and 2018 is not even over. Was interested so took a quick look. Here is a summary, all this year, in cassette medium as well as digital.
The Wandering of Days  [Third Kind Records] - sold out from the label but a couple copies are still available from Endurance's bandcamp page.Shade Terrarium [Constellation Tatsu] - available from both the label and Endurance's bandcamp page --- {Description on Lost in a Sea of Sound}Minimum States [Metaphysical Circuits] - sold out from the label and Endurance's bandcamp page.Cloud, Castle, Lake [Cosmic Winnetou] - sold out from the label but 1 copy is still available from Endurance's bandcamp page --- {Description on Lost in a Sea of Sound}Celestial Governors [Tymbal Tapes] - sold out from the label and Endurance's bandcamp page --- writing now! Yes, this is a tangled paragraph of information with links galore. Any more output this year by Endurance and a spread sheet will be needed. 
Fo…

Luna Honey finds the sonic connection spanning the decades. The seven tracks on Peace Lives cover so much ground, it is difficult to place this composition into any particular genre. The best way to describe these sounds would be the feelings they bestow. There is a heaviness in the sense of time worn hardship. The years of struggle have a duality, producing beautiful mournful tones in conjunction with the difficult experiences survived to deliver this emotion so genuinely. The question surfaces, is it worth the sorrowful life to become so well versed? As end listeners, developing an appreciation for somber qualities is made fluid with compositions like Peace Lives. Hopefully the artists can maintain tranquil spirits, after going so deeply in.

Peace Lives clocks in at just over forty minutes. Maura Pond's voice is continually mystical and haunting. Luna Honey has many facets throughout, yet fixes itself in the emotional twilight. Rock, punk, goth, modern folk... everything lurks w…

Three artists combining together for a very focused odyssey into an unfamiliar aural world. Although these sounds melt ends and amalgamate into a drone environment, this is not that kind of composition. Listening closely, the sonic fabric Ilia, Miguel and Alfredo weave together is made from finely crafted individual threads. Each sound stitch in a braided pattern with infinite beginning and ends. The details are beautifully apparent, yet incredibly subtle. Brought to life from mediums yet to be fully understood.

If you can imagine a noise record with two side long tracks, each over twenty minutes in length, this would be a good start. Now take this aural image and create the negative of it in your mind. Colors are gone, dark shades of grey scale taking their place. The features easily heard, loud and almost violent, have been reversed. New aspects have become audible, these are faint, connecting together in a way so extremely different. Somehow the remnants of noise still can be heard…

Two and a half years ago, Whited Sepulchre Records released the first of their split cassette series. In the mix of four vinyl releases comes the forth in the tape series. If there is a best so far, it would be difficult to say with so much diversity between the eight artists now. If certain sounds pull from indescribable places within, causing feelings to interweave with thoughts, then this is the combination for those locks.

Lost in the thick flora of an ambient mire, John Atkinson sounds are the enigma of breath within the stillness. Changes in temperatures between water, land and air cause aural mist to envelope listeners. The densities causing consciousnesses to cloud, alleviated only in the intervals between the next ensuing sonic exhalation. John Atkinson has found the balance in this drone like serenity. Intriguing and so artfully mystique, these sounds instill deep introspection. Two tracks in twenty minutes, a perfect duo for nurturing the mind. Simply to short is the only t…

What is this.... A Günter Schlienz release that has not completely sold old within a week! An edition of eighty CDRs released just a little over a month ago. This time on the eccentric Was Ist Das? label from the heart of the southwest, Phoenix, Arizona. A combination of artist and label fitting together like German watch gears, silently spinning, a microcosm of sounds now brought to audible levels. And as the title implies, Collage Tristes is definitely filled with a myriad of rotating sound parts. It could be a little melancholy, but only in a somber sense, there is only sadness if it is already in your heart.

Two tracks, equally divided over forty five minutes. For Mr. Schlienz, Collage Tristes seems to whirl in directions not taken in many of his releases. A collection of magnificent melodies escaping all descriptions. Like looking at time lapsed photo over countless evenings, showing the hues of a setting sun. Both words and pictures struggle to convey the vibrancy of emotion ass…

Bob Bellerue works in the sonic fields harvesting sustained notes and patterns. Over the years, bounty and scarcity are intertwined. Weathering emotions reveal themselves in aural bliss or upheaval. The new double lp titled Music of Liberation, follows these patterns. The facets continually changing, from a meditative mantra in form of timeworn drone to post industrial noise, pounding beats dissolved long ago. To describe Music of Liberation as monumental would be inaccurate in relation to Bob Bellerue's vast body of work. An artists delivers sounds in contrast to talent, experience and emotions within the current frame of time. Like the agriculturist, the resulting yield changes over years, each cycle perched on a myriad of uncontrollable factors.

Music of Liberation is dedicated to Bob Bellerue's friend and colleague Z'EV. His passing occurred near the end of the completion of this composition. These sounds were recorded before Z'EVs departure from mortal constraints…