ambient
Album Review: Thylacine – Transsiberian
A concept album composed over a 5,000 mile journey between Moscow and Vladivostok, Artist William Rezé (Thylacine) sampled sounds along the way and blended them over music he created from the confines of a tiny cabin along the Trans-Siberian Railway. His Travels took him through nearly 6,000 miles of landscapes resulting in a piece of work that reflects his discovery …
Album Review: Phoria – Volition
Melatonin, the opening track of Volition, the long overdue debut album from Brighton based electonic group Phoria, sums it up. Shades of James Blake (an almost constant influencer in these days of electronic soul) purvey througout, but there’s also some Sigur Ros in there with its winsome melodies and ambitious musical sensibilities and some of …
Album Review: Mark McGuire – Beyond Belief
Mark McGuire’s Beyond Belief is a behemoth of an album. It’s an epic double LP, nearly 80 minutes of expansive tracks that feel like the soundtrack to some existential, futuristic film. Though it’s largely an electronic instrumental album, Beyond Belief doesn’t fall into the usual electronic music category. While most synth-filled albums of late tend to keep things dark …
Album Review: Lloyd Cole – 1D electronics 2012-2014
The opportunity was there, no doubt, for Lloyd Cole to jump on the revival bandwagon. After all, the way he dropped literary references into his keenly observed tales of life and love were second only to a certain Stephen Morrissey at his height. However, his new record, 1D Electronics is, as the title suggests, a …
News: Susumu Yokota dead at 54
Prolific Japanese composer/producer Susumu Yokata passed away earlier in the year, his family have announced. Yokota, who also released albums under aliases such as Ebi and Prism as well as his own name, came to prominence with releases on Germany’s Harthouse label, before moving onto the likes of Lo Recordings and Leaf, where his path …
Exclusive Mix: Sebastian Melmoth Datacast
In a shameless bid of self promotion, I thought it would be a good idea to share with avid Backseat Mafia readers an exclusive mix Sebastian Melmoth prepared for a French sound art collective last month. DotData is a small itinerant net label based in Rennes and Paris. Their visual aesthetic blends monochromatic dream sequences with …
See: Nordic Giants reveal video for Rapture
If you’ve ever seen mysterious duo Nordic Giants, you’ll be well aware that film plays an important part in their shows, as they often soundtrack live a selection of short films with their visceral, almost entirely instrumental ambient/post-rock. Ahead of their debut album, A Séance Of Dark Delusions, released through Kscope on May 4th, the …
Album Review: Jonas Munk – Absorb Fabric Cascade
Jonas Munk has very few contemporaries exploring aural landscapes in quite the same way that he does. He seems to create musical canvases that are labyrinthine in scope; yet still as intimate as a warm embrace. His first solo outing, Pan, was warm and bubbling. It floated along a cloud of analog synth chugs and phased …
Vandetta – Ground Zero
It is an impressive feat, to have constructed a song using sampled and manipulated versions of your own vocals. As with earlier single ‘Fly’, singer Vanessa Fernandez has built this track organically and that approach extends to the whole of her forthcoming EP. Formerly part of twosome Octover, from Singapore, she will release the full “Vendetta …
Album Review – The Orb (feat. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry) – More Tales from the Orbservatory
The Orb are very reminiscent of a time in my life when, it is fair to say, I did a lot of chillin’. I was a research student but, unlike most of my peers, used to get up very early and get my work done by lunchtime. I would then spend long afternoons listening to …