Ἀρέθουσα, 4 November 2018

Ἀρέθουσα

isol­a­tion, intro­spec­tion, relax­a­tion

ambi­ent, folk, drone, acous­tic, vocal, field record­ings, early music, spir­itual

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First of all, have a read over at my review of valyri’s Phases, if you haven’t already.

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One of my faves from back in the day, Agit­ated Radio Pilot’s Last Orders at the One Tree Hotel

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And if you need even more gor­geous, serene synths after that valyri review, join me over here, Raised High in Bad­wa­ter Basin by Andrew Weath­ers (2014).

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Beast Nest’s organic ambi­ent is a true delight. 2016’s Taste of India (Rat­skin Records) fea­tures two long tracks that take their proper time to unfold, at once digital and animal, cradling you in effer­ves­cence and warmth.

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Superb ritual ambi­ent on Dreyt Nien’s The Pris­matic Pyr­am­ids (2018, Hairs aBlazin’). This is naturetech at its finest: tabla, sitar, alien voices, bells, heavy synths, the works. Two tracks of massive pro­por­tions and ditto impact.

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My second review for this period was The Sea of Poten­tials by Dronny Darko and Apol­lonius. An ode to the unknown, and to embra­cing the unknown as it lurks just bey­ond the bor­der of our per­cep­tion.

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Festa de Iemanjá - ★YEMANJÁ★ (2017, Col­lec­tion Petites Planètes)

Rituals for ★YEMANJÁ★, Queen of the Waves.

Video: http://​hibridos​.cc/​e​n​/​r​i​t​u​a​l​s​/​f​e​s​t​a​-​d​e​-​i​e​m​a​n​ja/

Record­ings:

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Exclus­ive to valyri sub­scribers, Celestine Dawn­shim­mer by Helena Wind­gale is a glor­i­ous fic­tional New Age album. A long sound­scape with a per­fect dynamic devel­op­ment: warm waves, echoes of flute, sea­shore, anim­als…

https://​valyri​.com/​a​l​b​u​m​/​t​r​a​n​s​c​e​n​d​e​n​t​a​l​-​d​r​e​a​m​s​c​a​p​e​s​-​v​o​l​-​i​-​c​e​l​e​s​t​i​n​e​-​d​a​w​n​s​h​i​m​mer

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It’s not an album that stamps its feet and demands your atten­tion… rather, Mount Shrine’s Winter Rest­less­ness (2018, Cryo Cham­ber) is con­tent to linger in the back­ground: warm, soft, deep. Ambi­ent from the gentler side of the label’s roster.

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The Mys­tery of the Bul­garian Voices feat. Lisa Ger­rard - Boo­CheeM­ish (2018, Proph­ecy)

It’s a good listen, with a diverse selec­tion of songs and vir­tu­oso per­form­ance, though it’s the kind of over-pol­ished folk that I don’t have a ton of patience for. Worst of all: it reminds us again how much of lat­ter Dead Can Dance is appro­pri­ated music.

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Paul Hil­lier, Andrew Lawrence-King, Theatre of Voices - Can­ti­gas (2006, Har­mo­nia Mundi)

This one col­lects two earlier releases, one (Dis­tant Love) a double bill with can­ti­gas from Mar­tin Codax and Jaufré Durel, the other (Can­ti­gas From The Court Of Dom Dinis) with songs by afore­men­tioned Dinis and other com­posers roughly from that era. 

A min­imal delight, with Hil­li­er’s voice and Lawrence King’s harp/psaltery play in per­fect uni­son.