
Ἀρέθουσα
isolation, introspection, relaxation
ambient, folk, drone, acoustic, vocal, field recordings, early music, spiritual
First of all, have a read over at my review of valyri’s Phases, if you haven’t already.
One of my faves from back in the day, Agitated Radio Pilot’s Last Orders at the One Tree Hotel
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).
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.
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.
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.
Festa de Iemanjá - ★YEMANJÁ★ (2017, Collection Petites Planètes)
Rituals for ★YEMANJÁ★, Queen of the Waves.
Video: http://hibridos.cc/en/rituals/festa-de-iemanja/
Recordings:

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…
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.
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.
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.