Ἀρέθουσα
isolation, introspection, relaxation
ambient, folk, drone, acoustic, vocal, field recordings, early music, spiritual
Alan Lomax - Deep River of Song: Alabama (2001, Rounder)
Glorious folk and blues recordings from late 1930s Alabama, out of Lomax’s Library of Congress collection.
Anouar Brahem - Thimar (1998, ECM)
Thimar is a lovely arab jazz piece, with oud from Brahem, sax and clarinet by John Surman, and some great bass work by Dave Holland. Part of a large Brahem oeuvre that I’ll be moving through in the future.
voidassembly_progenitrix_v∞ likes this one, too, of course!
Cinematic is a dark ambient PR buzzword that I try to avoid, but for Atrium Carceri I’ll make an exception. Codex (2018, Cryo Chamber) simply is an aural guide to an inner film, one that explores the worlds beyond the veil.
Covarino/Incorvaia hold a gentle, extended dialogue, not just between two guitars, but between themselves and the space around them, as time unfolds. Choidi is out now on Preserved Sound.
Full review in the next issue of Ex Abyssō.
[ D A T A B U R S T ] - J u n g l e P l a n e t (2016, Bogus Collective)
Flawless musical image of a vernal alien planet through the hazy lens of new age / game soundtrack instrumentation.
Afternoon nap interrupted by the mail lady (bless!), but chilling on nevertheless. Dead Melodies put out some warmly flowing ambient this summer with The Foundations of Ruin on Cryo Chamber. Mysterious, slightly unsettling shelter.
Extreme stretcheroos take Hantasi’s vapors deep into ambient territory. Castle (2017, Bedlam Tapes) shimmers and shambles, beautiful in all its angular lo-fi artifice.
Ian Hawgood’s latest solo work, 光 (2018, Home Normal / Eilean) is a thing of fragile beauty. His piano has exactly the right hazy texture, the compositions the right balance of melancholy and mystery.
Tonight’s relaxation is courtesy of The Rubies (Rhucle & No Death). Softest synth cascades, fluffy waves, the rippling of a brook, the strumming of a string. Divine.
Sketch of Love (2018) is out on No Problema Tapes.
Dark arctic ambiences on Glacial Iridescence by Sun Through Eyelids (2018, ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ). Heavy nocturnal drones, field recordings, feet firmly planted in the soil, but looking up at the stars.
Μηλινόη likes this one a lot, too.