ambient

Various ‎Artists: しおのみちニの巻 (Shio-No-Michi) Vol.2

2020/03/20

For those that don’t believe we can there’s a way to engage with the outside world while stuck inside one’s inner space, Awa Muse‘s second compilation: しおのみちニの巻 (Shio-No-Michi) Vol.2 proves there are other ways to meet it there.
Raffaele Serra: Musiche Per Il Cuore E La Memoria – Music For The Heart And The Memory (1991)

2020/03/17

With all that’s going on in our world, I thought it would be important to share something that both reminds us of the healing power of music and of a country that is desperately suffering through its crisis. Originally created for Italy’s intriguing healing music label, Ludi Sounds, Raffaelle Serra’s Musiche Per Il Cuore E…
Simon Stockhausen: Floating Free (1992)

2020/03/10

Can you feel it? It seems like we’re getting there. Not quite Spring but really not winter anymore. This is the time of the year where we’re in between seasons. This is the time of the year when Simon Stockhausen’s Floating Free makes the most sense to share. Hovering around the meditative, rhythmic minimalism of…
POiSON GiRL FRiEND: Love Me (1994)

2020/03/06

Truth be told: I really had trouble deciding to share this album with you, fair reader. One of my many goals for this blog is to move away from the well-worn stereotype/trope of the “female musician”. However, staring right in front of me (and you now) is exactly what one associates that being by pigheaded…
Gonzalez Mikami: Gate Of Notion (1993)

2020/02/21

It’s perhaps uncommon knowledge that the best marriages (and relationships) are those comprised of two individuals coming together not in spite of their differences but because of their differences. One can clearly hear this in practice in the nearly telepathic playing of Osaka Japanese New Age guitar duo, Gontiti. In the past I’ve written a…
Mix: 37. L’Oro Del Mondo

2020/02/14

If it seems like this is becoming a yearly tradition here, who knows? It might be. Yes, it’s another mix of some of my favorite love songs for Valentine’s Day. If you know anything about me is that I’m a big softie at heart. And part and parcel with this comes my sincere (no pun…
Esther Ofarim, Eberhard Schoener, Wolf Wondratschek, Ulf Miehe: Complicated Ladies (1982)

2020/02/11

Truth be told, few records in my collection sound like Esther Ofarim’s Complicated Ladies. Well, truth be told, few albums will ever sound like it either…in anyone’s collection. A mixture of Israeli melismatic jazz with German liedermacher wouldn’t sound too out of the ordinary (at least in some circles). However, let’s say someone decided to…
Kohsei Morimoto (森本浩正): カオス・ゾーン (Chaos Zone) (1990)

2020/01/24

Put on your headphones. Put on and listen to this album. Spatial audio. Ambisonics. 3-D, virtual sound. There are many words to describe the technology Kohsei Morimoto’s Chaos Zone: Three Dimensional Sounds Created by Roland Sound Space System (カオス・ゾーン) or カオス・ゾーン (Chaos Zone) for short, tries to exploit a technological demo of sorts to promote…
Michio Mamiya (間宮芳生): Grave of the Fireflies Image Album (火垂るの墓イメージ・アルバム集) (1987)

2020/01/17

Right off the bat, I promise this review will be spoiler free. However, in this age of increasing troubling times, this seems like a good time to revisit Michio Mamiya’s score for 火垂るの墓, Hotaru no Haka (otherwise known as Grave of the Fireflies). Now, for those that have seen Isao Takahata’s animated masterpiece one can’t…
Terese De Sio: Sindarella Suite (1988)

2020/01/14

There’s something I really admire about Naples’ own Teresa De Sio’s way of thinking. When I went around digging through interviews to find a little more about the backstory for 1988’s Sinderalla Suite, I encountered Teresa’s fuller story. In it, Teresa painted a much bigger picture than I was expecting.