Aphex Twin - Come to Daddy [320][MP3]

Come to Daddy
Label: Warp Records
Format: CD
Country: UK
Released: Oct 1997
Genre: Electronic
Style: IDM, Abstract, Ambient

It was the titular song that gave me the early impression Aphex Twin was a seriously disturbed individual (no doubt perpetuated by the accompanying music video). Delving further into the CD however will reveal some audio delights. I was expecting more tracks in a similar vein to the first, however, to my surprise the song that immediately follows the single is the complete opposite in terms of style! Slower, softer and more melodic. At only four songs it's still a great sample of Aphex Twin's musical flexibility.

Review by Nepthys [http://www.discogs.com/user/Nepthys]

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Bang On A Can – Music For Airports (Brian Eno) [VBR][Requested]

Music For Airports (Brian Eno)
Label: Point Music
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1998
Genre: Classical, Electronic
Style: Modern Classical, Minimal, Ambient









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Album requested by Walt.
You may request your album here.
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One need not be a fan of Brian Eno's ground-breaking original, "Ambient 1: Music For Airports," to appreciate this exquisite rendition from Bang On A Can, a New York City-based outfit comprised of three classically-trained musicians: Julia Wolfe, David Lang and Michael Gordon. Eno's opus emerged as a textbook example of what has become quite an important genre: Ambient music. What this trio (heirs to another important genre: Minimal music) have accomplished is what might be both the simplest and the hardest task of performing other people's music: they offer their own voice without usurping Eno's original brilliant composition.

In an age of remixes, reworks, dubs and covers, Bang On A Can gently present an acoustic version of the original "loops & tapes" classic. Originally, Eno designed "Ambient 1: Music For Airports" to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent to diffuse the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. He conceived this idea while being stuck at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany in the mid-1970s. Contrast that with the startling presence of Bang On A Can's simply-employed layered instrumentations, which rattle, pluck, drone and twitter expressively, whereas the quiet becomes the space for anticipation of the instruments. So, rather than the steady rolling pulse of Eno's modulations, the subtle use of guitar, winds and even pipa give Bang On A Can's cover a worldly feel that the original soars above. It may even be posited that Eno's original is best expressed indoors while this cover complements an outdoor setting. In fact, a 1998 performance of "Music For Airports" in Central Park serendipitously began with an airline jet passing overhead with an awed audience maintaining a respectful silence throughout the entire concert. In an interview with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson regarding the fact that they had recently attended this performance, they said they were both moved to tears. Eno was later surprised to hear this, commenting that he had written the music to be without emotion, but that he was pleasantly surprised that people had been affected by the music many years after he had written it.

A succinct review from Steve Tignor distills this album endearingly: "Bang On A Can is an avant-garde ensemble playing the 1978 Brian Eno piece which put ambient music on the map. Eno's idea was to make a series of tape loops into tightly composed Muzak. He wanted a sonic backdrop for bland public spaces that would reward close listening. Bang on a Can, playing acoustic and electric instruments, breathe life into it, making the music's neutrality seem coldly beautiful. The piece is divided into four parts, each consisting of a few gentle, minimal figures, calmly repeated and shifted. Rhythm is eliminated and time seems to stretch. What is revealed is the sensuousness possible in a single note. Music has never been the same. This is the best place to hear where it changed."

Review by Walt [http://www.thisismyjam.com/walt.brown]

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Sinoia Caves – The Enchanter Persuaded [MP3][320]

The Enchanter Persuaded
Label: Brah Records
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2006
Genre: Rock, Electronic
Style: Progressive Rock, Ambient








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The Enchanter Persuaded, the debut album from Black Mountain keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt (billed here as Sinoia Caves), is a nice example of the early-21st century's fascination with synthesizers. Unlike his contemporaries, who tend to echo new wave acts, Schmidt draws inspiration from a different pack of synth gods -- bands that boasted cosmic monikers like Tangerine Dream and Hawkwind, musicians who wielded their Moogs and Mellotrons like mighty swords. And as such, this album shouldn't be viewed as a particularly innovative work but rather as an adept tribute to the analog wizards of the mid-'70s and early '80s. The standout tracks here are the soundscapes, which echo Tangerine Dream's Phaedra both in terms of the vast aural territory covered and in terms of actual length. "Dwarf Reaching the Arch Wonder" and "Sundown in the New Arcades (Milky Way Echo)" make for over half an hour of galactic terrain built on sheet after sheet of analog synth and Mellotron effects. There's a definite sense of composition here; every whoosh and drone serves the structure, and Schmidt does a good job of keeping these sprawling compositions under tight rein. Shorter, acoustic guitar and vocoder-knit tracks like "Naro Way" and "Through the Valley" are a nice break from the epic stuff going on elsewhere, and they'll probably draw more than a few comparisons to some of the tracks on Air's 10,000 Hz Legend. From the druggy green cover art right down to the humid, slightly grimy production, The Enchanter Persuaded is a convincing period piece, not to mention a fitting showcase for Schmidt's impressive synth sorcery.

Review by allmusic [http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-enchanter-persuaded-mw0000451923]

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Various Artists - Underground Stratosphere Mixes Vol. 1

Hello guys. This is my first try on creating mixes. I really hope you liked as I do. It took me some days to compile and organize that.
Enjoy.

Tracklist

1. Poppy Seed (Boards Of Canada Remix) - Slag Boom Van Loon
2. Kirlian Changes - The Flashbulb
3. Shortcuts - The Flashbulb
4. Strotha Tynhe - Aphex Twin
5. Evil Ball - Sinoia Caves
6. Bbydhyonchord - Aphex Twin
7. (Cherokee Script) - The Flashbulb
8. Tommib - Squarepusher
9. Left Side Drive - Boards of Canada
10. Adrift - Tycho
11. Olson (WRM Remix) - Boards of Canada
12. Poppy Seed .... Reprise (Boards Of Canada Remix)  - Slag Boom Van Loon
13. Rorschach - Loscil
14. For Years And Years - Helios
15. At the Edge of the World You Will Still Float - Telefon Tel Aviv
16. 14 31 - Global Communication

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Ólafur Arnalds – ...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness [MP3][320]

...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness
Label: Erased Tapes Records
Format: Vinyl, Album
Country: UK (CD) & Iceland (Author)
Released: 2010
Genre: Classical
Style: Classical, Electronic, Neo-classical







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As I sit down to write these words I can't help but wonder if there was a time lapse in my memory - haven't I covered this before? I could have sworn I shared my excitement for this album in the past - after all, I hungrily consume everything by Ólafur Arnalds since his 2007 debut on Erased Tapes, Eulogy For Evolution. Well, if I haven't shared my enthusiasm for this release, I apologize... Profusely... Incredibly lovely, sad and beautiful, music from Arnalds will melt the toughest hearts. If melancholy could be wrapped in sadness drenched in longing, then Arnalds captures it all. This is precisely when words loose their meaning, and the music sings... ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness is a second full-length album from this prolific Icelandic modern classical composer. In places uplifting, and always gorgeous, the contemplative passages escaping Arnalds' fingers on the piano, and the crying stringed instruments, leave the listener reflecting on all that is present in this moment, even if its veiled by the past. You absolutely have to pick up Arnalds' masterpiece, Variations of Static, (Erased Tapes, 2008), as well as his 2009 EP on the same label, Found Songs. It is also worth mentioning that Ólafur's 2009 album, Dyad 1909 was selected in Headphone Commute's Best of 2009 : Music For The Film behind Closed Eyelids.

Review by Headphone_Commute [http://www.discogs.com/user/Headphone_Commute/]

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Akufen – My Way [MP3][320]

My Way
Label: Force Inc. Music Works
Format: CD
Country: Germany
Released: May 2002
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Tech House, Minimal, Microhouse, Minimalist







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This is indeed an incredible album, make no mistake. Akufen (Marc Leclair) has a very distinctive aesthetic, and approach to piecing together coherent, even danceable tracks culled from snippets and snapshots of noise, voices, and other odd sounds. It seems though, that this line of musical development (and arguably one of the pivotal steps in "glitch" music) is one that could easily tire of itself. Even the more intriguing pieces (in my view) as Skidoos, Deck the House, and Late Night Munchies are structured by a much more traditional bassline element, and the samples hover somewhere between decorative texture and cut-n-paste melody. From this angle, the album is self -contained as a set of musical ideas. Hopefully, Akufen will prove me wrong by taking the glitch aesthetic to the next stage.

Review by bhbognar [http://www.discogs.com/user/bhbognar/]

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Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 [MP3][320]

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 

Label: Apollo

Format: CD

Country: Belgium

Released: Nov 1992

Genre: Electronic

Style: Techno, IDM, Ambient, Experimental

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Stop me if this gets sappy. And it might. Because Selected Ambient Works 85-92-- recently reissued by PIAS America-- was the very first electronic music I ever bought, and certainly the first I ever heard over and over again. Long ago, before I was old enough to drive, I would sit in a small, cluttered bedroom in my parents' suburban ranch house, absorbed for hours by the sounds contained on this disc. The creeping basslines, the constantly mutating drum patterns, the synth tones which moved with all the grace and fluidity of a professional dancer, the strange noises that I'd be unable to identify even if I tried. Back then, Aphex Twin was making music like nothing I'd ever heard before.

What's become apparent since is that I probably wasn't the only one affected. After last year's disappointing Drukqs, it's easy to forget that, back in the Warp Records heyday, Richard D. James was to this new breed of ambient and electronic music what Babe Ruth was to baseball. Sure, there were upstarts; \xB5-Ziq, Squarepusher and Autechre were all on the scene by the time this collection hit shelves. But James was still the posterboy, the presumed ringmaster, single-handedly defining a style of music in the minds of many. Now, as a new wave of mostly twenty-somethings step to the forefront of IDM, redefining electronic music for the third time in a decade, it becomes more and more obvious just how far reaching James' influence was.

There's nothing new about this re-release, aside from improved availability and decreased cost. But then, improving on this package would be near impossible. Sure, the music on Selected Ambient Works 85-92 may sound a bit dated (as does, to be fair, most electronic music more than a few years old), but there's no denying it was the defining statement of Warp's early years, and the foundation for the careers of bands like Boards of Canada and Plaid.

The songs here are not ambient in the same way as those on this disc's sequel. Technically, most fall into Brian Eno's broad definition of the style-- it can be appreciated in small segments just as much as in its entirety. The music develops slowly, unafraid to linger on a particularly effective sound for as long as necessary-- the creeping keyboard loop of "Schottkey 7th Path," for example, is continually modified throughout the course of the song, but never once eliminated from the mix-- but James would never be content as a mere follower in anyone's footsteps. His work here serves a model for what would come to be known as traditional IDM. A simpler version of the style we've grown accustomed to, certainly, but IDM nonetheless.

James' early work is heavily indebted to early dance music, filled with beats so eminently danceable as to confuse those who only know him from the spastic drum patterns that came later. There's little of that here, though. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is, rather, an album stretching back to the days before software allowed for heavy sampling or glitch technology. Drum machines serve as its backbone and synthesized bass and keyboard sounds provide the meat. Most of the songs follow a relatively basic formula as well. One element-- say, a synth melody-- is introduced and repeated, and as new elements are added with each go round, the song gradually builds to a dense, multi-layered swirl. This Ravel-esque approach flavors much of James' older material, and yet, despite the simplicity of his equipment and approach, the songs here are both interesting and varied, ranging from the dancefloor-friendly beats of "Pulsewidth" to the industrial clanks and whirs of "Green Calx."

Indeed, these early works do a fine job of showcasing James' ability to transform even the most seemingly mundane patterns into something unique and interesting. "Hedphelym," for instance, is built around a relentless headache-throb cliché of a house beat. But James surrounds the pulsation with an ethereal feedback that bleeds all over the track, leaving the percussion awash in a murky solution of synth tones, pairing dance music with ambience in ways the Orb never dreamed possible.

Slightly more structured (and equally enjoyable) is "We are the Music Makers," a track which follows a drumbeat and a bassline past a pair of intertwined synth loops and a repeated Willy Wonka vocal sample as simple keyboard melodies pour down from overhead. But the aforementioned "Green Calx" is the closest Selected Ambient Works 85-92 comes to the spastic trickery of which James would become such a pioneer. It matches pitchshifted tones and drum machines with a burbling bassline, assorted machine-gun synth interjections, the slightly effected tones of various pistons, motors, and machines, and even the occasional cartoon spring noise. Moments like these serve to foreshadow both James' later work, as well as the infinitely more complex twists and turns that IDM would make in the years that would follow.

They say next to no one heard the Velvet Underground's first album when it was released, but everyone who did went on to start a band. Listening to Selected Ambient Works 85-92, one can't help but imagine the seeds being planted in the imaginations of the lucky few who were there when it all began. Nestled in these simple, undeniably danceable tracks are the roots of contemporary IDM. And despite its somewhat primitive origins, the final product remains among the most interesting ever created with a keyboard and a computer.

Review by Pitchfork [http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/223-selected-ambient-works-85-92/]

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Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports [MP3][320]

Ambient 1: Music for Airports 

Label: Polydor

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: US

Released: March 1978

Genre: Electronic

Style: Ambient, Experimental

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This small description won't fit it. Everything I'd say about this album wont be enough to describe how genius it is. This album is responsible for the coined term "Ambient music". Nice, isn't it?

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From Wikipedia

Music for Airports was the first of four albums released in Eno's "Ambient" series, a term which he coined to differentiate his minimalistic approach to the album's material and "the products of the various purveyors of canned music".

Notice of similarly quiet, unobtrusive music had been given on albums such as Another Green World, Evening Star, Discreet Music, Music for Films and Harold Budd's The Pavilion of Dreams (which he produced), but in this album it was given precedence as a full-blown concept.

The music was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent to diffuse the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. Eno conceived this idea while being stuck at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany in the mid-1970s. He had to spend several hours there and was extremely annoyed by the uninspired sound atmosphere.

It was installed at the Marine Air Terminal of New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

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Dolphins Into The Future – Canto Arquipélago [MP3][320]

Canto Arquipélago 

Label: Underwater Peoples Records

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: US

Released: March 2012

Genre: Electronic, Non-Music

Style: Abstract, Field Recording, Experimental, Poetry

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This sound will take you out your bedroom for a small trip around windy mounts. I promise you.

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"There is something phenomenally enticing about a sequestered island chain, literally bounded by a vast and enveloping sea.Perhaps it’s the romance of discovery – the knowledge that here lies the safety of land within the great seclusion of nature. Perhaps it’s the raw beauty that is simply emerald speckled turquoise.Lieven Moana as Dolphins Into The Future dedicates his latest effort to the Azores, a remarkably beautiful volcanic archipelago that lacks very little by way of inspiration. The ambient conjurer weaves glorious tones and minimal percussion with brilliant and evocative field recording, having spent several weeks on the island cluster for this body of work. "Once an island gets born," Lieven articulates, "it’s a continuous struggle, a continuous dialogue, a learning, a BATTLE and cooperation of influences. The sea starts bashing on it’s shores. Erosion starts the complete demolition of the island. But at the same time, sun and sea give birth and food... Archipelagos have a heavy rhythm."

Quoted from http://underwaterpeoples.com/

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Carbon Based Lifeforms - Interloper [MP3][320]

Interloper

Label: Ultimae Records

Format: CD, Album

Country: France

Released: 2010

Genre: Electronic

Style: Acid, Downtempo, Ambient, Chillout

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Carbon Based Lifeforms is one of the best ambient music composers I have ever crossed across. It's something studied, known, but in the same time it is natural, it's fucking well done, with nice melodies and frequencies that cross your brain side to side.

My favorite sequence starts with Euphotic. If you get trapped by Euphotic melodies, the album will end very fast. The combo Euphotic - Frog - M is my favorite ambient combo sound ever. This is not my favorite album from Carbon Based Lifeforms but it's certainly a ambient/natural sound masterpiece.

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I was highly anticipating this release and a little sceptical if the Carbon Based Lifeforms would be able to achieve a high level again such as in "World Of Sleepers".

Trust me, they did.
They announced they experimented a little more with guitars and vocals this time so I was even more worried that they may be losing their style. But it turns out to be at an absolutely minimum scale and fits very very well.
The sounds they arranged this time are mindblowing and for me personally even more sound-of-the-universe-level.
I have listened to it as much as I could since the release and I am always discovering more electronic details. If I had to pick a favourite track (which will probably change from time to time),
right now it would be "Supersede". You may be reminded of "Epicentre" when listening to it but they gave it such a unique touch which makes it an absolutely epic arrangement.

The overall feeling is very intense yet peaceful. They put so much love in this album, it is worth every cent!

For me it is the release of 2010 so far.

Review by SpaceAgeHero [http://www.discogs.com/user/SpaceAgeHero]


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The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love [MP3][320]

Pieces Of The People We Love

Label: Universal Motown

Format: CD

Country: US

Released: 2006

Genre: Electronic, Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Disco, Electroindie








It's been three years since The Rapture's full-length debut, Echoes, arrived on the tail end of the early aughts dance-punk mini-craze, seeming to bridge a gap between that now defunct genre's more electronic sound and the emerging guitar-based indie rock. Now, along with LCD Soundsystem and !!!, The Rapture stand at the top of this strangely wonderful hybrid of clubby dance music and a catchy bar band indie stomp. Pieces Of The People We Love consolidates this cross-pollination, deepening both of the influences, usually to good effect. Certainly, the album's best cuts, like "Don Gon Do It" and "Whoo! Alright-Yeah…Uh-Huh", find just the right balance between nervous, Talking Headsy indie-funk-pop workouts and dancefloor-filling, DJ-pleasing, hip-shaking dance tracks. A few songs seem to ride off on tangents, keeping the disc from being excellent. Still, Pieces Of The People We Love is a great record and will keep your body moving without making you feel like you're giving your brain the day off. Now that's a nifty trick.

Comment by markeefe




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Boards of Canada – A Few Old Tunes Vol.2 [Cassete][MP3][VBR][Very Rare]

A Few Old Tunes Vol. 2

Label: Music70

Format: Cassette

Country: UK

Released: ?

Genre: Electronic

Style: IDM, Downtempo, Ambient, Dark Electronic

That tiny room at the beach was absolutely the perfect place for my first time. When we came together, I could feel the hairs growing on my chest. I saw my future. I saw my past. 

For a few minutes it was like being alive. They lived happily ever after. All my questions had been answered. All my fears disappeared. All that was left was a kiss. Every move we made was a kiss.

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Ok, I'm jealous of sharing this with you. This is a ultra rare release that I can't even remember where I got it. It's the real cassete rip of a unreleased album. Still, it's one of my favorite albums ever. The album ambient is dark, low ending music with lots of dark textures and black-and-white feeling, low-frequency background and a nice Boards of Canada feeling.

Tip: listen to Sir Pracelot Brainfire in the morning!

Hope you enjoy it.

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Jürgen Müller - Science Of The Sea [MP3][320]

Science Of The Sea

Label: Digitalis Recordings

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: US

Released: 1982 (Remastered 2011)

Genre: Electronic

Style: New Age, Experimental, Ambient

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Let me have a try to change your day. Download this album, close your eye, put in the first track and let it go. Forget your bad feelings, your pending to-dos, your worries, and let it all go. Let the ocean take it. Let the wind blow you away today, open your window and see how wonderful the world is. Look at it carefully.

Maybe this will change your day.

Ripped from pure FLAC into MP3 320kbps.

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In 1979, Jürgen Müller, a self-taught amateur musician studying oceanic science at the University of Kiel, travelled with a film crew to document a mission testing sea-water toxicity a few kilometres offshore in the North Sea. As ever, necessity was the mother of invention, and the experience proved so memorable that he was impelled to create a soundtrack to the footage and his own recollections using some electronic equipment borrowed from friends and a local school.

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A wonderful album full of fragile beauty and a delicate sense of melancholy and longing. Liz Harris has a rare talent for evoking these emotions in the most vaporous, subtle way, without ever gliding into dull and obvious territory. Next to her timeless classic "Cover the windows and the walls", this is her most accomplished and heartfelt work. A must for all those who relish peaceful solitude and introspective, emotive journeys.

Comment by chris.topp

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