Author: Christopher Hoffmann Jacob

33 Year Old Graphic Designer, Blogger, Artist and Musician based in Long Beach, California! Operating the Eternity Tree blog, as well as the Webelotrax NetLabel

Water Flowing and Birds, by Heavenchord & Infinity Dots

Quick Picks

Ethereal and atmospheric dub ambience created collaboratively by Heavenchord & Infinity Dots, released by Russian label Secret Domain.

Blending together a pleasant balance of stripped down classic ambient, subtle synthetic atmospherics and field recordings – the duo craft a selection of incredibly relaxing tracks. Perfectly suitable for morning meditations or lulling yourself into the embrace of a good night’s sleep. Each song has plenty of room to get lost inside – Water Flowing and Birds features a marvelous environment created with a satisfyingly minimal palette. The birds chirp on as you float down the Quiet River, a narrator from high above the clouds peppering his two cents about the situation.

All in all it’s a very fulfilling listen, touching lots of different concepts – breaking them down and extrapolating upon. Doing that wonderful thing that brilliant ambient releases do, providing just enough dynamics to make for an interesting listen – without being obtrusive….Perfect for either active or passive listening.

Pick up the Digital Release via Secret Domain’s Bandcamp page – and be sure to explore the catalogs of both Heavenchord and Infinity Dots!

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Fancy Feast (blue label), by Fester’s Quest

Quick Picks

Brought to us by the ever-amazing Bogus Collective, we have a lovely full-length classic vaporwave album by Fester’s Quest titled FANCY FEAST (blue label). Now – was I attracted to listen to this album simply because there was a cat on the cover art? Yes. But as anticipated the sounds within are clever and enjoyable – utilizing a very classic and traditional flavor of vaporwave, FQ takes the listeners hand gently and guides us through the fuzzy haze. The project is overwhelmingly instrumental, lacking the pitched-down and chopped vocals one would expect in such vaporsounds – instead opting for melodies and riffs on the guitar. The result is quite nice, making this record great for background listening where you want just a little more interesting flavor in your ambience.

You can download the album now at Name-Your-Own-Price via BC’s Bandcamp page, or visit Fester’s bandcamp to explore further and support the artist directly!

Walking, by Docetism

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Classic and satisfying dub-techno sounds from Docetism, brought to us by the amazing Nichts records of Poland. Walking is a 5-track EP with each track taking aim at a different angle of dub-techno sound. Perhaps you could call it a master-class in this genre, just because the style and essence is boiled down appropriately from track to track. Deep pulsing sub-bass, echoing and pulsing plucks, all wrapped up in lush crispy atmospherics. It’s a clever little collection of tracks, and will find a nice home in any collection…

Dream Mediations, by Covolux

Quick Picks

Somewhere inbetween the tops of clouds and the beginning of the starry sky exists “Dream Mediations” – an album by Covolux released by Earthrid Records.

Beautiful ambient-drone compositions with a big emotional injection. Often such ethereal productions can lean in one direction or the other, being steeped in nostalgic melancholy or otherwise totally void of humanity opting for a more studious view – here in Dream Mediations I find a wonderful balance of the two.

With the bulk of the sounds being triumphant and compassionate, Covolux lulls the listener into a comfortable state – the perfect de-arming to swoop in and take control of our minds, steering us around the landscape and showing us personal highlights. Atmospheric turns into a too-good descriptor, as I found each composition instilling me with a sense of flight, as if I were in a waking dream – able to launch off and glide above my surroundings at any moment…

Overall the album is a very relaxing listen, and would be quite at home during a personal meditation session or calm rainy mornings. Blissful drones give way to more energy and movement in tracks such as “Acts of Kindness”, which fully embraces the orchestral instrumentation of the project and steers head-on into modern classical territory – while slightly out of place with the rest of the tracks, it’s turned into one of my favorites!

You can download and stream the album for free or name-your-own-price via Earthrid’s Bandcamp page!

Surgical, by xas abra

Quick Picks

Supremely satisfying sonic experiments from xas abra – brought to us by Engram Recordings.

Surgical is a 10-track album, curiously with each track weighing in at exactly 4 minutes and 34 seconds. Is there an underlying purpose to this? Does it signal that these sounds are perhaps generated, or trimmed from larger improvisational recordings? It’s all quite curious and, in the end, it really does not matter, as the sounds themselves are deeply interesting and engaging to consume.

From fuzzy lo-fi glitches to off-kilter synthetic shredding, xas wields a sonic toolkit of extravagant diversity and force, as layer upon layer of textural waves overlap and merge again and again. With the heavy rhythmic elements added to what could have easily been a pure-drone experiment, the tracks float into “deconstructed club” territory as the warbled synths are consumed by powerful hissing percussion. Don’t underestimate this one as it’s a dense and delicious project!

Download the album now via Engram Recordings bandcamp, and be sure to explore xas’ world further…

彡 ÅıཞᏋ ξξξξ, by Usagi Acid

Quick Picks

Luscious atmospherics and hyperchill beats from the ever-ethereal Usagi Acid. Wandering between strange atmospheric rhythms, textural drones and stacks on stacks of dense surreal sonic imagery. Blissful and ambitious while remaining relaxed and content. So much diversity packed within 3 tracks it could almost drive you to madness! But alas, it does not – its a lush and supremely satisfying listen that has left me wanting more and more! Luckily you can explore the whole discography for a wealth of amazing creative projects.

Dawn of Claymation, by Zach Dolin

Quick Picks

Beautiful and Adorable sounds incoming!

Dawn of Claymation is a new 6-Track synth project by Zach Dolin brought to us by Ingrown Records. Hovering somewhere between chiptune soundtrack of your childhood favorite video game and long-lost solo project of *insert 70’s Prog Rock Keyboardist name here* – and the result is quite satisfying! Utilizing the Roland SC-88 Pro, Zach taps into the tones of the late 90’s, manifesting a strange world of freeware monster sprites zooming around the listener. Combined with the suggestion of “Claymation”, it is not hard at all to imagine these songs bumping behind some earthworm-jim-esque PC platforming. It’s triumphant and wholesome, with just enough substance to entice listen after listen. Giving this one a massive recommendation – you can pick up the digital version of the album via Bandcamp.

Consider supporting Ingrown Records directly as well as Zach via his personal bandcamp page!

POST APOCALXX ARCHIVE 3, by SV1/UMENOS

Mixes

Gorgeous assortment of selections, compiled by SV1 and Umenos for the Hong Kong Community Radio show POST APOCALXX. This particular mix is #3 in the series, and features a mind-bending variety of sounds from alternative ambient to deconstructed club, with all sorts of delicious electronic experiments in between. Nearly 2 hours of music in this one, perfect for creative mornings or late-nite productivity sessions. This is actually my first time hearing a mix in this series, I am excited to explore what episodes 1&2 have to offer!

You can stream the show for now via Soundcloud, or for when they need to make room on the SC, listen directly via the HKCR website.

s e a s o n a l, by AFP/FFF

Quick Picks

Beautiful experimental vapornoise, brought to us by Vacuum Noise Records. 2 tracks drifting around melancholy dreampunk drones, slushy vocals resting ontop of plump, fuzzy and cavernous atmospherics. A brief yet satisfying study of sounds, headphone listening highly recommended! Especially getting into the second track, devolving into nearly musique concrete tonal wandering as things become stretched around the listener in 4 dimensions.