Tag: drone

blood year, by Cyparissus

Quick Picks

Luscious lo-fi drones from Cyparissus – blood year is a 4 track album with a heavy, brooding atmosphere.

The style is hazy and rustic – dusty and crusty textures layered atop waves of melancholy synth pads. The melodies and progressions take a backseat to quite prominent “field recordings” and other textural oddities. From dribbling rain and distant rolling thunder to crunchy and compressed tape sounds, Cyparissus utilizes a vast array of audio cues to evoke some potent emotions.

When the calm pads do overtake the noisy drones, they are quite placid and comforting! This provides a beautiful base for the rest of the textural sounds to stretch their legs.

If you’re a fan of slightly-dark ambient, or you’d like some noisy drone music that isn’t too harsh, I highly recommend checking out both blood year and the rest of Cyparissus’ discography, which is available on Bandcamp.

Dream Recollection, by Dream Paradigm

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Wholesome and lush ambience is absolutely overflowing from this new release by 夢范例 (Dream Paradigm)

夢迴想 (Dream Recollection) is a 4 track longform ambient project presented by DreamSphere net label.

The album itself is very soft and expansive, like a fuzzy weighted blanket. Foamy synthesizers, churning back and forth between swells of hope and receding melancholy, droning tones inducing a trance-like state…

Despite being only 4 tracks, the projects playtime is longer than most full-length records, sitting at 60 minutes flat. This hearty runtime paired with the incredibly relaxed nature of the sounds makes it a perfect companion for morning coffee or a yoga session.

The style of ambience is truly quite pure – as the label describes, Dreamtone – which is perhaps a new genre, or a self-assigned tag. Whatever the source, it’s a fitting name to bestow such sounds – with a focus on the beauty and the emotional possibilities of subtlety.

You can pickup the album now digitally via the DreamSphere bandcamp page !

Circle Inside, by Selvedge

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Circle Inside is a full-length textural ambient album from producer Selvedge, presented by Wormhole World Records!

First introduced to Selvedge’s material back in 2019 (thanks to Vivarium Recordings!) – I was excited to see this show up one day. Already anticipating a delicious drone experience, I was not left disappointed!

The album flutters back and forth between noise experiments and atmospheric ambience, doing a fine job of balancing light with darkness. Like a putty, darkness and melody are smooshed and folded in upon each-other, manifesting a very thought provoking experience.

Slight and subtle flavors of electro-acoustics drizzle the extremities of the tracks. Tones leaning towards plucks, chirps, distant bells and fuzzy ethereal choirs ~ however artificial they may be, finding firm and tangible footing in this lush landscape.

Perfect sounds for thoughtful mornings or rainy afternoons. Pick up the digital edition of the album now via Wormhole World’s Bandcamp, and let’s hope we get a second run of CD’s or perhaps a tape edition of this one!

Pessoa, by Distant Animals

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I use the word “satisfying” often when writing about music to help describe a fulfilling feeling without necessarily having a genre or emotion to assign. Yet again I return to that old well to tell you that Pessoa by Distant Animals is a truly satisfying listen.

Pessoa is a longform textural drone composition – a dense and hearty soundscape, populated with peculiar residents. Over the nearly 40 minute track, the listener traverses this alien world, gravitating towards and floating away from points of interest as they crest the horizon.

Hyperbole aside, it’s a carefully thought-out piece of atmospheric ambience. Sometimes dark, occasionally harsh, but overall presenting a mysterious atmosphere of agoraphobia and anticipation. Perfect for adding texture to your immediate atmosphere, or throw on the headphones and lose yourself in a vast expanse of sound.

You can grab the digital version of this one now from Fallen Moon Recordings!

Ingress Egress, by THE GAYE DEVICE

Quick Picks

Soothing and wholesome ambient from THE GAYE DEVICE – ingress egress is a powerful cinematic synth journey.

Stretched over 8 luscious tracks, the album wanders through retro cyberpunk vibes, floating through a glowing synthetic haze.

Sometimes hopeful, sometimes brooding – yet always satisfying on a deep level. There is a mystical and ethereal flavor to the soundscapes while remaining quite synthetic – like a holodeck of lush wonder.

The tracks are long and thoughtful. Blissful even. Perfect to listen with a cup of coffee or light rain-showers outside.

Pick up the digital album via Bandcamp and explore the rest of the discography while you’re there!

Souls of the Disconnect of the Souls, by Darren j Holloway

Reviews

Delicious improvisational post-rock from Darren j Holloway – Souls of the disconnect of the soulS is a mini-album of dark atmospheric drones that are expansive and satisfying.

Continue reading “Souls of the Disconnect of the Souls, by Darren j Holloway” →

Encounter Vast, by Bro Biden

Reviews

I was very excited to find a new release from Vivarium Recordings in my feed – I recognized the name Bro Biden instantly and hopped over to the band camp page. When I arrived, before I could click play, I discovered another blurb had already been written – while not exactly high praise, the final words of the author read “good luck“. I read this and immediately took it as a challenge. What could be inside that is so gnarly that it would warrant such a warning? Intrigued, I dove in, and what I discovered was a nearly bottomless pool of beautiful creativity.

Continue reading “Encounter Vast, by Bro Biden” →

Landline, by Colonial Skyway

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Calm and collected ambient from producer Colonial Skyway

Landline is an album built from 6 long-form drone tracks that, for the most part, dwell in the realm of subtle darkness and brooding nostalgia, drifting occasionally into warm hopefulness. There is an atmosphere of intimacy to the songs – often invoking imagery not dissimilar from the albums artwork – wide open fields, sprawling and epic – yet alone. Churning, fuzzy synths are abundant – leading the listener into a realm that is organic and expansive.

This one is perfect for ambient listeners who want a bit more of a passive experience – whether to fall asleep at night or have a soundtrack to your morning meditation. Be sure to check out Colonial Skyway’s other projects on their bandcamp page – and pick up the album for yourself, pay what you want style!

Selected Brobient Works, Vol. 1

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The gang at Vivarium Recordings in collaboration with the self-proclaimed Brone Hivemind present us with a collection if bizarre yet satisfying drone and ambient tracks.

Brobient is a unique concept in itself – ambient and drone tracks created and constructed from love-hate realm of Bro-Step. For those not familiar with the style, it sits in between oversaturated modern dubstep and overproduced EDM. You might be thinking HEY that sounds like a weird place to trawl for ambient material – but all the producers involved in this project were quite up to the task.

The thick 11-track playlist brings the listener on a strange and wandering journey through harsh noise, atmospherics, and general deconstructed sonic sensations. Though the sounds are stretched and manipulated, the raw energy of the Bro-Step shines through, with ripping oscillations shredding through the mix. It’s all got an atmosphere of mysterious dankness, wrapped up and delivered hot-and-ready to your earholes via drone delivery.

Big recommendation on this one if you’re looking to spice up your ambient playlist – or if you need something less structured to start your day. Definitely explore Vivariums page for the album for links to all the artists, and to learn more about the Brone Hivemind…

Dream Mediations, by Covolux

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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!