New Journeys in Ambient – Stationary Travels
This week’s ambient music journey surveys an especially immersive collection of albums some of which were released earlier this year and some of which came out mere days ago. Once you dive into the nearly 5 hours of music they offer, however, you may find that all sense of time quickly begins to melt away into a blissful sea of deep introspection. Featuring Almost an Island, Andrew Tasselmyer, David Cordero & Anthéne, Hadley Roe, The Lonely Bell, and zakè.
Almost an Island – Almost an Island
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/almost-an-island
Almost An Island is a trio formed out of a collaboration between musician and producer Kenneth James Gibson and the husband & wife duo of James and Cynthia Bernard (also known as Awakened Souls). Their self-titled debut album which was released over the summer is a colorful tapestry of the many influences that have manifested in their collective musical careers. And while those influences range widely from Americana to ambient, drone, electronica, and shoegaze, the result is a serene musical journey that is both cohesive and free flowing. The group employ a varied palette of instruments including guitars, piano, voices, six-string bass, Chapman stick, pedal steel, Taishōgoto harp, and synths, and manage to weave them into truly welcoming soundscapes that are as comforting as they are transportive.
Almost an Island is available from Past Inside the Present in two vinyl LP editions (black and Palo Verde green) as well as digital download & streaming.
Andrew Tasselmyer – Signal
https://quietdetails.bandcamp.com/album/signal
Signal is a new collection of solo ambient tracks from Philadelphia-based Andrew Tasselmyer also of Hotel Neon and Gray Acres. According to Tasselmyer, the music on the record came together this past spring and summer during his morning commutes to work in a process he describes as more “shaping” than “composing”. And while he may have sought to avoid overthinking things as he blended the synthetic tones, sampled fragments, and found sounds together, there is nevertheless an almost cinematic quality to the soundscapes that emerged with plenty of depth and subtle textural detail for the listener to sink their ears into.
Everything was recorded on whatever I had with me – just laptop, tablet, or phone – with no studio setup and no separation from daily life. The result is four long pieces shaped by my routine surroundings and quiet observations: dense but open, simple but full, always shifting just beneath the surface.
Andrew Tasselmyer
Signals is available from Quiet Details in a limited CD edition with art print as well as digital download and streaming.
David Cordero and Anthéne – Let One Bird Sing
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/let-one-bird-sing
Let One Bird Sing is a Transatlantic collaboration between David Cordero, an artist based in the southern coast of Spain, and Brad Deschamps, also known as Anthéne, based in Toronto, Canada. This is the second coming together of these two prolific artists following up their 2023 album Lost Under the Sea (Home Normal). The title of the new record is taken from a line written by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz and reflects a sense of hope & freedom as well as the reverence for nature that both artists share. According to the label, the intent of the music that was created through a patient exchange of ideas was “to create a space for calm and reflection, inviting either attentive listening or moments of stillness and detachment”. Have a listen and I am sure you will agree they hit squarely on the mark.
Let One Bird Sing is available from Whitelabrecs in a limited-edition vinyl-effect CD as well as digital download and streaming.
Hadley Roe – The Inner Garden
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/the-inner-garden
Having caught the ears of many followers of the ambient scene with her excellent self-released debut last year, Hadley Roe brings us another beautiful collection of introspective soundscapes via the Past Inside the Present label. With admirable candor about her own struggles with mental health, Roe once again reflects with tenderness and empathy on themes of personal trauma and isolation. Combine these heartfelt themes with her facility for building lush atmospheres around memorable melodies and it makes for a compelling listen.
“The Inner Garden” is a meditation on living in the present moment and not letting past trauma or future worries ruin everything; it’s about seeking solace in an imaginary place, where I can shut the world out and have full control of my surroundings.
Hadley Roe
The Inner Garden is available from Past Inside the Present in a limited CD edition along with digital download and streaming.
The Lonely Bell – Time Beyond the Edges
https://thelonelybell.bandcamp.com/album/time-beyond-the-edges
Time Beyond the Edges is a truly expansive, collaborative effort from Scottish-Filipino musician Ali Murray aka The Lonely Bell. The album boasts 11 ambient pieces each of which Murray composed with a different artist from around the globe – namely Taennya (Russian), Anastasiya Ihnatovich (Belarus), Claire Deak (Australia), Jane Bruckner (Nova Scotia), Innesti (USA), Blush to the Snow (USA), Karen Vogt (France), Blanket Swimming (USA), Hadley Roe (UK), Lyndsie Alguire (USA), and Joachim Spieth (Germany). Murray’s melancholic, deeply contemplative approach permeates all the songs and provides a unifying thread while each of his talented collaborators infuse their distinctive styles into their respective selections which may include anything from added atmospheric layers to subtle beats, voice, or acoustic instrumentation. Highly immersive.
Time Around the Edges is available from Shady Ridge Records on CD as well as digital download & streaming.
zakè – Selected Remixes
https://zakedrone.bandcamp.com/album/selected-remixes
Among the prolific artists represented in this roundup, there are none more so than Zach Frizzell aka zakè. Also known for his thoughtful curation and collaboration, Selected Remixes finds Frizzell reworking selected tracks from a stellar list of contemporaries among the ambient scene – Benoit Pioulard, James Bernard, Pausal, The American Dollar, City of Dawn, Celer, Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea, Inquiri, matsu, Karen Vogt & Rodrigo Stradiotto, and Drum & Lace. Each of the eleven songs receives careful tending through a balance between reverence for the original character of the piece and added treatments that plumb greater depths of texture and emotion. As followers of Zach’s music might have come to expect by now, the album is quite generous in its length, especially considering the digital version which closes with the extended 28-minute Pausal rework “Nicotiana Suite”.
Selected Remixes is available from Zake Drone Recordings in a limited “translucent frost” vinyl LP edition as well as digital download & streaming.
