REVIEWS
	SOUNDING THE DEEP REVIEW: Norman Records While this is actually his fifth album, ‘Return To The Quiet’ is the first time Dave “Sounding The Deep” Williams has had his recordings committed to vinyl, thanks to good ol’ Justin Wright and his Sonic Meditations. Ruddy lovely it is too. On this LP he conjures a series of solo guitar spirituals with gentle accompaniment from cello and percussion weaving a feather-light groundwork for his luxuriously tuneful fingerpicking. The hypnotic, dusky feel is reminding me a bit of Orfanado or maybe Ass, and the fluid, spiritual style of picking at times reminds me of Six Organs of Admittance’s acoustic stuff. This is well nice, basically. Subtle, soulful, calming and smoothly melodic. If you’re into solo acoustic stuff I’ve little doubt it’ll push your pleasure buttons. REVIEW: Aquarius Records This one should be a no brainer. Any one into space rock krautdrone a la Expo 70, might as well just stop reading and grab this right now. Recorded by Expo 70's Justin Wright, and released on his Sonic Meditations label, Sounding The Deep definitely sounds like it could have been Wright under a different name, the same sort of brooding psychedelic drift, the same blissed out ambience, the same minimal blurred dronescapes, the same occasional forays into something slightly heavier and Sunn-ier, but it's actually the work of a fellow named David Williams. And don't assume that Sounding The Deep are a rip off of Expo 70, they just happen to tread the same sonic territory. Imagine the furthest reaches of space, Wright's Expo 70 is drifting aimlessly through the stars, coordinates set for the heart of some distant sun, when who should drift into view, Sounding The Deep, their trajectory an entirely different far off sun, a wholly different destination, but with a shared journey. Sounding The Deep to our ears sounds a bit more droney, and abstract, not as heavy or space-y, instead, more contemplative, minimal and abstract, tendrils of guitar melody drift in a haze of deep low end tones, occasionally thickening into something a bit more dense and blackened, but retaining a proper amount of bliss and shimmer, the resulting overall sound is more like slowcore or shoegaze, but slowed waaaaaaaaay down, to a crawl, what once might have been a dirge, is transformed into something much more ephemeral and ethereal, chords and melodies are spread out over minutes rather than seconds, tones are allowed to ring out, and dissipate, chords sprawl spaceward, almost disappearing completely before the next one is sent in its wake. Hushed, minimal, dark and lovely, definitely essential listening for folks into the dreamier side of spacedrone, could be your new favorite late night chill out drift off soundtrack... it's fast becoming ours! REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis First of all, kudos to the Sonic Meditations label for such a well done tape. The sound quality on “Night” by Sounding the Deep aka David Williams and his guitar is absolutely impecable. On a nice pair of headphones the tape hiss is practically inaudible (which can for some be a hindrance I guess, but this isnt really a record that I would consider lo-fi.) and the bass frequincies could cave in your chest cavity. Williams’ guitar tone is slicker than mercury, and it drips dry drops of blisteringly cold melody all over “Night”. Although this just came into my hands recently, “Night” is Sounding The Deeps first release from 2008, and since then he has expanded his sound to include tribal drums and more of a Godspeed You! Black Emporer meets kvlt folk romanticism (see “A Union According To Energy”.) If Williams’ latest works are a wispy breaths, expansive, at times delicately woven threads, then “Night” is the years before his emurgence, spent wallowing in graceless caverns of hatred and black. “Night” plays like a movie soundtrack to the growth of stalagtites, its slow and lumbering and aches like the toxic belly of a mythical beast. On “Dusk”, the stage is set for a Grandiose sunset, Williams himself said the tape was inspired by the midwestern sky, and elements of classic spaghetti western soon become lost in a canopy of violent colors. For a tape that consists of mostly guitar and ambient gloom, plus a low drum, there’s a varied pallete of different styles that Williams explores. On the 50bpm balladry of “Solitude”, synthesized flourishes of feedback create a mock choir, singing a hymn to two of the most lonesome chords I’ve ever heard. Middle-eastern melodies and scales are peppered throughout side a. “Primordial Void” is a granite thick slab of drone, one can practically hear the bass strings clattering against the frets. All of these different flavors are slathered with delay and reverb, and they all add up to one final climax: the orgasm inducing christmas chime of “First Light”. David Williams may have gone through much growth since “Night”, which is still available on cs and CD, but this tape has all of courage and hubris of a great first record. Not for the weak at heart. 8/10		REVIEW: MyRecordCollection.org One of the new artist to on Justin Wright's Sonic Meditations label, Sounding The Deep is a post-rock/drone project by David Williams of Kansas City. Somewhere between Godspeed You! Black Emperor's majestic chamber rock guitar work and Thomas Köner's massive dark sound worlds lies Sounding The Deep's peculiar approach to ambient music. When the artist isn't trying to crack open your subwoofer with thirty tons worth of low-frequencies, these cinematic soundscapes are quite haunting and beautiful and have the ability to conjure up images of the great wide open or barren landscapes. Since the release of Glacier, Williams has gone from solo to a very promising duo with the addition of Mike Vera as percussionist. Fans of Stars Of The Lid or Growing's earlier albums will also get a kick out of this band. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on these guys. REVIEW: KZSU FM Lush guitar-based drone band from Kansas City, Missouri. Originally a solo project of Dave Williams, Sounding the Deep has since added percussionist Mike Vera to flesh out the rhythm segments. Most production is very loose and spacey, but with lots of warm undertones, euphoric rushes of delay-driven guitar, and a certain ineffable “spiritual” quality. All very good stuff, highly recommended to those who are fans of Sonic Meditations labelmates Expo 70, Brainworlds, and Plante. You can check out their older albums, as well as their latest cassette "Anthems of Light" REVIEW: ReGen Mag Ambient music has become quite fashionable these days, with a new group of Mac-wielding young musicians creating a 10 track album of intrigue and ethereal beauty every 15 minutes. Sounding the Deep’s A Union According to Energy could be said to sound like just any other ambient electronic album, until you realize all the noises you’re hearing are made by actual instruments; and that makes all the difference. Recorded live with minimal dubbing, David Williams and Mike Vera turned a couple of guitars and some percussion into an experiment of noise that puts it in the category of modern Robin Guthrie soundscapes. The track titles don’t matter. “Desert Fathers” sounds no more like a man in a sandstorm than “Skullcap & Honey” sounds like whatever that title is supposed to signify. In fact, if you depend on names, “Canopy Mist,” featuring the sound of real rain captured during the recording process, will be confused with “Thunderheads,” which has neither thunder nor rain. So, let’s forget the titles. Track one features a slow low-pitched drone accented by higher howls and whines that could possibly be used to communicate with underwater creatures. It is lovely despite no obvious beginning or end. It just is. Track two begins with a crash and an extended rolling thunder of drums. A distorted guitar joins the mix, at times adding a high pitched wail. The buildup of track three makes this one of the most interesting on the album. With plenty of percussion and a growing drone, the rhythm is addictive and nearly tribal. Then it is back to more very… slow… pieces with tracks four and five; painfully, torturously sluggish, like drowning in a pool of corn syrup. Track six has the benefit of steady rain to keep its pace, but with very little variation in the sound, it is seven minutes of constant downpour leaving the listener looking for somewhere dry and a little brighter. Fortunately, Sounding the Deep provides it at last with the final track on the album. Although another slow one, track seven finally finds its feet around four-and-a-half minutes in (it’s an eight minute piece), with a crashing beat and the introduction of more aggressive percussion. A Union According to Energy stands out in the current field of ambient music just based on the use of actual instruments rather than heavy dependence on electronics. It hits all the keywords: ethereal, thought-provoking, intriguing, disturbing. However, with an abundance of incredibly slow buildups and minimal variation, these tunes are more in the “to be ignored” spectrum of ambient, despite the impressive instrumental skill. - 2010-07-00 Charity VanDeberg (CharityV)
	UMBERTO REVIEW: AntiGravityBunny Blogspot Remember Gianni Rossi's soundtrack to Gutterballs? Remember how it was full of bass and synth and Italo horror disco awesomeness? Remember how much I loved it? Well Umberto's From The Grave is... BETTER than the Gutterballs Soundtrack. There. I said it. Everything you ever wanted from an old school horror soundtrack is present on From The Grave. Super moody, driving disco beats, chilling synths, and speaker blowing bass. The tunes are the type where you'd be throwing it down on the dance floor if you weren't running for your life from the undead. The special thing about Umberto's tape, though, is that even though there are song titles like "Opening Titles," "Dream Sequence," and "Shower Scene," From The Grave isn't the soundtrack to anything except your nightmares (or maybe your next Carpenter themed dance party). And that's one of the reasons this is better than Rossi's soundtrack. You can let your imagination run wild when listening to this tape. Like when "It Came From The Swamp" comes on. What came from the swamp? It's totally up to you! You could be lame and go with Swamp Thing, or you could summon your inner 3 grade self and conjure a wicked scary drippy, mud caked 10 horned beast with teeth made of alligator claws. That makes for a much better experience than when you hear "Theme From Gutterballs" and all you can see is the Gutterballs logo. Trust me. Real soundtracks can eat it. Umberto is the king of fake soundtracks. And now everyone knows that fake soundtracks are the fucking coolest. REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis Umberto is the sound-voyage of Matt Hill, who’s also been known to throw down with drone-master Justin Wright’s Expo ’70 project. On this first release under the name Umberto, Hill has created a score for a Giallo all'italiana film that captures the horror and humor that set the sonic-mood for genre-masters like Carpenter, Fulci, and Argento. The spaced-out synths and casioxploitations produce a dark-laugh vibe, and the beat frequently slashes in to thrill it up, especially on standout track “The Child.” While it’s ultimately impossible to discuss this film/sound tradition without touching on its comedic qualities, we’d be mistaken to overlook the skill Hill exhibits on “From The Grave…” The pacing and execution are impressive, building up patiently, maintaining the suspense from “Opening Titles” to “End Credits,” and provoking vivid images of some maniacal mutant/man shiv-slinger creeping in on an unsuspecting bather and escaping to a midnight-blood-cult-ritual-fortress on the moon. If your neighbors aren’t already aware that there’s some sinister shit going on behind your apartment door, slipping “From The Grave…” into your tape deck and cranking it up should eliminate their doubt. Sonic Meditations, run by Justin Wright, house their releases in excellent artwork. This album is no exception, displaying on its cover an appropriate illustration by Ashley Lande that reveals what the crazed character running through these soundworlds might look like. 7/10 -- Elliott Sharp (3 March, 2010) REVIEW: Dusted Still Single: Vol. 6, No. 11 Mining the classic soundtrack work of John Carpenter and Goblin has become a small cottage industry in recent times, with Zombi in particular making a career out of this niche genre. Umberto (a.k.a. Matt Hill, sometimes of Expo 70) has provided us with the newest example with From the Grave, an LP that skirts the edge of Soundtrack for an Imaginary Giallo territory. What saves the project from paling in comparison to his influences is the way Hill skillfully merges them – his songs are generally anchored by pulsing synths, and then layered with progressive rock keyboards. Much like Zombi, this ends up being danceable music, although Umberto generally eschews the harder edge of Zombi’s work. Hill also seems to have a judicious eye for doling out cheese, never letting his music enter into the realm of irony while clearly not taking things too seriously. Along with the recent Purling Hiss album, this is another winner – limited to 500, and for the time being, still available at the source. (Patrick O’Donnell)		REVIEW: OMG Vinyl Kansas City’s Matt Hill spends some time playing in Expo 70, but he has been focusing a lot of creative attention on his Umberto project. With the Umberto stuff, Hill is a disciplined, devout follower of the church of Goblin. No, not the scary green monsters, the insane synth masterminds that scored genre film classics like Suspiria, Deep Red, Dawn of the Dead, and Tenenbre. Originally pressed by Sonic Meditations as a tape, this throwback to 70’s Italian horror and giallo music has now gotten a proper vinyl release courtesy of the fine folks at Permanent Records. It is available on red vinyl (limited to 100 and exclusive to Permanent) and kvlt black vinyl REVIEW: Aquarius Records Doubtless many movie (and music) buffs would agree that Italian '70s and '80s "giallo" (horror/thriller) cinema, from directors like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, had soundtracks usually as evocative and inspirational as any visual aspect of the films, soundtracks which often stand as effective works of art all on their own. The scores by prog band Goblin being perhaps best known, influencing such modern day bands as Zombi and Crime In Choir. Now here's another, utterly blatant and most excellent example of Italian giallo soundtrack worship by a current artist: Umberto! Umberto is actually a one-man band, that man being Matt Hill, live collaborator / touring member of AQ faves Expo '70! Under his guise of Umberto, he has just released his first album as limited edition cassette and cd-r on the Sonic Meditations label run by Expo '70 mainman Justin Wright. While Expo '70 has proven to be especially adept at channelling the heavy kosmiche bliss of prime '70s krautrock a la Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, Umberto is equally savvy at conjuring the dark, suspenseful soundtrack-y sounds of Goblin and the like. With, some cosmic Klaus-y krauty-ness thrown in as well. This definitely sounds like it could be an actual soundtrack, in fact, someone should MAKE a film just to use this as a soundtrack. You can certainly do so in your imagination, aided perhaps by the cinematically suggestive track titles, which include "Running Blade", "Intermission", "Dream Sequence", "Shower Scene", and "End Credits" (the only track here with vocals, otherwise it's all instrumental... and the vocals on this last track are some sort of hard-to understand, chant-like invocation). Listen with the lights off for best results. Umberto has a heavily synthesized sound, keyboards buzzing and droning and squelching, crunchily distorted or eerily ethereal, sounding at once like ominous Gothic organ music and also spacey futuristic electronica. Mechanical drumming plods along, propulsive beats adding to the menacing atmosphere. There's also plenty of fat disco synth-bass, and we bet folks into Italians Do It Better 12"s, or Black Devil Disco Club, or even skweee would get a kick out of this too, not just Goblin fanatics... but yeah Goblin fanatics (and John Carpenter and Zombi fans too) REALLY ought to check this out! Very cool, very creepy, and even at times kinda catchy-groovy.
	GNOD REVIEW: Aquarius Records You can often tell a lot about a band by the other bands they share splits with. And considering the fact that Gnod have done split time with both psychedelic space rockers White Hills, and space psych doomlords Bong, it's pretty much a no brainer. And the fact that these guys can pretty much hold their own with both says it all. And actually, the sound of Gnod does fall somewhere right between Bong and White Hills, beginning super murky and minimal, doomy and slow, the guitars abstract and space-y, fluttery flutes laced over whirring low end, the sound builds quickly to something seriously explosive, the drums pounding, lots of bagpipe like horns offering up more layers of drones, mumbled vox, distortion and noise and effects piling up until the rhythmic almost krautlike groove is buried beneath a heaving churning pile of constantly shifting and swirling sound. Pretty stellar for sure. The second track here, another 20 minute space doom jam, is much less expansive, instead, it's a solid chunk of hypno space rock, the drums and bass locked tight, weird vocals drift in and out, swirls of space-y FX swoop down from above, the surrounding ambience is ever changing, but the rhythm keeps the song grounded, a head nodding, drug addled non-stop mesmerizing groooooove, lysergic and psychedelic but pretty stripped down compared to that opening salvo. Good stuff for sure. Anyone into the current crop of space rock explorers (like Expo 70, too, whose limited edition cassette/cd-r label put this out) will no doubt dig this BIG TIME. Album of the day on Roadburn: Thursday, January 7th, 2010		REVIEW: MyRecordCollection.org Fans of Jaybird-era Sunburned Hand Of The Man will need to check this album out. The two side-long tracks that feature on The Crystal Pagoda is guaranteed to cause hallucinations. The first side holds the title track, a slow and primitive drug-enhanced group jam with middle-eastern overtones. There's a very nice build-up in the tune which grows progressively louder and more barbaric. Listening to this loud enough will induce a trance and fever-dreams in the listener. On the B side, Tony's Disco is a much mellower tune with distinctively rock-oriented grooves and attitude. After nearly four minutes of cosmic weirdness, the tune suddenly shifts gears as a steady beat comes in with cruise control. From here on in get ready for one of the most autistic dance groove you'll ever hear. You'll be blinded by that crystal ball in your mind and curve up into a fetal position while tapping your feat and nodding your head to the beat. Impressive stuff!
	DAS ENERGI REVIEW: MyRecordCollection.org Recitations sounds like music created by a basement guru/death cult leader speaking to his disciples through LSD-inspired visions as interpreted through song. There's something disturbing in these strange and hallucinatory folk tunes. It's as if our guru was speaking to us of love, beauty and brotherliness, but somehow something is not quite right in his message; there's un underlying menace in his ideas and world views. All of this is hidden behind lazy acoustic guitar tunes which all sound as if they were created on the spot with a certain automatism while his thoughts are constantly elsewhere. There are hints of this suppressed danger, like an ominous storm cloud in the distance, with the subtle touches that accompany the main guitar melodies. It could be a soft fuzz chord wave here, a rumbling bass line there, always in the background, avoiding attention... but revealing a lot more than it might let on. Very strange.		REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis My roommate was convinced this would be a drone cassette, but I could tell by the hand drawn eyes on the cover this was going to be some super hippy stuff. Although not without it’s drone moments, Das Energi float around slowly strummed guitar and minor electronics. It’s a quiet, pleasant set of songs. Maybe best utilized for a come down after a trip in the desert? That’s what I keep thinking anyways. It’s certainly not party music. The electronics adds a really nice texture to the music, if it were just heavy on acoustic stringed instruments, I would have been out like a light from hitting the play button. It is a long cassette, so bear in mind that you may take a while to digest all of the music, but it’s pretty relaxing and not in a boring way. 6/10 -- Andrew Murdock Livingston (28 April, 2010)
	PLANTE REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis “Shroud of Winter” is aptly named because that is what these looming drones are. Crawling, plowing, ominous effects are churning from these amps, veiling everything around you with a shady blanket of haze. Thick, crunchy, smoldering guitar is sacrificed to the gods of winter and rises into their nostrils as a pleasing aroma. All I can think of is the dark of a wintry night, the visible gasps of your breath in the chilly air, the heavy layers of snow after a blizzard. Two monstrosities that round the 12-minute mark. Seek shelter or embrace the season. Fall is coming. That means leaves will turn, dry up, and fall. Then Winter. Great disc to have tucked into your Winter emergency kit. Really good direction. I’m glad Plante went this route. Now, there’s something special about this CD-R and cassette. Not only is it yet another more-than-affordable, insanely cheap releases from Sonic Meditations. I mean, $5 ppd. for this? Talk about a steal. But, this features some bonus material. Earlier, Plante released “Fripping Awesome” on SM, and it was decided to include those two tracks on that previous release with “Shroud of Winter” as well. So, you pretty much get two releases for the price of one. Now, “Fripping Awesome” is pretty different than “Shroud…” but is a nice extra to have. Whereas, “Shroud…” is a menacing, approaching beast that is in the good company of folks like AUN, Sunn O))), Earth, etc. “Fripping Awesome” is much more relaxed. In fact, I would even argue that it’s a bit mellow and almost tranquil. It’s got a nice simple quality to it. Looped strings in flowery bloom with light guitar shreds that dance and shift like soft clouds in a summer sky. The second track on “Fripping…” is a little prophetic of the “Shroud…” to come, but is a good in-between stage that still errs on the side of mildness instead of the dark veil of “Shroud…”. Overall, great buy. It’s a good way to spend $5. Skip Subway and hit up the SM website. 8/10 -- Dave Miller (11 August, 2010)		REVIEW: OMG Vinyl Blog. The A-Side, “Shroud Of Winter”, is a wonderful piece of doomy guitar drone, undoubtedly summoning comparisons to SunnO))). The B-Side is the even better “Fripping Awesome”, Plante’s tribute to Fripp and Eno. Check out the description on this one: “These are not covers, but interpretations, sprawling soundscapes utilizing guitar and stomp box effects to conjure the spirits of Fripp & Eno.” If that doesn’t have you sold, the price of only $5 shipped for this lengthy release should.
	BRAINWORLDS REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis This is the type of release where I really wasn't sure what I was getting into when I received it in the mail. The fractals-in-space artwork, the artist name, the label name, the notice that "all sounds are improvised guitar"... I just wasn't sure. This could be either completely mindblowing or... I don't even know what. Fortunately, as soon as I pressed play, it was obvious that this was entirely worth it. It's solo improvised guitar, yes, but not some sort of wanky showoff virtuoso deal. The artist uses plenty of looping and delay to create something slowly evolving and shifting that adds numerous layers, resulting in a longform experience that truly takes the mind to different places. Plus, it's a full length cassette, resulting in an extended meditative experience. I started playing side A on my radio show late one night, and before I knew it half an hour had passed and the side still wasn't over, so I had to read events information over it. I just couldn't let something like this end. So basically, consider my mind fully blown. 9/10 -- Paul Simpson (9 June, 2010) REVIEW: KZSU FM Drifting-near-the-edge-of-a-blackhole-core. Deep Space Stellar Cartography for Dummies. This is the fifth release from Mason Brown’s project Brainworlds, and is probably his best to date. This album is another monster of a c60 (you know the drill) with the first side leaning more towards the experimental droney side of the spectrum, and the second being more of a bliss-out. Both sides have a heavy cosmic/outer-space aesthetic (as does the liner artwork), but it is a theme that is earnest and refined, and manages to break free of a simple-minded “dude, space is so big…” mold. Great stuff—one of the definite standouts from the recent batch released by Sonic Meditations Records. SIDE A: Numbing. Swirly and ever-expanding with thick layers of drone like sirens slowly fading out of earshot. Cool tones rise and fall, and staticy breakers lap at the shores. This is probably what Galileo bumped when he wrote De Mundi Systemate. SIDE B: 10,000 foot freefall. Tranquil and relaxing, and even dazzlingly at times. The piece opens up with soft gushing tones. Around 7 minutes in, a fluttering bassbeat stirs up the dust and adds life and intensity. Minute 13 ushers in a variety of icy chilling, jagged sonic tones—but nothing too dark or sinister. The last few minutes are excellent—scattershot distorted keyboard that echoes into the distant cosmos.		REVIEW: KJFC 89.7FM On Mason Brown???s (aka "Brainworlds") MySpace page, he describes his music as trance and shoe gaze. Truer words were never spake. It???s amazing how many sounds can be generated from guitar. Each of these songs is about 30 minutes long. If you've never had a massage, this is the type of music you hear when you???re getting one. Relaxing, building, gentle, fading in and out like the breath–listen to this and you won't need a massage. Mix or play on its own–you won???t regret it. Reviewed by humana on July 2, 2010 at 5:36 pm REVIEW: Weed Temple Blog7FM Mysterious kosmische musik from Atlanta, USA. Minimal waves of primordial bliss, clocking between 20 and 30 minutes to ensure full immersion. I think the simple, black and white artwork of the albums really goes with the music - very well thought out and executed. Recommended. REVIIEW: Late Nights with Geoff wordpress I listened to "•••" last night and "•••••" just now. Absolutely incredible. Credits refer to Mason Brown and Mason Brown alone – he reckons ‘all sounds are improvised guitar.’ Really? I may have to get me one of those guitar things and improvise on it. Layers of constantly shifting drones with what sounds like synth – kind of Tangerine Dream synth in fact – providing a pulse and further variation. Both tapes are 30 mins, one track per side so plenty of time title to give each excursion justice, with titles like “Primordial Coalescence,” “Solar Plexus,” “Fractalscape” and “Through The Cloud Chamber.” Well, not ‘like,’ those are the four titles. I’m not gonna lie, after only listening to each tape once, I would find it hard to pinpoint an exact artistic progression between the two tapes ("•••" – 2009, "•••••" – 2011) but this is definitely a case of if it ain’t broke. Gorgeous stuff.
	AARON MARTIN REVIEW: Fluid Radio Aaron Martin’s new record “Night Erased Them All,” is another fine addition to his already expansive body of work. Proceeding “Worried About The Fire” which was released earlier this year, his latest recording is a detailed 30 minutes of sound manipulation and cello wizardry that will be sold as a limited cassette and CD-r release through Sonic Meditations. On “Night Erased Them All” Aaron designed the tracks to be listened while driving alone at night. Unfortunately I sold my car a few short months ago, so without a means of listening to the record as intended, I set about playing it in different places all which in some way were linked to the road or travel. On Friday night I took a perfectly timed half hour bus journey through London. Sitting at the front of the top deck, I wanted to connect the music’s sounds with my vision of the road. Typically, being rush hour, the stop start nature of the journey was unlikely to reflect the freeness of the open Kansas highways that this album would have been built around, so I shut my eyes and let my imagination be fuelled by the creative sounds. Opening track “Limb Study” is introduced via the customary Aaron Martin sound of bowed string play. His moody cello immediately creates a sense of mobility, albeit within a dark surrounding. One has the image of a POV camera shot looking out of the windshield of car, with only the road lit and the yellow road marks providing a sense of purpose. As the string play loops and develops with layered textures, again very much staple ingredients to Aaron’s sound, light vocal hums and pierced static sounds join in. These add a dreamy uneasiness to the music and in that sense a rather nightmarish feel to the ‘journey.’ There is some respite from this though as a momentary breakdown of these noises allows the cello to reappear. Aaron’s playing here is strikingly beautiful – displaying the sombre, melancholic qualities of the instrument and evoking a true sense of loneliness on the road. This feeling of isolation is enhanced by the reintroduction of a processed vocal sound which resembles sighing. Combined with the cello, the image of travelling alone by night is forced home – the thought of an endless road being the driver’s only focal point as the remaining setting is clouded in darkness. Coincidentally, earlier in the day, I had read a short essay on highways in Eastern Europe. Here the writer was discussing the solitude of the open road, and how a night in a foreign country is best spent on the highway as the sense of being foreign is spread to all who drive on it. Fresh with those images in mind, I listened to “Night Erased Them All” again, and did so by walking through the local heath and onto a train station. Last night, once the sun had set, and the warm evening had advanced, I sat atop of one of London’s great vantage points with a view down to the city below. With the city lit by office buildings and the blur of moving motorcars, it felt like the perfect stationary position to listen to the record again. The second track on the album “Kept Ashes” opens with a chorus of hums. Once again built on a layered looping of sound, these voices form a trail; like the brake lights of a car. A fuzz of static blends with the human noises, made to sound like torrential rain. With the humming now reduced to a minimum, one can picture the faint red colour of the lights piercing through the downpour. As the electronic sounds supersede their human counterparts an awkward bowing of cello is introduced. One can imagine a mist beyond the rainy road, which creates an uneasy mystery for the driver – an undefined objective. As more free flowing cello is introduced, the stormy hazards found earlier in the track start to die down. It’s as if the long night is slowly coming to an end, with the minimal light of dawn, represented by a light use of percussion and the reintroduction of voices, finally allowing the driver to realise that life exists beyond the road. “Night Erased Them All” cleverly depicts the emptiness of solitary driving. With his rich blending of electrical and acoustic sound, Aaron Martin has created a dreamy record that provides its listener with a detailed imagery of journeying after dark. Although I was unable to take to the road to experience the full intentions of the record, fortunately this can be saved for a later date. For now though, I’ll let Aaron’s sound guide me through this evening, for the night is sure to eradicate all in its wake. – Review by Josh Atkin for Fluid Radio REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis Billed as the perfect soundtrack to a late night drive, this latest effort from Kansas multi-instrumentalist Aaron Martin is a bleak and beautiful exercise in sound. Musically, Martin has hit the mark, evoking the sense of travelling alone in a dark, wintry abyss, where the only colour for miles emanates from the tail lights of the fuel-guzzling vehicles nearby. Upon listening, one gets the sense of being trapped in a tin can hurtling wearily down a lonely stretch of asphalt, going nowhere fast. Sonic equivalents? Perhaps the quieter moments of GYBE or even the pseudo-offshoot Set Fire to Flames. Emotionally, there’s a pervasive sense of pure, unbridled hopefulness peering through a decayed, crumbling void – another point at which Martin crosses spiritual paths with the Godspeed crew. But whereas that bedraggled chamber-rock ensemble requires multiple musicians, Martin is left on his own to craft his entire sound-world. His haunting cello, brooding vocalizations and other ethereal tones are blended with an alchemist’s solemnity and the proficiency of a master craftsman. “Night Erased Them All” is a highly recommended release – one whose contemplative sounds brighten as much as they brood. 9/10 REVIEW: ReGen Magazine A review for ReGen Magazine – and, in fairness, any respectable review – ought to have a significant level of objectivity. Everyone has a subjective opinion about everything; therefore the objective review truly captures the talent and skill present in an album. Aaron Martin’s Night Erased Them All, however, defies the typical review structure for the simple reason that it stirs too much subjective emotion to be justified through an objective lens. One could analyze the technical aspect of Aaron Martin’s work: his skillful use of panning and frequency manipulation to carve out entire sections of sound for various instruments; his talent for strings (cello in particular) that blend classical training with contemporary modes; the synthesizing of this classical element with a solid electronic/ambient background. All of these Aaron Martin executes masterfully, making him, by far, one of the more skilled artists in the ambient arena, treading slightly into the drone category (and cleaning up there) as well. But to truly capture Martin’s work, one must embrace the subjective, emotional element that is stirred by Martin’s music: the natural heartbeat pulse of sound that emanates through the bass of “Limb Study,” underlining the coupling of smooth strings and biting electronics that swell into majestic highs and subtle lows. The piece moves through modes with ease, transitioning from natural to melodic minor and back again. The sheer beauty of “Limb Study” is outstanding. It is also, in some regards, a drawback to the album as a whole as the follow-up track “Kept Ashes” cannot fully match its splendor. It does, however, try its hardest. Beginning with a seamless transition from the previous track, “Kept Ashes” cuts smooth and calming chants through a crashing wall of sound, the music cresting and falling like ocean waves. “Kept Ashes” continues the polymodal trend, as well as the solid blend of organic and electronic instrumentation (though “Kept Ashes” treads more electronic, as “Limb Study” treads more organic). In this writer’s opinion, there are very few artists in this genre who can match the beauty and grace that Aaron Martin has produced. If one track had not eclipsed the other, if the two pieces could equally match each other, then this two-track album could possibly be the best album of this year.		REVIEW: Dwars Radio De in Kansas woonachtige componist en multi-instrumentalist Aaron Martin brengt sinds 2006 cd’s uit met daarop sferische muziek die tussen tussen melodieuze soundscapes en folky ambient te plaatsen is. Muziek die ook bij uitstek geschikt is om als soundtrack te dienen. Zijn vierde cd ‘Worried about the Fire’, die eerder dit jaar uitkwam bij Experimedia ,maakte Aaron Martin ook al speciaal voor dit doel. Voor zijn nieuwe album ‘Night Erased Them All’ (cd, Sonic Meditations) gaat hij nog een stap verder. Aaron Martin maakte twee stukken van vijftien minuten lang die beluisterd zouden moeten worden tijdens een nachtelijke autorit in Kansas. Met gebruik van zijn stem, elektrische gitaar, cello, glöckenspiel, orgel en loop station legde hij wederom laag op laag. De compositie bestaat duidelijk uit afzonderlijke delen die weer harmonisch in elkaar overlopen. Nu zal het zonder meer zo zijn dat op de lange en verlaten wegen in Kansas dit een bijzondere luistersensatie zal opleveren, maar ‘Night Erased Them All’ is ook zonder deze speciale condities indrukwekkend. REVIEW: Forest Gospel RIYL = Johann Johansson, Greg Haines, Sean McCann Instructions for Aaron Martin’s latest album, Night Erased Them All, are these: listen alone while driving at night. Inasmuch as Night Erased Them All is a gorgeously muscular escape into altered consciousnesses (which it very much is), this may not be the safest idea. I imagine while listening (home safely, headphones snug) some poor soul venturing out into black summer air in his '93 Saab, in her 2002 Accord, turning through the local neighborhoods, becoming intoxicated on the beautiful orchestral movements, the brooding strings and thick almost dooming bass, the contortions, and sinking into the earth, the hood of their car skimming just above the gravel plane of the pavement as their vehicle dips lower and lower into the top soil underneath – missing stop signs, undaunted by stop lights – before descending too low, missing a turn and driving straight into the basement of some unsuspecting, some slumbering home. That’s how I figure it. And though it would be an amazing way to go out, I don’t think I’m ready to be bloodied in some foreign basement, primal vocal harmonies cooing through my speaker system. However, if you happened to be resiliently awake and pining for the night air, I won’t stop you. One thing concerning Mr. Martin’s instructions are important however: that you be alone with Night Erased Them All. This is isolationist music. Headphones, as I mentioned earlier, are important. And, in addition, this is night music. Brilliant and seductive, beautiful and engrossing, and black black black. The album consists of two 15 minute tracks with a magnificent flow through neo-classical tributaries to droning Niles. Aaron Martin’s second success this year, and perhaps his crowning achievement. There is something different to take from every release Martin sets free, but Night Erased Them All just seems all that much more provocative. A must. -Thistle REVIEW: De Subjectivisten De experimentele multi-instrumentalist Aaron Martin, die overigens een voorliefde voor de cello heeft, al zowel solo als in samenwerkingsverband (Machinefabriek, Part Timer) diverse imponerende werken gemaakt. Hij combineert ook op zijn nieuwste werk, dat uit twee lange stukken bestaat, fraaie cellopartijen met experimenteel cellowerk, elektronische experimenten, samples, drones, koren en etherische zang. Hij komt ergens uit tussen neoklassiek, noise en ambientdrones. Alles is, hoe mooi ook, zeer duister. Hij heeft dan ook een soundtrack voor een nachtelijke rit willen maken. Daarin is hij goed geslaagd met alweer een puik werkje. REVIEW: The Outpost Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010, 1 day prior to full moon Afternoon - received Aaron Martin cassette in mail via USPS Dusk - fast dark clouds and bright grey moonlight 10:18 PM - Left driveway in car & began cassette playback Alone for roughly 15.8 miles on backroads and I-5N freeway Silhouetted trees & powerlines Voices and strings drifting into tones/chords Headlights casting shadows Sound textures, perfectly accompanying the night 10:47 PM - Playback finished 10:49 PM - Arrived back home 11:09 PM - Photographed sky //Listened to Aaron Martin's Night Erased Them All in the way it was intended. I am left chilled, stunned, & mystified. ~bryan"
	ANCIENT OCEAN REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis This is a very nice drone tape by one John Bohannon, from the label of Expo 70’s Justin Wright, a fact that seems notable for some reason. It feels more like a collection of pieces, and that’s a shame, because all are very well-executed and if they held together more, this would be a really tremendous release. As it is, it’s just very pleasant. The A-side is comprised of a pair of well-textured pieces based around first synth and then guitar—an interesting texture indeed on that one. Side B features heavenly saxophone by Daniel Carter, the adventurous New York street musician. This extra element, blended so well with the rest of the texture, brings the side into an exalted state that doesn’t abate until the tape closes. Maybe it is better than all that… 6/10		REVIEW: OMG Vinyl
	NOVA SCOTIAN ARMS REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis Crossed lost indelible wares while suffocating the circumference, dire old Ruby ached from the couch to the counter then back again. Washy morning memorized in carpet fossils lengthening feet. Stick you in a created outward-ness of how sudden happens. More unlike bus posture, waiting on the bus posture, riding the bus posture. And that part of the waiting on the bus posture of “this bus is not my bus.” Those adages of our daily redundancies and the ability to discern this from that when this and that keep mixing, crossing paths and ending up in the wrong drawer. The similarities, uncanny, are many. Re-creating the created from creating. It keeps the mix loping. Here and there distorted are here and there refined. Motorcycle. Refrigerator. Dump truck. Airplane. Wind (air conditioner, box fan.) Traffic. Squeaky bike. Puddle splashing. Breaking waves. Bare feet. Rolling, lapping, hazy, swirling, sighing, lingering, hazy, dense, tremulous, somber, whirring, airy, dense. 9/10		REVIEW: Sonomu.net A lot of fuss has been made about a remaking/remodeling of 1980s pop going on underground. But much more invigorating and imaginative is the new life being breathed into ambient music, often sourced from the antithetical New Age music of the same decade. Artists have been repurposing old tapes and recordings and coming up with a new look at ambient that is technological, but not necessarily electronic, in origin. This release by Nova Scotian Arms is at once a perfect example of this new genre while at the same time being one of its best works. He has recorded two, thirty-minute sacred drifts comprised of heavily overlaid and textured tape loops, named ”Channels” and ”Chambers”, respectively. The sound does not so much drift as rush past, a thick slurry of tone and colour, thick but utterly translucent – you can see right through the layers, watch them interweave, and ”Channels” shows a real taste for dramatic flair as, slowly but surely, the intensity of the piece is screwed up. ”Chambers” has a balder, more pallid demeanor, like a field recording of the windswept surface of an inhospitable planet. In almost mirror-image to "Channels", this piece seems to grow more benign as it draws toward its conclusion. A sweet symmetry. Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 21:35, 17 Jul 2011
	BRAIN SYNDROME REVIEW: Foxy Digitalis All of the information that I can find about this tape online claims that it’s a mysterious thrift store find, reported to be recorded in the early ’80s, and that the artist name and titles were basically made up for this release because they had no clue who actually made this. I’m really skeptical about this, and I’m almost entirely convinced that it’s a new recording. I feel like people didn’t really use these types of synthesizers in such a lo-fi way 30 years ago. But maybe that’s just because we’re used to hearing 30-year-old recordings of these synthesizers in such hi-fi contexts, i.e. Vangelis soundtracks. This could well have been some old, forgotten homemade recording, but I strongly doubt it. Anyway, whenever it was recorded, it sounds pretty nice. There are only three tracks, and they repeat on both sides of the tape. “Fall Asleep” starts pretty scattered and slowly forms into something more cogent (plus it has some nice Tomita chirps), and then it completely falls apart at the end, with some loud bonking on the keyboards. “Distract To Connect” has a pretty severe tape warp which punctuates the recording every few seconds, and it has a similar feeling of pulling together coherently, only to be restrained by the amateurness of its creator(s). “Disconnect” seems a bit more thought out and expansive, with calm burbling synthesizers guiding a shining path, before fizzling out.
	LUPERCI REVIEW: Sonomu.net From Albuquerque, New Mexico comes Joseph Angelo, dressed in the wolfskin of Luperci, a name to watch for from the ”neo wave” underground. Casting the sitar in an epic narrative scenario, his hour-long Jhator is a stellar example of breadth acheived by adhering to relatively narrowly-defined boundaries. The opening is simply infernal but Luperci´s hell is a cleansing, renewing fire. Out of the fire with a new skin, ”Excarnation I” – the first of three – deposits the listener seaside beneath a screech of nonplussed seagulls, where the healing begins as the sitar emerges Venus-like from the surf. Uncoiling slowly, its foam is overwhelmed by a towering tsunami of sound, clearing the beach and exfoliating the trees. That is the way of Jhator - a ritual, Tibetan "sky burial" - casting the listener from sublime balmy meditation to sublime sonic oppression. He has chosen to oscillate between industrial overload and the steely exactitude of the sitar, without sounding either "industrial" or particularly Indian. Both aspects of the Janus face of Jhator are ultimately benevolent. Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 18:37, 04 Oct 2011
	MILLION BRAZILIANS REVIEW: Sonomu.net A mysterious Portland-based five-piece offer up a cerebrum-stretching good time on this somewhat lengthy cassette, brought to you courtesy of Justin Wright (Expo ’70)’s always wonderful Sonic Meditations imprint. Recorded in Kansas City while the group was on a U.S. tour, volume two of “New Ideas in Psychic Music” finds Million Brazilians hitting a somewhat subdued Sunburned Hand of the Man vein of freak improvisation. Layers of loops, flutes, ramshackle percussion, ghostly wails, and knife sharpening adorn the A-side in a doom-drift configuration that is as spooky as it is hypnotic. The flip gets the skin crawling even more, with a freak jazz intro that devolves into spoken word before diving back into a neo-tribal mode of operation that features even more knife sharpening sounds. For an encore, the Million Brazilians crew bring some funk to the party with a sick guitar/bass pattern that calls forth vine-like tendrils of need. Listening to this murky sonic brew, I get the feeling like I’m the guest of honor at a dinner in which I’m also the main course…and I love it!
	CLOUDLAND BALLROOM REVIEW: Sonomu.net Blooping and bleeping into life, the further Infinite Mind elegantly conjures outer space, the deeper inward it looks. The first of two, seventeen-minute parts wells up, oozing and swooshing like the wax in a lava lamp. It feels like it would sound different each time you play it. The second is ominously reminiscent of the opening helicopter panorama of ”Apocalypse Now”. However, as it gathers shape, it rather resembles Nirvana, as the drone of the shruti box expands and embraces. Cloudland Ballroom strives toward infinity with two very different but equally successful methods. Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 18:35, 21 Oct 2011		REVIEW: Dumpster Diving blogspot Here we have another music gift from one of the best contemporary synth masters - James . Moore. Two long pieces cover the analogue tape packed and released by J. Wright's Sonic Meditations. The fist track begins as a soundtrack to a bit scary drama or psychological crime story. This music forces one to keep an eye on details and wait for unsuspected turnovers (mind takeovers though..). Starting from the middle sound scenes start to remind Clint Mansell's works and one inevitably moves to the chess desk - time to take responsibility for moving the figures of subconsciousness. Side A is more unstable. This is the music of the path-breakers from the medieval times. Cold, dissonant, mint. Look forward, pals...
	INSPIRED SCHOOL OF ASTRAL MUSIC REVIEW: Norman Records This is on Justin ‘Expo 70’ Wright’s label Sonic Meditations so at worst it’s just going to be a bit slow-moving, right? Well, actually, yes. And let’s face it, if things being a bit slow-moving puts you off then nothing on this label will be your cup of tea. If the idea of listening to an album of calming synth ambience gets you all hot under the collar, however, look no further than this Inspired School Of Astral Music LP and the live JD Emmanuel tape they’ve chucked our way this week. What this album has going on is three long synth drone meditations with a new-agey healing feel about them, originally self-released on cassette and CDr before this vinyl edition (tends to be a good sign when releases like that end up getting pressed on wax). The first side has a cyclical three-chord melody of soothing synth swells that covers the entire side and is totally relaxing and hypnotic. Flip it and the two tracks that make up the other side are a bit more eventful but similarly cleansing. The first opens with a long drone, with flat tones and fluttering pulses being the textures du jour before we’re hit with a stunning chord change right near the end. Then it alternates between these two big ethereal chords for a while. Then the final track sounds kind of like slowed down, processed modular synth loops making rumbling, creaking swells that are eventually joined by distant bell chimes. It’s like the peaceful sleeping breaths of a house-trained dinosaur. There’s a little pamphlet inside with some quasi-technical bollocks that those with a nerdy sense of humour will probably get a kick out of too. REVIEW: Tiny Mix Tapes It seems like I get into music buying so much more in the warm weather. Aside from jamming some hard cassettes at the beach, I also like using a bunch of shitty clearance-priced equipment to put LPs to digital to cassette to blare to beach to bikini. My bikini. Cause I keeps it Euro when I dig long jams. Long jams such as 10:10 Opening The Digital Door really get me moist… with sea breeze. Sunlight just beating down on my body, no shades; the vastness of the beach and flesh. Sand and bodies become one. And the copy I made of this reminds me of sitting in the same sunlight, on my patio, patiently waiting for 10:10 Opening The Digital Door LP to rip and rec on cassette. The LP is out now, co-released by Sonic Mediations and Psychic Sounds Recordings, limited to 147 copies. They also include a sunlight-absorbing essay on the Cybergenetic Fugue State and the meaning of 10:10.		REVIEW: Honest Bag Blogspot 10:10 Opening the Digital Door, by Inspired School of Astral Music (ISAM), is a meditation on Internet Consciousness, The Cybergenetic Fugue State (CFS) and Numerical Synchronicity as memory recovery in the digital age. The aforementioned is explained in an essay that accompanies this intriguing release. CFS is inherently problematic, acting as a blocking interface between the Electronic and Biological brain. 10:10 and other binary computer codes seek to awake the spiritual self from CFS. 10:10 Opening the Digital Door is packaged in screen printed covers on heavy cardstock; it is co-released by Psychic Sounds Recordings and Sonic Meditations, two of my favorite labels. A few days ago, I read a wonderful interview of Derek Rogers by Steve Dewhurst, of Foxy Digitialis. Steve wrote about the idea that emotion can be channeled through the use of drones and ambient soundscapes. Later in the day, I listened intently to this ISAM lp. What happened throughout this meditation was nothing short of spiritual discovery - tantamount to recovering visual perception by taking the hands away from the eyes. ISAM makes me feel euphoric, and a man among beautiful people residing in a state of equanimity. Opening the Digital Door is music that breathes. Within a few minutes of dropping the needle, the music would swell and recede. Thus, there is an inherent warmth to the placid sounds which emanate from the speakers. These are the sounds of friendship, of companionship. In sum, this is the type of music that you want to invite into your home. In a complicated world, I yearn for the connection provided by this type of music. Throughout the release, I remembered the way in which Basinski's drones would wash away my tears of grief. Needless to say, I highly recommend 10:10. This one is still available from places for which I have great admiration: Discriminate, Tomentosa (restock soon), Psychic Sounds and Sonic Meditations!
	FJORDS REVIEW: Tiny Mix Tapes My boi JW over at Sonic Meditations only wants y’allz music experience to last forever. And not in a looped perverted way. There’s more treatment to Sonic Meditations’ creative mission. Fjords beaming “IX” as best new example of how labels progress their artistic direction. Continuing to create one consistent sound via a milli other sounds: orchestral tenderness, tattered-psyche healing, neuro-image paranormal transfer. Etc. Also, according to my shitty internet research skills, Fjords (Jon Davies and Tyler Taormina) are totally untraceable. Seems like they in good hands at Sonic Meditations. Pre-order Fjords’ cassette now, or pick it up when it releases on November 21. Go get that sack, brahh!
	J.D. EMMANUEL REVIEW: Cassette Gods Just got this great new tape from Justin Wright's Sonic Meditations imprint by J.D. Emmanuel. You probably remember a few years back when one of Lieven Martens's labels reissued Emmanuel's Wizards LP which has probably influenced everyone whose worked in the recent synthesizer nu-age. I was just a touch apprehensive that this was a concert recording, recorded in a Texas park no less, only because I worried about the sound quality. However, this thing must have been recorded direct because it sounds fantastic, as if Emmanuel had recorded it at home or in a studio. You get the live feel, the cassette consists of 4 improvised pieces, but there's no lo-fi barriers in between you and the sounds. Just like sonic meditations such as these should be. Not only does the tape sound good, this is some top shelf material. I personally prefer this tape to Wizards, which had great stuff on it no doubt. Peaceful Kingdom Concert 1982, also apparently titled Trance-Lation Into Space, has a hypnotic energy about it that is impossible to ignore. You feel buoyant and submerged at the same time, just drifting through water or space or time. Emmanuel's synthetic textures and twirling yarns mold such an immersive atmosphere, it's easy to get lost in it. As the cover art brings to mind, the effect isn't too dissimilar from those dreamy poppies in The Wizard of Oz. I probably don't have anything particularly insightful to say about this other than it's damn good and well worth tracking down for anyone who loves to indulge in analog hypnosis. For the gearheads: Emmanuel used a Yamaha SK-20, 3 Sequential Circuits Pro-Ones and a DeltaLab DL-2 Digital Delay on this recording. REVIEW: Norman Records Plucked from private press obscurity with the re-release of his 1982 LP ‘Wizards’, JD Emmanuel is experiencing a significant increase in his profile of late, mainly due, I’m sure, to a renewed interest in New Age and purist synth music. Well, it only makes sense that more of JD’s work would see the light of day and this ‘Peaceful Kingdom Concert’ tape is probably the most logical place to start. Recorded live at Brazos State Park in Washington in 1982 as part of “Music and Ideas: A Celebration and Harvest” - A Benefit Concert for “Peaceable Kingdom”, this tape is a live document of the period when ‘Wizards’ was recorded and hence could be seen as a companion piece. As you can imagine, it’s a meditative treat that plays on the ideas of minimalist composition pioneered by Phillip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley whilst utilising synths and the fundamentals of New Age spiritualism to steer the ideas in new directions. The resulting sound could be considered spiritual though I prefer straight up peaceful. No need to involve the gods in this business after all. They didn’t invent synthesisers, we did...the good people of earth. Beautiful tape and must have for all you dream-catchers out there.		REVIEW: Volcanic Tongue Major archival excavation of a live benefit gig performed by legendary ‘New Age’ synth stylist J. D. Emmanuele the same year as the release of his massively heavy private press LP Wizards. Wizards pretty much set a secret blueprint for flat-lined emotionally austere minimal tone-float. We were first turned onto it by John Olson of Wolf Eyes as “that weirdo private press LP with the guy staring into the candle on the front” and since then its reputation has snowballed now referenced as the major weirdo/real people synth record of the 1980s. Peaceful Kingdom feels like a direct translation of Wizards into a real time situation, with Emmanuel chasing the voodoo down like no one outside of Terry Riley circa Persian Surgery Dervishes but with so much woo and wong that every note feels like it’s formed of lava and blown from the lips of Shiva herself. Somewhere between Spiral Insana era Nurse With Wound and early hypnotic computer music, Peaceful Kingdom is every bit the stone of its companion volume and a necessary release in a saga that just keeps on coming on. Contemporary electronic music way beyond the long blank, edition of only 100 copies – recommended!
	KOI POND REVIEW: Norman Records This is a very lovely looking record indeed, with bold black and silver designs screenprinted all over its gatefold sleeve. On the disc itself is the latest offering from Justin Wright’s Sonic Meditations imprint, with two side-long psychedelic improvisations from New York trio Koi Pond, originally formed for a one-off tape on Night People but here cajoled back into action by Wright for another excursion. The first side opens with a throbbing synth drone for a while before the drums and bass bring in a driving slow groove and the synth drones are joined by busier, higher pitched melodic shapes from the synth for a measured, bonged out chunter. Nice deep, round bass tone going on here, and the slow building groove of the rhythm section is very effective in driving you into a trance like state. It’s reminding me a little of that ace Datashock album from last year, but more organic and rock-based than that one, especially as they start to let loose a little and bring in the gnarlier tones. Finally they seem to settle into a pretty therapeutic post-dubby plod with bright, playful synth tomfoolery over the top. Far out. Flip it, though, and there’s a whole other trip in store entirely. It opens with a speech sample which is then manipulated and layered into near-static chaos, stopping abruptly only for a dirgey distorted guitar steady bass and flailing drums to immediately whip up a right old cacophony of searing psychedelia, with the guitar quickly adopting a Comets On Fire-style searing widdly approach as the drums settle down to a more formal yet still clattery groove. It’s an eight groove split into fives and threes that make it seem to shift queasily despite still being totally noddable. It’s effective and despite its squalling lo-fi noisiness it’s a totally accessible jam with real power and momentum behind it, and the hi-gain guitar sounds are great. There’s some weird processed vocals that appear in the background, and then it all dies away to practically nothing for a few moments, only for them to come back in with more of a straight four groove that’s over almost as soon as it’s finished, giving way to some low-key synth fiddling and minimal free jazzisms from the rhythm section for an amorphous chunter, then there’s another bass led grooving jam that brings us back to that queasy groove from before. Out there explorations for lovers of deep, dark, weird psychedelic rock. 5/5...according to our Mike on 27 March 2012. REVIEW: Weed Temple New York City based trio Koi Pond has a short history of throbbing, underground psychedelic jams and the fact, that its individual members are more known than their own little musical enterprise itself - drummer Dave Aron on drums, Pete Vogl wielding both synthesizer and electric guitar, and Arik “Moonhawk” Roper himself (the guy who did most artwork for {among many others} Sleep, especially Dopmesmoker and its awesome 2012 reissue on Souther Lord) on bass guitar, provoding a driving, low-end funky pulsations which are like concrete foundations upon which Vogl constructs his brain-frying guitar/synth solos. Their debut album was a 2008 cassette Volcano, released by the ever-glowing Night People Records. It made a few minor ripples in the deep underground, mostly due to the awesome, now-defunct Sunflower Chakra Milk blog, which at the time (08-09) pretty much defined and shaped my music taste. But the important factor as to why the album, filled with creative, badass take on psychedelic rock, didn’t sell. It was because of its extremely lo-fi production - the synths and the drums were barely recognizable under the wall of tape hiss, and the bass guitar pounding away in the narcotic fog was the only thing that could be heard right away. But here’s hoping that the same fate will not apply to the newest vinyl offering from Justin Wright’s (aka Expo ‘70) label Sonic Meditations. The production here is much cleared and more hi-fi, which doesn’t mean the bass guitar and Aron’s krauty, thunderous drumming don’t pack a serious punch. Don’t be misleaded by the gentle, droning opening of side A’s behemoth “Odysseia”. Once Roper’s bass kicks in and sets for a groove, you should know you’re in for a fucking trip. Roper and Aron synchronize to create a propelling caveman drone-psych, while Vogl sets free cascades after cascades of synthesizer improvisations, flooding the rolling plain with a rain of soft, crystal sounds. Listening to Koi Pond’s new vinyl is like rolling in a newly restored 1960’s muscle car with all the original and new parts, both for the purely American, stoner feel and the fact that "So Higher" feels like a piece of art, a musical sculpture worth promoting and preserving. The whole sound of slowly rolling, hypnotic jam of “Odysseia” feels like an even more minimal version of Pharaoh Overlord. Side B is more concise and conists of shorter, more energetic tracks. The short, cut-up intro slowly evolves into the absolutely acidic, vile and distorted “X Minus One” Koi Pond ever conceived. Vogt exchanges the synthesizer for the electric guitar and for 6 burning minutes he spews out solo after solo in a series of lysergic, multi-level explosions of fuzz. There is a lot of playing around with studio effects on So Higher, and with dubby basslines and delayful, delayed drumming it almost feels like an intensified experimental dub record filtered through the Expo-ish prism of New Age escapism. There are references to science fiction novels and films in the track titles, like “Valis”, “Alpha Centauri Blueshift” or the Can-like title “Ancient Future”. Koi Pond are certainly far out in their inspirations and they are even more far out in their own work - a work of epic proportions, heavy and wobbling with incredible power of bass and intense trippertronics. Koi Pond are without a doubt one of the most interesting offerings, along with Moon Unit, Pharaoh Overlord, The Psychic Paramount and Eternal Tapestry, in the modern psychedelic rock scene. The three guys follow the shining path of glowing avant rock bands from NYC, reflecting the most talented and forward-thinking explosions of creativity in the Big Apple. REVIEW: KFJC 89.7FM Koi Pond is a three piece of psych rock shroomy jammers from NYC. The record you hold in your hand is a limited pressing of only 300, which comes in one of the most beautiful silk screened record sleeves are you likely to lay your hands on. Go ahead, stop reading the review and take a look at the artwork attached to this record. This should give you a pretty good idea of what you will be getting into when you drop the needle on this artfully crafted piece of vinyl meditation. These tracks are grown from a thick forest of sound which pulsates, decays, engulfs and envelopes. These are dense, black hole improv jams from far out in space, which help the label Sonic Meditations live up to its name. The sounds here echo of kaut rock and perpetuate any psychedelic inclinations you may or may not have. This record is full of musical meanderings to itch your scratch for sonic exploration. Side A is a massive joyride which kicks off with the hum of a synth that builds and resonates for about three minutes before the drums kick in and the jam drops. As the bass line holds the groove, the synthesizer bubbles, oscillates and tickles all your happy buttons. Like a 20 minute cruise on a spaceship orbiting venus. Side B consists of shorter tracks, which almost play like a side long. This is where you will find the face-melters. The introduction brings things in with some warped samplage which loops, skips and distorts before descending into massive jam. This whole side contains throbbing, fuzzed out, epic, improvised, carlton melton-bardo pond- style riffage. Complete with a healthy dose of schizophrenic guitar solo and all kinds of heavy. There is no going wrong here. Drop the needle anywhere and give in to these ear bending daydreams. -Surfer Rosa Reviewed by surferrosa on June 13, 2012 at 6:19 pm		REVIEW: Experimedia Well this is unexpected. This is the perfect dose of scuzzed-out jams. And I do mean JAMS. Koi Pond first came to light on a solid tape on Night People, but "So Higher" is on another level entirely. Plodding, dub-infused drums are the backbone while solid bass grooves hum along at pace. I could probably listen to that pairing for an hour and not get tired of it, but when you add serious synth shredding to the mix it's like opening the blast furnace and sticking your face straight in. And that's just the A-Side! Flip the record and you are off to another planet entirely. Holy shit. First dip into the rabbit hole and fuzzed-to-the-floor guitars are up in your face, pulling the skin off in sheets. The narco-dub rhythms continue, but the fire dancing on top is something nastier. As the track moves along, you're thrust into deep space where everything echoes to infinity. There's an eerie calmness that creeps in, but it's nothing but a ruse. Koi Pond bring the whole thing to a close by turning their guitars into spires that cut open the sky, dripping liquid crystal straight into your skull. Yes please. - Brad Rose for Experimedia REVIEW: Volcanic Tongue New release on Justin Wright of Expo 70’s private imprint, this time from Koi Pond, an NYC trio that features Pete Vogl on synth and guitar, Arik Roper on bass and Dave Aron on drums. Koi Pond play flat-lined/wiped-out kosmische drone rock with alla the planet-devouring force of Tangerine Dream’s Electronic Meditation. The side long opening track sees the bass and drums fall into the kind of hypnotic reverie of The Cosmic Courier’s Tarot sessions, with Vogl’s synth flashing over the top with a sound that is somewhere between the second Suicide album and The Velvet Underground circa “Sister Ray”/”Ocean”, occasionally breaking down into the kind of heavily-phased touchdowns that would marry classic Hawkwind with the psychedelic Japanese noise of CCCC. The second side kicks off much more aggressively with a tortuous construction of twisted metal sonorities giving way to the kind of heavy fuzz/free drums combo that is almost Bonehead but with a Sound Of Confusion edge that means it cones over as more psychedelic than psychotic, with a killer High Tide-plays-Musica Transonic feel. The rest of the album takes off from there, passing through several blazing peaks of all-out string/synth violence before the whole deal collapses in on itself. Edition of 300 LPs with gorgeous silver screen-printed sleeves, recommended! REVIEW: Permanent Records Justin Wright of Expo 70 continues to impress with his taste and psychedelic prowess through not only his band, but through the titles he releases on his label Sonic Meditations, such as this one by Koi Pond. Sonic Meditations uses this review from sunflowerchakramilk blog to describe 'So Higher': "Koi Pond is a three piece from NYC made up of some generally awesome dudes. Arik Roper plays bass and is a legendary artist/illustrator who does work for numerous bands, labels and publications such as Arthur, Southern Lord etc. while also playing in other bands such as Under Satans Sun and Mattalama. Pete Vogl plays synth while also jamming in Bow Ribbons, David Aron plays drums, is the perpetrator for Little Cakes Gallery, used to skateboard alot, makes rad visual artwork, and jams in USUN with Mark Borthwick and Hisham Bharoocha. Despite these dudes epic resumes, Koi Pond is epic all on its own. "Volcano" (debut release on Night People) is all about cosmic grooves, deep often minimal, endless repetitions that slowly evolve into more psyched out blissed out trances. Roper and Arons tight rhythmic foundations create the perfect backdrop for Vogal's synth improvisations. This is a meditative listen that never gets old, it just keeps grooving on and on forever. Like Neu! covering Dark Magus in a Tibetan Monastery." And that our friends is right on. On a Permanent Records note, we're vibing on the distinct differences between face A and face B of this LP. Side A reminds us of something Cooper Crain would do with a band smack dab in the middle of Cave and Bitchin Bajas. Side B brings heavier psyched out riffage that heads into experimental sparseness crossing somewhere between Sylvester Anfang II and White Hills. Recommended. REVIEW: Tiny Mix Tapes Deep into the Koi Pond you stare, atop the highest mountain of waste. Carefully, you poor two bubbling potions into a cup floating on the cool pond water. The raging liquid subsides, you reach in as koi flee from your movement and raise the damp cup with both hands to sip it. It’s real calm at first, and the fish begin to communicate with you in air pockets surfacing upon the water. They want out, but have no intention of a viable escape. You blink and the mountain side is curling around your toes. Shoes are gone. Myst and clouds develop a layer of valley below and surrounding you. Yelling into the abyss crumbles a distant mount during its echo, and you walk back to the Koi Pond. So Higher is your internal mantra as the pond changes from unnamed color to unnamed color. The fragility of your environment becomes apparent, and you end up in the water|out on the clouds|on the peak|So Higher|ibex horn in hand|flushed of meaning|tumbling into bushes|hanging by your nail tips|resting inside a cave|biting your nail tips red. You take a bigger sip. By C Monster on Jun 13 2012
	KYLE LANDSTRA REVIEW: Weed Temple The name of a young inner space explorer Kyle Landstra might be likened to the name of the (almost) outer space satellite Landsat, designed specifically for precise and sharp Earth imagery. But while the satellite takes high-quality pictures of large swathes of land, Landstra does quite the opposite: he focuses of micro-sounds, crafting shy and intimate ambient lullabies, similar in style and mood to the dusted drones of Sky Stadium, Lee Noble at his murkiest and Mike Pollard’s Pale Blue Sky project. Kyle Landstra focuses on quiet, subtle changes in melody, buried somewhere within the tape hiss (okay it’s not that bad, I’m just trying to be dramatic), as if trying to reflect through these sounds the microscopic shifts of mood that occur to us all the time. The tracks are very minimal and, like ambient in its purest form, focuses on differing textures and varying stages of “heaviness”. Each track works as a “counter-point” to each other, shifting moods between the lighter, more relaxing ones and the heavier, more focused on the sonic experience (while they might be not as ragged as Tim Hecker’s monoliths, the drones can get quite bassy at times, as exemplified on the opening “Curl”). The effect is very minimal, yet very effective. The threadbare nature of Landstra’s music actually adds to the experience, leaving more focus on the innermost thoughts while he makes us fly through the cosmos and the nebulae of our own consciousness. Even the cover doesn’t try to hide the fact that this cassette might be, for some, little (if anything) more than just a forgettable wall of wallpaper music. But it’s rather the fact that one might need to be in a certain, contemplative mood – otherwise the tape will pass by unnoticed, while the listener expect something completely different. But once it finds itself in the right circumstances – and the vessel, I mean, the listener, is in the right frame of mine – one serious self-realization might be about to happen.		REVIEW: Tiny Mix Tapes “The View From Here” lifts you as an apparition. Floating aloft your home, the tree that covers sunlight into your kitchen, telephone pole wires, birds shitting on your roof, clouds forming into white and grey, and you come to here. Here is where you complete a view. A view of colors sectioned and smeared. Moving outlines dash and drag along the landscape. Where the world curves looks like lit space/stars. One step is another continent, and you’re over deserts and dunes dwindling and resurfacing. Over the ocean, blue and shadows move with and without each other. The arctic ain’t melting, but erupting into streams and rivers. In waves of wind, the rain forest from here subtly and shortly awakens, as if recovering itself with blanketed foliage. Rest now upon “The View From Here.” Contemplate as though you are a part of Earth, not controlling it.
	DUANE PITRE REVIEW: Norman Records Not familiar with Duane Pitre though I’m pretty sure he’s a sound artist/avant-garde composer type. This tape features a new piece on side-A backed by a live performance from September 10, 2009 at the Community School of Music & Arts in Ithaca, NY. Side A is a bright, optimistic piece that uses long drawn-out synth and organ tones to produce and soothing, New-Age style endless drone. These pieces are always similar in delivery and approach but with a little concentration and a keen ear you can pick out all sorts of micro-detail and once you’re focused on that then the track seems to evolve in ever more complex and meaningful ways. Total cosmic super drone. Not got time to listen to the B-side but it’ll be rad I reckon... 5 stars...according to our Business Lady on Wed 18 Apr, 2012.		REVIEW: Tiny Mix Tapes And the drone goes onnnnnnnnnn. Sonic Meditations couldn’t be a more apt label for Monolithic Youth; it sounds like a church organ floating through the sky, its keys being mashed by the wind as the notes swirl and curl up at the ends. Duane Pitre is one of those — you know, he used to be in a band I dismissed (Camera Obscura), but now he’s changed his ways and dedicated himself to the experimental, with releases on Important and other labels you’d expect (NNA, Basses Frequences). He’s a man of the drift cloth, if this li’l tape has anything to say about it, but we’re talking relentless drift, the sort that bounces around your head like a pixelated pinball long after you press “Stop” and go on with your day. The waters get a little choppy as Side B inches forward, but it’s all in the drone.
	LAUBE REVIEW: Wonderful Wooden Reasons This German trio of Nils Lehnhauser (bass), Christian Drager (drums) & Eric Bauer (piano) have produced a wonderful set of minimal, melodic, ambient jazz. The instrumentation is sparse, the melodies free-falling and the mood tense yet underscored with a studied lethargy. I'm reminded, favourably, of Angelo Badalamenti's scores for Twin Peaks as Ausmerzen has that same dreamy quality to the music. It's a twilight album full of sleepy colours and vague shapes and for the most part it's really quite beautiful. I'll admit to being less than enamoured with the final track as the musicianship and musicality of the rest of the album is replaced with atonal, avant-garde crashes and bangs. It sounds like an Einsturzende out-take or a Z'ev composition and as such feels remarkably out-of-place here. In other circumstances I'd have probably enjoyed it but after the sublime beauty of the preceding tracks it is a disagreeable end to a sumptuous album.		REVIEW: Honest Bag Slow mtion jazz? Psilocybin induced jams for the hazy comet? As Miles once said, "call it anything". One thing is certain: Ausmerzen, from Laube on Sonic Meditations, is a stellar release and should not be missed. Laube consists of Eric Bauer on Rhodes piano and electronics; Christian Dräger - the proprietor of nug luvin Who Can You Trust? Records - on drums and percussion; and Nils Lehnhäuser on bass and electronics. Laube was formed in 2007 by Bauer and Lehnhäuser, intent on releasing heavy noise. After a few changes that resulted in a more inert sound, Dräger joined the band. The music has a cinematic quality to it, and should be well-received by fans of Type and Miasmah. The heavy sound should appeal to fans of psych rock. Laube have an excellent idea and the finished product is beautiful. Elongated, morphing bass tones forcefully cut a hole through the bong smoke clouds; Rhodes piano that saturates the pleasure center and provides flashbacks of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett's drug satchel; and shimmering percussion. These components fuse in a heavenly groove throughout. And when these guys get heavy, look the fuck out! The volume is your friend on this release. Ensure to use it liberally. Ausmerzen is a special release from one of the best labels around, Sonic Meditations. Here's to hoping that this initial release is quickly followed by the second effort. Get your ticket to bliss from Discriminate.
	SUNGOD REVIEW: Tiny Mix Tapes “A star exploded 4.5 billion years ago and set in motion the gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud …” Sungod pump out powerful vibrations, strong enough to make your ears bleed and consistent enough to cause you to fail drugs tests for months afterward. “Laurentide & Cordilleran” represents one of the many points wherein kosmiche drone lives out its full potential, stripped of gimicks and adorned in so many distinct colors it’s a miracle it all doesn’t mush into a pale brown. When the minimalist drums join the fray it’s almost like a Guardian Alien jammy taken down a notch or 10, the compositions revolving around unchanging root formations but ultimately sinking and swimming on the strength of the decorative effects that blink on and off like Christmas lights in Bangkok. Among the elements at play: • prog-drone ribbons of sound I’d attribute generally to Harmonia; • distant, desert-getaway acoustic guitar; • the much-appreciated, deliberate march of aforementioned percussion; • sound swirls that streak ‘cross the sky and curl like Qs; • a woozy, future-world feel common to the tapeworms out there; • abstract electric guitar ramblings one might liken to Six Organs Of Admittance or Fedora Corpse bands (Comoros, Plante, Honest To Goodness); • a surprising segue or two into quasi-mystical, kettle-drums-and-saw-blades-and-shrieking-strings territory resembling Hoor-Paar-Kraat, Wolf Eyes and Volcano The Bear via “Oh Baby, I Love You So” (more please); • an incredibly engrossing, shimmering strip of glinting, arpeggiated “beeps” care of “Cordilleran”; •the sort of game-face resolve it takes to put this subgenre of music across … every decision seems mulled over, all signs point to a slow drift into opium-den bliss; Anything I’d say beyond these points would only be overkill. Sungod ply a crowded trade with a collegiate ambition that sets them apart. They believe, and thus so will you.		REVIEW: Norman Records We've got this Sungod tape in from Justin Wright's Sonic Meditations label this week. In it Braden Balentine and Mike Sharp multi-instrumentalise their way around a variety of tones from electric guitar and synthesiser through to bells, bowed symbols, prayer bowl and the like, drawing out heady mystical drones with subtle underlying melodic and textural flourishes that mix the crunchy and physical with the smooth and cosmic for a bonged out space drone voyage with a marvelous thickness and clarity of tone quickly marking it out as a spacious and luxurious psychedelic treat. It's concordant and melodic and the tunes are well paced to reveal themselves over prolonged and in-depth listening, and there's so much going on texturally that I'm totally transfixed. Unsurprisingly it's reminding me a little of Expo 70. Beatless, languid psychedelic drifting which is busy without seeming imposing, big-sounding but not in your face. Cosmic ambience it may be, but it's more than background music. It's music to listen to in close detail after you've got so high you're starting to worry you might be stuck that way forever.