Favorite Releases from August 2022
"The trees will tell their secrets to those that tune in." - Steven Magee
August brings us the final stretch of summer as festivals return worldwide. From the outdoor adventures to the roof parties and warehouse experiences, this month sees stunning releases from Saphileaum, Carsten Jost, Reedale Rise, Alfred Czital, Aiôn Lazura, Lav, Estrato Aurora, Siarem, Kessler, Frank and Tony, map.ache and Lawrence as Sten. Releases are listed in no particular order.
Carsten Jost
La Collectionneuse IX (Reedale Rise Remix)
Dial Records
Following the success of his recent album "La Collectionneuse I - X," the Dial Record's co-founder Carsten Jost revisits the long player with reworks from Mary Yalex, XDB, Vera Logdanidi, Reedale Rise, and an unreleased bonus track "La Collectionneuse - X." The four artists fuse their versatile musical backgrounds to present listeners with a fresh sound that combines ambient, leftfield house, and electronica elements.
The Liverpool- based producer Simon Keat, a.k.a. Reedale Rise, creates an endless blissed-out summery vibe with his version of "La Collectionneuse IX." Rise adds a hint of Balearic percussion floating atop the dreamy pads and intricate sound layers that emphasize an emotional twist.
Alfred Czital
Ataxie
Technologia Organica
Curated between Berlin, Germany & Santiago de Chile Technological Organica imprint launched into the musical arena in 2021 with a various artist compilation, "Organica01." Inspired by "Sound, Nature, and Patterns & Communication," their sophomore split release captures the essence of the curated sound with its hazy atmosphere, widescreen shimmer, and texture-induced rhythms.
The "ORGANICA002" EP comprises three tracks featuring music from Launea, Harmony Rec's Alfred Czital, and Berlin-based producer Octo Åeterna.
Alfred Czital's "Ataxa" moves the listener with elegance, focusing on the dynamic between a driving rhythm, kaleidoscopic percussive patterns, and delicate melodies melting with an uplifting vibe.
Aiôn Lazura
Akasha
Secuencias Temporales
Aiôn Lazura has been a musical explorer for many years. Thanks to this deep exploration, he has discovered and defined his own identity and style, primarily focused on his appreciation for Ambient music and the Dub Techno sound.
Aiôn produces songs without intention or objective but to express himself in general. His inspiration is subconscious, and he enjoys imagining Science-Fiction scenarios and anticipation with a utopian sense. The LP called Light Collision is his debut, a concept album characterized by calm and warm themes moving towards more and more experimental themes with somber but deep touches. It is an eclectic album full of emotions, sonorities described as complex, strong bass lines and subsonic frequencies. The seven songs are an invitation to travel in each listener's imagination with their interpretation.
Lav
Under The Microscope
Past Inside The Present
Past Inside the Present (PITP) is an American ambient label focusing on offering up some of the best ambient, drone, soundscape, and minimal music by passionate artists from across the globe. Their next release welcomes Lav to the family with a stunning debut long-player, "A New Landscape." "The man behind the machines is Christopher Landin, sound artist and photographer hailing from Karlskrona, Sweden. While embracing flourishes of electronic melancholia, Lav showcases his affinity for harmonizing nature imagery and natural sound in his arrangements. 'A New Landscape' is wonderfully atmospheric, sonically detailed and ultimately an ear-pleasing affair. This collection of arrangements reveal buoyant electronic soundscapes with a touch of bittersweet melodies."
The reflective mood lifts gently on the second track, "Under The Microscope," with its rolling rhythms and intricate harmonies accentuated with rim shots and subtle electronic flourishes.
Saphileaum
Nearby The Golden Lake
Not Not Fun
Multi-media mystic Andro Gogibedashvili aka Saphileaum's latest slate, expands his "spherical ambient" lexicon into increasingly celestial terrain, inspired by visions of galactical oases, sparkling starscapes, and elemental serenity. Ganbana takes its title from a Georgian word for 'cleansed by water,' which aptly characterizes the album's six liquid-tribal compositions. Rolling oceans of hand percussion flow below gentle swells of electronics streaked with ocarina, insects, and sitar. Snippets of mantric voice occasionally cut through the devotional trance. Still, Saphileaum's world is one of solitude and ascent, attuned to a time and space outside our own, where "a second is a century, and a century a second, as the waterfall of cosmic nectar is poured over your being."
Estrato Aurora & Siarem
Alien
Sungate Records
After dropping their second collaborative record early this year via HR records, Estrato Aurora and Siarem have joined forces again for a new EP, "The Passengers." Over the three tracks on the release, the duo dives into deep sonic soundscapes that bend and fold amongst layered textures of sheer ambiance and emotive moments. The package comes complete with a mighty remix from VC-188A.
Combining a breakbeat and ambient techno elements with emotive nostalgia, the fourth track on the EP "Alien" fills the imagination with illusory images of haze-inflected realms.
Buy on Bandcamp
Soundcloud - Estrato Aurora
Soundcloud - Siarem
Kessler
Aspect
Shall Not Fade
Belfast-born, Rotterdam-based producer Kessler is back by popular demand. Endless EP - his second SNF release - sees him continue in the spirit of the previous one, deftly capturing moods and building worlds through breaks. Some of these enchanting worlds are cushioned by warm tonal melodies and an instrumental quality ('Endless'). Others are harder to navigate, with skittish drum workouts which clatter around an already-complex soundscape ('Mare's Nest'). On 'Aspect,' things get emotional, not a far cry from the provocative nature of Overmono's music. Speaking of which, Belfast producer Optmst is drafted in to close proceedings, reimagining the title track and continuing in the same vein with emotive pads and pitched-up vocal licks.
Frank and Tony
Eastern Meantimes feat. Eliana Glass
Scissor and Thread
Following on from Dream Vibration - which broke a five-year hiatus from the much-lauded production pair of Francis Harris and Anthony Collins - Eastern Meantimes brings us a sublime set of tracks and remixes. The original features New York artist Eliana Glass, whose sultry vocals ride above a deep, atmospheric groove and lush pads. The track is also presented here with two stellar remixes from Timmy Regsiford, the New York legend who has been defining the sound of the house in the city for nearly 40 years.
map.ache
IZA
Circoloco Records
‘Circoloco Records' string of releases continues with map.ache's 'IZA.' The first single from a forthcoming EP from the member of the Giegling collective, the eclectic group of German producers and DJs responsible for a string of underground classics.
'IZA' is a signature map.ache melancholy and hypnotic deep house with warm bass, layered descending synth melodies, and snippets of plaintive vocal.
Sten
Freewalk
Sushitech Records
Dial record label co-founder Peter Kersten better known as Lawrence has unveiled his highly anticipated album under his minimal and techno-oriented moniker, Sten. Entitled "Earthshine," the third album is described as "an extended journey of 12 tracks written and produced by Peter Kersten over the last 5 years. Atmospheric Ambient to deep techno and everything in between put together by a true master of the craft."
Delayed has premiered the powerful track "Freewalk." Read the article by Sabrout