Two (Live At Sydney Opera House)
Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto present Two, which captures the esteemed duo’s 2018 performance at Sydney Opera House. The concert saw the pair performing new improvised work and key collaborative compositions from their joint catalogue, which has now reached five albums, one major film score and an EP.Last year the duo undertook a series of live events entitled Two at Berlin’s Funkhaus, Barcelona’s Theatre Grec (closing Sonar Festival’s 25th Anniversary), London’s Barbican Centre and Melbourne’s…
In a Landscape
Rain, spit, ice, neon, mercury, arcing electricity, plants, steam, soil, and dust; this is dream music from Sa Pa. Following up on his 2015 debut 風物詩 [Fuubutsushi], In a Landscape provides rich content for fantasy and the fertile imagination, establishing a rich terrain of visual, poetic, and abstract sound that draws on techno and dub ambient.Somewhere between pastoral impressionism and cyber-noir, its surface evokes the tensions of a fluctuating, fizzing atmosphere, pictures emerging and disso…
Pop Ambient 2020
"20 years of Pop Ambient. Already? One didn’t notice. It’s an anniversary which comes quietly. An anniversary with quiet tones.
In the spirit of the special restraint of pop-elegance, it has no reason to drawn attention to itself with a big "Tam-Tam". Or better: "Bum-Bum". The bass drum stays outside. Nevertheless, in fast-paced, overstimulated times of moving forward, it’s a joyful occasion to look back.
What strikes most by putting or listening to 20 years of pop ambient in a row is the cent…
Ethereal Transects - The Lore of Celestial Objects
The latest installment in the Folklore Tapes canon sees the collective cast its gaze skyward - to the glittering orbs that steal their way silently across our night sky. Ethereal Transects is a compilation album and booklet exploring the lore of celestial objects through experiments in sound and vision. Each contributor has researched a particular orb and - inspired by the tapestry of its myth and legend - fashioned an original soundscape in its likeness. The result is an audio voyage around the…
Interiors Three - Empty Time
**300 copies** Cobwebbed keys and dust mite spectres perfuse the dimensions of rooms 14-19 in the third and final volume of the Tape Loop Orchestra’s ongoing Interiors investigations, subtly refining the Tape Loop Orchestra sound from vast and moor-like to minimalist and economic. Big tip if you’re into Tim Hecker, William Basinski, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Richard Skelton.Again accompanied by a booklet of evocative 'found' images, TLO vicariously probes our relationship to space and tim…
I Suppose I'm Your Future
**200 copies on 180g black vinyl, silk-screened artwork** After having released several solo works of both artists, Dauw announce the first collaborative full album by The Humble Bee and Benoît Pioulard, I Suppose I'm Your Future.Both artists hold a very special place in the history of the label. The Humble Bee was already present from the very beginning and, in hindsight, definitely has put an important mark on the musical aesthetics we've been developing throughout the years. On the other hand…
Slow Spark, Soft Spoke
**200 copies on heavyweight clear vinyl, silk-screened artwork** Shortly after releasing his highly acclaimed The Benoît Pioulard Listening Matter (Kranky), Pioulard left on tour to Europe in order to promote the album. This tour took him to several distinctive places ranging from urban Brussels to rural France and the mystic capital city of Iceland, Reykjavik.Once returned to Seattle, these new impressions and memories formed the inspiration to make Slow Spark, Soft Spoke. Not surprisingly, the…
Patience
**65 copies** Patience is a split release that sees Grant and Rachel Evans aka Quiet Evenings, as well as Roman Kurhan aka Monotronique, each showcase a single, continuous piece of gracefully slow moving ambiance.Monotronique, usually known for his rhythmic and up tempo electro, (which he thoroughly displayed on his debut album Heat Absorber via Opal Tapes this year), turns to a new side of his diverse sonic arsenal, displaying a serene loop of gauzy organ piano intervals that manage to leave a …
Below Sky
**65 copies** With over 40 releases under his belt, including works published on labels such as Angoisse, Constellations Tastu and No Rent Records, as well as collaborations with Celer and Skin Graft, it is safe to say that John Daniel has left a visible mark on the ambient scene via his Forest Management project over the years.Forest Managementʼs solo release for Vaknar, titled Below Sky sees him conjure a downcast and brittle set of saturated loops, coming across as a series of dissolving memo…
Turra (MiniCDr 3")
"I was searching the Turra along with Andrea Marutti to capture sounds for a forthcoming music release, when the refrain of the Archiaro carillon came to my mind. Without rehearsal, and availing myself of the natural reverb of the Turra, I gave voice to my soul." - Tommaso Cosco"Turra is a single long conceptual piece that can be thought as a derivative / sound musical approach to the concept of askesis, I do not mean aescetism but interior activity or communication of the soul and the will whic…
The Subliminal Relation Between Planets (Live in Archiaro)
"Performed and recorded live in Archiaro (Catanzaro, Italy), The Subliminal Relation Between Planets presents outstanding sensory-emotionally ecstatic droning textures with a great feeling of floating sensations. The concept perfectly fits the symbolical significant musical harmony of the spheres (Pythagorean Greek theory on mathematical principles). In this magic live and largely improvised performance built on synthesised sounds and electronic treatments, Andrea Marutti invites the audience to…
Sleepless Nights | Lysergic Mornings (MiniCDr 3")
"We welcome back the italian artist Andrea Marutti (also known under the Amon or Never Known aliases, head of the sadly defunct Afe Records label too). Andrea was the very first artist to have a 3″ on Taâlem, and that was exactly 18 years ago! Here he proposes a rather psychedelic yet dark and ambient journey in two parts." - Jean-Marc Boucher"Sleepless Nights | Lysergic Mornings is particularly important both for Taâlem and me, because it comes exactly 18 years after my Traces 94-95, which on D…
Sleepwalker
UK ambient pioneers O Yuki Conjugate release their first new album for over a decade. Sleepwalker documents the group's recent live shows, doubling as a soundtrack to a film of the same name by founder member Andrew Hulme. Comprising 10 new tracks taken from 24 live shows in nine countries across Europe, Sleepwalker captures OYC's current musical direction, a blend of plangent keyboards, abstract guitars and electronic rhythms, presented in OYC's inimical style.
Chains of Being
**300 copies** Avantgarde electronic ambient walking through the paths of Brian Eno, Harold Budd or Roedelius. A conceptual and contemporary approach to Early Music, exploring its ambiences, timbres and feelings. Delicate experimentation with sound textures where different tones of white noise can meet the strings from a viola da gamba. A cinematic work, very touching and emotional. Almost mystic, spiritual ambient.Presented in a very careful edition, the record comes packed in a folder printed …
Vientos Eléctricos
**300 copies** An ambient journey to the inner reaches of the sound modulation. Weird rhythms that remind to Craig Leon, blended with synth sequences close to the kosmische Berlin School and experimental guitars giving an organic touch. An LP of experimental minimal electronics with ambient traces. A cyclical cloud that renovates de orography of places already explored by artists such as Dieter Moebius, Steve Hauschild, Conrad Schnitzler, Cluster, Harmonia...Mecánica Clásica is a new project bou…
America Invertida
LP version. Synth ambiences, acoustic landscapes, deep songwriting, and subtle candombe percussions combine in most of the musical output released in Uruguay during the '80s. A very unique sound was developed within the narrow boundaries of Montevideo, the country's capital city, by just a small group of very talented artists. These sounds reverberated in singer-songwriting (Eduardo Darnauchans, Fernando Cabrera, Estela Magnone), jazz fusion approximations (Hugo Fattoruso's La Escuelita), experi…
Alchemy - An Index of Possibilities
This collection features the gorgeously ethereal Words With The Shamen mini album (recorded 1985) together with several rarities recorded by David Sylvian during this period with Ryuichi Sakamoto.Also featuring the likes of Jon Hassell, Holger Czukay, Steve Jansen, Robert Fripp, etc., Alchemy - An Index of Possibilities is yet further proof that David Sylvian's musical touch is as light and blessed as ever - taking you on a smoky journey through drifting territories that never once belies it was…
Garden of Reality
**300 copies** Conceived in the cultural cellars of Bangkok, Thailand, and Geneva, Switzerland, this 9-track LP by Jerome, aka Yantra Mandir and The Dude of Stratosphear, casts a wide net over experimental meditative ambient music, progressive drone, Brahmanic accents, and ritual oscillations.Together, this work represents a 20 year journey in Geneva of musical production, artistic expression, and the melting pot of experiences fused with the rich legacy of Indian spiritual sounds.The LP is part…
Sea Of Bliss
First ever vinyl edition of the landmark 1980 cassette by synth wizard Don Slepian. From 1970s Hawaii on to modern day New Jersey, Don Slepian has enjoyed a reputation as one of new age’s most respected and technologically-advanced synthesists. Slepian’s 1980 landmark Sea of Bliss is frequently cited as one of new age’s greatest albums, and is one of the genre’s most legendary tape-only recordings. Two side-length Alles synthesizer tracks transport listeners to personal paradises for relaxatio…
Sonno
**Much needed re-press of Alessandro Cortini's 2014 debut album for Hospital Productions, a much sought-after and highly immersive suite recorded using a minimal setup in hotel rooms across the globe while on tour as part of Nine Inch Nails** Hospital Productions debut from Nine Inch Nails’ Alessandro Cortini, a suite of 9 analogue synth pieces complete with found and ambient sounds Alessandro Cortini is best known as the lead electronics performer in Nine Inch Nails’, but in recent years his wo…