Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Chillits

Chillits
Northern California Chillout Weekender



apologies, the sound recording is a little glitchy. Try it without the sound on.

Ulf Lohmann

Ulf Lohmann - Because



Because (12") Kompakt 2001
Because Before (CD) Kompakt 2001
Before (12") Kompakt 2001
On Frozen Fields (12") Kompakt 2005
Remixes:
Kompakt 100 (2xCD) Intershop (Ulf Lohmann... Kompakt 2004
Kompakt 100 (4xLP) Intershop (Ulf Lohmann... Kompakt 2004
Warp Mart Mix 001 (CDr) Intershop (Ulf Lohmann... Warp Records 2004












Appears On:
Pop Ambient 2001 (CD, Enh) Because Kompakt 2001
Pop Ambient 2002 (LP) Java Kompakt 2001
Pop Ambient 2002 (CD) Java Kompakt 2002
Pop Ambient 2003 (LP) Nicht Die Welt Kompakt 2002
Pop Ambient 2003 (CD) Nicht Die Welt Kompakt 2002
Pop Ambient 2004 (CD) Audrey Kompakt 2003
Pop Ambient 2004 (LP) Audrey Kompakt 2003
Pop Ambient 2005 (LP) Wasted Years Kompakt 2004
Pop Ambient 2005 (CD) Wasted Years Kompakt 2004
Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt (2xLP) Because/Before (Sibiri... Kompakt 2005
Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt (CD) Because/Before (Sibiri... Kompakt 2005
Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt (CD, Promo) Because/Before (Sibiri... Kompakt 2005
Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt (CD) Because/Before (Sibiri... V2 Records Japan 2005
Pop Ambient 2006 (CD) Burning Bright Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2006 (LP) Burning Bright Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2007 (CD) Lai King Est Kompakt 2006
Tracks Appear On:
Pop Ambient 2001 (CD, Enh) Because Kompakt 2001
Pop Ambient 2002 (LP) Java Kompakt 2001
Total 3 (CD) Because Kompakt 2001
Pop Ambient 2002 (CD) Java Kompakt 2002
Pop Ambient 2003 (CD) Nicht Die Welt Kompakt 2002
Pop Ambient 2003 (LP) Nicht Die Welt Kompakt 2002
Pop Ambient 2004 (CD) Audrey Kompakt 2003
Pop Ambient 2004 (LP) Audrey Kompakt 2003
Speicher CD 1 (CD) Before Kompakt Extra 2003
Kompakt 100 (2xCD) Because Before (The Or... Kompakt 2004
Kompakt 100 (4xLP) Because (Thomas/Mayer ... Kompakt 2004
Pop Ambient 2005 (CD) Wasted Years Kompakt 2004
Pop Ambient 2005 (LP) Wasted Years Kompakt 2004
Trax Sampler 075 (CD) Because (Thomas/Mayer ... Trax Sampler 2004
Pop Ambient 2006 (CD) Burning Bright Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2006 (LP) Burning Bright Kompakt 2005
SonneMondSterne Compilation 05 (2xCD) Night's Blood EMI Catalogue Marketing 2005
Pop Ambient 2007 (LP) Lai King Est Kompakt 2006
Pop Ambient 2007 (CD) Lai King Est Kompakt 2006

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Andrew Thomas



Prior to issuing the full-length Fearsome Jewel on Kompakt in 2003, New Zealand producer Andrew Thomas was responsible for a limited-edition release (100 copies) on Involve titled So You Wanna Be a (Death) Star. Thomas' first Kompakt venture was a significant improvement over his obscure, glitch-inflected debut, with most tracks falling somewhere between Ulf Lohmann's Because Before and Dettinger's Oasis. He fell into the Cologne label's "pop ambient" division with little trouble. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide.

So You Wanna Be A (Death) Star (CDr) Involve 2000
Fearsome Jewel (CD) Kompakt 2003
Fearsome Jewel (LP) Kompakt 2003
Hushhh (12") Kompakt 2004
Gaps In The Sun (File, MP3) KOMP3 2006
Co-production:
The New Face Of Smiling (CD) Frozen Cut Grass Carpark Records, Involve 2004
The New Face Of Smiling (LP) Low Light Sleep, Froze... Carpark Records, Involve 2004
Appears On:
Pop Ambient 2004 (CD) Fearsome Jewel (3), Fe... Kompakt 2003
Pop Ambient 2004 (LP) Fearsome Jewel (3) Kompakt 2003
Pop Ambient 2005 (CD) Soft Bullets Kompakt 2004
Pop Ambient 2006 (CD) M+K Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2006 (LP) M+K Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2007 (CD) I Am Here Where Are You Kompakt 2006
Tracks Appear On:
Earwork (CD) So You Wanna Be A (Dea... Capital Recordings 2000
Pop Ambient 2004 (CD) Fearsome Jewel (3), Fe... Kompakt 2003
Pop Ambient 2004 (LP) Fearsome Jewel (3) Kompakt 2003
Compilation (CD) A Dream Of A Spider, U... Involve, Capital Recordings 2004
Michael Mayer Präsentiert (File, MP3) Hushhh Kompakt 2004
Michael Mayer Presents Kompakt (CD) Hushhh Cornerstone Player 2004
Pop Ambient 2005 (CD) Soft Bullets Kompakt 2004
Pop Ambient 2006 (CD) M+K Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2006 (LP) M+K Kompakt 2005
Pop Ambient 2007 (LP) I Am Here Where Are You Kompakt 2006
Pop Ambient 2007 (CD) I Am Here Where Are You Kompakt 2006
Trax#37 (CD) Shinny Garden Trax (Magazine) 2007

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Twerk and Audible Oddities



http://www.audibleoddities.com/twerk/

In addition to some great production Twerk's mastering exploits as Audio Oddities has been a major part of the Post IDM sound music of super sick labels like Merck.

Mixmaster Morris

"Lay Down and Be Counted"
The Irrestible Force



Writer, DJ and composer Mixmaster Morris was one of the major players in new-school ambient electronica and its emergence from the dance world in the late 80's and early 90's. A passionate, kooky campaigner for the ambient cause ("it's time to lie down and be counted"), he first picked up a following via stints as a chill-out DJ in the early days of the U.K. acid house scene. His live shows combined looped sounds and samples from vinyl records with live electronic instruments with which he created layered, free-form mixes of sound and mood. As Morris told David Toop in the book Ocean Of Sound: "We've had sixty, seventy years of making records. That's stage one. Now we sample them".

It was a logical progression to take these techniques into a recording studio, which he did under the name Irresistible Force. Released on Casper Pound's iconic ambient techno label Rising High Records, Flying High is superior post-rave ambient that’s by turns playful, transportive and awe-inspiring. Elements of Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd and Jean-Michel Jarre are in evidence but deployed only tastefully and sparingly, leaving plenty of room for original, inventive hi-tech mindscapes. A sequenced kick drum appears on occasion to anchor things down but only rarely does it actually rise above the echoing ripples of melody and richly detailed atmospherics. Track titles like "Sky High", "Downstream" and "Moonrise" are a good indicator of the mindspace Morris occupies, though the plainly titled "Symphony In E" provides the album’s most striking moment. Seemingly out of nowhere emerges a simple, hypnotic violin phrase which Morris then pairs with a spastic, wobbly bass line to startling effect.

The classic It's Tomorrow Already is the third IR album, released long after the Rising High label had sadly folded. Here Morris has found a new home at the experimental breakbeat/hip hop label Ninja Tune and the album finds him in spellbinding form. Interestingly, the template here is quite different. Once it was ambient techno, now it's the equally fertile and far out fringes of hip hop. Highlights include the lazy space funk workouts "12 O'clock" and "Nepalese Bliss". Morris has also recorded the Dreamfish albums with German ambient maestro Pete Namlook.