Cryptophasia is a language shared by twins that only they can understand.  On the new album of the same name, twin brothers Andy & Mike Truscott (popularly known as Kinbrae) use music to reflect their decades-long relationship.  This is the first full-length LP from Kinbrae since Birl of Unmap, their 2022 collaboration with Clare Archibald; their sound has grown subtler, but the beauty remains intact. The album tells a chronological story, beginning with “Vermiculation” (another great vocabulary word) and “Language Development.”  The brothers have listed struggles, ind ..read more

Daou‘s Forgotten Stories prompts nostalgia, its sounds hearkening back to antique equipment: stylus crackle, peeling photographs and perhaps forgotten stories of one’s own.  The patina is everything: notes abraded by tape and time, melodies distorted, memories blurred. Loops suggest rumination or regret, while underlying drones imply the cumulative weight of decades. And yet, the album is not altogether melancholy.  On “Last Sunday,” the tone brightens as a voice emerges from the ether, and while it doesn’t last, it’s enough to brighten the spirit.  Soft footsteps and ..read more

Astronomical spring is only two weeks away, and hundreds of spring albums have begun to poke through the sonic ether like crocuses and daffodils through dirt.  In a few weeks time, the bouquets will become fields, and the hills will be alive with the sound of new music.  We love this time of year, as we’re venturing outside without jackets, putting away the sweaters, opening the windows and letting the fresh air in.  After a somewhat slow winter, the music industry is also awakening from a months-long hibernation, with shows and festival announcements galore.  This week, we ..read more

This cassette has me thinking a lot about plastic, not only because the tape is about plastic, but because it’s released in a plastic shell.  Plasticene is one of three releases from the brand new okla records, based in Krakow, and leaving nothing to chance, Wound is the pseudonym for founder Bartosz Szturgiewicz.  The label is currently accepting demos, but don’t expect this window to last for long as folks will soon discover a great new home for leftfield music! The label calls the Plasticene era “a silent witness to mankind’s worst ideas.”  Plastic dominat ..read more

In 2012, Colin Herrick’s Time Released Sound was ACL’s very first Label of the Year.  We spotted the label right away, and have been fans ever since.  They’ve received a Best Packaging Award from us nearly every year the article has appeared, and we’ve reviewed approximately 30 of their releases, many also landing on year-end lists, the latest being Maud the Moth + trajedesaliva‘s Bordando el manto terrestre.  This last part is crucial, as it emphasizes the fact that Time Released Sound isn’t just a label whose packaging is exquisite, but a label with exquisite taste ..read more

Some of our favourite compositions are abstract soundscapes, avoiding musical progression in favour of detailed texture. Stepping into a space of dispersed, textural detail is a liberating escape. We may need an occasional reminder: large subsets of ambient music have remained wedded to melody and rhythm. They still bring contemplative immersion, but also the structured pull of jeopardy, suspense, and resolution. From despair to elation, melody has a heightened power to convey emotional experience. Differing hugely in sound and approach, two new albums share a lively and melodic approach. Both ..read more

Through his various aliases and outputs, Brock van Wey (aka bvdub) has established a signature sound that is both generous and elusive. He is best known for his ability to create space over time, meticulously layering sound through craftmanship. His unique method conveys timespace and is impossible to forget once experienced. Each song slowly grows into a journey through understanding, witnessing, reflecting, and coming to terms with different facets of “being in the world.” Destroyesterday is a deep, emotionally dense and musically complex sequence of compositions in which Brock van Wey conve ..read more

From the obsessively textured and richly hued artwork gracing the album covers (courtesy of visual artist and graphic novelist Theo Ellsworth), to the deeply enveloping and endlessly evolving psychedelic soundscapes within, London’s Astral Industries label consistently conjures up explorations that guide you deep into and/or well outside of your listening, dreaming self. They’re 36 releases strong so far, and their latest release, Live Recordings, by Ear to Ear, continues that tradition. Sprawling across four album sides, each one clocking in around 16 to 17 minutes, LR begins humbly, with a ..read more

The tone is ambient, the timbre electronic; Loula Yorke‘s modular synthesizer compositions create a trancelike state that is eminently relaxing, especially now that the occasional drums of Florescence have gone.  This is less of a sea change than a gentle shift, emphasizing an aspect of her music that has been there all along. The opening track comes across as an overture, the title the last line of a Robert Bly poem: “It has been decided that if you lay down no-one will die.”  And while someone may die while you rest, it’s highly unlikely and not deserving of the worry, which i ..read more

In a fast-paced world, cold weather can be a useful cue to slow down. Ambient music offers precious respite, whether we stay home in the warm or watch the steam rising from a crowded street. I relistened to today’s albums on a freezing bus, the pavements frosty and the sun still rising. Neither is a card-carrying winter album (one of them is autumnal!) – but the mood was just right. These albums belong to a subset of ambient music with no sudden movements, where an instant is held and extended. Wrap up warm and be subsumed by the moment. Founder of Past Inside the Present, prolific collaborato ..read more