The Ambient Music Blog

Chris Harvey third album, called “Colonization” is out now (released in April) and Chris was kind enough to send me a copy to listen.

“Colonization” is really a great record, something between Electronica and Ambient (it is stated “Experimental Ambient Electronica” on the press release and that’s perfect description), a subtle mix between very calm atmospheres and some rhythms.

Chris Harvey is remarkably crafting 18 different ambiances, in a very unusual format, where tracks are short (1 to 5 minutes), delivering the heart of each song in a very straight forward way, not really usual for the Ambient genre.

From the press release :

‘Colonization’ continues to move his unique style forward, providing further melodic and sonic refinement to produce music from “the retro-future that may yet come to pass”, promising to be a treat for avid fans and those who prefer their electronic music to be aimed at their frontal lobes.

Cool stuff.

Visit the artist website : Chris Harvey “Colonization” & buy the record.

Hi all, long time no post, but I am definitely around now, after moving to south of France !

Yesterday thx to a friend journalist I was invited to see Jean Michel Jarre live in Nice. Just wanted to say for those in Europe that will have the opportunity to see him (see dates that are coming) that it was a great show !

This year, unlike some of the big events he as done in the past, Jarre is playing small places, with 3 other musicians, really live, on some of the most legendary synths of all time !

I’ve seen a Moog Modular, Theremin, Moog Liberation (incredible solo from Jean Michel), CS-80v, ARP …etc. Impressive, a museum !!

Not really “ambient”, but worth the money for any Electronic and Synthesizer addict !

I’ve forgot my real camera (sorry for the very bad photo of JMJ with the Liberation) but there is some great pics on Jarre Official Blog.

Tangram (aka Peter Fabok) just released a new ambient space music album : “Tepidarium“.

“Tepidarium” is a complete and free album to download in MP3 format, it is the second from Tangram, the first one was “Aura” another great release.

This record is very old Berlin school style, with lots of analog sounds and sequences… The tracks are reasonably shorts, if you except the 10 minutes masterpiece “Well tempered humidity” a song in the pure style of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream.

The quality of the record is top, not pure ambient, but very cool and relaxing sequencer music.

One of the masterpiece of the year… and a free mp3 download !

EDIT: All good and back up again !

A message from George I just relay here :

Dear Ultima Thule listener,

You may have noticed that we have not updated our podcasts for the past 6 weeks.

This is due to an impending relocation of our website to a new, improved web hosting provider.

Ultima Thule has been making available podcasts of our weekly broadcasts since May 2005; we were in fact among first radio shows to be podcast anywhere in the world.

In January 2009 we doubled your weekly dose of Thule, by progressively releasing available programmes from our 20+ year archive as part of our podcast feed.

As a consequence our global audience has grown to such a phenomenal extent that our current web hosting provider is no longer able to handle the traffic volumes that we’re generating.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mouhahahaha, the guys at Synthtopia are just crazy !

For their Free Music Friday this week, they just went mad with their readers:

They offer 500 (yes ! 500 !) electronic music tracks that you can listen on line and download !

Here is what they say :

It’s Free Music Friday at Synthtopia – so I ask you this:

How much free music do you want to download today?

* 10 tracks?
* 50 tracks?
* 500 tracks?

It’s time to make sure you’ve got some empty hard drive space, because Synthtopia readers have uploaded over 500 electronic music tracks that you can listen to online and, in most cases, download for free.

We’re talking ambient, techno, symphonic electronica, IDM, not-so IDM, abstronica, DJ mixes, remixes, downtempo electronica and more from some the most talented electronic musicians in the world.

Now what I say is : Go to The Free Electronic Music Motherlode and listen and download !

ps: You will notice they’ve used the SoundCloud more and more popular platform for this operation…

A very very very cool one !

Prior to launching the full album, Numb just released a single, “Boot Sector” that you can listen on their mySpace page.

The 3 tracks (‘Boot Sector”, “System Restart”, “Why”) are very good, but the title song, “Boot Sector” is a killer, one of the best Ambient track of these past weeks. it is very cool and warm, yet you have things happening and that wonderful melody, a great one that reminds Vangelis…

Go and give it a go, here is the link to buy the record at The Void.

Here is an excerpt :

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A very nice record sent to me via Twitter :

“Binary Scenes” is the debut release by San Francisco Bay Area electronic artist, Atomic Skunk. Atomic Skunk’s music features “artful melodies with cinematic moodiness” and has been described as “Very meditative” and “Zen-like” with some “chaotic and dark elements/rhythms.” The album, Binary Scenes was recorded entirely with Ableton Live in Marin County, California and features 8 fresh and original tracks that “force a headspace of chill and peacefulness.” “Binary Scenes” is available now at iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp and CD Baby.

Take your browser to the Atomic Skunk website to discover this album !

Air is a new music application for the iPhone made on Brian Eno’s concepts, and it is a generative, both musical and visual.

Brian Eno said “It’s like “Music for Airports” made endless…”

At $1,99 if you have an iPhone you should give it a try…

(source: Synthopia)

This one is a must have for EM fans out there !

MellowJet Records just released a wonderful sampler of some of their best artists, it’s a full length free download as mp3 of 70 minutes of pure EM wonder.

Lots of things will talk to Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Jarre fans, but Ambient listeners should give it a try too, because this is relaxing sequenced music !

The first MellowJet-Sampler with Wellenfeld, moonbooter, Erez Yaary, Uwe Reckzeh, Exposed, Stefan Erbe and MaEasy…

Download : MellowJet records : Electronic Musique Compilation 1

The Ambient label Ping Things is offering an incredible free album to download as high quality mp3 for you.

“A decade of Dreaming” by the famous dreamSTATE is a compilation of an incredible live performance by some of the finest ambient musician out there:

“a decade dreaming” features a selection of live performances by dreamSTATE spanning ten years of concerts at THE AMBiENT PiNG, celebrating both the music and the PiNG community of the last decade.

With guest performances by Eric Hopper of Sylken, Alan Bloor of Pholde/Knurl, Jim Field of Spacenoiz, James Johnson, Wally Jericho, and Cheryl O, “a decade of dreaming” is a beautiful collection of music that captures the essence of dreamSTATE and the PiNG itself. From the smooth pads of “Soundscape for Richard Wright”, through the delicate melodies of “Jharna Revealed”, to “Premillennial Landscape #1″ and its celestial tones, “a decade dreaming” is a fabulous release that I am delighted to be able to share with you.

I am listening to it right now as i write this post, and this is a masterpiece !

Download “a decade dreaming” by dreamSTATE for free from ping things!