the latest by canadian composer tim hecker serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue.

jacob long aka earthen sea is back on kranky with a new album.

elegant solo guitar ambience from mark nelson aka pan american.

ambient power duo anjous sophomore statement continues in the vein of their 2014 debut, unfurling a full hour of mesmeric synthetic drift and veiled melodic undertow. comprised of mark nelson (of pioneering post-rock experimentalists labradford and pan american) and robert donne (of labradford, aix em klemm, cristal), the group work largely in long-form suites of sound, alternately spacious and dense. the new lps six pieces embrace flux and ambiguity: drones swell and shudder, hushed currents of noise glitch and dissolve, atmospheres congeal and liquify. as with the participants prior projects, anjou evoke a shadowed, mysterious mood, variously melancholy and transcendent. the album is an accumulation of craftsmanship and experience, blurred forms traced in light and fog.

kranky was a bit surprised earlier this year when jessica bailiff contacted us and asked if we wanted to preview her new album for possible release. we had no idea she had even been working on an album, let alone had completed one, and we were rewarded with a listen to her most compelling album to date.

justin walter returns to kranky with his 3rd album for the label.

american indie rockers low in christmas mood.

first vinyl issue of the sole the dead texan album, originally released in 2004.

reissue of the self-titled aix em klemm debut album from 2000.

ethereal and atmospheric - loscil sets clouds to music.

this is the first reissue of tim hecker’s classic 2001 debut full-length. the original recordings were remixed by tim hecker and mastered by matt colton at alchemy mastering.

first vinyl reissue since the original 1996 release.

a few years ago we received an anonymous email with a link to three tracks and a simple message: “hi, maybe you would be interested in this music.” it’s easy to be skeptical of yet another link from yet another artist in a world overcrowded with them, but listening is our job and so we do it. the songs were instantly striking: extraordinarily slow, somber, and spacious, each vaulted cathedral chord reverberating poetically into the distance, the melodies rolling out like fog across a cemetery. captivated, we requested more, receiving a single word in response: “yes.” then, nothing. eventually, three months later, we received another email with slightly more information: a name (irma orm), a location (stockholm), and a bit of context (she worked alone, and progress on music was slow but steady).
fast-forward to mid-2016: we’re informed the album is complete, and it is breathtaking. hermetic gothic swan songs conjured from funereal piano, twilit ambience, minimalist percussion, and spellbinding vocals. the mood is lulling and lush but lost in sorrow, stark grey structures looming in the night. majestic open spaces between notes heighten the melancholic grandeur of orm’s arrangements, blurring the line between lament and lullaby. the songs less end than ebb away, succumbing to their own downcast beauty.

nice ambient sounds

high plains is the duo of scott morgan and mark bridges. morgan, based in the canadian pacific northwest, is predominantly known for his drifting, textured soundscapes released under the pseudonym loscil.

monument builders is the new album from loscil, the ambient/electronic project of prolific composer scott morgan. it was primarily created on sample-based instruments in morgan ’,s century-old vancouver home. like that aged space, this music is also rough-hewn, with rickety samples of boiling kettles and resonant moving air. recordings from a vintage micro-cassette recorder contribute distortion, rattles and textures that serve as both percussion and abstract aural color.

20th anniversary reissue of bowery electric’s 2nd album beat from 1996.

sea island is a collection of new material composed and recorded over the past two years. while many of these compositions were performed live extensively prior to recording, others were constructed in the studio and are being heard for the first time here. musically, the album represents a range of compositional approaches. murky, densely textured depths of sound are explored with subtle pulses and pings woven within, contrasted with composed or improvised moments of acoustic instrumentation making a move into the foreground. certain tracks on sea island such as album opener ahull make rhythm their focus by exploring subtle polyrhythms and investigating colliding moments of repetition and variation.

reissue of the 2007 masterpiece from stars of the lid.

the culmination of four years writing and editing, anjou marks the first collaboration between labradfords robert donne and mark nelson since the release of that groups *fixed:context* lp. combining modular synthesis, max/msp programming and live instrumentation, anjou deftly weaves noise with gentle ambience and melody with texture. guitar, bass and steven hess (locrian, fennesz, pan american) live percussion give the eight pieces an immediacy and create a framework for the more abstract sounds of digital and analog synth programming. the product of twenty plus years of friendship, anjou is refined and challenging. an extension of the labradford sound-world but no mere victory lap, anjou represents donne and nelson stepping out and forward, their eyes firmly focusing on the future.

an imaginary country continues from the trajectory of tim heckers last album, the critically acclaimed harmony in ultraviolet, while also showing a few new tricks. tim has incorporated more pulses into this work and also works with a sound pallete including overdriven mellotron strings and synthesizer. at times this album is less overtly aggressive than previous works, but the notion that this is pastoral work would be dead wrong as there are plenty of the agitated crescendos that he is know for. this music backs off from the void of immensity in favor of a terrain of lushness and warmth.

tim heckers masterpiece *mirages*, originally released only on cd in 2004 by alien8 recordings, finally gets a proper double 12 inch vinyl release, remastered and housed in a gatefold sleeve..

presenting a new collaboration featuring oren ambarchi on guitar, the electronics of robin fox, and both performing on various other instruments. the music on this album came about as the result of the two being asked to co-compose the soundtrack for a new production by renowned australian contemporary dance company chunky move for their connected production.

for fans of burial

nice ambient sounds

ambient power duo anjous sophomore statement continues in the vein of their 2014 debut, unfurling a full hour of mesmeric synthetic drift and veiled melodic undertow. comprised of mark nelson (of pioneering post-rock experimentalists labradford and pan american) and robert donne (of labradford, aix em klemm, cristal), the group work largely in long-form suites of sound, alternately spacious and dense. the new lps six pieces embrace flux and ambiguity: drones swell and shudder, hushed currents of noise glitch and dissolve, atmospheres congeal and liquify. as with the participants prior projects, anjou evoke a shadowed, mysterious mood, variously melancholy and transcendent. the album is an accumulation of craftsmanship and experience, blurred forms traced in light and fog.

high plains is the duo of scott morgan and mark bridges. morgan, based in the canadian pacific northwest, is predominantly known for his drifting, textured soundscapes released under the pseudonym loscil.