Back catalogue: Ambient/Drone

Review: The NOID imprint out of Belgium returns with its second vinyl drop, and this time takes you into some serene realms of breakbeat-driven pleasure court yes of Dave NA. His Altura EP opens with 'Escape', a wide open and airy mix of wispy synths and dusty, floating breaks. 'Elevation' has a more churning rhythm and dubby undercurrent and 'Pulse' (feat Freq444) has a hypnagogic feel, smeared vocal cries and more raw percussive patterns. 'Novox' (feat Freq444) shuts down with the most heavy and moody breakfast of the lot, a certain jungle swagger and plenty of heavy bass.

Review: Vemodalen means 'The fear that everything has already been done.' If that's not an enticing enough invitation to dBridge's album then we don't know what is. The music as relatable, too. Powerful, slow, sexy and vulnerable, it paints from a synthetic palette anyone over 30 has grown up with and will know intuitively from music and movies. Ranging from poppy motifs that are reminiscent perhaps of Roxy Music or Visage to more introverted electronica that nods at the Rephlex sound and perhaps Si Begg, all backed up by his history as Heartdrive and the Autonomic sound, this is dBridge looking back to look forward. Stunning.

Review: Scott Monteith is the Berlin-based but Canadian-born artist best known as Deadbeat, stepping out with new alias Ark Welders Guild. It is an audio-visual performance and recording project with Italian singer and curator Letizia Trussi, whom he met in winter 2021 and has since formed a strong creative bond. They work in Trussi's Rooms of Kairos studio and have already cooked up two album length pieces that come on Monteith's BLKRTZ imprint. Mons Clepsydra is the first and is an epic drone in four parts with string recordings permeating the moody, grainy, heavy atmospheres.

Review: The long-gestating follow up to 1992's initial instalment, Black Aria II would finally arrive in 2006 after years of discussion from Misfits/Samhain horror-punk visionary Glenn Danzig, and further his exploration into the cavernous realms of modern classical dark ambience. Conceptually based around Lillith, the first wife of Adam, the material here is far more minimalist and starker than its gothic predecessor, while utilising a more varied array of instruments on top of the pre-established organ and strings, with more Eastern sonic influences to conjure a mercurial vision independent of the preceding volume. Complete with eerie chimes, chants and esoteric lamentations, the project marks one of Danzig's most intriguing works when compared to, say, his Elvis covers compilations, and offers a transportive, biblical, haunting narrative delivered almost exclusively via instrumental atmospherics and insidious gloom.

Review: Hamburg crew Smallville managed to find their own unique niche in the deep house world right from the off. Their family of artists all had a cuddly, lo-fi, heartfelt take on the genre that has spawned countless classic LPs and 12"s, all with great artwork from Stefan Marx. Next up to add his voice to the conversation is Joe Davies with his new album Shields In Full Sunlight. It is a trip that has a lingering emotional impact such is the tranquility of the sounds and meditative nature of the grooves, which are embellished with wispy pads and subtle vocal sounds.

Review: We hope this isn't your first encounter with Kinetik, the impressively consistent Greek electronic label. If it is, we're sure it won't be your last. Exploring the imprint's archives is highly recommended, with arstists including Eric Random, Stephen Malinger, Dataman, Neural Network, Kodokushi, and Fezayafirar all having contributed to this amazing back catalogue of exploratory, often minimal electronic music. While you're in there, Diskinesia's For Instance is bound to come up. Originally released in 2015, listening back now, halfway or so through the next decade, it's lost none of its understated magic. From the subdued stabs and stepping drums of 'Extraction', and the sharp 'lectro breaks on '873-GDF', 'Flexion''s hypnotic, heads down, floor packing vibes and 'Krakatoa', with its low tempo, fade in-fade-out looped tension, it's multifaceted stuff that won't grow old fast. If ever.

Review: Kevin Drum is often cryptic in his work and that didn't change here on OG23, a record on Streamline that after a long wait for fans now arrives, at last, on vinyl. It features just two pieces of music, one on each side, and both are isolated soundscapes from deep under the surface of the sea. The Chicago artist layers up subtle drones and spaced-out electro signifiers, otherworldly ambiance and deft sound designs that all empty your mind and allow a little paranoid to seep in, such is the creepiness of their atmosphere. It's a magnificent work of quiet artists that is stuffed with evocative sonic imagery.