Offworld Recordings - atmospheric DnB from another world

I thought it appropriate to cover some records labels that are musically on our wavelength. One such label that we've been listening to a lot of late is the Edinburgh based drum and bass label Offworld Recordings.

They have a passion for the atmospheric / intelligent / melodic / ambient side of drum and bass. If you were feeling Good Looking Records back in the nineties (LTJ Bukem  - Logical Progression for anyone who needs to ask) then Offworld Recordings is a firm reminder that there's plenty of life in the atmospheric side of drum and bass yet.

Offworld was launched in 2009 by LM1 (Allan Cowie) and has seen a fine roster of artists join them, helping to establish the label further. Offworld has received much support from big names in the music industry which isn't surprising from the quality of their output.

Before we go any further here's the link to Offworld Recordings - releases are available in both cd and download

Offworld Recordings

Below are some videos showcasing the talent on offer.

The debut album from LM1 - Reshift is a must have. Here's a taster below...

Here's some other tracks by LM1....

This one's called Season of Descent

Destiny

Blue Mountain

It's tough to pick out artists / albums from this label as there's so much great music here. However, the compilation Offworld Transmissions Vol. 1 (2010) is an outstanding release and could be a good starting point if you're new to the label. Then there's amazing new artist albums from Scenic & Advisory - Paradigm Shift  and Seathasky - The past in my mind.

Also be sure to check out the Offworld EPs with deep releases from Bass' Flo, Oscillist, Opuscape, Shadowboxerz, Operon and Submatic.

Here's some other tracks to wet your appetite....

Johnny Beverton - Whatever you want

 Scenic & Advisory - Rising

Seathasky - The past in my mind

Sundancer - Into the emptyness

Oscillist - A new shade of blue

Seathasky & Beatchemist - Learn to fly

Opuscape - In the clouds

Clearly Offworld Recordings is a drum and bass label that has an affinity towards melody and atmosphere. It's the kind of drum and bass we digg on electronicmusicguide.com, music that takes us on a journey.

Hope you enjoy the music / artists and if you like what you hear please support the label :)

New Fanu album Serendipity out on Lightless Recordings

Apologies for the inactivity on emg of late, things have been hectic. Things should be back to normal very soon though.  You can also expect a few changes on the site. In the meantime you can check out and listen to some artists we've been digging over the last few weeks. Just go to the 'What's on our stereo?' panel on the site.

One album covered in that panel is a new release from Fanu. Fanu, otherwise known as Janne Hatula, has a new album out today called Serendipity. Janne is a junglist, sampler, dj, breakbeat and general music lover. His sound could be described as atmospheric drum and bass, drumfunk and experimetal. Some of his music is reminiscent of Photek. Fanu has released some fine work to date, namely Daylightless (2007), Homefree (2009), Lodge with Bill Laswell (2008), the album Focused Minds (2006) under the name FanuSamurai as well as a host of amazing 12 inch releases. His new album shows he's kept the button firmly on the quality control.

Here's a few links for you to listen to / purchase the album and check out Fanu in more depth : -

Fanu website

Fanu blog

Fanu on soundcloud

Fanu on facebook

Here's a few videos of his work.....

Hope you enjoy the new album......more music updates coming soon...

Even Weight by Enduser pushes the sonic boundaries

Hi folks

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog, things have been hectic of late. To try and make it up to you i'm going to post a number of blogs over the next while covering some great electronic music, music that deserves your attention. First up...Enduser....

Enduser was championed by John Peel and has released a number of great albums. He creates industrial strength drum and bass and hip-hop flavored breakcore but there's plenty more influences going on in his work. He's just released a new album called 'Even Weight' and what a finely crafted piece of work it is. Here's two tracks from the album....

This track is called Praise

Enduser & Hecq - Reciprocal

 Here's the track Fallen from the 2006 album Form without Function

Here's a few links to investigate this artist further :-

Enduser homepage

Enduser on Soundcloud

 Enduser on facebook

Hope you enjoy the sounds...more to follow very soon....

Tropics releases his debut album 'Parodia Flare'

Chris Ward, otherwise known as Tropics, has just released his debut album 'Parodia Flare' on the ever evolving Planet Mu record label. Having released his Soft Vision EP through the same label, we were eager to hear his full length album and it certainly doesn't dissappoint. Shimmering guitar sounds combine with dubbed-out electronics and understated vocals. The elements on this album come together beautifully, that's for sure. Here's a taster from Chris' Soft Vision EP....

It's a fine album from the young British multi-instrumentalist. At 22 years young, Chris shows real promise. If you like music that's emotive, psychedelic, layered, sun-drenched, delicate and melancholic be sure to check him out. A few words of caution....this is music for the headphone generation rather than the dancefloor. It'll move your mind rather than your feet. But I'm sure that was always his intention. And to think we almost missed out on Chris being a music producer....music production was his second choice of subject at Uni.....some things are just meant to be :)

Here's some Tropics links below :-

Planet Mu link

Tropics on facebook

Tropics on soundcloud

Tropics homepage

Sundial Aeon release their new album Mimesis

Previously called Sundial, Sundial Aeon are an ambient trance/chill out band from Poland. Mimesis will be their third studio album to date and is due for release any day now. Their previous albums Metabasis (2006) and Apotheosis (2007) were released on Flow Records. Apotheosis was quite a find for me and I couldn't help comparing it to the unmissable Northern Exposure compilation by Sasha and John Digweed. This double mix album came out in 1996 but is still a timeless masterpiece. No wonder people will pay a small fortune to get their hands on a copy.

Sasha and Digweed added effects and sounds which really created an engagingly layered listen. This certainly added an extra dimension to the tracks. They were the first to do this and pull it off in style imho. In a similar vein, Sundial Aeon's production on Apotheosis draws on emotive layers of sound which suck you in from the start. What's even more impressive though is their tracks morph and flow and as such always keep the listener interested. If you know Northern Exposure you might catch my drift by listening to the video below...

Their new album was inspired by RIESE, the secret military complex located near Waldenburg (now Walbrzych in Poland). It addresses a whole bunch of unexplained details, legends, myths and conjectures relating to RIESE . It definately sounds like a worthy follow-up to Apotheosis from our first listen. You can preview their new album Mimesis below....

Sundial Aeon - Mimesis link 

Happy listening folks :)

New Blade Runner Movie gets the green light

I know what you might be thinking....they shouldn't make a follow up to the classic sci-fi film Blade Runner simply because it will never come close to the original. Okay, I admit there's a thousand reasons why there shouldn't be another Blade Runner film (we won't discuss them here), but then again, if they are prepared to take that gamble they will have to come up with something pretty epic to try and hush the critics.

According to Deadline, Ridley Scott is going to direct and produce the film which is a good start. What isn't clear at present is whether the film's going to be a follow-up or a prequel. There are three follow-up Blade Runner books written by K. W. Jeter. Jeter's Blade Runner 2 : The Edge of Human really explored the Blade Runner universe in depth and could be a good starting point for a follow-up film. The original film was only loosely based on Philip K. Dick's book 'Do androids dream of electric sheep?'

One factor that will be paramount to it's successs, or it's failure, is the film soundtrack. Vangelis created a futuristic masterpiece for the original film so it'll be fascinating to see who composes the score for this one.

Let's remind ourselves of the Vangelis score with a taster below....

Will they want Vangelis to compose the soundtrack for the new film or will they go for an artist who makes more futuristic sounds to try and achieve their vision?

Whoever they choose has a massive task on their hands. Here's a few suggestions of electronic artists that could be considered for the job :-

Boards of Canada - the Scottish duo have a huge following but have yet to compose a film score. Maybe they are waiting for something that they can really get their teeth into. They were rumoured to be composing the Tron Legacy soundtrack before it was announced that Daft Punk were doing the honours.

Underworld have shown off their soundtrack skills by shifting with ease to a more cinematic /  ambient sound with the film scores 'Breaking and Entering' with the help of Gabriel Yared and 'Sunshine' with John Murphy.

Cliff Martinez came up with the sci-fi score for the film Solaris back in 2002 which some compared to Vangelis and Blade Runner. Whilst I think the Vangelis score is superior to his Solaris score, it still stands out as a fine piece of work.

Then there's Clint Mansell who's composed some unique scores. Requiem for a dream, The Fountain, Smokin' Aces, The Wrestler and the Britsh sci-fi film Moon are among his works that could see him become a candidate.

One thing worth noting is ambient music as a genre generally ages well. The Blade Runner score by Vangelis still sounds fresh and futuristic all these years later. So whoever does compose the soundtrack for the new Blade Runner film will be looking to create a body of work which will stand the test of time. A massive challenge to say the least....

Salt Tank are set to return to our stereos

Salt Tank were championed by the late great John Peel back in the 90s with their unique style of progressive trance and chill out. Their 1996 album 'Science and Nature' was such a well crafted piece of work touching on elements of techno, ambient and house. Their follow up album 'Wavebreaks' (1997) was more experimental but also a rewarding listen.

They're back after a long period of meditation so it'll be interesting to see what they come up with....let's hope they release a new album very soon....

Find out more about them on their website below...

www.salttank.co.uk

Now let's remind ourselves of some of their work below...

Eugina - Probably their best known track

Into the light of the shining path

Ocean

Swell (Eden) - Kate Bush is sampled on this track

Hope you enjoy :)

New Plaid album release date and new EP by Kalya Scintilla

Hi folks

I just wanted to mention that stuff we blog about we'll try and follow up on....
I talked about Plaid in a previous post and now we have a release date for their new album 'Scintilli'. The album will be released on the 26th of September on warp records. Here's a video from a track off the album called '35 Summers'.

You can pre-order the album now and there's also a rather cool Scintilla t-shirt you can purchase through Bleep. Relevant links below....

www.scintilli.com

Bleep.com link

Now to move on from Scintilli to Scintilla. Kalya Scintilla has just released his new Illusions EP on bandcamp. It seems he still has the button firmly on the quality control. You can listen to all 6 tracks by clicking on the link below. Enjoy....

Illusions EP on Bandcamp

Like Boards of Canada? Here's some similar sounds....

Okay, the blog a day thing didn't happen. I did manage it for a whole week though....

Boards of Canada (from Edinburgh, Scotland by the way if you didn't know) have a nostalgic pastorial sound that many have fallen in love with. They have released some great work, 'Music has the right to childrem' and 'Geogaddi' are must have albums. Their music contains themes of chilhood and is largely influenced by the natural world. Since they haven't released an album since 2005 here's a few other artists that share elements of their sound.

Yimino - kind of a cross between BoC and Plaid

Christ. - was a former BoC member before he went solo

Com Truise - Tripyra

Milieu - Paddyscapes

Casino vs Japan - It's very sunny

Tycho - The daydream

Hope you enjoy the videos and music :)

Plaid interview and a new album fast approaching

I'll come back to other artists who aren't part of EMG yet at a later date. Now let's talk about Plaid.

Plaid are Andy Turner and Ed Handley from the UK. They have been making forward thinking electronic music for more than 20 years now and are damn fine at it too. They started out as part of The Black Dog before parting ways. They have collaborated with the likes of Bjork and Nicolette and have remixed many artists including Red Snapper, Goldfrapp, Bjork and The Irresistible Force. Plaid have worked extensively with Bob Jaroc (who creates visuals to go with their tracks). He also created the visuals for their Greedy Baby DVD/CD.

Sometimes, because of the complexity of their music, it may take a few listens before you properly appreciate it. One things for sure, Plaid have produced a fine body of work over the years. Perhaps what's more impressive though is that they are always looking at ways of reinventing their sound. Here's an insightful interview with Ed and Andy...

Plaid have done two animation soundracks to date. Both are strong compositions. Tekkonkinkreet and Heaven's Door are soundtracks that are characteristically Plaid but also work well on the big screen. Here's the track 'White's Dream' from Tekkonkinkreet....

Plaid have been working on a new album for a few years now called Scintilla. All indications point towards a 2011 release. Because of the wait some believe it may be a double cd. And it looks like it's going to be released on Warp Records. Check out the Plaid website for their latest news, gig dates, etc....

www.plaid.co.uk

They also have a youtube channel called The Plaided for your visual and listening pleasure....

The Plaided Youtube Channel

Plaid have always made quality electronic music and we can't see the new album being anything less than another Plaid masterpiece :)

Brian Eno - A true innovator and pioneer of electronic sound

Brian Eno has had such an influence on many different music genres. He was a keyboard and synthesizer player as part of Roxy Music in the 70s. He went solo in 1973 making art rock before producing ambient landmark albums such as Ambient 1 - Music for Airports (1978) and Apollo : Atmospheres and Sountracks (1983). The 1983 album he made for the documentary film 'For all mankind'. Here's the track 'An Ending (Ascent)' from that album....

Brian has worked with a host of artists including David Bowie, Paul Simon, Grace Jones, Depeche Mode as well as U2. He's produced seven albums for U2, mostly notably 'The Joshua Tree'.

There's a vast music catalogue of his to explore. He's only just released a new album on Warp Records called ' Drums between the bells' with the words of Rick Holland. It's definately worth a listen.

We've only touched on this artist here. We appreciate we'll need to cover him properly on EMG in the near future. After all, Eno is one of the original pioneers of ambient music. In the meantime, here's a few links if you want to explore this genius further....

www.brian-eno.net

www.enoweb.co.uk

Electronic music that isn't part of EMG

There's loads of artists that deserve to be a part of EMG but aren't on the site as yet. I thought it was important to talk about a few that deserve mentioning... I know, there are so many more that I've missed out before you start reeling.....

Anyway, let's make a start...

First up, The Chemical Brothers. This is a difficult one. Only because I don't think they've released a bad album yet. So if you're new to them where should you start. Well, I suggest from the beginning - 'Exit Planet Dust'. It's an amazing journey which touches so many different genres I'd say it's impossible to classify. Here's a track from the album to wet your appetite...

Next up is the Future Sound of London. This could be a research project in itself, they've made that much quality music. They've also released plenty of material under the name Amorphous Androgenous with a more psychedelic edge. Anyway, for starters here's one of their best know track to date. To say it's a classic is a bit of an understatement...

Let's pick up this tomorrow with the ambient pioneer Brian Eno.... See ya tomorrow :)

Kalya Scintilla's Shimmer EP is a satisfying Dubstep journey

Kalya Scintilla is from Australia. His latest EP takes Dubstep into a whole new direction largely using Middle Eastern samples to devasting effect. His Shimmer EP dare I say it is his best work yet and it's clear that he's fast becoming a master of his craft.

Here's a taster from Kalya, the tracks actually called Eastern Liquid....

You can download this track for free from his bandcamp page - just click on the 'Feelin' Good' release. You can also name your price for his album 'Beginnings' - a collection of his early works from 2007-2008. Here's the link below...

http://kalyascintilla.bandcamp.com/

Here's his Soundcloud page, loads to listen to here....

http://soundcloud.com/kalyascintilla

There's 2 tracks from the Shimmer EP on his soundcloud page - Tribal Generator and Shimmer. You can listen to and buy the EP here....

Kalya Scintilla on addictech.com

Here's a few other links....

Myspace

Facebook

A satisfying listen from a producer that's really honed his sound. I'm looking forward to hearing the Illusions EP when it comes out.

Hope you enjoy :)

TPower has a new album in the works on Adastra Recordings

To say that I've listened to this guys work a lot is an understatement.

His album ' The self evident truth of an intuitive mind' was such a find for me back in 1995. It immediately blew me away. I never thought drum and bass could be so experimental and yet such a rewarding listen. I've never heard anything that's come close to the genius of some of his works. Here's a couple of tracks from the album. I suggest listening to 'Amber' 2 minutes in, that's when the track really kicks in...

Here's another track from the album called Octogon....

T Power (aka Marc Royal) produced some phenomenal stuff around that time bofore achieving mainstream success with the album 'Set it off' in 2002 in collaboration with Shy FX. Their single 'Shake ur body' reached number seven in the UK singles chart.

I'm pleased to hear that with Adastra Recordings TPower is coming home. And he's working on a new album titled 'MUSiC4LiF3'.

Here's what Marc says about the new album -

"For the fans who have patiently waited for a follow-up album to either one of these TPower classics (The self evident truth of an intuitive mind and Waveforms), it likely won't happen.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that a new TPower album is now in the works.  MUSiC4LiF3 has two main intentions: to remind fans as to why they waited in the first place and to reassure them that their wait was well worthwhile."

Check out the TPower blog by clicking on the link below....  Deep.....

TPower Adastra Recordings blog

I can't wait to hear what he comes up with and I'm sure I won't be the only one....

Here's another TPower track I came across from 1999

Happy listening....bye for now :)

Our plan....to talk about a different electronic music producer every day

Yeah right I hear you say....

Well that's the plan anyway :)

I'm not going to discuss the artist in depth, just a little bit about their music project/s, releases worth mentioning, a few links so you can listen to the artist, free stuff, etc.

Ultimately you'll make your own mind up whether you like the music or not. If you do please support the artist.

Okay, first up is an artist called Auditory Canvas. Otherwise know as David Holmes. (No, not the Irish film score producer by the same name). He resides in London and has a few EP releases under his belt not to mention the sublime debut album 'Fabric of Life' (2010). Below is a track from the album. This is one track where spoken word really works well. And there's a real message here. Food for thought....

David is giving away his latest EP for free. It's called the Rise EP and incorporates elements of Glitch, Dubstep and Downtempo with Middle Eastern samples thrown into the blend. Here's the link to download it below.

http://auditorycanvas.bandcamp.com/

You can also download the track Snow Fall from the same link. Check out his Earth EP, Destinations EP and Portraits EP too. They are all cheap and any EP you buy David donates 25% to NextAid.

Here's a couple of other relevant links

http://auditorycanvas.net/

http://summerrainrecordings.net/

Auditory Canvas on Facebook

Hope you enjoy....until tomorrow then ;)

Some electronic music still sounds fresh and some just sounds dated

Well folks, here it is, my first attempt at blogging.

I thought it would be interesting to discuss a few different forms of electronic music and how they have aged.

Will electronic music sound dated in the future? This is a near impossible question to answer but let's try and shed some light on the subject. I think it's largely going to depend on which genre we're talking about. It's also going to depend on what new sounds we come up with in the future. One thing is certain - electronic music is constantly evolving with new genres being created all the time and this is never going to change. I know music is always going to be a matter of opinion but I think in very broad terms some electronic music genres are going to age well and others won't.

Dubstep ( a kind of slowed down Drum & Bass) is the next big thing at the moment but surely we are going to reach a stage where dubstep implodes. Sure, it'll keep ticking along but it'll reach a stage where the same sounds are regurgitated over and over again. Much like what happened with drum and bass.

Ambient as a genre has aged really well imho. Take the Greek composer Vangelis for instance. His Blade Runner Soundtrack has aged particularly well (he came up with the score in 1982) and is a must have if by any chance you don't have it in your record collection. But let's listen to the track 'Creation Du Monde' from his 1973 album 'L'Apocalypse Des Animaux'. I mean 1973....can you believe it....

Now let's consider the genre Progessive House which was practically invented by Spooky (Charlie May and Duncan Forbes) back in the early ninties. They came up with the album 'Gargantuan' in 1993. Whilst it's a classic a couple of the tracks do sound dated. Spooky went on to produce three experimental and cutting edge EPs and they're still going strong today. Listen to the track 'Land of Oz' below though and you might catch my gist....apologies for the video in advance....

One track I will never get tired of is William Orbit's 'Water from a Vine Leaf'. It dates back to 1993 but still sounds fresh today. Orbit was one of the founders of the progressive record label Guerilla. He actually signed Spooky and released their 'Gargantuan' album through this very label. It's also worth mentioning that Spooky did 2 Remixes of Water from a Vine Leaf - the Xylem flow mix and the Acid Bath mix. Both are Epic. Orbit has become quite a household name with many, largely due to his 'Ray of Light' album with Madonna. He's gone on to produce some great music but for me 'Water from a Vine Leaf' is still his finest work to date. It astounds me in knowing that this track is 18 years old. Will this track sound dated in 18 years time. To me I doubt it somehow but only time will tell....

All three artists we've talked about here have produced some unmissable music over the years. If you want to dig further and we strongly suggest you do, check out the recommended section on our site. Just click on the link below.....until the next time people....;)

EMG Recommended link