Alexander Turnquist - Faint At The Loudest Hour

Label: VHF Records

Released: 2008

Style: Folk Rock, Drone, Experimental

"Faint at the Loudest Hour is the astonishing solo debut by guitarist Alexander Turnquist, part of a young generation of guitar players who have taken their incredible virtuosity and turned it into something actually worth listening to. Like James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, etc, this could roughly be described as "raga" guitar, with its long, modal compositions and hypnotic overtone play. Unlike most of his peers, Alex employs a variety of extended techniques ala Hans Reichel, grappling the strings with both hands and using a variety of approaches and attacks on both the steel and wood. There's also a distinct lack of audible "roots" influence here, with Alex sidestepping the Fahey-isms that dominate so much current acoustic guitar music. Along with the 6 & 12 string acoustics, Alex makes subtle use of electronic textures, such as the surprising Fennesz-like dissolve that occurs midway through "amongst a swarm of hummingbirds."' - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Amongst A Swarm Of Hummingbirds (13:29)

2 In The Vein Of Bedlam (11:05)

3 Water Spots Upon My Mind (13:48)

4 White Out (5:02)

5 Mime Fight (10:43)

6 As The Sun Sets, We Think Of Days To Come (3:13)

Link

Rafael Toral - Violence Of Discovery And Calm Of Acceptance

Label: Touch

Released: 2001

Style: Abstract, Experimental, Drone

"More oceanic 'calm of acceptance' than 'violence of discovery', these ten Ambient meditations on treated electric guitar, gathered from the last seven years, are like a series of exquisitely poised and iridescent ragas. Hailing from Portugal, Toral's work has been compared to that of Robert Fripp in its exploration of the melodic colour of drones, loops and overtones, using only guitar and analogue equipment. Slow, broadly arcing and snaking coils of sound unfold like a gargantuan reverberating wind chime, or a labyrinth of vast organ pipes. Two or three drones will twist alongside each other, causing harmonic clouds that tremble and melt without setting up much rhythmic interference. The effect is deeply colourist. Whether it climbs its way out of the growling depths, or shimmers into appearance like a scraped gong, each track moves into the same kind of pitch range and lets the Aurora Borealis work its sonic wonders. 'Maersk Line' is more quavering , seesawing and abrasive, and this well judged introduction of movement helps to animate the second half of the album. 'Optical Flow' unexpectedly foregrounds more plucked chimes, falling upon each other like a music box. Other later tracks give a fuzzier feedback edge to the iridescent prowling of the drones, or use the puckered croak of slowly scraped guitar strings to provide stronger textures. The final track steps off into post-rock territory, with, for the first time, a downbeat strumming of plangent chords and a fuzzy background drone (provide, believe it or not, by a recording of 'silence' from a space shuttle mission, broadcast on the Web), which raises the spectre of My Bloody Valentine. Bliss with ballast. " - The Wire

Tracklisting:

1 Desirée (3:58)

2 Measurement Of Noise (6:27)

3 Quiet Mind (4:00)

4 Maersk Line (3:15)

5 Liberté (5:35)

6 Optical Flow (3:51)

7 Energy Nourish (5:15)

8 Hay Que Trabajo Me Cuesta Quererte Como Te Quiero (8:56)

9 We Are Getting Closer (3:57)

10 Mixed States Uncoded (5:00)

Link

Concern - Truth & Distance

Label: Digitalis Recordings

Released: 2009

Style: Drone, Experimental, Ambient

"Gordon Ashworth is Concern and this is his manifesto. "Truth & Distance" is a mini-epic, a minor masterpiece. Within these sonic walls lies a stunning landscape, adrift in golden tones and silver siren songs. Ashworth creates beautiful, shimmering music that defies categorization. It stands on its own, droning away into the furthest reaches of the night. Using only acoustic instrumentation, Ashworth conceives pieces of music in which resonance and timbre mutate and in the air and unfold naturally, organically.

Hints of piano glisten like night shadows whispering through the leaves. Strings are bowed and plucked into oblivion. Everything is turned into a pile of reverb. Everyone is a ghost. Concern will shine a light on it all. "Truth & Distance" indeed." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Truth And Distance (16:51)

2 Young Birth (4:17)

3 Heartsink (8:45)

Link

Growing - The Soul Of The Rainbow And The Harmony Of Light

Label: Kranky

Released: 2004

Style: Drone, Minimal, Ambient

"Recorded by the band in Olympia, WA from 2003 to early 2004 and mixed with Rex Ritter (Jessamine, Fontanelle and SUNN) at Magnetic Park in Portland, OR in March and April 2004, The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light takes Growing's expansive palette, blurring and disguising instrumental points of origin to a point where sheer sound defines itself with authority. Now a duo with Kevin Doria on bass and guitar and Joe Denardo on guitar, Growing have pushed into the manipulation of feedback, hiss and static; wringing out waves of delay from their amps while retaining an earthbound mastery of crushing riffage. These grainy textures contrast with a clean, pulsing lushness that carries traces of bird song and touch on natural environs and the passing of time." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Onement (18:32)

2 Anaheim II (7:21)

3 Epochal Reminiscence (17:49)

4 Primitive Associations / Great Mass Above (12:35)

Link

Evan Caminiti - Digging The Void

Label: Students Of Decay

Released: 2009

Style: Acoustic, Drone, Experimental, Ambient

"We've been trying to get these in stock for a while now, solo record number two from Evan Caminiti, one half of psychedelic doom drone duo Barn Owl. The other Caminiti solo record, Psychic Mud Shrine, introduced us to a world not all that far removed from Barn Owl, or Elm, the solo project from Caminiti's partner in Barn Owl Jon Porras (who just so happens to work at aQ!), and Digging The Void does indeed delve even further into that same blissy druggy void.

Long, low, slow tones, throb, and pulse, layered tones emit subtle overtones, melodies are spidery and barely there, visible through the gauzy whir of the droning guitars, a series of spaced out otherworldly ragas, super minimal and intimate, but at the same time, sweeping and epic. Unlike Elm's, and to a lesser extent, Barn Owl's tendency to get HEAVY, and to dabble in some SUNNO)))-like density, Caminiti keeps it hushed and scaled back, these sonic rituals are not meant to conjure up the same sort of blackened mystery, instead they drift through soft clouds of hum and whir, fragments of Appalachian folk hover over deep rumbles, the sounds are ghostly, the arrangements spectral and ethereal, laced with twang, but just as likely to smooth all the notes and melodies into softened streaks of monochrome blur, and on at least one track, the drone is jettisoned, and an acoustic guitar unfurls long tendrils of steel string buzz and classic folky melody, a darkly mysterious coda, to an already haunting and murky songsuite. So gorgeous. " - Aquarius Records

Tracklisting:

1 II (6:35)

2 Weaving The Great Smoke Loom (12:33)

3 Glowing Corpse (9:24)

4 Ice Marj (3:01)

5 Midnight Naked Swim (4:57)

6 I (3:31)

Link

Elm - Woven Into Light

Label: Blackest Rainbow
Released: 2008
Style: Experimental

"Wow! Two minutes in and I'm thoroughly taken by 'Woven Into Light' by Elm which is the solo project of Jon Porras who is half of duo Barn Owl (Not Not Fun). This was recorded at home in San Francisco during the summer of 2008. Porras uses guitars, vocals, harmonium, harmonica, drum and flute combined with a huge amount of talent and imagination to create his own mysterious world. 'Rising Smoke Woods' is very cinematic and dramatic sounding with it's epic drones and deeply haunting guitar.'Fog Water Shroud' is a very moving piece of music. There's a kind of underlying menace and bleakness but there's light shining through with gorgeous tones that I find very uplifting. Phil is reminded of the celestial vibes on the recent Ekca Liena album on Dead Pilot albeit this is more organic. A mighty fine 7 track album that I can't recommend enough. Getting lost in this stuff is a real joy." - Norman Records

Tracklisting:

1 Rising Smoke Woods (6:32)
2 Fog Water Shroud (5:06)
3 On Golden Wing (8:25)
4 Solemn Night Prayer (5:39)
5 Long Winter's Howl (8:20)
6 Mist Left To Hide The Ashes (8:35)
7 Waves Break Into Beams Of Light (4:11)

Link

Scott Tuma & Mike Weis - Taradiddle

Label: Digitalis Recordings
Released: 2009
Style: Abstract, Drone, Folk, Experimental, Ambient

"Weis is the drummer in Zelienople, and since Zelienople never had much cause for a proper drummer, Weis manages to be super creative behind the kit, or maybe more accurately, with an arsenal of cymbals and gongs and chimes, creating textures and layers more than rhythms. Which is precisely what he brings to this collaboration. Tuma is of course doing what he does best, weaving lush landscapes of sound, his guitar keening and moaning, drifting and twanging, sounding underwater one minute, weightless and spacey the next, those sounds are given a whole new context when paired with Weis's unique percussion. The drums here seem to consist mostly of a sort of soft cacophony, manic skitter, clouds of tinkling chimes, bowed cymbals, the deep tones of BIG cymbals or gongs, plenty of clatter and clang, but all sort of smeared into a living backdrop, reacting and interacting with Tuma's guitar, the result is often like a strange Souled American free jazz mashup, which might not sound good, but actually is, although elsewhere the results are a bit more subtle than that.

The guitars slip from hazy and underwater sounding, to gently shimmering, acoustic guitars unfurl woozy Appalachia, bits of twang, soft strums, all gently laid over a sea of skitter and thump, the deep shimmer of reverberating metals, the result is gorgeously murky and indistinct, less like two players playing off of each other, and more like two people contributing to the same sprawling sound. The first side plays out like the two getting acquainted, a delicate dance, their unique sounds quickly finding common ground and melting seamlessly into each other, culminating in a gorgeous track of hushed minimalism, introducing piano, Weis's percussion kept to a whispered thrum, everything wreathed in lush reverb and delay, so lovely.

The second side, features several longish tracks, where Tuma gets to try something a little more distorted and aggressive, the duo creating extended bouts of deep ominous dronemusic and thick caustic buzz, each player's contributions still distinct, at least with close listening, but step back, and the various parts take on surprising shapes, long stretches of heaving, droning, mesmerizingly meditative and surprisingly fluid drones, that manage to be warm and melodic as well as darkly mysterious. " - Aquarius Records

Tracklisting:

1 Dropsy (3:39)
2 Soire (2:25)
3 On Cox (2:20)
4 Off Bellows (1:34)
5 Tried (4:00)
6 Rubadub (6:00)
7 (Dub) (2:21)
8 Enearthed (7:05)

Link

Fabio Orsi - The Wild Light Of The Moon

Label: Sentient Recognition Archive
Released: 2008
Style: Ambient, Drone

"Fabio Orsi is a name that every spacey-drone lover should recognize. He stands out as one who is truly able to capture an environment. His soft, light, airy textures remind me of the way I feel staring at a Mark Rothko painting. There are no clearly defined boundaries but rather all edges are fuzzy and limitless. Everything melts and drifts with a fluid quality. True ambience that brings one’s afflicted self to perfect relaxation and calm. Even though this one track is a whopping 35 minutes, it barely seems long enough. Around the 10 minute mark things get interesting with some reverbs that climb into your ear and speak to your soul, not wrestling you out of your restful state, but rather declaring authenticity. The field recording of birds evens out the slow-moving noise. Then everything relaxes again into a calming tone. Like floating through the galaxy. Pure, simple tones keep you in that euphoric state as the track comes to a too-soon conclusion. I could listen to this going to bed, relaxing after a day at work, or just taking breaks from my day driving between errands. After a full-listen, this epic demands respect. Reserve a space on your shelf." - Foxy Digitalis

Tracklisting:

1 The Wild Light Of The Moon (35:12)

Link

Gregg Kowalsky - Tendrils In Vigne

Label: Root Strata
Released: 2007
Style: Modern Classical, Minimal, Ambient

"'Tendrils In Vigne' is Gregg Kowalsky's Mills Collage graduate thesis project, a down right gorgeous slow burner of all acoustic instruments. Originally composed for laptop, Gregg transcribed and scored his music for an ensemble of 25 people that includes everything from a string section to a Shakuhachi player. Microcosmic loops expand into complex forms of geometry featuring voices and exploding drum kits.
Mesmerizing." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Tendrils In Vigne (12:00)

Link

Mark McGuire - Light Movement

Label: Wagon
Released: 2008
Style: Acoustic, Drone

"Mark describes this one as his most ‘new age’ sounding set yet, but cross that with some beautifully reflective deep-listening drone ala Andrew Chalk and the kinda luminous guitar work of peak Charalambides and you’re truly there. Excellent." - Volcanic Tongue

Tracklisting:

1 The Path Lined With Colorful Stones (9:32)
2 Under New-Age Skies (9:21)
3 Dividing Lines (9:31)
4 The Turtles And The Lizards And The Snakes And The Dragon Flies And The Field Mouse All Sat On The Riverbank (9:34)

Link

Gregg Kowalsky - Through The Cardial Window

Label: Kranky
Released: 2006
Style: Minimal, Ambient

"For Through the Cardial Window Gregg Kowalsky used mic'ing and recording techniques to pull out hidden textures and frequencies from sound sources as diverse as recordings of the Mills Ensemble (he filtered a piece he wrote for the group through the pickup of an acoustic guitar), bowed acoustic guitar and a broken floor heater. "Into the Marshes They Drove Me" contains source material from the band Isis. Kowalsky made a track, using tones, harmonics and feedback loops. The music he creates is situated betwixt and between textural ambience, psychedelia and pure noise." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Ashes From Evermore (7:15)
2 That In Allepo Twice (7:33)
3 Into The Marshes They Drove Me (7:51)
4 Coral Gables (5:50)
5 Long Distance Decade (8:28)
6 Gara Note (5:02)
7 Tendrils (Guitar Pickup) (2:16)

Link

Emeralds - Solar Bridge

Label: Hanson Records
Released: 2008
Style: Drone, Experimental, Ambient

"HANSON RECORDS is proud to announce EMERALDS - SOLAR BRIDGE, the trio's first full-length album after numerous cassette and cd-r releases on such labels as American Tapes, Chondritic Sound, and the bands own imprints Wagon and Gneiss Things. The album opens with the side long 'MAGIC' where the band builds a quiet drone into an extreme thick sawblade of swirling noise as beautiful as it is menacing. The flip is yet another sidelong journey titled 'THE QUAKING MESS', a track that stabs your brain with fluttering sparks of synthesized needles before relaxing you into a Göttschingesque dream state while slowly bringing you back to earth with an electronic wave of molten rumble. Fans of the smooth tones of 'New Age Of Earth' era Ash Ra Tempel and the buzzing thick drones of Throbbing Gristle's 'Heathen Earth' should take note, as EMERALDS may be their new source for electronic drugs." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Magic (12:34)
2 The Quaking Mess (14:14)

Link