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A World of Music in Focus |
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Ambiente Solstice
Brannan Lane
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AV's Spotlight Release
Embark Wayfarer Music Group has had a tremendous amount of fantastic new releases in 2024 and we still have more to go. Next month, Wayfarer fans will get to hear a project that we have been looking forward to for a very long time. Legendary ambient music icon Brannan Lane and critically acclaimed, award-winning recording artist Ambiente Solstice have teamed up for their first full-length album for Wayfarer entitled Embark. Embark marries the styles of these two well known artists together in a truly beautiful way. Embark is Wayfarer Music Group’s Featured Album for November and premieres worldwide on Friday, November 15th. Mark your calendars now and keep checking back to WayfarerMusicGroup.com for more upcoming information on this fabulous ambient duo. Ambiente Solstice is the moniker for award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist JJ Rey. His worldwide popularity stems from his own unique blending of ethereal soundscapes and musical complexity in the world of ambient music and beyond. The consummate composer, Ambiente Solstice is constantly exploring new musical territories blending elements of lo-fi, chill, jazz and spiritual into his trademark soundscapes while continuing to be one of the most respected artists in ambient music. Few artists in their careers can tout the successes of BRANNAN LANE. As one the most well-known and respected ambient artists worldwide, he has recorded and released over 30 albums to date. Brannan has won multiple awards for his work as an artist and producer with his music being featured on several television and video games for NBC, Spike TV, Univision, Outdoor Channel and Sony PlayStation. As a Wayfarer, he is one third of the critically acclaimed Lane, Gregorius, Smith which has been heavily featured on top radio programs such as Echoes and his album The Sleep Album is a favorite among ambient podcasters and radio hosts.
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AV's Upcoming, New and Notable Releases
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John Lyell
Eternity II |
Eternity II: AV talks to John Lyell After almost 42 years of living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, John moved to and now resides in Rio Rancho, New Mexico since May of 2017. John Lyell has been a musician since 1984. As a guitar player for over 35 years...he has recorded and performed in numerous Rock and Hard Rock projects since the 1980's as well as Acoustic projects in the 2000's. Starting in the early 1990's John's focus and interests shifted more to synthesizer based Ambient, Atmospheric and SpaceMusic. He then started to put together his own home/project studio in 1996 so that he could compose and produce instrumental synth-based music. From his recording studio in New Mexico he currently writes, records, engineers and produces instrumental Ambient, Atmospheric and SpaceMusic. Inspired by his first introduction to SpaceMusic back in 1994 from the "Hearts of Space" radio program...John immersed himself in Ambient-SpaceMusic and started dabbling in computer graphic arts with his first Macintosh computer in June of 1997. With heavy interests in Astronomy, the concept of Time Travel, SpaceMusic and related cosmic subject matter, Lyell used these interests as inspiration to create "Cosmic" and "Surreal" digital art. He also designed the CD cover art for all of his Ambient releases and co-designed the CD cover art with Brent A. Reiland for the WORMHOLES and SYNTHETIC UNIVERSE CD's. John continually created this cosmic art from 1997 until 2015. From 2005 - 2015, John also displayed and sold his Space Art and Ambient Music at Science Fiction Conventions & Art Fairs in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. To read the interview click here. Other Artist Interviews on Ambient Visions Komorebi Sunlight Through the Trees: AV talks to Deuter |
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David Arkenstone
Quest for the Runestone
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Quest for the Runestone AV talks with David Arkenstone 5-time Grammy nominee David Arkenstone has established himself as one of the best contemporary instrumentalists of our time. This visionary continues to create distinctive tracks that inspire the imagination. A musical storyteller, David is passionate about taking listeners on a journey, creating sonic tapestries that evoke every emotion. “I envision a place where I would like to go, or an adventure I would like to take, and let my imagination run free,” says David. “I’ve gotten countless messages from listeners who love to take these journeys with me. I’m sometimes surprised by how powerfully people respond to my music.” David enjoys touring and meeting his fans from around the world. “One of the most exciting things about performing live is the interaction I have with the audience. It’s very different than making a recording, where you’re not sure who will be listening to it. A lot of the roots of our musicianship come into focus in a live situation. You’re in the moment, you perform your best, and many times reach new heights – then it’s gone and on to the next show!” David loves to travel and enjoys photographing the world. His recent trip to Iceland, Switzerland and other parts of Europe will surely inspire new music. Other AV's CD Focus Features available on Ambient Visions Meditations of the Cosmos AV talks with Billy Denk |
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Quest for the Runestone
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Quest for the Runestone by David Arkenstone It’s always a pleasure to welcome a new release fromDavid Arkenstone into the world. David's new album will be available on July 1, 2024 exactly 1 month from today but we here at Ambient visions have been priviledged to have received and listened to David's new project called Quest for the Runestone and we think his fans will be thrilled to hear the concept album composed and produced by Arkenstone that hearkens back to the early days of David's music circa Quest of the Dream Warrior. We offer up this review at the link below as well as the promo YouTube video to whet the appetite of David's fans who will find it hard to wait until July 1 to give a listen to this fantastic new album.
David Arkenstone's Quest for the Runestone is a new album set to be released on July 1st, 2024. Since 1987 David has been supplying his fans with a steady flow of enjoyable music to stir our imaginations and soothe our troubled minds in these stressful days that we find ourselves. According to Wikipedia, David has given us 81 studio albums to date. As we go into the heart of the summer 2024, David will shortly deliver his latest sonic adventure to the delight of his fans worldwide. |
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David Luxton |
Wayfarer Records: AV talks with David Luxton Wayfarer Records is an independent record label based in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Wayfarer is a boutique label specializing in Ambient, Chill, Cinematic, and Virtuosic Instrumental music genres. We have an enormous commitment to our artists, creating a sense of community that transcends multiple musical expressions while spanning the globe. The label was founded by CEO/recording artist Dave Luxton in 2007 and has become a premier source for creative artistry. Our primary mission is to forge a community of innovative sonic artists worldwide to promote the highest level of creativity and quality possible for our listeners. Dave Luxton is America’s premier creator of Space Ambient music. His mission is to make transcendent music from the inner and outer worlds. He’s the founder of the Pacific Northwest-based Wayfarer Records label and is an experienced producer and sound designer. As a classically trained multi-instrumentalist composer, his film scores cover the gamut of musical styles. AV talks with Jeff Pearce about the Infinite Ambient Experiences |
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An Abandoned Day
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An Abandoned Day by Amongst Myselves It’s always a pleasure to welcome a new release from
Australian ambient artist Steve Roberts, aka Amongst Myselves. Steve’s new
album became available on December 1st and, as usual, is something
that I think you will enjoy. An Abandoned Day was created between 2020 and 2023
and has as its theme endings. As you might suspect with an overall topic such
as that, the music you will find here is contemplative and filled with the emotions
of separations or the natural closings of chapters in our lives, whether those
endings come through death or through the changes that inevitably arise for all
of us as we move through the linear time that makes up our existence. Although the themes behind the music are sometimes difficult to contemplate, this music seems to capture the concepts quite nicely. It gives us some room in our minds and hearts to think about the endings we face as individuals and collectively the possible endings we might meet as humans given our current unfortunate direction we are heading in relationship to our planet. There is an encouraging element to this music if someone is willing to look into themselves, be aware of their lifecycle, and understand the finite nature of who and what we are. It will allow us to make the best of our time and be the kind of human beings that we long to be. |
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Sverre Knut Johansen
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AV's Quick Interview METAHUMAN AV's Quick Interview With Sverre Knut Johansen Sverre Knut Johansen was born in 1960 and is from Mo i Rana, Norway. Sverre’s first electronic album in 1994 and was produced by Erik Wøllo on the Norwegian label Origo Sound. In 1999, he released The Source of Energy, followed by Planets in 2012. Sverre began distributing his music in 2013 on his own Origin Music label for download and streaming. METAHUMAN is his sixth album for Spotted Peccary Music. The music of Sverre has always had rich content and strong melodic elements that have become his trademark. Symphonic electronic music dominated the first releases but his more recent releases vary widely in style, as Sverre makes music that is both lyrical and rhythmic and often with elements of classical and electronic ambient music genres. Sverre is inspired by Norwegian artists Hvìtur Hestur and Different Directions from the electronic jazz world. Sverre’s releases Nightshift and Elements of Light were inspired by the work of Steve Roach. Click here for this quick Interview with Sverre Knut Johansen Other Quick Interviews on Ambient Visions Legacy AV's Quick Interview with Stefan Strand aka Between Interval |
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Peter Phippen
Into the Ancient
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Into the Ancient: AV talks to Peter Phippen Peter Phippen is a Grammy Award Nominee, International Acoustic Music Awards Nominee, One World Music Awards Nominee, multiple Native American Music Awards Nominee and a 2021 Native American Style Flute Awards Lifetime Achievement Awards Recipient. Phippen is a performing and recording artist specializing in traditional flutes from around the world. Over the past three decades Phippen has researched the history and performance technique of flutes both ancient and modern. In his approach to world flute performance, he is an experiential, natural folk musician with a penchant for creative and artistic musical improvisation. Phippen offers a captivating collage of sound images, covering the folklore and history of flutes from around the world and throughout time. Phippen performs an enchanting mix of the very old and very new in music. He has shared the stage with R. Carlos Nakai, Coyote Oldman, Xavier Quijas Yxayotl, and many more. As a recording artist, Phippen has recorded for Curb Records, Canyon Records, and Promotion Music Records. Phippen's flute playing has also appeared on Lifescapes, Sounds True, and Heart Dance Records. To read AV's interview with Peter Phippen click here Other Artist Interviews on Ambient Visions How To Breathe Like a Stone: AV talks to Anne Chris Bakker & Andrew Heath |
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Desert Meditations
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Desert Meditations by Swartz et If you aren’t already familiar with Swartz et’s (aka Steve Swartz) musical work then I think it is about time to introduce him to you. Steve’s latest album is due to hit Bandcamp and the streaming sites on April 8, 2022 and after listening to it several times since downloading a review copy, I have to say I’m sure you will enjoy what Steve has created for you. The title Desert Meditations really captures the essence of what this album is all about. The music is contemplative and peaceful as Steve creates a sonically rich soundscape that gently washes over the listener and transports you to a place where your spirit is able to open up to your inner realms. Desert Meditations consists of 10 tracks beginning with an appropriately titled track called Department of the Interior. The title seems like a sign post to what lies ahead as you journey within yourself during the course of this album. The album was recorded in various places throughout southeastern Utah and it’s obvious upon listening that the music has absorbed a fair amount of desert energy simply by it coming into existence surrounded by the open spaces and the isolation of the desert. The introspective nature of the music is a direct reflection of the effect of the desert on Steve as he composed and created the music found on his latest project. |
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As Dusk Becomes Night
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As Dusk Becomes Night, Rudy Adrian‘s 17th full length studio album, offers a serene and personal exploration of sounds and atmospheres that slowly transition from evening into twilight and on through the night. Whether it is the strolling through a park with trees silhouetting a star-speckled sky, looking down to a desolate moonlit beach, or observing the twinkling lights of a city from above, the delicately shifting synthesizer overtones and calming organic textures simulate the moment of the astronomical twilight in the artist’s native New Zealand homeland. Subtlety, nuance, and ineffable moments can be skillfully expressed at the hands of such an accomplished electronic music artist, and Rudy Adrian’s mastery of ambient electronic soundscapes is in top form as the album’s eleven stunning tracks are rich with the deep and mysterious tranquility for which he is so well known. Moving through the magical moods of evening, As Dusk Becomes Night reveals an ear-opening sonic wonderland where shifting hues and deep fading light are magically transformed into awe-inspiring moments of introspection; a wondrous gloaming that eventually gives way to deep heavenly nightscapes.
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Abracadabra
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Abracadabra by Milana Zilnik AV Spotlight CD Review The cool breezes have already started to blow in the northeastern U.S. and the leaves are starting to let go their grip on the limbs they have clung to since the spring and slowly drift to the ground in ever increasing numbers. As we enter October, we know that come the 31st is a holiday that many of us look forward to every year but this year there’s another reason to look forward to October 31st and that’s the release of Abracadabra by Milana Zilnik. As you might remember we reviewedMilana’s last album called Notte here on AV back in May of 2019. We are pleased to see that she will soon be releasing another an enchanting album and what more appropriate time to release an album called Abracadabra than on Halloween 2020. About a year and half ago Milana bought a Hang drum and started to work with it to get a feel for how it would fit into the overall flow of her musical compositions. At first Milana was going to do a whole album based around the Hang drum but at a suggestion of her husband they decided instead to build the new compositions around the Hang drum, Milana’s piano playing, vocals and a cello and thus was Abracadabra born. I must say that the combination of these particular instruments creates a unique sound palette that shifts and swirls around you as the compositions beckon you to let go of your mundane surroundings for the remainder of the album and find the magic within yourself. |
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Aeon V
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Solaris by Aeon V review by Richard Gürtler Highly sympathetic Californian label Synphaera Records, run by Chris Bryant and Don Tyler, quickly became an important voice on the map of ambient and electronic related genres with several top-notch sonic and visual gems resonating since 2015. Solaris "Aeon V" CDr, packaged in a 4-panel digipak and released in a limited edition of 150 copies during March 2017, is no exception. The project features Serbian soundsculptor Strahinja Maletic, one half of Fourth Dimension, and above mentioned Don Tyler, who is together with Chris Bryant the force behind Ascendant project. Sten Backman of Great Big Container gets credit for transporting cover image while Don Tyler is responsible for the mastering wizardry at his IO Mastering Studio. Gossamery tinkles announce 7-plus minutes long "Ritual" and shift it into contemplatively embracing sceneries, where mesmerizingly invading monochromatic drones amalgamate with balmily organic serenities and quietly paced traceries. A very strong introduction of Solaris' soundworlds!!! Nearly 6-minute "Levitation" unfolds suitably to its title, but soon it metamorphoses into intangibly sequenced terrains, pervaded by enchanting cinematic glimpses. "Inward" masterfully bridges gracefully sinuous vistas with illuminating traces. "Waiting" maintains its evocative scenario, yet again juxtaposed by anodynely marching patterns. "Roundabout", at 5 minutes the shortest piece on the album, glides towards intensely engulfing horizons, exquisitely nuanced and meticulously permeated by intriguingly nebulous solitudes. Pure aural elixir!!! Shimmering introspections with mysteriously flatlined meridians riding atop and persistently glittering scenic motifs carve truly magnificent imageries, "Intrinsic" is obviously another exceptional composition, bravo Strahinja & Don!!! |
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Renée Blanche |
AV's Charts Night Tides Playlist
We just wanted to make sure that the readers of AV were aware of the radio shows like Renee Blanche's Night Tides that feature ambient and new age music each and every Sunday night. There are so many choices out there to listen to music that it might be tempting to skip shows like Night Tides or Star's End or Galactic Travels or Hearts of Space in favor of just pulling up a playlist on Spotify and listening to it instead. Renee and Bill and Chuck and Stephen have been spotlighting great ambient/new age music on their programs for many, many years now and I think listeners would be doing themselves a disservice by not taking advantage of all of that musical programming skills to help you on your journey of discovery into the vast catalog of ambient, new age and electronic music both past and present. So perhaps you weren't aware of these programs or of the music that they play but AV is here to help. We are going to start featuring a radio show on the front page with links to the charts on AV's Charts page so you can get a feel for what is being played on these radio shows. You can then follow the links under each chart to learn more about the program, what time it's on and even links that will allow you to stream it live right there on
your computer. It doesn't get more convenient than that. To kick off these reminders we'll start with Night Tides which airs on Sunday nights just in time to decompress you before heading off to work on Monday morning. There is a small sample of the playlist just below and for the complete playlist just follow the link and begin your musical explorations. A lot of us grew up in an era when radio was our main music discovery venue. These programmers are simply carrying on a proud tradition of helping listeners
such as yourself find the music that you didn't even know you were looking for. Enjoy! |
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AV Goes to NYC
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AV's Concert Review An Introvert Journeys to New York City and Goes With the FLOW As you may or may not know I tend to be a very introverted
person who is connected to a broad musical world via my Ambient Visions website
and rarely do I venture out into the really real world other than at a very
mundane level as I head off to work or to do a variety of equally unspectacular
chores that make up my daily life. On occasion though I am tempted to step out
of my ordinary introverted life and to step into that wider world which makes
introverts like me quiver in their boots and on an even rarer occasion I act on
those temptations and dive into that real world. October 6 was one of those days where the
benefit of venturing out overwhelmed my reservations and sent me off to the big
city to discover the joys of live music. What, you might ask, would tempt an introvert such as myself out of his seclusion and pull him to the big city? I’m glad you asked. I wanted to go with the FLOW. I know that doesn’t sound like a compelling reason and what the heck does it even mean anyway. The FLOW in this case is a new ensemble group that was celebrating the release of their first album simply entitled FLOW by performing as a group at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City which is a celebrated musical mecca of the performing arts in the United States. The motivating factor here was the composition of the group and the nature of the guest artists who would be performing with them on that Friday night in New York City. |
Sounds
to
Listen For
Silver 25
by Stormloop
Fade
by David Wright
Silent Heart
by
Kerani
Dreams Beyond Terra
by
Eleon
Sculptures
by
Micado
AOceanic
by
Jeff Greinke
Reflections on a Moonlit Lake
by
Rudy Adrian
Ochre
by
Frore & Shane Morris
Between the Stars
by Ann Licater
Cloudfields
by Richard Stonefield
Songs of Silence
by Vince Clarke
Secret and Mystery II
by Various Artists
So She Howls
by Carla Patullo
Grammy Winner 2024
Colours
by
Astropilot
Twilight
by Christian Wittman
Phased Returns
by Exit Chamber
One Day Soon
(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
by Take Me There
Memory Islands
by Ellie Wilson
Works for Solo Piano
by Michelle Schumann
composed
by Eric Chapelle
Echoes From Infinity
by Thinking Fish
Ethereal
by Spacecraft
Infinite
by Morton Jones
Five Bliss Machines on the Infinte Stage
by Paul Ellis
Whispers From Earth
by Ann Licater
Perennial Source
by Aglaia
Cosmic Dust
by Phillip Wilkerson
Peripherie
by rand
Man Down
by Shepherd Stevenson
Somewhere In-Between
by Jim OttawayS
A Connection to
the Wonder
by Max Corbacho
Personal Myths
by Steve Brand
Discovery of Meaning
by Craig Padilla
A Place to Remember
by Thom Brennan
Scenery for
Blissful Oblivion
by Echosonica
Valengraph
by Richard Bone
Forever Cascades
by Forrest Fang
Dark Measures
by Philip Wilkerson & Chris Russell
Daylighting
by Passepartout Duo
Diptych
by Growing
Slow Motion
by Thierry David
Refraction
by Richard Bone
How To Breathe
Like a Stone
by Andrew Heath &
Anne Chris Bakker
As It Is
by Steve Roach
Jökel
by Erik Levander
Existence
by unknowndivide
