Tags: Experimental Ambient

Review: Ilian Tape have tapped up Jichael Mackson here for a double album of expressive and forward thinking electronic sounds. The atmosphere generally futuristic and intriguing, with tracks like 'Shangri La' riding on gentle breakbeats amongst air pads, 'Banana Jazz (Quartett)' is a high speed and live sounding jazz-breakbeat workout, 'A Jichalicious Something' is dubby and IDM inflected lushness and 'Good Morning Sunshine' is an interplanetary trip with distant cosmic pads and organic piano chords soothing mind, body and soul.

Review: Gidge's acclaimed album Autumn Bells is now a full decade old and to mark that, the Dutch label Atomnation is releasing a deluxe box set edition with a 60-page photo book by band member Ludvig Stolterman, a poster, the original double album, and a bonus nine-track vinyl featuring alternative edits and demos on transparent vinyl. Gidge is the Swedish duo of Stolterman and Jonatan Nilsson and they are known for ethereal, ambient music deeply influenced by the Nordic forests of their youth. The reissue highlights the duo's emotionally immersive sound and features unreleased tracks like 'Untitled Piano' and reworked versions of fan favourites that blend natural soundscapes with subtle rhythms and haunting melodies.

Review: Since delivering his debut album on PNN a decade ago, Matt Kent AKA Matt Karmil has proved adept at adapting the club-focused sound of his EPs to the long-playing format - as his inspired and wonderfully atmospheric sets for Idle Hands and Smalltown Supersound prove. He continues this notable run of form on this Studio Barnhus released set, crowding ultra-deep, dusty grooves in opaque chords, cut-up sample snippets, lo-fi crackle, hazy ambient textures and nods towards a myriad of ear-pleasing electronic styles and sounds. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks being the dubby, mind-altering late-night hypnotism of 'Still Something There' and the becalmed, meditative ambient deepness of superb closing cut '15 Mins' (which, confusingly, is just 13 minutes long).

Review: Sometimes we get some wonderfully enigmatic notes with new releases and this is one of them. Rather than share them all, enjoy this one line - "Protecting the past by projecting it into the future, preserving identities, encouraging conversations across generations, and above all, safeguarding the island of Procida's vast intangible cultural heritage from extinction." Now you can ponder the meaning of that while getting lost in a collection of global grooves that span dub, downtempo, ambient jungle, Balearic and more with plenty of humid atmospheres, whimsical melodies and a general sense of mystic aura that will keep you coming back for more.

Review: This six-track release from the Musci archives offers up sounds that blend traditional instruments with synthesisers and electronics. It comes with remixes by Cut Hands and Nokuit and highlights the work of Roberto Musci, an Italian ethnomusicologist who has been active since the mid-80s. Musci's music gained renewed interest following the 2016 Tower of Silence compilation and got praise from legends like the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. It's dense, challenging, and unlike much else you will hear this year.