Seefeel is old. I don’t even know if they are still around. They make dreamy ambient IDM, and were signed to Warp before I hit kindergarten. “Plainsong” is one of the most beautiful songs in the world. I forgot how much IDM I have (and like); hit me up with other similar bands - I know a lot of old IDM but has it passed its heyday? Is there any new great IDM scene I’m missing? Let me know in the comments.
Another awesome release from Ghostly. Lusine, (previously Lusine ICL), or Jeff McIlwain is an ambient/IDM composer from Texas who has put out releases on Hymen and Isophlux in addition to Ghostly. His style typically ranges from anywhere from subtle and textural ambient to minimal, glitch, and softly serrated IDM. Here, he has refined his sound so it is crisper and snappier for a wider musical audience that has become much more accustomed to the addition of brightly popping electronic beats from IDM and hip-hop. I would venture to guess that if he, as Moby did with his first album, agreed to license out all of the songs on this album for commercial purposes, they would probably all be grabbed quickly and he would make a fortune. I don’t really know what that means, but I still really enjoy the album and think you will too. After the first listen to either Operation Costs, Two Dots, or Gravity, you will hear it’s clearly the result of careful, deliberate composition and polish.
This is the experimental ambient album from Ohad Benchetrit, someone I’ve long thought to be the brains behind the brilliance of Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene, and other BSS-related projects. Of course it is always a team effort, but there’s something about his instrumentation (listen to Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn to hear what I mean) which makes me think he is one of the most incredible musical geniuses of our time. And he’s got an awesome name too. You can tell that he has matured into genre-less music with this album, which in parts can be defined as ambient, acoustic guitar, found-sound, experimental, IDM, what have you. The point is that he has explored so many styles that he is now able to sit down and create his own, and he does so beautifully. Every song I hear someone stitching together a sonic blanket, where melodic sound textures are held together by the daily rhythm of his thread. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I have.
Here’s what Arts-Crafts (the label) had to say of the new release:
“Arts & Crafts announces the signing and debut release from Years, a beautiful and inspired self-titled album due for release May 5. A true visionary of compositional soundscaping, Ohad Benchetrit, provides an immense soundtrack and illustration of his accomplished production and guitar proficiencies.”
For fans of: first BSS album Feel Good Lost, DMST (especially the acoustics on You, You’re A History In Rust), BSS, any sunny, hopeful and down-to-earth ambient IDM that inspires you.
I SO wanted this cover to be on the top of the blog for a while, and now it is. Isn’t it awesome? She’s the hottest cyclops I know, that’s for sure.
You have never heard an album like this - ever. I’m serious. It’s the most weird sounding dancey electronic idm fuzzed out jazz music ever. Apparently it’s Sven Kortehisto, Hanna Sarakari & Jukka Kantonen on a bunch o’ keyboards, but they’re produced by legend Maurice Fulton, which smells a little bit like a The Tuss/Aphex Twin situation to me.
Regardless of who it is, it’s great music, it’s on DFA (so you know it’s high quality hardedgenudiscoshitz) and you really should check it out. Every single song is good, you’ll listen to it over and over again just so you can figure out what the fuck it is because seriously it’s the most alien sounding record I’d heard in a while. However, a few of the exceptional tracks are Naoka’s F, NR17, Where’s Jason’s K?, Mom, The Video Broke, The Fly, 5 Out.
This is a really great album, flawless, even, and delicate like the gentle lilting curls on its cover. A must-have for fans of similarly chilled-out IDM that verges on ambient pop, a la Marumari, Freescha, Casino vs. Japan, Boards of Canada, Tycho (ok, maybe I’m straying a bit). I’ve been listening to it during the nighttimes for the last few days, it’s a really great way to decompress, like heroin after a night of heavy rollin,’ except less addictive.
