Jonas Meyer – Konfusion (2019)

Serein

• Microtonal 
• Ambient 
• Electronic music 
• Glitchtronica 
• Indietronica 
• IDM 
• Musique concrète 
• Shoegaze 
• Art music 
• Minimal techno 
• Electro-acoustic 

Sõna "konfusio(o)n" on kõlaliselt sarnane sõnaga "konfessio(o)n". Äkki ongi nii, et inimene, kes on segaduses, läheb pihile. Läheb ära rääkima, et hakkaks kergem; et enda peataolekule tagasipeegeldust ja võimalikku lahendust leida. Samas sobivad selleks harjutused – nii füüsilised kui ka vaimsed. Näiteks muusika loomine. Meenub kaugest minevikust seik ühe ekstreemheli loojaga, kes, sattudes vaimuhaiglasse, pidi iga päev ühe loo komponeerima oma raviarsti nõudel. Jonas Meyer komponeerib hästi nii enda kui ka teiste hüvanguks. Žanriliselt on asjatu vaev seda ühevärvilise vihmavarju alla venitada. Siin on nii IDM-likku rütmipuntrat, intiimseid konkreethelisid ja elektroakustilist introvertsust, mikrotonaalsust, mäenõlvu pidi allarulluvat ämbienti kui ka udus kokkusurutut abstraktset kingapõrnitsemist; samuti kõrgemate sfääride indielektroonikat ja äkilist glitch-purset. Kuna tegu on vägeva taiesega, siis nimetet fraktaalid ei jää isekeskis seisma, vaid moodustavad orgaanilise terviku. Siin on nii unelevat hõllandust, unustust kui veenvat lihaste pingutamist. Võiks tagantjärele hõigelda, et mulluse aasta üks parimaid elamusi. Üllitise on välja andnud alati vapustavalt salapärane Serein.

Kryshe – Hauch (2019)

Serein

• Art music 
• Ambient 
• Modern classical 
• Improvised music 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Jazz 
• Electronic

Comment: Kryshe is a German artist who likes obsessively operate with silence on different scales like ambient, classical music and electronic music. Furthermore, there are even jazz-tinged incantations and dreamy whiffs based on drowsy progressions. Musically Kryshe reminds of a late Talk Talk more than ever before but I think of it even as a more refined output. It is a subsequent astounding issue (Continuum, a second issue from the previous year) by Kryshe being released on Serein.

Kryshe – Continuum (2019)

Serein

Bandcamp

• Art pop 
• Alternative pop 
• Modern classical 
• New Age 
• Post-classical 
• Avant-pop 
• Organic electronica 
• Ambient pop

Comment: Kryshe's 10-notch whole is a marvellous insight into those remote areas of pop music where tenderness and subtlety used to prevail in an artsy way like it happened to Talk Talk and David Sylvian after their temporary stints with synth-pop. The listener hears spatial flutes and silent whiffs of woodwinds and elliptically rounded piano improvisations and minimal electronics and a small scale of glockenspiel-based orchestrations to cheer you up with some more space, gentle breeze and bittersweet hope. From minor intimate glass bead plays to more large scale compositions to bring forth a dynamical drift. This great work is a part of the discography of Serein.

Luke Sanger – Ancient Pathways (2019)

Serein

• Experimental electronica 
• Drone 
• Ambient 
• Electronic music 
• Avant-electronica 
• Art music

Comment: this batch of 11 compositions is a blissful view through slow progressions on analogue synths which provide extended hyper-realistic harmony developments being at the same time majestic and incisive as if getting a glimpse into an enchanting ideal world. On the other side, there are also represented intriguing beats by providing obsessive frequencies and spellbinding iterations. Thirdly, the author's intention seems to be creating profound patterns based on clear crystallised and crystalline sounds. The listener's view is not blurred any of the sounds can be clearly distinguished from one another yet the total sum of all these sounds is remarkably bigger than the initial sum of the sounds. One of the cases is the sum of cooperative sounds and patterns yet on the other side one can perceive warmth and coolness oozing out of it. Additionally, as we know warmth and coolness are related to certain sorts of colours. Its precise nature and downright logic seem to represent a sonic embodiment of mathematics. Yet behind it there is up an insinuating element to accomplish the whole. It reminds of the approach of such artists as M Geddes Gengras, Steve Hauschildt. This is an outing which probably will be added to lists of the best albums in 2019. At least to the best list at RMH. It is a bit in the discography of Serein.

Daniel Maze – Red After Image (2008)

Serein

• Ambient 
• Experimental electronica 
• Dub techno
• Epic  
• Electronic music 
• Glitchtronica 
• Ambient dub 
• Dreamwave
• Micronoise

Comment: as we know ambient as a musical style or as a part of a conglomeration of styles may be very beautiful and epic and profound even if being distracted by microscopic noises and glitches. In fact, such Canadian artists as Tim Hecker, and Scott Morgan aka Loscil have demonstrated that eloquently. The same can be said about a third representative from within the country, Daniel Maze. Red After Image which was released in 2008 takes on ambient music in a very alchemistic way with intention to produce emotive music. However, it is a main premise to produce a nice ambient outing. His family name Maze does denote the word labyrinth otherwise, and this bunch of 10 compositions is complex and highly enjoyable simultaneously. The tracks used to veer away from introverted electro-acoustic minutiae and faint microscopic squalls to serene dreamwave-esque insights to thick ambient and dub infused outlets. Those epic moments galore chime almost like symphonic vignettes. In spite of the different appearances the listener cannot perceive the feeling of different styles to square off with each other. All is either seamlessly intertwined with one another or followed by one another. There is up the definitive whole. In fact, ten years ago there was nobody talking about the label dreamwave but there it hovers around on the issue. Indeed, tracks like The Chiefs Are Folding used to be played on the indie shows now. As I said before it contains a bunch of 10 tracks but there is no need to differentiate one track from another. All is sticked together organically and seamlessly. The stunning one is a part of the discography of Serein.

OCP – Atmos (2006)

Serein

Bandcamp

/Ambient dub. Abstract, Glitchtronica, Ambient techno, Glitch ambient/

Comment: by listening to this 5-track issue it can be admitted good music is timeless. Indeed, almost nine years has passed by the establishment of the release by Portuguese musician João Ricardo. His assumptions on dub, glitch electronica and ambient were to produce astonishing results. Mostly it is the slow amber based on glistening dub oscillations and subtle glitched-out shards filled up with emotional dust and easily spread sea mink. Maybe the finishing track Atmos Five used to differentiate from the rest of the issue with regard to a more thumping techno induced beat structure; and also Atmos Two which also exploits more prominent cadences though revealing a more abstract approach to the concept. I can readily imagine it does make difference while listening to it by falling asleep – it chimes like an anthem of the modern Sandman who plays hypnagogic beats instead of sprinkling sand in human being`s eyes. The album is a part of the discography of Serein.  

Herzog - This Time We`re Infinite (2006)

Serein

• Post-rock
• Ambient pop
• Glitch ambient
• Modern classical
• Electronic pop
• Dream pop
• Experimental indie
• Chamber pop