Partial Holograms is the latest album by US-based artist Todd Gautreau, who records under the moniker Tapes and Topographies. Since launching the project in 2014, Todd has crafted a distinct form of Ambient music which is built around quietly expressive and cinematic textures. He has released on respected imprints such as Past Inside the Present, Dronarivm, Rohs!, Shimmering Moods his own label Simulacra Records. This is his third record for Whitelabrecs, following Amplitudes (2021) and Floating World - Reflections on 36 views of Newland Island (2022) in which he collaborated with painter Jonathan S Hooper. His practice blends analogue and digital processes, drawing from a background in guitar, hardware pedals and synthesizers. His artistic worldview is shaped by the shadowy, poetic sensibilities of filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and Jean Cocteau.

In Partial Holograms, Todd shifts his usual methods by intentionally removing one of his most familiar tools: the guitar. Though there are timbres that mimic stringed instruments, none were recorded in the traditional sense. Instead, this work leans more heavily into software processing, filtering Ambient textures and melodic fragments through a deliberately limited palette. This approach is typical of Todd’s ethos which is to change direction from one project to the next, by excluding previously used techniques. This creates a sense of evolution without abandoning the core aesthetic of Tapes and Topographies.

Initially, Partial Holograms was conceived as a more melodic record, one that incorporated piano, strings and even brass. This was the version which reached the mixing stage, but something essential felt absent; its atmosphere, its texture. Most of the material was set aside, with only two tracks surviving into the final sequence. What emerged from the second attempt was more immediate, with ideas flowing freely and a final product that strikes a thoughtful balance between melody and abstraction.

While there was no set narrative concept guiding this album, recurring themes began to surface during its creation, of isolation, dreams, memory and loss - all hallmarks of the Tapes and Topographies’ sound. Sometimes these themes are consciously woven in and at other times, they only become apparent in hindsight, or through the interpretations of others. As with his previous work, Partial Holograms invites the listener to drift between real and imagined spaces, forming connections in the half-light of memory and meaning.

Credits:
Written and produced by Todd Gautreau
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by nkl
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Partial Holograms

wlr191 Tapes and Topographies - Partial Holograms

174 Hz - Frequency of the Void

Approach of Autumn

Download/purchase the album: https://auroraprinciple.bandcamp.com/album/things-unseen

Track 04 of 14

A Kage Recordings release.
https://soundcloud.com/kagerecordings
https://kagerecordings.bandcamp.com
https://facebook.com/kagerecordings

Things Unseen

Reverie of the Watchers

So Close, Always Far

At the gates to Pareidolia it reads...
"Your experience is unrelated hidden data aimed at the face area that exists to stimulate with familiarity"
I was born and raised in Pareidolia. This is where I live. This is what I hear.
Powlos 2018

Written and Produced by Powlos
Mastered by Emanuele Pertoldi
Photography by Alexander Kopatz.
www.go70north.com
Faint005 // FaintCD005
Faint / 2018

Powlos - Loess

From VA - Sleeplaboratory1​.​0 by Whitelabrecs label
https://whitelabrecs.bandcamp.com/album/sleeplaboratory10

‘Sleeplaboratory1.0’ is a sixteen track cross section of modern Ambient artists touching on everything from minimalist drone and modern classical cinematics to electro acoustic and synth influenced works. It is released in a run of 100 physical copies, as we’ve chosen to create a ‘gatefold LP’ styled CD package, complete with beautiful artwork provided over 4 panels by our regular collaborator Federica Jeanne de Luca. The album is also available digitally in a range of formats, carefully mastered by Tim Diagram who also contributes a track as Maps and Diagrams. 

This album is intended as a relaxing companion for either conscious or sub-conscious listening, with contributing artists briefed to create something vacant which is likely to induce sleep. Harry selected the artists with the theme in mind and to help them understand his vision, he shared a link to Janek Schaefer’s ‘Lay-by Lullaby’ released on 12k back in 2014. It is an album which has been a huge part of his personal sleep routine, with him playing it at low volume on his iPod in bed ever since it was released so it seemed to be the perfect starting point. 

Harry’s motivation behind creating this sleepy album was primarily due to his fascination on the relationship between Ambient music and sleep: Robert Rich, Max Richter and Tanner Menard all performed notable sleep concerts for starters. Harry was particularly honoured when Janek Schaefer agreed to provide the opening track to this accumulation of calming works and it was he that introduced the National Geographic edition at the time which had a large article about the science of sleep and how it sits in modern society. 
Additionally, Harry was expecting the arrival of his first child during the production stages of Sleeplaboratory1.0 and he wanted the album to be particularly calming for babies. 

We will not make any recommendation on how our listeners might best enjoy this record and so it’s down to you to choose the best environment to listen, whether this be late at night with headphones, on a loud system or perhaps played through Bluetooth speakers in and around your home.

Deep Phase

From the new album "Winter Lullabies": valotihkuu.bandcamp.com/album/winter-lullabies

In the blue night
frost haze, the sky glows
with the moon
pine tree tops
bend snow-blue, fade
into sky, frost, starlight.
The creak of boots.
Rabbit tracks, deer tracks,
what do we know.

("Pine tree tops" by Gary Snyder

Winter Lullabies

Glittering Flakes

Blochemy is an artist from the Czech Republic, with previous releases on labels such as Clean Error Records and Sun Sea Sky Production. The latter release featured remixes by Halftribe, Sinerider and Stray Theories. Blochemy has been making music one way or another since the late nineties, following the Ambient and IDM scenes, informed by the likes of Warp and Ghostly International. His current sound is inspired by labels such as Home Normal, Spekk, Dronarivm and 12k.

His work is produced in a small home studio, as a form of escapism from the daily routine; for relaxation and self-expression.
We’re pleased to welcome the Blochemy sound to Whitelabrecs with his new album ‘Nebe’, which translates to sky in Czech. The album was created using a combination of software and hardware and is a beautiful blend of lo-fi Ambient drones, full of rich melodic tones.

Nebe expresses into sound a fascination of the variability and complexity of the sky. Its form and tone constantly evolve, as shapeshifting clouds decorate the full spectrum of blue hues. Sometimes, they disappear completely and sometimes, darkness is dotted by glittering stars.

Written and produced by Blochemy
Mastering by James Edward Armstrong
Artwork by Peter Nejedly

nebe

wlr070 blochemy - nebe

Hidden Place

202, one of Jupi/ter's most captivating tracks from his back catalogue, has been further enriched by Henrik Meierkord's cello, and is now available to stream everywhere.  Ambientologist is thrilled to be re-releasing such a gorgeous piece, and to see such a compatible collaboration take place.

Also found as a bonus track on Jupi/ter's Islands, Pt. 1 EP: https://bit.ly/2XegcBc
Or save it on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3iAONSM

Jupi/ter - 202 (Henrik Meierkord Rework)

Hi, it's Alex. I work as a university English teacher, do political science research, and in my spare time I like to watch old TV shows, ride my bike around the old parts of my city, and make music that soothes my nerves. Have a listen, hope you enjoy it.

All music is available for download for free.

boberalx@gmail.com

So Close, Always Far

Alex Bober