Tectonics

Unconformity (Applefish Rework)

Waves Of Peace

Hush of the Hour

Forest of Memories

Flowing Through the Forest

Sigh of the Hidden Woods

Woodland Harmonies

Remembering the Blue Sky

Quiet Mirror

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

A church pipe organ sample recorded on my phone on summer vacations. Chop, repitch, stretch, loop, and I can drone for hours. And somehow out of the wall of sound there emerges a pulse. And the sonic space feels incomplete without some glitch and noise. And I let it find its rhythm and breathe.

drone 20250906

Waves

Find all my music over on Spotify :) https://sptfy.com/astropilot

Astropilot is the alias of electronic musician Dmitry Redko. His music is hard to constrain to a single style, rather, it’s an eclectic blend that defies boundaries. Whether it is a chillout-ambient composition or a more dance-oriented track, Dmitry aims to “tell a story” with it. Astropilot authored soundtracks for popular apps Solar Walk / Star Walk, which were downloaded over 10 million times. Material created over the years had been released on labels familiar to electronic music connoisseurs – Ultimae, Iboga, JOOF. 
Dmitry manned the stage in many European countries, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Israel, Lebanon, and even in Australia.