from 'TOTE WINKEL' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den387
available on all formats at http://denovali.com/sanktotten  


In spring 2022, Sankt Otten released their album “Symmetrie und Wahnsinn”, and now the next record is ready to enlighten our maltreated minds. “Tote Winkel” (Blind spots) is once again part of an album series with a geometric context, both creatively and musically.

Stephan Otten and Oliver Klemm made productive use of 2021, which has been decelerated to the maximum by Corona. For the first time, an external studio was booked (Mühle der Freundschaft, Bad Iburg) and the pool of analog synthesizers and other sound generators there was dusted off. Sankt Otten came up with the master plan to first free the spirit of 50 years of German electronic music trapped in the antiquated keyboards and oscillator housings, then to dismantle it, turn it inside out and reinterpret it. Echoes of music from Düssel- dorf are joined by sounds familiar from the Weserbergland, or mystical, sublime arcs of sound and, of course, the sequences typical of the Berlin School - whether side by side or interwoven. In a departure from the usual way of working, the majority of the tracks were created in the studio and in part from improvisations, which makes “Tote Winkel “ the most organic material we have heard from Sankt Otten to date.

New York-based Rafael Anton Irisarri mastered “Tote Winkel”, as he has done on productions by Biosphere, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tycho, Terry Riley, Fennesz and many more. As part of the series of graphic covers, this extraordinary die-cut artwork was also designed by Daniel Castrejon. The vinyl version comes in a die-cut cover and colored vinyl, the CD in an elegant cardboard slipcase.

The Osnabrück duo Sankt Otten, founded in 1999, have been releasing on DENOVALI since 2009. “Tote Winkel” is their 14th album of timeless (instrumental) music. The band has dedicated itself to the holy trinity of Krautrock, Ambient and contemporary Elecronics.

Tote Winkel

Sankt Otten - Goodbye, Düsseldorf

Tracklist

01.  David Cordero & Rhucle - Horizontal Line
02.  Thme - Ombre
03.  Seaworthy & Matt Rösner - Whispered Surfaces
04.  Slow Reels (Ian Hawgood and James Murray) - Heartshaped
05.  The Humble Bee & Offthesky - Presence
06.  Celer & Forest Management - Montrose
07.  Jason Calhoun + Foresteppe - iii
08.  Tomoyoshi Date - 熱 Netsu (33 rpm)
09.  Chihei Hatakeyama + Stijn Hüwels - NA GOMI

408. Sleepy Sunday Podcast (Elm Records)

From the album Layers of Afternoon, Available June 13, 2025 on Western Vinyl
Pre-order / Listen https://lnk.to/layersofafternoon

Goldmund - "Darnley"

Blurstem’s 'Remnants and Whispers' is an album of memory-of echoes and fragments, of moments gathered and reshaped, of the past carried gently into the present. Released on Fluid Audio, renowned for its exquisitely crafted physical editions, this collection of soundscapes and textures is imbued with nostalgia, intimacy, and the quiet weight of time.

The album weaves together the delicate and the vast, the small and the sweeping. Tiny, almost imperceptible guitar plucks flicker like candlelight amidst expansive ambient washes. The sonic palette moves seamlessly between lo-fi warmth and pristine clarity, embracing the imperfections of cassette recording and the wobbly, warbled charm of home videos from a lost era. Each track breathes with a human touch-organic instruments processed and reimagined, from tremolo strings pitched and resampled on “Tethered” to layers of sound that feel like old photographs brought to life.

At its heart, 'Remnants and Whispers' explores the idea of remnants-what we carry with us through life, the fragments of friendships, memories, and fleeting moments that shape who we are. Much like the album’s sonic construction-built from past sketches, ideas, and textures revived and given new form-the music mirrors the way we collect and reinterpret our own experiences over time.

This ethos extends beyond the music itself into its physical presentation, with Fluid Audio’s deluxe edition incorporating 1920s sheet music and book fragments as old as the 1890s-historical relics that feel like the perfect visual counterpart to the album’s themes of memory, loss, and renewal. The tactile nature of these artifacts deepens the listening experience, making 'Remnants and Whispers' not just an album, but a tangible connection to the past.

Mastered on Bartels’ late ’60s analog tape machine, the album’s final touch further enhances its warmth and character, adding an unmistakable depth and timeless quality to its sonic palette.

A meditation on change, nostalgia, and the beauty of imperfection, Remnants and Whispers is an invitation to pause, reflect, and listen-not just to the music, but to the quiet echoes of our own stories.

Music: Blurstem
Mastering: Bartels
Design: Crossley

www.fluidaudio.co.uk
www.blurstem.bandcamp.com

Blurstem - Along the Rails

I have been writing about music for nearly two decades now, and it’s time to turn inwards again. Away from being a promotion vehicle and towards a curation platform, supporting music and musicians that resonate within. And when it comes to highlighting one of my favourite electronic musicians, that is certainly the case. Somewhere, in the darkened, quiet and euphonic spaces between synthetic, buzzing pulses and organic, breathing textures, Ben Chatwin has been crafting his sonic language. This voice speaks through modulated frequencies, soaring string arrangements, and the ghostly hum of man-made machinery brought to life. This month, he’s been the featured artist on Headphone Community, where I showcase his music through exclusive track premieres, unreleased alternative mixes, in-depth interviews, and yes, even an 80% OFF discount to his last album, Verdigris. You can join for only $1 a month to get access to all of the above, and invest your precious attention among the many like-minded folks who still believe in the transformative power of deliberate, thoughtful, and visceral music. Today’s track is taken from the forthcoming EP, Klasis, scheduled to be released on May 9th, 2025. This is the second release from a new project Ben calls Tether – a series of EPs and singles rolling out over the year, eventually leading to an album. The first release, The Beginning, is available on his Bandcamp, and you can name your price for that release.

See more on https://www.patreon.com/HeadphoneCommunity

TRACK PREMIERE : Ben Chatwin - Caldera

'Petrichor' is the third studio album from long-time collaborators James Osland and Andrew Heath, and serves as a natural continuation of their creative partnership following the release of Elysian Fields (2024), also on the esteemed Fluid Audio label.

The two artists were initially brought together by a shared admiration for each other’s work within the ambient music community. Andrew Heath is an established figure in the genre, with numerous albums and EPs released on respected imprints such as Disco Gecko, Whitelabrecs, Rusted Tone Recordings, Elm Records, and White Paddy Mountain. James Osland, meanwhile, is both an accomplished artist and the founder of Elm Records, a boutique label known for its thoughtful curation. His personal discography includes releases on Unknown Tone Records, Whitelabrecs, Flaming Pines, and Dewtone Recordings, among others. Osland’s practice explores the intersection of sound, memory, and place, working across both sonic and visual mediums.

Petrichor began to take shape during an exchange of ideas between the two artists in the late winter and early spring of 2024. As Andrew shared loops and sonic sketches, James found himself listening from his studio, watching the unrelenting English rain from the window. These moments of stillness-quiet reflections on the shifting of seasons-informed the mood and direction of the album.

What emerged is a collection of slowly evolving compositions, revealing gentle melodies, nuanced textures, and soft drones-much like the tender unfolding of early spring leaves. The album carefully weaves together field recordings, organic textures, and synthesis to create immersive soundscapes that capture the subtle beauty and contemplative atmosphere of seasonal change.

James Osland & Andrew Heath - Outside The Light Was Starting To Wane

I’ve been mesmerised with the sound of Deaf Center since the very beginning. I think it’s been more than 20 years now since their Neon City EP was released on Type. This is way before I even knew that behind the project was a Norwegian duo who started making music together as friends. This is before I knew their names to be Erik K Skodvin and Otto A. Totland. Before I listened to, admired, and celebrated their solo works on here. And, before I met each one in person, and of course, before we naturally became friends. This is precisely why, when it came to launching Headphone Community and deciding on who I should profile there from the start, I reached out to Erik and his partner Monique Recknagel (who runs Sonic Pieces imprint) to pitch them this idea (it was actually when I visited their mi-so shop in Berlin). This is why Erik is the currently featured artist for the month of May on Headphone Community (join for just $1 for an intimate journey!), and this is why I am premiering this track for you today. It’s been another long period of silence for Deaf Center, but the two long-form pieces on Reverie clearly show that they have not put their collaboration on hold. If anything, it has only evolved into a hypnotic meditation on Otto’s keys and Erik’s strings, guitar, effects, and atmospherics, designed for a very deep listening session. The recordings actually come from a live performance in October 2024 in Rabih Beaini’s studio, Morphine Raum in Berlin, during the 15th anniversary celebration of Sonic Pieces. This is less of an improvisation and more of a dialogue between the two friends who haven’t spoken in a while. It is truly magical, and I only wish I could be there to experience it live.

In “Rev”, deeply effected piano motifs reverberate and echo in the depths of the room, evolving through looping and electronics into a blissful, mesmerising cloud of (dis)harmony. The sound is reminiscent of the 7inch “Vintage Well” mixed with the basic elements of 2011’s “Owl Splinters”. […] The immediate duality of the two performers has rarely been so strongly felt, Totland’s deep melodic feeling is underscored by Skodvin’s abstract ambience and processing. Dark versus light, loud versus quiet – this has always been at the core of what makes Deaf Center a special project.

TRACK PREMIERE : Deaf Center - Rev (excerpt)

South African Jason van Wyk is quickly becoming a favourite and prominent artist on these pages. You may even think I’m biased, because I asked Jason to rework one of my tracks. But this relationship is indeed in reverse – I only requested his participation because I admire his sound, and am indeed inspired by his music when I choose to work on my own. There’s something ethereal, delicate, and dreamlike in how his cinematic pads swirl in a cocktail spatial ambience and pulsating rhythm that takes over my heart and bewitches my soul. Stunning harmonic progressions show off true musicianship, while the layered textures keep me occupied with intelligent sound design. This is the culmination of elements that I highly respect in my music. This is why I keep listening to Jason’s music and try to share it with the world. This is why, I’m sure, Mike Cadoo continues to invite him on his label. We last heard from Jason nearly three years ago [time is always speeding up], when in October of 2022, he released Descendants, which inevitably landed on my Best of the Year list in the most coveted category, Music For The Film Behind Closed Eyelids. This is a sacred space, often occupied by the likes of Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, and, of course, Jóhann Jóhannsson. With his latest sixth full-length album, Inherent, Jason is back on n5MD, pushing his boundaries forward, featuring even more expansive soundscapes of warm ambiance, haunting piano melodies, and trance-inducing beats. Enjoy this exclusive track, and who knows, maybe Jason will show up on Headphone Community (wink, wink).

TRACK PREMIERE : Jason van Wyk - Remnants

Believe it or not, I am not that great at self-promotion. So when it comes to using this very platform, I hesitate and stall. When it comes to shouting into the world about my music, I often feel a bit self-conscious. I'm sure that musicians understand what it takes to finally "release" their work into the world. It's both - a ball of tangled tension and a sigh of great relief. And so today, I finally get over that hurdle by announcing my new album on the esteemed Dronarivm imprint. The roots of Tarnished Tapes and Saturated Signals are deeply intertwined with those of Sacred Tonalities (Past Inside The Present, 2023). In fact, a couple of pieces are complex reworks and further explorations of themes. All of it is still a little hazy, deconstructed, and concealed. Not because I'm hiding something, but because you need to scratch at the layered surface to understand and know the truth. Most of you will have no trouble, as I hope my sounds will resonate with something that you also pushed inside. In the end, my curated journey through deconstructed electronica, cinematic ambience, and modern classical sound fuses into expansive nostalgia, reductionist pianism, and deep emotional atmosphere, hopefully evoking a sense of loss, disintegration, and the fragility of our temporal selves. And now I can move on...

TRACK PREMIERE : Mike Lazarev - The Final Resonance of Light

from 'Continental Ruins' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den274
available on all formats at [https://denovali.com/multicastdynamics]

Finland-based Samuel van Dijk is an electronic music producer, sound designer and media artist, having released electronic music under a variety of projects, namely, Mohlao and VC-118A. Following on from 2014-2016's praised album quadrilogy, Multicast Dynamics releases his new "Continental Ruins" LP on Denovali Records. Inspired by decayed infrastructure, Samuel van Dijk reveals his sound documentary about sunken cities and continents.  A study on storytelling with sound, where electronic music acts as a verb, moved by images and narratives.

„Continental Ruins“ LP is a journey through washed out, blurred particles, gliding across the ungraspable seafog of the atlantic, transforming the visible into sound. The murky and desolated atmosphere throughout the tracks reflects an forgotten utopia of places that were once populated. Unfolding fallen structures, immersing into the elusive, submerged land, searching for signs of life in the lost memories of faded civilizations, Multicast Dynamics explores ultrasonic underwater communication, decodes messages and browses through the archive of the past.

Written and produced with analogue synthesizers, arcane effect units and manipulated field-recordings, finally sequenced with the computer and mixed using temperamental analogue mixers. "Continental Ruins" LP is a slow horizontal panning, gliding through frames of sounds, creating textures and layers with unobtrusive rhythms. Samuel van Dijk delivers a calm and organic sound journey, resting on gloomy swirls and hidden artefacts. Artwork by T. van Dijk.

Continental Ruins

Multicast Dynamics - Frequency Modulation

Dragon’s Eye Recordings is pleased to present 'We Become Giants' by Ida Toninato. On her first outing for the label, Toninato conjures a vast ambient space through her physical collaboration with architecture, her instruments, and her listening ear.

Notes from Ida:
'We Become Giants' was composed and recorded at the Tank Center for Sonic Arts in Colorado. This immense former water treatment facility is a uniquely resonant space, with a massive 40-second long reverberation. The music was composed in and with this sublime arena, the harmonics and beating patterns created by its own echo and reverb. After recording raw material in-situ, I returned to the studio to create a parallel synthetic space responding to the original one, using synthesizers, beats, and effects. The whole album was developed with the analogy of a hallucination in which real and imaginary space are intertwined into a sonic, visceral trip. 

'We Become Giants' is dedicated to my brother, Manoah Toninato, whose courage and determination are amongst the brightest lights in my life.