I love the way this builds, ever so slowly - great dynamics!

Lend Me Your Radio - Apr 19

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

'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

A Slow Light

Saturday Session Meditation, Live Set

Aethery Fields is a subproject of Logic Moon

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Gray Acres has always been a space for subtlety and restraint, distinct from the denser, more cinematic atmospheres of Hotel Neon. Where that project often explores process, technique, and narrative arcs, Gray Acres tends to be produced "in the moment" and stays still. It lets you think for yourself. Soft Erasure especially embraces that characteristic stillness.

This is the first full-length Gray Acres album since 2021’s “Dreams and Phantoms.” It’s a project that came together slowly with an intentionally light touch…more about dissolving sounds than constructing them. Subtraction vs. addition.

The title Soft Erasure came about as we noticed a recurring quality across the recordings: a sense of tangible things like guitars, pianos, and strings fading, softening, and slipping just out of reach as we shaped and processed them. The music feels like it’s constantly on the verge of vanishing, or being gently wiped away into an indistinct atmosphere. That idea of erasure not as violence, but as gentleness, decay, or transformation, felt like the right metaphor to latch on to. It speaks to memory, distance, and time, and how all of those forces shape and reshape our perception of sound and self.

Musically, this album is built mainly from resampled acoustic instruments: delicate piano lines, sustained strings, frozen and looped guitar textures. Much of the source material was recorded clean, then stretched, blurred, and layered until it became something abstract…like an impression of a song, or a half-remembered phrase. In some ways, we were trying to find the most washed-out and ephemeral version of each sound. The result is a record that is designed less for narrative and more for immersion.

If you’ve followed this project before, I think you’ll hear a natural continuation of its aesthetic. But if you’re new to Gray Acres, this is a great entry point. It’s music that tries not to demand attention, but rewards those who tune in closely for a while.

Gray Acres - Soft Erasure
Music by Andrew & Michael Tasselmyer
Mastered by Alex at Quiet Details

Gray Acres - Vestige

~ LAAPS 048 ~ [SEQ.06 - LP48]

artist : Ensemble 0
album : L'Incroyable Femme Des Neiges
duration : 26.40 mn
date : November 12th, 2025

edition :
-  vinyl : limited to 200 copies / white LP / selective UV varnish (front+back) / hand numbered 
- cd : limited to 150 copies / pantone / hand numbered + handcrafted, sealed

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pre-order : October 23rd, 2025 / official release : November 12th, 2025
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Composition and arrangements: Joël Mérah, Stéphane Garin, Sylvain Chauveau

Performed by:
Jérôme Capdepont - trombone
Sylvain Chauveau - acoustic guitar
Vianney Desplantes - euphonium, tuba, flugabone
Tanguy Gallavardin - clarinets
Júlia Gállego Ronda - flutes
Stéphane Garin - percussion, piano, organ
Joël Mérah - acoustic guitar, piano, ukulele, organ, harmonium

Recording and mixing: Johannes Buff, Shorebreaker studio (Tarnos, France). 
Assistant: Xan Bidegain
Artistic director: Joël Mérah
Administration: Nicolas Michamblé

Thanks to Alexandre Maillet, Vanessa Pigot, Laurie Garcia Garin et Sébastien Betbeder.

Mastered by Simon Lancelot
Artwork by Jonathan Smith
Design by Sprflxgrfzm
 
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Links :
https://laaps.bandcamp.com/music
www.instagram.com/iikki_laaps/
https://www.ensemble0.com/
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℗ & © 2 0 2 5 - L A A P S - L A A P S 0 4 8

Ensemble 0 - Les Grands Espaces

Sometimes, things happen that you couldn’t foresee. The story behind these tracks is that I had actually forgotten about them, and while cleaning up, I stumbled upon these pieces made in 2023. Well, I just remastered them and here they are now, seeing the light of day years later.

Musically, it leans again towards neoclassicism, orchesdrone, guitar and cello here. But actually, it’s very subtle and my signature sound is very present. Just listen for yourself.

Heim

Support

Helheim

German pianist Jon Thebur unveils a serene and refined piano piece, marked by delicate phrasing and the intimacy of a warm felt tone. 
Elegant and deeply expressive, it conveys pure emotion in every note. 
Released by the reflective neoclassical label ad21.

The peace we've found

Listen

Deep calm meditative ambient mix from Chitra Records and Ambient Cat Records by Dionisaf.

0:00 Dionisaf - Sea Angel (Deep Ocean Creatures) https://dionisaf.bandcamp.com/album/deep-ocean-creatures
5:00 Ghostloop - Midsummer (Almost Autumn) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/almost-autumn
8:39 Brannan Lane - Peaceful Painted Sky (Northern Lights) https://ambientcat.bandcamp.com/album/northern-lights
10:50 KapTep - Congruence (Overcast) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/overcast
17:31 Blanket Swimming - Closer to the Sky (Seeing the Circles Above) https://ambientcat.bandcamp.com/album/seeing-the-circles-above
25:07 Le Code - Opal Reflection (Gems and Minerals) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/gems-and-minerals
27:57 Dionisaf - Macropinna Microstoma (Deep Ocean Creatures) https://dionisaf.bandcamp.com/album/deep-ocean-creatures
32:20 Blanket Swimming & Demetrio Cecchitelli - Prelude (Sein) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/sein
35:39 Ancient Astronaut - Stellar Streams (Ethereal Dreams) https://ancientastronaut.bandcamp.com/album/ethereal-dreams
39:00 Philippe Deschamps - Birth of a Moonstone (Gems and Minerals) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/gems-and-minerals
41:36 Le Code - Looking to the Sky (Early Morning) https://le-code.bandcamp.com/album/early-morning
46:00 Sebby Kowal - Take This Moment (Take This Moment) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/take-this-moment
49:08 KapTep - Pictures Never Taken [Blanket Swimming Remix] (Latitude Longitude) https://kaptep.bandcamp.com/album/latitude-longitude
53:54 NK x [Ųvás Gøød It] & Evgeniy Bolily - Täkamneta (Divya Music) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/divya-music
58:00 Le Code - Don't Go Beyond the Edge of the World [Metric System 1981 Remix] (Ambient Cat Remixes, Vol. 1) https://ambientcat.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-cat-remixes-vol-1
1:00:50 Ghostloop - Stillwaters (Almost Autumn) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/almost-autumn
1:04:22 Dionisaf - Flamingo Tongue Snail (Deep Ocean Creatures) https://dionisaf.bandcamp.com/album/deep-ocean-creatures
1:08:02 Marco Lucchi & Henrik Meierkord - 5:15 pm - Meadow Reach (Lieder Ohne Worte) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/lieder-ohne-worte
1:19:10 Ancient Astronaut - Ethereal Dreams [Dionisaf Tape Rework] (Ethereal Dreams) https://ancientastronaut.bandcamp.com/album/ethereal-dreams
1:21:36 Atmøsphäre - Silver Obsidian (Gems and Minerals) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/gems-and-minerals
1:23:49 Philippe Deschamps - The Silence of Pallas [Ancient Astronaut Remix] (Ambient Cat Remixes, Vol. 1) https://ambientcat.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-cat-remixes-vol-1
1:26:46 Henrik Meierkord - Quiescis [.cut Mare Tranquillitatis Remix] (Chitra Ambient Remixes) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/chitra-ambient-remixes 
1:28:55 Piscean Daydreams - The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Piercing the Veil) https://pisceandaydreams.bandcamp.com/album/piercing-the-veil
1:33:43 NK x [Ųvás Gøød It] & Evgeniy Bolily - Atämta (Divya Music) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/divya-music
1:42:35 Dionisaf - Glass Octopus (Deep Ocean Creatures) https://dionisaf.bandcamp.com/album/deep-ocean-creatures
1:45:36 Sebby Kowal - We Are One (We Are One) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/we-are-one
1:50:08 Le Code - Looking to the Sky [Ancient Astronaut Remix] (Ambient Cat Remixes, Vol. 1) https://ambientcat.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-cat-remixes-vol-1
1:55:05 Michael D. Tidwell - Labradorite (Gems and Minerals) https://chitrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/gems-and-minerals
1:57:17 Diogene - Particles (The Ocean in Our Minds) https://ambientcat.bandcamp.com/album/the-ocean-in-our-minds

Watch on YouTube ▶️

Ethereal Projector #3 Transcendental Meditation by Dionisaf | Deep Calm Meditative Mix

Recorded between March and June of this year, Future Flowers is both a reflection and a rebirth - a gentle yet resolute act of hope from composer Hans Nox.

Some of these pieces have lived quietly for years - written a decade or more ago, resting like seeds beneath the soil. Others emerged spontaneously during the recording sessions, unfolding in real time as Hans allowed instinct and feeling to take the lead. The result is an album that bridges past and present, memory and anticipation - where old melodies find new breath, and improvisation opens unexpected pathways.

“I wanted the entire experience to be more free-flowing, more playful, more adventurous than the usual cautious approach I take to composing,” Hans writes. “Rather than regretting where I’ve been or the paths that led nowhere, I’ve chosen to trust my Savior and strive toward the brightness ahead. Yesterday is gone - tomorrow is coming. How much better it is to pursue confidence and courage.”

That sense of spiritual renewal and creative surrender runs through every note. There is a tender humanness here - fragile piano phrases that pause as if mid-thought, ambient textures that drift like light across water, melodies that carry both ache and affirmation. Even the silences seem to speak, offering a kind of stillness that listens back.

Future Flowers is, in many ways, an album about release - about letting go of the weight of the past to make room for something more open, more alive. It celebrates the decision to move forward with faith and boldness, even when the path ahead is unclear. The music does not rush; it unfolds patiently, like petals opening in the sun - quiet gestures of trust and becoming.

Like its title suggests, Future Flowers invites us to believe in renewal - to tend to the unseen roots beneath our lives, trusting that beauty will bloom again in time.

In keeping with the spirit of the music, this release has been lovingly hand-assembled in a limited Fluid Audio edition, pairing Hans Nox’s compositions with bespoke artwork and tactile design. Natural textures, archival papers, and hand-numbered inserts bring a physical warmth to the experience - each copy a small act of devotion, crafted with the same care and intentionality that shaped the album itself.

Gentle, honest, and filled with quiet light, Future Flowers is not just a collection of songs - it’s a testament to resilience, to grace, and to the faith that something beautiful still lies ahead.

Music - Hans Nox
Mastering - Ian Hawgood
Design - Daniel Crossley

Hold Fast

From "We Can Sleep Now", available on cassette and digital from Unifactor:
https://unifactor.bandcamp.com/album/we-can-sleep-now

The Mountain (cassette out now on Unifactor)

Anoyo

tim hecker 'you never were'

Ian Hawgood is back with another contemplative classic, one which I’m sure I’ll be spinning on end, this time on James Murray‘s handcrafted label, Slowcraft, truly prepared “for people who treasure beautiful audio artefacts.” I know that this is a very personal and highly revered little treasure [I could see that in Murray’s glistening eyes as he handed over the specially reserved press edition of the album], and so I treat it with respect, with worship, as such music clearly merits. So without further ado, I am honoured to present you with an exclusive premiere of one of the delicate pieces from this upcoming album, called “Ever Loved”.

The album itself sprawls across the sonic vapours with elegant buzzing and hum, produced by the analogue machines guided by the mastering touch of this (finally London-based) musician. The sound is allowed to evolve, transform, and then decay, all that surrounds it and what it wraps in turn. Slow moving ambient textures rise and fall, swell and recede, into a breathing of its own, with the vibrations that make music. The manipulated medium of reel-to-reel tape machines, degraded cassette recordings, and analogue synthesizers, weave a love song of Impermanence.

"Impermanence is an understated, finely wrought work that honours process and outcome equally, exhibiting a rare tonal and conceptual elegance throughout and marking an assured return to solo composition from a true master of the analogue arts."

Beneath the outline of the used equipment, listed in detail on the album’s Bandcamp page, we find such magical items as a “Sony Cassette Tape hanging from our apartment by the river in Nakajuku, Tokyo,” and a very bold proclaiming statement that “No computers were used in these recordings.” Admirers of everything hand-made, intimate, and intricately curated will be in love with this fourth Slowcraft Presents entry in the series of exceptional and unclassifiable music. Highly recommended.

Impermanence

Ever Loved

TRACK PREMIERE : Ian Hawgood - Ever Loved

N Chambers - Automatic Bog

Forthcoming on Fluid Audio...

Lucia Adam + Alex Smalley
April 2017 - February 2019
Weimar, Germany

www.fluidaudio.bigcartel.com

Tides

Ilm - Tides

Here are some original solo piano pieces...  some mixes from my podcast... some exclusive track premieres...  and some tracks from the albums I review on Headphone Commute... Enjoy!

TRACK PREMIERE : Ian Hawgood - Ever Loved

Headphone Commute

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