opening track from “natural serenity” by @taennya

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https://taennya.bandcamp.com/album/natural-serenity

natural serenity

taennya - eternal light

As October rolls in, it marks the 2-year anniversary of Ambientologist. And just like last year, @laugebabagnohm has crafted a beautiful mix of the highlights of the past 12 months.

With two Sustain Series compilations released in that time, there was plenty to choose from, so please enjoy this wonderfully varied journey through some of the sounds Ambientologist has had the privilege of showcasing this year.

Download it here on SoundCloud, or head to the Bandcamp page to also grab some of the full tracks for free: https://bit.ly/3o9X7zl

Here's to all the artists involved that continue to weave their magic webs of emotive brilliance.

~

Tracklist

01 r beny - Bright (Valotihkuu's Brighter Recycle) [from Sustain Series, Vol. 1]
02 Luis Miehlich, Fionnlagh - God in the Stars [from Sustain Series, Vol. 1]
03 Logic Moon - Drone 0002 (Lauge Recycle) [from Sustain Series, Vol. 1]
04 Rinnovare, Julia Gjertsen - Natural Unfolding [from Sustain Series, Vol. 2]
05 awakened souls, City of Dawn - Piedro Blanco [from Sustain Series, Vol. 2]
06 Henrik Meierkord - Kval [from Kval]
07 Henrik Meierkord - Mind (Jupi/ter Rework) [single release]
08 Dylan Henner, Robert Farrugia - Xochitlatcan [from Sustain Series, Vol. 2]
09 Benoît Pioulard - Try to Be More Realistic (With Pepo Galán & Karen Vogt [from Sustain Series, Vol. 1]
10 Jupi/ter - Tree [from Islands, Pt. 2]
11 Marty Hicks, Luis Miehlich - Upon the Winds of Change [from Sustain Series, Vol. 1]
12 anthéne, Pepo Galán, Marty Hicks - Sculpture 1 (By Dear Gravity) [from Sustain Series, Vol. 2]
13 Logic Moon, Atmøsphäre - Dancer in the Dark [from Fading]
14 Fields We Found - Drops [from Thanks]

Download

Reflections, Vol. 2 - Mixed by Lauge

Italian producer and master synthesist Guido Zen has mesmerised my mind with his incredibly rich tapestry of sound since he appeared on the scene as Abul Mogard. He's got a particular sonic aesthetic that I tried [and failed] at replicating - something soft and slow-burning is rising and evolving into a velvety, faint and fuzzy vibration, perfectly sculpted to hold it all in one place. If there were just a bit too much reverb it all would be blurry, and if not enough, it would be just dry. And yet, in the hands of Guido, the frequency spectrum is dense and alive, "shaking kosmische synth fantasies into post-industrial ambience and blissful shoegaze memories." His most recent release with Rafael Anton Irisarri, for which I premiered "Place of Forever", was a fantastic example of all of the above, plus an amazing showcase of what a collaborative production may bring to the fans, combining Raf's distorted layers of bowed guitar with a myriad of perfectly saturated effects. On June 21st, Guido returns with yet another collaboration, this time with Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer and sound designer Aimée Portioli, known as Grand River. Released via Caterina Barbieri's light-years imprint, this new work, which Guido admitted to me has taken him into new territories, is indeed yet another captivating dimension of a multi-faceted composition that truly unites both artists as one. Here, we are gifted with Aimée's strong sense of sensual organic soundscapes that develop into nearly overpowering tide crests, static washes, and serene expense, all carried by the widescreen cinematic tension and resolve in the hands of the fictitious synth factory worker. A truly enjoyable journey, which I hope you'll explore. I recommend turning up the volume a bit beyond your usual setting...

In uno spazio immenso

Sulle barcane

TRACK PREMIERE : Grand River And Abul Mogard - Sulle Barcane

I've been a loyal follower of the 130701 label since its birth date, after which this offshoot from the UK-based FatCat Records has been named. Its celebrated catalogue includes releases by Max Richter, Hauschka, Sylvain Chauveau, Dustin O'Halloran, Resina, and, of course, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson - many of whom have received numerous accolades across modern classical, electronic, and film institutions. I don't think it would be an understatement to claim that 130701 played a pivotal role in the evolution of the crossover genre, blending contemporary classical with experimental and cinematic elements to reach an audience around the globe. Today, I'm happy to share a newly signed artist to the label, who will undoubtedly make an impression on you as past alumni did. Ava Rasti hails from Tehran, Iran, where she composes brooding, emotional and haunting music, blending elements of ambient, modern classical and drone. If the name of the Icelandic cellist, Hildur Guðnadóttir, evokes a particular aesthetic in your heart, you shall immediately gravitate towards her sound. Ava Rasti's new album, titled The River, explores how places can hold onto unreliable memories, often shifting the narrative through a perspective clouded by time. Here, Rasti reflects on Heraclitus, paraphrasing, "We never step in the same river twice, for it's not the same river, and we are not the same human being."

The River

The Dead Horse

TRACK PREMIERE : Ava Rasti - The Dead Horse

In the brackish territories where ambient Gothic dissolves into industrial techno's harsh architecture, Richie Culver's Quiet Husband finds its most compelling voice. The track I am premiering for you today, "At Your Worst," operates at this precise intersection—a dankly atmospheric piece that reflects haunted soundscapes while maintaining the raw visceral energy that has defined this multi-disciplinary artist's sonic explorations. Following his mesmerizing Atonal Festival appearance and the brutal Religious Equipment (2024) album—that unflinching portrait of addiction where track titles borrowed the clinical language of opiate blockers—Raging Habits 2 suggests a subtle shift. Here, Chicago house rhythms intermingle with looping ambient elements, creating tension between forward propulsion and suspended animation. I've had my eye and ear on Quiet Husband for a while now, seeking out the perfect piece that would appeal to all my readers, and I think that "At Your Worst" may hit that note. Disintegrating loops, raw noise and dark distortion operate in the foreground of this piece, scratching its nails on the outer walls of the chalkboard. The track's title itself speaks to Culver's unflinching examination of human fragility, that moment when substitution becomes salvation—when "noise becomes a proxy for silence, and intensity replaces numbness." This is music from the peripheral spaces of experience, from that liminal zone where endorphin rushes skim "over the synapse surface." Just days before his upcoming Berghain debut, Culver offers us not merely a composition but a séance, invoking ghosts of past raging habits while simultaneously exorcising them through the catharsis of sound. Not for the lighthearted, but if you're brave you will enjoy.

TRACK PREMIERE : Quiet Husband - At Your Worst

CTHULHU MYTHOS - LIFELESS

What if sonic practice were not only artistic expression, but a mode of critical reflection — a way to generate knowledge about the positionality of both producer and listener?
To explore this, I invited the artists I interviewed to contribute sound samples — fragments from their production process — to build a collective sound “database.” With this samples gbw9, Melag0m, Kurzschluss, Mahée and HAUSVRAU produced soundpieces - which are released in the format of this compilation.
Here, sound is activated as a method: both a tool of knowledge and a relational medium. The resulting sample pack reflects diverse sonic practices and acts as a collaborative, affective archive.

Infestation as Sonic Resistance
I use the term infestation to describe how certain practices — deemed disruptive by dominant standards — disturb normative structures, much like weeds invading a manicured garden. Infestation stands for persistent, collective disruptions that challenge the status quo.
This concept ties into anti-capitalist modes of music production. By embracing collaboration, shared authorship, and relationality, the sample pack resists neoliberal values of individualism and competition. It becomes a sonic commons: a space for co-creation, not extraction.
INFESTATIONcan be thought of as a harmful seed, a seed that grows subtly, slowly. The sounds creep in sideways — rough edges, broken rhythms, distorted textures. Infestation is when sounds start growing in the cracks. Cultivated through collaboration, Infestation values disturbance, tension, connection, shared creation and finding new paths.
Some artists in this compilation are boycotting Spotify due to its investments in the arms industry. In solidarity, we are releasing the project exclusively via alternative platforms like SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

your seeds make gardens of doubt

ears 3 20 bpm take 1 8725

'Essay' is the long awaited first full ambient album by Warmth. A collection of hazy textures, intricate soundscapes and field recordings, presented in a beautiful 4-panel CDr. 

Tracklist:

01.  Nineteen Eighty (1980)             09:58
02. Youth                              08:34
03. Essay                              08:27
04. Odessa                             06:37
05. Wave Growth (Album Version)        08:12
06. Decade                             07:20
07. Insight                            09:30
08. Time as a Reward (Album Version)   08:54


Written and Produced by Agustín Mena.
Mastering by Zzzzra.
Archives23 // ArchivesCD005
Archives / 2016

Buy CD/Digital

Warmth - Essay

Music by Gray Acres.
Mastered by Ian Hawgood.

Release date: Late February through Sound in Silence (GR) soundinsilencerecords.bandcamp.com

The Maps They Held

This is my contribution to the Rusted Tone Recordings: Sampler Vol. 1 various artists compilation.  Recorded using dual reel to reel tape decks and a single tape loop that continuously records over itself, slowly degrading over time.  Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy!!

https://rustedtonerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/rusted-tone-recordings-sampler-vol-1

A Thousand Tiny Heartbreaks

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 : Quiet Husband - At Your Worst

Headphone Commute

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