Mysteries’ latest from Melbourne-based producer Mosam Howieson falls somewhere between realms — percussive, deep techno and airy ambient — eventually landing in a liminal, stunning, undefinable space. From the wispy, tentacled opener “Explorations” to the IDM-leaning stunner “Cerebro,” Howison’s Aphelion is an intentional experiment in world building, and the world he’s built is a landscape brimming with a potent confluence of retro-futurist sounds, genres, and textures.

Aphelion refers to the point at which a planet is furthest from the sun. Despite the inherent darkness in this concept and its release coming in the wake of a turbulent year, Howieson assures us that he’s far from cynical: in fact, he says the album is “about coming back to the light.” Whether it's the acidic arpeggiation, airy pads, or intricately woven percussion that gets us there, Aphelion is emotionally transportive. In certain tracks, 80’s-influenced synth melody provides the teeth — the LP is not overly percussive, nor is it strictly ambient. Tracks like the IDM-tinged “Cerebro” showcase Howieson’s take on ethereal, breakbeat-influenced techno: airtight percussion and well-placed acid make this a standout. Howieson’s more rhythmic cuts are balanced by beat-less ones; “Low Orbit,” for example, is a dense cloud of a track, sweeping like ominous fog over a valley. But it isn’t long before we’re back above the clouds again with “Dream Sequence” and the title track, whose taut synth melodies and minimal, reverb-soaked percussion give power and depth to the overarching vision of the LP. In listening, there’s a sense of the ground moving beneath one’s feet — and despite Howieson’s skilled, masterful production, the listening experience of Aphelion is undoubtedly about surrender, not control. The soundscape it produces is both fresh and classic, or in another word, elegant.

To my parents and friends who support me in countless ways, and to Rich for being my overseeing musical mentor.

Written, Produced, and Mixed by Mosam Howieson
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio, NY
Design by Gabriel Benzur
Video Direction by Candace Price
Words by Taylor Bratches

Worldwide Distribution: wordandsound → what people play

© Mysteries of the Deep
MOTDLP012, 2021
mysteriesofthedeep.net

Aphelion

Purchase Album

MOTDLP012 - Mosam Howieson - Aphelion

Mysteries of the Deep Podcast, Chapter CXXX. Serene Healing Machinery by @Saphileaum. Cover photo courtesy of Candace Price.

Tracklist:   
1. Shiro Sagisu - Nothing Anymore  
2. Purl - Melora  
3. Picnic - Drops in the Water (DJ Paradise version)  
4. S.V.R.A - Postponed Rain  
5. Laraaji - Being Here  
6. Oreste - Minas Mare  
7. Jonn Serrie - Maiden Voyage  
8. Black Merlin - First Light  
9. Moss Covered Technology - Glare 
 10. Zemog - Equality  
11. Shaded Explorer - Attunement  
12. Simone Gatto - Imaginary Landscapes  
13. Neel - Alchemy 
14. Simone Gatto - Don't Hold On To The Unconscious Self feat Flora Paar

Mysteries of the Deep CXXX - Saphileaum | Serene Healing Machinery

Release date: 22/04/22

If you would like to review this release, please email info@astralindustries.co.uk

2x12” 180g gatefold vinyl//mastered by Noel Summerville//leaflet included//original artwork by Theo Ellsworth.

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Son of Chi returns to Astral Industries, alongside Spanish artist Clara Brea, for the collaborative release of AI-29. A product of fate, chance experiments, but most of all, sensitive artistry - ’The Wetland Remixes’ exists as a confluence of two kindred musical spirits, a wayfaring epic that draws together a rich archive of ecological field recordings, live instrumentation and higher inspirations. 

Ahead of Hanyo’s concert at ‘Avalovara listening club’ (Madrid) at the end of 2019, the curators (Diskoan & Josephine’ Soundscapes) organised a special dinner and arranged the meeting of Clara and Hanyo. As Hanyo recalls, “It was like stereochemistry. There was an instant match and understanding, and basically we decided in a split second to exchange recordings and to collaborate on future live and studio experiments.”  

The auspicious meeting of the two ignited a remote exchange of materials and ideas, as the world descended into a series of pandemic-related lockdowns. The first of said recordings included the stems of Clara’s ‘Wetland Project’ - a site-specific audiovisual project originally produced for Eufonic Festival (Spain), using field recordings from the Ebro Delta nature reserve (one of the most threatened regions of climate change on the Iberian peninsula). 

From this initial impetus, Hanyo began working on the first sketches of the album back in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Just like their meeting in Madrid, the project developed naturally and spontaneously with extraordinary ease. Later, Hanyo started adding field recordings from the Magic Cave and Wetlands of the ‘Kallikatsou’ (Patmos, Greece) as well as organic and acoustic overdubs, featuring bass, drums, percussion, guitars, oud, piano, hammond organ, wurlitzer, flutes, bells, and mouth harp. 

In the distance, the sound of birds peak through the effervescent wash of the wetland soundscapes. The pass of running water flows deeper into a land full of secrets never told. On the strike of dusk, the silhouettes of shapely trunks and foliage melt slowly into the impenetrable darkness. As darkness passes, light emerges, with exquisite moments of tranquility that seemingly emerge from nothingness.  

Beneath the shimmering veneer of textures, wildlife and melodies, one may hear the deeper references of ’The Wetland Remixes’. With credit to Clara’s input, for Hanyo the album process became a kind of refuge, and ultimately inspired the return to the core of Abstract Sound - what the Sufis call “Saut-i Sarmad.” Such references allude to the spiritual quality embedded in the music - the autonomous process of self-expression, the great mystery. Hanyo: “An ambience like this cannot be created by routine. There is no blueprint. The music has to find you. It’s like a blessing if it happens. You should not interfere, just observe and be impressed...” 

Deep, luscious mind trips as per the classic Chi sound, ‘The Wetland Remixes’ beautifully correlates the interconnecting dots of geography, ecology, and mythology’s forgotten lore.

Buy Now

Side C

Side B

Side A

Release date: 19/08/22

If you would like to review this release, please email info@astralindustries.co.uk

2x12” 180g gatefold vinyl//mastered by Noel Summerville//original artwork by Theo Ellsworth.

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AI-31 sees the debut release from a new collaboration between Samuel van Dijk (Netherlands) and Rasmus Hedlund (Finland). Both key proponents to the scene in Northern Europe, they come together with mutual understanding and a common vision to sound. Dialog acts as a conversational exchange that sees the interplay of dynamic frequencies, evocative imagery and contemporary sonic art. Spread across four sides, the album as a whole exists as a kind of metaphysical process, eternally growing and contracting — change is the only constant, marked by a continuous progression of sound and space.  

Expansive, deep, and at moments arresting, Dialog unfolds with sweeping soundscapes and shimmers with tactile sonic details. A chasmic rift of scintillating drone structures, each layer exposes a series of ever-deeper shades. In a play of dynamic dualities, the pair harnesses both earthly materials as well as access to more ethereal dimensions in the music. Side A begins with sub-terrestrial ruptures, gestating in a process of constant elemental changes. Rattling hits sputter amongst a state of nascent chaos, yet continues to be maintained in self-regulating stasis. Side B sets a more introspective tone, whispering with ghostly artefacts and bubbling synth lines, before building into a driving energy of layered field recordings and mechanistic timbres. The essence of form continues to be contested, until it subsides into momentary calm on side C. A cleansing period of soft drones float into the space and the pace slows, washing away remnants of past. The journey continues with side D’s conclusion - a solemn contour that reaches its internal extent, to then finally return to its source.

Side D

'I wanted to put this mix together because to me a lot of these tunes stand really strong as instrumentals, and I find parallels with a lot of other music I love in them. there’s this space and distance in the loops; there’s a simplicity and clarity in the way they’re built - take more trife life, rolling out one string sample, one bass note, one kick, one snare, one hi hat, so deadly. then also this sense of menace, even dread, particularly in some havoc and premier beats, where it’s like you can feel these shared roots with a lot of uk underground music. different place, different evolution, different tempo, same darkness.'

D-Flow & A-Bless - Ridin & Rollin [Wildlife]
Group Home - Livin' Proof [Payday]
Mobb Deep - Quiet Storm [Loud]
Raekwon - Ice Cream [Loud]
Show & AG - Spit [D.I.T.C.]
D.I.T.C. - The Enemy [D.I.T.C.]
Natural Elements - 2 Tons [Tommy Boy Black Label]
Mobb Deep - More Trife Life [Loud]
Originoo Gunn Clappaz - No Fear [Priority]
DJ Dez Andres - Generation XR-9 [Hipnotech]
Group Home - Up Against Tha Wall (Getaway Car Mix) [Payday]
Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Part II [Loud]
Bahamadia - 3 Tha Hard Way [Chrysalis]
Mobb Deep - Nightime Vultures [Loud]
Jeru the Damaja - One Day [Payday]
Alchemist - Thug Music [ALC Music Recorded Library]
Alchemist - Three [ALC Music Recorded Library]

Instrumentals mix for Bake 150630

hypnagogic ambient-sessions recorded mainly in Kärrgruvan, Norberg - mid 2016.

'willtherebeoceans?' (Karl Bult-association) live at 'excel' 20170701, hagsätra.

Mysteries of the Deep Podcast, Chapter CXVI. 'Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?' by @jdharrington. This set was recorded live at Chillits 2019. Cover photo courtesy of Candace Price.

Tracklist:
1. Clay Wilson - Athame [self-released, 2018]
2. ASC - Kelp Forest [Silent Season, 2019]
3. Organic Dial - Finger Drips [Litmus Supply, 2019]
4. Warmth - Reflector (Shuta Yasukochi Remix) [ARCHIVES, 2019]
5. The Detroit Escalator Co. - Force [Ferox Records, 1996]
6. 36 - Esper (Reinterpreted) [A Strangely Isolated Place, 2019]
7. Warmth - Spherule [ARCHIVES, 2018]
8. ASC - Enerval [Auxiliary, 2019]
9. Shackleton - The Rope Tightens (Badawi Remix) [Skull Disco, 2008]
10. ASC - Vanth [Auxiliary, 2017]
11. Alva Noto - Uni Normal [Noton, 2018]
12. Björk - All Is Full Of Love (In Love With Funkstörung Remix) [FatCat Records, 1998]
13. Halo - Angel [Dewtone Recordings, 2012]
14. Dominique Duverger - Dusk (Nassau Reduction) [Kavalanic Languages, 2018]
15. Porn Sword Tobacco - Copyright The Universe [City Centre Offices, 2007]
16. Rafael Anton Irisarri - Her Rituals [Room40, 2013]
17. Pessimist - Balaklava [Blackest Ever Black, 2016]
18. Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Refuges From Black Magic [Hospital Productions, 2012]
19. Vladislav Delay - Kohde [Mille Plateaux, 2000]
20. Forest Management - It'll Happen Inside My Mind [self-released, 2016]
21. Clay Wilson - E4 (Patrick Russell Remix) [The Bunker New York, 2016]
22. ASC - Haumea [Auxiliary, 2017]
23. Earthen Sea - The Sky Is A Sea Of Darkness [Silent Season, 2017]
24. Christoph de Babalon - Brilliance [Digital Hardcore Recordings, 1997]
25. Chihei Hatakeyama - Scarlet Stone [Dronarivm, 2016]
26. This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren [4AD, 1983]

Mysteries of the Deep CXVI - JD Harrington | 'Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?'

Download the set here: 
https://corenews.me/andrew-weatherall-essential-mix-2020-02-22/
Tracklist over here:
https://tracklists.thomaslaupstad.com/andrew-weatherall-essential-mix-2020-02-22-tracklist-playlist/