'Silent Observers' EP
Substak
See Blue Audio SBA 059

1. Voyage Beyond
2. Orbiting Dreams
3. Aurora
4. Nebula Drift
5. Silent Observers

Release date: 14 March 2025

https://lnk.to/SBA059

See Blue Audio: ambient / electronic / beatless / cinematic / downtempo / eclectic / introspective… Shade rather than light...

If the opening release of 2025 on See Blue Audio, 'Vestige' by Leit Motif, was an audio journey into the nature of what it is to be human in the chaos that surrounds us, its successor takes a trip into the outer reaches of space and our imagination. It also welcomes a new artist to the label in the shape of Athens-based electronic artist Substak. With the 'Silent Observers' EP, the fifty-ninth release on See Blue Audio, he invites us into his world where sound operates as a form of language.

Kostas Staikos, otherwise known as Substak, began his passion for music as a means of escape from everyday life with a commitment to creative freedom and expression. Since then, he has released on myriad labels from many countries, including Nomadism Records, Drone Works International, Secret Domain, hello strange, Adventurous Music, Pertin-nce, Secuencias Temporales, Recycled Plastics, ODrex Music, Apnea, Hypnotic Landscapes, insectorama, Kopoc, Sea of Clouds and others, creating an impressive portfolio of work. Setting himself no limits and with an artistic vision transcending conventional boundaries, his musical compass points in many directions from dub and techno to ambient and drone soundscapes. On 'Silent Observers', his sound takes another evolutionary step with sonic explorations that plunge into the depths of drone and space ambience.

Across five short but perfectly succinct tracks, Kostas brings his ideas into being with exquisite clarity. Beatless, shrouded in static and radio interference, and with subtle melodies that seem to almost crawl into life, the effect is soothing and dreamlike, but still demanding of our attention. At times it can be unsettling, but such is the nature of the great, mysterious universe that hovers above us. As the titles suggest, the cosmos is the central theme on 'Silent Observers' and the listener quickly becomes immersed in the Substak interpretation of travelling through endless space to unknown galaxies.

The closing title track hints at a possible alternative view: perhaps we are the observed and not the observers; it's they who are looking at us from afar and wondering who and what we are. This is their radio transmission and at times it's almost as if the signal is breaking up.

Substak has created something very special here and it's a glorious addition to the See Blue Audio catalogue. The 'Silent Observers' EP evokes a sense of reflection and is ideally suited for relaxation and meditation while still retaining a questioning tone. To paraphrase the line from a famous science fiction movie, "In space no one can hear anything at all."

Silent Observers EP

'Silent Observers' EP (preview) – Substak (See Blue Audio SBA #059)

Kostas Staikos, known as Substak, is an Athens-based artist and music producer who began his journey in 2011.
His passion for music provided an escape from everyday life, and since then, he has released his work through various labels. 
Substak’s artistic vision transcends conventional boundaries, focusing on the pure language of sound.
His journey continues to evolve, driven by a commitment to creative freedom and expression.

https://linktr.ee/Substak

"Fragments" now available via Bandcamp. 

Fusing the sounds around us into organized tone. #Ambient, #electronica, experimental. New projects from @joshhumble.

https://progettosonoro.bandcamp.com/follow_me
progettosonoro è Marco Mascia, accumulatore seriale (e parallelo) di strumenti musicali e oggetti sonori e (non)musicista. Dal 2007 fa parte (con Manuel Lain) del duo Le Pecorecaramellate che ha all'attivo un Cd (Una botte e via! edito da Sesto Esercizio Records) e ha partecipato (Cagliari, 10 Ottobre 2015, Nuovo Panificio) al Multiversal EXP-OFF. 
Il 1 Maggio 2016, sempre al al Nuovo Panificio, ha partecipato, con la Roaring Pianolas Orchestra, alla perfomance live "pianoltre"

Independent electronic ambient artist, crafting immersive soundscapes that blend atmosphere with deep exploration of texture and tone. My compositions are shaped by the active imagination described by C. G. Jung and the vivid landscapes of my dreams, translating emotions into evolving auditory experiences.
Influenced by ambient minimalism and deep bass tweaking with VCF filters, my music layers rich harmonics, resonant frequencies, and fluid transitions to create enveloping and transportive journeys.

© All rights reserved. 
Record Label: Shadow Glass Recordings 
No promoters I handle all my own production.

Genocide, June 2025:
Israel is only the executioner, every nation which has armed that country in the past year is an accessory to that genocide, an accomplice, a facilitator.  We cannot talk about war crimes because when you target unarmed civilians, mostly women and children, we are talking about a massacre, like terrorists do, not a war. The people who orchestrated that massacre, in the US, the most duplicitous, followed by those of the UK, Germany, France, and probably a few lesser ones should be tried for crimes against humanity just as well as Netanyahu and his cabinet, because it has been going on for two years, generously reported by media of all kinds, so the enablers knew exactly how the arms were to be used, as a tool for revenge, domination, and humiliation of the Palestinian people.  The conflict has ceased to be about the defense of anything for months.

The parties responsible have made a mockery of decency, morals, fairness, proportion, or justice, not to mention empathy.  Of what little there was, these concepts will be a lot longer to come back than they were to be struck down.  

Is it 1984 already?!?!
 ...

I have not been able to recover access to my other account [https://soundcloud.com/ha-kekong] for a couple of years.  I have tried a few times to get back into it but SoundCloud doesn't trust me.  Same phone number, same email addresses, and they still claim that they can't verify my identity.  I created that account about three years ago as a substitute to my regular account which SoundCloud temporarily closed.  They closed it as part of some upgrade procedure in their system, the result of a bug that affected many accounts, about two years ago.  Since SC did not inform its users I didn't know if that was permanent or not, so I created that other account which I can't access.  Don't be mad if I have not replied to your message in the past two years, that's because I never got them ; ) ... You can always reach me here though.
...

This one here (957729823) is for regular folks.

I love you, both.

...

You can't see it because of the angle with which I took the shot, aiming down, but beyond those blocks is the sea.  To the left is the Mediterranean, to the right is the Atlantic Ocean.  No it's not Gibraltar, but a little bit further West. ... Actually I checked recently and it is further North more than West, I thought I was facing South when in fact I probably was facing the Atlantic ocean, which is why I suppose the waves were of a decent size where we were.
...

My face and the bike are a courtesy of Joël Vaudreuil
[https://vimeo.com/user8897093]  ... Merci Joe!
I then went ahead and butchered his work with a borrowed helmet.
... Sorry Joe. =(
...

I'm trying to promote what I think is good music, so if you want to help out a bit I'd rather you [like] or [repost] my *playlists* rather than my field recordings, if you don't mind, unless you are a die hard fan of those things. Thank you ; )

I speak French, so if you send me a private message, and that you are a francophone, please write in French, thank you.  ... I mean, you don't absolutely have to, but I would prefer it. 

All my field recordings (except for when I record a person) are public, freely downloadable by anyone who is able to click on the button.  I encourage anyone interested to use them in any way whatsoever, on purpose or accidentally. No need for permissions or credits or any other kind  of administrative maneuvers.
...

Anarchists give me hope.

I'm a big fan of EFF.  Love ya EFF.  (no connection with the above line)
... and of course Richard Stallman and Linux and all the others.  Bless yous.

Now don't be lazy, go find out what it is this "EFF" that I'm talking about.  I'll give you a hint: it has to do with computers.

You have a nice day now.  Hugs & Kisses.