ambient

Tycho "Awake" LP on Ghostly International
Release date: MARCH 18, 2014

Purchase "Awake": shop.iso50.com/collections/awake

formats:
CD/LP/DIGITAL

artwork by:
ISO50

For nearly a decade, Tycho has been known as the musical alias of Scott Hansen, but with the release of Awake – his second LP for Ghostly International – the solo project has evolved into a three-piece band. Relating closer to post-rock than ambient soundscapes, the record is situated in the present, sounding more like Hansen than drawing from his influences. “This is, in many ways, the first true Tycho record.”

Following 2011’s Dive LP, the San Francisco-based designer toured extensively, and with a full band on stage, his sound coalesced into a percussive, organic whole. Zac Brown (guitars, bass) rejoined Scott on the road for this tour, but it was the particular addition of Rory O’Connor’s live drumming that ultimately sent Hansen back to the studio with a more precise vision. “After the tour, I decided that I wanted to capture the more energetic, driven sound of the live show on the next album,” Hansen recalls. Bringing musicians into Tycho’s creative process was a step towards expanding his own songwriting and advancing the project beyond its current sound.

In a cabin near Tahoe last winter, Zac and Scott began fleshing out the structure of the new record, but it wasn’t until they set up shop in the hills of Santa Cruz with Rory that it all fell into place. “It crystallized the vision of how the drums would come to the forefront on this record,” says Hansen. The sound was much more stripped-down and concise with more organic instruments in the fold. Songs like “Montana” and “Awake” are a departure from Tycho’s previous material – unique to the group effort poured into the songs on the new record – while “See” and “Dye” echo ideas from previous works, bridging a middle ground between the old and new. Working with Count Eldridge, who also engineered Dive, the team could fixate on the pulses that Tycho might previously layer under synthesizers and exhume them with distinct bass and guitar patterns.

Also known for his design work as ISO50, Hansen’s visual and sonic efforts have dovetailed throughout the course of his career. “This is the first time in my life I've dropped everything to focus on one artistic pursuit,” notes Hansen. Previous Tycho releases came to fruition when an amalgam of songs were nearing completion, but Awake is where music becomes the focus and true expression becomes the result.

WEB - www.tychomusic.com 
TWITTER - www.twitter.com/iso50 
FB - www.facebook.com/tychomusic 
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/user/iso50 
INSTAGRAM - @iso50

Awake

Tycho "Awake" LP on Ghostly International
Release date: MARCH 18, 2014

Purchase "Awake": shop.iso50.com/collections/awake

formats:
CD/LP/DIGITAL

Design and layout by Scott Hansen

For nearly a decade, Tycho has been known as the musical alias of Scott Hansen, but with the release of Awake – his second LP for Ghostly International – the solo project has evolved into a three-piece band. Relating closer to post-rock than ambient soundscapes, the record is situated in the present, sounding more like Hansen than drawing from his influences. “This is, in many ways, the first true Tycho record.”

Following 2011’s Dive LP, the San Francisco-based designer toured extensively, and with a full band on stage, his sound coalesced into a percussive, organic whole. Zac Brown (guitars, bass) rejoined Scott on the road for this tour, but it was the particular addition of Rory O’Connor’s live drumming that ultimately sent Hansen back to the studio with a more precise vision. “After the tour, I decided that I wanted to capture the more energetic, driven sound of the live show on the next album,” Hansen recalls. Bringing musicians into Tycho’s creative process was a step towards expanding his own songwriting and advancing the project beyond its current sound.

In a cabin near Tahoe last winter, Zac and Scott began fleshing out the structure of the new record, but it wasn’t until they set up shop in the hills of Santa Cruz with Rory that it all fell into place. “It crystallized the vision of how the drums would come to the forefront on this record,” says Hansen. The sound was much more stripped-down and concise with more organic instruments in the fold. Songs like “Montana” and “Awake” are a departure from Tycho’s previous material – unique to the group effort poured into the songs on the new record – while “See” and “Dye” echo ideas from previous works, bridging a middle ground between the old and new. Working with Count Eldridge, who also engineered Dive, the team could fixate on the pulses that Tycho might previously layer under synthesizers and exhume them with distinct bass and guitar patterns.

Also known for his design work as ISO50, Hansen’s visual and sonic efforts have dovetailed throughout the course of his career. “This is the first time in my life I've dropped everything to focus on one artistic pursuit,” notes Hansen. Previous Tycho releases came to fruition when an amalgam of songs were nearing completion, but Awake is where music becomes the focus and true expression becomes the result.

WEB - http://www.tychomusic.com 
TWITTER - http://www.twitter.com/iso50 
FB - http://www.facebook.com/tychomusic 
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/iso50 
INSTAGRAM - @iso50 


UPDATE: check out the great fan video made to the dub version by Progressive House 4Life (https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveHouse8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJe1DfY0qms Very cool and beautiful cinematography :)

Our remix of The Shore is finally out on Mango Alley along with the excellent rework by Mango and SEAWAVES. 

The original is a real emotional ballad so we wanted to stay true to that but give it a bit of a nostalgic feeling, like you're heading homeward on a journey. So we've added a groove, some original instrumentation and a little bit of euphoria too :)

We realize that you can just listen to it on here as many times as you like, such is the awesomeness of the internet! But if you'd like to say thanks and have a copy on your iPod or in a mix please feel free to head to Beatport (and soon iTunes) to download a copy.

http://www.beatport.com/release/the-shore/1289680 

Thanks for the support, and if you like the vocals make sure to check out the other @SEAWAVES tracks.

Mango & SEAWAVES - The Shore (We Are All Astronauts Remix)

Title track from Icelandic composer Snorri Hallgrímsson's new album "I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest". The piece balances light and dark, joy and sorrow; it's a contemplative, soulful number for piano & string ensemble and trombone about our place in the world.

🎧 moderna.ampl.ink/wearyrest

I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest

Streaming Platforms

Snorri Hallgrímsson - I Am Weary, Don't Let Me Rest

Mikael Lind is a Swedish composer based in Reykjavik, Iceland who has released on labels including Archives, Time Released Sound, Dronarivm and Polar Seas. In 2020 we released his solo album Give Shape To Space and also a collaborative EP called RAMMI, with Sævar Johannsson. Johanna Sjunnesson is a cellist based in Sweden, who performs as part of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and as a soloist too, with shows at Konserthuset and Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, the Grammy Gala, the Polar Music Prize Banquet, and more. In 2021 she released the EP Celistial, a collection of her interpretations of works by Bach, Purcell, Marais, Vivaldi, and Dowland, creatively mixed with electronic effects by Mikael Lind to create classical music for the 21st century.

Their collaboration began in Reykjavik, as Mikael established a bedrock of sound through piano, synths, electronics and effect treatments, before Johanna added the cellos from Sweden, through several remote file sharing exchanges. They intended to create a balance of slow, majestic beauty in their work, alongside more upbeat, rhythmically interesting parts, all the while underpinned by their shared love for modern classical music. The themes they explored and felt attached to were waves, flow and parallels; weaving linguistic metaphors into their music, without ever resting on anything clear and tangible. This allows the music to express itself, with the artwork and track titles serving only to enhance its impact.

This short album is named Wave Cycles and is in part inspired by the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, an apostle of Carl Linnaeus who travelled to Iceland in 1772 to investigate the botanical specimens of the island. The delicate textures and timbres of Lind and Sjunesson’s music reflect the finely-balanced natural world; there is an inter-dependence between each sound, allowed to thrive in its own eco-system and building to be greater than the sum of its parts. There is a dynamism and wealth of expression in these pieces, which will bring about stirring, life-affirming waves of emotion within its listener.

Wave Cycles

wlr146 Mikael Lind & Johanna Sjunnesson - Wave Cycles

Emerging German composer & producer Linus Alberg shares first taste of upcoming LP ‘Elements’. A reflective sonic journey that is at once gripping and patient.

Stream track on your favourite platform : https://moderna.ampl.ink/panther

Elements

Panther

Stream Here

Linus Alberg - Panther

taken from the album "Liminial Space"
release date 06.10.2023

Liminal Space

Shahin Souri - Flow

eRecords is a digital record series created by Whitelabrecs, to run alongside our physical releases. These editions aim to transform the digital format into something that can be experienced in a similar way to a listener’s interaction with a real, white label vinyl record. Each edition includes a special PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes.

We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release, so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will give you the background of each edition in the series.

catalog: eR021
artist: the bird's companion
release title: the edge of the sea
runtime: 24:19
location: victoria, british columbia, canada

releases November 18, 2023

Written and produced by Casey van Wensem
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Cover art by Casey van Wensem
Booklet art and design by Harry Towell

The Edge of The Sea

eR021 The Bird's Companion - The Unmoving Shore

eRecords is a digital record series created by Whitelabrecs, to run alongside our physical releases. These editions aim to transform the digital format into something that can be experienced in a similar way to a listener’s interaction with a real, white label vinyl record. Each edition includes a special PDF scrapbook including polaroids and liner notes.

We do not publish details about the concepts or production methods of a release, so that the liner notes and content in each scrapbook will give you the background of each edition in the series.

catalog: eR030
artist: Tom Smith
release title: Electio
runtime: 24:27
location: london, uk

written and produced by tom smith
mastered by james edward armstrong
cover artwork by tom smith
booklet art and design by harry towell

Electio

eR030 Tom Smith - River

Since its inception in 2019, the Sleeplaboratory compilation albums have been dedicated to exploring the interplay between Ambient music and sleep. Each volume gathers a diverse range of artists from around the world, who are invited to craft a piece of music which provides either a sense of calm or a subdued, minimal aesthetic.

Building on its four predecessors, Sleeplaboratory5.0 introduces a range of Ambient styles, from cinematic orchestral tones to hushed drones, delicate guitar passages, fractured piano notes, and deep bass textures. This edition welcomes back label previous label contributors such as Henrik Meierkord, Feeling Flying, The Bird’s Companion, Knivtid, and Calm Pieces. Their work is interwoven with contributions from new names to Whitelabrecs, offering a glimpse of potential future collaborations and releases.

As with all Whitelabrecs releases, the physical edition of Sleeplaboratory5.0 will feature companion artwork where the photographer had the same brief, to create something around the theme of sleep. This time, George Korunov’s evocative visuals adorn the four-panel sleeve, continuing our creative partnership. The deep blue and purple hues of these abstract images are suitably dreamlike, suggestive of clouds, of forest and of hard to place memories. The album is designed for versatile listening experiences, whether played quietly on headphones at night, softly through speakers in a dimly lit room, or as a soothing background companion to your day. The Sleeplaboratory series taps into the restorative qualities of both sleep and Ambient music.

Credits:
Curated by Harry Towell
Executive mastering by James Edward Armstrong
Mastering for tracks 2, 6, 7 arranged by the artists
Artwork by George Korunov
Art and design by Andrew Heath
All rights reserved with the artists

Sleeplaboratory5.0

wlr175 Various Artists - Sleeplaboratory5.0

After holding it back for what seems like forever, we can finally share this track with you now that it is released :)

We'll let the music do the talking, but we hope you enjoy the journey.

You can find some cool club remixes of this by Nick Hogendoorn on the Beatport release, as well as a faster "sunrise" version from us with a 4/4 beat. If you prefer iTunes then it will be available on there soon too. And of course, you can listen on repeat on here as many times as you wish! https://pro.beatport.com/release/cerulean-sky/1491092

Beatport

Cerulean Sky (Sunset Mix)

The Bird’s Companion is the Ambient project of Casey van Wensem, a musician based in Victoria, Canada. Having first explored music through piano lessons as a child, his passion for creating original compositions has helped him  hone a sound that blends elements of minimalism, modern classical, and post-rock, drawing inspiration from the likes of Steve Reich, Nils Frahm, and Mogwai. Since adopting The Bird’s Companion moniker in 2015 with a self-released EP called After the Fire, Casey has released music on 1631 and, some may recall his debut EP for Whitelabrecs ‘The Edge of the Sea’. He also collaborates widely across genres in his local scene.

A Place Outside of Time is a collection shaped by dreamy, cinematic nostalgia. The album was crafted using a range of acoustic and electric instruments including piano, electric guitar, baritone guitar, banjo and various synths. Plucked piano strings and layered guitar feedback provides a tapestry of sound that feels both intimate and expansive, evoking lost memories and distant places.

At the heart of this record lies a meditation on memory and the fragility of tradition. Inspired by a chapter from Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, where an entire town succumbs to amnesia, the album imagines music as a vessel to retrieve what’s slipping away. Track titles such as The Memory Machine hint at this deeper narrative, as Casey reflects on the fading wisdom of elders and the challenge of preserving their stories in an age dominated by rapid digital change. Casey reflects “Many of the titles on the album are taken directly from the text of this chapter. For example, The Memory Machine is a reference to the machine built by Jose Arcadio Buendia – a machine that spins images of a person’s entire life before their eyes, so they can retrieve their memories in the midst of their amnesia. I was also thinking a lot about my family when making the album, especially my grandparents and my wife’s grandparents, who have had a major influence in my life”.

When we feel lost, we can return to our memories as a source of hope by remembering the miracles and joys of our past and of our ancestors. Through its layered melodies and wistful textures, A Place Outside of Time invites listeners into a world where memories are treasures to be unearthed; an act of quiet rebellion against forgetfulness, and a journey back to the roots of who we are.

Credits:
Written and produced by Casey van Wensem
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Casey van Wensem
Art and design by Andrew Heath

A Place Outside Of Time

wlr183 The Bird's Companion - A Place Outside of Time

Tides is an Ambient artist originally from the South East of England, now residing in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the rugged landscapes and serene beauty deeply inspire both his music and photography. Having previously released on labels such as Dewtone Recordings, Shimmering Moods Records, Mystery Circles, and SoundGhost, Tides has spent years refining a sound that blends organic instrumentation, experimental processing, and deeply personal themes. With early days spent with Jazz, Funk, and even Deathcore, his journey toward Ambient music has been shaped by a lifelong passion for sound and recording.

Where Her Flowers Still Bloom is a deeply personal exploration of memory, grief, and healing, written as a response to witnessing his mother’s battle with early-onset dementia. As words failed to capture the weight of this experience, music became an outlet for reflection, with each track serving as a sonic expression of love, loss, and fading recollections. Through a delicate interplay of electric and acoustic guitar, piano, field recordings and granular synthesis, Tides crafts an album that is both intimate and expansive, drawing listeners into a world of nostalgia and emotional depth.

The album’s sound design is built on a fluid creative process that blends traditional recording techniques with experimental methods. Intricate textures were sculpted which blur the boundaries between composition and sound manipulation. With a young family, his workflow has been built around short bursts of time, balancing music with family life. This allows him to continuously sample, resample, and refine sounds into deeply immersive atmospheres.

Beyond its musical elements, Where Her Flowers Still Bloom is also a reflection on personal growth and transformation. Over the past year, Tides has embraced trail running, minimalism, and mindfulness as ways to navigate mental health challenges and to break cycles of consumerism and addiction. Inspired by artists like Austin Cairns (r beny), whose story of personal recovery resonated deeply, Tides has found balance through creativity and nature, shaping an album that is as cathartic for him as it is moving for the listener.

Credits:
Written and produced by Samuel Death
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Samuel Death
Art and design by Andrew Heath

Where Her Flowers Still Bloom

wlr184 Tides - Where Her Flowers Still Bloom

Edge Angles, the debut album for Whitelabrecs by French artist Aries Mond, is a collection of nine contemporary pieces shaped by instinct, spontaneity and the constraints of everyday life. Boris Billier, the artist behind the Aries Mond moniker, has previously released music through revered compatriot labels such as Eilean Rec and IIKKI. His background in environmental sound art, theatre and installation informs a rich, multidisciplinary approach to composition, often blurring the lines between real everyday sound sources and hints of surreal, out of context ideas.

Where earlier works embraced precision and atmosphere, Edge Angles takes a more rugged and impulsive route. The album was born not from carefully planned sessions, but from fleeting windows of time; snatched moments between the daily demands, recorded with the nearest microphone at hand. Piano lines were captured in single takes, often without any preparation, with the urgency of someone striving to realise an idea before it disappears.

This fast and unpredictable creative process is likened by the artist to slide sports, where each decision must be made in real time, balancing between a controlled flow and a misstep. There is a fine line, he suggests, between an elegant movement and a complete collapse. Edge Angles traces that fragile balance, embracing imperfection as part of a pursuit to uncover something unique and intimate.

Edge Angles

wlr186 Aries Mond - Edge Angles

New version of "The Number of the Stars" featuring vocals and lyrics by Piotr Trypus of Evening Mode and Starsabout.
https://eveningmode.bandcamp.com/releases 

The Number of the Stars (Lyric Version feat. Piotr Trypus)

A Mosaic Of Squares

As love
that is
each day upon the twig
which may die
So springs your love
fresh up
lusty for the sun
the bird's companion—

The Number of the Stars (Lyric Version feat. Piotr Trypus)

The Bird's Companion

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