Quick Listens #3
Welcome to Quick Listens episode 3 – my relatively new series in which I’ll post quick thoughts on new music I’ve been listening to. Not as in-depth as an individual review, and may vary in quantity of things I actually list in each one. But hopefully it’ll be a good dropping in point for the music that’s floating my musical boat at any point in time. With that said, let’s get on with the list…
The Black Dog – Fighting Modernism EP.
A small, but perfectly formed 3 track EP from the legendary Black Dog. I knew these guys from Black Dog Productions days back in the heyday of the Warp Label, and this EP doesn’t disappoint. I particularly love the opening track ‘Waiting For Light’, an almost Reich-esque piece that just continually progress throughout a shifting sonic structure. Lovely stuff.
Stellarium – Solar Magnitude.
Epic and expansive is how I would immediately describe this momentous slab of space ambient from the awesome Stellarium. An 8 track album released on the consistently brilliant Exosphere label, this has what I feel is some of Stellarium’s best work. I particularly love the tense and yet dreamy ‘Landing of Callisto’ with its pulsing sequences, that pad so reminiscent of Blade Runner, and just wonderfully layered synth work.
Real-X – EVE Online: Empire Space II.
Yes, I recently started playing EVE Online again. Thanks to Frederik Knudsen’s epic 6hr Down the Rabbit Hole episode on the history of EVE, it got me wondering if the soundtrack was released, and it is! It’s not available as a downloadable album, but it’s well worth a listen. I’m sure my favourite track, ‘…but we go on’ is burned into the minds of many EVE players, and certainly the most enduring track I’ve heard from the game, and one that I spent many an hour doing mining missions to.
State Azure – Solar Flux (Live).
This is an epic listen. Two sessions, each clocking in at around 1&1/2 hours, it’s full to the brim with Berlin-school sequencing, improvised solo’s, and lush electronic music that you can so easily get lost in. Just absolutely awesome if you like the genre, and if not, give it a go. You might be surprised how easily this passes through your ears and trips your brain.
Sonologyst – Interdimensional.
Music Ad Astra, claims the album notes. And it would be a correct assumption. A wonderful introduction to a new artist in my burgeoning roster of people I quickly grow to love listening to their output. This is ambient, drone, space and more all wrapped into a cohesive whole masterfully produced and just great to get sonically lost in.
And there we have it for now. If you have any music you think I should try out, then let me know in the comments.