Welcome to the first ‘issue’ of my new music series. I’ll just be publishing a regular list of new music I’ve discovered and listened to, along with cover art, my thoughts on it and links to get it for yourself. I’d done something similar on my old Wordpress version, but decided to start afresh here.
Starting off this week, I’ve mostly been listening to deep and hypnotic techno in various flavours, from the lovely hypnotic sounds of Doctrina Natura, MTRL, Hod and many more, along with some new chill electronica from Lauge, plus a few other oddities thrown in because I guess random musical genres are still a thing for me…
But here’s my selection for this week’s listening.
Doctrina Natura - The Dream of Adora (Techno, I guess)
It’s hard to say what the artist means with the rather sparse sleevenotes on this 7 track mini-album. It simply states “Inspired by Adora and her beautiful dreams.”. However, what you’ll find inside this great set of tracks is some beautiful ambiences, lush deep and hypnotic techno, some with more ethnic percussion, some with some off-kilter bass kicks so it’s not always four-to-the-floor.
It even seems to begin to drift into psybient territory by track six with a slowing of the pace to match, lots of delay and reverb on the various synth noises that are laid throughout.
Overall, if you’ve not heard of Doctrina Natura, this is a great start.
Doctrina Natura - The Dream of Adora is available on Bandcamp.
Hod - Hagada of the Fallen EP (Techno)
This was a complete guess because I had a couple of compilation albums from the same label (BAHN Records) and they had impressed me so much I gave this a try. I wasn’t disappointed. As a somewhat BIG fan of the deeper more hypnotic sounds of techno - think Claudio PRC, Luigi Tozzy etc., this was very much in a similar vein.
The opening track of this 4-track EP is wonderful - some very ‘crunchy’ percussive elements, huge chord pad sequences, and just overall sublime. The second track has more traditional synth sounds for the main elements, but again, epic pad sounds and avoiding the four-to-the-floor as well.
Track three seems to go in a little harder direction, and almost has elements of old-skool breakbeats. It sounds so similar to old sampled breaks that I recall from people such as Pete Namlook, but it’s not used aggressively here. The kicks and bass are the strongest elements here.
The final track retains that more aggressive direction, but the sounds and melodic structures are darker here. There’s a lot of tension in this track and I love it.
Great little EP.
Hod - Hagada of the Fallen EP is available on Bandcamp.
MTRL - Maze (Techno)
Another slab of amazing techno from my current flavour of the month, MTRL. This is an older release but still, I discovered it this last week and I’m in love with it. From the spacious and light opening track ‘Maze’ through to the final ‘Tide (Sub Accent Remix)’, I cannot find any real fault in this apart from one little thing: It’s too short.
Thankfully, MTRL has also graced us with a number of great albums, which I will feature in upcoming New Music episodes when I get round to them.
My favourite from this EP is a fairly even split between the opening ‘Maze’ and ‘Ossified Current’, both of which hit my frisson points fairly evenly for different reasons. The bass is particularly sublime in the latter, whilst the pads and delayed bell-like timbres are wonderful in the former.
Give it a try.
MTRL - Maze is available on Bandcamp.
Heavenchord & Infinity Dots - We’ll Meet Again (Dub Techno)
A wonderful little freebie I found on the sedubtive record label, home of such musical luminaries like the album’s own Heavenchord, Akmuo, Pallette, Castle From Indistinct Dreams and many more.
This is a mixture of genres, but essentially I had to boil it down to Dub Techno - but it’s so much more. For starters it runs at around 26 minutes, and features extended ambient and field-recordings as a main section of the track. The rhythm parts certainly have a more jazz-infused influence, and there are some other classic sounds from the dub techno genre thrown in for good measure.
It’s been a great track to listen to when having a lunch break at work, the timing of the track is perfect, plus it’s a super mellow feel which gives an impression of being longer than it actually is. This is ideal for those moments when I only have half an hour, and have spent a few minutes grabbing food and a drink. Sitting to listen to this is just the icing on the cake.
Heavenchord & Infinity Dots - We’ll Meet Again is available on Bandcamp.
Cryo Chamber - Dark Ambient of 2024 (Dark Ambient, duh…)
A terrific showcase of the amazing music that the Cryo Chamber continues to put out each year. A lot of it is centred more around a ‘cinematic’ feel - epic sounds, melancholic feeling, senses of isolation or despair. Sometimes it treads into the cosmic horror sphere, particularly with their Lovecraft-inspired annual collaboration albums.
But these compilations like this one are showcases of the typical sounds of the individual artists as much as the label itself.
In this case, it’s a wonderful mixture of old names and new faces - from the founders’ Atrium Carceri and Sabled Sun, Cities Last Broadcast and more. New faces include Caldon Glover, LETUM, Burma Project.
Track Listing
Here’s the tracklisting, along with timings (the album is continuously segued) and links to the source albums.
00:00 Tineidae & Sole Massif - Uncertain Direction
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/remnants-of-war
05:22 Void Stasis - After the Annihilation
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/eschaton
11:40 Sabled Sun - Onboard Errors
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/2150
17:52 Caldon Glover - In the Kingdom of Parasites
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/metrophagy
24:24 Atrium Carceri & Kammarheit - Cerulean Depths
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/apparatus
28:24 Cities Last Broadcast & Fractalyst - Grandma Sings in Many Tongues
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/phantasmora
32:28 LETUM - The Last Day Ended Yesterday
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/distant-dead-stars
38:24 Alphaxone - Space Particles
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/interdimensional
45:46 Tineidae & Burma Project - Leering Memory
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/reports-from-isul
50:58 Mount Shrine - Azur
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/the-mount-hibiki-tapes
Cryo Chamber - Dark Ambient of 2024 is available for free (or name your price) on “Bandcamp.”
And that’s it for now. I’ll see you next week (metaphorically speaking) where I’ll add more new music to listen to.