For the third part of our anniversary mixes we asked Hohm Productions resident Kinoko to weave together a selection of his favourite ambient based works that we've released over the last two years.
Here's what they had to say:"Recently it was the adventurous electronic net label Bricolage Collective's 2nd birthday and to commemorate this they have ask three artists to mix a selection of their favourite releases (Techno, IDM and Ambient mixes respectively). With this they have bestowed the honour of making an ambient mix to HOHM Resident Kinoko from the tracks released so far which he jumped at the chance to do so here it is and thanks Bricolage for this enjoyable opportunity"
You can stream the mix below or at the Hohm mixcloud.
TRACKLISTING
1. Fragile X - The Outer Circle 2. B-Side Boy - Pissholes In The Snow 3. Liapei - When We Were All So Very Different 4. Merriman's Ghost - Owl 5. Microvolt - A Touch Of The Vapours 6. Neon Idol Lodge - Resonances 7. Mute Branches - (I'm Dreaming Of A) Severe Weather Warning 8. Hiramatsu Toshiyuki - Mountain Call 9. Roy Or Bison? - Eidetician 10. Roy Or Bison? - Night Vision 11. International Debris - Hypogeum 12. ...From The Benthic Zone and Mute Branches - Outlines 13. Sleep, Data - The Drone That You Find In The Back Of Your Mind 14. Fragile X - Saturn9ne 15. Mute Branches - Goon Squad (Part 2) 16. Fragile X - Under The Counter Culture (Leit Motif remix) 17. Slow Deep Breath - The Crow Pheasant 18. The Next Commuter - The Dozen Paces 19. Jazzdefector - Lost Without You 20. Nova Noma - Who Are You? 21. Leit Motif - A Lovers Reincarnation 22. Oscurito - The Nihon Shoki
In The Loop casts an eye and an ear on the latest sounds from some of our roster. This particular post focuses on the sounds of Dark Fidelity HiFi, Subsequent, Oco, SlowDeepBreath and Kure.
We start by checking in on Dutch producer, Subsequent.The experienced head is all set to take the helm for his second Bricolage podcast next month. Check out his November 2015 podcast on our mixcloud. His most recent upload to Soundcloud is a blast from the past. The track "Chilled Moods" was released on Berlin label "nonine recordings" back in 2008. Exquisite guitars , trip hop beats and blissful vocals ensure the track does exactly what it says on the tin.
Rick Jones aka Dark Fidelity HiFi is a busy man. Always on the go creatively, making his own tunes as well as remixing others. One of his most recent reworks was of the Belial Pelegrim track "Starless". The original is a stellar piece of off kilter electronica and key work. DFHF adds his own spin with a more glitch style base whilst adding even more spruce to the already melodic track with some class pads. Listen to both tracks below.
SlowDeepBreath is known for his breathtaking soundscapes and his latest offering "The Little Satellite" more than hits that mark. The ability to make the perfect ambient, chill out zone is harder than a lot of people think but SDB makes it seem effortless. Calming drones and expressive synths combine to create the perfect piece of space ambience.
Danish ambient enthusiast, Kure, is carefully sculpting away at crafting his own unique sound and "Echo Park" is just one of many playful, melodic numbers that the young producer has been generating recently.
'Oco' just recently released his "Warmth" EP on fellow Glasgow stable he Umbrella Collective. It's three tracks of downtempo electronica with Oco's knack for songwriting shining through and providing a beautiful surface for guest vocals from some of his friends. For us, "Let Me Talk" is the stand out track with it's deep sounds, manipulated vocals and unique rhythm. Check out the EP below and grab a download.
The third volume of our Headroom series sees "Slow Deep Breath" pilot you on an unbelievably relaxing and otherworldly journey into his sound dimension. 'Macrocosm' is exactly the kind of session you'd expect from someone who specializes in producing meditation music and binaural beats. It's a vast, mystical dreamscape that starts off full of floating synths, cushioned textures and endless progressions that will take you on a flight into the atmosphere. There's a slightly more experimental, yet still organic, turn in there before the mix returns to all out ambient for a breathtaking ending. It carefully conjures up celestial imagery, track by track, and is perfectly pieced together to provide a fantastic, almost transcendental, experience for the listener. This is definitely a mix that you will reap the most reward from by laying horizontal, closing your eyes and allowing yourself to drift off into a magical world that Slow Deep Breath has carefully constructed just for you.
Tracklisting 1. Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir - Mahakala 2. Andrew Forrest - Interstellar Harmonics 3. Microvolt - A Calm Place (For Jules) 4. David Helpling & Jon Jenkins - Only Ashes 5. Alice In Chains - Shame In You (Excerpt) 6. Ozric Tentacles - Agog in the Ether 7. Quanta - Make It Sow 8. Deadbeat - Melbourne Round Midnight 9. Shaamaas - Awakening Kundalini 10. Max Corbacho - The Resonant Memory of Earth 11. Rudy Adrian - Happy Memories 12. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Betula Pendula 13. Stellardrone - Ethereal 14. Andrew Forrest - Unveiling Eternity
March is here and as spring is nearing, we've got two sweet mixes to keep your ears and mind occupied.
First up this coming Monday (the 7th) is our March podcast from H.ICH aka Sunn Boo. We've been after a podcast from the French music maestro for quite some time now and it promises to be a full on hour from a man known for his eclectic taste. We might get techno, we might get shoegaze, we might get some abstract chaos....we'll keep it a secret until Monday but we can assure you it's going to be special.
Have a listen to some of his previous mixes below.
Be sure to follow him over on mixcloud and check out the channel of Collectif Sympa, a Toulouse based hub of musicians and artists that he's also involved with.
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Our second mix of March will come to you on the 21st and is the third installment of our "Headroom" mix series. Your pilot for the latest two hour journey is Slow Deep Breath, who is, without a doubt, one of the most unique artists on our roster. He's carved out a blissful and mellow soundscape that is a piece of real essential listening. We're looking forward to sharing it with you in just over a fortnights time. Good things come to those who wait.
To get you in the mood have a listen below to a full seamless mix of his album "Rest (Sacred Space)"
'Sounds crafted only from singing bowls and temple bells, longform, with minimal melody or rhythm with which to engage the brain.'
Head on over to his mixcloud page to get lost in some of his short meditation based mixes.
Remember two weeks after each of our mixes are released on Mixcloud we then upload them to our HearThis account where you can download them for free and take them with you on your phone or music player. All our previous podcasts and Headroom mixes are waiting there for you in chronological order :)
Last week we posted about our friend and label supporter Mark Shields reaching 100 episodes of his Monday Graveyard radio show/podcast. A real milestone and a gem of a show to go with it. Episode 101 of the Monday Graveyard is also a very special episode as far as Bricolage is concerned. Mark very kindly gave us the opportunity to have a full hour to ourselves....
We're proud to be able to present a mix made up exclusively of music from our members. It's an hour that consists of just some of the unique music that we've released in our first 6 months. It manages to encapsulate what the label and collective is all about. A diverse selection spanning the electronic genres. The hour long show was curated and mixed by, label head, Fragile X and features some of his own music alongside Subsequent, Kure, Intl. Debris, Hiramatsu Toshiyuki, Slow Deep Breath, get-effect, The Next Commuter, Roy Or Bison?, Oscurito and H.ICH. There's ambient, vaporwave, some dub, shoegazed tinged electronics, glitch, drones, darkness, guitars and, of course, what better way to round it off then some techno.
Thanks go to Mark for allowing us the chance to showcase some of our sounds on his show. Be sure to check out his blog and the shows Twitter account for more info on future shows and his general online escapades. Stream the mix in full below or at The Monday Graveyard mixcloud.
Tracklisting in full is as follows:
Subsequent - Smallbatch
Kure - Moon Acid
Intl. Debris - Thursday Morning, Taylor Swift Part 1
Hiramatsu Toshiyuki - Mountain Call
Slow Deep Breath - The Crow Pheasant
get-effect - No One Leaves Here Empty Handed
Fragile X - Amygdala (Lo-Jacker remix)
The Next Commuter - A Dozen Paces
Roy Or Bison? - Night Vision
Oscurito - Octopus
H.ICH - Ladyland Part II (Mental Mix)
Alan Watts
Fragile X - Theory Of Colour
And don't forget, you can download the majority of the music featured in this mix from the Bricolage bandcamp site free of charge.
Stay tuned next weekend for a special blog post that details the beginnings of Bricolage.
In The Loop episode 6 shares with you the first 5 days of our Bricolage Advent Calendar that we started over on our facebook page earlier this week.
December 1st
Slow Deep Breath - "Datasette Shred"
A hypnotic and experimental track from Slow Deep Breath. It's one of the first pieces of music he created back in 1991. Utilising a shoebox tape recorder and a portable TV nonetheless!
Lo-Jacker recently released his very first official EP on Phat New Beats. I seriously can't recommend this mini album enough. Any listeners of his Bricolage podcast from September will recognise some of the sounds on show here. "Oslo" is my stand out track and one that I've played in many a set over the last few years. Follow the links on his soundcloud page for purchase details.
The fifth episode of In The Loop catches up with Mute Branches, Slow Deep Breath, Oscurito, Merrimans Ghost and Microvolt.
Mute Branches soundcloud page is choc full of beautiful abstract sounds and a month or so ago he added to his uploads with one of his most experimental pieces to date. It's the product of toying around with some sounds and the vocoder function on his synth. The result is a 2 minute long demo, an ambient number with a trippy, dreamlike feel to it.
He recently also uploaded a remix of sorts. Any Deerhoof fans out there? This remix is (in the words of Mute Branches) just a "short beat thing based around samples from Lemon and Little Lemon". A nice little ditty :)
Slow Deep Breath spends a lot of time in Thailand. As you can imagine, the opportunities for recordings in such a setting are vast. He recently posted a new video on his YouTube channel that's a longer version of a previous recording of his. It's a 50 minute version of evening prayers recorded in the Wat Chedi Luang Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai. Unbelievably relaxing stuff. Patience is key when listening to this kind of material. If you allow it to, it will encapsulate you and take you to another realm.
One of our newest members, Oscurito, is gearing up for a podcast and an EP release on Bricolage in the new year. He recently shared a new track that is intended for the EP on his soundcloud page. "Octopus" is a bit psychedelic, a bit spacey and very funky. A pounding beat and a fluttering of some very nice sounds throughout. Have a listen below.
Merrimans Ghost posts his music very regularly and the last month has seen a lot of new music go up online. Head over to his soundcloud to get lost in a bunch of new sound expeditions. Guitars, experimental vocals and scratchy beats. "Darkened Garden", "Oh Beech Trees" and "Those Steps" are among some of his newest tracks but the pick of the bunch for me is "It's Not A Mystery What We've Done". It's steeped in drone atmospherics, haunting vocals and 80s type shoegaze guitars.
Microvolt has recently provided another slice of ambient genius with his new track "Mare Vaporum". Name after a plain on the moon, it's a track that invokes a relaxed cosmic feeling and glides along beautifully.The perfect sounds to drift off to.
As mentioned before Microvolt has several different aliases that he releases music under. "Blueonsilver" is another one of those and there's a new EP named "Bitfix due out at the start of December. We'll be sure to keep you posted when it drops.
To get a feel for what "Blueonsilver" is all about head to the bandcamp page for a listen.
It's been a wee while since we updated you on what our members are up to so here's the first of two planned October episodes of "In The Loop".
First off, our October podcast by Fragile X has fared pretty well on Mixcloud and peaked at 4th in the "experimental ambient" charts, 6th in the "dub techno" charts and 47th in the "electronic music" charts respectively.
Fragile X recently uploaded the intro drone to the podcast onto his soundcloud page. If you didn't get the chance to read about how the drone was made then you can here. In short, it's the start up sound for the old Playstation 1 sound but it's been manipulated into an ominous and luring drone called "Stay Patient". A 15 second sound expanded into a 5 minute dusky drone backdrop.
The mix itself is still available for streaming from Mixcloud and is now available for free download from our podomatic account.
If you've read his bio on here or follow him online you'll know that Paul Randall doesn't just make music under the Mircovolt name. He has a few other aliases. One of them being "Teslacoil321". Yesterday he released his 8th release under that moniker. It's called "A Darker Path" and it veers greatly from his more ambient/drone material that I'm used to with the Microvolt name. "A Darker Path" takes on a more straight forward electronica and dare I say, poppy, tone. The synths sometimes tread, with the lyrical content, into the darker side of things but the sounds still somehow manage to remain warm throughout. A few of the tracks are triggered from nightmares which would explain the darker tone. Either way it's a twenty minutes well spent and as a 'pay what you want' download there's no excuse not to pop over to his bandcamp and grab a copy.
SlowDeepBreath recently ended a 4 month Soundcloud hiatus in style by uploading new track "Behind The Light". An absolutely majestic 6 minute ambient effort. Full of misty drones, gentle hypnotic drum patterns and field recordings. It flawlessly transports you to a far away world (it made me feel like I had traveled back centuries to Far East Asia) and wraps you up in it's resonance. A spellbinding piece of work from a true ambient visionary.
Smenell Field is a meadow in Leicestershire and also the title of a new track from International Debris.
I've never been to Smenell Field but if this track is anything to go by then I'd like to soak it up some time. Perfectly placed repetitive guitar notes smothered in background ambience and a soft, comforting vocal occasionally filtering through the void create a lush and absorbing atmosphere. Throw in a spoken audio sample into the mix and it's another beauty from International Debris.
Scrolling a bit further down the International Debris page I happened across "Drifting Consciousness". Think a soft wall of quiet white noise and a ghosting melody reminiscent, but not replicating, of Aphex Twin that moves along slowly which in turn frees up and clears your mind. Another gem.
The second episode of "In The Loop" shines the spotlight on Microvolt, Kure, Merrimans Ghost, Slow Deep Breath and International Debris.
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Microvolt hadn't posted any new tracks on soundcloud for a couple of months but its fair to say it was worth the wait. Last week he posted a new track called "Love Echo Fade" and it's everything I've come to know, and love, about his work embodied into one track. Experimental glitchy sounds filtering through, while haunting notes tinkle away in the background. Tracks like this are the reason I was eager to have him on board the collective.
Paul Randall, the man behind Microvolt, also runs his weekly show Bluetown Electronica on Sheppey FM radio. The latest episode is 3 hours of solid electronic goodness.
At the end of August, Kure posted his longest track to date on his soundcloud page. Until recently his longest released track was two and a half minutes. "Universe Apollo" clocks in at almost 4 minutes and has all the Kure trademarks. Warm synths, nostalgic, psychedelic atmospherics and NASA samples. The track was dedicated to Andreas Mogensen, who became the first Dane to fly in space on the 2nd September this year.
SlowDeepBreath is potentially the most well traveled member of the collective. Constantly on the go, travelling the world, utilizing field recordings and creating binaural beats wherever he goes. If you're new to the work of SlowDeepBreath then check out his full collection of meditation music over at his etsy page.
As I mentioned before, he travels regularly, here's a recent capture of a beautiful sunrise in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Anyone who has heard our debut compilation will be familiar with his track "The Crow Pheasant". Below is a visual accompaniment for the track. Gloopy, abstract colours on the screen fit unbelievably well with the natural sounds of the music.
Merrimans Ghost is an artist who has been very productive over the last wee while. The last 8 days has saw him upload 3 new tracks to his soundcloud page. "Austerity Austerity", "Bells" and "Must Be You". Each one with its own individual characteristics and charms.
"Must Be You" is a dark soundscape with a broken beat bobbing along nicely beside it.
"Bells" is in a similar vein but with a less frequent beat which in turn creates a more spacious sounding track.
And finally "Austerity Austerity" is the the most frenetic of the trio of new songs. Experimental guitars give way to ricocheting drum patterns before a crescendo of sound kicks in and fades out to bring an end to the track.
Behind "International Debris" is Ross Baker. Releasing quality music in vast quantities under many names but also sometimes just under the straight forward, no frills, Ross Baker. A few days ago a CDr of Ross' album "East of Evening" was reissued on Assembly Field. You can grab a very limited edition copy of it at the Assembly Field bandcamp.
Have a listen below and get lost in the sounds that were inspired by still summer evenings.
So, as mentioned in the previous post, my friend Emma came up with the idea of drawing her own visual interpretations of all the tracks that made up our first release.
Armed with a notepad and pastels her task was to quickly sketch down the vibe she got from each track in the allocated time slot, which was each individual track length, sometimes played twice in the case of the shorter tracks. It's worth noting that Emma knew absolutely nothing about any of the tracks or artists, had never heard even one second of any given track and just subsequently went with the flow. The results vary from colourfully abstract to sometimes almost childlike efforts to near blank pages with splashes of colours sporadically placed. Below I'll post the first 8 songs along with their corresponding drawings. Click the images for a bigger viewing.
Yesterday saw the release of our first compilation. Various Artists Volume 1. Major thanks go out to all the artists who contributed for making this release happen so quickly.
Volume 1 more than represents what the collective is all about. It's full to the brim with a wealth of music from the world over. Sounds from Japan, Denmark, Scotland, England, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Holland, France and Sweden are all on show here. There's no bias against genre. Just a collection of quality and eclectic music for your listening pleasure.
The compilation covers a diverse range of ambient, glitch, techno, house, drone and experimental sounds. Hopefully there's something for everybody among the 16 tracks. As will always be the case, the compilation is a free to stream and download from the Bricolage bandcamp page.
The last part of our introductions (for now) brings you 3 more artists.
15. FRAGILE X
Fragile X is a bedroom producer from Glasgow. Incorporating all sorts of influences into his music, the results are a blend of ambient, experimental electronic and acoustic shoegaze style musings. He prefers to write and record in a lo-fi style and environment but in recent times has embraced technology that little bit more with the help of various music software and apps.
International Debris is one of the many pseudonyms of London musician, Ross Baker. Creating unique soundscapes brimming with ambience, drone, acoustics and field recordings. Releasing a plethora of EPs under the various different guises and they're all more than worth checking out at the International Debris Bandcamp site.
SlowDeepBreath is an enigmatic music mastermind who specialises in binaural beats, meditation muisc and field recordings. Give him a the joys of nature, a laptop and a microphone and he'll make you music with his own twist. Breathtakingly relaxing stuff.
