This release is the full-length version of The Center of The Lake. An edited version appeared briefly on the Drone Download Project page on Dark Duck Records http://www.darkduck.net but here now for the first time, we have made available the full-length version of this release. Enjoy.
Seetyca are amongst the stahlwarts of germany’s ambient scene. and beyond. they have been at it since the early nineties and own the mbira cdr label for experimental music. the vast discography spans over 70 releases, including contributions by great artists such as mick harris, franziska baumann, mathias grassow, scott gibbons and kapotte muziek.
seetyca caught the attention of okkulth when we immersed ourselves in their treetrunk release die comoedia von der zeit. (recently remixed by zieltogend: the vergeten tijdperk net release on smell the stench.) this was reason enough to contact seetyca and to our delight, they gave us die zeichen. we didn’t even have to ask! and what a beautiful piece of work it has become. all about longevity, deep ambiances and delightful drawn-out sounds. it’s a special world, one that we love to live in.
Paper Relics are brothers Harry and Stuart Towell from a small town in Lincolnshire UK, called Bourne.
As well as running the Audio Gourmet netlabel Harry is a sound designer recording as Spheruleus.
Stuart is a self taught multi guitarist with several years' experience.
As Paper Relics, the brothers manage to combine their differing musical backgrounds as a hybrid of Stuart's blues, jazz, rock and folk influence and Harry's involvement within the modern ambient music scene.
Here we present their debut EP 'Recovered Artefacts', which should serve as a light introduction to their sound and nod towards the arrival of their first full album, which will be out later in the year.
Thematically, this EP is based around a photograph of the Malvern Hills that was taken by Stuart on a weekend away. After treating the image to make it look antiquated, the pair agreed on the title 'Recovered Artefact' as with the addition of vintaging effects, it looked very much like an old and long forgotten photograph.
After arranging the tracks into order, the duo began to think about what they felt the EP was trying to say as a package of music and treated photographic imagery. They got a vision of an elderly man discovering this old photograph of the tiny town he grew up in. Throughout the decades of his lifetime, the man had watched it change completely with constant industrial and commercial development turning the beautiful village it once was into a large and busy town.
'Recovered Artefact' tells the story of a man and his town as he reflects over the years of change and development that has turned this once picturesque village into something he no longer recognises...
creditsreleased 11 January 2011
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar (Lead), Recording: Stuart Towell
Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Field Recordings, Sound Design: Harry Towell
"echo" is a split album between Maybe Starry Skies and False Awakening, who share the same love for instrumental acoustic music, as well as ambient post-rock and emotional atmospheres.
live set from cloudburst (optic echo records, nueva forma, restingbell). recorded off the mixer, 12.2.2010, in portland oregon, usa, by marcus fischer.
Over the past few years, Earth Mantra has had the honor of re-releasing two classic albums by Geoff Nostrant of Silvercord. Today, we are privileged to bring our listeners a brand spanking new Silvercord album, with all new pieces never before heard and never before made available anywhere. And what a breathtaking treat we have in store.
Fans of Earth Mantra will know that we hold the music of Silvercord in very high esteem indeed, having praised it as some of the best ambient space music we have ever heard at any level. Happily, we can report that "Cronosleeps" not only lives up to Geoff's extraordinarily high standards, but brings a fresh new dimension to his rapturous musical point of view that elevates the bar even further.
Geoff Nostrant has always focused his art on the most uplifting and divine sounds imaginable, the kind of compositions that can unwind the most tense of people and seemingly trigger spontaneous out of body experiences, the kind of music one would expect to hear in heaven itself. In "Cronosleeps", one can find plenty of celestial music and heavenly sound design, but there is much, much more here to enjoy. Between all of the enchantment and bliss, Geoff has layered broad stretches of subtle reflection, even some sections of somberness and introspection, employing some of the most effective use of dynamics that we have ever heard in ambient music. The compositional strength of this album is simply staggering.
Indeed, where previously Geoff's music always had a strong sense of romance and ecstasy, of sheer joy bursting forth and enveloping the listener, with "Cronosleeps" he focuses much more on contemplation, a perhaps more mature presentation of not only the happiest of feelings, but all of the emotional richness that makes us human, even the darker and more intense states of being. As a result, his work speaks more deeply and with greater authority than ever before, grabbing the listener firmly by the shoulders and demanding full attention to the astonishing music being shared. Simply put, this is a masterpiece, by any measure one can imagine.
We never would have thought it possible for Geoff Nostrant to exceed his previous work so completely, and yet with "Cronosleeps" such a conclusion is inescapable. Silvercord is surely one of the greatest ambient artists making music today, and we at Earth Mantra are exceptionally proud to be able to bring his music to our listeners. Certainly one of the top albums of 2010, and in our view, nothing less than music for the ages.
