Joeri Pronk is a multi-talented Dutch producer and musician based in London who brings a unique and organic sound to the world of electronic music. His music incorporates sounds from nature, such as running water and crunching stones, and combines them with synthesizers, drum computers, and other sound sources. He records his own drum sounds and incorporates samples from everyday life into his tracks.
Influenced by jazz greats like Pat Metheny and Jaco Pastorius, as well as modern artists like Four Tet and Radiohead, Pronk's music is both cerebral and playful, fitting in both a club setting and at home. He has worked with artists such as Matt Bianco and Blaudzun, and has been called to substitute for musicians who’ve played with Adele and Yussef Kamaal. Currently, he splits his time between London and the Netherlands, where he leads the Tante Joke Karaoke Band. Originally started as a joke, the band has grown into a club and festival phenomenon with audience participation and fun at the forefront.
Joeri Pronk's album "Music for Nothing" is his first release, published by London label Goeie Records. The opening track "Moltien" is a jazzy electronic composition featuring Pronk's soulful bass playing set against a backdrop of subtle pads and an arepeggiated groove. The tracks proceed naturally as Joeri treats the listener to the sonic fruits of his labor with music sitting loosely within a variety of genres such as downtempo, lofi and electronica. The album, recorded in a week, showcases Pronk’s unique ability to make music that is both infectiously simple and indelibly personal.
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Ukrainian musician 58918012 releases ‘Different Colors,’ an album of tranquil sounds
With a peaceful and spacious set of tracks, listeners are invited to question the present moment
58918012 is the electronic, ambient, and experimental music project of Ukrainian musician and blogger, Yurii Popov. Also featured as the guitar player for the metal band Nug, his solo work takes on a tranquility and peacefulness which, in combination with his band’s discography, shows an immense versatility. Popov also works under the alias noteaf for his lo-fi and chillhop music. His latest album within the 58918012 project, Different Colors, has been released amid the war in Ukraine. As an artist who uses music as true form of emotional and internal expression, Popov sees the art as one of the few sources of true happiness.
The album follows several other releases in the past two years, including the albums Needle Tip, and and fall through the time, which both featured a less tranquil set of songs than Different Colors. In 2021, he released 132,480 minutes and Signals, and finally, in 2020 he released Milestone and 60. As noteaf, he has released singles including “Night Call,” “Sweet Melancholy,” “Old Film,” and “Street Light” already this year. With a prolific discography thus far, Popov has demonstrated his adaptable and versatile musical capacity.
The tracks on Different Colors present a warmth and calmness which he sees as a pallet of colors that represent different emotions, moods, and experiences. Using a tape recorder, he attained an intimate and textural sound that results in a soft, floating lightness that seeks to bring balance, peace, and space. Given the political context of the present in Ukraine, the ambient tranquility of this sound has a gravitas that offers even stronger emotional power.
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Danish musician Infralyd releases his debut album
The organic, ambient sound invites listeners to embark on a reflective journey
Danish composer and producer Infralyd has released his debut album …and it was all for you. Emerging on the scene, Marchel Mørk develops a unique breadth of work by taking inspiration from the structural elements of electronic music. Marchel infuses the genre with vulnerability by employing tools synonymous with ambient genres and neoclassical music. What results is a unique electronic minimalism that is relaxing, engaging, and eerie, all at once. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electronic music and sound design from the Royal Music Conservatory in Denmark, Infralyd’s approach indicates that this will be the first album among many.
Prior to releasing this debut, Infralyd dropped several singles across 2020 and 2021. In January of this year, he released his first EP Somehow There is Light which featured a number of tracks that he released as singles across 2020 including “We Fell in Love, Ran Away, And Lived Our Lives,” “Rain,” “Fleur,” and “Saudade.” Subsequently, throughout this past year, he has released singles including “I Played a Simple Melody,” “Tára,” “Gleam,” and “False Sunset,” all of which feature on the new album. The forest visuals that accompanied the singles with each release have cumulated in the full album art reflecting that motif. Finally, Marchel curates the Spotify playlists “Classical Electronics,” “Ambient Fog,” and “Piano Textures.”
…and it was all for you was inspired by the artist’s penchant for daydreaming and inner reflection, commenting on the way one’s mind is attracted to calm and beautiful things in the world. Fascinated with the phenomena of nature and its beauty, Infralyd invites listeners to linger in their thoughts through the music and develop a reflective mindset. The organic sound reflected in the tracks develop an atmospheric, melodic album with an underlying sense of fragility and grace.
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Sun Rain’s latest album gives the listener space to tell their own story
With quieting tracks, the artist demonstrates a maturity in music composition
Sun Rain is Toronto based producer Chad Skinner who debuted his solo career with the album Sheets in 2019. In addition to his solo career, Skinner also plays with BisonBison and previously played in the electronic duo Snowday. Playing as Sun Rain has brought to life Skinner’s intimate, personal, and reflective style. His multi-instrumental approach incorporates his background in classical piano, as well as percussive beats and synthesizers. Taking inspiration from ambient and drone genres, he produces his own version with a grounding in physicality.
Ma is Sun Rain’s most recent release in 2021, a fruitful year for the artist. He has already released ‘Woods,’ a remix with The Field Tapes and Light of the Woods, ‘Real People in Real Places (Reimagined)’ with Alaskan Tapes, singles from Ma including ‘Phase,’ ‘Friendship in F#M,’ ‘Zenith,’ and ‘Moonwalk,’ plus ‘Breeze Blowing,’ a remix with Zeb Samuels. Last year, he released the EP Ella Gorge, ‘Charcoal,’ ‘Drivved,’ a remix with Vargkvint, and ‘Views from Sixteen Stories,’ a remix with Alaskan Tapes. Finally, in 2019 he released ‘Willow Tree Testing,’ ‘Paper,’ and his debut album of deeply organic sound, Sheets.
The new album takes its name from traditional Japanese culture where ‘Ma’ refers to the artistic interpretation of an empty space, and the equal importance that negative space holds in relation to positive space in an art piece. The musicality of the album reflects that sentiment in the stillness and space created through the compositions. Building to slow peaks and crescendos, Sun Rain produces an album that both takes a listener on a journey, while leaving room for the listener to bring their own story. The quiet and calm is balanced by a cinematic feeling that leaves the listener in a meditative sense of awareness.
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Harmont open a new door with debut ‘Skrei’
A collaboration of two talents, Harmont is creating instrumental nu jazz with promising quality
Harmont is the name chosen by Konrad Milan and Andreas Moser for their up-and-coming nu jazz project. With only a few tracks released so far, the duo is still easing their way into the community. What is immediately evident however, is that both Milan and Moser have set off on this new exploration of electronica having already acquired significant experience as producers. Despite how limited their discography is the professional perspective at work is clear.
That’s not to say that the Austrian duo is predictable; Harmont’s live sessions have sparked with unpredictable moments of creativity. There’s no strong sense of being tied to a specific genre, but so far the pair have been leaning towards jazztronica tones at home in cinematic media. There’s also a touch of organic samples from piano and light percussion, but these elements are attentively kept from overwhelming the presence of breezy synthesizer.
‘Skrei’ is the first official single from Milan and Moser, although their live sessions are also available for listening. As an introductory track to Harmont it demonstrates a talent for mellow rhythms, as well as an attraction to diffuse levels of synthesizer able to conjure a celestial ambience.
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A glimpse into Camille Frey's debut ambient release
A glimpse into Camille Frey's debut release. Welcome to “The Grand Tour”
Read MoreMogwai remixes Grandbrothers’ track with a new energy
Following their third album, ambient piano duo Grandbrothers connect with renowned group Mogwai
Since 2012 the Grandbrothers have been bringing together their separate disciplines of sound. Erol Sarp and Lukas Vogel first met at Dusseldorf university, and the musical partnership that followed chases a balance of Sarp’s talents as a trained jazz pianist and Vogel’s experience working with synthesizers as a both a producer and engineer. The result is a very neatly formed discography of ambient electronic, which thrives on the surprisingly flexible core voice of classical piano.
With a style more dynamic than downtempo ambient piano work, Grandbrothers have consistently produced tracks of engaging depth, actively pushing on new ideas to cover fresh ground with their releases. There’s much to be found in their previous work, but the LP made public in mid-January this year is a milestone in their journey, and one which reflects on what they’ve learnt and experimented with during that time.
Titled ‘All the Unknown’, the collection moves through a wide range of ambient sound, taking time to thread the extended narrative together. Our featured single is a remix of ‘Organism’, a track selected from the album and handed over to iconic post rock band Mogwai for remix, fresh from their recent success in the UK charts. Organism becomes distorted, driving and reinvigorated.
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Alaskan Tapes keeps pace, with new EP One Thousand (Mighty) Voices
The producer and composer stays connected to his signature style, but brings forth new emotions in this fresh collection
In his project Alaskan Tapes, Toronto based producer Brady Kendall has found his style and sound. Under his current moniker Kendall has been releasing consistently high quality ambient and drone focused tracks for over half a decade, and over the course of doing so seems to have settled into the soundscape he’s created. Though there’s still experimentalism and creativity at play within his work, it comes from a place of confidence, and sits upon a well-established foundation of delicate synth and ambient vibes.
Alaskan Tapes is also remaining consistent with wider media collaborations, contributing and composing soundtrack work for film and other visual projects. Previous tracks have made their way into short films such as “Mag Sein” by Director Eliot Rausch, and the documentary "Harvest Season" by Bernardo Ruiz.
Next month the artist will announce the full release of his newest collection, ‘For Us Alone’. Pre-release tracks show that gradually evolving ambient synth remains the cornerstone of this release, which moves with deliberation through gentle moods and ponderous melodies. Our featured track from the album takes its time to produce an irresistible, warm space. However, following tracks in the album experiment more with organic percussion than in previous work. Though new ideas are expressed, the personality of Kendall continues to shine through.
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Aqeel Aadam collaborates on downtempo, creating ‘Fault’
Together with contemporary artist Fossilize me, Aqeel Aadam delivers a detailed yet effortless EP
A neatly put together album of experimental downtempo, ‘Fault’ marks the coming together of two artists connected with the left field label Mystery Circles. Aqeel Aadam and Fossilize Me both released innovative debut albums in 2020, exploring separate paths into the sounds of ambient electronica. The pair shares an appreciation for expansive landscapes, layering together involved synthesizer work with percussive ambience. The overlap of interests between these two artists results in a collaboration which feels entirely natural.
Our featured track from the album is the work of Aqeel Aadam, a New York based musician who started out with bedroom beats and whose progression is evident in ‘Nails Grow Back’. The release revels in creating a detailed soundscape composed of modulated beats and sweeping synthesizers which manage to avoid encroaching on the central melodies at play. Aadam endeavours to blend in influences from atmospheric hip-hop and post rock, bringing to life new sonic worlds. It’s an ambitious approach, and part of the cause behind the albums alternative but polished quality.
The tracks contributed to ‘Fault’ by Fossilize provide a curious and effective contrast to Aadam’s less percussive inclusions. The outcome is an excellent balance between two perspectives operating within the same field, and an album with a gratifying narrative.
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