Panthu du Prince – Black Noise

February 16th, 2010  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in ambient, techno  |  2 comments

Like most minimal techno artists, Pantha du Prince (Hendrick Weber) requires deep listening. You cannot trust his records to passively play in the background. Unless you’re actively listening to him, he’s not really playing. Try to sweep up your apartment while listening to his latest album, Black Noise, out this week on Rough Trade, and you’ll see that you soon forget that it’s even playing.

Emancipator – Safe in the Steep Cliffs

February 1st, 2010  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in ambient, instrumental, house, trip hop

Chill out. Seriously. Put those legs up, get a cup of warm tea, and melt to the sounds of Emancipator’s new album, Safe in the Steep Cliffs. You will be greeted by “dense layers of choirs, horns, American folk instruments such as the banjo and mandolin, violin and some distinct Asian influences make for a playful but refined album built out of intricate tracks listeners can enjoy on as many levels as they want. Dance to it, chill out to it, immerse your mind in it. It really doesn’t matter.”

Bibio – The Apple and the Tooth

November 11th, 2009  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in ambient, experimental, folktronica, funk

It has been a matter of weeks since I first posted about Bibio, and his June 2009 album Ambivalence Avenue, and to be honest, the last thing that I was expecting was to see a new album released less than six months later. The feat is perhaps dampened by the fact that only four of these tracks are completely original to the artist, but the eight additional remixes featured on The Apple and the Tooth provide some real gems.

Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

October 21st, 2009  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in ambient, experimental, folktronica, funk  |  4 comments

Like English compatriots Bonobo and Caribou, Bibio has developed his own electronica style that is at once warm, funky, and full of all things experimental. Following a few releases that embodied a folk/field recording blend, Stephen Wilkinson signed with Warp records, home of my favorites, Boards of Canada. The product of his evolution stands in stark contrast to his prior work: it is as if he has evolved into a whole new beast.

teengirl fantasy – t g i f

October 10th, 2009  |  by holly wang  |  published in ambient, electronic, electronica

what i love about teengirl fantasy’s music is that it is ambient but it doesn’t make me fall asleep. there is an upbeat quality about it, and their low-fi recordings don’t sound half bad, almost intentional. and although this isn’t the most typical mainstream indie-pop, it’s an easy listen.