Gesturally Rhythmic Ambient Music

Straight outta Hiroshima

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

*Ebb and Flow* is a split EP of gesturally rhythmic ambient music built from field recordings and other noise sources. It doesn’t have a beat, per se, but it draws percussion into the mix. Half of the EP is by Stabilo and the other half is by Gallery Six. Both Stabilo (aka Yasutica Horibe, of the band Speaker Gain Teardrop) and Gallery Six (aka Hidekazu Imashige) are based in Hiroshima, Japan. The highlight of *Ebb and Flow* is “Endurance,” which balances a twinkling percussive element, like a vibraphone being played by tiny rubber balls, amid water drops and a thick sonic fog. Gallery Six’s “Vapor” is more textural than its title may suggest — it’s like the sound of a thousand pachinko machines playing from deep in some flooded cistern. There are four tracks in all, and the full set is highly recommended.

The EP is available for free download at [stabilo-loadbang.bandcamp.com](https://stabilo-loadbang.bandcamp.com/album/ebb-and-flow). More from Stabilo at [speakergainteardrop.com](http://speakergainteardrop.com/stabilo/). More from Gallery Six at [gallerysix.tumblr.com](http://gallerysix.tumblr.com/).

Sustained Chamber Ambient Music

Borosilicate Purl arrives on SoundCloud

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

“Liberation Suite” was the first track to appear at the SoundCloud page of Borosilicate Purl, an ambient duo out of Michigan. Three more tracks have appeared in the past day, but as of yesterday “Liberation” stood alone. It makes for a strong start. It’s a beautiful work of sustained chamber ambient music. Strings maintain a running, cloud-bank placidity, while organ-like tones begin to fill out the body of the piece. At times it brings to mind the song-less country music of the Boxhead Ensemble, at others the amplified zithers of Laraaji, and at others still the more introspective guitar performances of Adrian Belew. The ambition of Borosilicate Purl is clear in how the apparent sparseness of the work belies its emotional heft, and how it utilizes over 10 full minutes to get where it’s going.

Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/borosilicate-purl](https://soundcloud.com/borosilicate-purl/liberation-suite). Borosilicate Purl is the duo of Michael Rice and Jeffrey Niemeier. They are based in Grand Rapids, Michigan

What Sound Looks Like

An ongoing series cross-posted from instagram.com/dsqt

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Most doorbells that haven’t been replaced or repainted in years speak volumes about disregard. Despite their explicit invitation to say hello, to push that button, to connect face to face with another human being, they seem more like symbols of seclusion. With most well-worn doorbells, it’s as if the elements, not the touch of countless fingers, had diminished their luster. But some, like this one, do seem to capture the occasions of many visits, welcome ones by friends and family. There’s a uniformity to the scratches, and a resilient solidity to the device itself, that suggest a doorway that continues to see frequent activity, rather than one that serves a shut in as a blockade from the outside world.

An ongoing series cross-posted from instagram.com/dsqt.

A Fantasia of Dank Spaces

By OCP out of Porto, Portugal

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

It’s unclear if Subspace Unit, based in Porto, Portugal, is a side moniker of the prolific musician João Ricardo, who mainly records under the name OCP, or if Subspace is some sort of label or, perhaps, collective that packages other people’s tracks. Either way, the first Subspace upload is an OCP piece (found via an OCP repost) of a rainy-day dub titled, simple, “E.” It echoes as it evaporates, dense waveforms fracturing as they escape the rhythm, the overall sound design getting more and more psychedelic as it proceeds. It’s a fantasia of dank spaces.

Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/subspaceunit](https://soundcloud.com/subspaceunit/ocp-e). More from OCP/Ricardo at [joaoricardo.org](http://joaoricardo.org/).

This Is the Starship Ambience You’ve Been Looking For

"Another Carefree Day On The Nostromo" by Boson Spin of Brisbane

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

If the hotel you’re staying in doesn’t have quite the spaceship-quality, hermetic, time-slowing HVAC system you’re accustomed to, you still have the option to augment your sonic reality. In most hyper-developed cities, temporary stay means submitting to climate control so optimized for depersonalization that it serves to emphasize just how much you are a visitor, just how much you are not part of the place you call, for a brief spell, something akin to home. If the building lacks that welcome, saturating drone, you could do worse than to pipe “Another Carefree Day on the Nostromo” by Boson Spin into your capsule. At 20 minutes in length, it is packed with a fearful stasis, a forbidding hollowness that moans with the exhaust of some massive engine whose traveling velocity approaches the speed of light while, in a literally cosmic sense, it is barely moving at all.

Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/boson_spin](https://soundcloud.com/boson_spin/another-carefree-day-on-the-nostromo), in all its *Alien* glory. Boson Spin is Stan Magendanz of Brisbane, Australia. More at [bosonspin.bandcamp.com](https://bosonspin.bandcamp.com/).