the.zzzone

I added selections from This Mortal Coil's Filigree & Shadow CD to the dada stream.  Click HERE for a Pitchtfork.com review of this great late 80's 4AD classic.

Also I added selections from the 7th Hotel Costes compilation called September.

B. C. Gilbert and G. Lewis - 8 Time - this is an old offshoot of the noise/punk/eperimental group Wire
Brannan Lane - Piano Dreams & Nightscapes - Brannan's music is played quite a bit on the stream

----------------------------------------------

...And congratulations again to Jourdan Laik for his new & improved Toxicant Records site with several never before available and rare CDs including the newly re-released "Beyond The Cloudline" mentioned below. 

The newest artist on the site is Ephemerid.  Apparently the artist is extremely talented.  Click HERE to read more about Ephemerid.  We hope to be playing Ephemerid on our ambient stream very soon.

Various - Chill Out in Paris 2
A Man Called Adam - All My Favourite...
Various - Layabout V.2

As usual click on the title above for more information.

Various - Elementalal Chill Volume 3 - Air
Various - Vintage Chill Volume 1 - Spring
Munkie - Chemical Process

Tune into the downbeat stream for some mellow, melodic beats!  Click on the links above for more info.  And thanks to Munkie for the nice preview CD.

From musicshop.gr: "Over the last year Fragile State have through the beauty of their acclaimed debut album "The Facts & The Dreams", established themselves as key players in the world of laid back grooves, Muzik magazine recently commenting “Fragile State look set to become massive in the coming months.” Now the boys have put together another beautiful album, only this time it is a compilation of the finest contemporary chillage. Pulling together a sublime selection of tunes from their piers Fragile State have come up with the perfect album for lazy days in the sun."

------------------------------------

Also added were selections from the Kriztel label's compilation Bedroom Communities 01 (Pillow Talk).  From Kriztel's site "Shamelessly exploiting the habits and lifestyles of commuters and suburbanites everywhere, Kriztal Entertainment introduces Bedroom Communities 01. Pillow Talk.  Picture this: over-scheduled soccer moms and stressed-out commuter dads home from the office, tired and in need of some relief. We've created the perfect antidote to just this scenario - a sexy, sultry collection of "between the sheets" grooves that will provide the perfect soundtrack for your pillow talk.  Selecting tracks from artists and labels from all over the world, Bedroom Communities 01. Pillow Talk will soon become your favorite album of choice for unwinding. Nearly all of these tracks are rare, hard-to-find on CD or as yet unreleased anywhere.  Featuring The Funky Lowlives, Hardkandy, Fort Knox Five, The First Floor Brothers, Erik Sumo and more."

--------------------------------------

I also added selections from two relatively recent publications on the databloem label:

The Circular Ruins: Empathy Test [click for review and samples]
Various: Collection 2

Both are excellent contemporary ambient releases and are highly recommended.

I had to re-rip all the music to that format, and that process is ongoing as I type this.  We will see how the sound quality is and will see what listener reaction is.  If you read this and you have comments either positive or negative, please let me know.  Click HERE to email me and leave the XXX out of the address.  It's a spam blocking technique.

From the Kriztel website:

"And now for something a little different. Fans of Kriztal music will know that we try to bring you fresh music from all over the world without painting ourselves into a corner with one musical genre. With Morning Star, we take a turn into the realm of Electronica/Pop with Flunk featuring the haunting vocals of Anja Øyen Vister.

Flunk is a stylish synth pop trio hailing from Norway and in addition to Anja with her Bjork vocal similarities, the group is rounded out with Ulf Nygaard, producer and vocalist, guitarist Jo Bakke and associated member drummer Erik Ruud.

Their first album (released on Guidance Recordings in 2003) and the hit single "Blue Monday", a remake of the New Order classic, garnered not only critical acclaim but also gave them a solid fan base from the track appearing on a slew of Stateside releases such as Ultra Chilled 03 and Chillin' at the Playboy Mansion.

Described as "woozy, gauzy, muted, blurry and very groovy", Flunk occupies that unlikely space between folk and electronica. At once organic and studio-tweaked, the Flunk sound layers Anja's "creamy, dreamy" vocals over a hushed base of samples, keys and softly strummed guitars, creating an ethereal, past-midnight vibe.

On Morning Star we are treated to another New Order track, a live studio recording of "True Faith". Morning Star also delivers very strong original material showcasing their suberb songwriting talent with the title track "Morning Star", as well as "On My Balcony", "Blind My Mind" and "Probably"."

Flunk is one of my favorite downtempo groups!  Enjoy.

Foy-The Elf Machine - Bonsai (Disc 2)
Lustmord - Carbon - Core
Elements Of Life - Molecular Dreams
Bruce Gilbert - This Way to the Shivering Man
Alio Die - Sol Niger
Tau Ceti - Somnium

Click above for reviews and/or info on obtaining the music!

Hector Zazou - Sahara Blue [eclectic, artsy music and such from an exemplary soundcraftsman and co.] - Gabor G. Kr istof - Le Cri Du Lezard [a unique French CD with acoustic guitar and nice vocals on Made To Measure] - Minimal Man - Hunger Is All She Has Ever Known - Mock Honeymoon [another classic avant-rock disc from Made To Measure] - Samy Birnbach & Benjamin Lew -  When God Was Famous (A Tribute to Poetry) [eclectic European neoclassical music and vocals on MTM]. - Various - Lonely is an Eyesore [ a pre-gothic 4AD compilation including Dead Can Dance, Colourbox, etc.] - Conspiracy International - Collectiv One [a pseudonym of Chris and Cosey with early technoacid sounds]. - Isabelle Antena - Intemporelle [the French pop singer on Disques du Crespucule sings in French!]

Enjoy!

From the Soleilmoon site: Limited hand numbered edition of 485 copies in special slip case packaging. This is a side-project of Claudio Dondo of RUNES ORDER and Massimo De Maria of Tangram. A mix between the more obscure beating works of Kirlian Camera and the ambient and cold Runes Order style. The music sounds as if it could be used for a science-fiction film.

-------------------------------

Selections from Bass Communion's very interesting CD "Ghosts on Magnetic Tape" were also added to the ambient stream playlist.  The CD is on no mans land.

-------------------------------

Some stuff from another unusual disc was added today to the ambient stream: The Mystery School's " Dawn of the Magicians".  This is classic dark ambient.

"Limited to 300 handnumbered copies

Intended as an exercise in awareness and spiritual awakening, "The Dawn of the Magicians" carries with it the messages of hope and joy despite the many opposing forces we face while living in this reality. It is a guide, of sorts, intended to help the listener cast the scales from their eyes and heart. The rulers of the earth try to keep us, as humans, at a low vibrational frequency.  This is a step in helping us to see them for who they are, what they represent, and how we can overcome the path they have set for us.

-------------------------------

...And I am very pleased to add some more Windy & Carl selections from "Portal".

 

There are some cool vocals and eccentric acoustic and electronic music:

"Hardman's debut, Shirts and Pistols, takes stock of deep soul and white trash culture, folkrock and microprocessor-aesthetics on both sides of the Atlantic, and makes it all their own. Kraftwerk live again, but with Howlin' Wolf as their frontman - or maybe it's the other way 'round? Sampling and resampling themselves Hardman deconstructs and reconstructs a relaxed cocktail of digital collages, songwriting and old school popmusic. This product contains no third party ingredients.

Shirts and Pistols was produced by Hardman and Mark Bihler, who has lent his producing/remixing talents to bands like Appliance, Saint Etienne and Melllow, and enjoys success in the UK with his project Bridge and Tunnel. Created, with extensive use of the internet, and over a two month production period in Berlin, the album celebrates songs as well as collages and fragments. Hardman lives what, in many cases, is merely the result of artistic calculation, and therefore they have a credibility that is very rare to find these days." [from posteverything.com]

...Remix Collection proves how distinct of an identity she has developed despite those debts. The compilation chronicles much of Allien's career, from her 1996 heavy house remix of Gut-Humpe's "Butterfly" to a 2003 reconfiguration of Berlinette lead-off "Alles Sehen". Much like Matthew Herbert's 2002 remix album Secondhand Sounds, Allien's Remix Collection works well as an album precisely because each remix so clearly bears her fingerprints: particularly her uncompromisingly dark, rhythmic displacements of source material. Allien's reworking of Sascha Funke's "Forms and Shapes" understands the melancholy that neither the original nor any other of the song's several remixes could fully grasp, while her take on Gold Chains' "Let's Get It On" proves that she knows when to lay off a bit-- the song's memorable vocal and synth hooks remain completely intact. Same goes for French duo OMR's "The Way We Have Chosen": Allien maintains the original's key "Here Come the Warm Jets" guitar melodies, and concentrates her influence in the song's breakdown, which even features her own glitched-out vocals.

Remix Collection's most historically popular cuts-- the remixes of Barbara Morgenstern's "Aus Heiterem Himmel" and of Golden Boy with Miss Kittin's "Rippin Kittin"-- are unsurprisingly the album's brightest spots, too. The sheer vitality of Allien's Morgenstern remix flat-out embarrasses the lounge-y, Gainsbourgeous original, while Allien's subtle enhancements to the electro-snorter "Rippin Kittin" give the song's hook ("Daddy/ Can I go out and kill tonight?/ I feel/ I feel like taking a life") remarkable chill. It's a wonder people didn't feel more awkward dancing to Allien's version (the remix was a relative club hit in 2002), but that's further testament to Allien's talent: Given both its tact and personal energy, Remix Collection could just as accurately been titled My Parade, too.

-Nick Sylvester, September 21st, 2004  [from Pitchfork.com]

From the Projekt site:

Recorded winter/spring 2002
Instruments played and processed by Stefano Musso : Drones and loops, bells, small accordion, chen, tubes, flutes. Source recordings were made at romanic church Pieve di S.Giorgio(MS) Italy. Enviromental recordings made around Lunae studio during the sessions in spring 2002. Artwork and photos by Hic Sunt Leones.

-------------------------------

Also some selections from Ben Fleury Steiner's "...To Reach The Other Shore" on Gears of Sand:

"Fans of understated abstract experimental pieces from labels such as Hypnos and The Foundry, would do well to consider investing in releases on the fascinating Gears Of Sand label. Even the packaging is unique, completely clear jewel cases with no conventional booklet; just a jewel embedded in the upper left corner near the spine, and a half-sheet of clear plastic for the front cover art and title. Other credits are etched directly on the back of the jewel case. Ingenious packaging, ingenious music. This particular disc is quiet and subtle. The sound palette is rich and adventurous despite the minimal nature of it. The 10-minute opener “Red Moon Echoes” seems a dead ringer for Geir Jenssen’s work as Biosphere, as ambient drones are fused with soft pulses and occasional odd mechanical sounds. “Glocio” is also quiet and relatively formless, although distant bells do appear. Regular beats and melodies are not to be found, and some pieces are so subtle as to be nearly silent at times, as on “…To Whisper 1,000 Shimmering Births,” although babies can be heard crying in the distant background. Each track seems to go nowhere and yet everywhere, and each is different than the next, such as the fascinating “Tzippor,” which sounds a bit like crickets and someone trampling leaves, but the sound is too regular, too mechanized to be that exactly.  Moody with lots of intrigue, …To Reach the other Shore is a great time." -Phil Derby/Electroambient Space (October 2004)

-------------------------------

Also selections from a new artist's submission for airplay Mark Mahoney's "if dreams were clouds".  Thanks Mark.  I'll add more comments as I get to know it better.

-------------------------------

Another unexpected delight Mike VanPortfleet - Beyond The Horizon Line arrived this week and selections have been added to the ambient stream.  This is dark droning stuff that fits in well with certain aspects of the.zzzone.  Check the description at the Projekt site linked from the title.  And CLICK HERE for a nice review at spendidzine.com.

Various - The Fruit of the Original Sin [more idiosyncratic stuff from the best label that came and went - Les Disques du Crepuscule] / Weekend - La Variete [bossa-tinged pop music from 1990 on Rough Trade] / Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth [ambient guitar pop with cool vocals also on Rough Trade] / The Tape-Beatles - Music With Sound [sample madness in a classic experimental style of several years ago] / The Durutti Column - LC [my favorite ambient guitar with a minimalist classical edge] / Harold Budd and The Cocteau Twins - The Moon And The Melodies [ambient music and Cocteau Twins on 4AD...what else can you say?] / Heidi Berri - Love [folky romantic pop on 4AD] / Daniel Schell & Karo - The Secret Of Bwlch [bizarre orchestral stuff on Made To Measure] / Marc Almond - Child Star - Child Star [a single from 1/2 of the original Soft Cell]

Selections from the following were added:

k.m. krebs - Oneiromancy
Ben Fleury-Steiner - ...To Reach The Other Shore
k.m. krebs & heath yonaites - The Seed Project

I also added some cool selections from cyberCHUMP's Abstract Air CD.  I got my version at eMusic.com

Also let me encourage everyone to check out the Hypnos Forum for some of the best info on new ambient music, often from the artists themselves.

Wim Mertens - After Virtue [melodic piano music from the master...] -  Wire - The Ideal Copy  [rock that isn't rock] - Colin Newman - Provisionally Entitled The Singing Fish - Not To  [singer from Wire on his own...] - Cindytalk - In This World  [elegant surreal and abstract] - David Linx - Moon to your Sun  [lounge lizardesque] - Fra Lippo Lippi - Songs [Factory-style rock] - David Sylvian - Everything And Nothing  [sublime voice with dreamy music from his best compilation] - Controlled Bleeding - Songs from the Ashes [ambient post-rock] - Various - Mmmm Ahhh Ohhh- A Crepuscule Compilation [weirdness from a wonderful old label]  - Mo Boma - Jijimuge- Interdiffusion of Particulars [exotic electronica] - Wire (Wir) - The First Letter [early experimental post-rock] - Various - The Myths Collection, Part Two [more weirdness] - John Foxx & Louis Gordon - The Pleasures of Electricity  [silky old school technopop & electro] - Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures [elegant depression from the band that became New Order]

Today I changed the microsound station over to an eclectic, surprising, retro yet futuristic sound consisting of the weird & wonderful music I have collected over the years from labels like Made To Measure, 4AD, Earthly Delight, NER, Les Disque Du Crepuscule, Ralph, and many many others.  Artists like Dome, Virginia Astley, John Foxx, John Cale, Tuxedomoon, Blaine Rheinenger, The Residents, will brush shoulders with futuristic glitch and minimal musics.  The station is called !dada! & !futurism! and I hope this will interest people who have very different tastes in timeless sounds as well as the latest new and unusual musics.

Here's a taste of some of the CDs I used to mine for good stuff:

Blaine Reininger - Expatriate Journals
John Cale - Paris s'eveille
DEATH IN JUNE - Operation Hummingbird
Virginia Astley - From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
The Hafler Trio - Four Ways of Saying Five
Tuxedomoon - Desire
John Foxx and Louis Gordon - Crash and Burn
Benjamin Lew & Steven Brown - A Propos D'un Paysage
B. C. Gilbert & G. Lewis - 8 Time
Peter Principle - Sedimental Journey
Benjamin Lew - Nebka
Chris and Cosey - Exotika

Let me know if you like or dislike this new endeavor.  Click HERE to send feedback by email.

I also added a long selection from Stephen Philip's Installation No 1 "Hard Shadows".  It's on Stephen's Dark Duck label and available as a MP3 download for a very reasonable price.

...And congratulations to Jourdan Laik for his new Toxicant Records site with several never before available and rare CDs including the newly re-released "Beyond The Cloudline" mentioned below.  Pssssst: there's a nice radio stream there too :)

Takashi Wada - Meguro
Here's a review at Pitchforkmedia.com.  Enjoy!

I also updated the ambient stream playlist HERE.

Plus I just have to share this picture I took from the garden tonight.  It's a nightblooming cereus: click HERE.

Terra Ambient: The Gate
http://www.terraambient.com/

Daevine: Beyond The Cloudline
reviewed at http://www.ambientmusings.net/daevine-beyond.htm
This CD is currently unavailable for sale but please listen on my ambient stream.  The CD is a project from Michael Allison of Darshan Ambient and Jourdan Laik of Toxicant Radio.  Very very nice.  Thanks guys!

URM Synthphonics: Darkness on the Edge of Light
http://www.dreamstate.to/between_realities.htm
This CD appears to be a side project of dreamSTATE

Now Playing: Deep Chill Network - Out There Chill [32:36] - Cyber Sleep 4 [ http://www.darkduck.net ]

I've added selections from a couple of Stephen Philips CDs:

Stephen Philips: Avalon Chill
Stephen Philips: Reflections In Water
http://www.darkduck.net

Thanks to all the listeners as my total listening time has increased quite a bit (not that I'm competing).

...and I just reformatted this page :)

As winter approaches again here in Greenland, I'm enjoying the last gasp of warm weather.

Yesterday I added some selections from the following to the ambient stream:

Steven K Smith - Totality 6-10-94
A true space ambient disc that is very quiet and themed on an eclipse.
www.skeandhu.net

Elam Ashman - Meditations
" This album combines the ethereal qualities of suspended harmonies with deep drones and the sounds of  rhythmic pulsing machines and space-like mechanisms. Meditations is an exploration of new and unusual sound-worlds. "
http://www.elamashman.com/music/

I've added some new ambient label links including kikapu and thinner.

I've added a photoshop "art" section where I'm just having some fun especially with U.S. political idiots.

The station was down for several hours yesterday due to a power
outage at the transmitter.

Also according to my web host, this site has been down for about the last 72 hours due to a DDOS attack for the second time in about a year.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

Despite lack of postings, I have been adding more music with
selections from the following:

laocoon - Immersion
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/laocoon/from/indiejournal

Oophoi - Dust In The Wind (The Works, 1995-2003) (Disc 1)
http://www.deeplistenings.it/

exuviae - Response
http://www.interstitial.info/exuviae/

This has been a good month for the stations.

I've added some m-m-m-more new stuff:

Max Corbacho - Vestiges
Biosphere - Autour de la lune
Mokira - Album

As usual there is lots more stuff to come...very soon!

Mmmmore new stuff and selections from the following:

John Broaddus - 4 at 18
DAC Crowell And Kurt Doles - Dac Crowell - Kurt Doles
Mathias Grassow - Dharma (Disc 1)
FutureMusicCorp - Atmospheric Musing - www.futuremusiccorp.net
Mathias Grassow - The Gothic Passage
Gigi - Illuminated Audio
Mathias Grassow - Insights (Disc 9)
Joris de Man and Matthew Florianz - Arnhem Concert - www.matthewfloarianz.com
Steve Raymar - Illusion 3 - http://music.download.com

I forgot to mention a wonderful new addition that I got for subscribing to e-dition, a new ambient / spacemusic magazine.  Check out the website and the new magazine.

I have put selections from the new disc on the station playlist:

Arcanum - Alaska

...from smd review:

Released in 1996, the artist behind Arcanum is Bernd Franz Moritz Braun and he's come up with a quality synth album here which doesn't exactly break new ground, but what it does cover is presented with polish and expertise. The opening track 'Alaska' features 20 minutes of careful sequences and lush synth pads and textures. This is not for fans of "in yer face" wall of sound EM, but may appeal to Space Music fans who would perhaps like something a bit less desolate and more lively. 'Behind the White Sea' is a lush symphonic affair with a genuinely strong theme which brings to mind Robert Fox. 'Megaptera' is a lighter piano led piece containing some deft sequencing, and the lighter more contemporary theme continues on 'Awakening' and especially 'Final Recall' which is a grandiose slab of symphonic mood music which may even be palatable to other members of the family who usually abandon the room once anything EM related hits the player. (GG)

On Now: Ontario Blue - This Mortal Coil [6:02] - Shine

More adds today from the following:

Markus Reuter - Older Than God
Michael Peters - sketched landscape no 1
Rothko - no anchor no chart no rudder no sails

All of the above are CD-Rs on the
Burning Shed label
and purchased directly from the label.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

On Now: Veer - Realm [4:39] - Lideskape

From Hybrid.com levelheaded review:

Veer
Lideskape
Source Records

Frankfurt based Ole Schulte, the producer behind Veer is relatively new to the scene and when he is not working on tracks for labels like Source, Force Inc of Cytrax, he spends time as a graphic designer for advertising agencies and as art director for Sven Väth's Cocoon Recordings.  You can't help but hear his design background spill over into the warm pulsating digi-dub work as Veer.  His careful attention to subtle arrangement, sound design, and slight differences between tracks carry a minimal design structure yet don't retain any of the colder elements that you might assume to go along with it.  His production style features much of the same elements as artists off of ~Scape and occasionally venture off into clicky tech-house before landing back into the atmospheric and gentle digital dub world of clicks, pops, warm pads, and loads of delay and shifting melodies.  A recent interview with the group Underworld mentioned that they viewed the future of music production as a period where artists create work for everyday environments as opposed to a standard album release. I think Veer would be a perfect candidate to lead that effort. - JH

More new additions to the playlist with selections from:

Various - Convergence
Various - Dreams & Shadows
Mark Rownd - Painting Twilight

All of the above in a recent purchase from
Fairfield Records
and all on the
Spotted Peccary label

I've updated the complete ambient playlist so that listeners can see the extent of my efforts to make the ambient stream as comprehensive as possible.

Very busy with my job, but at least I added selections from one new gem:

Ruben Garcia - Maybe Forgotten Forever 2xCD

I am a very big Ruben Garcia fan.  His solo piano ambient music strikes a very similar vein to Brian Eno.  In fact he has worked with Eno.

Playing Now on the ambient stream:  Taylor - Sad Grin [10:37] - State of the Art Heirloom

This slightly older compilation is described below:

"Toshoklabs returns for the summer with a calm and lucid compilation titled State of the Art Heirloom. Picking up where Dated left off, this 10 track CD features an ambient and found-sound aesthetic made with a minimum of DSP showmanship; in its place are audio splices of everyday happenings, wavering drones, melancholic horns and understated rhythms. The intent of the compilation is to examine the idea of 'folk' music as we progress into the 21st century and onto the next wave of digital culture, while trying to maintain a certain poetic sensibility. To that end, the tracks exhibit a polite disregard for the latest generative compositional trends in favor of a warmer organic feel. This is not to say that there isn't a good amount of experimentation to be found; the recording would make for a pleasant soundtrack to the forgotten story of discovering an old attic or junkyard treasure. Fans of the quieter passages found within Biosphere, Boards of Canada, Dettinger or the Touch label would do well to search out this release." Features: Antarktika, Ocone, Don Rainwater, Mark Hadley, Headshell, Taylor."

Please come back to this page for more interesting information on what you are hearing.

29 Dec 2003 - 29 Dec 2003 - 29 Dec 2003

Greetingzzz from where its perpetually cold and grey :)

I hope everyone has had a nice holiday!

A musical update from the.zzzone is long overdue; suffice it to say that although I lost about a thousand songs in a hard drive crash, I
have steadily been adding a lot of new stuff:

Scanner: 52 Spaces
Lusine icl - a pseudo steady state
Various: absolute zero
Abstractology - Astronomics of Green clover mix
Colin Potter - And Then
Various: Collection 1 Opening
Terre Thaemlitz - Lovebomb [now playing]
Windy and Carl - Consciousness
taylor deupree and richard chartier - spec
Tujiko Noriko - Make me Hard
Ron Boots - Ghost of A Mist
Nick Parkin - Entropolis
Stephen Philips and Numina - Outward Appearance
parmentier - luxsound
Rothko - New Found Land
Matthew Florianz & Friends - Electronic Forest
Anders Ilar - Everdom


Basically the list above represents about 2% of the music added since my last update.

The ambient relay stream playlist contains 5979 selections, many of which are 60 mins long or more!

The ambient stream continues to be ad-free after an initial pre-roll spot. If you want to avoid the pop-up ads from Live365 you can either subscribe as a VIP member for 3.65 USD per month (or more) or you can employ a popup blocker :)

Please come by and tune in. I appreciate all of your support.

You can access the ambient stream directly at

http://www.live365.com/stations/doctorzz

or come by the website at

http://zzzone.net

and choose from all 5 streams: ambient, downtempo, microsound, tech, and electro.

The last 100 songs played on the ambient stream can be viewed at

http://listen.to/ambientmusic

I also have some new photos up from my recent trip to Las Vegas.

Happy Holidazzze !!!

dr zzzzz
http://zzzone.net
downtempoZZZ@listen.to
[remove the ZZZ to respond via email]

1 Nov 2003

I'm adding more music and more photos constantly.

New music from Zero Ohms, Max Corbacho, Mewark, etc.

New photos from Jean Lafitte Park, house, and garden...

Later!