Publicado el

Landru’s Fimbria review

Landru is Patxi Hernández, one of driving forces behind Altera Orbe label, and «Fimbria» is his second solo ambient installment, released during September 2012. «Fimbria» comes as CDr edition packaged in elegant digipak.

«Corrosion» unfolds the album and dives straightly into shadowy cavernous realms. Eerie, but richly organic-flavored ambience is melted with diverse distinguishing industrial and cybernetic fragments, some of them more harmonious while some others more discordant, with 12 minutes the longest composition on «Fimbria». «Substantia Nigra» keeps its synergetic path melting darkly spiraling pads, sparse future-tech elements with the sounds of flowing water. «Echoes» remain in subterranean domains, but comprise a quite hymnic drone. «The Passage», as its title suggests, is a shorter transitional number, where frightening zones are merged with otherworldly voice-like sounds and swirling effects, quite unique piece. «Cosmic Strings» bridge deep drones with various sharp dissonances and low primal rumbles.

Again remaining rather sparse and weird, but strongly effective. «Miñaco» attracts with its semi-rhythmed cyberscape, sculpted with razor sharp whip sound effects and distant rumbles and winds. It gets closer to cybernetic-flavored first album «Neurotransmitters». And this future-tech sound can be explored also through «Amalgam», a composition of hazed, but vibrant technoscape crossed with cyber noises. However, «Katabatic Wind» quickly soars to wondrous primordial worlds with graciously floating and pleasantly soothing dreamscapes. A truly immersing composition, which grows on me with every repeated listen.

The title composition «Fimbria» unfolds with the interplay of denser, high-tech soundscapes and water sound effects, but later cascades into hypnotically coiling and mid-paced, pulsing grooves. Electrifying cyber-tech escapade!!! «The Last Quelonid» integrates again various future-tech effects, rumbles and relaxing nature sounds, surrounded by immense sacral washes with ethereal choir-like essence. «Melted Stone» opens with deeply absorbing atmozones enriched sparkling noises, but the journey is soon stolen by spiraling, crystalline electro pulses, which transform this composition into steadily living and breathing trajectory, masterfully backed by mesmerizingly flowing water soundscapes. Absolutely brilliant finale!!!

«Fimbria» is another freshly vital, adventurously sculpted and richly distinctive work by this potential Spaniard, who is not afraid of searching his own pathway. And by the time I am completing these lines, a brand new album «Scotoma» has been released on Altera Orbe, so I really look forward to more exciting endeavors from Landru!!!

Richard Gürtler (Jan 20, 2013, Bratislava, Slovakia)

Fimbria is the latest exploration of Landru into ambient realms, a step forward into complex textures and vibrating grooves from a very personal perspective. Fimbria is available at Landru’s Bandcamp

Publicado el

Landru – Scotoma

Scotoma is without any doubt, the darkest ambient album released by Landru so far. Scotoma is full of intriguing noises and background drones capable of creating an enigmatic and invisible atmosphere that surrounds the listener from the very beginning as an intense and dense fog that remains present throughout the whole album. During this journey to the dark side of the vision, you may also find some groovy percussions and rhythmical patterns which add some light into this otherwise impassable landscapes. <`p>Among the sonic sources used during the composition, you may find all kind of digital and software synthesizers and also some experimental and organic sounds coming from innovative instruments and field recordings such as the Kurzweil K2000 VX, Access Virus Redback, Quasimidi The Raven & Polymorph, Korg Legacy Analog & Digital Edition, Absynth and Sonic Forest.

All music were composed, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by Landru at Atavachron Studios, Barcelona, during 2012.

Scotoma is available at Landru’s Bandcamp

Listen to some samples of Scotoma:

Publicado el

Vauxia Errante – La Création du Monde

La Création du Monde is the title of the last recording by dark-ambient artist Vauxia Errante, a long form track full of delicated details and intrincated textures conforming a mesmerizing exploration of sonic realms. This is the 3th volume in the Woomh EP series by Altera Orbe artists.

All music composed, performed, recorded and mixed by Vauxia Errante in 2012 and mastered by Ran Kirlian at The Blue_Room in 2013.

The Woomh Series is a special product line which items are presented in mini-albums formats, containing unique, strange and isolated musical passages from the artists belonging to Altera Orbe or even special guests.

Available at Vauxia Errante’s Bandcamp

Listen to a sample:

Publicado el

Some excellent releases from Relaxed Machinery

This month we promote thre excellent albums from our fellows Relaxed Machinery:

Disturbed Earth & Shane Morris – SUBURBAN CATACOMB

What goes on under suburbia, the day to day, literally, the pipes, storm water drainage, electric cable, communication, internet.

Shane Morris – Synths, Electronic and Acoustic Percussion, Field Recordings and effects.

Disturbed Earth – Production, Construction, Reel to Reel tape delay, Electric and Nylon String Guitars, Pedal Harmonium, Percussion, Field Recordings.

Andrew LahifF – INNER WORLDS RETURNING

Synthetic and mechanical notions overlaid on an organic yet detailed landscape.

Synthetic and mechanical notions overlaid on an organic yet detailed landscape. A journey intimately sharing small wondrous details of the natural world and how, when they are observed by a discerning eye, they can lead to inner discoveries and timeless steps forward. The soundscapes shape the atmosphere to convey both the natural imagery and the eternal wonderment of the universe.

Steve Brand – SUNPRINTS

Five quiet and sometimes intimate atmospheres focused around nature.

Originally released in 2010 and now released here on Bandcamp on my own Pioneer Light Music label, “Sunprints”, is comprised of 5 quiet, and sometimes intimate, atmospheres focused around nature. Sunprints is dedicated to my mentor, Nadja, and accomplished with kora, zither, kalimba, shakers, bells, cymbals, gongs, conch, bone, cane and cedar flutes, didgeridoo, whistles voice, accordion, gutterphone, field recordings and keyboards. The final track, “Sunprints”, was created just for this 2012 re-release.

Publicado el

Synergy 1 – An AlteraOrbe Compilation

Synergy 1 is an AlteraOrbe ambient compilation released in 2012 featuring music by Max Corbacho, Landru, Joxan Ruiz, Ran Kirlian, Mindglide, Isidro Castro and Vauxia Errante.

This album was created as a presentation to our record label and to our main artists and offered as a free download in FLAC and mp3 format.

Mixed by Ran Kirlian at The Blue_Room, Dec 2012
Cover artwork and fractal images by Landru, 2012

All music composed, recorded and performed by their authors & published by AlteraOrbe

Synergy track list:

1.-
 Max Corbacho – Deep Time (except)
2.-
 Landru – Fimbria
3.-
 Mindglide – The Edge Of Infinity
4.-
 Ran Kirlian – Messier 83
5.-
 Joxan Ruiz – Ocean Vibration
6.-
 Landru – Binary Rain
7.-
 Isidro Castro – Arrival
8.-
 Vauxia Errante – Xandarella Spectaculum
9.-
 Ran Kirlian & Landru – Alluvium
10.-
 Joxan Ruiz – Space Between

Listen to a preview here:

Publicado el

Gaze, by Joxan Ruiz, reviewed

The new album of Joxan Ruiz, Gaze, has received a nice review by Richard Gürtler on discogs.org. You can also read it here:

Joxan Ruiz GazeSpanish label Altera Orbe, run by Ran Kirlian and Landru, keeps on growing, with “Gaze” they introduce a brand new name on their roster, Joxan Ruiz from Madrid. “Gaze” is Joxan’s debut work, although he has already appeared in 2011 on Jamendo’s download release by Skaven entitled “Divine Intervention”, where Joxan appears as guest on didgeridoo and singing bowls.

The album launches with “Blue Light”, sublimely drifting and sorrowfully cascading primordial soundscape. “Gaze”, the title track, meanders towards the sky high realms, with gradual expansions into more massive and intense dronewalls, and backed here and there by hazed cybernetic infusions. “Afterglow” moves in its orbit quite monotonously, along with few more dramatic, but vague intrusions. Beautifully tranquil waves of “Ocean Vibration” are masterfully bridged with gentle cyber grooves and soothing coastal recordings. In the second half distant gauzy tribal beats join this deeply mesmerizing sonic experience, magnífico!!! “Zero Point” enters into more meditative terrains with quietly minimal texture. “Virtual Darkness” unfolds straightly with mysterious drones, enriched by distinctive electro pulses. Both, the darker and the cyber-tech substances are perfectly synapsed into a whole new listening sensibility.

Certainly one of the highlights introducing Joxan Ruiz at the top of his artistry!!! The next piece, “Finding The Way”, effectively merges the ancient and the modern in slightly discordant way. “Painting Bubbles”, one of the shortest tracks on “Gaze”, clocking to nearly 3 minutes, is sculpted with minimal warm washes and serenely tinkling sounds evoking upcoming Christmas season. “Hypnos” dives deeply into shadowy subterranean domains, where slow mind-bending drones are spiced by assorted spooky low resonating rumbles and swirls and high-pitched spiraling soars, accomplishing a genuinely trance-inducing atmosphere. Cavernous rumbles lead “Sirenis”, the longest composition getting over 10 and half minutes, which flows on minimal, meditative waves coupled also with various crystalline tinkles. Another deeply primordial focused soundscape. “Alpha” immediately returns into monotonous and monstrous drone scenario, again blended with assorted distant noises and sharper cyber-electro-organics. The drones graciously glide throughout and expand into hugely immense panoramas, ranging from more intense and cinematic to more sublime and relieving. Another standout piece, a pure, 10-minute sonic bliss!!! 2 minute long outro “Gone From Here” is sculpted with expressive solo piano.

A fairly colorful and distinctive debut by this Spaniard and a perfect addition to Altera Orbe’s portfolio. Fellow countrymen Ran Kirlian and Max Corbacho are responsible for the mixing and mastering duties. If you like a wealthy mixture of mysterious dronescaping and few hypnotic cyber-tech escapades, you will enjoy “Gaze”!!! Joxan Ruiz has a quite big collection of flutes and as a member The International Native American and World Flute Association, I am sure he has a lot to offer within the fusion of ancient flutes and electronic sound design.

Richard Gürtler (Dec 09, 2012, Bratislava, Slovakia)

Publicado el

Max Corbacho – The Ocean Inside

The Ocean Inside is the long awaited new album of Max Corbacho presents an immersive flow of emotional soundworlds and harmonic structures that bring us to the depths of the inner ocean.

Max Corbacho returns with a new work, this time as a long awaited double album, which again immerse ourselves into touching atmospheric ambient realms of pure beauty. The Ocean Inside is a paradise of lush, cascading long chords, as oceanic waves, back and forth, in an eternal flow of shifting tones and spiraling harmonies. This is music aimed at energy, emotional and mental levels, for listeners who love deep, meditative ambient music.

With this awesome album Corbacho portrays a very personal and introspective journey divided in two parts: one in his now classical melodic and cosmic style full of beauty and dreams and the other one introducing a deeper and a bit darker scenario surrounded by massive amounts of pads and drones that takes us to the dephts of serenity, like laying in the ground of an infinite ocean. In the end, this album is just an acurated soundtrack of every human soul.

 

In Max words:

More than two years ago I started this project from a Eastern concept that has always been present in my work: the analogy that exists between the mind as an ocean, with constantly changing waves at the surface, and the inner stillness and silence at the depths. It is from this seed that brings me to the concept of «Oceanic», the word from which I have been developed each of the parts that make up the album. During the creation of these pieces, I tried to go as deep as I could into this bottomless ocean depths. The Ocean Inside is the record of that dive into the depths, the witness that what matters is not how deep you can go, if not the experience of that moment.

The Ocean Inside is a double album, now available on Max Corbacho bandcamp page. Don’t miss it!!

Publicado el

November releases: Mindglide, Isidro Castro & Joxan Ruiz

This month we feel honoured to receive two new great artists in our label, both releasing two awesome albums today: Mindglide, a deep space-ambient artist with years of experience composing and producing will releases his first album Down the Light and Isidro Castro, an artist especialized in Berlin School and space-ambient genres presents an excepcional double album entitled Flight Paths Vol 1.

MIndglideMindglide – Down the Light [AOR0014]

Down the Light is a gorgeous space ambient work, full of nostalgic and beautiful melodies surrounded by a complex universe of synthetic sounds.

Down the Light is a gorgeous space ambient work, full of nostalgic and beautiful melodies surrounded by a complex universe of synthetic sounds.

Isidro CastroIsidro Castro – Flightpaths 1 [AOR0014]

Flight Paths Vol 1 represents the first volume of an awesome trilogy full of space soundworlds and complex sequences in a impressive demostration of natural creativity.

NOSTROMO_DIARIESJoxan Ruiz – Nostromo Diaries (Woomh Series #2)

We also want to present you a new work from our artists Joxan Ruiz, a minialbum entitled Nostromo Diaries, specially developed for our recently created Woomh Series.

Publicado el

Altera Orbe features two new artists

We feel honoured to receive two new great artists in our label, both releasing two awesome albums during this month, Mindglide and Isidro Castro.

Mindglide: a deep space-ambient artist with years of experience composing and producing will release this month Down the Light, his awesome first album from 2007 with some remastering and a bonus track. The music of Mindglide is aimed to transmit evocative atmospheres and portrait a free form universe, letting the listener expanding his mind and  his  imagination beyond musical boundaries. With this in mind, his music is presented full of dense timbrical structures, rich soundworlds and progressive schemes in composition. [More info]

Down the Light, his first album now remastered and rebuilt, is a gorgeous space ambient work, full of nostalgic and beautiful melodies surrounded by a complex universe of synthetic sounds and harmonies with several influences from ambient, jazz and classic genres.

Isidro Castro: another welcomed artist especialized in Berlin School and space-ambient genres will present an excepcional double album entitled Flight Paths Vol 1. He started his musical activity in 2005 immersed in the electronic music scene of the Berlin School and has been deeply influenced by artists like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ashra Temple, Michael Hoenig for more than 25 years. [More info]

Flight Paths Vol 1 represents the first volume of an awesome trilogy (that will be also released in Altera Orbe) full of space soundworlds and complex sequences in a impressive demostration of natural creativity. Fans of Tangerine Dream, Redshift and Steve Roach’s Empetus & Stormwarning styles will be highly pleased with this great album.

Publicado el

Ran Kirlian – Formations & Mystic Veils

Ran Kirlian releases today his latest album Formations, a masterwork that combines space and tribal ambient based on live improvisations and mastered by Max Corbacho.

Also, as the first volume in the new Woomh Series, we’re releasing Mystical Veils, an EP that collects 3 electronic pieces recorded live in 2009 in a different style Ran Kirlian music uses to be, with pulsating sequences and textures, a bit away from classical ambient genres.

Ran Kirlian - Formations