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New music by Joxan Ruiz & Steve Brand

we have the great pleasure to introduce some of the new productions that we have prepared for this summer: Space Between, the newest space-ambient album from spanish composer Joxan Ruiz, and Steve Brand latest album: The Great Hoop. Also we present you a very special work by our friend Steve Brand: Trust and Remember, an exclusive Woomh EP.

Joxan Ruiz – Space Between

The pieces are built upon a blend of deep ambient characteristics, looping, textures and harmonics mixed with subtle and hovering. The tracks follow a zen-like flow, through exotic flutes, bringing the listener’s attention down to a distinct stillness.

Space Between is a heady mixture of sounds, alternating between hues both beautifully light and magnetically dark.
A trip to your mind…

Steve Brand – The Great Hoop

Basic tracks for “The Great Hoop” were first started back in 2010 subsequent and prior to one of my many visits with my wife to the Cahokia Mounds, near East St. Louis. At that time, I felt the need to continue themes that I had explored in my previous release, Cahokia.

Music inspired by Native American cultures, their history and pre-history, the spaces, colors, flora and fauna, and wide variety of landscapes of the American Plains.

Steve Brand – Trust and Remember

Trust and Remember is a 24 minute ambient soundscape woven from keyboard, voice and processed guitar sounds, created at The Treehouse by Steve Brand in May of 2013, exclusively for the AlterOrbe Woomh Series.

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New music by Landru & Joxan Ruiz

This month we’re proud to present two new awesome works from our exclusive artists: Facets the newest album from electronic alchemist Landru, and Blue Radiance, a new Woomh EP by atmospheric composer Joxan Ruiz:

FacetsLandru – Facets

Facets is the new Chillout | Lounge double CD album released by Landru. With Facets, Landru shows his most intimate and serene side. It is definitely a delicate work, characterized by the coexistence of instruments, percussions and melodies from different cultures all around the world.

Facets consists of one CD including 15 new unreleased tracks and a second CD with remixed versions of the original tracks made by the most representative ambient and chillout artists from Spain.

Available at Bandcamp

BLUE_RADIANCEJoxan Ruiz  – Blue Radiance

Blue Radiance is the second Woomh by Joxan Ruiz, a deep and meditative flow combining organic sounds with with electronic soundscapes. A 22 minutes long-form piece created specifically as a tone meditation, enhancing the living space as sonic incense.

 

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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

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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:

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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.

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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:

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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)

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Altera Orbe features new artist: Joxan Ruiz

Joxan Ruiz is an independent musician, born in San Sebastián (Spain, 1969). His music is based on synthesizers, guitars, aerophones and field recordings. His music is made from the breath, trying to paint a landscape of colors and textures, pointing to the essence of the vibration. He uses to mix sounds of native and exotic flutes with ethereal drones and loops, searching the mystery of sunlight through a soap bubble.

Influences: Carlos Nakai, Jorge Reyes, Coyote Oldman, Harold Budd, Robert Fripp, Pablo Salcedo, Michael Stearns, Steve Roach, Jonn Serrie.

His featuring in Altera Orbe starts with an excellent album named Gaze, a more than welcomed incursion into ambient genres that was mixed by Ran Kirlian at The Blue_Room and mastered by Max Corbacho in 2012. [More info]

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Waterfront and other releases

We are happy to announce three new releases in our catalogue this month: Waterfront, the first collaborative ambient-electronic work by Ran Kirlian and Landru, co-owners of the online ambient label Altera Orbe, and two sublime works from our partners Relaxed machinery in FLAC loseless format, en seier, a deeply personal and atmospheric album by åpne sinn and Spiritual Science, a collaborative double album by Steve Brand and Ishq.

WaterfrontRan Kirlian & Landru | Waterfront

Waterfront is the consolidation of the first acclaimed collaborative work between the ambient artists Ran Kirlian and Landru, co-owners of the online ambient label Altera Orbe.

Textures and grooves were combined live by the two artists on The_BlueRoom studio, in Castellón during a jam session. The tracks were polished, mixed and mastered later in order to improve the sonic experience of a unique and catarquic moment.

Waterfront is available in limited CDr Digipack format, FLAC loseless format and MP3 at 256kbps format at Ran Kirlian Bandcamp and Landru Bandcamp sites.

Check out 3 complete tracks at Ran Kirlian’ soundcloud.

en seieråpne sinn | en seier

‘en seier’ – from the Norwegian meaning “one victory”, this second album from åpne sinn holds a much more personal and profound place in my heart than it’s predecessor, ‘espiritista’. The choice of the album’s title is two-fold. Firstly, it refers to the release of ‘espiritista’ in January of 2011.

Available at åpne sinn Bandcamp

Spiritual ScienceSteve Brand & Ishq | Spiritual Science

From the 2009 release notes, Brand says, “I’d been an Ishq (Matt Hillier) fan for about 3-4 years. I found his music as part of my complete immersion in Ultimae material (Ishq kept showing up in the ‘If you like this, you’ll like this’ area of iTunes). I bought ‘Orchid’ and was hooked. I love his atmospheres and beats, the delicacy, expansiveness and expressiveness of feeling, and his intuitive and spiritual approach to music. Really feels like home to me.»

Available at Steve Brand Bandcamp

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Altera Orbe Opening

We are really proud to introduce you alteraOrbe, the ultimate ambient music label where you may find all the info and the latest releases from some of the main electronic ambient artists all over the world (Bruno Sanfilippo, Landru, Max Corbacho, Ran Kirlian and Relaxed Machinery Artists). AlteraOrbe is an independent music label owned and managed by the ambient artists Ran Kirlian & Landru and it is mainly focused on the promotion and diffusion of space, electronic, tribal and dark ambient musical genres. In this website you may also find a lot of information about our catalog of releases and links to artists’s bandcamp or websites to support their work by purchasing their music.

All our projects are recorded, mixed and mastered in a professional environment with a dedicated setup in order to achieve the finest and purest sound for your real enjoyment providing a sublime ambience experience.

Our Releases

DissolutionRan Kirlian | Dissolution

Dissolution is the new exploration into dark ambient realms by Ran Kirlian after four years in the making and several sound experiments and project evolutions. The result is a collection of 11 new tracks exploring sound in a very organic way, where synth drones melts with environmental noises, acoustic sounds and voices to create soundworlds that drives the listener from the deeps of the earth to the cosmic void.

Available at Bandcamp

NeurotransmittersLandru | Neurotransmitters

Neurotransmitters is the first ambient album published by Landru. This highly conceptual project is based on the endogenous chemical compounds that are released from a nerve cell which are capable of transmitting neurologic information from one cell to another. Neurotransmitters contains 10 different ambient tracks inspired in ten different neurotransmitters.

Available at Bandcamp

ExobiologyLandru | Exobiology

Exobiology is the first published work by Landru which was released in 2007. It represents the consolidation of a musical project developed during more than a decade based on electronic landscapes, ethnic voices and vibrating grooves. Among the 12 included tracks, you may find all kind of electronic compositions, from Big Beat to Dance and Chillout themes.

Available at Bandcamp

Selected-Works-IRan Kirlian | Selected Works I

Selected Works Vol. I collects music from the most tribal-ambient side of Ran Kirlian music composed and recorded during the years 1999 to 2007. The music included in this selection was remastered (when possible) and mixed to provide a continuous and organic flow to enhace the listening experience.

Available at Bandcamp

Selected Works IIRan Kirlian | Selected Works II

Selected Works Vol. II collects music from atmospheric, space and dark-ambient styles of Ran Kirlian composed and recorded during the years 1999 to 2007. The music included in this selection was remastered (when possible) and mixed to provide a continuous and organic flow to enhace the listening experience.

Available at Bandcamp