Plutonic Rainbows

Barry Lynn - Taurus Tapes Vol 2

May 02, 2017

I haven't heard volume one but this second outing finds Barry Lynn delivering a very solid album of new-age style atmospherics with beautiful shimmering guitars and floating keyboards. The whole album has more than just a passing connection to astronomy given the album cover. It's a nice touch.

After 2015's Esalen Lectures LP for Touch Sensitive, Barry Lynn returns to the label under his given name with a twin set of ambient cassettes.

The majority of the music on the Taurus Tapes results from live looping experiments using an electric guitar as the sound source, although a few tracks on Volume 1 were also created using synthesisers, and embellished with loughshore birdsong and fretless bass guitar.

The result is an intimate and evolving sound, sculpted live in the moment. Moving away from over- arching concepts, the tracks are mostly titled after the constituent stars in the constellation of Taurus, Barry's star sign, and a common sight in the northern winter sky.

Shades of Fripp's experiments with Eno can be detected in the Gibson fuzz tone and drifting loops, as well as more Gottsching-styled exercises in tight repetition.

Volume One & Volume Two are available now on cassette tape and digital download.

Jonn Serrie - The Sentinel

May 01, 2017

Released back in February, The Sentinel is the latest from the American Space Music composer, Jonn Serrie.

Over the past thirty years, Jonn Serrie has been creating some of the most beautiful electronic music, dating back to his Mirimar album And The Stars Go With You, originally released in early 1986. Since then, he has captivated audiences around the world.

Jonn Serrie:

My goal is to dissolve the veil between source and destination, so my audience feels the music the way I do and I feel the music the way they do.

I first heard Jonn Serrie way back in 1988 and his work, particularly the first three albums had a very profound effect on me during that time. Indeed, his debut album still sounds remarkably fresh even after all these years. While music technology has changed greatly in the last thirty years, there is something haunting and timeless in those early works, I feel.

He originally wrote early music for planetariums throughout the 1980s and this is very evident on his debut album as well as Planetary Chronicles Volume 1 & 2 (both which appeared subsequently during the early 90s).

His latest album takes the listener on a sonic journey from touring the abandoned, empty starships endlessly orbiting some far-away star towards new worlds as yet undiscovered. A fantastic trip through time and space.

Jonn Serrie Discography

Biosphere - The Petrified Forest

April 30, 2017

Coming quite quickly after last year's Departed Glories, the Norwegian electronic artist has a mini-album called The Petrified Forest due on May 12th.

A single, Black Mesa was recently released and will give listeners a feeling of what to expect. The new work sounds very promising.

Kelly Lee Owens - Self Titled

April 29, 2017

Haunting debut album from Kelly Lee Owens, brimming with ethereal, floating vocals and almost sensual European house & techno. She has previous worked with Jenny Havl and Daniel Avery and they both appear on this album too.

A striking new album that deserves attention for the dizzying set of styles apparent on this debut piece. It's available as a digital download in the usual places and on Audio CD and vinyl as well.

Totally recommended listening.

College - Shanghai

April 29, 2017

College is the alias of David Grellier, a French electronic artist who contributed one of his songs on the soundtrack to Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 film Drive.

The album is a collection of film scores that are highly evocative - so much so that listening to these tracks, I kept wishing for some visual accompaniment. There are lots of slow-moving synth pads and plenty of space around them for the listener to fill in the gaps. Many of the tracks draw on 90s sounds in the fashion of Mark Snow and Angelo Badalamenti.

Shanghai is available on Audio CD in addition to vinyl from the Invada label.