Ambient chamber music still dominates the Echoes Top 25 for August, but for the first time, a download only album cracks the the Echoes Top 5. That CD is the purely ambient A Lost Connection by Marconi Union. Their album, Distance, from 3 years ago was among our favorite CDs that year, and A Lost Connection was definitely worth the wait. The album is full of plaintive electric guitar lines draped across a mesh of subtle, insinuating beats, synth pads full of melancholy and glitchy effects dropping in from the fringes. This album is more poetic and almost classical in spots compared to their first two albums. The mellotron-like flutes of the “Endless Winter” lend a somnolent chamber music sound across the insistent, but downtempo bass thud. Expect to hear that song frequently on Echoes Winter Solstices to come and A Lost Connection frequently on Echoes. Right now, the only place to get A Lost Connection is from the Marconi Union website.
To my ears, there’s a very short distance between the classical Ahn Trio and the ambient Marconi Union. In that light, ambient chamber music remains strong, although only 10 out of 25 discs fit broadly into that camp, compared to 14 last month. The Ahn Trio, Ronn McFarlane, and Jami Sieber remained important players this month. Ottmar Liebert’s The Scent of Light made an impressive debut at #14. Look for that to be number 1 for August since it’s our CD of the Month. You can read a Print Review here, including an Audio Review with music. Over all, there was a 50% turn-over in the Top 25 for August.
John Diliberto ((( echoes )))
ECHOES TOP 25 FOR JULY 
1 – Sacred Earth (Peter Kater, Joseph Fire Crow, Arvel Bird) – Wind of the East (Print Review or Audio Review)
2 – Ahn Trio – Lullaby For My Favorite Insomniac <Listen>
3 – Marconi Union – A Lost Connection
4 – Biomusique – The 10000 Steps <Read Review or Listen>
5 – David Cullen – Guitar Travels
6 – David Arkenstone – Echoes of Light and Shadow
7 – Kevin Bartlett – Glow in the Dark
8 – Ronn McFarlane – Indigo Road
9 – Michel Banabila – Traces
10 – Jami Sieber – Unspoken < Listen>
11 – Eldad Lidor – Closer
12 – Hans-Joachim roedelius & Tim Story – Inlandish
13 – California Guitar Trio – Echoes (Read Article)
14 – Ottmar Liebert – The Scent of Light (Print Review or Audio Review)
15 – Skala – Tundra
16 – Kaki King – Dreaming of Revenge
17 – Balmorhea – Rivers Arms
18 – Under the Radar – I Was There But I Can’t Remember When
19 – Hammock – Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow
20 – William Ackerman – Meditations
21 – Niyaz – Nine Heavens
22 – Fernwood – Almeria
23 – David Pritchard – Vertical Eden
24 – Joan Jeanrenaud – Strange Toys
25 – Don Peyote – Peyote Dreaming
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Videos for the full concerts of AMBIcon 2013 are currently up on youtube. You”ll find them all on the AMBICON youtube page. Here’s a bunch of them with Stephan Micus, Michael Stearns, Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Jeff Pearce, Tim Story and Hans Christian. A rare confluence of ambient artists. I knew I was missing a great show.
Sign up for Echoes CD of the Month Club. With the Echoes CD of the Month Club, you get great CDs like Rhian Sheehan’s Stories from Elsewhere Follow the link to the Echoes CD of the Month Club and see what you’ve been missing.
The Echoes Blog 
Cluster Converges and The Foundry Founders
November 17, 2008Some bands last for the long haul, some labels struggle.
Roedelius & Story (photo-jeff towne)
Philadelphians got a surprise performance from the legendary German electronic band Cluster this past Saturday at St. Mary’s Parish Hall as part of The Gatherings series. The show was originally billed as a concert by Tim Story, Dwight Ashley and original Cluster member Hans-Joachim Roedelius (A.R.S.(e), the other half of Cluster, but Dieter Moebius, was flown in at the last moment.
Cluster at The Gatherings (photo-Jeff Towne)
The concert opened with a set from A.R.S.(e) that probed ambient terrain over darkly minimalist rhythmic pulses. Then Story and Roedelius then played music from their two wonderful CDs of ambient chamber music, Lunz and Inlandish. (Lunz was a CD of the Month a few years ago).
As Roedelius played out his keyboard melodies, I had a thought that he might be the true Godfather of ambient chamber music, mixing an almost nostalgic sense of classicism, with thoroughly abstract sounds. At eh end of the set, all four musicians got on stage for a surprisingly controlled electro-jam that reminded me of sets you’d see in the 60s at places like the Knitting Factory and Painted Bride.
All in all, the most welcome return of a 70s electro-icon this year. And the good news is the reason Roedelius and Moebius are both here is to record a new Cluster CD at Tim Story’s studios.
On a sad note, I relate the passing of Foundry Records, an American label that was the spawn of these early electronic sounds. Since 1997, Foundry trawled the darker, dissonant regions of electronics, especially enjoying the drone zone. But they’d occasionally pop to the surface with albums like “Vast” by Saul Stokes, an Echoes CD of the Month in April of 2006. (
Listen to a profile of Saul Stoke’s new album, Villa Galaxia). It’s tough enough running a record label these days. Even harder when you shred the borders of music convention. If you go to their website, click on the logo next to the R.I.P. to see what they had to offer. Fond farewell to Michael Bentley, who also recorded on the label.
http://www.foundrysite.com/
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Tags:Cluster, echoes, Echoes Blog, electronic, John Diliberto, Roedelius, Space Music, Tim Story
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