|
|
|
|
viewing 1 To 19 of 19 items
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 015LP
|
LP version. Clear color vinyl Mirror Phase concludes a trilogy of minimal ambient albums in Jonas Munk's own name. These eight compositions, based on guitar and synthesizer loops, marks a return to the warmer sounds Munk is often associated with. Sonic structures that slowly and gradually evolves and changes, like cloud formations in the sky. The title track "Mirror Phase" is Munk's most expansive drone opus so far. It's a carefully arranged piece where sounds that oscillates with the same interval, but at different phases, are continuously added, hence creating shifting patterns throughout the track's nearly 18-minute duration. Elsewhere, in "Transition," multi-layered guitars create the sonic equivalent of waves gently splashing on the shore. "At a Distance" creates a haunting, and hypnotic, soundscape by using slightly out-of-tune analog synthesizers, summoning the transcendent krautrock of Popol Vuh. "Rise," as well as the closing track "Return to Nowhere," recall the glistening sounds of his Manual releases. Mirror Phase might just be Munk's ambient oeuvre reaching its zenith. RIYL: Fripp & Eno, William Basinski, Christopher Willits, Stars of the Lid.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2CD
|
|
VISTA 015CD
|
Mirror Phase concludes a trilogy of minimal ambient albums in Jonas Munk's own name. These eight compositions, based on guitar and synthesizer loops, marks a return to the warmer sounds Munk is often associated with. Sonic structures that slowly and gradually evolves and changes, like cloud formations in the sky. The title track "Mirror Phase" is Munk's most expansive drone opus so far. It's a carefully arranged piece where sounds that oscillates with the same interval, but at different phases, are continuously added, hence creating shifting patterns throughout the track's nearly 18-minute duration. Elsewhere, in "Transition," multi-layered guitars create the sonic equivalent of waves gently splashing on the shore. "At a Distance" creates a haunting, and hypnotic, soundscape by using slightly out-of-tune analog synthesizers, summoning the transcendent krautrock of Popol Vuh. "Rise," as well as the closing track "Return to Nowhere," recall the glistening sounds of his Manual releases. Mirror Phase might just be Munk's ambient oeuvre reaching its zenith. RIYL: Fripp & Eno, William Basinski, Christopher Willits, Stars of the Lid. CD comes with Munk's previous album Altered Light, vinyl is limited to 300 copies on milky clear vinyl.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 011CD
|
London-based producer Ulrich Schnauss and Danish guitarist and producer Jonas Munk have both unfolded their unique visions of electronic music over the past two decades, and they have been collaborating since the mid-2000s. Eight Fragments Of An Illusion is their first album in over four years, their third overall. The latest effort is ambient and introspective in nature, but with a kinetic, polyrhythmic energy pushing it forward. There's a floating quality to Ulrich's synthesizer washes and Munk's guitar patterns, yet the eight tracks are anchored by pulse and compositional direction. The duo brings their individual strengths to the table, yet the music transcends any of their previous work conceptually. There are echoes of blissed-out new age music and kosmische from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as traces of shoegaze-era abstraction and leftfield electronica. But ultimately there's no off-the-rack category that fits it. It exists in its own rarefied space. Pieced together from sessions spanning the course of three years, mostly in Ulrich's London studio -- a workspace packed with rare synthesizers and vintage outboard gear -- Eight Fragments Of An Illusion is a luxurious listen. Compared to the duos previous two releases there's more of a focus on texture and slowly evolving patterns, which naturally reflects the fact that Ulrich has spent a large portion of the last seven years as a full-time member of legendary synth group Tangerine Dream. Sonically, the tracks have a certain silky and shimmering characteristic, with Ulrich's mallet-like arpeggios and glittering analog synthesizer pads merging with Munk's melodic guitar lines as the most natural thing in the world. Throughout, the guitar is used both in a rather traditional manner, but often also as a vehicle for sonic exploration, processed into cloudy layers using outboard effects and software. This might be their most minimalist outing to date, but it still radiates that uplifting widescreen magic that both artists are known for. Eight Fragments Of An Illusion is their most focused collaborative musical statement to date, and arguably the most rewarding.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 009CD
|
Minimum Resistance is Jonas Munk's most abstract and minimalist album to date, ten ambient pieces based on guitars -- often processed into soft, slow billows of sound. There's a rare aesthetic clarity in these pieces, allowing each sonic component to breathe and resonate. Here Munk works with a restrained sonic palette and it's an album which demands patience from the listener. Yet, in its bold simplicity, it carries enough emotional weight to be deeply rewarding. It's an immersive album, an invitation for the listener to sink deep into a series of mesmerizing, but peculiarly undefined, moods. Minimum Resistance celebrates slowness, reclusiveness and simplicity. There's hardly anything ground-breaking about this kind of music, but rarely does it flow as naturally and effortless as on this set. It's clear this is the work of someone who has been refining his craft over the course of two decades. Besides producing his own music, Jonas Munk also works as a recording and mastering engineer, and has slowly but surely established his own sonic signature. It's the kind of work where subtle gradual changes and minuscule textural details has a tremendous impact on the listener.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 009LP
|
LP version. Minimum Resistance is Jonas Munk's most abstract and minimalist album to date, ten ambient pieces based on guitars -- often processed into soft, slow billows of sound. There's a rare aesthetic clarity in these pieces, allowing each sonic component to breathe and resonate. Here Munk works with a restrained sonic palette and it's an album which demands patience from the listener. Yet, in its bold simplicity, it carries enough emotional weight to be deeply rewarding. It's an immersive album, an invitation for the listener to sink deep into a series of mesmerizing, but peculiarly undefined, moods. Minimum Resistance celebrates slowness, reclusiveness and simplicity. There's hardly anything ground-breaking about this kind of music, but rarely does it flow as naturally and effortless as on this set. It's clear this is the work of someone who has been refining his craft over the course of two decades. Besides producing his own music, Jonas Munk also works as a recording and mastering engineer, and has slowly but surely established his own sonic signature. It's the kind of work where subtle gradual changes and minuscule textural details has a tremendous impact on the listener.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 008CD
|
III: Chroma/Contour is the third album from Billow Observatory, the collaborative project of Danish producer Jonas Munk (Manual, Ulrich Schnauss collaborator, and more) and Michigan native Jason Kolb (Auburn Lull). The album's nine tracks eschew the pulse and rhythm that defined the duo's previous effort -- II: Plains/Patterns (VISTA 002CD/LP, 2017) -- in favor of sparse melodic possibilities and a more abstract palette of sounds. Chroma/Contour suggests looking both 20 years forward and twenty years back, while forgetting the present altogether. Much of the album plays out as a study in minimalism: the texture and color of each sound is being explored in miniscule detail, with enough space in the sound field to allow each sonic constituent to breathe fully. There's a conceptual dimension to several tracks on the album, with guitars, analog synths and voices being mangled by samplers, computer software, and a broken dictaphone into pure abstraction. But simultaneously there's a melodic undercurrent, revealing a deeply emotional aspect of the music. Tracks such as "Color In The Six", "Iris", and "Soft Logic" convey a melancholic sense of awe, a profoundly calming glimpse of the sublime. As with the best ambient music, the power of these nine pieces lies in their open-endedness and suggestive potential. Rather than imposing on the listener and presenting a flawless, fully-formed aural landscape, the music creates an evocative space for the listener to explore and expand in. RIYL: Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, Stars Of The Lid, Slowdive's Pygmalion (1995), Brian Eno.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 008LP
|
LP version. Blue vinyl. III: Chroma/Contour is the third album from Billow Observatory, the collaborative project of Danish producer Jonas Munk (Manual, Ulrich Schnauss collaborator, and more) and Michigan native Jason Kolb (Auburn Lull). The album's nine tracks eschew the pulse and rhythm that defined the duo's previous effort -- II: Plains/Patterns (VISTA 002CD/LP, 2017) -- in favor of sparse melodic possibilities and a more abstract palette of sounds. Chroma/Contour suggests looking both 20 years forward and twenty years back, while forgetting the present altogether. Much of the album plays out as a study in minimalism: the texture and color of each sound is being explored in miniscule detail, with enough space in the sound field to allow each sonic constituent to breathe fully. There's a conceptual dimension to several tracks on the album, with guitars, analog synths and voices being mangled by samplers, computer software, and a broken dictaphone into pure abstraction. But simultaneously there's a melodic undercurrent, revealing a deeply emotional aspect of the music. Tracks such as "Color In The Six", "Iris", and "Soft Logic" convey a melancholic sense of awe, a profoundly calming glimpse of the sublime. As with the best ambient music, the power of these nine pieces lies in their open-endedness and suggestive potential. Rather than imposing on the listener and presenting a flawless, fully-formed aural landscape, the music creates an evocative space for the listener to explore and expand in. RIYL: Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, Stars Of The Lid, Slowdive's Pygmalion (1995), Brian Eno.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 007CD
|
Azure Vista present a reissue of Carl Weingarten's Living In The Distant Present, previously only released on cassette in 1985 on Weingarten's own Multiphase Records. The album is a rare treat for fans of guitar ambient, tape loops, and the experimental side of new age music. When Carl Weingarten is one of the unsung heroes of American minimalism. Even though he's been active for close to four decades, his work is just now starting to receive the praise it deserves. On Living Ín The Distant Present slowly shifting synth patterns is joined with his signature guitar playing -- a tranquil, stretched-out sound that blur the lines between played and processed, occasionally sonically closer to violins or flutes than guitars. Incredibly sparse and evocative, there's a tasteful zen-quality to these 12 tracks. Weingarten's compositions appear both timeless and tranquil. Living In The Distant Present bridges the gap between the most cosmic krautrock of the 1970s, the experimental American new age music from the 1980s, and modern day minimalism such as Windy & Carl and Christopher Willits. In his concern for sonic texture Weingarten's music resembles Brian Eno's ambient records, especially his collaborative efforts with Robert Fripp, where guitars are gradually looped and processed into shimmering clouds of sound. First CD issue.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 007LP
|
LP version. Transparent blue vinyl. Azure Vista present a reissue of Carl Weingarten's Living In The Distant Present, previously only released on cassette in 1985 on Weingarten's own Multiphase Records. The album is a rare treat for fans of guitar ambient, tape loops, and the experimental side of new age music. When Carl Weingarten is one of the unsung heroes of American minimalism. Even though he's been active for close to four decades, his work is just now starting to receive the praise it deserves. On Living Ín The Distant Present slowly shifting synth patterns is joined with his signature guitar playing -- a tranquil, stretched-out sound that blur the lines between played and processed, occasionally sonically closer to violins or flutes than guitars. Incredibly sparse and evocative, there's a tasteful zen-quality to these 12 tracks. Weingarten's compositions appear both timeless and tranquil. Living In The Distant Present bridges the gap between the most cosmic krautrock of the 1970s, the experimental American new age music from the 1980s, and modern day minimalism such as Windy & Carl and Christopher Willits. In his concern for sonic texture Weingarten's music resembles Brian Eno's ambient records, especially his collaborative efforts with Robert Fripp, where guitars are gradually looped and processed into shimmering clouds of sound.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 006CD
|
Dorias Baracca's existence was cut short when lead singer and main songwriter, Buster Svendsen, passed away in the summer of 2011 -- incidentally the same day as the album was completed. This is the first time this material has been released. Swirling, melodic dream-pop wrapped in loud, kaleidoscopic guitars, heavy drums, and ecstatic noise. Bleak but sensuous, visceral but tuneful, brimming with youthful wonder and confusion. Dorias Baracca was formed in Odense, Denmark in 2007. They released an EP on Club AC30 in 2010, a release that received plenty praise: "... Already light years ahead of many peers who've spent entire careers searching for a similar happy medium", wrote Drowned In Sound. It turned out to be the band's only release while in existence. Slowdive never sounded this loud, hard-hitting, and desperate. My Bloody Valentine was never this colorful and psychedelic. Dorias Baracca married the thick haze of guitars to trippy psychedelia, and ultimately had as much in common with American bands such as (early) Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr. as with the more ethereal British bands. This album would be the last thing the band ever recorded, and for various reasons it has remained unreleased since its completion in 2011, until now. Although they were only in their late teens at the time it's a fully formed album: it's the sound of a band with total confidence in what they're doing, superb skills for melody and arrangement, as well as youthful energy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 006LP
|
LP version. Dorias Baracca's existence was cut short when lead singer and main songwriter, Buster Svendsen, passed away in the summer of 2011 -- incidentally the same day as the album was completed. This is the first time this material has been released. Swirling, melodic dream-pop wrapped in loud, kaleidoscopic guitars, heavy drums, and ecstatic noise. Bleak but sensuous, visceral but tuneful, brimming with youthful wonder and confusion. Dorias Baracca was formed in Odense, Denmark in 2007. They released an EP on Club AC30 in 2010, a release that received plenty praise: "... Already light years ahead of many peers who've spent entire careers searching for a similar happy medium", wrote Drowned In Sound. It turned out to be the band's only release while in existence. Slowdive never sounded this loud, hard-hitting, and desperate. My Bloody Valentine was never this colorful and psychedelic. Dorias Baracca married the thick haze of guitars to trippy psychedelia, and ultimately had as much in common with American bands such as (early) Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr. as with the more ethereal British bands. This album would be the last thing the band ever recorded, and for various reasons it has remained unreleased since its completion in 2011, until now. Although they were only in their late teens at the time it's a fully formed album: it's the sound of a band with total confidence in what they're doing, superb skills for melody and arrangement, as well as youthful energy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 005LP
|
LP version. Yellow vinyl. The reclusive midwesterners return from dormancy with nine stunning, elegantly sparse tracks that showcase the band at its most focused, melodic, and mysterious. While distinctly sounding like Auburn Lull, Hypha veers into uncharted territory, delivering surprises at every turn. The hallmark cavernous guitars and vast, slow-motion expanses, though still present, are reigned in, restrained, and paired with a newfound sense of minimalism and a broader palette of sounds, textures, and shapes. While the band have existed for more than 20 years, they've always remained a well-kept secret to the wider indie community. Hypha is a brilliant example of why the band's rich textures and precise compositions are adored by so many. "... discerning ears will find that Auburn Lull's rich tapestry is as dangerously hypnotic and transporting as it is soothing." --Tiny Mix Tapes
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 005CD
|
The reclusive midwesterners return from dormancy with nine stunning, elegantly sparse tracks that showcase the band at its most focused, melodic, and mysterious. While distinctly sounding like Auburn Lull, Hypha veers into uncharted territory, delivering surprises at every turn. The hallmark cavernous guitars and vast, slow-motion expanses, though still present, are reigned in, restrained, and paired with a newfound sense of minimalism and a broader palette of sounds, textures, and shapes. While the band have existed for more than 20 years, they've always remained a well-kept secret to the wider indie community. Hypha is a brilliant example of why the band's rich textures and precise compositions are adored by so many. "... discerning ears will find that Auburn Lull's rich tapestry is as dangerously hypnotic and transporting as it is soothing." --Tiny Mix Tapes
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 003CD
|
Synthwaves pays homage to the masters of the past, yet it feels fresh and enchanting. Crisp, interlocking patterns are modulated and mutated with mathematical precision into eight pieces of pristine, post-kosmische sounds to float away to. During two intense weeks in Berlin, Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss locked themselves in a studio full of vintage synthesizers, analog sequencers, and drum machines, and the result is a gorgeous set of purely electronic music. As with the finest Tangerine Dream soundtracks, it's the kind of music that paints vivid pictures on the canvas of the listeners mind: synth plucks hang in the air like glaring neon in metropolitan dusk and zero-gravity pads hover like ghostly morning mist traveling over empty coastlines. Poly-rhythmic patterns are allowed to build -- slowly but steadily -- bar after bar, until synth-Satori is reached.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 003LP
|
LP version. Synthwaves pays homage to the masters of the past, yet it feels fresh and enchanting. Crisp, interlocking patterns are modulated and mutated with mathematical precision into eight pieces of pristine, post-kosmische sounds to float away to. During two intense weeks in Berlin, Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss locked themselves in a studio full of vintage synthesizers, analog sequencers, and drum machines, and the result is a gorgeous set of purely electronic music. As with the finest Tangerine Dream soundtracks, it's the kind of music that paints vivid pictures on the canvas of the listeners mind: synth plucks hang in the air like glaring neon in metropolitan dusk and zero-gravity pads hover like ghostly morning mist traveling over empty coastlines. Poly-rhythmic patterns are allowed to build -- slowly but steadily -- bar after bar, until synth-Satori is reached.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 002CD
|
Billow Observatory is the trans-Atlantic duo consisting of Detroit's Jason Kolb (Auburn Lull) and Danish producer Jonas Munk (Manual). II: Plains/Patterns departs from their self-titled debut's (2012) amorphous ambient haze with a more rigid, albeit subtle, underpinning of rhythm and pulse. Traces of shoegaze, modern minimal electronica, and kosmische appear on every track, but are mutated into something mysterious and new. "Pulsus", for example, opens the album with a driving Teutonic stutter and washes of serene guitar loops that are punctuated by bursts of filtered synth patterns. Centerpiece, "Plains", expands the ambient formula into an inspired epic in three parts, where swells of processed guitars, distant voices, and faint echoes of Detroit techno are weaved together to form a kaleidoscopic whole. "Vex" and "Plum" seem to pay as much homage to Slowdive and Eno's Harold Budd collaborations as to the modern minimalism from Cologne or Berlin. For ambient aficionados, II: Plains/Patterns is a gorgeous sounding full-length not to be missed.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 002LP
|
LP version. Milky transparent vinyl. Edition of 300. Includes download code. Billow Observatory is the trans-Atlantic duo consisting of Detroit's Jason Kolb (Auburn Lull) and Danish producer Jonas Munk (Manual). II: Plains/Patterns departs from their self-titled debut's (2012) amorphous ambient haze with a more rigid, albeit subtle, underpinning of rhythm and pulse. Traces of shoegaze, modern minimal electronica, and kosmische appear on every track, but are mutated into something mysterious and new. "Pulsus", for example, opens the album with a driving Teutonic stutter and washes of serene guitar loops that are punctuated by bursts of filtered synth patterns. Centerpiece, "Plains", expands the ambient formula into an inspired epic in three parts, where swells of processed guitars, distant voices, and faint echoes of Detroit techno are weaved together to form a kaleidoscopic whole. "Vex" and "Plum" seem to pay as much homage to Slowdive and Eno's Harold Budd collaborations as to the modern minimalism from Cologne or Berlin. For ambient aficionados, II: Plains/Patterns is a gorgeous sounding full-length not to be missed.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
VISTA 001LP
|
LP version. Passage is the second collaborative album from London-based synth-wizard Ulrich Schnauss and Danish producer Jonas Munk. 11 tracks of breezy, blissed-out electronica and colorful ambient. As the album title denotes, there's a sense of movement in the music these two producers create together: a Schnauss and Munk composition starts one place and ends up someplace very different - something that can only rarely be said about electronic music, which traditionally has focused its energy on texture rather than composition. Sometimes their vivid, expansive soundscapes feels like the sonic equivalent of gliding towards the horizon through a panoramic landscape on a train. One's perspective changes slightly when in motion from one place to another - continuously approaching new things and leaving others behind. There's a prismatic, multi-dimensional quality to these 11 tracks, likely stemming from the fact that these two producers each have worked with a wide range of styles and musicians throughout their 15+ year careers: Ulrich cut his teeth as a drum and bass producer in Berlin, before releasing a string of highly influential neo-shoegazy records on labels such as Domino and City Centre Offices. Since moving to London in 2006, he's been a member of bands such as Engineers and Longview and remixed artists ranging from Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys to Mojave 3, and since 2013 he's been a member of legendary band Tangerine Dream. While Jonas Munk initially became known to the post-rock and electronica communities via his Manual albums on Morr Music and Darla Records, he's also had his hands in psychedelic rock (he's a noted producer in the European psych scene and is in the band Causa Sui) as well as film soundtracks and experimental minimalism. Both Ulrich and Jonas, however, have the skills of seasoned producers to weave the multitude of influences together in a well-defined sonic aesthetic. The result is a compelling set of melodic electronic music that echoes the past, yet feels fresh.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VISTA 001CD
|
Passage is the second collaborative album from London-based synth-wizard Ulrich Schnauss and Danish producer Jonas Munk. 11 tracks of breezy, blissed-out electronica and colorful ambient. As the album title denotes, there's a sense of movement in the music these two producers create together: a Schnauss and Munk composition starts one place and ends up someplace very different - something that can only rarely be said about electronic music, which traditionally has focused its energy on texture rather than composition. Sometimes their vivid, expansive soundscapes feels like the sonic equivalent of gliding towards the horizon through a panoramic landscape on a train. One's perspective changes slightly when in motion from one place to another - continuously approaching new things and leaving others behind. There's a prismatic, multi-dimensional quality to these 11 tracks, likely stemming from the fact that these two producers each have worked with a wide range of styles and musicians throughout their 15+ year careers: Ulrich cut his teeth as a drum and bass producer in Berlin, before releasing a string of highly influential neo-shoegazy records on labels such as Domino and City Centre Offices. Since moving to London in 2006, he's been a member of bands such as Engineers and Longview and remixed artists ranging from Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys to Mojave 3, and since 2013 he's been a member of legendary band Tangerine Dream. While Jonas Munk initially became known to the post-rock and electronica communities via his Manual albums on Morr Music and Darla Records, he's also had his hands in psychedelic rock (he's a noted producer in the European psych scene and is in the band Causa Sui) as well as film soundtracks and experimental minimalism. Both Ulrich and Jonas, however, have the skills of seasoned producers to weave the multitude of influences together in a well-defined sonic aesthetic. The result is a compelling set of melodic electronic music that echoes the past, yet feels fresh.
|
|
|
|