Dark Ambient Special 1
TobiasDark Ambient will always be about melancholia, emptiness and states of solitude. What it is also about, however, is infinite possibilities. Despite its clicheed public image, the genre is one of the most eclectic and versatile and in constant flux. The intention of this Dark Ambient Special is to present the scene in all of its diversity and to show how far it has evolved from merely taking Brian Eno's original vision into the night.
Granted, albums like Sinke Dus' „Akrasia“ and Nathan Youngblood's „Asunder“ are archetypical works. But by subtely modifying patterns of expectation, they create an impressive pull nonetheless. Steve Roach and Tholen, meanwhile, submit Dark Ambient to a breaking test: What happens to musical motives, once they themselves are lost inside a vast musical galaxy which does away with traditional concepts of form? With Roach, the answer to that question is a fascinating hybrid between composition and zone, while Tholen's „Sternklang“ moulds several interrelated passages into a single, romantic image.
Other artists are, consciously or unconsciously, searching for parallels with adjacent genres and exciting juxtapositions: From the rhythmic contortions of enigmatic duo Formication and the visual void-structures of Vestigial to the majestic storytelling of the latest releases on the up-and-coming Reverse Alignment imprint and Drone Record's subliminal mind music, the world of Dark Ambient is anything but monochromatic. „We are violent“ by Nihil Communication was even published on Rent Romus' mainly Jazz- and Impro-oriented Edgetone label.
This Dark Ambient Special is meant to work like a digital representation of a magazine – you can flip through the pages to read reviews of abovementioned albums, check out short interviews with the artists or read articles on the philosophy behind Reverse Alignment and how a breathing disorder shaped the music of Italian sound artist Andrea Marutti. Included are also a couple of MP3s and a short video clip to make for a multi-sensory experience. Your comments are most welcome.
By Tobias Fischer
Article in serie
Cold sound art & deep ...
2008-02-18