Amazonia

 

Five years ago, Jean-Michel Jarre's "Amazonia" was released (really? Has it really been five years already...?). An album that fascinated me, and above all, it wasn't something I had expected. After the Oxygene rave reviews of my early teens, Zoolook in the mid-eighties was the last truly great album, or at least that's how I saw it. For me, it was time to explore other musical territories. And then came "Amazonia."

And now, five years later, I'm traveling to Cologne to visit the wonderful exhibition by the late Sebastião Salgado. In my youth, I never went to an exhibition without my Walkman. Music always served to guide and regulate my sensations and feelings, to sharpen my senses and intensify the experience. A kind of natural drug.

At the Amazonia exhibition, a Walkman 3.0 isn't necessary. Jarre's sounds ensure that the jungle truly feels close. Highly recommended.

(Until mid-March at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne).

„I have never been to the Amazon rainforest, yet I know it, those mighty lungs on which the planet, in which we, depend, that verdant El Dorado, the dominion of all fantasy, of all extremes, of Herzog's Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo. At once familiar and mysterious, tranquil and troubling, fearsome and fragile... A drug as addictive as it can be lethal. The forests of Sebastião Salgado.

A bird trills, wind whispers in the treetops, passing men sing and squabble, women bathe, a storm rumbles, a plane flies overhead, rain falls on stone: these serendipitous sounds, though unschooled by orchestration or any form of arrangement, create a global harmony: the music of the forest.

And deep in the Amazon rainforests there is a spirit of nomadism, the moving from place to place, from shadow into light, from quiet stillness to brooding menace, pressing on we leave reality behind and plunge into the potent force of rituals and reveries.“

( words from J.M.Jarre‘s Amazonia Double Vinyl)

Altered Zone

 

X.Y.R.'s "Altered Zone" was my favorite on last year's cassette compilation from the Slovenian label Zonned.

( „The result is a stunning journey through diverse sounds—whether rhythmic or beatless, droney, dreamy, or experimental—all unified by their deeply immersive quality.“). Naturally.

Vladimir Karpov has now largely removed the vocal samples from the nearly 10-minute piece and created a half-hour atmospheric meditation, full of flutey, flurrying, floating, and dreamy sounds. The field recordings ensure that we become part of this spectacle, and of course, a few birds make an appearance.

The mood is dreamy, and you have 30 minutes to briefly forget your worries and everyday life, which we should always, truly always, love and embrace. Because, in reality, there's always something going on, and that should still bring us joy.

Afterwards, you're reconciled with everything around you and with yourself for a short time. However, there's a strong temptation to press the repeat button again and again until the sun disappears over the horizon.

Oh, and let's listen to Les Halles again.

Written, Produced and Recorded by Vladimir Karpov at home studio in Alexandrovskaya, St. Petersburg, using synths: Korg M1, Maestro, Boss pedal effects, percussion and field recordings.

New Age for Old Worlds

In recent months, actually the entire last year, I've hardly posted any new music, for reasons that LIFE throws our way. But that doesn't mean there isn't still wonderful music out there. Wonderful music that often brings tears to my eyes with its beauty.

Tracks and pieces that I repeat over and over again…

Now, a whole album full of beautiful ambient/Balearic/New Age tracks has been released on the Portuguese label Secrets of Sound, and it makes the admittedly traditionally gray, cold (though not so traditional) month of January seem a little less gray. A perfect soundtrack for lying down and, if you like, wrapping yourself in a shag rug. An incense stick is also included with the album, setting the tone even before you've heard it. Having to flip the vinyl after four tracks might be a bit annoying if you're feeling really far away. But you can't have everything.

Great release!

feat. Jon Tye‘s Ocean Moon / Mark Barrott / Earthtones / Alex Albrecht / Lord of the Isles ….and and…

An antidote for chaotic times, this collection of ambient pieces gathers the masters of the genre for a journey designed for calm, clarity and consciousness. All corners of New Age are explored here with a spoken word intro from Jaroslav Kovaracek, host of long running ambient radio program “Dreamtime” that aired in Australia from the early 80s into the mid 90s.

credits

released January 19, 2026

Compiled, art / design by Kane Banner. All tracks mastered by Salz Music, Cologne Germany.

Spoken word intro/outro by Jaroslav Kovaricek — this album is dedicated to him and his radio program Dreamtime of ABC Australia.

All rights reserved : Secrets Of Sound, Lisboa, Portugal.

File under Ambient / New Age

Once was ours Forever

 

A changeable September can't really bring hope for a mild October to life, and current night temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius really only mean one thing: summer is definitely over.

It's the same for me every year: summer is preparing its demise, September, and sometimes October, give us days with 20 degrees Celsius and more here and there, the air is once again incredibly mild, and you can see me wandering around with a melancholy look and a somewhat uncertain mood, always searching for one last ray of sunshine.

On Jonny Nash's "Once Was Ours Forever" (and also on its predecessor, "Point of Entry"), nothing reminds one of the wonderful ambient album "Eden" or even the more experimental "Fauna Mapping." Jonny Nash has many very beautiful albums of various kinds in his CV. This is no different with his last two albums. And even though his albums have often sounded different over the years, when the needle hits the turntable, one thing is certain: a good time is in store.

With "Once Was Ours Forever" & "Point of Entry," Jonny has created the perfect late summer soundtrack for me. Which isn't to say that this music can't also welcome spring. And no one will knock the record out of your hand if you think of listening to it while a slow snowfall colors the landscape outside your window.

Well, what am I actually trying to say?

Wonderful music, Jonny, and thanks again for the vinyl gift (that's another story)!!

„Netherlands-based artist Jonny Nash returns to Melody As Truth with his new solo album, ‘Once Was Ours Forever.’ Building on 2023’s ‘Point Of Entry,’ this collection of eleven compositions draws us further into Nash’s immersive, slowly expanding world, effortlessly connecting the dots somewhere between folk, ambient jazz and dreampop.

While ‘Point Of Entry’ was characterised by it’s laid-back, daytime ambience, ‘Once Was Ours Forever’ arrives wrapped in shades of dusk and hazy light, unfolding like a slow-moving sunset. Built from layers of gentle fingerpicked guitar, textural brush strokes, floating melodies and reverb-soaked vocals, moments come and go, fleeting and ephemeral. 

From the cosmic Americana of ‘Bright Belief’ to the lush, layered shoegaze textures of ‘The Way Things Looked’, Nash’s versatile guitar playing lies at the heart of this album, gently supported by a cast of collaborators who each add their unique touches. Canadian ambient jazz saxophonist Joseph Shabason makes a return appearance, providing his delicate swells to ‘Angel.’ Saxophone is also provided by Shoei Ikeda (Maya Ongaku), cello by Tomo Katsurada (ex-Kikagaku Moyo) and Tokyo acid folk artist Satomimagae (RVNG) lends her haunting multilayered vocals to ‘Rain Song.’

As with much of Nash’s work, ‘Once Was Ours Forever’ deftly finds an equilibrium between softness and weight, offering the listener ample space to interpret and inhabit the music on their own terms. Through his uncanny ability to blend the pastoral and the profound, the idyllic and the insightful, ‘Once Was Ours Forever’ arrives as a tender and understated offering, infused with warmth and compassion.  

credits

released July 4, 2025

Written, Performed and Produced by Jonny Nash
Vocals on Rain Song by Satomimagae
Cello on Holy Moment by Tomo Katsurada
Saxophone on Dusk Can Dance by Shoei Ikeda
Saxohphone on Angel by Joseph Shabason

Mastered by Stephan Matheiu

Artwork by Denise Gons
Design by Michael Willis

Places to be

 

„maybe  it makes more sense to count time in breaths rather than minutes? how many breaths is okay for the algorithm then? what is the value of your breathing? i think we still know very little about the time ~ but hope this music can help with that.“

What a wonderful suggestion that Tim Six, whom I greatly admire, has put forward for his latest release, "Time to be (Vol. 1)." The breaths you take while listening to this wonderful record will be few; they will be deep and calm rather than hectic. Breathing has always been of great interest to me. It's not just the fact that we all do it, but the awareness of it and the realization of the influence it has and can have on our lives that makes it so interesting. It serves as a metaphor for life itself, how we live and shape it, or often fail to do so. Well, maybe everyone sees it differently. In any case, the music Tim creates here flows quite peacefully, just like my thoughts and breaths, accompanied by birds and a nature that is not directly visible but always tangible. Wonderful release on Aural Canyon, which will come as no surprise to the connoisseur.

These two "sonic environments" came to life as sort of an opposition to the modern trends of shortening track durations in order to please the algorithms, in hopes to win the attention lottery. we all know that "time is money" and we always try to "spend" it wisely ~ that's why all music is ambient now, it goes in parallel with many other things. and this music is ambient too, in classic Eno's definition ~ as ignorable as interesting (i hope) ~ so i'm not trying to force anyone into listening to it closely, as "deep listening" either. what i'm trying to explore here is the possibility to perceive time differently, not as a currency but more like a space. space to simply be in, without quantifying and measuring it. we live in the ocean of air and all the sounds we ever hear are waves inside of it. used to measure and value these measures of time, we, perhaps, forget that time is also an art form in itself. fluctuation of the same environment we breathe in and breathe out. maybe it makes more sense to count time in breaths rather than minutes? how many breaths is okay for the algorithm then? what is the value of your breathing? i think we still know very little about the time ~ but hope this music can help with that.

-From the Bandcamp Site-

We Carry Eden

 I was shocked when I learned that Hanyo van Oosterom, whose CHI projects had found a safe haven at Astral Industries for many years, would no longer be releasing on Ario Farahani's wonderful label. I suspected a major break, but I didn't read a thing about it. Quite the opposite. Hanyo only spoke with the utmost gratitude and respect about his time at AI, which has now come to an end. Well, shocked is perhaps too harsh a word. I was very surprised and would not have believed it possible, especially since it was clear that Hanyo's visions are far from over. For "Carry of Eden", Hanyo has found a more than respectable new home in Music from Memory. Whether he is allowed and wants to live there long-term, or whether he will lead a nomadic life from now on when it comes to releasing new projects, time will tell. At least the latter wouldn't be inappropriate. After all, that's exactly what his music is about. Basically. But what do I know.

Reviews:

Groove Magazin:

"The sound design unfolds intuitively throughout the entire 42 minutes, tucked between field recordings and tribal percussion, looped dialogues and prayers, distant calls and enchanting flutes – as if a brief, clear glimpse into another reality. The feeling of security in a deeply shattered world. Who couldn't use that". 

Test Pressing:

“Now we have some new music from Hanyo and longtime collaborator Omar Ka on the ever-essential Music From Memory. Water ebbs and flows. Marimba-propelled tempos quicken. Gentle bass reassures. Various voices come and go but the whole enterprise is underpinned by Omar's narrative. Life comes into focus”. 

Juno Records:

"We Carry Eden is an album so deep you can plunge right into it and forget the real world entirely. It melds drones, field recordings, dub, jazz and fourth world influences across a two-part composition that features storytelling by West African vocalist Omar Ka. Van Oosterom crafts textured soundscapes rooted in meditative grooves and spiritual depth and is inspired by Patmos and Hopi wisdom. He also weaves nature, myth and memory into a unified sonic journey".

Minimal Collective:

“Where meditative soundwork, nomadic storytelling and archival instinct converge, We Carry Eden unfolds as an elemental synergy. Son Of Chi builds space. Omar Ka brings voice. In this two-part composition, the Dutch ambient pioneer reunites with the Senegalese singer, finding a natural home on Music From Memory. The result hums with spiritual gravity, inviting slow immersion".

Funkentechno (David James):

"Awesome hearing the Dutch ambient wizard on Music From Memory now, exploring more dubbed out fourth world jazz territory in collage format, flowing episodically and stitched together by the voice of Omar Ka".

Boomkat:

"Sonically, the world of ‘We Carry Eden’ is fully immersive; it ripples with depth and shimmers in detail. Motifs, ideas and fragments, arise and disappear like passing thoughts, drawing the listener deeper and deeper inwards. For those familiar with Oosterom’s work as Chi Factory, the depth and meditative nature of the work will come as no surprise".

Ban Ban Ton Ton:

"A hallucinatory, peyote button heat haze where crows caw, cattle bells rattle and then the Sahara breaks down, shifts to somewhere Spanish, serenaded by crickets and cicadas. Language gets looped. The narration supplied by cosmic guides: Senegalese vocalist Omar Ka and Elders of the Native American Hopi Tribe. 

The music is like ECM jazz meets the drones of modern, digital ambient. Seamlessly weaving together different, separate sections. Snatches of woodwinds, traditional song, and patient piano ripples. Exploring Jon Hassell’s Fourth World with gentle electro-acoustics".

New Nature

 

Already deep into the new year, my favorite month, May, is just beginning to do the things that come with May. We're just a week back from Japan, still euphoric about what we've experienced, still suffering from slight jet lag, and I'm taking another step back. I'm still not quite done with 2024, although there have been far worse years in terms of personal disasters, it was still a somewhat difficult year.

But, Last year ended on a positive note, thanks to some very good releases. This is one of them: the fantastic Balsam release "New Nature." 

it works and works and works. Also in may 2025.

New Nature could just as easily have been released on Anthony Asher Yates' own imprint, Atlantea Records, like several Balsam releases before it, but Global Pattern is just as reliable a haven here, and Tim Six is ​​the perfect co-pilot for rough terrain. 35 minutes of new-age nature diving. I'll be back on this boat again and again, and the scenery never gets boring.

New Nature is a perspective on our ever Evolving climate.

released December 1, 2024

All music by Antony Asher-Yates. Mastered by Tim Six

Artwork, design & layout by Tim Six

File under : Ambient I New Age I Nature