Hi! This place was formally known as Tuning into the Obscure. The Far Out Fox is now running the show. I’m running at my own pace with posts since there’s never enough time.
This blog is now focused on ambient jams only.
We are not taking submissions at this time… coz yeah, not enough time and such. We’ll let the world know when that changes. Scroll down for new content. All original posts from the days of Tuning into the Obscure are still here. Just keep scrolling or hit up the archival calendar.
——-🌟🦊🌟 your Stardust Vixen
Contact: lonelyfox_music@yahoo.com Foxes rule, ok?
I was quite pleased to see this in my inbox a few days ago. The rain was coming down heavily, pelting my windows, as I started listening to this four track set. As the soft, dark tones of the opening track began to rise, it fit astonishingly well with said raindrops. Everything for that moment was perfect.
This set was compiled from live sessions, according to its release page on Bandcamp. The material here is blissfully dark and misty-melodic, echoed and wandering through thick haze. Like many of the other drone pieces I’ve written about in the past, this is wonderfully mellow as much as it is engaging and thought provoking. I enjoy drones that don’t bury the listener in blistering noise. This release gently guides the listener through a soundscape that’s mystical and captivating.
The drones here at times meld with space ambient though they never stray too far out of line. If one adheres to the song titles as a means to experience the music, these work perfectly as emotive pieces and concepts. Seeing as most of this artist’s work is made from manipulated sounds on tapes and reels, I can imagine the amount of work that went into this.
And as I finish playing through this for a second time, thunder is rolling from the southern sky. Again, fitting. Very fitting.
This album is a great follow up to its predecessor and well worth checking out. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Maybe crank this up during a rain shower or thunderstorm like I did. Turn on, tune in and drop out.
Erik Norgren is probably more well known for his work in film, especially in regards to the eighteen Ingmar Bergman films he had a part in. Others may know Nordgren from his orchestral pieces, as he was a Swedish composer. But what you might not know is that he dabbled a lottle in electronic music in the 1960s.
The problem, of course, comes in finding physical copies of these recordings or any general info regarding his electronic works. There’s a compilation available via Sinetone AMR that features some of it. Trust me, it took me hours just to find it, but I did at least see that it’s on a few streaming services such as Apple and Tidal. The compilation is called, “Electronic and Cosmic Music vol. 1” and features some science fiction themed orchestral movements from the Westway Studio Orchestra in addition to four of Norgren’s electronic and some other examples of his orchestral bits. There’s also a rather spicy electronic piece from Erich Sendel at the end. Essentially, these were all sourced from vinyl singles, most of which appeared originally on the Southern Library of Recorded Music label from the 60s… it’s library music! That stuff is a big deal now!
As far as physical copies of the original vinyl singles go, good luck. I’ve come across mere mentions of two releases so far: “Crazy Robots / Playhouse” (videos of this one are on YouTube) and “Aliens / Bathysphere.” I say “merely two” because I’m uncertain if there are more.
Anyway, the sound here isn’t as random, loud or as cacophonic as some of the electronic music that was available at the time; it’s not just oodles of loud pulses, beeps and eruptions of static. This feels far more thought out and methodical especially when effects, like reverb, are employed. That said, of course, the beeps, bleeps and swirls do seem to work well here, reminding me of some of the more modern experimental music. There’s a rich atmosphere even during quiet moments. And, in the case of “Crazy Robots,” there’s a clever little beat made from snippets of sound that makes this piece far more engaging.
Given that Nordgren’s electronic pieces were made ultimately as library pieces as part of a greater sound catalog, I can’t exactly say that these made any enormous impact on any artists from that time period. It’s kind of cool, however, to see that music like this was being made outside of music concrete and experimental electronic orchestral works that just kind of went over the heads of mainstream audiences. So I’d say, if you’re able, check out those two singles if you can. If I could, I’d love to incorporate them into an ambient mix.
Shall Remain Nameless creates a soundtrack to poverty, homelessness, addiction, urban decay, lawlessness and economic collapse. This is realism. This is intense, dark and sobering. It is a nightmare that many people brush off if they’ve not experienced it themselves. This album gives you a view of the state of Kensington.
If you know me, you’ll know I like thematic ambient albums. I like pieces that not only invoke emotions and spark the imagination but also place you in a specific location and time. Much in the way FSOL did on their album, “Dead Cities,” Shall Remain Nameless achieves this through haunting dark electronic effects, instrumentation and myriads of voice samples.
This is hyper-realism at its finest. I’d argue that this album should be heard just based on its concept. After all, how often is it that one can come across a work of ambience that can be used as a means of putting social issues under the spotlight and perhaps urge social change? Long story short, this is a stellar piece musically and an important release thematically. It’s well worth your attention.
Florian Fricke was a founding member of the German electronic Kosmische band Popal Vuh. He also jammed with Tangerine Dream on “Ziet” and played in the band Gila. Naturally, I got curious and wanted to see if Fricke had any solo material. There are three albums, so I figured this one would be a fun dive as it’s certainly quite ambient and it influenced modern new age music. This was released in 1983, so my first concern was as to whether this might sound dated, but luckily, none of it does.
The opening two tracks consist of echoed and reverbed vocals, creating a very mellow and trance like state of meditation. Some sources say this is similar to Tibetan style vocal work or even throat singing. However, I can’t quite pinpoint its intention, as the vocals are layered, somewhat textured, and are mainly made of simple low toned hums. It’s relaxing as fuck and it’s probably the most mellow thing I’ve played over the last few months.
I didn’t notice where the first track ended and the second began. I had to settle for streaming this on YouTube as I’ve yet to score a physical copy; that might explain part of that. Honestly, blending those two tracks together made for one solid mellow ride and I would recommend playing it as such for maximum effect.
The final track is simply a guitar and a group of folks humming along somewhat meditatively. This reminds me a bit of Deuter’s earlier material as he began to switch from Kosmische into more new age-esque music. It’s even mixed similarly, which I kind of liked. I couldn’t help but wonder, then, what a jam between Fricke and Deuter might have been like….
I’d recommend this album if you’re searching for something on the extreme side of relaxing. This would no doubt work for meditation or even as a piece to send you off to dreamland. Sonically, this would be perfect if mixed into a playlist with the likes of Tuu. I’m now eager to get back into Popal Vuh’s discography. I’ve only played their first album so far, which I wrote a bit about on here. Let’s get moving!
Good stuff. Reissues are available on the Atlas Eclipticalis and Wah Wah Records labels, although the prices second-hand are a bit steep, so beware of collector prices.
Various artist compilations tend to be a dime a dozen; there are so many out there, causing them to often get overlooked. They then tend to be found piled in bargain bins and even selling for pennies on eBay. Yet, sometimes, the opposite happens, and a compilation lands itself some intense notoriety and resells for hundreds. The chances, then, of scoring a physical copy diminish greatly. Some find themselves in the middle, where some fame catches the eye of fans some years later, and resell values park it squarely between 15$ and 75$, again somewhat diminishing chances of finding an affordable copy; it then becomes a game of where to look.
The Excursions in Ambience series is just that, in the middle. But, it heralds some deep love and respect from fans; the prices vary, yet they’re greatly sought after. Released on Caroline and Astralwerks between 1993 and 1994, four compilations graced the ambient world. I argue this series is an essential part of ambient history because they showcased a great, vast variety of sound, hopping from the farthest corners of the genre and smashing into each other with great results. In some cases, artists had contributed tracks that were either hard to find elsewhere or were exclusive only to these albums. And, as far as I know, these compilations were only released in America, making it rather difficult for anyone else on this planet to get a copy.
So, here I’ll break it down for you and briefly tell you about each one. Hopefully, if you can get these or stream them online somewhere in some capacity, you’ll enjoy them as much as I do. Furthermore, these all give prime examples of the range of variety found within the ambient community and can serve as a perfect guide for those first acquainting themselves in the various ambient subgenres.
“A Collection of Ambient House Music,” does just as it says rather well. The genre at this point in time was less than ten years old and was certainly achieving popularity. So, naturally, there are more dance-able tracks here. The artists featured here include Tranquility Bass, FSOL, Higher Intelligence Agency, Ultramarine, Psychedelic Research Lab, Psychick Warriors ov Gaia, 777, It’s Thinking, Banco de Gaia and Sub Sub.
To contrast, “The Second Orbit,” features a more upbeat and mellow ambient set mostly composed of remixes by the Orb. There are fewer dance beats here and more depth of field. Here, you get WFO, Schizophrenia, Locust, Maurizio, The Grid, Autocreation, Megatonk and Material. This all makes for a solid trip.
Onto the third album, “The Third Dimension.” This is by far the hardest one to find copies of and as I write this, it’s the one I’m missing from my set. The sound here is far more experimental, somewhat darker in spots and much more varied. Here we see tracks from Spacetime Continuum, Grain, Seefeel, Spectrum, Air (Pete Namlook), Divination, FSOL, Steve Fisk, Mike Kendel and Aphex Twin.
Lastly, we have “The Fourth Frontier.” This one is my personal favorite as I managed to score a limited edition version of this at a record shop. I also found the sound here to be delightfully experimental, presented the most variety and darted deftly between dark and lighter compositions. Here we have tracks by Flying Saucer Attack, Me-Sheen, Luna Sol, Ben Neill, FSOL (as Farout Son of Lung), Labradford, 777, Single Cell Orchestra, Freezer and Node. Despite featuring some exclusive tracks, this album thankfully isn’t too terribly expensive. Grab a copy while you can! [I had made a post about this on here some years ago).
To sum it up, this set of compilations is well worth your time and are loads of fun. It’s like a varied mixtape of both the best and somewhat obscure tracks. The label opted to avoid squeezing in the more mainstream hits that were bouncing around at the time and rather, they made selections based on a more sound oriented direction, showing love and dedication to the genres and artists. You grt something with superb replay value.
I wish a few more volumes emerged from this series. Granted, 1994 seemed to be the peak of ambient music in the mainstream and labels, including Astralwerks, seemed to back off from the genre and diversified their formats (makes sense). Now that Astralwerks has turned 30, I can’t help but wonder what tunes they’d choose if they were to release something new… might we someday see, like, “the Fifth Sunrise” and “the Sixth Galaxy?”
Spacetime Continuum is an ambient project from Jonah Sharp, serving as his longest running solo project. This is perhaps the one that most folks might be familiar with, especially if they were either active ambient fans in the 90s, deeply tuned into the Astralwerks catalog or are modern genre deep divers. Calling Sharp’s music influential is an understatement and speaking for myself, it made quite an impact on me as much as say FSOL, the Orb and Pete Namlook have. I wrote about his Spacetime Continuum material in small bits here and there on this blog in the past but hadn’t covered a full album until April 23rd, 2022. There, I covered his debut for Astralwerks records, “Alien Dreamtime,” which he recorded live with Terrence McKenna and Stephen Kent.
That said, I’ll briefly cover most of the Spacetime Continuum discography here in a few paragraphs to give you a quick rundown of the material. Like many artists and releases I write about, it all deserves to be heard. Material here were released on various labels including Sharp’s own Reflective, Source, Astralwerks, Fax, Caroline and Virgin, among others.
The Singles and EPs
If you’re hunting for singles and EPs, you have quite a few to choose from. Some feature entire offerings of non-album tracks and others have rare b-sides and/or superb remixes.
The first release under this project as a whole was an EP called “Fluresence.” This featured four tracks, each charting in ambient and ambient techno territory with rich elements of acid. These are all pretty good, especially for the time, though some modern listeners tend to lose these in the vast ocean of ambient techno that has come out since.
From here you have the singles: Speaking in Tongues (featuring remixes from N20 and Hardkiss) Pressure Kairo Freelon Real Time Future Life (tracks later appeared on “Double Fine Zone”) Remit Recaps (initially released in two parts but reissued as one whole compilation) Nearly all of these offer deep ambient trips while some feature more house and nu jazz oriented jams. Honestly, if you can afford any of these, go for them, as you won’t be at all disappointed. I do wish that the powers that be would release all of the tracks on a CD set as all but one of these singles/EPs have yet to be reissued.
The Albums:
I’ll make a brief summary of “Alien Dreamtime,” and I’ll post a link to the full article below. This album is a wild standout in the whole Astralwerks catalog… a live record featuring the psychedelic guru, Terrence McKenna and the tribal sounds of Stephen Kent… I mean you can’t get more cosmic than that.
“Sea Biscuit,” comes next. This is probably the most influential record that had even found a home on Namlook’s FAX label. This one flows deeply into earthly and cosmic zones, digging perhaps deeper than all of this project’s future releases in terms of ambience. This is beautiful. It’s one perhaps I’ve re-listened to the most despite not owning a copy (reissues, please…). This is essential.
“Emit Ecaps,” is the followup. I got lucky and scored a vinyl copy in 2005 at a heinously dusty and unorganized hoarder type record shop. This one leans a bit more on ambient techno but I’d still say it’s absolutely essential for the ambient junkie. Absolutely wonderful.
“Remit Recaps,” features a lot of genre hopping remixes. It features Move D, Autechre, the 4 Quarters, Subtropic, Higher Intelligence Agency, Herbert, Kobat, OST, Carl Craig, and Velocette. With a list like that, you can get a true feel for the sound; this is a solid remix compilation.
“Double Fine Zone,” explores more nu jazz and house type tracks with some at times bordering on atmospheric drum and bass. While a number of Sharp’s staple sounds and effects can’t be missed here this album feels like a bit of a departure from his previous works under this project. Funnily enough, this was the first album of his I was able to obtain and still seems to be the easiest one to get out in the marketplace. I enjoy this one but it’s far less ambient and I find, unfortunately, I need to be in the right mood to spin it in its entirety while there are a few standout tracks that I can spin anytime, such as, “Freezone.” Honestly, why this track never became a single is beyond me… I feel as if this album didn’t get promoted enough.
Lastly (so far) is a collaboration with fellow San Fran artists, It’s Own Infinite Flower called, “Empress Eyes,” released digitally and on CD in 2022. This album is incredible; it spans all across the ambient spectrum, dipping its toes into some rather experimental territory and at times, almost sounding like a mix between a mid 70s Tangerine Dream recording and a 90s era Orb album, fleshed out of Sharp’s signature sounds and IOTF’s acid influences. This is some great shit.
For essential listening, start with “Sea Biscuit.” Second, dive into either “Alien Dreamtime” or “Emit Ecaps.” You can round out this set with any single or EP, move onto “Empress Eyes,” and wrap up with “Double Fine Zone.”
I’ve been mulling over the idea of accepting submissions but ONLY in physical formats or via Bandcamp/etc streams. I was debating making that public. And that’s when Eric got my attention by tagging me on Bluesky; it’s not technically a submission but rather a nudge. Well played.
Fixed Air is Eric Smith’s first dip in the ambient pool. Typically, you can find Eric making superb psychedelic indie rock as he jams with the band, Exploding Zones (their album, “Meadow,” perked my ears for obvious reasons). As Fixed Air, we’re treated to melodic synths, plucks/strings, and drones.
Yknow, for someone’s first release in this genre, I must say that I’m impressed. Smith employs a variety of soft melodies and textured strings/plucks to create these soundscapes. This paints a more warm and lively world even in its darkest moments rather than some of the cold, metallic, and dark sounds that some people tend to associate with drone music. The three tracks offered on this album are all incredible and I’ve found myself re-listening often, much as I have done for many of the drone tunes I had the pleasure of hearing last year… it’s a true winning streak for the genre!
The more I play this, the more it surpasses typical drone and enters into space, and driven guitar ambient. I could easily see these tracks as a part of a film score. It’s mellow yet lively enough to work well in a variety of contexts. Furthermore, this album would be perfect for folks looking to dig into the aforementioned genres. After all, presented here are three pristine melodic jams that shimmer with life and floral joy. Thus needs to be on your musical radar.
I can’t wait to hear what you’ve got cooking up next, Eric.
Over the last 25 years, archived and/or lost tapes from numerous Kosmische bands have surfaced. Some float around as bootlegs while others become official releases to the rejoice of fans the world over. Personally, I love these early noisy stuff. There’s a wild, untamed, fearless sense of wonder and experimentation that courses through their machines. In a time where nearly all of a band’s equipment was self-built or early prototypes of synthesizers that had only just been born, it was the Era of a truly boundless sonic frontier
Now that that’s out of the way…
This set of Cluster recordings comes via Bureau B, a hot output of Kosmische, krautrock, punk, ambient, rock and other bits. The CD and vinyl editions offer the same tracks: a performance from Hamburg (Fabrik) and the other from the International Science Fiction Festival in Metz, France, in 1977.
The first performance is intense but not crushingly noisy. Cluster show deft mastery over their improvisations and tech, creating somewhat rhythmic mechanical scapes and sonic pulses. This is far less noisy than some of the material in the Kluster and Eruption vein, and kind of leans slightly on the spectrum towards the earliest electronic Tangerine Dream recordings, minus any guitar and drums.
The flipside is just incredible. A flawless intersection of ambient and improvised noise creates a hypnotic scape. Truly fitting the festival’s sci-fi theme, we are treated with a haunting yet inviting atmosphere. Melodies gently creep in, bubbling and mumbling but gradually growing and flying parallel with the humming and buzzing.
If you’re a Kosmische fan or one who digs experimental recordings from Germany in the early 70s, this is for you. This is a joy.
Cluster’s bandcamp offers various live recordings, reissues, and new recordings from the 70s through today. Check it out.
Pete Namlook certainly had a thing for making an elaborate and lengthy series of ambient releases. As a younger Fox, I thought this was frustrating to keep track of, as he had numerous: Air, Silence, Escape, Seasons Greetings, the Namlook Series, 4voice, Syn, etc… and that’s not even to mention his various collaborative series with other artists. As an older and wiser vixen, I have a much easier time sorting out what is what and I can just simply stream a series online from various outlets until I can one day get my paws on physical copies or purchase downloads off Bandcamp.
Today, I’m looking at the Seasons Greetings Series, which, as the name suggests, covers the four seasons over four albums with a fifth CD (from 1996) sampling bits from the previous four. Spring, Autumn, and Winter were released in 1994 with Summer arriving in 1995.
Namlook described this series as “electronic impressionism environmental music,” and it’s exactly that. Spring, for example, is full of birdsong, soft misty atmospherics, piano, and what could be best described as gonging…? It is far livelier than the three other entries, which is exactly what one would expect from spring.
Winter and Autumn venture into drones, but ones that certainly fit their themes. Autumn surprised me when it drove out of drones and into Berlin School -esque sequences and synth compositions. Winter feels like I’m gently sliding on a thick sheet of ice under a dim sky, although there are signs of life quietly whispering.
Summer feels hot and hazy, sending the listener searching for shade, as murmuring life hums. A thunderstorm even rolls in in the mid to second half of the album, which I didn’t expect. That really created one heck of a soundscape!
Meanwhile, the Four Seasons CD samples just bits of the four albums. Spring’s selection kinda of sounds like the bulk of its original material, while Summer took the shimmering drones that segue into insects, rain, and thunder. Autumn took the transition piece from mellow drones to Berlin School, and winter predictably mellowed out the ending nicely as its entire album of source material was icy shimmering drones to begin with.
These four albums, I have to say, were joys to listen to. I can’t critique them in the same way as other albums as the art style overall is impressionism; this is the artist’s impressions of the seasons as transposed into music. And much like surrealism or other abstract art forms, it is wide open to interpretation. I would argue that these pieces capture the vibes of each theme fairly well.
However, strictly speaking, if you stack these against other material Namlook released over his career, you get mixed results. Spring could easily have been mashed between early releases in the Namlook Series (somewhere between 1 and 4), whereas Winter and Summer lean on his more experimental and/or softer-toned works. Autumn, at times, reminds me of Namlook’s collaborations with Schulze.
Final thoughts: This series is great. I played through all four albums in a sitting last night in order, and that made for a great jam. I played the sampler this morning. It, of course, creates a much shorter journey, but it is nice to have one album in which the ride can be summed up in a fourth of the time.
Check these out. If you’re a Namlook fan, a fan of impressionism or artsy ventures in electronic music, or a fan of ambient in general, this might be your thing.
Released earlier this year but in the spirit of 1977, comes this lovely little cassette via Fairfox Library. This really got my attention.
Back in the spring, I covered Tangerine Dream’s early material along with other German ambient and Berlin School music from the early 70s. I’m far from finished digging through the sound archives for future posts, but I had paused that project to take a gander at other records. So, that’s about when I spotted a little fox carrying this tape…
… and much to my surprise, this was right in the same sonic realm as some of those early Berlin School records. Fuzzy, melodic synth soars, pushing the listener into fantastic scapes, making us pine for those early days of imaginative ambient expansion. Every track nails this so eloquently, elegantly, flawlessly and beautifully. As the tape progresses, things slow down a bit, easing us into gentle and oh so inviting melodies and lull us in the most vivid dreams.
I’m extremely impressed with Cardon’s knack for production and composition. This is a true love letter to those bygone days. With an array of synths, vocoders and other tech, the vintage sound is presented well. Carson’s background is rooted in more furry dance music; extremely energetic and wild, perfect for the con dance floor. With “Hyperborea,” the ambient vibe is such a far cry from those intense beats that I can’t help but be in awe of Carson’s versatility and flexibility.Â
This is, as far as I can recall, the first time I’ve reviewed a piece of work from a furry artist. Look, if you’re reading this and your knee jerk reaction is one of disgust or if you’re not going to take this seriously, fuck off. This tape is a prime masterpiece and I know for damn sure most ambient fans are gonna lose their minds when they hear this. Trust me, if you overlook this tape now, it’s going to pop up 20.years from now, hailed as an essential work and copies will resell for hundreds.
That’s how fucking good this is. I know my shit.
It combines the best bits from the 70s experimental ambient world, adds the faintest dash of 90s ambient, and blasts it into the future as a gift for your ears and brain.
The Far Out Fox 