If you’ve ever seen Massive Attack live, you notice the impressive and mesmorising visuals accompanying the already stunning performances. United Visual Artists have designed Massive Attacks’ stage visuals for their 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 world tours as well as the recent Meltdown Festival at London’s South Bank.

And for the next installment: Massive Attack – United Snakes. Watch in a dark room, on a big screen.

View the film in its full glory on the UVA website.

Milieu releases his first record on vinyl, limited to 150 copies – it’s one you want to track down. Here’s a literal snippet and some ear pleasing samples to wet your appetite, taken from Install Sound’s website:

“After much deliberation and work, Install is proud to unveil its first vinyl release: Milieu’s Phosphene Weather LP. Notable for also being the first time Milieu’s work has appeared on the vinyl format, Phosphene is a special affair, limited to 150 copies on randomly colored vinyl inside custom silk screened sleeves with hand-numbered inserts, sporting a modern design by David Tagg.

Musically, Phosphene Weather inhabits a similar universe as previous Milieu ambient output, such as A Warm Wooden Hollow, Of The Apple or Brittle Paper Cathedrals. The record’s three songs walk slowly through an Autumnal landscape that is as colorful as it is eroded, and over the course of 40 minutes the listener is treated to liquid sunset immersion, surrounded on all sides by soft wind sweeping red leaves over orange fields and cloudlike formations of chords that arrive right on time with the warm hum of a pedal bass. Swells of log cabin isolation, woodwind and guitar drones and pure sleepy thought filter through the horizon line. Phosphene Weather is total night music, and quite possibly the pinnacle of Milieu’s ambient output to date.”

SIDE A:
in blue fields
phosphene weather
SIDE B:
aboir
listen to samples

Pre-order the LP from the Install website. For us UK folks, I am going to try and find out if we can get it over here to avoid having such a collectable man-handled from the other side of the world.

Want more Milieu? Check out his mix for the blog: isolatedmix3

Here’s a promo for SIDE B -aboir:

There’s the soundtracks you here and instantly hunt down, the cult classics. The tracks that shape generations: A Clockwork Orange, The Warriors, 24 Hour Party People, Quadrophenia, The Beach….

Then there’s the soundtracks you don’t notice. In the background. Intensifying the moments, adding that little bit more. And making a great film, an unbelievable film. Leon (Eric Serra), Man On Fire (Harry Gregson-William), Gladiator (Gavin Greenaway), Blade Runner (Vangelis), to name just a few of my favourites.

Luckily, Leighton Masters doesn’t just settle at absorbing great music during the film. A big fan of film soundtracks, classical music and composers, Leighton has put together three mixes titled Darkness and Wonder, epitomising the beauty of film score’s, all for you to download.

Tracks from M.NIght Shyamalan’s The Village & Lady In The Water, Road to Perdition, Babel, Donnie Darko, Requiem for a Dream, the list goes on…

Have a listen, remember the moment and then let me know your favourite OST in the comments below.

Darkness and Wonder – Part 1.

Darkness & Wonder – Part 1 – (Mix) by Leighton Masters

Part 1 tracklisting:
1. Prologue – Lady In The Water (OST)
2. A Way Of Life – The Last Samurai (OST)
3. Deportation – Babel (OST)
4. Giving The Kii – Lady In The Water (OST)
5. Just The Feller – Road To Perdition (OST)
6. Noahs Visit – The Village (OST)
7. Seed Capsule – Joby Talbot (Once Around The Sun)
8. Piano Theme – Craig Armstrong (World Trade Center OST)
9. Bibo No Aozora – Endless Flight – Babel (OST)
10. Unkown – Unkown
11. The Last Man – The Fountain (OST)
12. What Are You Asking Me – The Village (OST)
13. Sorrow – The Gladiator (OST)
14. Starálfur – Sigur Ros
15. Your Hands Are Cold – Pride & Prejudice (OST)
16. Two Sunsets – Einaudi (Echoes)
17. Brooks Was Here – Shawshank Redemption (OST)
18. End Credit Suite – Lars And The Real Girl (OST)
19. Road To Perdition – Road To Perdition (OST)
20. Stay With Me – The Fountain (OST)
21. Unknown – Unknown
22. Together We Will Live Forever – The Fountain (OST)
22. Elephant Parade – Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (OST)
23. Cloudburst – Eric Whitacre (Cloudburst)

Leighton Masters -Darkness and Wonder – Part 2.

Darkness & Wonder – Part 2 – (Mix) by Leighton Masters

Part 2 tracklisting:
1. Carpathian Ridge – Donnie Darko (OST)
2. The Emporer Is Dead – The Gladiator (OST)
3. Xibalba – The Fountain (OST)
4. Time Travel – Donnie Darko (OST)
5. Karin Accepts Him – Lars And The Real Girl (OST)
6. The Egg Arrives – March Of The Penguins (OST)
7. Elegy – Craig Armstrong (World Trade Center OST)
8. White Knight – Einaudi (Echoes)
9. Vaka – Sigur Ros
10. Childhood – Craig Armstrong (The Space Between Us)
11. Transit Of Venus – Joby Talbot (Once Around The Sun)
12. Morning Pray – Babel (OST)
13. Evey Reborn – V For Vendetta (OST)
14. Credits – Pride & Prejudice (OST)
15. Calm – Einaudi (Echoes)
16. This Morning – Leighton Masters (Elements Of Change) **
17. Knowing – Leighton Masters (Elements Of Change) **
18. I. Lento , Sostenuto – Henryk Gorecki (Symphony No. 3)
tranquillo ma cantabile
19. Brazil & India – Philip Glass (Orion)
20. The Gravel Road – The Village (OST)
21. Spiegel Im Spiegel – Arvo Part (Alina)
22. Concerto Antico For Guitar (3) – John Williams
23. The Golden Fly Four – Alessandra Celletti
24. The Times They Are A Changin’ – Lady In The Water (OST)

Leighton Masters -Darkness and Wonder – Part 3.

Darkness & Wonder – Part 3 – (Mix) by Leighton Masters

Part 3 tracklisting:
1. Meissa – Fripp & Brian Eno – The Equatorial Stars
2. Summer, Ghost Of Things To Come – Requiem For A Dream (OST)
3. Winter, Ghost Of A Future Lost – Requiem For A Dream (OST)
4. Kaleidoscope Of Mathematics – A Beautiful Mind (OST)
5. Beati Qui Esuriunt – Howard Goodall – Enchanted Voices
6. Fur Alina – Arvo Pärt – Fur Alina
7. Water Line – Sage Francis – Human The Death Dance
8. Section VII – Steve Reich – Music For 18 Musicians
9. II. Lento e Largo, – Henryk Gorecki (Symphony No. 3)
Tranquillissimo
10. Cloudburst (11) – Eric Whitacre (Cloudburst)
11. Mother – Goldie (Timeless)
12. 06. Electric Counterpoint – Steve Reich (Electric Counterpoint)
(Part III)
13. Until The End – House of Flying Daggers (OST)
14. For Whom The Bell Tolls – Steve Baker & Carmen Daye
(End Theme)
15. A Fragile Mind – Leighton Masters (Elements Of Change) **
16. Boy Eats Chocolate – Michael Kamen – Band Of Brothers (OST)
17. Plaisir D’Amour – Michael Kamen – Band Of Brothers (OST)
** = More information on “Elements Of Change” release check Leighton’s website.

You can view more of Leighton’s work and the original files on his Soundcloud profile.

The outstanding Kilchurn Sessions by Todos, just keep coming. We’re at number 7 and disappointment isn’t a word this guy knows. Once again the tracklisting reads like a dream festival line-up. A heavy dose of Sigur Ros / Jonsi & Alex, a classic from FSOL, one of my favourite M83 tracks, all ending on a great edit of Orbital’s Halcyon.

View the original source to download.

1. Sigur Ros – Ba Ba
2. Helios – First Dream Called Ocean
3. Apparat – Negro Modelo
4. Tycho – Adrift Edit
5. Helios – Vargtimme
6. Jonsi & Alex – Happiness
7. M83- You Appearing
8. Slam – Subject Invisible
9. Glen McArdle – Miller & Rollnick
10. Abdomen Burst – Syntagma (Negative Neutron Mix)
11. Jonsi & Alex – Boy 1904
12. Ekkehard Ehlers – John Cassavetes (2)
13. Alla Farmer – Elektike Sunrize
14. Alva Noto- Xerrox Tek (Part 1)
15. 2562 – Redux
16. Mirrors Edge – Ropeburn
17. Gianluca Angelini – E
18. The Future Sound Of London – Lizzard Crawl
19. RJD2 – Chicken-Bone Circuit / Orbital – Halcyon+On+On Edit

See here for Kilchurn Sessions 1-4, here for session 5 & 6, (Session 6 link is in the comments).

A nice little insight into one of my favourite labels, Ghostly International, home of Tycho and Lusine. (via Surfing On Steam)

You search for one thing, you find another. And another.

Firstly, the MINT remix of Ulrich Schnauss’ Shine which i wanted to share with you. Mint is Murray Fisher, co-owner of Boltfish Recordings. Not only is this remix of Ulrich Schnauss absolutely stunning, MINT’s other productions are also very nice indeed.

Then, to make things even better, you can download this track as part of the free Intelligent Toys 5 release by Sutemos, below.

Step 3 of absolute brilliantness, check out all the other releases by Sutemos including Intelligent Toys 1, 2, 3 & 4 featuring more tracks by Ulrich, Manual, MINT, Digitonal and Yagya.

Intelligent Toys 5 - Download here.

[01[ CD1: AGF/Delay - From Morning On .. 5:01
[02] CD1: Praveen – No Sky, No Rain! .. 3:46
[03] CD1: Gultkra Artikler – Berezka .. 5:53
[04] CD1: Deer – Elevators .. 3:01
[05] CD1: stockfinster – Golden Canyon .. 5:05
[06] CD1: Wildach Sonnerkraut – Calypso .. 4:14
[07] CD1: Ten And Tracer – Ties Crews Emerging .. 4:14
[08] CD1: Praveen – Acts Rough .. 5:45
[09] CD1: Sabi – Six Places .. 6:15
[10] CD1: Swod – Fugitif 1 .. 4:53
[11] CD1: Miwon – Making Moves .. 4:47
[12] CD1: NGC 1365 – Second Coming .. 3:45
[13] CD2: Octex – Broken .. 7:46
[14] CD2: Yagya – Coconut Rice .. 6:02
[15] CD2: Kanobi – ILK .. 3:18
[16] CD2: Maps And Diagrams – Habakkuk .. 4:55
[17] CD2: SoulSonic – Itau .. 2:54
[18] CD2: Karna & Sleepy Town Manufacture – Uplyvaet Moja Liubov .. 4:39
[19] CD2: Ulrich Schnauss – Shine (MINT Remix) .. 5:27
[20] CD2: Leon Somov & Aurimas Rimeikis – Kruopu .. 5:09
[21] CD2: AGF – Than Reconsider .. 6:24
[22] CD2: Few Nolder – Fluttery .. 6:12
[23] CD2: IJO – There Is No Place For Me Here .. 4:38
[24] CD2: Jvox – Tomie + Replay .. 6:52
[25] CD2: Z-Arc – Theta Sigma (Remix) .. 4:32
[26] CD3: Funckarma – Wack Spine .. 4:47
[27] CD3: Richard J Valeo – Lucky You .. 4:05
[28] CD3: Kero – Kowblow .. 4:42
[29] CD3: Kanobi – Hopadeli .. 3:58
[30] CD3: SubtractiveLad – Plexus .. 4:16
[31] CD3: Tammetoru – Ajast Ja Arust .. 5:23
[32] CD3: Sense – I’m Sorry .. 8:25
[33] CD3: MINT – Keijis Dream .. 5:38
[34] CD3: Ruxpin – Your Body Smells of Cinamon .. 4:12
[35] CD3: Tammetoru – Tule Mulle Kaissu .. 5:04
[36] CD3: Monoceros – How Was The Earth (Mother) .. 6:20
[37] CD3: Malt.Tabulated Sounds – Go With The Flow .. 5:20
[38] CD3: Monoceros – Escape From Gravity .. 7:00
[39] CD3: Sintetic Collage – Hidden Recollections .. 4:57

I tweeted this video last week and didn’t post it on here. Not sure why, but i have just watched it again and it deserves more than 140 characters! In case you missed it, here’s John Hopkins live at the ICA with the title track from his latest album Insides. Great way to edit and capture what could be a very boring video…

You can catch Jon Hopkins live in London on the 8th October at Kings Place N1

This morning was the first time i had to shut my windows. Summer is fast on it’s way out, and ambient music is a perfect fit for Autumn time. None better than Chloe Harris‘ recent b-sides mix. A two hour journey from a DJ that must spend 99% of her life trawling through tunes in order to come up with this kind of track listing.

It’s mixes like this that confine you to your laptop for the rest of the day hunting down and exploring the artists further. So thanks to Chloe for the time and effort on the mix and an even bigger thanks for putting my Saturday plans on hold. (It isn’t nice outside anyway…)

1 Alucidnation – 15 Below
2 Pablo Bolivar – Escape From Galaxy 5 – Chapter 2
3 Brock Van Wey – Forever A Stranger
4 Fonarev – Arrival (Kanzantip Featuring Lika Star (Melodica Chill)
5 Brock Van Wey – Too Little Too Late (Intrusion Shape Vi)
6 Slowdown – Days Without You (One Of Them Reprise)
7 Kayasswhy – Mind Control
8 William Orbit – Nimbas
9 Tomasz Bednarczyk – Drawing
10 Dousk – Falling People
11 Azure Hanalel – Kauai Sunset Chilled Mix
12 Angra Mainyu – When The Cold Wind Blows
13 Harri Kakaulli – Pink Sunset
14 Kevin Bacon & Jonathan Quarmby – Lonely Tones
15 Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar (Michael Woods)
16 Brock Van Wey – White Clouds Drift On And On
17 Robert Leiner – Northern Dark
18 Mindgame – Mindwaves (Shadow Fall Toes In The Sand)
19 Mike Monday – Stargirl
20 Mick Chillage – Final Storm (Channel 73)
21 Elephant Pixel – Egypt
22 The Orange – Butterfly
23 Elevator People – Horizons (Reprise)
24 Timo Mae – Vertigo People (Ambient Mix)
25 Pablo Bolivar – Is It The Last Call

Check out Chloe Harris’ previous featured mix – Snow.

Image courtesy of minxlj

How much are you wishing this was titled ‘Boards of Canada Live mix’? Well don’t be dissapointed. This mix is a stunning tribute to the legends that are BOC, neatly put together by Skywave Systems. Not happy with simply mixing their best tracks, Skywave get busy sampling, looping and including some very rare remixes.

Download

01 The Story of Xentrix / KPVQ / excerpt from Peel Session / Blockbusters / Devil
02 Smokes Quantity / ‘Bye Bye’ Sesame Street (sample) / Light, Clear, Hair
03 Seeya Later
04 Happy Cycling / Telephasic Workshop (sample)
05 Meat Beat Manifesto – Prime Audio Soup (Vegetarian Soup by Boards of Canada)
06 Indeep – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (loop) / Nlogax / QPFX
07 Chromakey Dreamcoat
08 Dandelion
09 ‘O For Orange’ Sesame Street (sample) / Aquarius (Version 3 – Peel Session) / Ren Woods – Aquarius (loop)
10 Everything You Do Is A Balloon
11 Dayvan Cowboy (Odd Nosdam remix)
12 Amo Bishop Roden / You Could Feel The Sky (loop)
13 A Is To B As B Is To C / 1969
14 Niagara / excerpt from Peel Session
15 Iraq Says
16 One Very Important Thought (Boc Maxima version)
17 unknown (live at Camber)

Thanks to Deepgoa for the heads-up.

If you haven’t managed to stumble across Milieu’s refined releases such as, ‘Bent Appletrees’, or ‘Songs we found in the sand’ then you may want to look them up. But before that, why not get a unique insight from the man behind the music…

Titled ‘One Last Push on the Swing’, Milieu has recalled his musical influences, and revisited some personal moments in time to construct an ambient reflection for isolatedmix 03.

And as expected, Milieu’s influences are a tad pleasing on the ear. Tracks range from early 1993 Rephlex / Aphex Twin releases via his alter ego ‘Bradley Strider’, to 2009 releases under one of my favourite labels, ‘Mule Musiq’. Milieu must have also kept his ear close to the notorious German output City Centre Offices, with tracks from Arovane and Bitstream (CCO being the launch pad for Ulrich Schnauss’ ‘Far Away trains Passing by’ and ‘A Strangely Isolated Place’).

Take a read of Milieu’s accompanying track notes and each moment comes alive, that little bit more…

“Putting mixes together has always been one of my favorite things, going all the way back to high school. I think a mix can say a lot for the person making it, and so with this mix I opted to go down ‘memory lane’ a little and choose tracks that took me back to a specific time and place in my life.”

isolatedmix 03 ‘One Last Push on the Swing’

(click on the arrow to download)

1. Ten And Tracer - Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny [Rope Swing Cities, 2006]
One of Jon’s best melodies ever. Makes me think about walking around in the sunshine working on projects for art class back in 2006.

2. Lunar Testing Lab – Mock-Orange [I, Absentee, 2008]
My favorite track on LTL’s record from last year. Brings to mind memories of riding the public transit around after I dropped out of high school.

3. Bitstream – Crab Nebula [City Centre Offices, 2002]
An absolutely stunning track, all around. This song is just so feel-good, it makes you think that this is what good electronic music is really supposed to sound like.

4. Bradley Strider - Bradley’s Robot A2 [Rephlex, 1993]
Late nights driving home from my crappy job at a lazer tag place when I was 19. Being slightly stoned and behind the wheel when the highway is empty for forty minutes used to be magical in some weird way.

5. DJ Sprinkles – Ball’r/Madonna Free Zone [Mule Musiq, 2009]
Another beautiful example of how bittersweet and amniotic electronic stuff can be sometimes. There’s something very sad and full of longing in this track.

6. Bonobo – The Plug [Tru Thoughts, 2000]
This one takes me back to when I first moved in with Sophia by the beach, back in 2003. Lots of late nights doing overtime in my then-office job listening to this record.

7. Kiln – Kekker [Thalassa, 1998]
Kiln are simply one of the most amazing bands ever, and a real pleasure to know. This track really displays the amount of control they have over their sound, somehow making a very live band sound absolutely alien at the
same time.

8. Manual – Miraparque [Awkward Silence, 2008]
Now for this track and the next three we’re getting into ‘tropical mode’. I’ve always been totally obsessed with tropical sounds, images, climes, the whole deal, and Manual nails that vibe perfectly. Most likely because I grew up around the beach, this stuff always hits a nerve with me.

9. The Gentle People - Journey (Aphex Twin Care Mix) [Rephlex, 1995]
This track is total perfection. It could go on forever. It also brings to mind very specific uh…romantic memories. Yeah. Mindblowing.

10. Quantic – The 5th Exotic [Tru Thoughts, 2000]
Similar to the previous track, this is another one that still sounds very sexy and night-time to me. The kind of track you hear and want to bliss out to with someone you love.

11. Signaldrift – Welcome Ceylon [Wobblyhead, 2003]
This is one of those records that is just too perfect to pick a single song from. I went with this one because it was one of the first Signaldrift songs I ever heard and it’s still one of the best. The way this man has with melodies is just beyond me.

12. Cylob - Foid [Rephlex, 1996]
Going way back to when I was living in the deep country with my dad after high school. This was a time of self-discovery for me, and all I did was work, make music, and find new music to immerse myself in. Cylobian Sunset is one of those records that changed my life, and this song just breaks my heart every time. I can almost smell the old paperbacks and the weed on my clothes.

13. Arovane – Deauville [City Centre Offices, 2000]
I was suggested Tides by a German friend in 2003 when I first met Sophia, and the album still blows me away. No other song conjures the feeling of being stranded on a desert island quite like this one does. Pure distant sadness.

14. Loess – Viscer [Toytronic, 2003]
I also got into Loess when I first met Sophia, and I’d take this EP around with us when we’d be out driving around Surfside Beach at night. Perfect music for a cool contemplative drive around in the dark, and a wonderful song to close the mix with.

–
Big thanks to Milieu for an outstanding mix.

View all past isolatedmixes
Download isolatedmixes from the Soundcloud page.