“Ulrich Schnauss ushers me, with slight hesitance, into his East London studio. He fidgets and fusses over inanimate objects that do not need attention.
For a figure whose music drips with solitude and melancholy, this is a rare moment of exposure, and he seems uncomfortable, unnerved by the stranger who has entered his lair.
He sits surrounded by a cavern of instruments and electronic gadgets, machines that enabled him to create the richly textured melodies and harmonies that brought about the comparisons to Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream in the music press…”
Find out about his collaboration with Kirsty Hawkshaw, his opinions on remix culture and his beloved instruments over at Beatportal.
If you missed it, read the exclusive ASIP interview with Ulrich Schnauss from November last year.
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.
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.
I don’t normally share a batch load of music in one post, but its been a bloomin good week for free music. If you follow my ramblings on twitter then you may already have many of the below links, but if not take a look and load up.
The ISO50 blog has just released the second free MP3 EP featuring some killer covers of Air, M83 and my favourite of the bunch, Snap’s Rhythm is a Dancer. “Mux Mool switches gears and takes this roller skating rink classic and runs it thru the arcade and struts down the street with it while saying hi to all the ladies, a definite head nodder for the underground collectors.” If you liked this then check out the first free MP3 EP, featuring covers of Stardust, Fleetwood Mac and MGMT.
Surfing on Steam continue to dish out the goodness and this week have picked a few beauties for SOS MIx 23. The mix features “moodier singles filed under the new genre known as “chillwave”, including Little Dragon, The Big Pink and Lusine.
Leading nicely on, this weeks FACT Mix 84 is a must. Lusine mixes up some delicious dub techno, trip-hop and ambient for this collectable podcast series. The mix features tracks from the man himself, Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus and Four Tet to name just a few. Be quick, this mix is only hosted for a limited time only.
That’s about 3 hours worth so far, and in set terms, you need a peak timer. And as always Echaskech are on hand to deliver. Check out their mix for Clash Magazine featuring an exclusive remix and tracks by Moderat, and Clubroot.
I was going to feature this as a ‘Soundcloud Favourite Track‘ but it’s a a mix, and i have to stay true to the title! ‘Lullaby’s for Thea’ by Paul Davies is a selection of ambient tracks that helped his daughter “chill whilst in her mummy’s tummy”. Ulrich Schnauss, Jon Hopkins and some additional textures and ideas of his own take pride of place within the hour long journey. Play below or visit his Soundcloud page.
And finally, apart from all of the above, Yagya (as featured on the last post) has been oozing into every day in one way or another. On the way to work, at work, home from work and going to sleep. So i was very pleased when the musical wisdom of shbadr pointed me in the direction of a Yagya live set from 2007. In our joint Yagya excitement we decided that September 15th be blessed as #yagyaday. Join us next year should you also get a little excited when discovering the Yagya beauty!
ISO50’s classic downtempo covers, the SOS ‘Chillwave’, Lusine’s fat ambient, Echaskech’s dubstep, Paul’s parental ambient classics and a Yagya live set. Enjoy your journey.
An hour of favourites and all time ambient classics.
1. Susumu Yokota – Sea Blue
I love the strings on this track and thought it would make a perfect start.
2. Sigur Ros - Takk
Reminds me of Benicassim 08. The sun was setting and a dark cloud was circling the mountains in the background as Sigur Ros charmed the crowd.
3. The KLF – Madruga Eterna
Taken from the ‘Chillout’ album which is by far one of the best ambient records known to man. This track features an awesome guitar lick straight out of mid-west USA which would be out of place on any other record.
4. Lightsway – A Sky Full Of Clouds
AKA Winterlight AKA Tim Ingham, this track is a slow burning atmospheric monster. Go get the album ‘Summer Interlude’.
5. Bibio – It Was Willow
A short masterpiece which encapsulates Bibio at his finest.
6. William Orbit – You Know Too Much About Flying Saucers
William Orbit makes outstanding music. Taken from ‘Hello Waveforms’, this is another track with delicate guitar melodies where the sounds seem to fit the title perfectly.
7. The Album Leaf – Over The Pond
Weird child noises and a lovely piano combine to form a masterpiece.
8. Winterlight – Hush Now
As if the Lightsway track wasn’t enough, how about some more.
9. Little Dragon – Twice
Nine tracks in and it’s time to feature the first full on vocal track. And a beautiful vocal at that. The best off the album and a fine video to match.
10. Leandro Fresco – Buenos Amigos
The epitome of ambient. Comatising (is that a word?!). If you like this then check out Kompakt’s annual Pop Ambient series.
11. Jon Hopkins – Cold Out There
A composer, pianist and a self-taught studio wizard. If you needed proof, this is it.
And finally, apart from all of the above, Yagya 
pointed me in the direction of a 
