The self-titled debut release of Cernichov was actually recorded some time ago - between October 2017 and April 2018 - but got recently discovered and reissued by limited edition specialists Cathedral Transmissions from the UK (whose version is already sold out as of today).
It's 5 tracks, developed as the first collaboration from Bruxelles based David Gutman (who also releases experimental ambient and improvised music as Drawing Virtual Gardens a.o.) with Torino based Marco Mazzucchelli, are too refreshing to be called Dark Ambient.
There is constant movement, transformation and a sublimity in the use of sounds which makes it easy to listen to this as a whole. None of the tracks outstays it's welcome, in fact my favourite is even the longest one "Dissipated Poets".
The well constructed and mastered pieces are drones - painting a mood picture which is open to individual interpretation. As such they actually work as ambience too and very well.
As of now Cernichov are working on their second Album which should appear later this year and is definitively something to look forward to.

The third Vinyl release by Form & Terra Records with 4 tracks by 4 artists on this one; loosely 4 to the floor if you like wordplays..
"Celluloid Pony" by Peter F. Spiess is the first track and rightly so, a swinging techno house track with a beautiful swirling sequence which could go on much longer for my liking. Spiess is the most experienced producer here leaving the listener wanting more.
This is followed by Cie with "Wolkenburg", a track with nearly 8 Minutes to go and for my taste at least 2 Minutes to long as I miss a progression here. This obviously needs to be listened to loud in a club late at night where this electro house groove can easy be used as a slow burner in an endless mix.
Turning this Vinyl Only release over virtually - Prakash from Gran Canaria with a deep house orientated track with some funky oldschool sounds does not hurt nor impress me either. Finally Markus Funke takes a chance to dive into dub techno territories with "Levissima", a lengthy relaxed conclusion of this Get Together.
This might well represent the current state of dance-floors and clubbing all around - a bit directionless safe play by most participiants but at least something's going on.

This is already the fourth ambient dub collision of Cousin Silas (Guitar, Keyboards, Ambience) and The Glove Of Bones (Beats, Samples, etc.). They teamed up at first in 2016 and since have nearly annually released an album worth of near unique and original material besides their own solo works.
This one is heavy underlaid with a concept to fit art and music: "Kafou In Avalonia imagines a world where the landmass if Avalonia (an early microcontinent which got torn apart) remained connected and civilisation took a more integrated path." Well. Kafou is a manifestation of Papa Legba, of the Hawaiian Pantheon of Voodoo Loas. Legba facilitates communication, speech, and understanding. Today the parts of Avalonia are spread between England, Wales, Northern Europe and the eastern coast of North America (….).

So. Many thoughts and time have been finding the way into this album, visually implanted in black and white voodoo associated graphics for each track and the limited edition tape version including gris-gris charms, wax sealed and covered in a Juju bag.

Musicwise the African chanting, the solid rhythms and the carefully arranged loops, samples and noises work as one continued maelstrom, permanently evolving and mutating. A continuation but also a development of their last album with a storyline and a structure feat. shorter interludes ('Rituals') to underline the impressions and moods. Still this soundscapes takes no prisoners, it’s brooding and melting heavy psychedelic Dub. If a reference is needed - it can be reminiscent of African Head Charge at their heights while adding the spiritual freedom of The Grateful Dead.

Stand out tracks include the utterly rhythmic 'Segue Drum Ritual' and the equally powerful 'Xangô Marchin', the long-form tracks 'Oxalá of the White Sky' and 'Nzambi Meridian' and the final track‚ 'Ezili Dantor Awake' which features prominent psychedelic spaghetti –western desert island guitar work which rounds this off perfectly.

Mastered by the label’s owner himself there has no effort been avoided to make this as good as it can be, playing this loud works equally well as per headphones. A diverse experience with a coherent flow which allows the listener to keep aware and not getting lost or distracted.

Escapism would be something different, this is mere a step in an alternative Universe.

Simon Crab is one of the artists I followed always with interest and excitement through the years since I stumbled upon the first Bourbonese Qualk LP which opened my ears in many directions at once. Stylistically never easy to pin down but with a straightforward diy attitude, running own labels, squatting in the early days, experiencing life behind the iron curtain as band, new software the whole lot is not for the narrow minded.
Since BoQu disbanded in 2002 he released one ambient / field recording album with Sunseastar and two under his own name, the latest more electronically orientated on Klanggalerie in 2018.

But singles are pretty rare in his whole history so I was curious when this limited edition 10" on a tiny independent label from Lyon was announced. All the aesthetics of early independent DIY releases are here again in 2020 - no artwork besides the label images, no cover - just a plain black inner-sleeve to fit in a blank one, sparse information and no distractions.


"Kodokushi" is actually a Japanese word for lonely deaths that occur so lonely that the people remain undiscovered for a long time. At first a strange title for a peaceful 4 Min. 11 seconds track, slow beats, dripping sounds, calm atmospheric sounds and echos. While there is no specific tenison build-up it has enough movement to keep one wondering why it's not a few minutes longer.
The close to 8 Min. remix on the b-side by Tolouse Low Trax (actually Detlef Weinrich from Kreidler) is a tribal
dub workout, missing musically the distanced clarity of the original and placing the whole track in the swamps of Babylon. Distant voices lost in the dystopian somewhere.


This is a release which gains with each listening and found me returning to quite often during the last months as it slips perfect between other releases both as a break and a bridge.

This new 5 track EP from Adrian Nicholls' project Glove Of Bones is a tricky melange of samples, basslines, dubby lo-fi hip hop beats, structured ambience and concept.
The semi-naive colourful cover art indicates the surprisingly optimistic mood in midst the chaos of changes related to the year of the rat (as per the Chinese zodiac) as in "Hip Metal Rat", the Age of Aquarius and Aztec Myths on the circles of creation and recreation, hence the title track "Fifth Sun".
The current turmoil of events leaves no one entirely unaffected and here The Glove Of Bones with the aid of t.r. hand or vica versa steer through the waves of changes showing love, care, passion and the will to find the positive aspects and possibilities. Detailed soundwork, well crafted rhythm constructions and layers of well used samples without getting lost in the abstract.

I currently hardly make a day without listening to this at least once (26 Minutes total length is not too long here), especially as the concluding track "Cusp" tops it off with a beautiful hypnotic sequence paired with a women narrator and an unusual delayed upbeat which qualifies to me as one of the highlights of this year.