Coming on the heels of his 8th Spotted Peccary album, 'A Walk in the Shadow Garden,' New Zealand ambient soundscape composer Rudy Adrian's 9th, 'Reflections On A Moonlit Lake' is both familiar and mysterious. Familiar because most of his work evolves from natural landscapes and this is certainly one. Mysterious because these 'Reflections On A Moonlit Lake' are ones you've never actually experienced before, and have an enigmatic aura about theml. Adrian captures the moments sublimely with the perfect blend of electro-acoustic elements to make you really feel like you're looking at reflections on a moonlit lake. This 11 track album is a spiritual successor to Adrian’s early releases 'The Healing Lake,' 'MoonWater' and 'Twilight,' realized as a return to these common themes and inspirations, but with new perspectives that musical maturity can often manifest.

Laid back is an understatement for this album. There is motion in the music, but it is very slow, like clouds drifting across the sky. Nearly as subtle as any "Eno Ambient," these barely there compositions are perfect for relaxation, meditation, and personal rejuvenation. Probably a great sleep aid too. (Listening late at night I fell asleep before the album ended.) I could go on describing the tracks in detail, but truth be told, none are really much different from the other, portraying a consistent mood throughout. It makes not much difference if there is a bird call here, the sound of water there, or a flute with rainfall elsewhere (Last track, "Summer Night Rain"), it is all part of a whole that needs to be taken in album context. (That's not to say you couldn't take a track from the album and add it to your ambient playlist; I would encourage you to do so.) The album's languorous spirit lends to a high replay factor. This could well be Adrian's best album yet.

Deborah Martin and Erik Wøllo are back with another collaboration of hybrid Native American/ambient music after their acclaimed 2009 'Between Worlds' album. I hadn't heard that album previously, so I found it online and listened to it for comparison's sake. What I heard on 'Between Worlds' seemed a lot more episodic, with compositions falling either into the New Age or Native American categories, while 'Kinishba' seemed more integrated between the two. I think if you are looking for Native American "flavor" in ambient music, 'Between Worlds' will likely satisfy you, but if you're looking for a deeper experience, 'Kinishba' provides it, although both albums were created to honor the Apache people and the sacred nature of Native American culture. Like its predecessor, 'Kinishba' was birthed from many years of study, on-site research, recordings, and collaborations with a variety of Apache tribal members, most notably Edgar Perry — who was a significant contributor to the preservation of Apache traditions.

One key difference on 'Kinishba' is more prominent vocalization from Deborah with more lyrical content. There is also a natural drama to this work, enhanced by traditional tribal instrumentation throughout. Martin's voice acts as a spirit guide in “the house of the ancestors,” and the healing power of ceremony. Kinishba, named for an abandoned pueblo on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, is a reflection on this theme, a vivid collection of 10 pieces that open a respectful, authentic window into remembrance ceremonies of the Apache people. It may enhance your listening experience to have some affinity for Native American music, but regardless, this is excellent work melding tribal and ambient in a most authentic way.

By now I imagine most lovers of ambient music who read reviews on this site are familiar with Hollan Holmes. On 'Sacred Places,' his third album for Spotted Peccary, he offers eleven geographic vignettes, with each composition inspired from Holmes’s travels to different locales of deep personal significance. Here, Holmes blends ornate sequencer passages with tribal ambient flourishes that are intricate yet intimate, all to transcribe amazing landscapes in the listener’s mind. "Order Out of Chaos" begins with lightly arpeggiated sequencing that carries into fuller orchestrated ambience. Synth pads swell rising and falling like ocean waves while sort of sub-theme is woven in but the sequencer is still dominant. "Temples of Stone" brings more melodic elements to the ambience, and with the 4/4 bass note underneath, it adds some tension and also an allusion to progressive rock, without being rock at all. On "Bristlecone" the sequencer takes a back set to the melody and the track is all the better for it. "Drawn To An Intangible Energy" seemed somewhat transitory leading into the more fully realized "An Elevated Life." I like the way Holmes builds the composition form the bottom up, making way for Bill Porter's rockin' guitar riffs, a definite highlight of the album.

"Hallowed Ground" brings bass to the foreground as sequencers melodically dance on the top. "Walking Among Kings" has an element of trance to it, but I suppose really walking among kings could put you in a trance. "The Divine Connection" really ups the melodic aspect of the music in a symphonic atmosphere still with the sequencer setting the pace. After that, a lower key track like "Primal Instinct" is in order to chill a bit. The last two tracks- "A Light Unto The World" and "Sacred Places" were more new agey and dynamically disappointing than the rest in my opinion, mellowing out what had the potential to be a really powerful album. Over all though, a rewarding listen. For this album Hollan used a variety of hardware and software instruments, including the Oberheim OB-6 and Moog Prodigy hardware synthesizers as well as Propellerhead Reason and Spectrasonics Omnisphere software synthesizers.

We don't get many motion picture soundtracks for review here at Chain D.L.K., but when we do, and that release comes on vinyl, count me intrigued. That the soundtrack was done by Billy Gould & Jared Blum of The Talking Book (Billy is also the bassist of Faith No More as well as the CEO of Koolarrow Records) is even more intriguing. I haven't seen the film, but according to IMDB, here is the synopsis:

"On 11 August 1999, most of Europe was engrossed in the total solar eclipse, which momentarily enveloped the Earth in darkness. But in Serbia, people were busy barricading themselves in their homes and shelters for fear of the dark. Filmmaker Natasa Urban returns to the eclipse as motif and metaphor in her paradoxically evocative and thoughtful film about her own upbringing during the war in the former Yugoslavia, to which she travels back in THE ECLIPSE to collect stories and anecdotes from her family and acquaintances. A cotton curtain in the wind on a spring day, a lush forest floor. The war is far away - or is it? Shot on analogue 16mm film with an artist's eye for how traces of the past remain deposited in the present - both physically and mentally - Urban creates a rich, existential work of imagery with a quiet, philosophical weight that is rare and precious. As when her father wanders the lush landscapes while you hear him reading from his journals about the wanderings he took while the war was still going on."

I think that it's important to have at least a conceptual understanding of the film even if you haven't seen it, but obviously it would be a richer experience to see it then listen to the soundtrack. I did watch the brief trailer for the film on YouTube and after listening to the soundtrack, I think Gould and Blum have created a soundtrack that transcends the documentary. The soundtrack consists of 18 fairly brief tracks in the experimental electronic/dark ambient vein. The longest track, "Total Solar Eclipse" (5:53) has some dialogue on it. There is also a little folksinging on "The Three Birds." The album is highly atmospheric and without knowing about the film, could easily be taken for a horror, mystery or fantasy soundtrack. There is a bleakness to the soundscapes on the album which isn't surprising, considering the subject matter of the film. Yet, there is a subtle musicality running through many of the tracks. Still, the overall feeling is alienation and gloom, as well as fear at times. While Faith No More fans will consider this a worthy collectible, dark ambient/experimental electronics enthusiasts should reap the richest rewards. Limited Edition vinyl in either black or white/green, or unlimited digital download.

Great Panoptique Winter is the once-a-decade collaboration of Jason Sweeney (Panoptique Electrical, Pretty Boy Crossover) and Richard Adams (The Declining Winter, Hood). This is their second release on the label after the highly acclaimed, and already sold out, debut album 'Wildness' back in 2015. I'm familiar with Sweeney's work, but not so with Adams. This is a mere six tracks in 26 minutes, but I found myself immediately drawn in to the world of the Great Panoptique Winter. There is a remoteness, yet familiarity to the music on 'This Time Alone.' It seems to be nearly the perfect synthesis of vocals in an ambient atmosphere. The best way to describe this is Art Pop, and incredibly engaging Art Pop at that. There isn't a bad or boring track on 'This Time Alone' and my only regret is that it isn't longer. Hope we won't have to wait another decade for a new album by Great Panoptique Winter. A limited edition of 300 handmade and hand-numbered collectible CD-r copies, in the usual Sound In Silence unique quality packaging.