Plutonic Rainbows

Second album from Richie Culver due on Friday. This follow-up release builds on the limited-edition debut by offering a diverse mix of soundscapes. The record shifts seamlessly from the raw, intense noise assault of 'Army Crawl' to the sparkling techno energy of 'Dream Pills', and it also delivers a robust warehouse vibe in 'Docker', reflecting the artist’s expertise as a DJ. The album’s most captivating moments are found in its central tracks, where 'Death Happens Here' creates a sublime ambient tension that hints at transformative euphoria, while 'At Your Worst' presents a rich, gothic ambient atmosphere. Overall, the album takes the listener on a compelling journey through varied electronic landscapes, blending intense energy with refined, immersive textures.

Listening to the latest albums from Antoine Caline, Marco Shuttle, and Rod Modell. Each of these releases delivers a unique sonic experience, with deep, immersive ambient soundscapes that are both meditative and thought-provoking. Caline’s compositions are intricate and emotionally charged, Shuttle explores the organic textures of the jungle with a hypnotic edge, and Modell’s work, as always, is drenched in atmospheric, weathered beauty — perfect for moments of introspection.

I also dedicated time this week to refining and tidying up various projects, including my blog, my prompt refinement application, and my flux image generation templates. Wrapping up this work feels like closing a significant chapter — an intense but rewarding stretch of creativity and problem-solving.

On the reading front, I picked up books from Chris Dixon and Scott Turow. Dixon’s insights into technology and innovation always provide thought-provoking perspectives, while Turow’s mastery of legal thrillers promises a compelling narrative journey. Looking forward to diving into both.

Finally, as the week comes to a close, I noticed that Lightbox wasn’t serving my images from Cloudfront, and I have now resolved the issue.

Although Lightbox is served via a CDN, it introduces significant overheads. Additionally, images aren’t frequently used on the blog, making it unnecessary to load jQuery and other assets every time. To optimise performance, I’ve implemented a conditional script that checks posts for image links and dynamically loads the Lightbox library only when needed. This ensures resources aren’t loaded unnecessarily on pages without images.

Recorded in the coastal town of Hvisten in southeastern Norway, Espen Friberg and Jenny Berger's debut collaborative full-length is a duet on Serge modular and pipe organ that lands somewhere between Kali Malone and BoC.

There's a familiarity to this one, and that's not a bad thing by any means. As soon as the first tones of 'Below A Layer Bend Aside' emerge, there's a feeling of comfort from hearing a well-worn synth alongside the hum of an old church organ. Friberg and Berger think of the instruments as siblings and they're not wrong; they met when Berger contributed to Friberg's debut solo album 'Sun Soon' and enjoyed the process so much that they decided to take it a step further, retreating to the Norwegian coast to take advantage of Hvisten's pipe organ. And although there are plenty of organ-electronic fusions out there right now, there's an undeniable warmth to this one that makes it attention worthy.

Harnessing the relationship between air and electricity, Friberg and Berger often obscure the instruments by blending them so thoroughly. On 'The Sun The Fog', the fluttering Serge tones follow the organ's breathy whine before the two instruments split apart majestically, the pipe organ scattering into dramatic folk phrases and the synth splintering to remind you what you're hearing. Even on 'Bright Colored Armor', where the Serge takes more of a traditional role, circling the kosmische canon with skipping, resonant sequences, the organ replies with majestic Jarre-esque compliments. And they reverse the roles on 'Sibling Horses Heart', with the organ playing synth-like sequences and the Serge accompanying it with quivering drones.