Plutonic Rainbows

Released back in February, The Sentinel is the latest from the American Space Music composer, Jonn Serrie.

Over the past thirty years, Jonn Serrie has been creating some of the most beautiful electronic music, dating back to his Mirimar album And The Stars Go With You, originally released in early 1986. Since then, he has captivated audiences around the world.

Jonn Serrie:

My goal is to dissolve the veil between source and destination, so my audience feels the music the way I do and I feel the music the way they do.

I first heard Jonn Serrie way back in 1988 and his work, particularly the first three albums had a very profound effect on me during that time. Indeed, his debut album still sounds remarkably fresh even after all these years. While music technology has changed greatly in the last thirty years, there is something haunting and timeless in those early works, I feel.

He originally wrote early music for planetariums throughout the 1980s and this is very evident on his debut album as well as Planetary Chronicles Volume 1 & 2 (both which appeared subsequently during the early 90s).

His latest album takes the listener on a sonic journey from touring the abandoned, empty starships endlessly orbiting some far-away star towards new worlds as yet undiscovered. A fantastic trip through time and space.

Jonn Serrie Discography

Coming quite quickly after last year's Departed Glories, the Norwegian electronic artist has a mini-album called The Petrified Forest due on May 12th.

A single, Black Mesa was recently released and will give listeners a feeling of what to expect. The new work sounds very promising.

Haunting debut album from Kelly Lee Owens, brimming with ethereal, floating vocals and almost sensual European house & techno. She has previous worked with Jenny Havl and Daniel Avery and they both appear on this album too.

A striking new album that deserves attention for the dizzying set of styles apparent on this debut piece. It's available as a digital download in the usual places and on Audio CD and vinyl as well.

Totally recommended listening.

College is the alias of David Grellier, a French electronic artist who contributed one of his songs on the soundtrack to Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 film Drive.

The album is a collection of film scores that are highly evocative - so much so that listening to these tracks, I kept wishing for some visual accompaniment. There are lots of slow-moving synth pads and plenty of space around them for the listener to fill in the gaps. Many of the tracks draw on 90s sounds in the fashion of Mark Snow and Angelo Badalamenti.

Shanghai is available on Audio CD in addition to vinyl from the Invada label.

Long-awaited album from this esteemed electronic artist. The tracks on the new album have an electro-acoustic feel and carry with them a ghostly melancholy that is always just out of reach.

Bleep Records:

The key to Sakamoto's genius lies in his ability to transform the sounds of his instruments into objects that sound like they are being transmitted from some far off land, from the Monolake rebreather style heart beat of Zure through the haunted rainfall that cloaks the late night wonderings of Walker, the sounds within async are further testament if any were needed of the acute musical genius of Sakamoto.

The new album is available on vinyl as well as Audio CD and 24Bit 96kHz digital from Japanese site, Ototoy.

This album dates all the way back to 1984. Despite that, I've only just got around to listening to it. It's a pleasant enough collection of strings and jazz that caused quite a stir back in the day. During the early 1980s, this would have appeared in many stores under the New Age banner. I remember seeing it mentioned in many magazines of the day as an essential album for relaxation and so forth. In many way, it really was a different world back then.

It also became a staple for the Japanese fashion house, Comme des Garçons - who used various works by the artist for their runway shows. Séigén Ono went on to compose albums of music specifically for the shows.

In truth, this album falls in with the Windham Hill collection and sounds a lot like George Winston and other artists of that era. Gentle piano appears on 'Manhattan' and although not typical of the album as a whole, it's a pleasant piece.

These days, albums like Seigén are largely forgotten but often find a new if somewhat strange after-life in the Vaporwave genre.

Seigén is available on Audio CD as a Japanese Import.

Aaron Dilloway is an artist still very new to me. He is also someone who has seemingly no understanding of, or interest in, the supposed limits of experimental music.

The Gag File his first new album since Modern Jester in 2012 is an abstract, visceral selection of experimental electronics and vocal manipulations that make for uneasy listening.

I don't really know what to make of The Gag File but absolutely nothing on this record is typical or expected.

You can pick up the vinyl from Bleep and digital editions are available from the artist's Bandcamp page.

Brand new three-track EP from Lone sees him continue to develop his own style. Crush Mood takes its cues from 90s rave while From A Past Life traverses darker terrain in a more satisfying way than elsewhere on this release.

You can order the new EP from most specialist retailers including Bleep & Bandcamp.

Bleep Records:

His first music since the release of his 7th album, Bibio hooks up with collaborator, Olivier St. Louis (Olivier Daysoul) for an EP brim filled with discoed delights and funky flecked rhythms. The title is tongue in cheek of sorts, with the lyrical content covering confused loves, blurred lines, unnecessary stresses and lonely nights. Serious only in the feat of love. The terrifically groovy guitar playing is the highlight of ‘Why So Serious’ though it is almost equally matched by St. Louis’ excellent vocal delivery, which glides from a pained whisper to a wailing chanteuse in seconds.

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