Mark McGuire - Cool Cloudscapes of The Four Directions Vol. 1 (Bandcamp Self Release)

The new age of new age music is upon us. Now I was never a fan of the whole new age vibe, perhaps it's just me getting old or possibly this has more balls or substance than your run of the mill, well meaning but far too glassy eyed, wishy washy new age fare? Possibly I'm increasingly feeling the need to decompress from modern living - the constant bombardment of information, the dissatisfaction with global elites be them media, political, business or military, the pace of change and the unsustainability of it all? Possibly it's because this album is sold on Bandcamp rather than a web site that looks like it was designed in 2002? Perhaps I just need to buy a house in the country? Whatever - this album is helping.

Blue Velvet Revisited by Tuxedomoon / Cult With No Name

Blue Velvet is one of the best films to come out of the 80's, maybe even better than Ghostbusters and Top Gun. Interestingly David Lynch invited a young German filmmaker, Peter Braatz, to document the making of the film giving him unrestricted behind the scenes access which he took full advantage of to produce his documentary of Lynch at his peak and this classic moment of cinema history.

What makes this soundtrack more interesting than most is the fact that Braatz was convinced the score should dictate the film and wouldn't start the film until the score had been finished. To this end he enlisted one of his favourite bands he figured would be perfect for the job - Cult With No Name who then enlisted Tuxedomoon to also contribute. For good measure Braatz also threw in a track from artist, educator, original singer of Ultravox and general music legend John Foxx.


The creative process was also slightly unusual in that the groups decided not to reference or be influenced by the original Angelo Badalamenti score and understandably so as it is a Braatz rather than a Lynch project. Recording by the two groups was done separately in Brussels, Mexico and London and we can safely concur that they more than obtained their goal of producing a dreamy, reflective and quietly evocative soundtrack.

The score is all about mood rather than style and is the sum of many parts. Partly neo-classical, part ambient, part electronic with the odd man out being "A Candy Coloured Clown" an uptempo cinematic techno psych jazz fusion with hints of Underground Resistance's, "Knights Of The Jaguar" that occurs half way through to momentarily rouse you from the otherwise sedate, contemplative nature of the rest of the album.



We can't recommend this album highly enough and it's another fantastic addition to Crammed Discs wonderful MADE TO MEASURE composer series of releases which we suggest that you investigate.

T_A_M - In Tandem

So we stumbled across this album today, thanks to a Bandcamp purchase by Philip Sherburn that popped up on our feed. We'd never heard of this Aberdeen based producer but are overjoyed he's now on the radar.

So how about the music? Well it's hard to pin down. Experimental for sure with a unifying melodic thread running throughout the electronic compositions. At times post grime at others ambient and occasionally neo-classical and sometimes all of them at once. Really you are best of having a listen and making up your own mind.

Can't help thinking he looks like a nice chap from the photo as well :)




If you want to find out a bit more then check out his Facebook, Twitter or Soundcloud below