Best of 2020 and farewell.

Here it is, the last post on this blog my fourth and final best of list. The criteria is fairly simple relying on twenty (+ three honourable mentions) releases I liked. No splitting into genre styles or ranking them numerically. Just simply the art and where to buy it. It's safe to say 2020 has …

Compilation Round up – n5MD / Preserved Sound / Élan Vital / Ambientologist / Gizeh / Home Normal.

Here are a collection of worthy compilations that have come my way. All are thematic in one way or another. Three are charity releases, while others celebrate an anniversary or significant milestone for a label. What makes it all better, is each has it's own style, offering up any possible direction for potential listeners to …

Home Normal / Slowcraft – Tsone / Ian Hawgood + Stijn Hüwels / Ian Hawgood + Phil Tomsett/ Ian Hawgood.

With the year and decade coming to an end, I rush with a flurry of blog posts. Shorter than  most I normally do, there will hopefully be 22! done before the year is over , nicely tying up everything and clearing the decks before next years releases (which has already got close to double digits). …

Tomoyoshi Date+ Stijn Hüwels – hochu-ekki- tou.

After moving house (and countries) Home Normal release their third album for the year with this Japanese and Belgium collaboration. Most defining musical styles are referenced in capital and with a punctuation mark, such as Metal! But the music that encompasses this album would be best defined as minimalism - all lowercase with no need …

Stijn Hüwels – Tomodachi.

There are certain days that pop up as popular release dates for labels and artists. March 22 was one such day that saw the release of the following albums via the ever reliable n5MD, Dauw and flau imprints. There was also the latest album by Lullatone "Music For Museum Gift Shops" which landed in my …

Silent Vigils – Fieldem.

Home Normal have been releasing a series of collaborations in the last year or so. Mostly they have been releases from label boss Ian Hawgood alongside his friends (and notable artists in their own right) Wil Bolton, Danny Norbury and Giulio Aldinucci. However, this time it is a collaboration between James Murray and Stijn Hüwels. …

Illuminine – #2 Reworks.

In the four years since the release of Olan Mill's "Kimale" (d1) , the Gent based label Dauw run by Pieter Dudal with art by Femke Stijbol, has certainly gone onto stake out their own little piece of Ambient territory. With a consistent design aesthetic that has only really changed from the initial 10 releases …