SEQUENCE5 - Free compilation from Futuresequence

Futuresequence has a series of compilations showcasing great ambient, drone and experimental electronic music from a wide array of artists, some you may know already and others you certainly may not know yet. SEQUENCE5 was released at the tail end of last year and they were kind enough to include a track of mine n3122.

Click image for link to Bandcamp page (FREE download in FLAC, LAME V0, 320CBR etc).

Yes, that is correct. 42 tracks entirely for FREE. Some excellent names in there and a lot to look out for. Moon Zero has an EP titled 'Tombs' and that should be dropping on Futuresequence at the end of the month. Keep an eye out for that one.

-Sleep Cycles

My Favourite Records - 2012 Edition

Firstly, let me say that 2012 was an incredible year for music.  The volume of exceptional records put out by so many great labels during the year was almost innumerable, and picking a top however many albums isn't the easiest job in the World with that in mind. To tell you the truth, I've been putting it off for a month now and to keep it simple, I decided to limit my list to a Top 10 and then supplement that list with another list [of Honourable Mentions]. Here goes:

Top 10

01. Taylor Deupree - Faint [12k]

02. High Aura'd - Sanguine Futures [Bathetic]

03. Lee Gamble - Diversions 1994-1996 [PAN]

04. Bee Mask - Vaporware/Scanops [Room40]

05. Brambles - Charcoal [Serein]

06. Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan - Vanity Fair [Recital]

07. Recondite - On Acid [Acid Test]

08. Billow Observatory - Billow Observatory [felte]

09. En/Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Blood Split [Constellation Tatsu]

10. Ian Hawgood - The Shattered Light [Koen Music]

Honourable Mentions

Here is just a brief (but very excellent) selection of the remainder of my favourite albums from the year just passed. No particular order here (also no formatting). Everyone understands how Google works by now anyways...

Christoph Berg - Paraphrases*

Black Elk - Sparks

Ricardo Donoso - Assimilating The Shadow

Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games

Gabriel Saloman - Adhere

Drape - An Idea And Its Map

Wolf Maps - Landforms

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Bring Me The Head Of Kyle Bobby Dunn

Rain Drinkers - Yesodic Helices

Pulse Emitter - Aeons

Simon Scott - Below Sea Level

Troy Schafer - Evening Song Awaken

Shed - The Killer

Celer - Without Retrospect, The Morning

Hakobune - All the Other Hearts I Knew

Offthesky and Man Watching The Stars – Afar, Farewell

Willamette – Always In Postscript

Sparkling Wide Pressure – Grandfather Harmonic

Vikki Jackman - A Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring

Ex Confusion - Embrace

Jason Lescalleet - Songs About Nothing

SaffronKeira - A New Life

*Christoph Berg - Paraphrases gets the prestigious Sleep Cycles "Best Artwork And Packaging 2012" award. So satisfying. Facture always does a wonderful job.



-Sleep Cycles

An update

The last few weeks have been busy. I travelled down to Kingsbridge in England for my grans funeral. My father's side of the family all live down there and we would go to Devon each year for our family holiday. It was good to be back "home".

I forgot how beautiful it is. Very peaceful, very laid back.


Sun Dogs and I got a good bit of studio time in for some gigs we were playing. We managed to bash our this crude recording of our live set, with the help of our pal and excellent drummer Gordon Duncan Jr. :

http://soundcloud.com/sleep-cycles/sleep-cycles-sun-dogs-live





Aside from working, gigging and travelling, I've been putting in a good bit of music listening. Here are a couple of recommendations:


Nicholas Szczepanik - Please Stop Loving Me

http://nszcz.bandcamp.com/album/please-stop-loving-me

A wonderful drone record that was released last year. It reminds me of Celer. Very beautiful but it holds a deep undertone of sadness and upset throughout the whole single track nearing the 50 minute mark.


Markus Mehr - On

http://markusmehr.bandcamp.com/album/on

Samples, field recordings, ambience and distorted drones. Markus Mehr is making some exciting sound art of late. Highly recommended stuff. Again, very beautiful music. On is the second of three albums in a set trilogy by Markus Mehr.

Phys Mem - 18/04/2012

http://subcity.org/shows/physicalmemory/69549/

Our last show, which we had to sadly cut short, featured new material from En and Mike Shiflet as well as a whole bunch of other delights like Alva Noto's Xerrox Vol. 2, Andy Stott and Nils Frahm.

Go have a little listen.

VA - April Mixtape 2012 - Ambient (compiled by Sleep Cycles)

01. Sparkling Wide Pressure - Looking To Remember
02. Eluvium - All The Sails
03. John Chantler - Untitled 4
04. Radiant Husk - Natoma St.
05. Skyramps - Dripping Water Hollows Out A Stone
06. David Wenngren & Christopher Bissonnette - In His Ghostly Heart
07. Pulse Emitter - Pangaea
08. Burning Star Core & Prurient - Gambling Addiction
09. Nate Young - Collapse
10. The Caretaker - Approaching the Outer Limits of Our Solar System
11. Bas van Huizen - Startersfarce
12. Secret Abuse - Futility
13. Stars Of The Lid - Goodnight



"This one starts on the nicer side of things and has a pretty sinister, eerie, nighttime-y kind of end to it. I included a little more noise and weirdness. A bit of contrast never hurt anyone! Hope you all enjoy. Happy droning." - Sleep Cycles

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Physical Memory back on the air.

http://www.subcity.org/shows/physicalmemory/c6ce7/

After a year long hiatus, Phys Mem returns to Subcity. We're on air every two weeks, Tuesday nights Midnight until 2am.

This is our first show back in a looooooong time. This time we have a new set up: Charlie on the laptop, and I take to the decks for vinyl only. We're still putting a major focus on Ambient, Drone, experimental electronics and all that good, weird stuff.

Track list from last night is listed on the episode page.

Cheers,
Sleep Cycles

VA - March Mixtape 2012 - Ambient (compiled by Sleep Cycles)

01. SleepResearch_Facility - 79°S 83°W
02. Boards of Canada - Head from Telegraph Line
03. Sleepy Town Manufacture & Unit 21 - You'll Never Know
04. Nest - The Helwick
05. Belong - Vowel
06. Barn Owl & Infinite String Ensemble - Levitation
07. Pygmy Lush - Red Room Blues
08. Keith Berry - You Left Me Behind - But I Can Swim.
09. Higuma - Crystal Harvest
10. Mist - Untitled
11. Sundrips - Just A Glimpse
12. Alexander Turnquist - The REM Cycle - Dream Phase



"March transmission. Happy droning!" - Sleep Cycles



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VA - February Mixtape 2012 - Ambient (compiled by Sleep Cycles)

01.  Celer - Anticline Rests; Inertia Brace Yourself
02.  36 - The Box (Closed Mix)
03.  Sean McCann - Aerial Saphire Show
04.  En - Polaris (the Celestial Arc)
05.  The World On Higher Downs - Her Static Will
06.  Pale Blue Sky - Interlude (Drift)
07.  Father - Dyatlov Pass
08.  Marble Sky - Bell Ringing Softly
09.  Alva Noto - Phaser Acat 1
10.  Sawako - Wind Shower Particle
11.  Jannick Schou - My Life, Grainy
12.  Lee Noble - Powers Of Ten
13.  Kevin Hufnagel - Early Light
14.  Sam Goldberg - White Out
15.  Infinite Body - Drive Dreams Away



"A mixtape for February. It is sort of grey and constantly miserable around this time of the year. The dark is still longer than the few hours of sunlight that we get to see yet you know that it will get lighter and warmer and brighter as each day passes. That is sort of the theme I went for with this mixtape. Lots of gloomy with a shy bit of hope creeping through. I love each and every track. Enjoy!" - Sleep Cycles



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