Arthur King - Ned's Mystery Machine Vol. 1

"Ned's Mystery Machine Vol. 1" was recorded (as usual) fully improvised on August 23, 2024, during Ned's Mystery Machine radio show, which is broadcast on KXLU (88.9 FM) from Los Angeles. With the AK collective reduced to Chris Avitabile and Peter Walker, the album offers an intimate 33-minute experience that transcends leftfield ambient, delicate drones, and new-age mysticism - potentially taking you, the listener, on a mindful, cosmic voyage around the galaxy, if you dare to put on your headphones and close your eyes. Fantastic effort, as always from this crew. Don't miss out, and grab it from AKP Recordings here.

Elijah Jamal Asani - ,,, As Long As I Long To Memorise Your Sky ,,,

I posted about this album's single a few months back, and then sort of forgot about its premiere. Although I've lately been covering mostly the darker edges of electronic music, sometimes a glimmer of light is needed to put everything into perspective - and EJA's "As Long..." LP hits all the right spots. Conceived during his artist residency at the Grand Canyon, following a revelation-like encounter with the park's nature, Elijah translated and documented his impressions into a blissful dialogue between the whispers of flora, the calls of fauna, and the composer himself. The final result amounts to 38 minutes of lush ambient soundscapes and comfortingly familiar field recordings that feel meditative, inspiring, and consoling.

You can purchase the vinyl here, and stream the whole record down below.

Elijah Jamal Asani - Thirtyonecircles /// Soft Shoulder(s) Confluence Near Second Mesa

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First single from the upcoming album ",,, as long as i long to memorise your sky ,,," from Portland-based ambient composer Elijah Jamal Asani. The longplay will see the light of day thanks to the fine folks at AKP Recordings, with a release date set to May 2nd. The two-track video above presents us with a spiritual journey told through the most delicate sounds and whispers of nature. Blissful and relaxing stuff. You can pre-order the record here.

Nickolas Mohanna - Night Horses // video

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Hypnotic video single from musician Nickolas Mohanna, whose new album "Speaker Rotations" will be released tomorrow, March 7th, on AKP Recordings. This makes me feel like I'm on a boat drifting the Amazon River, sailing towards the unknown.

Arthur King - UMN (Five Summer Stories)

Arthur King and the AKP crew triumph once again with their latest instalment of the Unknown Movie Night series, this time live-rescoring the surf cult classic "Five Summer Stories". It still blows my mind that, for the purpose of this event, neither the audience nor the band knows what movie will be played until it begins. For "UMN (Five Summer Stories)", the AK line-up consisted of Mark Kimbrell, David Ralicke, Chuck Soo-Hoo, Joel Virgel, and Peter Walker. The result is a leftfield, trippy, ambient-like odyssey, occasionally sprinkled with vocalisations that enhance the mysterious mood of the recording. It's easy to get lost in those tracks, I'd love to experience this particular event/score in person.

Get the album on limited edition tapes here, and stream it below.

YAI - Sky Time

The ever expanding AKP Recordings universe gains another gem in its crown, thanks to the captivating NY-based duo YAI (David Lackner and John Thayer). Their new album "Sky Time" is an alluring blend of woodwinds, ambient soundscapes and leftfield beats that transports you to a late-night jazz club somewhere in the solar system. YAI's lush fluidity in moving between various moods and sub-genres gives the album a warm, dreamy, and reassuring feel, effortlessly guiding the listener through their astral plane. This wonderful sonic adventure somehow reminds me of the Japanese Hydeout Productions label, though it's less beat-oriented and more spaced-out and jazz-focused. A future go-to classic for all the vaporwave heads.

You can buy the album on vinyl here, and stream it in full below.

Omar Ahmad - Inheritance • Remixed

Omar Ahmad's debut LP "Inheritance" from last year got a remix treatment and release via the ever-reliable AKP Recordings. "Inheritance • Remixed" boasts eight spaced out tracks, featuring reworks from Sam O.B., Tammy Lakkis, Ki Oni, Solpara, Otodojo, Andrew Charles Edman, Kirin McElwain and Val Bess. The opening edit by Sam O.B. stole me straight away with it's pusling hip-hop instrumental in the vein of AFTA-1. Deconstructed and almost-meditative minimal beat from ACE brings to mind Leaving Records' classics, while Kirin's take on "Sham Oasis" feels like it was made for a theatre stage. The album is full of twists and turns in terms of genres, so make sure to give this one a go - it'll be worth it.

Get the digital here, and stream the album in full below.

Arthur King - UMN (The Red Turtle)

Arthur King collective performed "UMN (The Red Turtle)" last year in May at The River in Los Angeles, and thanks to AKP Recordings the whole event can be now re-witnessed on tape and Bandcamp. The improvised performance, inspired by Studio Ghibli's 2016 animated fantasy The Red Turtle, was broadasted in a quadraphonic mode, letting the audience immerse themselves into this experience in full. Carla Azar, David Ralicke, M.A. Tiesenga, Senon Williams and Peter Walker rep the Artur King mantle here, delievering a subtle, minimal score that will lure you their world of slow burning jazz. Hypnotizing.

Grab one of the tapes here, and stream it in full below.

Carlos Ferreira - Isolationism

Carlos Ferreira is an experimental guitarist and composer based in Porto Alegre, Brazil, whose work explores the relationship between sound, space, time, and memory. His most recent album "Isolationism", released last October via AKP Recordings, harvests fruits of his research and encapsules them in the form of eight compositions. From delicate guitar strumming backed with escapist field recordings and meditative drone vibrations, through warped library tones that sound like they crawled from a detuned music box, all the way to calming ambient piano pieces and dark-tinted droning waves, Ferreira manages to balance and form all those influences into a surprisingly cohesive record. It's a slow burning album that reveals and rewards with every subsequent listen.

You can buy the tapes here, and stream the album below.

Dave Harrington, Max Jaffe, Patrick Shiroishi - Dance Of The White Shadow And Golden Kite

AKP Recordings returns with what may be one of their strongest offerings ever, a mesmerising free jazz collaboration between Dave Harrington, Max Jaffe and Patrick Shiroishi, which radiates with magical chemistry from the very first notes of their debut single "Dance Of The White Shadow And Golden Kite". It heralds the upcoming album "Speak, Moment", an entirely improvised affair between three musicians that seem to be at the peak of their careers. If the rest of the album is as good as "Dance..." we may have a classic on our hands. The album is out on March 8th and can be pre-ordered here.

Omar Ahmad - Inheritance

"Inheritance" is the debut album from Palestinian-American composer and producer Omar Ahmad. I shared his video single a while ago, and today I finally had a proper session with the whole longplay, which saw the light of the day in tape and digital format a month ago thanks to the ever amazing AKP Recordings. And what a stunning record it is. Omar elegantly threads together a warm collage of downtempo grooves, organic trip-hop beats, subtle glitchtronica and ambient atmospheres, taking his listener on an exploratory journey from Brooklyn to the Middle East. "Cendre" from the Fennesz Sakamoto duo as well as DJ Muqata'a's works are quoted by the press release as some of Omar's auditory spirit animals, but I can also recognise some nods to the Hydeout Productions catalogue too - Emancipator and Jemapur in particular come to mind while listening to the album. Overall, a beautiful experience form start to finish.

Grab the cassettes here, and stream the album below.

Omar Ahmad - Lapses // video

First video single from Palestinian-American composer, producer, DJ and sound artist Omar Ahmad, promoting his upcoming album "Inheritance" on AKP Recordings. Unfortunately YT censored the video so you have to click here to watch it. You can pre-order the album on tape here.

Arthur King - Changing Landscapes (Zompopa)

Arthur King's Changing Landscapes series may be one of my favourite experimental album series in recent years. Their latest record "Zompopa", inspired by a unique species of ant found in the rainforests of Costa Rica, is a sonic response to this tropical microcosm. Featuring an array of field recordings collected on the ground by AK's Peter Walker, and with support from musicians David Ralicke and Mia Doi Todd, the record is a slow-burning organic odyssey that finds the collective at their most meditative and raw. Immaculately mixing ambient, drone, free jazz and musique concrète, Arthur King managed to craft a soundtrack for the tiniest of forest spirits.

"Zompopa" is out now on AKP Recordings, and can be purchased here. Stream it below.

John Atkinson - Energy Fields

John Atkinson is an ambient explorer and musique concrète practitioner based in Brooklyn, New York who made his name in the noughties as a member of the experimental rock band Aa. In recent years his output is mainly focused on recording and processing field recordings, curated and shared via his Bandcamp page. Most recently he released a collaborative album with Patrick Taylor as East Portal on AKP Recordings. AKP actually decided to nurture this relationship and put out his latest solo record "Energy Fields", a sonic response to our collective dependence on fossil fuels and overdue transition to renewables. Recorded during Atkinson's residency at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming – the largest coal-producing state in America, the sounds that form the four compositions on this album serve as a portal to a new tomorrow. Life signals of the local habitats are contrasted with pulsing heartbeats of the machines, while industrial drones, bleeps and hisses are arranged into ambient-like pieces that could easily serve as an opening sequence to Blade Runner. The result is sublime, slightly anxious but always captivating.

You can buy "Energy Fields" here, and stream it below.

Space Between Clouds - Spiral

David Ralicke returns to AKP Recordings with "Spiral" - a six hour long project that collects ten drones used as building blocks for his debut self-titled album I reviewed in May. Presented here in both twenty minute and fifty-five minute variations, the slow burning tones drift smoothly like a sleepy spaceship without fuel, lost in the minimal cosmic void. I doubt anyone will be able to digest this behemoth in one sitting, even the press info says to use it instead to "meditate, clean your dishes, or watch your tea brew in the morning sun", and that's perfectly fine - the beauty of such a unique recording is that it has an infinite replay value that can be appreciated without worrying about the track order or even the classic song structure. Just press play and zone out.

"Spiral" is out on Bandcamp here, you can also enjoy it by streaming it down below.

Arthur King - UMN (Koyaanisqatsi)

On the back of the excellent "Mina Las Pintadas" LP, AKP Recordings is ready to unleash the new recording of the Arthur King collective. "UMN (Koyaanisqatsi)" is the next iteration in their ongoing Unknown Movie Night series (remember the fantastic "Nosferatu" tribute?) and includes contributions from musicians David Ralicke, Joel Virgel, Peter Jacobson, Peter Walker, and Wally Ingram. I have to admit that I haven't seen "Koyaanisqatsi" yet, although I've heard a ton of praise for its original score by Philip Glass. But even without the visual aids, I must admit that the Artur King's sonic response to the movie can be appreciated as a standalone piece of music. Listening to this live improvisation feels like trekking across mountain tops with clouds below your feet, a truly ethereal and I dare say spiritual experience. The fact that this score was recorded over a course of one night makes it even more amazing.

The album is out now and can be purchased here. Stream below.

Brown Calvin - Dimension // Perspective

I absolutely adore AFTA-1's intergalactic songwriting, DJ Mitsu the Beats's soulfulness and unpredictability of Flying Lotus, so when a guy like Brown Calvin comes along, creatively and effortlessly blending those influences into a beatmaking coctail made of spaced out keys, wild drum patterns and jazzy swag, you have to pay attention. Back in 2008 Japanese cult label Circulation dropped a genre-defining compilation called "New Worlds", followed up by a series of 5 incredible 7" singles from the likes of Ras G, Mono/Poly and Super Smoky Soul - both perfectly summed up everything that was happening on the international beats stage at the time, and helped to define an era. After spending numerous nights listening to "Dimension // Perspective" LP, I can totally imagine Brown Calvin would have a safe spot on this compilation, his arrangements and finesse presented here are marvelous. Dusty grooves, abstract beats, smoky atmospheres, and the Rhodes... If you like Brainfeeder, Jazzy Sport, All City or Leaving Records - it's a must. Future classic.

The album can be purchased from bandcamp here. Stream below.

Arthur King - Changing Landscapes (Mina Las Pintadas)

"Mina Las Pintadas" is the fourth LP in the Changing Landscapes series of sonic explorations and collaborations by the Arthur King collective. Led by Peter Walker, the group's source of inspiration for this album was a copper mine in Chile, where they gathered sounds and moods that shaped this record. And what a fantastic record it is, six pieces that fluidly shapeshift between meditative ambience, cosmic tones, jazzy chaos and psych playfulness - all perfectly stitched together with a cinematic attention to detail, yet still feeling organic and pure. "Cobre", like a snakecharmer got me hooked in particular with its pulsing tempo, hypnotising saxophone work and that stealthy drone flowing in the background. Amazing.

The album is out now on vinyl which you can order here. Stream it below.

Brown Calvin - Dimension // Perspective

Brown Calvin is Andre Burgos, beatmaker and producer currently based in Portland, OR. After a string of beat-tapes published via his bandcamp, as well as an EP released as Brown Calculus (alongside Vaughn Kimmons), he is now set to debut a solo album on vinyl thanks to folks at AKP Recordings. The record "Dimension // Perspective" is set to come out on August 26th, and is being promoted with single "P e r s p e c t I v e 44". The track is a slower jam that brings to mind dreamy productions from AFTA-1, but with a dusty feel that takes me back to some of Madlib's jazz-oriented side-projects.

Space Between Clouds - Space Between Clouds

Space Between Clouds is the new solo project from Los Angeles based multi-instrumentalist David Ralicke, whose CV boasts collaborations with Madlib's Sound Directions, Quantic and M83 among many many other amazing artists. His self-titled LP, which dropped today via AKP Recordings, is an otherworldly journey through desolate ambient and droning synth soundscapes that come to life thanks to the finely selected accompaniment of saxophone, flugelhorn and clarinet. Smooth tones glide effortlessly throughout this cosmic odyssey, allowing the listener to fully immerse themselves in this uncertain, slightly suspenseful yet oddly familiar world of sounds. Imagine being alone on Saturn, watching in awe the sun slowly hiding behind the horizon - this is the soundtrack to that moment. Wonderful album.

You can order the album here, and stream it below.