Ambient Downtempo

‘Gaia: Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996-2003)’ is a new in-depth compilation of works by Japanese musician Dream Dolphin. Co-compiled by long-time friend of the label Eiji Taniguchi, it draws from a vast discography of music oscillating between IDM, Pop and Ambient. First appearing on Eiji’s compilation ’Heisei No Oto - Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996)’, this selection of rediscoveries, further shines a light on the singular musician known as Dream Dolphin and her place in Japan’s rich electronic music legacy.

Terra Ambient create a vibrant collection of themes, setting from approaches near to Ambient Tribal, and exploring various melodic and symphonic in a very imaginative manner. Some of the melodies present in the album have a suggestive epic air typical of a swords and sorcery story. To this magic, mysterious touch specially contributes the very successful combination among unearthly atmospheres generated by the synthesizers and the acoustic textures with an archaic taste such as those present in the percussion. In fact, for some of the sampled sounds the artist has counted on the help of Michael Stearns. Another additional collaboration is the one by Jeff Pearce, who has participated with additional guitars in the theme "The Ghost in Me".

Autumn's Apple (2004). While still a wonderful ambient experience, there is a very different feel to Autumn’s Apple that can be traced to Darshan Ambient composer Michael Allison’s love of soul records he collected as a child. That and a very distinct chill-out lounge flavor of the album give this release a fascinating meld of soul-groove and ambient electronica. Autumn’s Apple is a dedication to family, children and love of tradition…

Resonance, a modern masterpiece of soothing ambient soundscapes, was originally released by global elecronica legend Adham Shaikh’s on Sonic Turtle, his own indie label, in 2010.
Most tracks were at first conceived on piano - as Shaikh watched footage for which his music had been commissioned - and then fleshed out with myriad electronic effects to create the spacious sound he wanted to achieve. Through his extensive experience in scoring music to pictures, he noticed similarities between creating subtle, passive atmospheres supportive of the images, and the very essence of ambient music - a genre he had explored in his early recordings during the 1990s, preceding his metamorphosis into a global groove DJ…

Vince le Barde, aka Electrypnose, is probably best known as a top dark trance producer. But Suntrip wants to show, like others did before, that he is a super talented artist, who loves to explore other types of electronic music as well! As a result we offer “Sweet Sadness”, the second ambient album by Electrypnose. The first one, “Subliminal Melancholies”, was released in 2006 and got superb feedback. This sequel gives us more sensitive soundscapes, piano-led melodies, sinister atmospheres and atypical rhythms! “Sweet Sadness” is a vastly diverse album. Naturally some tracks are very chilled, almost rhythmless, while others give way to more traditional Ambient. Then Vince goes forth in his explorations to modern classical music and even electro-influenced downtempo.

The Songs of Distant Earth is the 16th album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1994 by Warner Music. It is based on Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel The Songs of Distant Earth. The album was released as a CD and, shortly afterwards, as an Enhanced CD of which two versions were made. Both versions' initial pressings contained an image of a manta ray flying in front of a planet on the front cover. The cover image was changed to one of a suited man holding a glowing orb with manta rays flying overhead. The second pressing of the enhanced CD contains slightly more multimedia content, including the full version of the "Let There Be Light" video. The CD audio content is the same on all versions of the album. It was also released as a vinyl LP, which has become a rare item.