Claudio Chiara & Barbara Raimondi With Fabio Gorlier & Alessandro Maiorino Stars (2020)

The third archival release: a series of atmospheres for the soul. Use as necessary.

On May 15, the nonprofit record label Touched Music released John Tejada Presents Future Stars, a compilation album created by CalArts students in John Tejada’s spring 2020 music class “Advanced Electronic Music Production.” Producer and composer Tejada also contributed the original track “NYC83” to Future Stars.

If long, meditative and hypnotic workouts are your thing, we'd heartily recommend this release from dub techno and abstract ambient specialists Space Of Variants. It comes courtesy of Gradient AKA Igor Arsenjev, a producer whose previous output on Greyscale and U-Cover explored the deeper side of the dub techno spectrum. If anything, the four expansive tracks on "Neural Waves From The Stars" is even deeper, with Arsenjev combining sparse, weighty, minimalist dub and techno rhythms with enveloping ambient chords, warm, slowly shifting melodies and electronic instrumentation that's more tactile and comforting than an extended hug from your nearest and dearest.