One of the exciting aspects of curating a netlabel series is watching new artists emerge into the small, but talent-rich world of ambient music. Joel Sutton, to my knowledge, has not been releasing ambient music for long. Yet, the ambient world has embraced his work and warmly welcomed him. It was just mid-2010 when I first started noticing his podcasts, followed on by his debut release, Iceberg and then in 2011, Flood.
I was therefore quite excited when Joel answered my call for submissions, and even more excited when I heard his submitted tracks. Joel has graced the Complex Silence Series with two mesmerizing ambient longform tracks, light and dark. They fit perfectly into the schema of the Series, yet each track is a beautiful sonic landscape painted in a unique and minimal way and perhaps even more importantly, in a spontaneous way.
Joel writes about his submission:
“The construction of Complex Silence 19 was very much a subconscious process for me. Usually I start a new project with a specific theme in mind. Not this time. Time was short and I had to get down to business. In the end though it was actually quite liberating to just start up my laptop and just let things unfold. Come what may. These two tracks are the result.
Exactly what my mind was up to on those days back in July 2011 I’m not really sure. I recommend that you think of these pieces as sonic abstract paintings with which the listener is free to make their own interpretation. Hence the generic names “One” and “Two”. Play these tracks in whatever part of your life it feels right to do so. Let them stray every which way and, regardless of what you encounter, may you have a pleasant journey.”
For more information about Joel Sutton and his Crystal Dreams releases, visit www.crystaldreamsmusic.net
Kurt Nimmo (aka Fosel) hosts the Sonic Furniture podcast on Stillstream.com every Sunday at 3:00 PM CDT. The podcast concentrates mostly on experimental ambient–from drones to minimalism and ambient noise.
Ok, there was a switch in the airplay for Complex Silence on April 17 and 18.
As it turned out, Allen Goodman, who hosts the weekly Ambitar Radio show on StillStream.com, featured airplay for Complex Silence on his April 17th show. Many thanks, Allen!
Allen’s show is followed by Mark Stolk’s NTNS Radio show, also airing weekly on StillStream.
So since Allen played Complex Silence, Mark’s April 18 show featured a pre-release preview of Midland, which will be released by the Resting Bell netlabel later this month.
So a huge dual thank-you to both Allen and Mark for featuring two my new works, back-to-back, on their respective radio shows!!
And it would certainly be remiss of me to neglect this opportunity to once again thank Darrell Burgan (aka Palancar) and all the ultra-cool folks associated with StillStream for their ongoing support and encouragement!!
Just got word from Mark over at NTNS Radio that the April 18th show will feature airplay for Complex Silence [tmth052].
Here is the playlist from the NTNS blog:
Saturday, April 18 featured albums:
Ayankoko – Dreaxine
Dadazu – Sin of omission
Earwol – Ice & energy playing mills
Ehafh – Spore catcher
Lokua – Water Rock
Nagual art – Sceance 1931 Tales from F.
Oscar Santis – Tatixxa lotell
Philip Wilkerson – Complex silence
Terje Paulsen – Twenty feet for buddha