Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell, the Memphis‑born trumpeter and composer who studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen, pioneered a genre he called “fourth world,” merging electronic experimentation with global musical vocabularies. His 1977 album Vernal Equinox fused synthesizers, world rhythms, and jazz improvisation, while the 2009 release Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street offers airy, free‑form live recordings reminiscent of Miles Davis’s In A Silent Way. A recent one‑hour NTS set curated by Roadkill Ikebana showcases tracks spanning Hassell’s three‑decade career, reaffirming his lasting impact on ambient and experimental music.
Angine De Poitrine
Quebec‑based duo Angine de Poitrine, consisting of guitarist Khn and drummer Klek, has issued two concept albums in rapid succession: Vol. I in 2024 and Vol. II just two weeks ago. Their music fuses microtonal guitar/bass, Arabic maqam scales, math‑rock structures and...
Across the Horizon Ep. 62: Balmorhea
In this episode, host Bob Holmes chats with the instrumental trio Balmorhea about their recent activities, including a new minimalist track "InScape" and an upcoming tour of China. The band reflects on their creative process, the influence of early inspirations...
Ave Grave
Ave Grave, an American electronic musician now based in Berlin, creates ambient music that emphasizes texture through field recordings, piano, synths, and baritone guitar. His latest project is a 61‑minute, vocal‑free collaboration with San Francisco‑based Unlearn, while his 2022 album Field...
Nadia Struiwigh (Interview)
Dutch electronic musician Nadia Struiwigh released her new album IKIGAI about a month ago, a synth‑driven record that shifted direction after her father’s death to capture emotional honesty. The album was crafted using modular synths, a Push 3 controller and Ableton,...
The Budos Band
The Budos Band, a nine‑member nonet from Staten Island, emerged from a 2004 Brooklyn recording session and draws heavily on Afro‑beat, funk, psychedelic rock, and later stoner metal. Their self‑titled debut in 2005 paid homage to Fela Kuti with vibrant brass,...
Deniz Cuylan
Deniz Cuylan, a Turkish‑American multi‑instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, blends psychedelic classical textures with post‑jazz and electro‑pop roots. He has scored multiple Netflix series and recently highlighted two solo instrumental releases: the 35‑minute "Rings of Juniper" (2022) and the 27‑minute...
Casiopea
The blog spotlights Casiopea, a pioneering Japanese jazz‑fusion quartet formed in Tokyo in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro and bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, later joined by keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya and drummer Akira Jimbo. Their self‑titled debut (1979) and the same‑year release...
Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Astatke, the Ethiopian multi‑instrumentalist who pioneered Ethio‑jazz, was the first African student at Berklee College of Music and later blended jazz with traditional Ethiopian folk. His early recordings from the late 1960s and early 1970s are compiled in Ethiopiques,...
Pop Ambient 2026 (Various Artists)
Kompakt released Pop Ambient 2026, the 26th edition of its long‑running ambient compilation series. Curated by co‑founder Wolfgang Voigt, the album features 18 tracks from 19 artists and runs just over 101 minutes. The collection debuted in December and is available across...
Kaytranada
Kaytranada, a Haitian‑Canadian producer raised in Montreal, began crafting beats in FL Studio in 2006, drawing on Madlib, J Dilla and A Tribe Called Quest. He coined the term “boogie music” to describe his hybrid of hip‑hop, electronic and R‑B sounds, earning...
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker, the Kansas City‑born alto saxophonist who died at 34, pioneered bebop in the 1940s, reshaping jazz’s harmonic and rhythmic language. The blog spotlights two recent releases: the historic 1953 live concert “Jazz at Massey Hall,” featuring Parker with...
Across the Horizon Ep. 61: Marine Eyes
In Episode 61 of Across the Horizon, host Bob Holmes chats with Cynthia Bernard (Marine Eyes), a prolific ambient musician and curator championing women in the genre. They discuss Bernard’s collaborative project Almost an Island, her work curating the Across...
Ricardo Villalobos
The blog post spotlights Chilean‑German DJ Ricardo Villalobos, noting his exile from Pinochet‑era Chile to Germany and his rise as a minimal techno pioneer. It highlights his recent 25‑minute "Swamp" remix of Mohammad Reza Mortazavi’s piece and revisits his 2006...
Meg Bowles
The post spotlights Meg Bowles, an American ambient composer who transitioned from classical flute studies at Northwestern and Boston University to an MBA at Columbia and a stint on Wall Street before returning to music. Drawing on Jungian psychoanalysis, she...