During sleep, the self is simultaneously present and absent. Separated from sensory experiences and judgements, such impressions are processed. Despite their gentle and sometimes surreal nature, these tracks were not necessarily composed with sleep or dreams in mind; however, their dark ambient textures are inspired by memories, sounds or discoveries.
51-minute mix with Brian Eno, David Toop, Monolake, Thomas Köner and others.
Featured cover art: Brian Eno – Ambient 4 (On Land)
Playlist
Brian Eno – Lizard Point
The opener for the final release in Brian Eno’s Ambient series is a reference to the southernmost tip of Great Britain, high above the sea. With the album Ambient 4 (On Land), Eno attempts to translate what has already been achieved in painting into music: the creation of a figurative environment. (1982, Editions EG)
Alva Noto – Xerrox 2ndevol
Inspired by childhood memories of films from the 1970s, Carsten Nicolai’s album Xerrox Vol. 3 is a personal reflection on dreams or, in the composer’s words, a ‘cinematic emotion of a soundtrack to a film that actually does not exist in reality’. (2015, Raster-Noton)
Thomas Köner – Manhattan (Hour Five)
Thomas Köner’s album La Barca conveys a Zen-like sense of eternity and is a sonic cartography of the places the composer has visited. The title refers to a vehicle used by the sun god Ra in ancient Egyptian mythology: his solar barque crossed the underworld every night to reappear in the east every morning. (2009, Fario)
Osso Exótico – Rota de Inverno
Slightly surreal and detached ambience by the drone music project from Portugal. (1994, Sub Rosa)
Monolake – Allure Publison
From the dystopian cinematic electro-epic Archaeopteryx, based on the story about a bird-like dinosaur living in the age of AI. (2020, Imbalance Computer Music)
Biosphere – Out Of The Cradle
Imaginary music of a medieval queen hiding from invaders in the forests near Krakow, Poland. (2016, Smalltown Supersound)
David Toop – Ancestral Beings, Sightless By Their Own Dust
Guided by listening and with no particular route in mind, David Toop finds ways to arrange a large variety of old recordings from his archive. (2016, Room 40)
Material – The End Of Words
Mysterious Bedouin rhythms meet William S. Burroughs reading laconically from his 1987 novel The Western Lands. (1989, Virgin)
David Wojnarowicz and Doug Bressler – American Dreamtime
The work of David Wojnarowicz and his former bandmate was presented via a cassette player buried in sand during Wojnarowicz’s installation Burning Child at the Gracie Mansion Gallery, which was painted black and lit with strings of Christmas lights for the occasion. (1984, Tellus)
Gas – Rausch 1
Based on childhood memories of walks through the forests near Cologne, Wolfgang Voigt has been exploring German cultural heritage under his pseudonym Gas since 1995. (2018, Kompakt)
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