A Recasting of Indices
*Limited edition of 170 hand-numbered copies. All include an additional art card on 300gr satin-paper. Packaged in clear vinyl sleeve with folded insert* "The first thirteen years of my life were inscribed, in part, by movement. During these formative years, our family relocated on a nearly annual basis, each shift in space uncovering a new stratum of surroundings, faces, and questions of belonging. Despite the magnitude of these upheavals, it wasn’t until recently that I began to question how t…
Void Sessions
*Limited edition of 180 hand-numbered copies. All include an additional art card on 350gr satin-paper* "“Void Sessions” is an immersive sonic experience aiming to explore the boundaries of the listener’s auditory and emotional perception. The piece delves into the concept of emptiness, both in its physical and metaphorical sense, inviting the listener to immerse themselves in a sonic space where the boundaries between the tangible and intangible blur.
“Void Sessions” is a sonic piece produced i…
10th Annual Report - Anniversary Edition
"Unexplained Sound turns 10! Ten years of aural disorientation and exploration in the field of the most experimental and adventurous music from the international panorama, involving hundreds of projects from over 70 countries across the globe. A journey marked by passion and dedication, enthusiasm and effort, cultural exchange, and intellectual challenges. We extend our deepest gratitude to all the musicians, artists, technicians, listeners, labels, partners, and everyone who has supported us on…
If We Land On Water
These two are friends. You can tell. They converse with each other, musically speaking. They connect in the way that only really happens when words aren’t needed to explain what you’re getting at. You’ll know when you listen because you’ll hear the trust between them. No fear of self expression to be found here, it’s direct.
They’ve each done great things. Brilliant releases on wonderful labels of varying types, shapes and sizes. They might even have had a hand in running some of them. You can l…
Lume
*100 copies limited edition* Nitechord is an intercontinental ambient-tech duo that has so far issued only two remixes, but they emerge in full form on Lume, a début that extols the calm and mystery of night through mid-tempo pulses and shadowy whispers. Their initial cassette demo landed in Past Inside the Present's mailbox in 2022, devoid of credits or other biographical information, accompanied only by a brief quatrain:
“We hopethere is room enoughin your worldfor this work.”
Those original r…
Liminal States
Peter Rehberg is known for his pioneering electronic work with computer software which over time evolved into a modular set up alongside running Mego and then Editions Mego labels.
Pop Ambient 2025
In recent years, the introductory texts for the Pop Ambient compilation series, which is released every year on Kompakt as the last release before the Christmas break, often began with the sentence "Every year again...". “Every year again”, a quiet, almost unnoticed maxim of self-evidentness. Because this is already the 25th issue to be published this year. 25 years in increasingly fast-moving times in the even faster-moving music business is an eternity that doesn't just feel like it. It is all…
Hardanger
*150 hand-numbered copies limited edition* Hardanger is a collaboration by Mariska Baars (aka Soccer Committee), Niki Jansen, and Rutger Zuydervelt (aka Machinefabriek). The title refers to the instrument played by Jansen, the Hardanger fiddle. It’s a fresh addition to the established musical chemistry from regular collaborators Baars and Zuydervelt. The music on Hardanger started with improvisations by Niki Jansen, guided by Mariska Baars, who responded with vocal and guitar recordings. Rutger …
A Life In Setting Suns
** 180g opaque blue/pink vinyl record. Edition of 200. ** That liminal moment, when the phosphorescence behind the window shade first disrupts your eyelids, is a difficult one to pinpoint. Sometimes the earliest thought in your mind is a long-tail partial memory of those last few moments of a thousand-yard dream, sometimes it’s an irrepressible descending sigh as you anticipate what’s to follow, whether with apprehension or ardor. Centuries have passed in your unconscious absence; every frequenc…
Obscured Instinct and the pale Folklore
*200 copies limited edition* "Obscured Instinct and the Pale Folklore," is an evocative sonic journey crafted by the Hungarian musician, Kokum. This album traverses the shadowy corridors of dark folk music and the pulsating rhythms of new wave post-industrial soundscapes, creating an otherworldly and mesmerizing experience. Kokum, a visionary artist who utilizes only his voice, field recordings, and the sounds of everyday objects, manipulates these elements with a myriad of electronic effects, b…
City of Tethers
*100 copies limited edition* The album 'City of Tethers' is inspired by a passage from Italo Calvino’s 'Invisible Cities', particularly the description of the city of Ottavia. This city is suspended over an abyss, held up by a net that its inhabitants know will eventually give way. “Suspended over the void, the lives of Ottavia’s inhabitants are less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will not last,” Calvino writes. The image of Ottavia has become a powerful symbol of fragility an…
Projections Of A Coral City
Coral Morphologic and Nick León’s Projections of a Coral City marks a series of collisions between distant worlds: the organic and the artificial, the Eocene and the Anthropocene, sea and cement—and even, perhaps, ambient music and activism. Coral Morphologic are the Miami duo of marine biologist Colin Foord and musician J.D. McKay; since 2007, they have used a variety of multimedia projects to generate environmental awareness of marine biodiversity—most notably Coral City Camera, an underwater …
Terrace Of Memories
*250 copies limited edition* 1992’s Terrace Of Memories is an organic ambient album of longing and gentle melancholic minimalism. Sam Rosenthal (Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s founder/synthesist, then based in Los Angeles) and Dirk Serries (then recording under the moniker vidnaObmana in Belgium) blended their atmospheres and somber contemplative electronics on this timeless album filled with lush, dark and beautiful impressions. Energized by a passage of text written by Sam concerning a lost love…
MPU105
Ilian Tape kicks on with another entry into its ITX Series, this time with a lovely hand-stamped long player from MPU101. It is a deep dive into escapist ambient worlds with plenty of grainy tape hiss and cosmic static, celestial melodies and provocative moments of introspection. Analogue machinery is really brought to the fore on fuzzy sounds like 'CreamyPORTAL-Xa' with patient and pastoral synth smears, while 'APEX CA 91352' has brighter and more mellifluous melodies rising up through the mix.…
Franciska og Emilie
Jonas Torstensen returns to Discreet Music with the second Franciska album, following up the much praised Tryghed (Discreet Music 12) that was released in early 2023. Since Tryghed came out, Franciska has quickly become an established forefront of a young, new generation of Scandinavian experimental DIY musicians. This time a joint effort with his longtime friend and collaborator Camille Helt Haarder, the new album is dedicated to their shared hometown Odense in Denmark.
Mainly based on piano lo…
Columns / Falling Columns
*300 copies limited edition* Ben Kelly is one of the UK’s most influential designers. Kelly is best known for his interior design of the legendary nightclub, The Haçienda in Manchester. His practice has produced influential work for 180 Studios, Virgil Abloh, The Sex Pistols, The V&A, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren and Factory Records. The Vinyl Factory first collaborated with Kelly to commission and stage his installation RUIN, produced in collaboration with Virgil Abloh, at 180 Studios in …
The Sarajevo Spiral
*300 copies limited edition* Nam-Khar and Vortex, two of the most prolific bands in the German occult underground, have joined forces to create their latest album, "The Sarajevo Spiral." Both bands have developed their respective ritualistic styles over numerous concept albums, making this collaboration a natural progression amidst the rising global conflicts of the current 'new 1920s.' The result is a martial and meditative album, unfolding eleven complex compositions that reflect on the human …
För Alltid
*80 copies limited edition* 'För alltid' is an album about time. The fuzzy & shapeless memories floating without coherence. Shortwave radio recordings picking up unbroken codes from the past. Hopeful voices whispering about a possible future from a hopeless now.
Inscriptions
*100 copies limited edition* "'Inscriptions' is an album inspired by the melancholy romance of autumn, the reflection of leaves in the rippling surface of a lake, crumbling architectural facades, and faded ink scripts on parchment. The album began with a collection of environmental sounds I recorded in Tallinn, Estonia back in the autumn of 2011, during a residency at the Estonian Artists' Association. These field recordings focus in on the quiet, everyday sounds of streets, parks, a lake and a …