Alio Die

Artist: Sola Translatio (Alio Die+Opium)
P: 1999/2000
Combining an entrancing mix of natural recordings (water, wind, soil, forest) and electronic textures, MOTHER SUNRISE conveys a descent into the natural world at its grittiest, most organic, and most truly "alive." Usually ambient & atmospheric music is primarily electronic, or perhaps utilizes guitars or other acoustic instruments, with electronic treatments. While this recording does integrate such conventional instrumentation in part, it derives its truly unique flavor through the liberal use of natural "location" atmospheres (recorded in the Far East as well as Italy), as well as organic percussive elements. Italian ambient sound master Alio Die (best known for his previous collaborations with ambient & experimental artists like Robert Rich & Vidna Obmana), and younger Italian newcomer Opium, collaborate under the project name Sola Translatio on their first project for Hypnos, MOTHER SUNRISE.

Artist: Sola Translatio
P:  2001
Alio Die + Opium deliver a masterpiece of shimmering, ever-mutating dark ambient. A tapestry of mesmerizing low-rumbling melodies/frequencies for a DEEP listening. Comes in gorgeous 4 panel digipack, co-produced with Hic Sunt Leones....
The music moves on abstract drones, minimal rhythms, and "found sounds," rather than being spooky or boring, spreads a calming layer of gentle sound over the listener. It has a nocturnal but serene quality, and feels like the soundtrack for long quiet hours in an elegant Oriental country retreat. It evokes a place one would like to return to, rather than a nightmare from which one struggles to wake. Its a tapestry of mesmerizing low-rumbling melodies/frequencies for a deep listening, where the sounds of nature are always present.

Artist: R.Rich, M.Stearns, Alio Die u.a.
P: 2001
Best Of Hearts of Space artists from the 80s and 90s.

Artist: Vidna Obamana, Steve Roach,
Erik Wollo u.a.
P: 2015
Best of the Projekt artists from their 2015 releases.

Artist: Vidna Obamana, Steve Roach,u.a.
P: 1994
Just look at the names in the tracklist above - if you are into this type of ambient music you know without a doubt that this is a winning formula. And this fine collection of artists totally fail to let us down. Weird but fascinating ethnic rhythm with electronic enhancements-a-plenty, O YUKI CONJUGATE's track with it's breathy human voice punctuation serves us well as a starting off point, and establishes the high quality of the album. VIDNA OBMANA follows perfectly with a whispy dream vision accompanied by minimal percussion which could have been taken directly from the previous track. Relaxing and just that little bit mysterious. STEVE ROACH takes a similar ethnic percussion and accompanies it with electronic drift and the sound of a thunder storm. JORGE REYES takes us on a journey through the past, making a music evocative of ancient civilizations and the sounds of nature which accompanied those who lived in such ancient times and places. HYBRYDS take us somewhere else, away from more 'primitive' cultures. Although I have never heard their music for aquariums, this strikes me as being along similar lines, with water gurgling and whale-like sounds wailing away in the background. TEMPS PERDU? forgot to nip to the loo before recording this, so had to go during it's creation. Besides the last few drops shaken out, we drift through a place not dissimilar to VANGELIS's take on the "Blade Runner" future, with pattering ethnic drums and a variety of wind instruments all combining into a passive, calming atmosphere. DINO OON & KONRAD KRAFT head more towards a growling Isolationism without losing the overall string of effect this album seems to create. The tune is more forward, more obvious, less atmospheric. VOICE OF EYE's piece, although drifting and calm, has dark and disturbing edges which remind me of NIN's theme to "SE7EN". JEFF GREINKE attempts to calm our nerves back down with a gentle tube of shifting sustains. Simple as it is, there's a whole lot going on here, although it sounds like one moment frozen in time. ALIO DIE, those purveyors of unimaginable beauty, bring us a dark and disturbing revisit to the land JORGE REYES took us to, now infected by VOICE OF EYE's darkness. Dark, mysterious ethnic world in which a thing - dragon or malign beast - dwells in the shadows, waiting for night. PAUL SCHÜTZE brings us up to date with a Jazz which seems to combine the elements of all those mentioned above, keeping a slightly disquiet, unnerving feeling to the music. His is a world not of peace and calm, but of hidden dangers, of eyes watching your every move. Easy listening doesn't guarantee ease-of-listening. HUMAN FLESH are something else again, with an orchestrated mirror-vision of calm. Very different from anything previously. Lighter, brighter, a balm for the ears and the nerves. And finally, of course, TUU take us for one more visit to the ethnic realms. Almost as calming as the previous track, TUU make a beautiful music which, with it's Asian-sounding drums, makes for a fascinating listening experience.
An album which was probably darker than anticipated (which is no bad thing). Combining beauty and ugliness in equal shares.And of course well worth investing in.

Artist: Hybrids, Steve Roach, Vidna Obmana... 
P: 1993
An excellent multi-artist collection compiled by Alio Die from 1993, this organic soundscape project includes many of the top artists in this dark-ambient genre.