ALEX CRISPIN "Idle Worship" (Sounds of the Dawn)

Based on the tape’s title, I was pleasantly surprised to find Alex Crispin’s Idle Worship to be a beautiful drone album. The album begins with minute synthesizer melodies over a breezy soft pad sweep of chords. Calming, soft, and charming. This is some really special high fidelity new age music. I can feel the warm summer breezes and ideal locations. I lose myself completely. This is definitely something you can relax to. A storm of overtone melodies softly permeates throughout. There is some thoughtful piano work on this album. A while into the second side, hand drums make an appearance. The final track is a fantastic; evocative of Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach with rapid fire arpeggios, guitar, and layers upon layers of keyboards.

Whether you’re on your way to a yoga retreat, sitting at your favorite spa, or stoned off your gourd on the couch with a loud stereo, this is definitely a winner!

https://soundsofthedawn.bandcamp.com/album/idle-worship

-“Jamband” Josh Brown

LUNARIA “All is Dream” (Sounds of the Dawn)

When I was a little kid, my favorite place in the world was the aquarium. I’d get my mom to take me every year for my birthday for a long time. The Georgia Aquarium has a big tunnel under an enormous tank so you can walk through and look at fish as if you’re on the bottom of the ocean looking up. When I was a kid, that spot always made me so happy. That’s a pretty random and specific memory to bring up, but the weird feeling of joy and thinking about how beautiful everything was in the moment is the same way I felt the first time I listened to this album.

This is beautiful. Everything about this album is beautiful from the music to the gorgeous packaging of the cassette itself. This is how ambient music should be done. I’ve had this cassette on my shelf for a very long time but I can never commit to writing about it. There’s just something about it where I’ve listened to it so many times that I feel like there’s something special that I need to make sure I probably write about.

Lunaria is the name that Daniel Guillen works under. I couldn’t find out if he’s ever put anything out under any different names, but this is his first release as Lunaria. He currently resides in Spain. His first release is a beautiful landscape of sound that washes over you and makes everything okay. Listen to this album.

All is Dream

- Garrett Douglas