Ambient Sunday marks the end of summer with: Shumanov, and Jack Quinn
For me the clocks going back marks the proper end of summer. And today has been suitably rain drenched to reinforce the point. Here’s Shumanov, and Jack Quinn to offer some relief as we head for winter.
Shumanov is based in Barcelona, Spain. He doesn’t have a conventional biog, simply offering that his work is a “melancholic electronic balance between ambient with pronounced drones and synth techno, reflecting the conflict between calm melodies and moving techno percussions.”
Here’s new single Electric Mirage (The Sun Has Gone) which is seasonally appropriate since he says it’s about “longing for the passing summer, the warm sun, and sunsets by the sea.” The track has an almost analogue haze to it that mirrors the title. And it’s beautiful.
This is ambient by intent. But it does have beats that clatter away in the background and give the track a real sense of place, avoiding anything too ethereal.
Meanwhile, synths have an old school feel that weave their way between techno tropes and downtempo piano melodies. It’s all light and lovely and a real reminder of the summer gone as we face the winter to come. Sigh.
And so to Canada. Jack Quinn is from Toronto, Canada. He says his work “aims to create ethereal, otherworldly music that may have always existed and that you’ve only just tuned in to.”
Here’s his latest track Poppies. This is done as a tribute to the records Brian Eno and Harold Budd made together in the 80’s. Expect lots of drone and space.
The focus of the track is washes of sound over which are laid bits of Pedal Steep guitar and some processed Wurlitzer. It’s like music from an unmade David Lynch film. All very Blue Velvet era stuff. But it also touches a bit on the KLF’s Chill Out, albeit with a lot more drone and held tone.
This is hypnotic in a dreamlike sense. All a bit delightfully disengaged from reality. An ambient symphony with an ache somewhere inside.
The track is taken from the album Music For Painting.
ACID TED 