Deaf Center - Through Time (Sonic Pieces) [Ambient]

*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's May 22nd Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***

Deaf Center are Norwegian duo Erik K Skodvin - now resident in Berlin, who apart from various monikers and collaborations, also composes soundtracks and finds time to run the reputable Miasmah label, plus a gallery, and Otto A Totland, a self-taught pianist with admirably wide influences that he somehow manages to squeeze into his dusky, minimal tendencies.

They’ve been floating around my radar for a while, which, being as they’ve been producing ambient music for over twenty years to great acclaim, is understandable. I never really took the bait though; perhaps it’s their tendency to plough a course through somewhat more traditional-sounding ambient avenues - by that I mean space-inspired and droning, and not the more delicate, fanciful, electroacoustic works I tend towards. But, after hitting play on their latest offering, they’ve finally won me round.

I’m still classing this album as “more traditional ambient” (discuss), but boy don’t they do it well, and this one in particular is a real exploration of the ambient condition. From stately, gravity-free, score-like pieces to piano showcasing minimalism via haunting, low-end rumbling modern compositions, string-infused navel gazing, glitching orchestral drama and cinematic grandeur. It’s quite the voyage.

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Playlist Companion

Find Deaf Center in the Slow Ambient Playlist.