OUT ON IN - EP08 (Golden Void) [Ambient]

John Gutenberger is "a bass playing dude and model citizen with zero discipline" based in Los Angeles where he bumped into storied musician, producer and engineer Tom Monahan. Over a few beers one night they decided to tune into the sound of empty rooms and powered, but dormant machines, preferring to eschew screen staring and make ambient music with live studio work, and Out On In was born. They're doing a good job of it too.

John Gutenberger

Thom Monahan

I'm guessing the studio didn't have a window looking out over sun blessed Los Angeles, as the project explores the shadier side of ambient on the whole, but let's face it America is seeing darker days at the moment, it's hardly time to bury your head in the sonic sands.

Fortunately for me, with my fondness for ambient sands with convenient head sized holes pre-dug, the opening track of the EP, "Turning Hounds" has a gentle nature to it even though what sounds like an effected tuba, intermittently pulses its lower frequencies throughout to add a bit of nervous tension. The sounds are restless, moved by soft winds and the view of the studio walls ultimately reassuring, if not comforting.

"Gaviota" starts with a cinematic, pitched down wind synth pulse that immediately gets your spider senses tingling, urging you to check behind the sofa you're lying on just in case. Whether you settle back down after, or keep looking around the uneasy, minimal soundscape is up to you and your disposition.

To round things off the boys decide it's time to get moving, by adding a lethargic found sound loop for a percussive anchor, leaving them free to explore suspenseful, late night cinematic sounds and soundtrack a tour around Los Angeles' out of hours industrial estates. Most of the units are in darkness, but lit occasionally by bare bulbs trying to escape underneath ill fitting shutters and the cracks in badly drawn curtains. I'd hurry past those units if I were you, and tune into the EP series if darker ambient hues are your thing.

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Playlist Companion

Find OUT ON IN in the Slow Ambient Playlist.