Jan Amit - Around & Above (Black Hymn Records)

I was recently sent over a release from our good friends at Black Hymn Records, curated by Retral and Ash Mckean. It's a digital and cassette release from Moscow-based producer, Jan Amit.

Really, the album is typical of what I've come to expect from Black Hymn. Whilst everything might feel similar, the taste is always different. With a strong focus on the ambient, they stand out from the more mediocre by always picking artists that know how to make organic music that works as much out of the subtleties in the background as it does from the pads and strings.

Straight away, you'll notice this music is dreamy. For fans of Stumbleine or Asa's pre-grime works, this is perfect. It's the sort of music that will fit whichever situation you're in. Driving on some washed-out summer evening? Perfect. Sitting inside, watching the rain at the window? Perfect. Winter night and the snow is settling? Perfect. It's rare a release will fit so easily into such starkly different environments, so big up Jan Amit.

Whilst mostly ambient, there are moments of beat-inspiration. After being lulled in by the opening, Spread Your Wings suddenly goes all autonomic to cast a darker shadow, and is followed up further on the release some Portishead-esque trip hop vibes. However, the real strength is in the beatless tracks. Keeping ambient tracks constantly flickering, and most importantly, interesting isn't easy (trust me, I know), but with the right samples, sound effects, occasional piano and guitar, real of computerised, Jan Amit holds your attention easily for over the hour.

You can grab the release digitally or on limited edition cassette over at the Black Hymn Records Bandcamp.

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Sangam - Sour Face & Broken Nights LP (Black Hymn Records)

Here's the low down on Sangam. The guy could put out twenty albums now. Co-owner of Black Hymn Records Retral will back me up on that. We've discussed this guy for hours. Fortunately, they've taken the initiative, and whittled down the Northern producer's catalogue to twelve supreme cuts for a forthcoming cassette and digital release.

Sangam's music is stark, cold, but still touching and relatable. It's often said that Burial's tunes have a "London feel" about them (which I disagree with, but that's by the by). If that's truly so, then Sangam's tunes have an "Every other city feel". These are tunes that simultaneously show the love and hate you can have for the city you call home. Check Consume and The Smoke Quarter. Harsh, unforgiving, lonely, a distinct lack of hope. Juxtapose that with the Autonomic-esque pieces Make Me Feel and Lost Relations. Not joyous, just not so grey, a flash of colour that reminds you every so often that things aren't always as they seem.

Anyone that doesn't live in a big city might see them as places of unlimited opportunities to do something. Live there long enough, and you'll see the sheen come off. This isn't some big time superstar, or sixth form poet trying to wrap his mind around city life, this is some anonymous guy who could be the man next door, the woman down the road expressing true feelings with no filters attached.

If there's one guy I want chronicling these black hymns, it's Sangam.

You can grab the release on cassette and digital from Bandcamp from Saturday 7th September.

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Phaeo - Distant Shadows EP

The consistently high-quality output of Black Hymn Records continued this week with the release of Phaeo's, Distant Shadows EP.

The guy from Massachusetts plugs perfectly into a bleak, UK vibe that BHR seem to be able to pick up from all over the world with cinematic, stark ambience best shown on closing track Alone.

This is no dull, muted affair, but truly mournful pieces that reflect that late night/early morning bleakness in all its subtleties. My only criticism is the length, with the hole EP coming in at under eight minutes, I really would've liked to hear some more on here. Ah well, it gave me a taste for Phaeo, and that can only be a good thing!

Grab it from the BHR bandcamp page now.

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(BHR04) Bruised Skies - 'These Four Walls' EP

Purveyors of deep and emotional ambient music, Black Hymn Records have pulled it out of the bag with this latest release from Coventry's Bruised Skies.

Opener Drifting is a nostalgia-laced piece, that starts off hopeful, before tailing into the darkness that will set the tone for the other two tracks, Haze, a dark, sparse track and the haunting drone of Return replete with a melancholic sample buried deep in the mist.

Check it out...

You can grab the whole release as a name-your-price download over on the Black Hymn Records Bandcamp page now. 

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(BHR05) Valiska & Mhva - Music On Hold

I was recently lucky enough to be sent a tape from Black Hymn Records, for their first physical release, a stunning collection of five tracks from the Canadian Valiska and the Norwegian Mhva.

This is a bleak, harsh, almost-shoegaze-at-times ambient tape that can't be picked at. Sit down and enjoy the whole thing in one listen. Check out a preview below.

The tunes are pretty visceral, and it feels like they've been constructed to fall apart at their climax. It's a great showcase of the respective producer's works, and credit has to go to Black Hymn for making this happen, as they've picked tunes that are perfect for cassette.

It comes out on October 1st and will be available as a digital release, but I can really recommend shelling out a few quid on the cassette. You'll be glad you did. 

Grab it from the Black Hymn Bandcamp Page.

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