Apr 23, 2022
Terre Thaemlitz – Tranquilizer. 1994 ~ Instinct Ambient.
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Terre Thaemlitz – Tranquilizer. 1994 ~ Instinct Ambient.
Always inspired by the cover artwork of Tetsu Inoue’s personal projects and collaborations for Fax, Rather Interesting and Instinct amongst others - I think the above are my favourites.
Terre Thaemlitz - Elevatorium (1995)
(Soil, 1995; Instinct Ambient)
A haunting ambience pervades from our man of the hour Terre Thaemlitz on Instinct Ambient (1995)
Omicron was an ambient project of Savvas Ysatis that produced some of my favorite ambient music ever committed to tape. In the late 1990's a friend of mine gave me a copy of the Ambient Systems compilation that was released by the now defunct Instinct Ambient label. It feature artists such as Sub Dub, Terre Thaemlitz, SETI, Mysteries of Science, Adham Shaikh, and of course Omicron. It's fair to say that receiving this double disc compilation helped expand my musical horizons quite a bit. It was a style of music that I had heard in my head for a long time but didn't know what it was until I heard it. I'm forever grateful that album fell into my lap. I've spent a fair amount of time and money searching out the albums from the label over the last 15 years or so.
At the beginning of their existence, Instinct Ambient was run by ambient pioneer Taylor Deupree who now heads the minimalist/ambient/experimental label 12k. Taylor and Savvas have been collaborators since the late 1980's producing transcendent ambient under the names SETI and Futique.
Omicron is something special to me, though. In my opinion, the albums Acrocosm and The Generation and Motion of a Pulse are classics in the world of beat driven ambient/trance music. Savvas started out the project as more of a traditional trance group, which is documented on the EP Symbolis; but the following two albums mentioned above move more into experimental ambient territory. There are lots of sound collage bits bracing keyboard and drum machine ostinatos, keyboard and bass blips that are repetitive without being grating or boring. The keyboard tones alone are enough to keep me interested, but it's the subtle shift in tones or ideas that help keep the songs fresh and engaging.
Presented for your pleasure is the track Positron from the Ambient Systems compilation as well as The Generation and Motion of a Pulse full length. The weaving keyboard lines and hi-hat patterns that are buried in the background lend subtlety to this fantastic ambient piece. It's easy to get lost in the drift and at times while listening to this track I've felt as though I was on another planet gazing upon an alien landscape.
1996-1997
My last Facil track - Loop 8 (1995). This wraps up the Instinct Ambient part of my tracing my love of electronic music series.
1996-1997
Facil - Tree Frog (1995) off their self-titled album on the Instinct Ambient label. Second to last of several ambient tracks in an effort to trace my love of electronic music.
