◾️ Distributed Title - Also available at Azure Vista Records. ◾️
shorturl.at/zDFGS
LP on 160 gram transparent ochre. Vinyl housed in a 3mm heavyweight, matte jacket w/ obi-strip. Full color center labels. Includes download card. Shrinkwrapped. Edition of 250.
About-
American ambient masters zakè (a.k.a. Zach Frizzell) and City of Dawn (a.k.a. Damien Duque) return with a mesmerizing follow up to last year's "Agape". The music the two create together reflects the expansive landscapes of their native Texas and Indiana. Slowly unfolding melodies that seem to rise like the sun from a Texas horizon, and drones that resonate like leaves in an endless Indiana woodland. It's a sound that's both beautiful and slightly haunting – a sound that encompasses the listener and demands attention. This is music to get lost in.
Zach and Damien can both be considered veterans of ambient drone by now, and the five composition on Ash present a rarefied ”complex simplicity”. With few means they manage to create sonic and compositional depth, on par with classics of the genre from the likes of William Basinski, Brian Eno and Stars of the Lid.
The CD version of ”Ash” includes the previous album ”Agape”, which hasn't been previously released on CD.
Credits-
Written, recorded and produced by zakè & City of Dawn
Bass guitar on 'They Know Not' by James Bernard
Vocals on 'They Know Not' by marine eyes
Recorded and mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè
Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard
Expired polaroid film photography by zakè
Layout and artwork by Jakob Skøtt
©℗ 2023 Azure Vista Records, VISTA014
Marketed and phonographic copyright:
Azure Vista Records
Barcode: 5063176005618
Barcode (Text): 5 063176 00561 8
◾️◾️◾️ REVIEW
I think the collaborative project by Zach Frizzell (zakè) and Damien Duque (City Of Dawn) first saw the light of day back in 2020 when these two ambient artists got together to release Wander on Frizzell’s own Zakè Drone Recordings. The duo have also released music as Frizzell & Duque, appearing on these pages numerous times in the last few years, including the addition of Ossa, for the album I picked as one of the best of the year.
Last year, Jonas Munk, aka Manual, picked up Agape for his Azure Vista Records, and I have subsequently highlighted the album in my Music For Bending Light And Stopping Time for Best of 2022. All of these opening words, with a brief journey through history, are only here to demonstrate how excited I am about their follow-up release on Azure (co-distributed by Frizzell’s Past Inside The Present imprint for the US friends and followers).
The title track, “Ash”, which I am premiering for you today, is a perfect example of the unhurried, unfurling, and unpretentious ambience that blankets the senses when you need these sounds most. “Their focus offers up the steady ebb and flow of sound, cultivating a profound sense of meditative stasis and explorations of high-fidelity sound.” This is the type of slow-evolving minimal music that you want to turn all the way up in volume so that each frequency permeates, saturates, and eradicates all the wrinkles and spikes in your jittery mind. Lovely textures on this one, folks, carefully picked out by the mastering touch of James Bernard at his Ambient Mountain House.
The full album, also titled Ash, is set to be released on August 11th, available as a digital release and a 160g transparent ochre-coloured vinyl. The 2xCD version also includes Agape, which wasn’t previously released on CD. I think the two are the perfect companions for each other, especially when played back-to-back.
-Headphone Commute, Mike Lazarev :: hcdi.gs/ash
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Reveries - 180g Solid Orange LP [UK Import] by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea
$21 USD
Reveries - Mini-LP Slipcase CD [UK Import] by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea
$12 USD
B⁴+3 – ZD-030 [CS]
$12 USD
Live Improvisations –
160g Audiophile Black LP
Chihei Hatakeyama, Hakobune, zakè, From Overseas
$21 USD
Deep into the unknown, we shall endlessly roam – 180g White/Brown Split LP
$21 USD
LL –
160g Color 3LP
zakè feat. From Overseas bvdub Warmth ASC Aural Imbalance Influx Innesti Coppice Halifax Nitechord
$28 USD
Tape Hymns –
180g Green Swirl LP (EU Version)
zakè & City of Dawn
$21 USD
Frizzell & Duque: A Sorrow Unrequited –
160g Audiophile Black LP
zakè & City of Dawn
$15 USD
syntheticopia –
160g Audiophile Black LP
zakè & ossa
$15 USD
Demain, dès l’aube - Black 2LP Set by From Overseas & zakè
$22 USD
'Agape' 160g White w/ Green accent LP by zakè & City of Dawn
$21 USD
Ash/Agape [2CD] by zakè & City of Dawn
$11 USD
'Stasis Sounds For Long-Distance Space Travel II' 160g Solar Flare LP by 36 & zakè
$21 USD
'Stasis Sounds For Long-Distance Space Travel II' 160g Black Mass LP by 36 & zakè
$19 USD
Orchestral Tape Studies II - 160g Transparent Rose LP
$15 USD
Orchestral Tape Studies II - 160g Color LP
$15 USD
Orchestral Tape Studies II - 160g Audiophile Black LP
$15 USD
'To Those Who Dwelt in a Land of Deep Darkness' 160g Clear LP by zakè & Wayne Robert Thomas
$15 USD
'A Pale Shelter' 160g Clear LP by zakè, City of Dawn & Ossa
$15 USD
'beliefsystems' 160g Yellow LP by zakè & Isaac Helsen
$15 USD
Pyramiden –
Digistak [cd]
zakè, Markus Guentner, James Bernard
$8 USD
Polymorph EP –
[maxi-cd]
zakè Ossa Fax feat. Marc Ertel ASC Aural Imbalance Influx
$8 USD
'beliefsystems' Digistak [cd] by zakè and Isaac Helsen
$8 USD
Stay With Me –
Eco-pak [cd]
zakè & T.R. Jordan
$8 USD
Sound Space Variations – Digipak [cd]
$8 USD
Module –
Eco-pak [cd]
zakè, Ossa, Fax
$8 USD
'Liberamente' C456 [cs] by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea
$8 USD
'Liberamente' [cd] by Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea
$8 USD
Live Improvisations –
160g Transparent Fuchsia Rose LP
Chihei Hatakeyama, Hakobune, zakè, From Overseas
Sold Out
Drift –
180g Blue Splatter LP (US Version)
zakè & Tyresta
Sold Out
Drift –
180g A/B Split Color LP (EU Version)
zakè & Tyresta
Sold Out
Remembrance –
180g Spotted Green 2LP (EU Version)
zakè
Sold Out