15 July 2025: Field Lines Cartographer "Resplendent in the Light of the Universe" (DiN93); Jo Johnson "Escape Now" (Quiet Details 36)

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp and Spotify.  

You can now listen to the livestream of the show through the KMXT app; it's available through the Mac App Store or Google Play. The stream is also available at www.kmxt.org

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to www.KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites. (links below) 

We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio. 

 I'll also be hosting Rural Electric right after the Island Messenger at  7 pm until 9 pm

Resplendent In The Light Of The Universe (DiN93)
Mark Burford aka Field Lines Cartographer 

The second solo album on the DiN imprint from UK synthesist Mark Burford, aka Field Lines Cartographer, sees him venturing even further out into the cosmic void with an hour long suite of modular explorations. His previous DiN release, Portable Reality Generator (DiN85), was enthusiastically received, and as with that release the music on this new album flows seamlessly from one track to the next. Burford has been establishing a fine reputation both as a live performer and with releases on several labels such as Castles In Space, Quiet Details and Woodford Halse. His musicality and deft touch are certainly at the fore on the beautifully named ‘Resplendent In The Light Of The Universe’.

Using a range of analogue modular instruments as well as an array of digital effects Burford weaves music for a deep contemplation of questions alluding to the underlying nature of the cosmos. The eight tracks have such an organic feel and swell and grow like nebulae. With reference to the albums title they have an inner light which shines through the swirling clouds of texture. At times he ventures into Berlin School sequencer territory, especially in tracks such as ‘Various Rotations’ and ‘The Light of Billion Stars’, but it’s never a slavish pastiche of this idiom but rather his own musical voice finding form in this particular style. Elsewhere pieces such as ‘Forever Spheres’ and ‘Gentle Flows’, which bookend the album, are particularly redolent of, in his own words, “the splendour of the luminous universe”.

This new release from Field Lines Cartographer is another fine addition to the DiN canon and takes the labels musical roots forward to a bright future. 

credits

releases July 18, 2025

All music performed and recorded by Mark Burford as Field Lines Cartographer.
Mastered by Ian Boddy February 2025.

Instrumentation:
ARP 2600 and Intellijel Cascadia semi-modular synthesisers
Eurorack and BugBrand modular synthesisers
Buchla 208C Easel Command
Make Noise Strega
Effects processing via Eventide, Chase Bliss, Strymon and Walrus Audio


Thanks to everyone who supports my music and love to my friends and family as always for their unflinching support.
Special thanks to Ian and Wendy at DiN.
FreeForm Radio thanks Ian Boddy for a complimentary copy of this release.

Always strive for the light

ambient em electronic electronic music electronica modular synth space ambient space music Sunderland

 

  Escape Now (QD36)

Jo Johnson 

Credits:
Music by Jo Johnson
Mastered by Alex at quiet details studios
Artwork by quiet details in collaboration with Jo Johnson
Design by quiet details
© quiet details 2025 all rights reserved 

FreeForm Radio thanks Alex for a complimentary copy of this release.
 

Next in the quiet details series is one of the most naturally talented musicians working today, the wonderful Jo Johnson, with Escape Now

Known and loved across the musical spectrum for her transcendent and deeply affecting synthesiser mastery - heard on the albums for labels such a Castles in Space, 9128.live, Apartment, Bleep43, Further, Going In, Mysteries of the Deep and her own self-releases; and in her much in-demand live performances.

Previously also on guitar and vocals in the revolutionary punk band Huggy Bear and other projects, Jo is a true musicians’ musician and has taken all this artistry and experience to create something stunning that goes beyond all expectations.

Escape Now is the music of an artist in brilliantly creative evolution - taking all the elements that make her so widely admired and building on them to take things to a new and mind-expanding sphere.

All the trademark gorgeously nuanced melody and harmony is present, deeply hypnotic and psychedelic - and now her synthesisers combine with a dazzling array of other sound sources and live instrumentation.
Recorder, voice, bells and harp join the analogue and digital synthesis to form a living whole - a vast universe that shows Jo’s unique blend of musical skills - wonderful performance technique, exquisite taste, and the ability to orchestrate it all together in the most elegant fashion.

Ever-shifting melodic sequences come in and out of view, soaring washes of chords mix with endless organic textures - at times a huge sound-world, at others intimate and delicate - always using sonic dynamics to create a beautiful and powerfully mesmerising atmosphere.

The album is perfectly balanced and takes us on a totally absorbing exploration through Jo’s musical mind - it’s a brilliant piece of work that I’m honoured to share with you.

Huge thanks to Jo - an incredible addition to the series.

The artwork was made as always influenced by the music and idea behind the album - originating from a photo from Jo which was then captured with analogue photography and processed here at quiet details studios.

As usual, the album is presented on the physical edition, a custom six-panel digipack with a separate fine art print too.

The CD also has a special long-form continuous mix of the album, created by the artists and representing the music in its purest form.

jojohnson.bandcamp.com  

credits

released July 2, 2025

ambient chill-out downtempo drone electronic field recordings synth synthwave United Kingdom

 

11 October 2022: Ian Boddy; Mark Shreeve; Experimental Music from Greece

KMXT is live broadcasting the Kodiak City Council work session which may run past 9 pm.  

The show will begin as soon as the work session ends or 9 pm if the meeting ends early.

Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

The music you hear on tonight's show is available on the artists' Bandcamp pages and websites. (links below) 

We urge you to support the musicians you hear on FreeForm Radio.

 

DiN label boss Ian Boddy follows up his 2020 studio release “Axiom” (DiN64) with another vinyl album length slice of vintage electronic music synth heritage: Coil (DiN74). Whilst there are many focusing in on the world of possibilities of modular synths to the detriment of form and composition Boddy uses his 40 plus years of experience to create six succinct slices of analogue warmth and emotion.

The title track which opens procedures is a case in point. Boddy crams into its seven minutes more drama than many would manage in a side length track. Soft textural chords soon give way to a pulsing arpeggiator playing from his venerable Roland System 100-M modular. Just when the piece seems to be settling into a cyclical groove a series of transpositions move the harmonic interest along before a climax of percussion and synth textures soar toward a stunning crescendo.

The next piece, “Messiaen M31”, in contrast is a calm, floating track with an unusual harmonic chord progression based on Olivier Messiaen’s music theory with a beautiful Ondes Martenot style solo line. “Rings” features layers of sequencers and arpeggios that twist and turn through various key changes toward another stunning climax.

“Teutonium” is pure Berlin School with a thundering Moog bass line interspersed with edgy, glitchy interjections before subsiding to the calm, gentle fluctuations of “Flow”.

Finally “Silver Surfer” is a slice of Synthwave fun featuring the crisp tones of the 100-M set against a syncopated bass line and a beautiful Ondes Martenot duet over a transposing sequencer line.

“Coil” will be released on both CD digipak as well as a limited edition 180g vinyl edition.  

 

From Minilog on Bandcamp:  "Ian at his peak. An incredible album, full of melancholic and haunted beauty, in which the modulations operate like "melodic steps", and where the sequences wind and unfold like glittering vines. Just like the superb cover by Wendy Carroll : a must have !"

credits

Our thanks to Ian for providing us with a promo copy of this release.

releases October 14, 2022

All tracks composed, patched and recorded by Ian Boddy January - March 2022.
Mixed and mastered by Ian Boddy March 2022.

Instrumentation:
Serge & Eurorack modular systems
Roland System 100-M
Buchla Easel Command
Make Noise 0-Coast
Moog Voyager & Matriarch
Novation Summit
VCS3
Analogue Systems French Connection
Analogue Solutions Generator
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
Kontakt playing sample libraries by Spitfire Audio & Soniccouture
Ableton Live

ambient em electronic electronic music electronica downtempo modular synth synthwave Sunderland

 

Mark Shreeve (2 June 1957 – 31 August 2022) was a British electronic music composer. After initially releasing his early work on cassette through the label Mirage Records, he went on to sign for the newly formed Jive Electro in the early 1980s,^[1] and released the albums Assassin, Legion, and Crash Head.^[2] His last solo album to date, Nocturne, was released in 1995. A live album, Collide, was released in 1996 featuring his live performance at EMMA two years before.

Shreeve was born in Great Yarmouth on 2 June 1957.^[3]

Shreeve also composed scores or sections of scores for some feature films, recorded a number of library music CDs and wrote the song "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" for Samantha Fox, which was released and hit the chart in 1986. He also worked briefly with Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream and has had some technical association with producer and modular synthesiser expert Ed Buller.

In 1996, Shreeve formed the group Redshift with his brother Julian, James Goddard and Rob Jenkins. The group has recorded nine albums to date and played live in the UK and in all Europe, including one concert made at Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Shreeve died on 31 August 2022, at the age of 65.^[4]

 ^{From Sylvain Lupari:}

Fan of horror movies and books? Unconditional of Stephen King? How about listening to the music The Stand? It's obviously inspired by this book that Mark Shreeve built the 7 tracks, the 40 minutes of his 8th solo album. LEGION stands out from the more exploratory genre of Mark Shreeve's first solo albums with shorter and more explosive compositions. A catchy EM conceived around hard sequencing patterns, synths more in synth-pop style and samplings drawn from the sonic librarie of 1980's horror movies. Without a doubt, it's England School's most rock album at the time when Tangerine Dream still enthralled thousands of fans and dozens of musicians with its Underwater Sunlight tour in 1986. It's also possibly the flagship album of English artists' response to Berlin School. Movement which brings EM into more rock basis and which popped out with the emergence of Ian Boddy, Andy Pickford, David Wright and Wavestar, just to name a few. As far as I'm concerned, it's the most pop, heaviest and the most catchy album I've ever heard in the wonderful world of Electronic Music. A heavy opus with jerky and unbridled rhythms that are backed up by a sequencer and breathless electronic percussion to support simple, effective and catchy melodies. An album that has aged quite well!

Using samplings to the maximum, LEGION is full of satanic winks. It's therefore with a strange incantation, like a Black Mass, that a big and heavy line of bass sequences, like a bass, opens the procession of Legion. From then on, the rhythm becomes fast. It coughs on good percussion, metallic chords and a powerful sequencer that sculpts a hard and heavy rhythm with the support of a swarm of percussive keys that roll like the drumming of drums. Subsequently, the rhythm gets tribal. Big trance-like percussions (which may have inspired Juno Reactor) pushes the limits of synthesizer strings a bit philharmonic, but which sound like guitar riffs. It's a heavy, fast and totally demonic title that you've probably heard. Because it was part of the soundtrack of the film; The Jewel of the Nile in addition that it played a lot on dance floors, as evidenced by the many mix and the 7'' that have been made since its release. This shot is not isolated! There are several other very rhythmic tracks that are animated by a sequencer as heavy as fluid on this album. Like Sybex Factor with its hammering percussions and its long synth solos combined with those of Chrissie Bonnacci's guitar. There is Icon with its unbridled rhythm and the ultra paced sequencer, and as fast as that of Chris Franke for example, as well as these metal wings and these cries of bats. Finally, there is Hammer & Cross which arrived on the late. This is a bonus track that appeared on the 1st CD edition on Centaur Discs.

The melodies are still well anchored. And there are some that are simply catchy. Like Storm Column rolling on a structure of rhythm as wild, as jerky as the title-track. It's a loud and nervous title with light and melodious choruses that are in harmony with a very sharp synth. Moreover, this mixture of voice samplings on a rhythm as that jerky is quite great. Flagg is another stroke of genius! The longest track of LEGION opens with a very gloomy intro, as in a horror movie of series B. A little keyboard turns a melody into a threatening rhyme on a line of diabolical sequences that accelerates the pace in the long winding lines of a magnetising synth. The pace pounding a slow walk, at times it looks like a walk of vitamined zombies, and again the sampling is superbly successful. With Domain 7, it feels like being in a surreal marsh with birds and wolves coexisting on momentums of violins and a harmonium keyboard that hovers with good silky impetus whose lines follow the long sensual curves of a dark electric guitar and suggestive of Pat McManus. The effect is demonic! And even more with the violin strings that resonate on little more symphonic layers. The guitar is sublime. We feel the strings being scratched so much the effect is realistic. Being more sentimental than rocker, it's my favorite track. But after The Stand! We hear a synth crying and suffering in an envelope of melancholy so deep that we feel the threads of our soul shivering. Behind a slower rhythm structure and a lot fog effects, a synth line turns its harmonies into those of a trumpet. This track finally comes to give me these goosebumps that has resisted so far throughout this adventure that is LEGION. Not by its roughness, but by its sensitivity and the hold of evil that seems to triumph. It sounds like Ennio Morriconne who made a pact with the Devil in a more Mexican final than Mephistophelic. But the crying of a baby brings us back to reality behind the precepts of LEGION.

Even if closer to a synth-pop, quite progressive and very worked on the other hand, than the other albums of Mark Shreeve, LEGION remains a major album. Just see the asking price on Ebay so one understands its importance in the chessboard of contemporary EM. Its canvas is the kind that can appeal to fans of Gothic music, even if at times the melodies are at skin's edge, lovers of synth-pop and/or hard and heavy E-rock. Everything is well structured. It's a music filled of surprising samplings and unbridled sequences which preserves, in spite of these two elements, all of its melodic dimension. Simply great ... And that should be very kind if one day Mark Shreeve decides to reissue it, because the asking price on eBay is closer to a stealing option than to please the fans of Mark Shreeve.

Sylvain Lupari (September 8th, 2006) *****

SynthSequences.com

 Recorded at Battery Studios, London.

Words to 'Flagg' by Mark Shreeve based on a character created by Stephen King.

Equipment used on this record:

Fairlight CMI, Emu Systems Emulator II, P.P.G. Wave 2.2, Oberheim OB8, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland Jupiter 8, Yamaha DX7, Linn Drum 9000
Linn Drum 2, S.C.I. Drumtraks, Roland TR808, Roland MSQ 700

Tracks 8 and 9 are bonus tracks.

 

Anthology of Contemporary Music From Greece

In ancient Greece, music played a central role in all areas of life, both public and private. We can only imagine how this music sounded. But there are many visual sources that can tell us who was playing which instruments and in which settings, as well as showing us that there were often people dancing together. Listening to "The M. band" by Pina Bounce, one seems to perceive a sonic glimpse into those ancient times, reverberating through the long notes of the trumpet and filtered by the distortions of the electrical equipment. Grim Machines' "Sparagmos" showcases primitive noise rituals, combining analog equipment and amplified built instruments, thus creating music informed by a creative blend of ethnological study and ancient culture. "Luc" by epavlispavlakis and Nicolas Malevitsis sounds like a requiem played in an abandoned Arcadian monastery. These are some examples of music which, alongside the abstract minimalism and the electronic and electroacoustic experimentation of Costis Drygianakis, Michalis Paraskakis, melophobia, Meteoros Meteor, Savvas Metaxas, Dimitris Savva, and many other talented musicians, can testify to how tradition and innovation, past and present, history and future are in a constant dialectical relationship; and how, incredibly, music in Greece is still flourishing through its youth, despite the millennia of culture behind it.

Raffaele Pezzella

credits

Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella and the Unexplained Sounds Group for providing us with a promo copy of this release.

released September 2, 2022

Published by ©Unexplained Sounds Group
Curated and mastered by Raffaele Pezzella (Sonologyst)
Special thanks for their precious collaboration to Nicolas Malevitsis, Ion Christodoulidis, Dimitris Tsironis.
Cover image “Dyonisus on a boat”, 550-540 BC.
© 2022. All rights reserved

experimental avant-garde drone improvisation musique concrete sound art Italy

 

 

05 October 2021: Ian Boddy DiN69 "Nevermore"; Bernhard Wostheinrich and Ombient

 

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

 

 Our thanks to Ian Boddy and DiN with providing us with a copy of this release.

 

 

The DiN label, established in 1999, reaches something of a milestone with “Nevermore” (DiN69) as it represents the 100th release on the esteemed British electronic music label. This equates to this, the 69th album on the main DiN imprint as well as 26 digital only releases on the DiNDDL sub-label and 5 Tone Science albums.

It seems only fitting then that this release comes from DiN label boss Ian Boddy. Performed live at DiN HQ the performance was videoed and streamed on March 27th 2021 as part of the three day Soundquest Festival. This was organised by ambient luminary Steve Roach and had an audience watching and listening of 1000+ music fans across the globe coming together in these strange days of a global pandemic. This surely inspired Boddy to conjure up a mesmerising tour de force of a live show that shows all his skills and experience built up over a life time of performing.

Boddy’s set up was centred around his large Serge modular system supplemented by three cases of Eurorack. Eschewing the presence of a laptop this allowed him to sculpt and evolve a series of engaging electronic soundscapes. Ranging from the spacey and eerie to beautifully pastoral with his Ondes Martenot style French Connection keyboard featured at several points with its hauntingly beautiful tones. Novation & Moog keyboards fill out Boddy’s arsenal of instruments and the video shows him in constant motion playing, tweaking and sculpting the hour long set. In the two rhythmic excursions “From Here To There” and “Nevermore” one can literally hear Boddy build the complex, intertwining patterns brick by brick before launching out with some inspired solo playing that can only really happen in a live performance.

Released in a limited edition digipak with beautiful artwork by Wendy Carroll this is music that not only celebrates the work of one of the UK’s leading exponents of electronic music but also the label he has curated with such love and care for the last 22 years. 

credits

releases October 15, 2021

Performed live by Ian Boddy in the DiN Studio & recorded / videod in February 2021.

Streamed live on March 27th as part of the three day SoundQuest Festival 2021.
Multi-track mix, video edit & mastering by Ian Boddy.


Instruments:
Serge Modular
Eurorack Modular
Analogue Systems French Connection
Make Noise 0-Coast
Moog Matriarch
Novation Summit
Folktek Resonant Garden
Moog MF-104M Analog Delay

Thanks to:
All the SoundQuest team for making this amazing event happen:
Steve Roach, Serena Gabriel, Eric Freeman & Mavromedia.
soundquestfest.live

all rights reserved

ambient em electronic electronic music electronica soundquest downtempo modular synth synthwave Sunderland

 

BWMAT201918 | released June 8, 2019 | Materiaal Series, Part 018 | Recorded live on the 14 April 2019 broadcast of STAR’S END Ambient Radio on WXPN 88.5FM in Philadelphia , USA


“In tones edged in platinum the collaboration between Bernhard Wöstheinrich & Ombient rings of a far-ranging sonic intelligence – which is felt in its unrestrained directness of expression. By overcoming the limitations of contemporary music this duo better expresses their un-conforming ideas of the cosmos and infinite space” – Chuck van Zyl

 

Bernhard Wöstheinrich elicits meaning from abstraction in electronic music and painting. He has studied graphic design and has created an eclectic body of work in both graphics and music.
Bernhard speaks in his own musical voice; the musical arc of his work often moves from the curiously beautiful to the beautifully curious. 

credits

released June 8, 2019

Bernhard Wöstheinrich – Keyboards and virtual synthesizers, Live-Sequencing
Ombient / Mike Hunter - Maxikorg, Minimoog, Meris Polymoon


Audio recorded by Roycee Martin & Jeff Towne
Editing and mastering: Markus Reuter
Cover drawing: Christine Kriegerowski

Video by Chuck van Zyl

Special thanks to Chuck van Zyl and the whole crew that was around at the studio of WXPN in Philadelphia & George “G$” Bley

www.starsend.org
www.ombient.com

all rights reserved

ambient ambient electronic big beat big beat electro electronica Berlin

 

 Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

22 June 2021: Ian Boddy "The Deep"; Bass Communion "And No Birds Sing"

Be sure to follow KMXT FreeForm Radio on Facebook and Bandcamp.  

Please support FreeForm Radio and KMXT by going to KMXT.org and pledging your support.

 

  

The Deep was originally released on Something Else Records in 1994 and alongside his previous album, The Uncertainty Principle, has proved to be one of his most popular pre-DiN releases. Inspired by the film The Abyss the original 11 tracks form a continuous suite of music that cover everything from dark ambient soundscapes, Berlin school sequencing through to melodic synth instrumentals. Opening with the haunting sound of a submarine sonar the eerie Ligeti chord masses explode to life with the heavily sequenced Dark Descent. The title track is narrated by David Burns and sets the scene with some awe inspiring facts about the deep ocean which remains largely unexplored. The music then follows a path from the surface down to the dark depths of the hydrosphere until reemerging with the classical orchestrations of Sub-Aquiem before the album finally fades with the return of the sonar. This is as close as Boddy ever got to a true concept album and compositionally stands up to anything else in that oeuvre.

This reissue sees Dutch EM label Groove Unlimited working with Boddy to bring the definitive version of this classic electronic music album back to print. Remastered by Boddy himself there are also a couple of unreleased bonus tracks from the same time period adding an extra 12 minutes of material.

credits

released June 11, 2021

All tracks composed by Ian Boddy, except * by Ian Boddy & David Berkeley.
Produced and engineered by Ian Boddy and mixed to DAT at Something Else Studios (April - August 1994).
Original artwork design by Gary Scott.

Originally released on Something Else Records in 1994 (SER006).
This editions reissued on Groove Unlimited (GR-310).
Remastered by Ian Boddy March 2021.

Aquanauts:
Ian Boddy : Akai S3000 & MPC-60, Roland JD-990, D-550 & 100-M
Modular System, Kurzweil K2000, Korg Wavestation and VCS-3.
David Berkeley : Additional keyboards on Re-Emergence.
Jane Molloy : Voice on Sirens Call.
David Burns : Voice on The Deep and Sub-Aquiem.

ambient berlin school em electronic electronic music electronica dark ambient modular synth sequencer synthwave Sunderland

	1.	And No Birds Sing (Soundtrack) 27:52
	2.	And No Birds Sing (Theme) 13:24

about Bass Communion And No Birds Sing

2 pieces that originated as sound design / soundtrack material for the work in progress movie And No Birds Sing.

This first 28 minute sequence is assembled from material created for the film, dark industrial sound design, with cavernous metal scrapes, water drips, subterranean drones, and shortwave radio transmissions.

The second theme piece is more beautiful and harmonic, built around a sequence of chords in regular intervals that only arrives back at the beginning after moving through 24 different piano chords.

And No Birds Sing is a story that crosses genres, having aspects of Psychological Thriller, Horror and Mystery. Reality merges with film and the supernatural when a London director starts to experience strange events and is forced to confront his troubled past. The film blurs the lines of reality, memory and fiction where sound constantly motivates the twists and turns of the action.

So far a 4 minute test trailer for the film has been shot, watch it here!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqIlIePsKF8

credits

released June 16, 2021

All sound by SW 2020-2021 as Bass Communion
Final assembly and mix June 2021
Voices by Yali and Mia
Cover photograph and design by Carl Glover for Aleph
Audio resolution - 48k/24 bit

license

all rights reserved

tags

Tags

ambient dark ambient drone experimental London