Index

 

K. (Poland)

Dernière danse (2007) (S)
There's A Devil Waiting Outside Your Door (2012)
Lord Said Go To the Devil (2013)
No Longer Trust These Eyes of Mine (2014)
EP (2015) (EP)
Torture Garden (2016)

Varied ambient project of Jakub Adamiak. Sometimes guitar-based, sometimes dominated by synths. Sometimes with slow rhythms and repetitive melodies (as on Torture Garden).

 


K.Bytes (Italy)

I Adore Commodore (??)

A 1980's project of Marcello Giombini and Dino Siani. Although a lot of it falls into the category of extremely cheesy computer-generated pop / italo-disco, there are some quite nice edgy textures and sequences too, enough to warrant an interest from EM listeners.

See also: Giombini, Marcello

 


K.I. Companion (Germany)

Music For Cars (2020)

Melodic and rhythmic music from Andreas Meyer. Often with a Kraftwerk feel.

 


K of ARC (UK)

Show Them Your Throat (2022)

Audiovisual project from the North of England. Menacing drones, clangs and obscure samples.

 


K7SS (USA)

Phantom Sects (1982) (S)

Minimal synth duo of Danny Eskenazi and James Husted (ex-Sequencer People and Young Scientist). They do a lot of vocal experiments and drum machine rhythms. However, the above cassette includes "Vanilla Level", a nice instrumental electronic track, still with some minimal synth traits but also very Prog. File under EM-related.

 


Kaae & Batz (Denmark)

Lush (2021)

Danish duo with a classically-inspired ambient melodic sound.

 


Kaarna (Finland)

Comitatus savolaxiæ (2019)
Tutkielma magnetismista, kivusta ja valtiosta (2020)
Väkipyssyvärssyjä ja kulkutautitarinoita (2021)
Kultataivaat, hopeaveet, unet helmiäistä (2022)

Juha Jaakko-Antero Kaarna Kettunen is a diverse Finnish artist. Depending on the release, you will find pastoral synth music, Martial Ambient, martial industrial, folk, neo-classical and other styles in his work. Beware the vocals. Overall, the music released under the Kaarna moniker can be considered as EM-related. Influences include Dead Can Dance, Coil, Popol Vuh and the industrial scene.

See also: Somnivore

 


Kaars, Peter B. (Netherlands)

Wegens Opening Gesloten (1983)
Wasps (1984)

This is experimental electronics. The exact style is not known but I suppose fans of Conrad Schnitzler may check it out.

 


Kaas Lahn (France)

Ad vitam (2019)

Melodic ambience with a sort of down-to-earth feel.

 


KAAX (France??)

Traffic Light (2016)

A mixture of driving rhythms and melodic electronics.

 


Kable54 (Australia)

The Month Machine (2016)
Volca Galaxies (2017)

Melbourne-based artist who uses mostly microsynths, such as the Volca series to create varied compositions. The Month Machine is rather ambient but also experimental. Volca Galaxies channels the kraut / EM vibe in an even bolder fashion, mixing Kraftwerk, Neu! and Edgar Froese in a single album. Fine stuff.

 


Kadjavsi (Romania)

A Bounding Situation / Shifting Habits (2019)

A project of Nikita Dembinski. He is mainly a piano player in contemporary, chamber and experimental fields. The above release has an improvised piano piece with some editing / fx on side A and a weird, mutating synthesizer piece on side B.

 


Kaestner, Ric (USA)

Music For Massage I (1982)
Music For Massage II (1987)

Although purely new age (i.e. this is applied music, specifically composed for massage or at least it says so in the credits), Music For Massage was released at a time when some new age works actually contained interesting electronic arrangements and sometimes even hinted at Prog EM. I dont know anything about the second volume, but interesting tracks on the 1982 release include A8 (so dark and mysterious, I can't imagine this used for any massage at all), B4, B6 (bubbling bass arpeggio, a repeating melody...) and B7 (a nice, although rather useless exercise in dark drone). The rest is not necessarily bad, just sort of forgettable.

 


Käfer, Wolfgang (Czech Republic)

Electronic (1984)
Electronic (1985)
Themes & Underscores (1987)

Library music.

 


Kagami (USA)

Kagami (2018)

Varied set of electronic tracks, some melodic and listenable but pretty weird overall.

See also: Talking Book, The

 


Kagami Smile (USA)

Dream Residue (2020)
Apathy Reflection (2020)
Glisten (2020)
Lost Reflection (2020)
Gathering Rain (2020)
Transitory Heart (2020)
Oneiric Memory (2020)
Construct of Being (2021)
Angel In An Empty Room (2021)
Memory Garden Photograph (2021)
Solitude (2021)
Motionless, My Eyes Became Adjusted To the Light (2021)
Fragment of Loss / Gathering Dust / Sleep (2021)
Sleep (2021)
Liminal Angel (2022)
Beautiful You (2022)
Your Reflecting Embrace (2022)
Fell From the Sky / A Message From Your Heart (2022)
Let My Love Pass You By (2022)
Hitomi (2022)
Counting Cycles of Rain (2022)
Fading In Your Unretainable Grasp (2022)
Dream Particle (2022)
Dream Fragment (2022)
A Room (2022) (S)
Your Gaze (2022)
Borrowed Photograph (2022)
Melting_Heart_Data (2022)
Accept Pain (2022)
Motionless, My Eyes Became Adjusted To the Light (2023)
Obscured Face (2023)
The Moon Below Your Face Above Your Eyes Aglow This Withered Love (2023)
Crumbling A Flower (2023)
Appeared In the Hallway, Your Face, For A Moment, Vanished In Time (2023)
You Watched Yourself Fall Apart (2023)
Moon In Your Hand (2023)
Iris (2024)

Varied project of Bloomington, Illinois-based Ryan Hill, mostly related to the vaporwave genre. This particular album (Dream Residue) features nice dystopic / cyberpunk / futuristic / neon ambience.

 


Kagoshima, Hiroaki (Japan)

Genocyber Original Soundtrack I (1993) (soundtrack) (with Takehito Nakazawa)
Genocyber Original Soundtrack II (1996) (soundtrack) (with Takehito Nakazawa)

Varied synth soundtrack material. Mostly upbeat, energetic rhythmic / melodic. Sometimes more atmospheric and / or ethnic-sounding. A couple of pop songs as well.

 


Kahana, Gilad (Israel)

360 (2004)

Varied electronic compositions from this diverse Mexican-born Israeli artist, vocalist of alternative rock band Girafot. For 360, Kahana eschews his usual alternative rock stylings in favor of Electronic Music which can be alternatively flowing and beatless or gently rhythmic and playful ala Cluster. Pretty nice stuff.

 


Kahdet Kasvot (Finland)

Narsistin päiväunia (1983)

I don't even know what to make of this one. Releasing the above LP privately, Kahdet Kasvot seems to have been a folk duo of sorts, with new wave and progrock aspirations. A lot of the music relies on acoustic instrumentation and includes vocals (sung in Finnish). There are also genuine EM moments, though, as on "Painajainen" and especially "Satu", which occupies the entire B side of the vinyl. The music is pretty inventive and unique, too. I just wish they'd leave the vocals out. File under EM-related.

 


Kahin (Estonia)

Sümboolika (2020)

Quirky ambient compositions with a bit of a Cluster feel. A project of Taavi Viikman.

 


Kaijin Kaiwa (Belgium)

Master of the Universe (2024)

Kaijin Kaiwa consists of Nicolas Rombouts and Sjoerd Bruil. Although this duo creates music exclusively on electric guitar and electric bass coupled to an array of pedals, effects and processing, the sound and mood they achieve is very close to that of cosmic / ambient / cinematic EM created on synthesizers. There is even a sort of a Blade Runner-like mood in places. Thus, although they're technically more electroacoustic than electronic, I decided to include these guys here.

 


Kailin (UK)

Fracture (2017)
Shallow Depths (2020)
Let's Get Together And Make the Apocalypse Beautiful (2020)
Auteur Theory (2021)

Starting as a moody atmospheric UK bass project, Kailin has transformed into something much more ambient for Shallow Depths.

 


Kaipainen, Eppu (Finland)

Poiu (2020)

Droning electronic compositions from this Helsinki-based artist.

 


Kaiser, Tim (USA)

House of Joy (2004) (S)
Analog (2007)
At the Big Jar (2008) (S)
Insect Mantras (2011)
Numbers Station (2011)
Drone Not Drones (2014)
Giganto Destructo (2014) (EP)
Inferior Planets (2015) (S)
Elektrika (??)
Voltage (2019)
Transmitter (2021) (S)
Tone (2021)
Telemetry (2021)
The Battle Between History & Time (2021)

Unique artist from Minnesota who builds himself all the instruments he uses in his music. These include both electro-acoustic devices and electronic machines. The music is experimental and often spacey.

 


Kaito (Japan)

Less Time Until the End (2014)
Nokton (2019)

Kaito is Hiroshi Watanabe - a dance music artist. Nokton is a beatless work, mixing "deconstructed club" sounds with Progressive Electronic / sequencer music. Me likes this. Less Time Until the End has a similar vibe.

 


Kakegawa, Yosuke (Japan)

Inertia And Motion (2022)
Casual Now (2024)

Long ambient tracks with sort of a lo-fi feel.

 


Kaktiņš Stūrītis (Latvia)

K. S. (2014)

Latvian project between post-rock and motorik / Dusseldorf / kraut sound.

 


Kalancea, Alina (Romania)

The 5th Apple (2018)
Impedance (2021)
Alchemy (2023)
Letters Never Sent (2023)

Varied modular synth compositions from this Romanian artist.

 


Kalb, Gabriel (Brazil)

Collection of Works 2007 (2007)
Ambient I (2012) (S)

Ambient artist from Brazil.

 


Kalén, Leandro (Argentina)

Screenshot (2019)

Cinematic music based on the piano, but also with a lot of synths / electronics.

 


Kalin, Avalon (USA)

Unsoundscapes Vol. 1 (2020) (with Ockinga)
Sistrum (2020)
Circular Music (2021)
Spiral Way (2021)

Spokane, Washington-based electronic musician. Sistrum features minimal repeating patterns of electronic mallet or organ sounds and subtle melodies.

 


Kalinka, Bartek (Poland)

Niepewno​ś​ć (2021) (S)

Quirky, abstract, detuned synth sounds and constructions from this musician who has been active since the 1990's (mostly as part of the experimental noise project XV Parówek).

 


Kalinski, Dariusz (Poland)

Ps. 150 (1996)
Experience Headland (2001) (with Tomasz Kubiak)

Polish artist with an individual, sometimes Berlin School-inspired style.

 


Kallal, Rose (USA)

Vermillion Vortex (2011) (S)
Perseus (2018)

New York-based video and sound artist. Perseus is a soundtrack to her video projections created using a modular system. Dark Electronic Music, between ambient forms and the darkest sequencer / pulse-based forms (like Phaedra gone evil).

 


Kallmyer, Chris (USA)

Juniper (2018)

Long tracks of echoing "desert guitar" and electronics created by this Los Angeles-based artist and inspired by Ennio Morricone.

See also: Superteam

 


Kalma, Ariel (France)

Les temps des moissons (1975)
But Only One That Can Take You All Around (1977)
Noises (1977)
Osmose (1978)
Music For Dream And Love (1979)
Interfrequence (1979)
Open Like A Flute (1982)
Bindu (1984)
Rainbow (1984)
Tropical (1985)
Serenity (1988)
Cherubin - Like the Ocean (1988) (with Anugama)
An Evolutionary Music (2014) (recorded in 1972 - 1979)
We Know Each Other Somehow (2015) (with Robert Lowe)
French Archives 1977 - 1980 (2017)
Intemporel (2019) (with Sarah Davachi)
Nuits blanches au studio 116 (2019) (recorded in 1974 - 1979)
Head Voices (2020) (with Gilbert Cohen)
French Archives Vol. II 1974 - 1985 (2021)
Notes Above Land (2021) (recorded in 2015) (with Robert Lowe)
Three Blokes In Ameno (2021) (with Riccardo Sinigaglia and Davide Zolli)
French Archives Vol. III 1964 - 1989 (2023)
The Closest Thing To Silence (2024) (with Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer)

One of the unsung pioneers of Ambient, Ariel Kalma created his sound paintings using meditative textures, sounds of nature and lots of treated / looped instruments.

 


Kalman, Egil (Sweden)

Kingdom Bells (Egil Kalman Plays the Synthi 100) (2022)

Swedish bassist and multi-instrumentalist, as well as experimental composer. On Kingdom Bells, he creates abstract and sometimes playful EM pieces in just intonation on the legendary giant Synthi 100 synth by EMS.

 


Kalmankantaja (Finland)

Metsäkalmisto (2016)

One-man black metal band of Aki Klemm. On Metsäkalmisto, a different kind of music is heard - completely based on electronics / synths and beatless / ambient. Reflective and melancholic, but not dark.

 


Kalme (Germany)

Neue Sprache (2022)

Experimental project of Berlin-based Sonja Deffner. Mostly analog and digital synth music with (mostly recited) vocals processed through a vocoder or something similar. "Nachlass" is a nice instrumental EM track done in a unique style. File under EM-related.

See also: Globus

 


Kalnitsky, Arnold (Canada)

Visions (??)

 


Kalo (Japan)

Spiral Dream (2004)

A project led by Masahiro Uemura who plays guitar and keyboards, with several guests providing other instruments. Largely instrumental Progrock with touches of EM and new age. Maybe a Symphonic Prog / Neo-Prog / Kitaro hybrid would be a fitting description for a lot of what can be heard here.

 


Kalos (Italy)

La vie delle miniere (2020) (EP)

Moody Electronic Music from Calogero Aquilina. Slow sequences, experimental synth patches, throbbing rhythms...

See also: Aquilina, Calogero

 


Kalson (Serbia)

Solarni Sistem (2021) (S)

A project of Vladan Cvetković. He is an electro artist who is an addict of analog synths and sounds. Solarni Sistem is one of the most successful (not that there are many) marriages of electro and Berlin School EM - the sounds are crisp, the solos cosmic and the sequences catchy as hell, while the electro beat is unmistakeabke. Actually, the whole ends up sounding much closer to EM than electro. Interesting stuff and a musician to look out for.

 


Kaltar (Mexico)

Emotional Backlash (2006)

Melodic, easy-on-the-ear music from this artist originally out of Mexico, now residing and working in Miami, Florida. Part 1 of Emotional Backlash starts with a bass throb and a solemn synth theme. Very nice percussion arrangement is a welcome extra to an otherwise very Jarre-like (in mood, not in sound) anthemic piece. Part 2, on the other hand, is much more atmospheric, with fat bass synth runs and reflective pads. The melodies are very tasty and overall it sounds like a classic piece of EM that Jarre never did. Part 3 brings in yet another great melodic theme, while the music stays profoundly synthetic, at the same time retaining its wider appeal. The marching drums give this track sort of a Vangelis flair (reminiscent of "To the Unknown Man"). The fourth part starts with a tour-de-force one-note bass sequence, over which a Vangelis-like melodic theme plays. One is reminded on the Chariots of Fire soundtrack. At the same time, there are some weirder sounds & bits here. Nice piano theme at the end! Part 5 is more dramatic with desert howls and fat, almost symphonic synths. After the drums kick in, it transforms into a stingy electronic ballad. The sixth part is heavy on the bass, but the melodic element is still there, although the theme itself is not as strong as on some other pieces. Personally, I found this track a bit bland and nondescript. On Part 7 the author tries to convey the atmosphere that was present on Jarre' first couple of albums. Whether he succeeds is for listeners to decide. The atmospheric section then gives way for an aggressive upbeat sequence that drives the rest of the track along. Nice composition that will be enjoyed by most EM fans! An unusual sequence greets us as we enter Part 8. The track once again has a distinctive Jarre flair in the melodic department. However, the rhythms are heavier and quite original. Part 9 starts with a dramatic and soundtracky piano theme. Another theme is introduced while the sound pallette expands to include more synthesizers. Several other melodic themes come and go, true to the suite-like character of this 16+ minute piece, sometimes venturing into almost classical realms. Emotional Backlash is a fine album that will be enjoyed by fans of melodic and tuneful Electronic Music.

 


Kalugin, Antony (Ukraine)

The Water (2008)
AKKO I (2013)
AKKO II (2019)
Marshmallow Moondust (2020)

Mostly 'one-man band' instrumental progrock (sometimes with a new age vibe) based on keyboards from this Kharkiv-born musician. However, there is also a strong Ambient influence and some of the tracks are completely ambient. In others, there are long ambient parts.

 


Kalyos, Robert (Italy)

Cosmopolis (2021)
Cosmopolis Companion (2021)
Mission (2021)
Imaginary Themes (2021)
The Universe of Lost Souls (2021) (recorded in 2018)
Hybrid System of Variable Sequences (2021)
Strawberry Synths Forever (2021)
Quantico (2021)
Fragments of Eternity (2022)
The Currents of Pleasure (2022)
At the Borders of Orion (2022)
The Path of the Whole (2023)
In Time... In Space (2023)
Strawberry Synths Forever 2 (2023)

Italian synthesist with a melodic / rhythmic style, influenced by Vangelis, Jarre, Giorgio Moroder and Tangerine Dream. Pretty moody and cinematic stuff.

 


Kamada, Tadashi (Japan)

Home Made Music (1981) (with A. Koshi and T. Nakamura)
After Music (1982)
Ice Music (1983)
Park Music (1984) (with Naoki Kasugai, Kiyomi Hirose and K. Hisamatsu)

Experimental musician and founder of DD. Records cassette label. He has an extensive discography and apparently, not all of it is EM-related. In the early days he seems to have been inspired by Brian Eno. After Music is reportedly pretty ambient, Ice Music is industrial-tinged drone reminiscent of Asmus Tietchens, while Park Music is a diverse live synth session recorded in the park that ranges from minimal synth to Ambient  and overall has a bit of a weird, pastoral Cluster vibe but with a Japanese flair. Home Made Music seems to contain, at least partly, genuinely krauty moments. Further investigation is needed.

 


Kamazi (Germany)

Inner M31 (2018) (EP)

A pseudonym of Andy Hart. This is a one-track inclusion so far thanks to the cosmic, shimmering "LOx".

 


Kameel Farah, John (Canada)

Time Sketches (2017)

Pianist and electronic composer, current member of Canadian Electronic Ensemble. Time Sketches is dominated by piano but also has a lot of electronics throughout, hinting at both minimalist composers and at times Vangelis (on the longer "Fantasia").

See also: Canadian Electronic Ensemble, The

 


Kamiński, Marek (Poland)

Not Here (2019)
Tumult (2021)

Dramatic, semi-acoustic Ambient with a large piano presence.

 


Kaminski, Peter (Germany)

Synthesis (1984)

Melodic Electronic Music a bit influenced by Larry Fast's (Synergy) style.

 


Kamiya (Japan)

Mu (1980)
Tomb of Pharaoh (1982) (soundtrack)

Mu is an electronic album by former member of psych band "Love Live Life + One" Shigenori Kamiya who is responsible for all arrangements and synthesizer playing. A bit funky, with vocoder voices and typical Japanese sound, reminding at times on some vintage anime soundtracks.

 


Kamiyama, Kenta (Japan)

Signs of Rain (2014)
Notturno (2018) (with Ynaktera)

Fragile ambient compositions.

 


Kammarheit (Sweden)

Shockwork (2000)
Among the Ruins (2001)
At the Heart of Destruction (2001)
Somewhere Concealed (2002)
The Downfall And the Arising (2002)
The Northern Hymn (2002)
Asleep And Well Hidden (2003)
The Starwheel (2005)
Onyx (2015) (with Apocryphos and Atrium Carceri)
The Nest (2015)
Echo (2017) (with Apocryphos and Atrium Carceri)
Thronal (2020)
Colossus (2022) (with Atrium Carceri)
Apparatus (2024) (with Atrium Carceri)

Dark Ambient from Pär Boström, mostly in the classic tradition ala Lustmord, with drones, rumbles etc. but somewhat melancholic.

See also: Cities Last Broadcast, Altarmang, Bonini Bulga, Hymnambulae, Teahouse Radio, Aindulmedir, Underwater Sleep Orchestra, Grave Owl, Trollslottet.

 


Kamokata (UK)

Kamokata (2017)

Long tracks of intense ambient synths.

See also: DARKPYRAMID, Subaeris, Hong Kong Express.

 


Kampsindaja (Italy)

1987 - 2011 Forced Back (2011)
Chavia (2013)
Final (2017)
Zero (2017)

Italian Dark Ambient formation active from the 1980's.

 


Kanaan (Germany)

Kanaan Live 1975 (2000) (recorded in 1975)

Peter Frohmader's band from the 70's that mixed jazz-rock and Electronic Music.

See also: Frohmader, Peter, Ruediger, Uwe.

 


Kanaan, Faten (USA)

Faten Kanaan (2015) (S)
The Botanist & The Archaeologist (2016)
Pleiade Hex 6 (2017)
Foxes (2018)
A Mythology of Circles (2020)
Afterpoem (2022)

Brooklyn-based artist who uses vintage synthesizers. Her style is atmospheric, melodic and lush, sometimes bringing to mind some Vangelis, sometimes quite original. Sometimes she sings (in a nice voice), which doesn't spoil the music as is often the case with EM, but rather adds a personal touch.

 


Kanaan, Robert (Poland)

Panocean (??)
Primavera (1994)
Sonata Belzebuba (1996)
Sen nocy letniej (1998)
Karaibi (1999)
Pasja Gorecka (??)
Tsunami (2004)
Białe gołębie (2004)
Daje ci nadzieje (??)
Polaczeni kolorowa tecza (??)
Nowa nadzieja (??)
Gaja (2010)
Hołd (2014) (with Przemyslaw Rudz and Krzystof Duda)
Continuum (2014)
Winter Chillout (2014)
Love Legends (2014)
Dzewiąty wiek (2015)
Le monde est grotesque (2016)
Summer Chillout (2016)
3C (2017)
(with Przemyslaw Rudz and Krzystof Duda)
Echoes (2018)
Music Therapy: Whispers of the Five Oceans (2018)
Polish Tender Christmas (2019)
Atea - The Power of Light (2021)

Robert Kanaan is a Polish composer with an individual style. He started with Electronic Music already in the 1980's. Since then he has written many soundtracks, including many for theatre productions, and released some albums on cassette and later on CD.

 


Kandahar (Belgium)

Spel (1983)

Belgian jazz-rock / prog / fusion band. This tape contains minimal / electronic material recorded in 1982. Recently re-released by Taped Sounds.

See also: Sunstroke

 


Kanelbjørn (Denmark)

Udkants-tripper (2015)

Varied short synth tracks, from experimental to melodic and sequencer-based.

 


Kangaroo Kourt (USA)

Interstellar Static (1987)
Sleeping Beauty (1988)
Kangaroo Kourt (1988)
Cheshire's Lost Radio Show (1989)
Messages In Ether (1989)
Atmospheric Distortions (1991)

Pre-Mauve Sideshow experimental project from Dusty Lee influenced by both Nurse With Wound and the Ambient scene. As a result, each album features one side of experimental collage and one side of ghostly atmospherics.

Mauve Sideshow, Blessed Oblivion, Minus Infinity, Mistress of Strands, Steeple of Fyre, Thistle, Angel Provocateur, Torn Curtain.

 


Kangding Ray (France)

Solens arc (2014)
61 Mirrors / Music For SKALAR (2020)
Ultrachroma (2022)

A project of David Letellier who is currently based in Berlin. He is known for his techno-related musics, although on 61 Mirrors... you will hear lots of ambient and / or EM influences. Ditto for Ultrachroma.

 


Kanitz, Jorn (Germany)

First Results (1989 - 1991)
Electronics Theme (1991) (maxi)
Theatre of Illusion (1993)

Synthesist from East Germany.

 


Kanter, Adrien (France)

Infinites réflexions (2017)

Experimental, but also melodic synth soundscapes. Some drums and guitars.

See also: JUJU, Le Réveil des Tropiques, Trésors.

 


Kanthor (France)

Mathème (2020)

Mostly dubby minimal techno from this Paris-born artist. There are also two EM tracks - "Apologie du Nom" and "Monument". These are pretty nice and give hope for a future EM release.

 


Kantor, Bobo (Slovakia)

Nelajsia (1994)
Trpezlivosti svetla 1 (1996)
Trpezlivosti svetla 2 (1996)

Ex-member of pop rock band Team.

 


Kanx (Brazil)

Seth (1993)

A rarer, lesser-known project of Amir Cantusio (aka Alpha III). Varied Electronic Music, mostly atmospheric, with slow rhythms, but also with lots of inventive and quirky synth sounds.

See also: Alpha III

 


Kaphan, Bruce (USA)

Slider (2001)

Guitar-based Ambient. Like Jeff Pearce?

 


Kappa (UK)

Kontakt (2018)

Vaporwave-related project. Kontakt is a moody, melodic ambient album.

 


Kappa Music Library (Greece)

Cinectronic (2023)

A project of Thessaloniki-based artist Kappa (Kostas K). EM dedicated to and inspired by cult films and B-movies.

 


KapTep (USA)

Overcast (2023)

Ambient project of Illinois-based Derek Carter. Synth-based, his sound inherits moods pioneered by genre trailblazers like Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Michael Stearns and others.

 


Kara Konchar (Portugal)

Estige (2021) (S)

Moody, dark, hymnal electronics from Miguel Béco.

 


Karabasan Drane (Sweden)

Crystalline State (2020)

Varied music from this Stockholm-based duo of Jin Mustafa and Robin Smeds Mattila. From lysergic dungeon synth melodies to ambient atmospheres to fast-paced sequencer and everything in-between.

See also: Human Rays

 


Karagiannis, Dimitris (Greece)

Bestiaria (2021) (S)

Rich analog palette of sound from this synthesist. Arpeggios, sequences, rhythms, cosmic melodies...

 


Karakal (Germany)

Karakal (2013)
II (2014)
Mirage (2016)

A duo (Volker Hampel and Patrick Brede) formed in Seigen, Germany, in 2011. One of the members takes care of electronics and the other one plays guitar and lots of processing devices. Although the duo's music expresses a bit of a post-rock aesthetic, there's also a strong krautrock / Berlin School influence, as well as that of Richard Pinhas and Heldon.

 


Karakuchi (???)

Karakuchi (2021)

Lo-fi, experimental tracks with lots of weird sampling, warm synths and broken rhythms.

 


Karamika (UK/Germany)

Karamika (2015)
2.0 (2019)

Collaboration between George Thompson and Gordon Pohl. Ranges from weird rhythmic excursions to atonal experimental stuff and some sequencer / arpeggio goodness.

See also: Black Merlin

 


Karashima, Yoshio (Japan)

Sacred Water (1982)
Ordos (1982)

Japanese synthesist.

 


Karda Estra (UK)

Equilibrium (2002) (with Artemiy Artemiev)
Idols In the Flesh (2021)

Long-running neo-classical / symphonic rock / gothic project of Swindon-based Richard Wileman. Idols In the Flesh is a nice Medieval Ambient album with organ, choirs, some acoustic instrumentation and ambient electronics.

 


Kardas, Peter (USA)

Right Belief (1986)
Right Action (1987)

A member of Robert Fripp's The League of Crafty Guitarists, Kardas is influenced by both Frippertronics and synth music here.

 


Karg, Jurgen (Germany)

Elektronische Mythen (1977)

Electronic LP by former bass player for Wolfgang Dauner. Made with four EMS synthesizers and other electronics.

 


Karis, Simon J. (Australia)

Elegy (2016) (S)
Cassowary Paint (2023) (with Isobel D'Çruz Barnes)

Simon J. Karis is a noise musician from Melbourne. The bulk of his output will be of no interest to EM fans. However, Elegy is a short cassette release that features music inspired by the movie "Alien", and is mostly ambient and atmospheric.

 


Karjalainen, Hannu (Finland)

Worms In My Piano (2006)
Hintergarden (2009)
A Handful of Dust Is A Desert (2017)
Drift (2018)
Railo (2021)

Emotional and cinematic melodic ambient compositions from Finland. Pretty much influenced by modern classical.

 


Karjalan Tazavalla (Russia)

Соловецкий лагерь особого назначения (2008)
Uhtua (2009)

Dark Ambient project from Petrozavodsk. Sometimes intense and slightly noisy.

See also: >o<

 


Kärki, Matti (Finland)

Vibrations (1997)

Bright, relaxed ambient compositions from this Finnish synthesist and keyboard player.

 


Karlström, Oskar (Sweden)

Astral Planes (2018)
Astral Bodies (2018)
Safe Places (2018)
Urban Patterns (2020)
Theia (2020)
Gitarrfantasier (2021) (EP)
Songs For Positive Psychology (2021)

Swedish artist who combines field recordings with analog synth for a peaceful sound.

 


Karma (UK)

Ionospheres (1985)

A project of new age musician Clifford White. He has released some albums under his own name that are probably typical new age. This album (released on cassette) also without a doubt has that vibe. However, there is also a strong influence of prog EM like Ambient, Space Music and even progressive rock felt in these tracks and overall it's much more dramatic, much deeper and more electronic-oriented than your standard new age fare. If it's new age, it's good new age. However, I would describe it as a synth-based NA / progressive EM hybrid. Could be a nice diversion for him. However, I am not an expert on Clifford's creative work so don't quote me on that.

See also: White, Clifford

 


KarmaCosmic (Germany)

Music For Tantra & Meditation (2004)
Sat Chit Ananda (2007) (with Darshini)
SamSaRa (2022)

Gentle guitar strumming and ambient electronics from this trio consisting of Carsten Agthe (on earlier releases), Dirk Schlömer, Rüdiger Gleisberg and Mathias Grassow. Lots of ethnic influences. Something for fans of World Music and new age perhaps.

See also: Gleisberg, Rüdiger, Grassow, Mathias.

 


Karmelloz (USA)

Inversion (2014)
Runner (2016) (with LXV)

Inversion features post-apocalyptic / post-information society ambience from this varied Portland, Oregon based project. Mostly notable for the two long closing tracks.

See also: Pepitone, Matthew

 


Karmiciel Wszy (Poland)

Isdalskvinnen (2015)
Ostia (2015) (S)
Taman Shud (2015) (S)
Teorema (2015) (S)
Ofiarowanie (2015)
Zona (2015)
Karmiciel wszy (2015) (S)
Murder of Shanda Sharer (2016) (S)
Torre Bert (2016)

Bleak drones from Poland.

 


Karna (Russia)

Diabolic (2004)
The Haunted (2008)
Forever In Darkness (2008) (recorded in 2006)
Nekronautica: Chronicles Of Lost Souls (2012)

Subtitled "Soundtrack For My Nightmares", this album by Russian black metal act takes you to ethereal and shadowy Dark Ambient territory, with long synthesized drones, bells and occasional female voice. The Haunted is more in the style of Martial Ambient.

 


Károly, Cserepes (Hungary)

Shambhala (1997)
Danubian Trances (2003)
Nachtmusik (2021)

Unusual World Music from this ex-member of folk ensemble Vízöntő. Lots of samples and voices.

 


Karoyi, Hayk (Armenia)

Under the Hot Sun (2023)

Yerevan-based artist influenced by East Mediterranean and Armenian cultures, as well as contemporary electronics. Nice World Music / ethnic EM pastiche, deep and thoughful.

 


Karpenkov, Stas (Russia)

Твоя тень / Что же насчет правды (2016) (S)
EvpaTrans (2023)

Subtle, analog-sounding compositions.

 


Karperyd, Andreas (Sweden)

Woodwork (2015)
GND (2021)

Unique style here: mostly abstract, but also rhythmic, glitchy and atmospheric. Moody stuff that seems to make extensive use of sampling and maybe granular synthesis (or at least it sounds like it).

 


Karpov Not Kasparov (Romania)

Soundtrack For A Game of Chess (2015)
Memory (2021) (EP)

A synth / drums duo of Valeriu Borcos and Eduard Gabia that is a thing in itself. Soaking up influences from World Music and classic 1970's EM / krautrock (including the French melodic style), the two create highly dynamic compositions that range from danceable to reflective.

 


Karras (UK)

Municipal Dances (2017)

A duo of Matthew Swinnerton and Lukas Wooller who are also members of a few indie rock bands. As Karras, they explore electronic instrumentals that are influenced by the krautrock movement, Dusseldorf School and maybe with a touch of disco / house. Nice melodic, easy-going stuff with nice use of real drums and guitars.

 


Karsin, Jeff (USA)

Pandataria (2000)

Droning Ambient. Quite dark. Mastered by Robert Rich.

 


Karte, Hans (Germany)

Wdech. Wydech. An Exhibition Never Shown. (2021)

Interesting EM from this Leipzig-based artist, created using only recorded voices, processed with samplers and effects. Cold, hypnotic, a bit Kraftwerkian in spirit. The music was recorded for an exhibition that never took place. Recommended.

 


Kartell, Franck (France)

Afterlife (2014)
La jetée d'Orly (2015)
Damaged Spacecraft (2015) (S)
Coïncidences (2016)
Alaska (2017)
Phosphorescence (2021) (EP)
Electric Sheep (2021) (EP)

Franck's music alternates between dark electro and ambient soundscapes with a focus on rich analog sounds.

 


Kashew, Don (Switzerland)

White Series #1 (2021) (EP)
Kollected Kashews 2017 - 2021 (2022)
Reibung (2023)

Zurich-based Kashew composes monotonous, lysergic, rhythmic electronic tracks with influences from krautrock and post-punk.

 


Kashmir (Switzerland)

Alarme! (1979)
Hold Up! (1980) (S)
Histoire cruelle (1982)

Rare Electronic Music from Switzerland by Patrice Guenat and Henry Dubelly. Like Cybotron, Tangerine Dream and such. Some sources refer to it as a French band which is not true. Sometimes they sing (in French) and their style approximates that of the band Pulsar. Note that Alarme! was re-released in a repackaged form (with white cover) as Je Suis...

See also: Guenat, Patrice

 


Kashya (Australia)

Osaka / Nara / Kyoto / Hiroshima / Tokyo (2016)

Warm, emotional ambient sounds. Good stuff.

 


Kaskatron (Germany)

Kaskatron (2013) (S)
Aufbruch nach Kaskonia (2014)
Raindrops (2016)
Korus (2017)

Electronic artist with a varied sound. Mostly soundscapes, but sometimes melodic, with downtempo rhythms.

 


Ka-Spel, Edward (UK)

Das digitale Vertrauen (1997) (with Asmus Tietchens, Jetzmann and L. Ski)
Live In Basel 2005 (2005) (with The Silverman)
The Whispering Wail (2009) (with The Silverman)
The Thirty Year Itch (2010) (with The Silverman)
Terremoto (2015) (recorded in 2008) (with The Silverman)

Alien Subspace (2019) (with Motion Kapture)
The 40 Year Scratch (2020) (with The Silverman)
One Last Pose Before the Ruin (2024)
The Ruin (2024)

Member (lead singer) of The Legendary Pink Dots. First released as part of his One Last Pose Before the Ruin album, "The Ruin" is a deep and philosophical, gothic ambient soundscape. There is some (pretty nice and non-irritating) narration, but most of the material is completely instrumental.

See also: Legendary Pink Dots, The, Mimir.

 


Kasper Bjørke Quartet (Denmark)

The Fifty Eleven Project (2018)
Mother (2022)

A mixture of electronic and classical instrumentation.

 


Kasprzak, Arek (Poland)

Sketches (2020)

Varied electronic tracks from this artist based in London.

 


Kassner, Carola (Germany)

Planetary Voyage (1994)
The Space Experience (1999)

Space Music very much in the Michael Stearns vein.

 


Kassyanik, Yuri (Russia)

Red Canaries (1990)
Guinness Record (1990)
Music of the Tuesdays (1993)
Portraits (1993)
Portraits 2 (1993)
Improphonies (1994)
World Messages (2000)

Yuri Kassyanik (Юрий Касьяник) is a composer, musician and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his solo and ensemble improvisations using both electronic means (synthesizers, processed voice) and acoustic / electric instruments. Yuri Kassyanik was born in Leningrad (now Saint-Petersburg) and studied classical piano. He has a massive background in jazz and improvised music in general. He is also one of the founders of International Association of Independent Composers. His career includes a lot of achievements in both musical (concerts, performances, studio work) and organizational (promotion of artists, releasing albums, organizing sessions etc) fields.

 


Kastel, Silvia (UK)

Air Lows (2017)
Xantharmony (2022) (EP)

Performance artist, singer and keyboardist / synth player of Ninni Morgia Control Unit. She has been present on the experimental / industrial scene since circa 2010 and has been rather prolific during this period. I suppose not everything she's released will be EM or EM-related, but at the least the above listed works reveal a quirky, individual synth style, with repetition, melodies, touches of voice, etc. Further investigation is needed.

 


Kastil (Spain)

Incessant Siege (2015) (EP)
T.W.L.F. (2016) (with I-Real)
These Symptoms Are Not Accounted (2016) (S)
No Spiritual Surrender (2017) (with Jose Cabrera)
No Spiritual Surrender Pt. II (2017) (with Jose Cabrera)

Kastil is Mario Castillo from the Basque Country. He is a techno producer who first started showing Ambient / EM influences on his Incessant Siege EP where the closing track is completely ambient. He then released T.W.L.F., with a good, but very short sequencer piece "Dead Coral" and, finally, settled for a mixture of Dark Ambient and Cluster-like playfulness on These Symptoms Are Not Accounted. Lets hope he moves further in the Prog EM direction.

 


Kasyansky, Grundik (Russia)

Lepus (2019)

Compositions for DIY feedback synthesizer from this London-based artist. Somewhat along the lines of the earliest (1971 - 1973) Cluster.

See also: òåïëîòà

 


Kat, Henriëtte (Netherlands)

Violet Fire (2006)
Orion Symphony (2007)
Home (2008)

Floating, symphonic Space Music.

 


Kátai, Tamás (Hungary)

Erika szobája (2005)
Slower Structures (2016)
Jupiter 92 (2022) (recorded in 1992 - 1993)

Keyboardist, member of black metal band Thy Catafalque, thrash metallers Gire and a few other groups / projects. The 2005 release is classically inspired, folky tunes with a touch of ambience. Slower Structures is overall more ambient, mixing lots of piano with some classical instrumentation and subtle electronics. Jupiter 92 is early computer music created on a Commodore Amiga 500 computer.

See also: CPU

 


Katastr (Czech Republic)

Hausnumero (2021) (S)

Czech synth / drums duo. Energetic, krauty, melodic.

 


Katatonic Silentio (Italy)

Les chemins de l'inconnu (2022)

A project of Milan-based Mariachiara Troianiello. She has a club past as a deejay and is influenced by techno, dubstep, breakbeat, hip-hop and industrial genres. On Les chemins de l'inconnu, she enters a more ambient territory, and although it is still very much influenced by the above genres, some moments or tracks are rather progressive in an ambient / industrial kind of way - it sounds like being trapped in a dark alien production complex. File under EM-related.

 


Kate, Marc (USA)

File: #08 (2015)

Droning ambient soundscapes, sometimes dense and noisy, sometimes more atmospheric.

 


Katod (Poland)

7Cats (2015)
Fusion64 (2017)
Gold Ballads (2018)
Inwazja robotów z kosmosu (2019)
Jowisz-8 (2020)

Katod is Mariusz Wasilewski who makes music using analog synthesizers, old 8-bit Commodore computers, bass guitar, electric guitar and drums. Because of the unusual instrumentation, the music has a unique sound, although overall falls squarely into the melodic EM box. And I didn't even mention a special participation by Mariusz's cat. :-)

 


Katritsis, Byron (Greece)

Καραντίνα / Quarantine (2020)
Afterlife (2021) (S)

Dark soundscapes on Afterlife. Varied moody rhythmic electronics on Καραντίνα / Quarantine.

 


Katsanos, George (Greece)

Blur (2007)
Adagios From the Underground (2020) (with Nikos Giousef and Irene Tiniakou)

The 2007 album features subtle, nocturnal ambient compositions made of processed acoustic sources, field recordings and electronics, with prominent electric pianos and music boxes, giving a haunted mansion or even Deckard's empty flat feeling. Pretty unique and very good if you ask me.

 


Katsoulis, Vangelis (Greece)

Minimal Suite - Double Image (1986)
The Slipping Beauty (1988)
Celephais / Through the Door Into A Dream (1990) (with Michael Grigoriou)
Whispers of Immorality (1990)
Through the Dark (1997)
The Sleeping Beauties: A Collection of Early And Unreleased Works (2014) (recorded in 1987 - 2012)
If Not Now When (2016)

Diverse melodic / atmospheric music from this contemporary jazz / minimalist composer.

 


Katsura (USA)

Katsura (2022)

Droning ambient duo of James Shain and Sage Taylor.

See also: Taylor, Sage, Parallelism.

 


Katsura, Bunchin & Katsura, Sanshi (Japan)

Rakugo Gendaiha Sengen (1981)

This is a story telling record, so unless you understand Japanese, it is of no big interest. The reason I include it here is for the occasional background EM. I don't know who the moog player is but looks like it's Katsura Bunchin.

 


Katz, Elon (USA)

The Pylori Program (2010)

Varied electronic material recorded using an E-MU modular system and an E5000 sampler.

 


Katzer, Kim & Martin, Bill (USA)

Nutcracker - An Electronic Adaptation (1985)

What the title promises. Private press from Burbank, California.

 


Kauffmann, Thommaz (Brazil)

Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition (2021) (recorded in 2018) (soundtrack)

Nice soundtrack with a rich, symphonic sound from this São Paulo-based artist. Sometimes ambient, sometimes melodic and hymnal ala Vangelis.

 


Kaufhold, Will (Canada)

Drone For Four Synthesizers (2015)

What the title promises. Pretty rudimentary material here, if you ask me.

See also: Form, Ancient Greens.

 


Kaufman, Pablo (Argentina)

Ambiente (2015)

Nice stuff, Ambient, based on the sounds of analog synthesizers from this Buenos Aires-based musician.

 


Kaukasus (Sweden / Norway)

I (2014)

Interesting mixture of progressive rock and nice, warm, analogue progressive EM from the trio of Mattias Olsson (Änglagård), Ketil Vestrum Einarsen (Jaga Jazzist) and Rhys Marsh. Mathias plays keyboards, Ketil takes care of flute, horn, reeds and... more keyboards. Rhys does vocals, electric guitar, bass, mellotron, piano, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with their progressive rock sound but I wish they'd veer more towards the electronic side.

 


Kaukolampi, Timo (Finland)

1 (2017)
Sukupuolielämän ABC (??) (S)
Euthanizer (2018) (soundtrack) (with Tuomo Puranen)
Music From Station To Station To Station (2019)
Maria's Paradise (2020) (soundtrack) (with Tuomo Puranen)
We Jazz Reworks Vol. 1 (2021)
White Wall (2021)
(soundtrack) (with Tuomo Puranen)
Mister8 (2022) (soundtrack) (with Tuomo Puranen)
Inside the Sphere (2023)

A mixture of Prog EM / kraut material and stiff techno chuggers.

See also: K-X-P

 


Kaumasse mit Fremdstoffen (Germany)

Music For Waltzstrassen (1982)

Music from Karsten Rodemann (aka Graf Haufen) and Herbert Piechot. Abstract electronics that often sound like someone dabbling with synths (perhaps no wonder here, as Rodemann was in his early teens when this was recorded). On the other hand, there is a strange feeling of purpose to the soundscapes sometimes, as well as an early kraut / EM feel (early Cluster, Schnitzler, Seesselberg, etc. come to mind). Personally, I find a lot of it strangely relaxing and charming. A nice artefact of early 1980's EM that sounds like early 1970's EM.

 


Kaunsel (Canada)

Prairie Minimal (2017)
Ambient Music For Baths
(2018)

Like dungeon synth with all typical digital presets replaced by purely EM, hazy analog synth textures.

See also: Bong Sample, Private Investigators, Soft Ions.

 


Kaval (Netherlands)

Sky of Mirrors (2011)
Zee van gedachten (2014)

Gloomy synth soundtrack work inspired by John Carpenter and David Lynch.

See also: Martin, Ian, Auser, Roberto.

 


Kave (Netherlands)

Hidden Fields (2008) (S)
Dismal Radiance (2012)
Ominosium (2015)

More or less classic formula Dark Ambient.

 


Kawabata, Makoto (Japan)

Psychedelic Noise Freak (1978)
4 Tunes (1981)
Sunday Morning (1981)
Your Voice From the Moon (2005)
Electric Erect Music Vol. 1 (2015)
Spatial Roots (2016) (with Geoff Leigh)
Trax (2017) (with Richard Pinhas and Yoshida Tatsuya)
Makoto Kawabata · Richard Pinhas · Yoshida Tatsuya (2018) (with Richard Pinhas and Yoshida Tatsuya)
Undead Underdrive Electrique (2019)
Alturas (2020) (with Richard Pinhas, Manongo Mujica, Juan Luis Pereira and Hiroshi Higashi)
Vanishing Dream In Mirage Space (2020)
Voice From Antares (2022)
Invitation To Love (2022)
Negatronic Brain Dead (2022)
Dark Star 23:26 (2023) (S) (with Anndoe)
Mirage (2023) (with Silver Apples)

The first album is solo synthesizer dabblings by the future member of Acid Mothers Temple. Rather abstract and naïve. 4 Tunes sees him using effects pedals only. Sunday Morning is (more or less) a return to synthesized structures.

See also: Dark Revolutionary Collective, Baroque Bordello, Andromelos2.

 


Kawahara, Henry (Japan)

Sound LSD: Subliminal Sex (1991)
Hoichi the Earless (1992) (soundtrack)
Shaman (1992)
Bamboo Garden (1992)
The Sound of Illusions (1992)
Sound LSD: Out of Body Experience (1992)
Sound LSD: Henna Kimochini Naru (1992)
Sound LSD: Fantasy Enhancer (1993)
en DOLPHIN (1993)
Yellow Secret Virtual Live (1993)
Sibliminal Sex Xtasy (1993)
Love Meditation (1993)
Love Meditation: Melody Version (1993)
Horoscope Sounds (1993)
Stargazer (1994)
en DOLPHIN - Altered State of Consciousness (1995)
Altered State Of Consciousness - Parapsycho Series Vol. 2 (1995)
White Mu (1995)
Dolphin Flow (1995)
Atlantis Red (1995)
Cybernetic Defiance And Orgasm: The Essential Henry Kawahara (2021) (recorded in 1991 - ??)
Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm 2: Other Sides of Henry Kawahara​ (2022) (recorded in 1990 - 1995)

 


Kawano, Kunihiro (Japan)

Utsunomiko III (1987)

Japanese composer and arranger born in 1941. Delicate, atmospheric electronics with some tribal beats and lots of ethnic touches. The above is a so-called "image album" - a strictly Japanese phenomenon which means albums recorded as imagined soundtracks to manga / comic series.

 


Kawar, Yousef (???)

Unclear Frequencies (2023)

New York-based ambient artist. Moody, cinematic, sort of dark.

 


Kawasaki, Masahiro (Japan)

Gegege No Kitaro Vol. 1 (1985) (soundtrack)

A rare anime soundtrack released as a promo. Scattered among the cheesy Japanese pop songs are some nice instrumental electronic tracks (in a unique style). File under EM-related.

 


Kawasaki, Ryo (Japan)

Concierto de Aranjuez (1982)
Lucky Lady (1983)
Images (1987)

Ryo Kawasaki was a Japanese guitar player known for his jazz-rock / fusion albums. Concierto de Aranjuez, however, features electronic renditions of classical pieces and solo compositions by Kawasaki. An interesting part is that no keyboard synthesizers were used. Everything was played by Kawasaki on his guitar hooked to a guitar synth, with backing tracks provided by Roland drum machines and some sequencers. Lucky Lady applies similar instrumentation to an overall more dancey / bouncey Latin fusion-y approach. Still some interesting arrangements on this one. Images contains short tracks composed on a midi system involving several synthesizers and samplers.

 


Kawashima, Yuji (Japan)

Master of Portasound (1981)
Master of Portasound Vol. 2 (1981)

Released as a showcase of said instrument, this LP has a nice synth sound. It contains some covers like "Smoke On the Water" and YMO's "Rydeen", and there is supposedly original material as well. Yuji Kawashima is a member of experimental rock band EP-4.

See also: Anzen Chitai

 


Kaya North (USA)

That Comes From the Tree And the Mist (2019)
Low Drone Chronicles (2021)

Dark Ambient project of Caleb R.K. Williams.

See also: Cosmic Canyon

 


Kayanis (Poland)

Oczekiwanie (1994)
Machines And Dreams (1998)
Synesthesis (2001)
Where Abandoned Pelicans Die (2007)
Transmundane (2015)
Mundane (2017)

This music sounds like a cross between Jarre and Oldfield. Kayanis first took guitar lessons in 1982 (aged 10). He then formed his first group in 1987. Three years later, however, he left the band (despite its relative success) and decided to concentrate on his solo career. Sending his demo record to Kawai in 1991, Kayanis got a grant and a possibility to get more gear. Later that year he gave his first solo performance in Slupsk which was quite successful. Since then he has been working out of his studio, releasing albums on CD and playing keyboards in several bands.

 


Kaylen, Yan (France)

City Stellar (2016)

Paris-based producer of techno-related musics with a surprisingly rich and cinematic sound. He also composes purely ambient tracks. File under EM-related.

 


Kaynatan, Gökçen (Turkey)

Beyoglu'nda gezersin-pencerenin perdesini (1973) (S)
Magician-Universe (1973) (S)
Sihirbaz / Evren (1973) (S)
Gökçen Kaynatan (2017) (recorded in 1968 - 1982)
Cehennem (2019) (recorded in 1973 - 1975)

Not being satisfied with constantly changing players in his Shadows-inspired 60's rock / pop band, Kaynatan made a decision to make music without human players at all. Thus, one of the first experimental electronic musicians was born. By the late 60's, he was giving live Electronic Music concerts at various locations in Istanbul. He recorded a great deal of his works but he first published them only in 1973. 

 


Kays, Tim (USA)

A Life In the Day (2015)
Analog Eyes In A Digital World - Two (2017)

Ohio-based synthesist with a varied set of influences, mostly classic German EM of the 1970's (Berlin School), Ambient and melodic electronics.

See also: Sadassa Silvia

 


kayteekay (USA)

v.ontrol (2021)

Long tracks with varying sections. Some nice sequencing on this one.

 


Kay-Zee (Switzerland)

Encounter (2021)

Kay-Zee is a moniker of Swiss artist Patrick Hollenstein. He combines quirky, offbeat / leftfield disco with sort of a punky / Can-like attitude and Moebius-like electronic experimentation.

 


Kazucci (Japan)

The Sound of Nightmare (2022)
Seven Seasons (2022)
菩提子 Bodaishi (2024)

Ambient diversions for this deep house / techno artist (real name - Kazuyoshi Ishikawa). The Sound of Nightmare is dark and noisy. Seven Seasons is relaxing, melodic stuff, often with large piano presence.

 


Kazumichi Grime (Australia)

Shaun Gladwell: Pacific Undertow (2019)

Ambient music for exhibition. Tobias Kazumichi Grime is an Australian sound and visual artist.

 


Kazune, Nogawa (Japan)

This Place (2013)
Koo She (2015)
The Exploration of Inner Space (2016)
Reflections (2016)

Although released by Chinei Hatakeyama's ambient label, Nogawa Kazune's music is more active than typical Japanese Ambient, also a bit noisier in places and definitely synthier. It does share the heavy emotional effect of a lot of Japanese ambient acts, though, reaching an almost ecstatic level on tracks like "Spiral" or "Shining" off Reflections. Very nice.

 


Kazz (Netherlands)

Trancedancer (1998)
Willingen (2000)
encores@ home.de (2001)
Metropole Disease (2002)
Monologue interieure (2004)
Transformation: The Last Journey (2006)

Dutch artist whose first CD album (Trancedancer) is dedicated to Klaus Schulze, though nothing is known about the style of music presented on this release. Before that, Kazz had been playing and performing in various rock bands as a keyboardist and singer. In 2004, a 4-CD set was released that includes many musical styles including that typical 70's style Electronic Music that we all love. One track by Kazz was included on the album A Tribute To Klaus Schulze.

See also: Casse

 


KCR (Germany)

KCR: Debut (2017) (EP)

An ensemble put together by synthesist and sound engineer Sebastian Clobes. The band includes guitar, drums and mallet percussion players. Rhythmic, repetitive.

 


Ke Lepo (Spain)

Izpi (2023)

Sometimes beat-infused, but often flowing and sequence-full music from this Basque artist.

 


Ke Thu (USA)

Shared Boundaries (2021)

Detroit-based duo of Tim Barrett and Steven Stavropoulos. Repetitive ambience with slight dubby moods.

 


Keane, David (Canada)

Aurora (1985)

One of the two known LP's by this Ohio-born Canadian composer, the other one being Lyra from 1979. While the latter focuses on electroacoustic compositions, Aurora features electronics, mostly of ambient and experimental variety. Keane comes from an academic background and it shows. However, it is one of those instances when a "serious", "high-browed" dude suddenly releases a more accessible album.

 


Keane, Leif (UK)

The Wide Vessel (1993)

Experimental electronics.

 


Kearns, Darren (USA)

Optimal Being (1983)
Crystallization (1984)

Darren Kearns played guitar on a couple of Nightcrawlers tapes. His solo LP is filled with varied EM compositions with some guitar thrown into the mix.

 


Kearns, Martyn (USA)

Heart of Braille (1983)

 


Kebu (Finland)

To Jupiter And Back (2012)
Perplexagon (2016)
Kring havet - Meren ympärillä (2018) (S)
Live In Oslo (2019)
Urban Dreams (2021)
Trance Remixes (2023)
Live Online (2023)

Finnish EM artist with a flashy, melodic style, sometimes ala Jarre or Vangelis.

 


Keeler (USA)

Planet of Lovers (1984)
Legerdemain (1986)
The Present Link (1987)
Outward Signs (1988)
Autofocus (1988)
The Age of the Inventor (1990)
Trapped In the Hi-Fi Zone (1991)
Playing Fields (1992)

Keeler was the pseudonym for synthesist Keith Walsh of Port Said. His music ranges from Cluster & Eno-like vignettes to full-blown epic Schulzian spaciness. Keith Walsh died of AIDS in 1992.

See also: Port Said

 


Keepers, The (Russia)

Китайский чай (1991)
Путешествие за три моря (1992)

The Keepers = Хранители (original Russian name). 1990's keyboard / synth-centered jazz fusion ensemble put together by audio engineer / keyboardist Vladimir Osinskiy, guitar player Konstantin Baranov and drummer Igor Djavad-Zade. Relaxed, often new-agey and essentially EM-related sound here. Both albums were released originally on reel-to-reel tapes and re-released in 2014 on a single CD.

 


Keepsake (USA)

A Story of Generations (2022)

A nostalgic hybrid of "comfy synth" and Ambient.

 


KeepSleep (China)

Time For Bed (2020)
Textures Surround Me (2020)
Tactile Ambient (2020)
Past Life Memories (2021)
Nature Relaxing Therapy (2021)
Thunderclouds (2022)
Home (2023)

Minimal / droning ambience with lots of microsounds and background electronics from this anonymous project.

 


Keffer, Leslie (USA)

Veiled Matter (2023)

This particular album by US experimental musician and vocalist will be enjoyed by fans of EM / post-industrial hybrids.

 


Kehrschliefe (UK)

8trk (2016) (S)
Kehrschliefe Vol. 1 (2022)

According to the legend, the music on the above record is cleaned material originating from a Berlin flea market find (a bunch of cassettes). The legend further states that "Kehrschliefe" was a project of one Wolfgang Tilner-Barlow (1949 - 1984), a Hamburg-based musician who used to compose music for TV and radio. There is currently nothing that makes me believe this story to be true and not another one of those sad and unfortunate hoaxes. Even an IMDB search for "Wolfgang Tilner-Barlow" does not bring up any results. Update 19/04/2022: Kehrschliefe is atually Allan R. Murphy aka Midwich Youth Club.

See also: Midwich Youth Club, Murphy, Allan.

 


Keijut (Finland)

Keijut (2016)

Experimental and new-agey synths from the trio of Roope Eronen, Tero Niskanen and Antti Tolvi.

See also: Nuslux, Eronen, Roope

 


Keimverbreitung (Italy)

Metastasis (1995)
The K Sessions (2003)

A duo of Giovanni Torregrossa and Marco Faillia. They mixed power electronics and Dark Ambient. Case in point is their 1995 release, Metastasis, alternating between moody soundscapes and bursts of creeping noise and shouting. Especially the second side of the cassette is impressive.

 


Kein Kaufzwang! (Germany)

Sleep Well (2001)
Journey To Nowhere (2002)
Dance of the Arpeggiators (2002)

Kein Kaufzwang! is in fact Oliver Ganz, who plays classic EM in early TD / Jarre tradition. The project is discontinued.

See also: Ganz, Oliver, The Ollies.

 


Keiner, Fabio (Austria)

Endlessness (2018)
Dumah Seven Curses (2022)
Exploring Untersberg (2023) (with Pietro Zollo)

Long-form Ambient from this Wien-based artist. On the droney side.

 


Keißner, Lutz (Germany)

Wellen (1984)
Bitkarawane (1987)

Rare, privately pressed electronic LP's from Germany.

 


Keith-Jones, John (UK)

Talking Pictures (1981)

 


Kelados (Slovakia)

The Night Glows (2023)

Dark, stark, moody ambient electronics with a barring, industrial feel. Kelados is a project of Bratislava-based Matus Fabian.

 


Kelbin (Italy)

EFYL (2021)

Mixture of UK Garage, Grime and Progressive EM.

 


Kelday, Paul (UK)

Spheres (1975)
Centuries (1982)
Eschatus (1982)
Worlds Apart (1982)
The Crack In the Universe (1982)
One Dimensional (2005) (recorded in 1985 - 1996)

Obscure, and sadly, largely forgotten musician and ex-contributor to improvisation ensemble New 7th Music. He has done early industrial, noise, collage music, musique concrete and unique dark synth music, seemingly influenced by the 1960's pioneers. This is not Paul's full discography. Since around 1974, he released numerous cassettes, many of them lasting for more than 80 minutes. Unfortunately, few of his music was ever released on CD or LP, one notable exception being One Dimensional - a limited LP release, sadly out of print now. In the 1970's, Paul utilized a system of custom-built feedback and echo devices, somewhat similar to what Robert Fripp came up with around that time, but with infinitely darker and more intense results. In fact, Paul's music is a great example of dark analogue goodness, unique and fairly listenable, despite being experimental. That is, when he's not doing noise or musique concrete, of course. And here's the problem: I am not sure which albums could be considered EM. I have his full discography but for now decided to include only a bunch of releases. I have a few CDR's with his music made by a friend. However, some of them have become unreadable after several years. I do remember the music from Spheres fairly well, though, and it struck me as a dark, depressive and nihilistic version of Rubycon. Further investigation is needed.

 


K-Elektronischer Automatisten (Germany)

Verlorene Tonbänder: Maschinengefühle (2018)

Cologne-based project of improvised, mechanical-sounding electronics.

 


Keliehor, John (USA)

East Meets West (1984) (with Orlando Kimber)
Create Music (2000)
The Beginning of Time (2016)
Winds of Change (2023) (with Signy Jakobsdottir)

Seattle-born artist currently residing in Glasgow. John Keliehor is a percussionist and master of gamelan. The above works will be of interest to fans of Ambient.

See also: Komodo Kolektif

 


Kellaway, Marc (Denmark)

Late Summer Sequence (2020)
Body of Water (2022)
Nocturnal Machines (2023)

Nice droning ambience made with organ, synths and field recordings. Sometimes with an early Popol Vuh feel.

 


Keller, Christof (Germany)

Garden Path (2022)

Mixture of acoustic instruments and electronics in a jazzy setting.

 


Keller, Detlef (Germany)

Klanggedanken (1992)
The Story of the Clouds (1994)
Ways To the Rainbow (1996)
The Other Face (1997)
EM-Weihnacht (1998)
Masquerade (1998)
Behind the Tears (1999)
Different Faces (2002)
Harmonic Steps (2005)
The Breakfast Event (2016)
Results (2023) (with Michael Menze)
Spaintronic (2023)

German synthesist who has released several albums on the Manikin label. While some of his stuff (The Other Face) is said to feature great Berlin School Electronic Music, what I've heard from his earlier stuff so far, hasn't impressed me at all. Melodic (almost sweet) electronics that were a bit on the boring side for me. However, I have to admit that I haven't heard much, so try anything at your own risk. Or stick to his collaborations with Schönwälder, a lot of which are very good.

See also: M.O.B.S., Keller & Schönwälder

 


Keller & Schönwälder (Germany)

Loops & Beats (1996)
Sakrale Tone (1997)
Concerts (1998)
More Loops (1998)
The Two Piece Box (1999)
The Annazaal Tapes (1999)
Project-Inter.com (1999) (with Braun and Broekhuis)
The Reason Why... (2000)
Vier-drei-zwei (2000) (with Braun & Broekhuis)
The Reason Why... Part Two (2001)
Wolfsburg (2002) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Noir (2003)
Live @ Dorfkirche Repelen (2006) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Space Cowboys @ Jelenia Gora (2007) (recorded in 2004) (with Broekhuis, Spyra and Fox)
Orange (2007) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Live @ Dorfkirche Repelen 2 (2008) (with friends)
Blue (2009) (with Bas Broekhuis)
In Repelen (2010) (with friends)
Meditazionen zum Gottesdienst (2010) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Musique des machines (2011) (with Bas Broekhuis) (recorded in 2005)
Long Distances (2011)
The Hampshire Jam (2012) (with Bas Broekhuis) (recorded in 2005)
Red (2012) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Eglise de Betzdorf (2012) (EP)
Level Four (2012) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Entspannung pur - Pure Relaxation (2013) (with Thomas Fanger)
Repelen - The Last Tango (2014) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Direction Green (2014) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Green (2015) (with Bas Broekhuis)
The Repelen EP (2016) (with Bas Broekhuis)
USB Stick - Edition March 2016 (2016) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Red Live @ USA (2017) (recorded in 2012) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Yellow (2017) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Repelen Revisited (2018) (recorded in 2011 and 2016) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Live @ B-Wave (2018) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Purple (2019) (with
Bas Broekhuis)
The Vlagdwedde Tapes (2022) (with
Bas Broekhuis)

Now this is much better than the solo stuff of both, I guess. The music is mostly great New Berlin School synthesis. Still, approach their mid-90's works with caution. Along with some nice mid-paced electronic tracks, there are fast chuggers to be found that sound dangerously close to primitive and boring techno drek. How can they combine these two in one album is beyond me. Just beware. At least it is known for sure that they can produce great music.

See also: Keller, Detlef, Schönwälder, Mario, Fanger & Schönwälder

 


Keller, Kevin (USA)

The Mask of Memory (1993)
Intermezzo (1995)
Pendulum (1999)
Across the Sky (2002)
Santiago's Dream (2006)
La Strada (2015)
Ice Worlds (2019)
Shimmer (2021)

Ambient with chamber music influences and dark moments. Sort of like Tim Story maybe? The Mask of Memory has spoken word introduction lasting a couple of minutes and the rest of the CD is reportedly great. Kevin Keller started in the 1970's with free improvisations on a grand piano. At that time he was heavily influenced by the prog rock artists and German Electronic Music (mostly TD). A bit later he got some interest in Impressionism and classic ambient works of Brian Eno and Harold Budd. These influences pretty much shaped his sound that is characterized by a combination of electronic and some acoustic instruments.

 


Keller, Stewart (???)

Bees To Blooms (2021)
Warm Summer Embers (2022) (S)
The Witch of Shawnee Hills (2022)
Delicate Dreams (2022)
It Breathes Parallel (2022) (S)
Flame Ethereal (2023)
Where the River Meets the Sea (2023) (with Onfang)
Key Energy (2023)
Just Bliss Right Now (2023) (with Balam Acab)
Kitchen Design (2024)

The output of this artist has been described as "comfy synth", "forest synth", RPG, fantasy music... It is more or less exactly that, except that there are also some upbeat numbers with techno rhythms that sound rather dated. Everything here is major key, saccharine sweet (I guess that was the intention) and dangerously un-progressive. Sounds more like musical wallpaper, although rather pretty overall.

 


Kellerkind Berlin (Germany)

Friday (2013)
Dreams (2013)
... No Name (2014)
... Little Things (2014)
Sit Down ... (2014)
Moods In the Dark (2014)
... Still Walking (2015)
Signs (2015)
Music With Electronic Support... (2015)
Walk With Me (2015)
Songs For Travelling... (2016)
Colorful Thoughts (2019)
Spinning Around Bits And Bytes (2019)
Sun And Snow (2019)
Musikkonstruktionen (2021)
Way Out (2022)

Diverse Electronic Music, often with a Berlin School flair.

 


Kellough, Bethan (UK)

Aven (2016)

Ambient soundscapes with lots of field recordings.

 


KELMHO (Germany)

Oscillations (2022) (S)

Minimal sequencer flights, drones and arpeggio-based compositions from this Berlin-based project.

 


Kelpe (UK)

Fourth: The Golden Eagle (2013)
The Curved Line (2015)
A Polymar Compendium (2019)
Run With the Floating, Weightless Slowness (2020)
Kyverdale Road (2021)

London-based Kelpe aka Kel McKeown (on Run With the Floating, Weightless Slowness) mixes classical instrumentation and polyphonic synthesizers in unusual ways, resulting in a sort of an ambient sound, informed by vintage soundtracks and easy-listening genre perhaps. I am not sure that his early works (pre-2013) can qualify for inclusion. Further investigation is needed.

 


Kemialliset Ystävät (Finland)

Siipi Empii (2018)

Long-running improvisational collective, mostly playing weird versions of folk music. Siipi Empii is mostly based on electronics and is pretty weird, but definitely progressive. Further investigation is needed.

See also: Tomutonttu

 


Kemp, John (???)

9 (1993)

Experimental synth music released on cassette.

 


Kempa, Adam (Poland)

Musique non​-​concrète (2022)

Weird mix of vocals and experimental electronic tracks, sometimes with a slight Heldon feel.

 


Kempston, David J (UK)

New Horizons (2017) (S)

Previously known for several techno productions under several pseudonyms (among them Cartel Productions, Clatterbox and Dark Mode), UK's David J. Kempston suddenly released this analog synth work in Prog EM style, somewhat minimal, but very warm and melodic, with lots of repeating sequences / arpeggios and one track harkening back to his techno days.

 


Ken, Sugai (Japan)

ToKiShiNe- (2010)
Tada (2014)
On the Quakefish (2016)
UkabazUmorezU (2017)
tele​-​n​-​tech​-​da (2018)
yOrUkOrU (2018) (with G禁禁禁禁)
Tone River (2020)
かぎろひ (2021) (with Lieven Martens)
Be Sure To Listen To This At Japanese Teatime (2021)

Sugai Ken is a Japanese musique concrete, experimental, glitch, electronic artist who combines processed field recordings with synthesized structures. His sound is physical, minimal and informed by such trends as microsound and classic ambient synthesizer music, as well as traditional Japanese structures and sounds. Not comparable to other artists.

 


Kendle, Kevin (UK)

Light From Orion (2003)
Lagoon of Eternity (2004)
Light of the Pleiades (2008)
Light From Andromeda (2012)
Illumination (2014)
Terra (2018)
Laniakea (2020)
Deep Skies Live Experience (2021)
Aurora (2022)
Insight (2022)

This new age artist has started "Deep Skies" - a series of CD's dedicated to the night sky (listed). These will be enjoyed by fans of Space Music, namely Jonn Serrie, Michael Stearns, Telomere and the like. The music consists of just atmospheric synths and glissando guitar. Imagine Steve Hillage playing with Jonn Serrie and you get the picture. Kevin's main output is of no interest to fans of Electronic Music.

 


Kenel\Sonne (Switzerland)

I - XI (2019)

Darkish compositions between Progressive EM, IDM, industrial and kraut / progrock.

 


Kennan, Cate (USA)

The Arbitrary Dimension of Dreams (2022)

Los Angeles-based musician using synthesizers and lap steel guitar. Her work has been compared to early melodic EM, Malcolm Cecil, Roedelius and Deux Filles.

 


Kennedy (Japan)

Twinkling Nasa (1986)
Kennedy! (1987)
Triangle Motion (2015)

Formed by two ex-members of Dada, Mitsushiko Izumi and Kenji Konishi (left in 1989), Kennedy was their foray into lush and energetic instrumental symphonic prog / fusion. I am often reminded on UK, Happy the Man and other late 1970's / early 1980's acts. However, and given the principal members' past, there is a strong electronic element to a lot of Kennedy's material, with some tracks being completely of close to 100% electronic (the opening title track from Twinkling Nasa being a good example). Other tracks feature an electronic pulse / sequence as the basis, on top of which the musicians improvise on guitars and keyboards ("Flying Ship Part 1"). When in this mode, there is even an Heldon feel to the music. File under EM-related.

See also: Dada

 


Kennedy, Andrew (USA)

Distant Landscapes (1998)

Tribal Ambient with lots of drumming somewhat in the O'Hearn / Roach vein.

 


Kennedy, Inigo (UK)

Strata (2018)

Starting as a techno artist in the 1990's, Londoner Inigo Kennedy was getting progressively more ambient with each release, a tendency which culminated with the release of Strata - an album still focused on beats, but also with some beatless material ("Clarion Call", "Stillness Expanded") that wouldn't sound out of place on any melodic Prog EM / ambient EM record. Even the beat-oriented tracks here have a nice, rich synth sound to them. A hybrid work.

 


Kennedy One (USA)

Metropolis (2020)

Los-Angeles-based Canadian-Amercian artist Neil Kennedy composes cinematic EM that can be compated to The Pels Syndicate. Relaxed, thythmic, with rich string arrangements and synth pads.

 


Kenniff, Hollie (USA)

The Gathering Dawn (2019)
The Quiet Drift (2021)

Portland, Oregon-based artist who uses her voice (as an instrument) and synths. Floating, ambient, ethereal, atmospheric, pulsing...

 


Kenotaph (Germany)

Japanese Go To War (1996)
Promise (1997)

Dark soundscapes from Eric Metz and Stefan Roigk.

 


Kensington Gore (Canada)

Kensington Gore (2013)
Hexagone (2018)

Strange stuff from this Vancouver-based duo (Stephen Wood and Scott Gubbels). Harmonia / Neu! / La Dusseldorf type krautrock / EM mixed with horror synth overtones and sort of a 1960's influenced psychedelic rock sound. If this sounds schizophrenic to you, it is. And it works, in a strange kind of way. You almost get an Eroc feeling here in places.

 


Kentrix (Austria)

Blue Light District (2016)
Abria (2019) (S)

A project of Innsbruck-based Kenneth Winkler who has a background in hip-hop music. A mish-mash of styles, but ends up sounding rather unique overall - a propulsive, assertive hybrid of melodic EM, neo-classical and hip-hop or dancey rhythms. "Lush" (Abria) is a great track.

 


Kenya Masala (USA)

Soul Journey Groove (2006)
Spacious Time (2008)

This project combines such elements as melodic EM, Ambient, downtempo grooves, World Music and new age.

 


Keope (Germany / Slovenia)

Tropicalni (2017)
Saltamonte (2017) (EP)
Triangulo (2019)
Flikka Flokka (2023)

A guitar / electronics duo consisting of Toni Bruna and Marcus Rossknecht who on Flikka Flokka sound like Ashra set to Latin house / reggaeton rhythms.

 


Keope (USA)

The King And I (1986)
Fresh Heir (1988)

The King And I is an incredibly strange and obscure private record out of San Diego area. It has some Christian music connection and many titles seem to have some relation to biblical themes. However, the music is completely instrumental and electronic (except for lots of percussion, one piano-based track and an acoustic track titled "Selah") and sounds very 70's (in a cheesy way) in spite of the album being released in 1986. Apparently the guy behind this project later released more albums, including some cassettes, but I have no idea if they would qualify for inclusion here.

 


Keosz (Slovakia)

Be Left To Oneself (2016)
Ava (2017)
No Future Vol. 2 (2018)
Neven OST (2023) (soundtrack)

Dark soundscapes from Erik Osvald out of Slovakia.

 


Kepheus (USA)

Dark Matters (2008)

Dark soundscapes from Jeff Sampson and Byron Paladin.

See also: SanRenSei, Sampson, Jeff.

 


Kepler, JK (Canada)

Volle Kraft voraus (2021)

Ontario-based artist who makes energetic EM with a prog rock touch.

 


Keravel (Canada)

Moods (2006)
Next (2008)
Must (2010)
Voltz (2013)

Relaxed, melodic, rhythmic, downtempo-like electronics with some sampled / imitation guitar. A project from Quebec.

 


Kerby, Anthony Paul (Canada)

Distant Shadows (2011) (with Tomas Weiss)
Appearances (2011) (with Tomas Weiss)
Revelation (2013) (with Tomas Weiss)
Falling Into Place (2016) (with Julio Di Benedetto)

Inventive ambient synthesist from Canada, aka The Circular Ruins.

See also: Circular Ruins, The, Lammergeyer, Nunc Stans, Hive Project, The, Winterhouse, The.

 


Kern, Carola (Germany)

A Planet's Symphony (1996)
Bon Voyage (1997)
The Beautiful Sadness (1999)
Metamorphosis (2001)

Carola (formerly Jurgen) Kern (now Carola Zauchner) is a German synthesist and member of Traumklang. Supposedly, very good Space Music.

See also: Traumklang, Zauchner, Carola.

 


KernHerbst (Russia)

Тропик Рыбы (2011)
Ковчег (2015)
Белая кассета
(2022)

Post-industrial-infused ambient electronics from Nizhny Novgorod.

 


Kernwein, Tim (Germany)

Atlantis Rising (2020)
RRR (2022) (S)

Unclassifiable mixture of rhythmic tracks (like soft house stuff or similar) and more ambient / EM moods.

 


Kerovnian (Croatia)

Far Beyond, Before the Time (1999)
From the Depths of Haron (2001)

Master of horror / Black ambience.

 


Kerr, John (UK)

Cathedral (1983)
Knights (1984)
Three By Three Plus Two (1986)
Reflections (1987)
Citadel (1988)
Offshore Islands (1990) (with Ron Boots)
Synphonic Voices (1991)
Norland (1992)
Castles In the Sky (1993)
Forbidden (1994)
Vintage (1995) (recorded in 1980 - 1981)
Imminent Shadows (1995)
Imminent Sunshine (1995)
Harbours of Life (1996)
Amid the Angels (1996)
Life On Earth (1997)
Wet Dreams (1997) (with Bas Broekhuis)
Moon (1998)
Gentle Angels (1999)
Out of the Blue (2000)
Juxtaposition (2015) (with Ron Boots)
Juxtaposition the Bochum Bonus (2015) (with Ron Boots)
Juxtaposition Live Highlights (2016) (with Ron Boots)
Embracing the Inevitable (2016)
Prelude To A Requiem (2018)

Born in England in 1948, John Kerr was a synthesist who created melodic symphonic music. He began studying music at the age of 7, first with a piano, organ and bass. At one point in his life, he almost quit music completely to concentrate on his graphic design talent. However, in 1980 he bought himself a synthesizer and, thanks to an advice from a friend, he started all over again with a privately pressed LP. At that time he was residing in the Netherlands (he moved there in 1978) and that's mostly where his debut album was promoted among connoisseurs of Electronic Music. At the same time, it got little exposure in John's homeland. More albums followed, with John switching to CD in the late 1980's. John Kerr died in Amsterdam in 2020.

 


Kertsman, Miguel (Brazil)

Música, Mito e Mistério (1982)
Gravity Tunnel (1991)
Time? What's Time? (2009)

Keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist and composer born in Recife. He has a diverse, lush, symphonic and bombastic style, influenced by both Vangelis (or so it seems to me) and progressive rock artists. Beware that Time? What's Time? is split between vocal songs and diverse instrumental material, often adorned by tasty, cosmic synth solos. The others I know nothing about at the moment, although apparently Música, Mito e Mistério is more progressive rock-oriented.

 


Kerygma (Poland)

Midi przestrzeń (1995)
Bałtyk (1997)

Melodic EM.

 


Kessler (France)

Kessler (2018)

Prog rock / electronic duo from Rennes. Some Heldon, some Crimson, some dance influences...

 


Keswick Reflections (UK)

Keswick Reflections (2013)

Synth pulses, sequencer, pastoral guitar... Music with a strong Manuel Goettsching feel, sometimes with nods in the direction of other Berlin School pioneers.

 


Keta Ra (Japan)

Album (2013)
Rinth (2014)
Yae (2021)

Ambient artist from Japan (Keita Sadanaga). Relaxing, sometimes new-agey and / or rhythmic.

 


Kettering, Chad (USA)

Into the Infinite (2008)
Voice of the Ancients (2010)
Pathways (2015)

Both darker Ambient and brighter Space Music from this former trumpet player. Mostly quite accessible though. Assisted by Steve Roach.

 


Kettlewell, Ben (USA)

The Mirror Darkens (1984)
Orange (1985)
Agnes of God (1985)
Offering (1986)
In the Land Beyond Dreams (1986)
Shadowbox (1986)
In Concert 25 Feb. '87 (1987)
Kanji (1988)
Live With Lauri Paisley & David Prescott 5 Mar. '88 (1988)
Fantasies of Flight (1988)
Seascape (1989)
Rites of Passage (1992)
Notebook (1993)
Reflections (1994)
Journey (1996)
Music For Film And Theatre (1997)

Some of this synthesist's albums were mastered by Colin Potter and co-produced by Steve Roach. Music more or less in the classic EM style, I guess. Ben Kettlewell has a solid background in jazz and rock music but his main passion has always been Electronic Music. Apart from being a studio musician, Ben is also a critic, soundtrack composer, painter and a graphic designer.

 


Kevin (USA)

Gone Away (2017)
Land of Dreams (2020)

Ambient music on the themes of cybernetic future and the feeling of loneliness and alienation it leads to. Good stuff.

 


KevOz (USA)

Lakefront (1998)
Canvas (1999)
Into Orbit (2001)
A Sampler (2003)
Return To Lakefront (2006)
Digital (2007)

KevOz is synthesist Kevin R. Osborn (hence the nom-de-plume) and with Into Orbit he created an album with lots of German influences. It features two tracks that are at odds with the rest of material: one outright techno piece and one poppish tune. Lakefront features easy-listening new-agey music.

 


Key (Germany)

Key (1988)
Christmas (1990)

Light, rhythmic electronics from East Germany (former GDR) with horrible cheesy digital synth timbres of the time. This duo of Frank Fehse and Andreas Fregin was formed in 1984. The album contains covers of Jan Hammer's "Crockett's Theme" and "Solaris", as well as a cover of Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F." and "Mikado" by Michel Cretu. The rest is original material.

 


Key, cEvin (Canada)

The Dragon Experience (2003) (with Ken Hiwatt Marshall)
Brap And Forth Vol. 8 (2018) (recorded in 1983 - 2001)
Resonance (2021)
Brap And Forth Vol. 9 (2023) (recorded in 1985)

Varied music from this artist (real name - Kevin William Crompton) and member of Skinny Puppy, who has been recording at lease since the early 1980's. Mysterious, melodic, soundtracky, dynamic, rhythmic, noisy, experimental... Not everything he's done is EM or EM-related, but I'll try to keep track of relevant release here.

 


Key Clef (Italy)

Resurrection of Dreams (2019) (S)

Born and raised in Rome, Key Clef is a Berlin artist (Livia Borzetti) with a passion for synths and drum machines. She mostly composes club-related music, but on Resurrection of Dreams, there are two distinct tracks - the electro-influenced side A and a sequencer fest titled "Fly Down". That one is a real stunner, is very Prog and with not much apart from the sequencing. Top-notch EM!

 


Key Follow (Poland)

Plugged Minds (1993)

Electronic Music with a touch of Tangerine Dream from this duo.

 


Key, The (USA)

Holding Space (2016)
The Key (??)

Oregon-based project in repetitive ambient analog synth mode.

 


Key Tides (USA)

Bifurcasio 1: Two's Fruitions (2024) (recorded in 2023)

A project of Florida-based Nicholas Mendez. On Bifurcasio 1, he plays a Clasiotone keyboard through a variety of effects and pedals and creates two loops from these recordings, alternating between these two loops, each one of them having its own tone and texture. The results are quite abstract, busy and cosmic, although nearly always ambient and often meditative. At times melodic.

 


Keyaniyan, Sohrab (Germany)

Komposition über die Takte A, As, F, Fis (1974)

German-born musician of Armenian descent, I would guess. This is a privately released record with music that is supposedly an organ-heavy early krautrock / EM hybrid.

 


Keyboard Choir (UK)

Mizen Head To Gascanane Sound (2008)
Electrical Unity (2009) (EP)

A six-piece electronic collective with a weird "Cluster meets trip-hop" attitude.

 


KeyOrchestra (USA / Russia)

Born Again (2005)
24bit Memory (2007)
Cold Ambitions (2007)

A new project by Andrei Morgunov (ex-New Collection), mixing melodic and rhythmic styles.

See also: New Collection

 


Keys For Eclipse (UK)

Downpour (2020)
From Distant Ways (2020) (with .foundation)

Ambient compositions from this Aberdeen-based artist.

 


Keys To Oneiria (USA)

Worlds Between (2021)
Dreamspell Athenaeum (2022) (recorded in 2021)
Illusory Realms (2024) (recorded in 2021)

Sad, mysterious, melancholic, shadowy ambient compositions with a touch of dungeon synth.

 


Kha-Ym (France)

10 GMT (1979)

A duo, comprised of a multi-instrumentalist and a drummer. Varied, melodic electronic pieces influenced by Rick Wakeman's "sympho rock" style.

 


Khaki Blazer (USA)

Bootleg (2015)
Moontan Nocturnal (2015)
Aspirin Mask (2015) (S)
Coco Nara Deezer (2016)
Gelatinous Ground (2016)
Gelatinous Ground (2016) (S)
Didn't Have To Cut (2017)
Baby Gawd (2017)
Optikk (2019)

Floating, warm analog synths.

 


Khamsa Khala (USA??)

All Rites Reversed (2010)
Rooms With No Walls (2018)

World Music from the duo of Don Poe and Neville Harson.

 


Khand (Italy)

The Fires of Celestial Ardour & Interstellar Dominions (2014)
The Sage of Witherthorn (2020)
Moonring (2023) (with Fluttermind And Baddoar)

A lot of this Rome-based project's music could be classified as "dungeon synth". However, there are also strong cosmic and melancholic influences and the author does not shun from tossing in a sequence or two in there, either.

 


Kharsaanu Saquutu (USA)

Erset la Tari (2020) (S)

Synth music inspired by deep and misty forests. Ambient, dungeon synth-like.

 


Khasho, Youssef (Palestine)

Jerash Jordan (1982)

Youssef Khasho was born in 1927 in Jerusalem and was a respected conductor and composer of the Arab world (he died in 1996). Youssef worked in Libya and Jordan and is mainly known for his orchestral arrangements. The above album, however, looks like a rare example of him doing EM. Well, sort of. The album was funded by Jordanian tourism authority and is subtitled "Jordanian Folkmusic arranged by Youssef Khasho". The interesting fact is that the music is done on piano, synthesizers and drum machines and it is not clear whether it features folk tunes only or is just a stylization by Khasho. Nor do I know how much "Prog EM" there is but the sheer exotic quality of this obscure recording may make up for the possible lack of artistic merit or EEM relevance. Further investigation is needed.

 


Khidja Și Balabaș (Romania)

Khidja si balabaș (2018)
Transmissions Part 2 (2023)

Khidja is a duo with a club background. I don't know what made them shift to the style presented on the above release but it's pretty cool overall - a clearly Prog EM-influenced work, repetitive and often reminding on Manuel Goettsching's solo pieces, at other times hinting on a mixture of Moebius and Pete Namlook. Samples and synths galore.

 


Khmil, Ross (UK??)

Pretenders (2018)
Invisible Empire (2018)
Sacred Fantasia of Two (2018)
20ft Live (2019) (with Misha Bondarev)

Long tracks of new-agey synths, etc.

 


Khôra (Canada)

Dust Remains To Speak (2017)

Strange World Music / Tribal Ambient / modular synth hybrid from Matthew Ramolo.

 


Khotin (Canada)

Finds You Well (2020)
Release Spirit (2023)
Beautiful You (2023)
Disc For Japan (2023)

Techno-related artist (full name - Dylan Khotin-Foote). I don't know anything about his previous releases, but Release Spirit is very much influenced by softer ambient synth / EM styles.

 


Khoven (USA)

A Nice Quiet Place (2014) (EP)
A Tribute To the Gloriously Horrific Downfall of EDM (2014)
Vdokhnovennyy (2015)
End (2015)
/ループ (2017)

Raleigh, NC-based bedroom artist (Valyri Bosserman) who states to be influenced by Klaus Schulze, among others. The music is not Klaus-like, though, and represents a mixture of piano passages, ambient pad-based music and some sequencer sketches. Sometimes nice, but sometimes way too simplistic, repetitive and unimaginative. Would be interesting to see how the project develops. Notes: 22.05.2020: The Khoven alias is now defunct.

See also: valyri

 


Khrapachev, Vadim (Ukraine)

Электронные композиции из фильма "Полёты во сне и наяву" (2016) (recorded in 1982) (S) (soundtrack)

Nice electronic soundtrack music, one danceable side and another atmospheric one.

 


Khymeia (Italy)

La setta di Sadhu (2020)

Moody Electronic Music from this duo of Calogero Aquilina and Daniele Crocenzi. Based very much on sound exploration using analog modular systems, it ranges from atmospheric sound sculpting to rhythmic constructions with sequences and stuff. Sometimes reminds on Parallel Worlds. Nice.

See also: Aquilina, Calogero

 


Ki Oni (USA)

Stay Indoors And Swim (2021)
Infinite Sports (2021)
Indoor Plant Life (2022)
A Hundred Ways of Escaping (2022) (with Carlos Ferreira)
In This Place, the Leaves Don't Change (2022)
An Evening Stroll To the Garden Party (2023)
A Leisurely Swim To Everlasting Life (2023)

Ki Oni is Los Angeles-based Chuck Soo-Hoo. Infinite Sports is long-form ambient music with gentle sequencing and lots of pads / sparkling synths.

 


Kid Kerosene (UK)

Oxide Fracture (2022)

Relaxing, minimal music between IDM and ambient / prog.

 


Kid Machine (UK)

The Other Side (2018)

Italo / new-disco musician from the UK. The Other Side contains ambient versions of his tracks that will definitely appeal to EM fans.

 


Kid606 (Venezuela)

Recollected Ambient Works Vol. 1 (2015)
Recollected Ambient Works Vol. 2 (2015)

Venezuelan-born musician Miguel Manuel de Pedro. He is pretty diverse and mostly experimental. These releases contain ambient music.

 


Kidd, Don (USA)

Mythological Tales (1996)

Kinda electronic-progressive-orchestral crossover.

 


Kidel, Sam (UK)

String Loops (2011) (EP)
Untitled (Movements) (2015)
Disruptive Muzak (2016)
Silicon Ear (2018) (S)

Bristol-based electronic music who wears a shirt, glasses, short haircut and a PC headset, looking more like a software developer or a call center employee. His music on Silicon Ear sounds exactly what the author looks like: cold, mechanical, digital and cybernetic, it is made of multiple processed and tweaked samples, disjointed rhythms, snatches of melody, etc. Sort of collage-like Prog EM for the blockhain era. Sam Kidel gives performances in "venues" like Google Data Center in Iowa. There isn't a more fitting environment for this strange and rather innovative music.

 


Kids of Cherno (Poland)

No Mercy No Pharmacy (2018)

Interesting improvising duo of Katarzyna Borek and Paweł Osicki. They use acoustic instruments, drums, toy instruments, acoustic piano, drums, rhodes piano and electronics (lots of samples here). Abstract and rhythmic, with blissful, reflective, rhodes piano-driven moments. Nice.

 


Kidwell, Rjyan (USA)

Certainty/Identity (2017)

Minimal, melodic and ambient EM compositions, mostly composed for various sci-fi plays.

 


Kiegeland, Burkhardt (Austria)

Cariolatedè Tao Walk (1989)
Dyadische Variationen (1989)
Weisser Rabe (1989)
Chinese Meditation (1991)
Arcoro - Seven Pieces of Music (1991)
Burkhardts Herz-Heilung (1993)
Burkhardts Instant Enlightment Meditation (1995)
Walk On A Buddha Trail (1995)

 


Kieran, Phil (UK)

Life Cycling (2019)
The Strand Cinema (2023)

Belfast-based musician who's been making music in various club-related styles since the late 1990's. Life Cycling is something different, though. It is a mishmash of styles but comes off as something pretty inventive and progressive overall. The same also applies to The Strand Cinema.

 


Kiiltomatolyhty (Finlands)

Kultasarvi (2020)

Interesting duo from Finland (Joonatan Aaltonen & Iina-Maria Talvinen). They combine Finnish folk music (with vocals) and 1970's EM (mostly in the style of Tangerine Dream). Hypnotic / pastoral.

 


Kiisu (???)

Mother of Dirt (2020)

Ambient music with microsound tendencies, a bit dark, but rather immersive and at times slightly noisy.

 


Kihara, Kenji (Japan)

Scenes of Scapes (2018)
Dawn (2019)
Raindrops (2021) (EP)
Komorebi 木漏れ日 (2022) (with David Cordero)

Ambient artist from Japan.

 


Kihlberg, Henrik (Sweden)

Mellotronmusik (2009)
Still Waving (2014) (S)

Music ranges from experimental Ambient (Mellotronmusik) to minimal pulsing sequencers (Still Waving).

 


Kikai (Germany)

No Moon (2007)
Labor (2011)

Varied melodic / rhythmic / cosmic Electronic Music from Marius C. Hammerich.

 


Kikok (Russia)

Speedway (2021)
Waterpark (2022)

Kikok is Pavel Fedoseev - a Russian musician of Komi descent. He makes rhythmic / melodic music with touches of house, synthwave and vaporwave.

 


Kikuchi, Masabumi (Japan)

One-Way Traveller (1982)
Earth (1988)
Mind (1988)
Air (1988)
Wind (1988)
Water (1988)
Fire (1988)
Dreamachine (1992)

Jazz pianist and keyboard player from Japan. One-Way Traveller is a jazz fusion album but it closes with an abstract electronic piece ("Sky Talk"). Pretty nice and dark stuff. Pitty it's too short, though. The "elements" series from 1988 (with music recorded in 1984 - 1986) is supposedly electronic. Dreamachine is sort of a sample-heavy funky album focused on electronics.

 


Kilbauskas, Paulius (Lithuania)

Sasha Was Here (2018) (with Vygintas Kisevičius) (soundtrack)
Elements (2019)
Music For Non Existent Movie (2022) (with Marijus Aleksa)

Lithuanian artist who on the 2019 album combines Gamelan instruments recorded in the backyard of a private house on Bali, Indonesia, with analog synthesizers (Korg MS10, ARP Odyssey MK1) and guitar. A nice, calm and minimal hybrid acoustic / EM work. Sasha Was Here is a no less minimal soundtrack that uses just a Riga piano and a Korg MS10.

 


Kilbey, Steve (Australia)

Earthed (1987)

Steve Kilbey is a member of The Church. On this album he has crafted an unusual instrumental blend that will be interesting for fans of Eno or Bill Nelson.

 


Kilchhofer (Switzerland)

Dersu (2016)
The Book Room (2018)
Moto perpetuo (2020) (with Michael Anklin)

Also known as Timoka, Benjamin Kilchhofer is a unique Swiss artist who experiments with sound and unlikely combinations of styles. Dersu features modular synthesis and processing, and the music is in a strange, rhythmic tribal / electronic style.

See also: Timoka

 


Kilduff, Cory (USA)

Emergency Procedures For Breach & Abandonment (2016)
When It All Gets To Be Too Much (2019)
You Will Be Safe (2022)

Cory Kilduff is a singer and synthesizer player of experimental punk band The Rise. He is also a solo electronic musician with a lively style full of sequences, organ chords and cinematic melodies.

 


Kill the Spirit (???)

A Collection of Dark Trance Songs (2016)
Kill the Spirit (2016)
Soundtracks For Snuff Films (2017)

Diverse project. A Collection of Dark Trance Songs mixes dark atmosphere with EDM and Prog EM sounds. Kill the Spirit is grittier and more rhythmic, somewhat industrial-sounding. Soundtracks... introduces more cinematic, somewhat horror synth-like moods.

 


Kilian, Christoph (Germany)

Wirren der Zeit (1989)

Electronic artist, possibly with an ambient sound.

 


Killian, Frans (???)

Insects (1991)

 


Kilometre Club (Canada)

Futures (2022)
Heretofore / Thereafter (2023)
How To Unravel (2023)

Kilometre Club is Daniel Field from Toronto. He is an ambient artist whose sound sits between the acoustic / electric post-rock sounds and the electronic sounds of Classic Ambient.

 


Kim (France)

Omnichordia (2020)

Kim is Paris-based artist Kim Stanislas Giani. He is rather diverse and describes his style as "Sometimes pop, sometimes punk, synths". Apparently, Omnichordia falls in this latter "synths" category. It contains two sidelong electronic pieces with changing parts - from ambient to rhythmic, sequencer-based and / or experimental. Nice and rather unique in execution & style.

 


Kim & Buran (Russia)

Orbita (2016)
Tramplin (2022)

Funk / nu-disco formation from St. Petersburg. Right from the start influenced by vintage Soviet film and sci-fi cartoon scores, they followed an electronic pop / cocktail lounge / Space-Age pop vein, but have moved towards purer nu-disco and ballad-like melodic electronic styles of the likes of Space and Zodiac on their later (listed) works.

 


Kim, Laryssa (Italy)

Contezza (2024)

Italian-Congolese singer, electronic and electroacoustic composer, currently residing in Belgium. She uses her voice, processing it in unusual ways, as well as techniques borrowed from electroacoustic music and moods typical of Ambient. Personally, I found the music heard on Contezza to be pretty deep and inventive and even the singing is good. Just about 60% of the tracks have lyrics, though, so beware.

 


Kim Soo Chul (South Korea)

비애 / 인생 / 삶과 죽음 (1987)
黄天길 (1989)
大河드라마 : 역사는 흐른다 (1990)
불림소리 = Sori For Invocation (1992)
팔만대장경 (1998)

Kim Soo Chul (Korean: 김수철) is a composer who has no formal training but has gained a reputation as one of the premier instrumentalists of the country, combining traditional Korean Court Music with electronic instrumentation. He also composed music for the Seoul Olympics and several feature films. Some of his music leans towards Ambient or World Music, although a lot of it sounds very new-agey as well. I will try to explore his oeuvre and include relevant works here. File under EM-related.

 


Kimber, Orlando (UK)

East Meets West (1984) (with John Keliehor)

Atypical 1980's library album on Bruton music, this one sees composer Orlando Kimber collaborating with percussionist John Keliehor, resulting in the music with a genuine ethnic (mostly gamelan and Japanese) flair. On the first side they go all minimal percussion, reminding on Steve Reich even, while on the second one they drift towards more ambient and relaxing realms, with floating synths, gongs, etc. An interesting find for fans of World Music and Ambient alike.

 


Kimmel, Victor J. (USA)

Suspended In Motion (1986)

 


Kim's Spirit (USA)

Kim's Spectral (2020) (S)
Blossom Everywhere (2021)

A project of Lee Noble. Nice ambient sound here - synthetic and inventive, echoing and shimmering, cerebral and cold. Strangely comforting stuff.

See also: Noble, Lee, Circuit Rider UK.

 


Kimura, Pardon (Japan)

G.E.P. Good Enough Pocket (2012)

I don't know much about this Japanese experimental /exotica / art pop artist, but he seems to have been active since the 1990's. On G.E.P., he collaborated with a group of drummers (I think) and the material ranges from energetic Heldon-like pulses to field recordings, minimal electronic surf music and slow modular synth "lullabies". Interesting stuff. Further investigation is needed.

 


Kinart, Jeffrey (USA)

Swimming the Amniotic (2002)

Despite the somewhat wishy-washy concept about it being destined for mothers to help them meditate and stimulate their unborn children, the music on this album is supposed to be in a decent, gently rhythmic synth style. Jeffrey Kinart is mostly known as a maker of music videos.

 


Kinbotte (Portugal)

I Am You In the Futur (2020)

Kinbotte is Pedro Niza. Quirky, experimental electronics.

 


Kinbrae (UK)

Tidal Patterns (2016)
Thesis 09 (2017) (S) (with Tony Dekker)
Landforms (2019)
Birl of Unmap (2022) (with Clare Archibald)
Cryptophasia (2024)

Scottish project of brothers Andy and Mike Truscott, who are based in Edinburgh and Dundee. They mix electronics and brass instruments for a unique, classically-inspired EM sound.

 


Kind Stranger (USA)

Everything Becomes More Interesting (2019)

Music by Drew Joy based in New York City. Fluid cosmic modular synth textures, slow melodies, liquid, floating electronics... Organic, meditative... Nice.

 


Kinder Aus Asbest (Sweden)

Kinder aus Asbest (2003)
Kinder aus Asbest + Unreleased Trax (2004)
Sweet Sex (2005) (EP)
Inside (2012)
System Fail / Organic Mechanic (2015) (S)
Electro Magnetic Tape (2016)
This Modern Day (2018) (S)
+Minimal -Rock‘n‘Roll (2020)

Minimal synth project of Eric Söderberg. Strictly analog sound here, true to the genre's traditions, but also very much influenced by Kraftwerk and with neat experimental touches.

 


Kinet, Alain (Belgium)

Dubai (2011)
La maison à la plage (2022)

Ambient soundscapes with electroacoustic and neo-classical leanings.

See also: Aerodyn

 


Kinetik (UK)

The Burning Issue (1995)
Refined (1997)
Re-Generations (1999)
Modem Times (2007)

Music in the style of Kraftwerk. Kinetik was formed in 1994 and nowadays consists of Colin Jordan, Shirleyann Davies and Andrew Slegt.

 


King, Arthur (USA)

Changing Landscapes (Wauters Farm) (2019)

This is so weird - in a way it sounds like Forst-era Cluster, at least there is a similar feel, but given the fact that it was recorded on a farm in Iowa at night, there is a special atmosphere for sure. It also uses a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds, as well as lots of field recordings and samples recorded directly at the farm. Weird and moody at the same time.

 


King Chubby (USA)

Qedeshim (1996)

Supposedly, darkish Ambient.

 


King, Corey (USA)

A Loveless Sunken Sun (2019)

A NYC trombonist who on A Loveless Sunken Sun shows a strong EM influence and comes off sounding like Seal backed by Tangerine Dream sometimes (yes, there are vocals on the album). The instrumental material is very interesting, with the closer being a wacky Kraftwerk meets Moebius & Plank concoction.

 


King Ende Shneafliet (Netherlands)

Dimension Mix 01 (2018) (recorded in 1982 - 1988)

Minimal synth / electropop band that existed from 1981 until some moment in the late 1980's. Mostly minimal synth but some (instrumental or vocoder-laden) tracks  - "Herbie's Delight", "Classical Reverb / Echo Trip" - will be enjoyed by fans the poppier end of the EM spectrum (i.e. Kraftwerk et al). File under EM-related.

See also: Dr. C. Stein

 


King Moot (UK)

It Just Fell (2018)

King Moot is a duo consisting of Barbara and Bob Whitman with a moody, melancholic sound, combining ambient styles and melodic, UK school EM / downtempo (shades of Code:Indigo, John Kerr, etc.).

 


King of Woolworths (UK)

Ming Star (2001)
L'illustration musicale (2003)
Rediffusion (2004)

Jon Brook's project inspired by library music and sort of a precursor to The Advisory Circle. Not everything here is EM or electronic-oriented for that matter, with some tracks being directly inspired by 1960's and early 1970's psychedelic pop / rock, soundtracks, space-age pop and / or hauntology. The project seems to be a pioneer in that latter trend that has since become more popular. Some tracks, although these are not numerous, resort to nice analog EM, though, so there's some stuff to enjoy for EM fans, too.

See also: Advisory Circle, The, Woodbines & Spiders, Pattern Forms, Café Kaput, Brooks, Jon.

 


King Shi (Russia)

Jupiter Blues (2020)

Rhythmic, melodic music from Vladimir Zhukov. Sort of a loungy atmosphere.

 


King, Stan (USA)

Dark Voyage (2008)

Mixture of rhythmic, danceable tracks and ambient floaters, sometimes with a dark mood. Stan King has been composing music with synths since 1985.

 


Kingdom Bliss (France)

Destination Sagitarius (1986)

Melodic music vaguely along the lines of Jarre.

 


Kingdom of Abyss (Spain)

Through the Gates of Destiny (2020) (S)

Dungeon synth-related project from Madrid.

 


Kingdom, The (Italy)

Crafting Adjusting (2022)

Hybrid space rock / electronic band with vocals, founded by and centered around Marco Da Rold, with Adriano Bruno Cavallini on bass guitar and synths. There is also some instrumental electronic material, such as the title track form Crafting Adjusting, for example.

 


Kingsley, Clive (???)

Time Garden (1985)

 


Kingsley, Gershon (USA)

Much Silence (1986)

Although born in Germany and raised in Palestine, Gershon Kingsley (real name - Götz Gustav Ksinski) is listed as a US artist because his musical career had only kickstarted after he moved to New York. In the late 1960's he became the pioneer of the Moog synthesizer, collaborating with Jean-Jacques Perrey and forming "The first Moog Quartet". He was the author of the well-known theme "Popcorn", which has been sampled, covered and used in different media as many times as probably no other composition. However, by the 1980's he developed an interest in new age and Space Music. Hence, this album was released, featuring quiet, spacey and meditative compositions with synths and piano. Selections from this album were featured on the "Hearts of Space" radio show. In 1990, Much Silence was re-released as Anima. Gershon Kingsley passed away in December, 2019.

 


Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra (UK)

Stylophonika (2021)
Live To Tape At Visconti Studio (2023)

Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra is a student project put together by Leah Kardos. It includes 11 current members (plus some sounds added by past members), all playing vintage and modern stylophones, Korg Volca's, Theremin and Omnichord. Apart from original material, there are nice covers of Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, David Bowie, Henry Purcell and Brian Eno.

 


KingTiger (USA)

Perceptions of the Interior (2008)

Arizona-based artist (real name - Randall Corey Oltman) who makes diverse EM - mostly rather rhythmic and upbeat, even danceable, but also relaxed and melodic.

 


Kinked (Italy)

Reincanto (2022)
Lead Me Where NPC's Sleep (2022)

Ambient compositions from Lapo Sorride out of Turin. Quirky, Cluster-like.

 


Kinman, Chip (USA)

The Great Confrontation (2022)

Texan guitarist and one of the founders of 1980's punk rock / new wave band Rank & File, quite unexpectedly, released this electronic oddity (The Great Confrontation) that does show his punk roots but is also a nice and quirky experimental EM record in its own right.

 


Kinn (UK)

Anamnesis Landscape (2020)

This project of London-based Freddy Lomas mixes "UK bass" with melodic, climatic ambient electronics. Nocturnal, shadowy, restless...

 


Kinnari (USA??)

Kinnari (2016) (S)

The first side of this 12-incher features two tracks of slow rhythms and ambient atmospheres. Side B is occupied by "Socratic", which eschews rhythm in favor of a floating, droning ambient soundscape.

 


Kinnerup, Mads (Denmark)

Heart 1993 (2022) (S)

Mads Kinnerup Jørgensen is a member of cosmic pop trio We Are the Way For the Cosmos To Know Itself. His own solo music is ambient, rich, melodic, symphonic and gnarling.

 


Kinsella, Andrew (???)

Cosmic Dawn (2018)

Relaxing Space Music. Sometimes with sequences.

 


Kinzua (Germany)

None of the Above (2023)

Experimental EM from the duo of Lucas Brell and Marvin Uhde. Music with a solo Moebius feel.

 


Kiraly, Francois (Canada)

Music From the Sky (1987) (with Charles Crevier and Jean-Francois Crevier)
Images (1988) (with Charles Crevier and Jean-Francois Crevier)
Calypso (1989) (with Charles Crevier)

Francois Kiraly has been experimenting with Ambient genre since 1984. At that time he was primarily influenced by Brian Eno, Vangelis and Mark Isham. His main output is comparable to Eno and Roach, with an extra cinematic touch.

 


Kirby, Dave (UK)

Contrails (2016)

Drone Ambient from this pioneer of Industrial (as part of the band Satori) during the 1980's.

See also: Satori

 


Kirby, John Carroll (USA)

Drool (2015) (with Cara Stricker)
Travel (2017)
Meditations In Music (2018)
Tuscany (2019)
My Garden (2020)
Septet (2021)
Concflict (2021)
Dance Ancestral (2022)
Cryptozoo (2022)

Los Angeles-based synthesist who recorded Meditations In Music using a DX7 and a Minimoog. A crossover ambient / new age sound.

 


Kirby, Jon (USA)

Safe To Disconnect (2021)
Safe To Disconnect II (2023)

Jon (Jonathan) Kirby is a North Carolina-based synthesist with a quirky, pastoral, a bit Cluster-like style. Sometimes jazzy, with lots of electric piano.

 


Kirby, Leyland (UK)

Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was Part One (2009)
Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was Part Two (2009)
Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was Part Three (2009)
Intrigue & Stuff Vol. 1 (2011) (EP)
Intrigue & Stuff Vol. 2 (2011) (EP)
Intrigue & Stuff Vol. 3 (2011) (EP)
Eager To Tear Apart the Stars (2011)
Breaks My Heart Each Time (2014) (S)
The Death of Rave (2014)

Melancholic Ambient.

 


Kirby, Simon (UK)

At Rahoy, the Early Light (2023)

Edinburgh-based modular synthesist and installation artist. On At Rahoy, the Early Light, he created a beautiful and rather captivating synthscape that sounds like morning mist slowly enveloping mountain peaks.

 


Kirchenkampf (USA)

Kirchenkampf (1986)
The Gravity of Grace (1987)
Dancing Toward the Light of Heaven (1988)
Exodus (1988)
Jacob's Ladder (1989)
Lazarus Rising (1992)
The First Circle (1995)
Probe (1997) (S)
Nebula / Parasite (1997) (S)
Entropy (1998)
M 103: A Cosmic Peregrination In Four Parts (1999) (with The Implicit Order)
Erewhon (2000)
Transmissions (2006)
Island of the Dead (2006)
Babel (2007)
Sleep - Night - Death (2008) (with Caul)
Dark Planet (2008)
Well of Souls (2009)
Lowland (2010)
Nevermore And Nevertheless (2011) (with Pixyblink)
Sidereal Lament (2014)

Kirchenkapf is John Gore. Some of this project's music (Probe, Nebula) falls into the category of Dark Space, comparable to some atmospheric moments on Tangerine Dream's Phaedra. Some other albums (Lazarus Rising, The First Circle) are more religious-based works of dark electronics.

See also: Gorehallreider

 


Kirikmäe, Kaido (Estonia)

Lintprii (2007)
Külaturul paadisadama ääres (2007) (with Mathura)
Iluküsija (2016) (with Mikita and Jürjendahl)
Rawberry Files (2017)
Ei omadusi, ei iseennast (2018) (with Leho Rubis)
Music That Makes You Yawn (2021)
Epic (2022)
428, 899 CE (2023)

Estonian electronic musician. The sound on Rawberry Files, which was recorded in a forest log house with no electricity (batteries were used), is like a mixture of ambience and smooth techno beats, something like an updated concept of Cluster's Forst retreat.

 


Kirillov, Oleg (Russia)

This Is She (1991)

In the beginning of the 90's, the music of this artist was often used on Russian television and radio. Slightly comparable to New Collection in style.

 


Kiris, Yannis (Greece)

The Fifth Moon (1987)

Rare privately released LP from this Greek composer. Yannis (Giannis) Kiris played keyboards in a few garage bands during the 60's. The music is slightly comparable to Italian electronic prog of the 1970's, with a few acoustic instruments alongside synths. Two of the tracks contain vocals.

 


Kiritchenko, Andrey (Ukraine)

Maria (2024)

Kharkiv-born artist. Maria features complex compositions with multiple and rich synth sounds, a bit Tomita-like, but very rhythmic and individual-sounding. Nice stuff.

 


Kirk, Aron (UK)

Brick Circus (2006)
Seep (2007)
Seeping (2009)

Instrumental ambient music, with synths, piano, percussion, voice, woodwinds and samples. The artist states that he is influenced by Vangelis, as well as by Ambient artists Tim Story and Dwight Ashley.

 


Kirkegaard, Jacob (Denmark)

Soaked (2002) (with Philip Jeck)
01.02 (2003)
Eldfjall (2005)
4 Rooms (2006)
Labyrinthitis (2008)
Imperia (2011) (with Tobias Kirstein)
Conversion (2013)
Svæninger (2013) (with Else Marie Pade)
Live In Tilburg (2014)
40 Days of Silence (2014)
Arc (2015)
5 Pieces (2015)
Munk (2016)
Descending (2017) (with Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard)
Phonurgia metallis (2019)
Time Is Local (2019) (with We Like We)
Opus mors (2019)

Electroacoustic / drone composer in the deepest Thomas Köner realms. Some works are based on field recordings.

 


Kirkis (Australia)

Vide (2017)
Kirkis 2 (2018)
Cézanne By Touch (2019)

The 2019 album features long tracks of crazy sounds, sequences, disjointed melodies etc. Made with the help of Buchla Music Easel, Buchla 200e, Rhodes Chroma and various modules. Not for purists but a good find for fans of Experimental EM. The sax / bleep part reminds me on the futuristic lounge ambience of the New York Planet bar from the Freelancer game.

 


Kirkwood, Jim (UK)

Where Shadows Lie (1990)
King of the Golden Hall (1990)
Middle Earth (1990)
Tales From A Melnibone Tavern (1991)
Souls That Dance On the Edge of A Sword (1991)
Nightshade In Eden (1991)
Master of Dragons (1991)
Uruk Hai (1992)
Ancient Fields (1992)
Night of A Dark Grail (1992)
Castles of Sand (1993)
Through A Dark Glass (1993)
Lord of the Dreaming (1993)
Tower of Darkness (1993)
Celtoi (1994)
Pilgrim On A Crooked Path (1994)
The Serpents Kiss (1994)
Beyond the Fields We Know (1995)
Dancing the Dark Power (1995)
Sisters of the Web (1995)
Weaving the Red Thread (1995)
Haminja (1995)
Twilight of the Celts (1995)
Heljaruna (1995)
The Age of the Wolf (1996)
Bones of the Earth (1999)
Blood And Feathers (2002)
Shroud of Many Colours (2002)
Liber Obscularium Praedictionum (2003)
The Blessing of Shadows (2003)
Communion of the Damned (2003)
Hawksmoor (2003)
The Darkening Hour (2004)
Voices From the Edge of Night (2004)
House of the Crowman (2004)
In the Deep Places of the World (2005)
Corvis Christi (2005)
Foxhalt Edge (2005)
Ine Amongst the Fallen (2005) (different)
Hecate Vol. 1 (2006)
Hecate Vol. 2 (2006)
Rituals of Intelligent Design (2006)
Queen of the Golden Wood (2006)
After the Fire (2006)
Canterbury Black (2007)
Nightshade In Eden (2007) (different)
Where Shadows Lie (2007) (different)
We Are Nightingales (2007)
Widdershins To the Way of the World (2007) (EP)
Foxhalt Marsh (2008) (EP)
The Distant Light (2008) (EP)
The Legend of Sam Gangee (2008) (EP)
Morningstar Part 1 - Revelations of the Fallen (2009)
Morningstar Part 2 - The World Behind the Mirror (2009)
Morningstar Part 3 - Helmsman On A Ship of Dreams (2009)
Morningstar Part 4 - A Once And Future Heretic (2010)
Morningstar Part 5 - Kings Beneath A Pale Sky (2010)
They Walk Amongst the Stars Like Giants (2010)
Castles of Sand (2010)
Bones of the Earth (2010)
The Bears Withdrew Their Claws In Her Presence (2010) (EP)

Jim Kirkwood is a very interesting character who creates Berlin School Electronic Music with a dark twist. And on dark themes too. Sort of Gothic synthetic drive if you like. Maybe it's not very original musically, but thematically it is, as well as in execution. I highly recommend it, but then again, I love dark music. It's not as scary as some of the Dark Ambient stuff, but still not for the faint-hearted. Lots of raw energy here, sort of like Phaedra but usually more energetic. Some of his music is released under "Lucifaere" pseudonym. Some of Kirkwood's early cassette tracks were released on the following CD's (being samplers of previously released material, they are not listed in the discography): The Gates of Horn And Ivory (released in 2000), Yggdrasil Vol. 1 and Hammer of the North.

See also: Lucifaere, Ancient Technology Cult, Section 37, Violence In Eden, Emerald Eye, Drachenfeuer.

 


Kirlian, Ran (Spain)

Stigma (1998)
Dogma (1999)
Karma (1999)
Flux (1999)
In aeternum (1999)
Rituals (2000)
Bo ai (2000)
Shore of Darkness (2000)
Obscurity (2000)
Melting Point (2001)
Initial Flow (2002)
Fade Out (2003)
Elements In Motion (2003)
Isolated Landscapes (2004)
Limbo (2004)
Sleeper (2004)
Dissolution (2009)
Formations (2012)
Waterfront (2012) (with Landru)
Continuum (2012)
The Physics of Heaven (2013) (with Oophoi)
Cosmos Vol. 1 (2013) (with Jaja)
Distant Signals (2018)
Sidereus nuncius (2020)
Primordial Stages (2020)
Cosmos Vol. 2 (2022) (with Jaja)

Ambient / Tribal.

 


Kirmann, Franz (UK)

Madrapour (2019)
Forget Me Not (2022)

The 2019 album feature melodic, accessible modular sound sculpting and rhythmic compositions from this London-based artist. Forget Me Not is more ambient and minimal. He has three previous releases that I am still to check out.

 


Kirn, Peter (USA)

4Q246 (2022)

This music ranges from noisy and industrial to darkish ambience.

 


Kirpiklass (Russia)

Десять лет среди болот (2023)

Ambient project with a mysterious vibe, inspired by forests, nature, fairytales and shamanism.

 


Kirst (Estonia)

Friday Evening Burial (2008)
The Past Nausea (2011) (recorded in 2001 - 2003)

Dark Ambient.

 


Kissel, Connor (USA)

Dark In the Light (2020) (EP)
The Forest of Things Lost And Found (2021)

Louisville, Kentucky-based artist. Strange and interesting stuff. Seemingly indebted to the dungeon synth genre, it uses a lot of old school general midi patches but throws them against weird noises and effects, as well as nature sounds and pastoral flutes. The whole has something of an avant but at the same time naive feel to it.

 


Kistenmacher, Bernd (Germany)

Dancing Sequences (1984)
Music From Outer Space (1985)
Romantic Times (1986)
Head-Visions (1986)
Wake Up In the Sun (1987)
Kaleidoscope (1989)
Outlines (1990)
Live And Studio Tapes (1992)
Starting Again (1994)
Thoughts (1996)
Compiled Dreams (1997) (recorded in 1988 - 1997)
Contrasts Vol.1 (1998)
My Little Universe (1999) (recorded in 1985 - 1999)
Contrasts Vol.2 (2000)
Un viaggio attraverso l'Italia (2001)
Celestial Movements (2009)
Beyond the Deep (2010)
Antimatter (2011)
Let It Out! + Compressed Fluid (2012)
Utopia (2013)
Paradise (2014)
Welcome To the Circus (2016) (recorded in 2014)
Disintegration (2017)

German synthesist born in 1960. Bernd Kistenmacher has been involved in the production of Electronic Music since the early 1980's, when he got his first synthesizer. He has been at the forefront of EM scene for almost two decades, releasing several albums of Berlin School electronics with a Schulzian flair. He deliberately eschewed the short-song format and digital synthesizers that were the order of the day in the 1980's, to create epic, flowing and long compositions, full of analogue solos, sequences and cosmic atmospheres. Bernd Kistenmacher has collaborated with Harald Grosskopf, resulting in two album releases. In the early 1990's, Bernd created "Musique Intemporelle" - a label, which, although didn't last long, managed to gain a cult status among EM connoisseurs. My Little Universe is a 8-CD box set that gathers music from a couple of cassettes and adds some previously unreleased archive material.

See also: Kistenmacher & Grosskopf, Nightworkers.

 


Kistenmacher & Grosskopf (Germany)

Characters (1991)
Stadtgarten Live (1994)

Collaborative albums between German synthesist Bernd Kistenmacher and Harald Grosskopf. The results are not unlike Grosskopf's sessions with Schulze, or, say, Ashra from the late Seventies. If you like Berlin School Electronic Music, you may want to check these albums out.

See also: Kistenmacher, Bernd, Grosskopf, Harald.

 


KiTA (Australia)

Lucent (2021) (EP)
Ceramic (2023)

Naarm / Melbourne-based KiTA aka Kae Tama Kitzler mixes club and progressive influences. Of special interest is the long track on side A of Ceramic. With its slow development, a sense of flow and multiple webs of sequences, it reminds on Klaus Schulze circa Kontinuum. Another top track is the slow closer on the same album. Overall, her style is pretty nice and in most cases falls squarely into the New Berlin School idiom.

 


Kitajima, Osamu (Japan)

Benzaiten (1974)
Osamu (1976)
Masterless Samurai (1978)
Dragon King (1979)
Face To Face (1981)
The Source (1984)
FM Shrine (1986)
In Mind's Way (1986)
Silky Age (1988)
California Roll (1988)
Sweet Chaos (1989)
Behind the Light (1991)
Mandala (1991) (soundtrack)
Beyond the Circle (1996)
Breath of Jade (2006)
The Sacred Land (2010) (soundtrack)

This guy is somewhat new agey and uses a lot of traditional instruments, along with electronics.

 


Kitamura, Masashi (Japan)

Prologue For Post Modern Music (1984) (with Phonogenix)

This album by late Japanese musician Masashi Kitamura (1956 - 2006) and supporting band Phonogenix has a strong ethnic flavor and consists of sequenced electronics and samples of traditional instruments. A version of World Music, then, with a slight avant-garde / new wave vibe.

 


Kitaro (Japan)

Astral Voyage (1978)
From the Full Moon Story (1979)
Oasis (1979)
Silk Road (1980)
Silk Road II (1980)
In Person (1980)
Silk Road Suite (1980) (with London Symphony Orchestra)
Ki (1981)
Silk Road III (1981)
Spring of Youth - Earth And Man (1981)
Millennia (1982) (soundtrack)
India (1983)
Silver Cloud (1983)
Noah's Ark (1983) (S)
Asia (1984)
Toward the West (1985)
Tenku (1986)
Light of the Spirit (1987)
Ten Years (1988)
Kojiki (1990)
Live In America (1991)
Dream (1992)
Heaven & Earth (1993) (soundtrack)
Mandala (1994)
An Enchanted Evening (1995)
Peace On Earth (1996)
Cirque ingenieux (1997)
Gaia-Onbashira (1998)
Thinking of You (1999)
Ancient (2000) (soundtrack)
Ancient Journey (2002) (soundtrack)
The Soong Sisters (2002) (soundtrack)
Asian Cafe (2002)
Daylight, Moonlight Live In Yakushiji (2002)
Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai (2003)
Ninja Scroll (2003) (soundtrack) (with Peter McEvilley)
Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 2 (2005)
Spiritual Garden (2006)
Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 3 (2007)
Journey To the Heart 4 (2008)
Toyo's Camera (2009) (soundtrack)
Impressions of the West Lake (2009)
442: Live With Honor, Die With Dignity (2010) (soundtrack)
Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 4 (2010)
Let Mother Earth Speak (2012) (with Dennis Banks)
Final Call (2013)
Symphony Live In Istanbul (2014)
Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai Vol. 5 (2017)

Famous new age musician (real name - Masanori Takahashi). During the Seventies, Kitaro was a member of Far East Family Band and during the production of several albums, he learned a lot from Klaus Schulze (who was the producer) about utilising synthesizers in music. After he left the group, he started writing melodic music using various synths. Some people call his early solo music "Electronic New Age". This description is not far from the truth. Kitaro found some sounds on his synths which he liked and played with these sounds over and over, thus, his early albums all sound the same. Still, it's nice music to hear and I would recommend the following: Astral Voyage, From the Full Moon Story, Oasis, Silk Road and Silver Cloud, the latter being a bit different from the rest. If you like these albums, you may check out some other albums by him as well. His more recent new age works are nice, as far as new age music goes, but unfortunately, it's just that: new age. As for me, I haven't heard his latest works, because after hearing Gaia-Onbashira I lost my interest completely.

See also: Far East Family Band, Starship Synthesizer Orchestra.

 


Kitayama, Makoto (Japan)

Doubutsukai No Chinou (1981)
Practical Encyclopedia of Kingdom Plantae (2008)

Makoto Kitayama is known as the leader, vocalist and songwriter of Japanese prog band Shingetsu. After the band called it a day (they had only one official release in 1979), Makoto continued to write solo compositions, some of them in pure progressive rock tradition, others instrumental and keyboard-based.

See also: Shingetsu

 


Kitchen, The (Germany)

Tape Music (1990)
Tape Jazz Planet 3 (1991)

Aka The Kitchen - Musique Associative. Obscure early band with future members of Flow. The music is loaded with samples, in a way presaging the nascent "ambient techno" scene, but still indebted to old electronic pioneers.

See also: Flow, Liquid Sound.

 


Kito Jempere (Russia)

Sea Monster (2017)

Diverse music from Saint-Petersburg-based Kirill Sergeev, fusing live drums, downtempo rhythms and analog electronics. Not completely Prog, but often has that vibe.

 


Kitt, R. (Ireland)

Cycles (2019)

Varied synth compositions sounding like a podcast (lost of changing sections arranged in long tracks), but it is in fact original music.

 


Kittikornkowit, Wichayut (Thailand)

Sounds From My Pads (2014)

Young ambient musician from Thailand. Most of his music is only available as downloads, including the Space Music series of EP's, containing, you've guessed it, Space Music.

 


Kittylung (USA)

Of Context (2021)
Something Inevitable (2022) (with Embassy)

From purely ambient soundscapes to collage pieces and sequencer EM.

 


Kivel, Matt (USA)

Last Night In America (2019)
That Day, On the Beach (2020)

Texan singer-songwriter and folk musician. That Day, On the Beach is inspired by the 28 years of his life he spent in Los Angeles. It consists of ambient electronic vignettes.

See also: Superteam

 


Kivioja, Vesa-Matti (Finland)

Lopun ajat (2013)
Muistot (2015)
Universo (2016) (S)

Varied soundscapes from this synth musician, from gloomy and mysterious to bright and sometimes noisy. He is also known as a techno artist.

 


Kj Rothweiler (USA)

Wake (2016)
Spells (2017)
Ex (2018)
Dreemen (2020)
Saturnalia (2021)

Ambient from this filmmaker and composer based in New York.

 


Kjær, Rasmus (Denmark)

Turist (2019)

Solo album from keyboardist of a few acid jazz and afrobeat bands. Turist features multiple keyboards and synths arranged into playful, repetitive electronic compositions. Often has a Cluster feel.

 


Kjellgren, Jörgen (Norway)

Forest And Field (2019) (EP)
Invincible Summer (2020)

Ambient artist from Norway (currently residing in Stockholm).

 


KK Null (Japan)

Galactic Tornado (2008)
Star Breaker (2016)

An oddity in the discography of this Japanese noise legend and leader of Zeni Geva. Galactic Tornado still has some aggresive beats and noisy sections but mostly relies on different atmospheres, some rough, some spaced out and clearly inspired by classic and experimental Electronic Music from the 1970's.

 


K-Kvadrat (Russia)

Unwritten Script (2009)
New Horizons (2009)
Möbius Strip (2009)
Micromania (2009)
Flagship of the Universe (2013)
Ten Steps To Aether (2013)
Analogia (2013)
Distant Shore (2013)
Theos (2015)

This project started as a testing ground for various synths and workstations by Andrey Klimkovsky and Igor Kolesnikov. The music has some characteristics of the Berlin School and is a bit more experimental than Andrey's usual fare.

See also: Klimkovsky, Andrey

 


Klaas, Julian (Germany)

Impromptu (2023)

Quirky, playful and reflective ambient music exploring the sounds and imperfections of a Wurlitzer piano.

 


Klag, Daniel (USA)

True Neutral (2019)
Arbor (2021)

Experimental drone musician.

 


Kl(aüs) (Australia)

Kl(aüs) (2016)
2 (2020)
Live • 2020 (2020)
Kl(aüs)ette Volume 1 (2022)

As you can guess, this is analog music influenced by classic Klaus Schulze.

 


Klamt, Greg (USA)

Fulcrum (1993)
Fluxus quo (1996)
Convergence (2002) (with Deborah Martin and Mark Rownd)

Symphonic electronics on Spotted Peccary label.

 


Klang (USA)

Klang (1982)
Drift (1985)

Subtitled "Elektronische Musik by Klang". John Di Stefano under a pseudonym.

See also: Di Stefano, John, Compos Mentis.

 


Klangfärg (Sweden)

Tysta flykten (2016)

Drifting synths with some distant mellotron textures. Sounds like an extension of some ideas first tried in the 1970's by EM pioneers. Nice and different from your usual Ambient fare.

 


Klangwart (Germany)

Immerland (1997)
Inkiek (1997) (S)
Koln-Olpe (1998)
Zwei (1999)
Stadtlandfluss (2008)
Sommer (2010)
Transit (2014)
Monserrate (2017) (S)
Bogotá (2019)

Ambient electronic soundscapes by Timo Reuber and Markus Detmer. Often dark, brooding and machine-like.

See also: Reuber

 


Klangwelt (Germany)

Weltweit (2002)
The Age of Numbers (2003)
XOIO (2006)
The Incident (2018)
Here And Why (2022)

Klangwelt is Gerald Arend who creates very good melodic music. I haven't heard a whole album yet, but what I've heard so far was very exciting and quite interesting EM. Recommended.

 


Klare, Frank (Germany)

Timesharing (1983) (with Thomas Girke)
Solodreams (1986)
Transcental Medication (1995)
Electronic Impressions (1995)
Improvised Eternity (1996)
Red And Black (1997) (with Artemiy Artemiev and Bernd Kistenmacher)
First Works (solo 81-85) (1997)
Soundtrack For Dreams (1998)
Analogic (1998)
Green Dream (1998)
Klal! (1999)
Klare Extreme (1999)
The Remix Compilation (1999)
Area 2000 (1999)
Modular Music (2000)
Berlin Sequences (2002)
Memorial Dreams (2003)
Berlin Parks (2003)
Berlin Clubs (2004)
Berlin Nightlife (2004)
Monumental Dreams (2004)
Berlin Moods (2005)
Moods (2006)
Digitalic (2007)
Solomode (2013) (recorded in 1986)
Monomode (2013) (recorded in 1986)

German synthesist and former leader of Synco. Mainly classic improvised Berlin School Electronic Music.

See also: Synco, Traumklang.

 


Klare, Sabine (Germany)

Sabine Klare has been making Electronic Music since the early 1980's. One of the few women in EM, she appeared on the Klal! album by her husband Frank Klare as well as on a "Syntonic Waves" compilation.

 


Klauss (Argentina)

Cielos Moviles (1997)
Metales Perfectos (2000)
Antologia 1994 - 2004 (2006)
E (2009)

This duo of Ernesto Romeo and Alejandro Vazquez was formed in 1988 in Buenos Aires. The name was inspired by the actor Klaus Kinski in the film "Nosferatu". Taking their roots from the classic Berlin School of Electronic Music, they create floating and rhythmical cosmic compositions with long, unfurling ambient passages. They make use of a wide variety of (mostly) analogue synths and are sometimes considered "the Argentinean Tangerine Dream". Their music is largely based on improvisation and is chock full of symphonic textures and otherwordly "cosmic" analogue sounds and sequences. Since their formation in 1988, the group saw some lineup changes.

See also: Nicosia, Francisco

 


Klee, Simon (UK)

When the Tide Went Out (2020) (S)
Momentary Illumination (2020)
Zener_14 (2020)
Phototaxis (2020)
Mandragora (2021)
The Light of Elevation (2022)

Warm EM from this London-based artist. Analog synths galore, relaxed rhythms, sunny melodies... Unfortunately, the album (Momentary...) loses momentum somewhat after a few nice initial rhythmic and a few ambient tracks, but is pretty good overall.

 


Kleebauer, Marco (Austria)

Magnolia (2019)
Music To Shower To (2020)
Twentyfour Sad Faces (2021) (S)

Austrian musician born in 1994. Music To Shower To sounds like Cluster playing their music from a deteriorated tape in a moist and foggy bathhouse.

 


Klein (UK)

Harmattan (2021)
Cave In the Wind (2022)
Touched By An Angel (2023)
Star In the Hood (2023)

South London-based artist of Nigerian descent. She starts her 2021 disc Harmattan with a piano improvisation, proceeding to jazzy realms and exploring ambient electronics and vocal-based experimentation in-between. An interesting and in a way fascinating release. Touched By An Angel continues in the same vein, although, in my opinion, is less engaging do to the overreliance on sampling and club music techniques. Tracks like "The World Is Yours Ensemble" and "Big Dreams Inc" are rather nice, though. Star In the Hood is, IMO, is less engaging, venturing further into noisier / glitchier textures and farther from Prog EM influences and sounds.

 


Klein Volk (Belgium)

Gulden onversneden (2019)

Electronics seemingly influenced by Cluster and their ilk. Pretty interesting and unique overall.

 


Kleinstein, Rami (Israel)

Rage And Glory (1985) (soundtrack)

Supposedly electronic soundtrack to this Israeli drama movie.

 


Kleis, Mihkel (Estonia)

Lylian meister - 1001 (2008)
Teekond varjuderiiki / Memory Palette (2015) (with Luarvik Luarvik)
Tkun orha pnul (2015) (S) (with Roomet Jakapi)
Sotto forte (2016)

Estonian experimental electronic artist and a member of several bands in different genres. He is rather unique and a bit dadaistic I would say, mixing analog synth sounds with strange collages and rhythms. He also makes music as Ratkiller and I have heard some Ratkiller material that was vaguely Prog (or a bit influenced by that sound). However, I need to investigate more of his output to decide if and which of his releases should be in EEM, which in our post-modern age becomes a progressively difficult task. The above recordings, released under his real name, should be of some interest, though.

See also: Luarvik Luarvik

 


Kleive, Audun (Norway)

[tweakism] (2023)

Norwegian drummer with an electronic exploration type record, mixing his drumming with crazy beeps & bleeps, etc.

 


Kletoa (Kazakhstan)

Electronic Dreams (2015)
Ephemeral Landscapes (2023)

Varied project from Petropavlovsk. Glitchy, noisy, ambient, experimental, cosmic, mysterious... Also known as Kletoa Spin1402.

 


KLETtTERMAX (Germany)

Stairs (2021)
Sascha der Striezel (2021) (S)
Old Jared Remembers His 10th Birthday (2021)
VOGEL-RITTER / Hybrid Inquisitor (2021)
Kjeldor's Artefakte (2022)
Above Human (2022) (with 480billion)
Transmission From Brarth 85 Wr (2023) (with Arcane Earth Reboot)

Stairs features quirky EM with sort of a bird theme going. Some of the repetitive melodies are openly "dungeon synth"-like.

 


Kleu (USA)

Eruptor (2020) (recorded in 2016 - 2018)

Chicago-based Kleu makes heavy, monolithic synth music based on drones.

 


Klimek (Germany)

Milk And Honey (2004)
Listen, the Snow Is Falling (2005) (EP)
Music To Fall Asleep (2006)
Dedications (2007)
Movies Is Magic (2009)
Songs of Love And Fear Vol. 1 (2015)
Songs of Love And Fear Vol. 2 (2015)
Pop Crimes Vol. 2 (2015)
Pop Crimes Vol. 3 (2015)
Excitement & War (2015)
Fleischwerk (2015)
Live In Ramallah (2015)
Live At Berghaim (2015)
American Darkness (2015)
Lapidarium (2015)

Klimek is German electronic artist Sebastian Meissner. He is very diverse musically but this particular moniker is used for his ambient productions mostly.

 


Klimkovsky, Andrey (Russia)

Legende (1990)
Voyager's Journey (1990)
The Aegean Sea (1990)
Contrary Action (1992)
Live In the Red Gate (1996) (with Roman Kalinin)
Milky Way (1997)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1997)
Dedicated To the Challenger's Crew (1998)
Spheric Concert (1998)
We Continue the Search (1999)
In Curled Space (1999)
Moon Odyssey (1999)
Martian Concert (1999)
Andromeda (1999)
Lyra (1999)
On the Edge of the Galaxy (1999)
Under the Starry Night of Spain (1999)
Birth, Life And Death (1999)
Scarlet Sails (2000)
InterStarry Travel (2000) (maxi)
Star Triangle (2001)
On the Edge of Dream (2001)
Beyond the Edge of Dream (2001)
Journey To the East (2001)
Corona Borealis (2001)
All Oscillators On (2002)
Two Oceans (2002)
Music of the Stars III (2002)
Sad And Soli Music (2003)
Star Journey (2003)
Cassiopeia (2003)
Music of the Stars IV (2003)
Music of the Stars V (2003)
Mercury (2004)
Evolution (2004)
Mysteries of Mars (2004) (maxi)
Extremal Forsage (2005)
Planet Parade (2005)
Song of the Setting Sun (2005) (maxi)
Between the Sky And the Earth (2006) (with Julia Lomanova)
ElectroDinamica (2006) (with Julia Lomanova)
DreamOcean III - Dreamology (2006)
Life Or Love (2007)
Родился я не на Земле (2008)
В краю надежд и испытаний (2009)
Milky Way (2009) (maxi)
Northern Wind (2010)
Music of Celestial Spheres (2010)
Ultramarine (2011) (with Igor Kolesnikov)
Helios (2011)
History of A Fallen Star (2011)
Star Bridge (2012)
The Return (2013)
Illusion of A Dream (2015) (with Julia Lomanova)
Road of Hope (2015) (with Julia Lomanova)
Stargazer (2017)
StarRiver (2018)
Windland (2018)
Deep Cosmos (2020)
Amber 2015 (2020)
Song of the Setting Sun (2020) (maxi)
In Spite of Laws (2020) (maxi)
Starmaze (2020)
Aethereal Fields (2020)
Тайны Марса (2021) (maxi)
Stellar Meditations I (2021)
Stellar Meditations II (2021)

Russian synthesist with a melodic style. Andrey has always been interested in all things related to space and astronomy, while music was not something he wanted to be teached as a teenager. However, things changed when he knew about the concept of "cosmic" music. It all started in 1984 when, while studying at astronomy courses in Moscow Planetarium, Andrey formed the band "Alrado" with a couple of freinds. The group mostly covered compositions of French group Space, but Andrey did write a few original tunes for the band. They gave several concerts in the Planetarium that were very well received by the public, especially the original material. At that time, Andrey still wanted to be an astronomer, but his love for cosmic music has won the battle, so to speak. Since 1989, Andrey acted as electronic musician only, without breaking his good partnership with people in Moscow Planetarium. Andrey has his own label NEANE records that has released quite a few of his own works as well as those by several other up and coming artists in the electronic / cosmic / ambient scene. Please, note that Legende, The Aegean Sea and Contrary Action were released under the project name "NEANE". The first one was initially intended as a soundtrack for planetarium shows. See my review of Andrey's album From Dusk Till Dawn in the reviews section.

See also: K-Kvadrat, Aleala.

 


Klingebiel, Johannes (Germany)

Positional Play (2019) (EP)

Four tracks of New Berlin School sequences and rhythms on this EP (Positional Play).

See also: C.A.R.

 


Klingons, The (UK)

Beamed Down By Starship Enterprise (1980)
Analog - Digital (1981)

One of several projects run by Scottish minimal synth pioneer Alistair Robertson. The Klingons mix your standard minimal synth fare of the time (with vocals) and instrumental synth tracks that are clearly prog EM-influenced. A crossover project, then.

Robertson, Al

 


Klofink (Sweden)

Vakant (2023)

Dubby, repetitive, Cluster-like electronics.

 


Kloke (Australia)

First Light (2014) (EP)
Sea Levels (2014)

Kloke is Andy Donnelly. Although this particular project is related to techno / IDM music, Andy seems to be a big fan of classic (Prog) EM, so it is inevitable that some tracks show that influence, be it in the form of sequencer overload or early FAX ambient drift.

See also: Travancore, Colours of Infinity.

 


K-Lone (UK)

Cape Cira (2020)
Swells (2023)

A project of Josiah Gladwell. Between tropical house and Ambient.

 


Kloob (Spain)

Deep Emotional Phases (2015)
Solid Foundations (2016)
Remarkable Events (2018)
Unpredictable Signs (2019)
Mundus Patet (2020) (with Onasander)
Cryptic Interactions (2020)
Parallel States (2021)
Tempestarii (2022) (with Onasander)
Goês (2023) (with Onasander)

Ambient soundscapes and Space Music from Barcelona-based Daniel Ferreira.

 


Klood (Belgium)

Barnes Habot (1997)
Klood (1997)
X. Masse (1997)
Gag-Hamin (1999) (S)
P4.2 A Collection of Drones (2001)
Aversion (2003)
Retraction (2003)
Negation (2006) (S)

Ambient soundscapes by Emmanuel Haubry.

 


Kloot, Frank van der (Netherlands)

Fontessa (1976)

Guitarist Frank van der Kloot founded Fontessa in 1973 after his previous group called Drama disbanded. They recorded one album in 1974 and then called it a day. Frank van der Kloot then went on to record another album, this time a solo disc, but released under "Fontessa" name. The music is jazz-rock mostly but with fine electronic moments. Actually, who takes care of keyboards is not Frank but one Otto Cooymans. Since he doesn't seem to have released anything, I have to limit myself with mentioning his name here. File under EM-related. Frank van der Kloot released another solo record in 1978 (also under the name of Fontessa) but it is supposedly much more pop-oriented. Further inverstigation would not harm, though.

 


Klotmystik (Sweden)

Drömma oss (2018)
Kassett No 1 (2019)
Horisont (2022)

Analog, melodic, sequence-full music.

 


Kluisenaar (Italy)

The Mountains Are Falling (2018)

Long tracks of drones and choirs. A project of Lorenzo Squilloni.

 


Kluivers, Ruud (Netherlands)

Artefact 2 (1981)
La nuova altea: Music For Modern Art Exhibitions (1982)

 


KLUST (France)

Analogik Works (2013) (recorded in 1982 - 1991)

KLUST was a project of French musician Jean-Luc Lefranc (1960 - 2022) who had been experimenting in the field of EM since 1978. He used guitar synthesizer, keyboards and processing.

 


Kluster (Germany)

Klopfzeichen (1970)
Zwei-Osterei (1970)
Eruption (1971)
CMO (2008)
Admira (2008) (recorded in 1971)
Vulcano (2008) (recorded in 1971)
The ThreeOlympicCitiesMix (2008)
CMO 2009 - Bla Bla Bla (2009)
CMO 2010 (2010)
Klusterstrasse 69-72 (2012)

Representative of the early German krautrock scene, Kluster consisted of Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Moebius and Conrad Schnitzler. In comparison with mid and late-Seventies Cluster works, this one is very rough and experimental, as well as abstract and bizarre, industrial-like noise music. The "re-union" 3-CD set from 2008 does not have much to do with the original Kluster, as all music was recorded by Conrad Schnitzler, Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama. Same for Admira and Vulcano, both of which were recorded in 1971 by a trio of Schnitzler, Klaus Freudigmann and Wolfgagng Seidel. It is beyond me as to why Conrad has chosen the Kluster name for the release of these recordings.

See also: Cluster, Roedelius, Hans-Joachim, Moebius, Schnitzler, Conrad, Qluster.

 


KLX (USA)

The Pennant (2017) (S)
Calcarine (2018) (S)

Ambient artist.

 


Kmiecik, Jake (USA)

Horizons (2021)

Ambient Electronic Music by drummer of Detroit indie rockers Bonny Doon.

 


KMRU (Kenya)

Erased (2019) (EP)
Opaquer (2020)
Peel (2020)
Jar (2020)
Logue (2021)
Temporary Stored (2022) (S)
Epoch (2022)
Lihen (2022) (with Aho Ssan)
Glim (2023)
Drawing Water (2023)
Dissolution Grip (2023)
Stupor (2023)

Deep sounds from Joseph Kamaru who takes field recordings / found sounds and processes them into unique ambient compositions by combining them with synths / electronics. Material on "Erased" is more rhythmic, influenced by club genres and with no-nonsense fat sequencing on the title track.

 


Knat (Germany)

Zwey (2019) (recorded in 2016)
Kuldīga (2020)

A duo of Jan Harder and Steve Hartmann. Quirky, repetitive synth with shades of Cluster, solo Moebius, etc.

 


Knetsch (Netherlands)

What About the Past I (2003)
What About the Past II (2003)
Endless Sea (2004)

Rob Knetsch's solo music. What About the Past albums contain unreleased archived material from 2002 - 2003, while Endless Sea is all new music. He has also released a series of CD's with experimental soundscapes that were created using various processed sounds (no synthesizers).

See also: Beudeker / Knetsch, Novo Sibirsk, Electrance, Rok, Yaffin.

 


Knight, Adrian (Sweden)

Life of the Party (2022)

A bit avant ambient electronics. I don't know nothing about this artist's other releases.

 


Knights of Nvrul (Germany)

Sri G'thra (2021)
Sword Of Äonheart (2021)
Knightronauts (2023)

Dungeon synth with sort of a mystical theme going. More complex than the usual DS fare and some of the choir / voice patches remind me on Klaus Schulze circa 1986 - 1989.

 


Knistern (Switzerland)

Wichtig richtig (2022)

A project of Raffael Dörig. Shorter synth tracks of varying moods. Mostly ambient and playful, a bit Cluster-like.

 


Knittel, Krzystof (Poland)

Lapis / Low Sounds (1987) (recorded in 1985 and 1978)

Experimental / electroacoustic / musique concrete composer. Krzystof Knittel has worked at the Experimental Studio of Polish Radio since the early 1970's. Of interest will be the first side of the above LP. Recorded in 1985 with a Moog synthesizer (there is also some flute), it is a nice abstract / experimental piece full of blips and lulling melodies. Sort of academic in feel but pretty listenable for that scene and with slight Prog EM overtones. File under EM-related.

 


Knivtid (Sweden)

Knivtid (2017) (S)
Skogarna är redan svarta (2018)
Försiktig (2019)

Ambient soundscapes. Floating, serene compositions with a bit of a lo-fi sound and some acoustic instruments.

 


Knok Knok (Portugal)

Knok Knok (2017)
Gravidade (2021)

Varied, playful electronics sculpted on analog synths by Armando Teixeira. If you like synth / drum combinations, this is for you.

See also: Teixeira, Armando

 


Knopha (China)

Nothing Nil (2018) (S)
Gym (2020)

Ambient electronics seemingly informed by the vaporwave and the balearic trends.

 


Knower (Serbia)

Curiosity Is Not Dead (2021)
Slow Emotion (2022)
In Search of Nothing (2022) (EP)

Ambient soundscapes with tribal elements.

 


Knox, Gabe (Canada)

ABC (2019)
Cosmic Motorik Adventures & Machine Language Music (2020) (S)
MusiComputer (2020) (S)

Varied analog EM: motorik, sequencer, Radiophonic Workshop style etc.

 


Knox Om Pax (USA)

Laudanum (2007) (EP)

Dark Ambient.

 


Knudsen, Christian Hoy (Norway)

Hav (2000)

Dark Ambient from Norway. Supposedly, very good.

 


Knudsen, Kenneth (Denmark)

Anima (1979)
Music For the New Danish Dance Theatre (1985)
Music For Eyes (1997) (with Christian Skeel)
Hjernerum (1997) (S)
End of Silence (2009)
May Be (2011)
November Tango (2018) (with Oliver Hoiness)

Kenneth Knudsen played keyboards with Secret Oyster, Entrance and a few other prog / fusion ensembles. These solo albums by him will be interesting for EM fans.

 


Knudsen, Søren Lyngsø (Denmark)

Music From the Black Side (2018)

Multi-disciplinary artist, mostly resorting to electroacoustics when it comes to music making. On Music From the Black Side, some tracks lean towards Ambient. Among these are "Ice" and "Escape". The material was recorded as a soundtrack to an installation about light and its absence in Nordic countries.

 


Knutsen, Elijah (USA??)

Blue Sun Daydream (2020)
Music For Vending Machines 1 (2020) (S)
Pink Dream (2021) (S)
Pink Dream: Expanded Edition (2021)
Memory Color: Orange (2021)
Maybe Someday (2022)

Dreamy ambience.

 


Knutsen, Roy-Arne (Norway)

Old Boat House (2005) (S)
Silence (2006) (S)

This Ambient artist so far has released only two mini-albums.

 


Knutson, Saab (Netherlands)

Electronic Music From the Faroe Islands 1993 (2015)

Actually a pseudonym of Dutch musician Danny Wolfers. Atmospheric and melodic electronic compositions. Now, where are the real Faroese EM musicians?

See also: Wolfers, Danny, Legowelt, Falckenhaus, Franz, Smackos, Weltman, Klaus, Phalangius, Nomad Ninja, Occult Orientated Crime, Ufocus, Zandvoort & Uilenbal, Taniyama, Satomi, Rising Sun Systems, Osmo, Sammy, Star Sheperd, Psychic Stewardess, The, Bontempi 666, Lobosquillo, Mavelli, Florenza.

 


Knutsson, Johanna (Sweden)

Tollarp Transmissions (2019)
Dingsbums Homage (2022)

The 2019 album features varied electronic compositions from this Swedish arist who currently resides in Berlin. From Cluster-like, to slightly techno-like, to atmospheric and ambient. "Kungsvägen 44" is specially nice, with its melancholic synth leads. Dingsbums Homage delves deeper into long-form EM composition.

 


Ko Shin Moon (France)

Ko Shin Moon (2017)
78 Fragments (2020)
Leïla Nova (2020)
Miniature I & II (2022)

French duo that plays crazy oriental tunes on analog synths, drum machines and stuff.

 


Koan (France)

Frontiers (2000)

Transcendental Dark Ambient.

 


Koan (Russia)

Two Moon Butterflies (2006)

Koan is a Moscow-based psybient project. This particular album seems to have many Prog EM elements.

 


Koasasa (USA)

Occulist of Heka (2011) (S)
Fun / Wave (2012) (S)
Total Bummer 3D (2012)
Drawing Down the Moon (2012) (S)
Return To the Palm Oasis (2014)

Ambient soundscapes from former noise musician Keaton Orsborn.

 


Kobak, Pawel (Poland)

Marhia (2021) (with Henrik Meierkord)

Pawel Kobak is a Polish-born artist currently residing in Stockholm, Sweden. He is known as a flute player and deejay. On Marhia, made in collaboration with cellist Henrik Meierkord, he dispenses with beats to creat nice, flowing electronic compositions with acoustic elements.

 


Kobalt Project, The (UK)

Total Existence Failure (2004)

The Kobalt Project is Dave Massey. The music was released on AD label. Traditional EM with a modern edge.

See also: Callisto

 


Kobayashi, Sachi (Japan)

More Than Just A Dream (2020)
Imaginary Trip (2021)
Weathervane (2021)
Magic Spell (2022)
Damage (2023)
Melodies In the Garden (2023)

Japanese ambient artist who uses her voice and gentle electronics to craft her compositions that are mostly flowing and droney. However, she does not shun a sequence or two from time to time either. Weathervane is a nice work inspired by the weathervane that survived the Notre-Dame de Paris fire. Best track: "Fire".

 


Kobermann (Austria)

Katalysator (2018)
XVII (2019) (S)
Glasshouse Effects (2020)
Monochrome Vol. 1 (2021)
Ferro Island 34 (2023)

Rhythmic, repetitive, experimental tracks - a bit lo-fi and with a Moebius feel. A project of Johannes Piller.

 


Kobold (Italy??)

The Cave of the Lost Talisman (2017)
The Curse of the Ancient Abbey (2018)
The Valley of the Forgotten Secrets (2018)
The Village In the Frozen Mountains (2021)
The Legend of the Wicked Pirates (2021)

Like dungeon synth played on analog synths, with touches of chiptune and Prog EM.

 


Kobus, Krzysztof (Poland)

Art trouve (1994)
Pluperfect (2016)
Twenty Five (2019)
023 (2023)

Polish electronic and film music composer.

 


Kobyla i Trupoglazye Zhaby (Russia)

Великое князьство Литовское, Руское, Жомойтское (2015)

Diverse Moscow-based avant-garde / experimental band whose music ranges from noise to punky and jazz-influenced. The complete name of the project in Russian is "Кобыла и Трупоглазые Жабы Искали Цезию, Нашли Поздно Утром Свистящего Хна". The above album is a low-key dungeon synth effort with sparse vocalizations (mostly spoken), dedicated to and inspired by the history of the Duchy of Lithuania.

 


Kocab, Michael (Czech Republic)

Odysseus (1987)
Black Light (1989) (with Michal Pavlicek)

Michael Kocab is known as a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. He formed (and was member of) several groups (mostly in rock and jazz-rock fields) and collaborated with many musicians. He has also released some albums of instrumental EM. An interesting fact is that since 1990 Michael Kocab is mainly known as a politician rather than a musician. He even was a member of federal Parliament for two years. After that he organized several concerts (one of which saw guest performance of Michael's friend Frank Zappa) and released several works that are stylistically out of scope for EEM.

 


Koch, Karl (Germany)

Erinnerung eines Androiden (2013)
BBC Micro (2014)

 


Koch, Vivian (Germany)

The Owleon (2019)
Beyond Contact (2021)

Vivian Koch is a Berlin-based synthesist and electronic composer. On Beyond Contact, she layers multiple sequences, pads and melodies in a flowing, Teutonic manner. You can detect similarities to both 1970's and 2000's Klaus Schulze here, as well as other pioneers and more recent trends. Nice stuff from a talented artist.

 


Kock, Pieter (Germany)

Flocks & Murders of Entitled Spirits (2021)
Facial Recognition (2022)
Haunting And Gathering (2022) (S)
Who Told You You Were Naked (2022)
Planet of the Superapes (??)

Berlin-based Pieter Kock prefers using online synthesizers and Youtube video samples. The results are quirky, sometimes dubby EM, a bit in the style of My Life In the Bush of Ghosts as well as some American pioneers like Kerry Leimer.

 


Kodachrome (USA)

Journey Into Imagination (2016)

Melodic, rhythmic, flashy music with synth and flute solos and fat analog sounds. Includes elements as diverse as the Berlin School, Jarre style, jazz, downtempo, and more. A project of Jonathan Spruance who also makes Bo Hansson-styled instrumental progrock under the Taigá pseudonym.

 


Kodex (Italy)

Breakdown (2022)

A piano / synth duo of Donatello D'Attoma and Massimo Bonucelli. Mostly impressionistic, electroacoustic stuff, sometimes like "Memories of Green" (Vangelis), sometimes wackier and funkier (as on the closer). Some covers (including Kraftwerk's "The Model") and the rest is original material.

 


Kodiak Bachine (Brazil)

Maditation (1999) (recorded in 1988 - 1995)
Eletricidade (2018) (recorded in 1982) (S)

Solo Electronic Music from member of new wave band Agentss. In 1982, the guy had a minor hit with his very Kraftwerk-like "Electricidade". He then recorded a lot of music, the bulk of which remains unreleased to this date. Apart from that, he is known for some band projects in progressive rock (first performances as a keyboardist of progressive rock band Abaddon date back to 1975-1976), pop, new wave and electronic genres, as well as producing music for other artists.

See also: Mumia

 


Koens, J.G. (USA)

New Age Demo (1994) (S)

 


Koeper, Andreas (Germany)

The Advanced Cookbook Of Mr Selig And Kanzler Z – Niemand tanzt (1989)
Cookbook II - Die Reise (1992) (recorded in 1987)

Andreas Seemer-Koeper is a German avant-garde, improvising musician, composer and writer. The 1989 release is a varied effort, from mysterious ambient synth to rhythmic, even Kraftwerk-ian pieces ("Niemand tanzt"). Die Reise is basically a solo synth work recorded in 1987 for a theater production. Both of the above albums are interesting. After that, Koeper went on to release a few more albums focusing on acoustic improvisation with a small group of colleagues.

 


Koepper, Jeffrey (USA)

Etherea (2003)
Momentium (2006)
Sequentaria (2008)
Luminosity (2009)
Radiance (2009)
Quadranteon (2009)
Arctisonia (2011)
Konnektions (2015)
Terrelektra (2016)
MantraSequent (2017)
Transmitter (2017)

Etherea was produed by Steve Roach and the style represented here is based on analogue electronic pulsations and warm atmospheres. Koepper's  inspiration is classic Electronic Music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Jean-Michel Jarre. Jeffrey Koepper is active on the EM scene since 1985. He was also member of groups Pure Gamma and Immortal.

See also: Pure Gamma

 


Koetting, Nile (Germany)

Remain Calm (2022)

Installation music that alternates between narration and ambient electronics.

 


Kofler & Leitert (Germany)

Shapes And Spheres (1983)

See also: Circles

 


Kohier (Belgium)

I / "The Begotten" (2017)

Acoustic ruminations (on baritone guitar) and hyperactive synth-sequencer from Brecht Ameel and Jürgen De Blonde (see below).

See also: Köhn, Begotten, The.

 


Kohl, Lia (USA)

The Ceiling Reposes (2023)

Chicago-based cellist, multi-instrumentalist and experimental composer. The Ceiling Reposes is based on a fascination with the radio waves and is an electroacoustic work combining radio sounds, cello, synths and other small sounds and instruments. It is partly (or has some elements of) Progressive EM.

 


Köhn (Belgium)

We Need More Space In the Cosmos (2009)
Random Patterns (2011)
Stay Away From the Towers (2011) (S)
All I See Is Light (2011)
Soulastalgia (2012)
A Forest of Drones And Pulses (2013)
Moon Rabbit (2014)
The Long & Unwinding Road (2015)
Sönyata (2016)
Arbres (2016)
Kreis plön (2017)

Diverse IDM / Ambient artist Jürgen De Blonde. I will list only his EM-related works here. We Need More Space... features a mixture of spacey krautrock-like guitar explorations and floating, often melodic synthesizer soundscapes.

See also: Inwolves, Kohier, Begotten, The.

 


Koho, Jari (Finland)

Untitled (2011) (with Keijo)
Olkoot kaikki vapaita kärsimyskestä ja kärsimysken syistä (2012) (with Keijo)
Famous At Home (2013) (with Keijo)
Vuosi 2/12 (2014) (S)
Vuosi 6/12 (2015) (S)
Vuosi 10/12 (2015) (S)
Vuosi 100 (2016) (with Ilpo Numminen)
Summer Studies - Yamaha PS-6100 (2017)
Vuosi 106 (2018) (with Olli Aarni and Ilpo Numminen)
Vuosi 105 (2019)
Aurinkovuosi (2022)

Experimental musician and member of several bands / projects. On the surface, his own works seem to be removed from the EM aesthetics. On the other hand, sometimes he approaches EM style as close as any other typical EM artist, so there is a lot of controversy and he is perhaps one of the more ambiguous EEM inclusions. He started in 2008 with an album of field recordings (not included above). After that he drifted to more experimental realms, doing microsound and musique concrete works, often straying into synthesizer territory with material that ranges from random blip-blop to quite listenable and melodic, cosmic or repetitive compositions that will be enjoyed by fans of analog synthesis.

See also: Tulasi

 


Koike, Sakiko & Takeda, Kazuo (Japan)

サ ラ ー ト (1979)

 


Kojo, Hitoshi (Japan)

Agave (2016)
Eclosion (2016)
Quantum Lament (2016) (S)
Biomes (2023) (recorded in 2007 - 2017)

Although a folk-influenced electro-acoustic artist, Hitoshi Kojo started to demonstrate Ambient / EM influences of the above releases. These are nice works in a unique style. Further investigation is needed.

 


Kokeguchi, Seiji (Japan)

Drift (2023)

Japanese ambient artist residing in Helsinki. Relaxed, emotional, distant, drifting sounds.

 


Kokubo, Takashi (Japan)

Digital Bach (1980) (with Kazutaka Tazaki)
Electric Fantasy (1982)
Space Sheriff Sharivan (1983) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe and Michiaki Watanabe)
Urashiman (1983) (soundtrack) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Giant Gord (1984) (soundtrack) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Keniya (1984) (soundtrack) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Volk von Bauhaus (1985)
L-Gaim (1985) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Mechadoc (1985) (soundtrack) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Wingman (1985) (soundtrack) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Macross II Mingmay's Songs (1986) (with Nobuyoshi Koshibe)
Get At the Wave (1987)
Gaia (1990)
Yuragi (1991)
BMW Cyber-Tech Sound (1992) (S)
Oasis of the Wind - Forest of Ion (1992)
Tokyo (1992)
バルセロナ~ガウディの夢~ (1992)
Jamaica - Waves And Light And Earth (1993)
風のオアシスII~森と水の物語~ (1993)
京都〜満月の木陰〜 (1993)
Elegant Harp (1993)
Lakehill Story (1994)
Valis (1994)
Message From Oasis (1996)
South Of The Japan Alps ~立ちのぼる精霊~ (1996)
Bali : Ubud ~神々の休息~ (1996)
Jamaica: Montego Bay ~太古の幻想~ (1996)
Matamanoa Island: Fiji ~300の宝石~ (1998)
Borneo: Malaysia ~密林のソリスト~ (1998)
Great Barrier Reef: Australia ~深い碧、碧い海~ (1998)
鳥の詩・Forest (1999)
大地の詩 • Serenity (1999)
奇蹟の旅人 (2000)
Winds (2001)
Water 水の詩 (2006)
Eternity (2006)
Quiet Comfort (2007)
水 (2008)
小久保 隆の癒しの音楽 鳥 (2008)
小久保 隆の癒しの音楽 森 (2008)
Water Healing - Beauty Treatment Music (2013)
Forest Healing - Stress Reset (2014)
薬いらずの音楽~「不眠解消」(2014)
郷音 SATO OTO (2020) (S) (with Sakae Ozaki)
Music For A Cosmic Garden (2023) (with Andrea Esperti)
Thousand Bells (2023) (with Yui Onodera)

Experimental Ambient musician, computer programmer and synthesizer player. The concept of Volk von Bauhaus is similar to that of Computer Experiments by Synergy. Several electronic instruments are connected to a computer which sends them signals to generate different ambient tones. Takashi Kokubo also released several CD's with environmental sounds which he recorded in various parts of the world using cutting-edge digital technology.

See also: Phoenix Sound of the 21st Century, The

 


Kokus, Sebastian (Germany)

An Image of An Idea Someone Had Sometime Ago (2020) (with Dialog mit der Jugend)

Electronic Music (with occasional narration) from member of Love-Songs. This is deep, atmospheric stuff, towards early krautrock sounds or the more atmospheric moments of Klaus Schulze's X even.

See also: Love-Songs, Cloud Management.

 


Kolab (USA / Canada)

A Dark Hour For History (1990)

This name was used for a collaboration betwen Peter Gulch and Steve Brenner.

See also: Gulch, Peter, Brenner, Steve.

 


Kolar Goi (Norway)

Kolar Goi (2003)

Varied electronics from Gaute Barlindhaug - from jazzy / atmospheric to sequencer, technoid rhyths and loopy sampling.

See also: Aedena Cycle

 


Kolàr, Jason (Spain)

Modified Perspectives (2018)
A Time Between (2018)
Loops & Pieces (2017 - 2020) (2021)
Liquid Rhythm (2022)

Tranquil, melodic tracks, a bit jazzy and new-agey, with lots of chromatic percussion. This Barcelona-based artist is also known under various other pseudonyms.

See also: Milano, Vanessa, Quanta, Summer Recreation Camp.

 


Kolari, Henry (Finland)

Ambient Landscapes I (2014)

Melodic, hymnal, sometimes like Vangelis or Jarre / TD (circa Logos / White Eagle).

 


Kolb, Bernd (Germany)

Concert synthetique (1983) (S)

One-sided LP by member of NDW band Deutscher Kaiser. Produced by Conny Plank. Apparently it's ambient and electronic, but the exact style is unknown.

 


Koldvoid (Romania)

Ghost Staring At the World (2008) (S)
Touching the Void (2012) (S)
Roadside Ghosts (2012)
Cabin Fever (2018)
Wilderness Retreat (2023)

Cinematic Dark Ambient from Robert Sun.

 


Kolesnikov, Sergey (Russia)

Real Visibility (2005)
Diadema (2005)
Destination of Blackness (2006)
Cocoon (2007)
Vortex (2007)
Electronic Impressions (2009)
Beyond the Sky (2009)
The Wars of Gods (2009)
Imagination (2010)
Signature (2011)
Photo (2011)
Early Dreams (2012)
Time In Silence (2012)
Earthman (2013)
Acoustic Mirage (2014)
Pictures 2 (2016)
Synthetics (2016)

Saint-Petersburg-based musician with a sound supposedly influenced by the Berlin School.

 


Kolessa (USA)

Ash-Stained Cabinet (2020) (recorded in 2018)
The Astral Temple (2023) (recorded in 2022)

Interesting sound here - somewhat mystical and mythical, as well as medieval, but also complex and progressive, with piano and synths. Sometimes reminiscent of Popol Vuh.

See also: Erszébet, Mycologia, Mystal Tree, Nahadoth, Ghost of Forest, Gzara, Stroboseth.

 


Kolhoosi 13 (Finland)

Monuments of Power (2016)

Finnish Dark Ambient duo of Niko Salakka and Juho Lepistö. A classic sound.

 


Kollaps (UK)

Duprass (2017)
Growth (2022) (EP)

Spacey, rich, symphonic synth compositions.

 


Kollar, Paul M. (USA)

Subtle Matter (1999) (recorded in 1980)

Solo album of frippertronics-style music from this member of King Crimson-influenced progressive rock band St. Elmo's Fire. The music was recorded live in 1980 and used as background music during various St. Elmo's Fire performances. Stylistically, one can draw parallels between Paul Kollar, Fripp & Eno and Tangerine Dream.

 


Kolmiotaajuus (Finland)

Tyhjyyden maa (2017)

Finnish trio playing darkish improvised EM of ambient nature.

 


Kolora (Netherlands)

Out There (2023)

This duo of Koenraad Wiering and Liloe Barend creates relaxed, ambient kind of EM, with floating synths and sometimes liquid guitar licks.

 


Koltay (USA)

Gripper v. Grinder (2018)

Long tracks based on modular sound sculpting from this Detroit-based artist. Some darker and some genuinely ethereal moments here.

 


Kolvenbach, Floris (Netherlands)

Inspiration For Mas (1988)
Listen To the Future (1988)
Personal Music (1988)
Music For the Future (??)
A Journey From Europe To the Common World (??)

Not much is known about this electronic composer, but apparently he started experimenting with synthesizers in 1977 and gave his first solo synthesizer concerts in 1979 and worked with IBM back in the 1980's, releasing a sort of a promotional album for them (Personal Music) made with the help of IBM computers.

 


Kom Ombo (USA)

Civilization Here (2004)

Ambient music by one Brad Hall. Very atmospheric.

 


Komakino (Germany)

Ynos - Chill Out Sector (1995)

This atypical CD by well-known techno producers Ralph Fritsch and Detlef Hastik is a must for Bladerunner fans. Strong, atmospheric synth tracks with some sequences and textures reminiscent of the great Vangelis.

 


Kombi (Poland)

Instrumental Hits (1985) (recorded in 1979 - 1985)

Synth-pop band from Poland. The above cassette release gathers their instrumental pieces, which range from disco-influenced, with nice synth solos ("Wspomnienia z Pleneru") to instrumental progrock ("Smak Wina") to Kraftwerk-influenced ("Komputerowe Serce", "Casablanca - Ramadan") and something of a Tangerine Dream-like 1980's vibe ("Cyfrowa Gra", in particular, reminds on "Midnight In Tula"). Nothing very progressive here for the most part, but the synths are nice and fat and all. However, a let down for me is the rather ubiquitous 1980's slap bass sound which I hate.

See also: Losowski, Slawomir

 


Komendarek (Poland)

Wladyslaw Komendarek (1985)
Dotyk chmur (1985)
Antystres (1986)
Planeta smiechu (1989)
Promenada (1989)
Hibernacja Nr. 1 (1990)
Fruwajaca lalka (1991)
Tajemnice horyzontu (1991) (recorded in 1984 - 1989)
Powrot z materii miedzygwiazdowej (1992) (recorded in 1985 - 1986)
Polawiacze sumien (1993)
Parabola muz (1994)
Kupcy czasu (1995)
Infomania (1995) (with Tomasz Kubiak & Marek Manowski)
Szafirowa chimera (1996)
Poradnik dla twojej dziewczyny (1996) (S)
Klasykotronika (1998)
Zeta Reticuli IV (2000)
Manipulator (2001)
Syndrom cywilizacji (2002)
Rycerze ciemnosci (2007)
Poisoners of Consciousness (2009)
Unexplored Secrets of REM Sleep (2011) (with Przemyslaw Rudz)
Fryderyk Chopin (2011)
Chronovizor (2013)
Człowiek z wysokiego zamku (??) (with Józef Skrzek, Jaroslaw Pijarowski and Jorgos Skolias)
Deformator (2014)
I Am An Alien (2015)
Wolny sondy (2018)
Planetyzacja świadomości (2020)
Ars Electronica 89/90 (2020)
Życie robotów (2022) (recorded in 1990)
AtomoGenus (2023) (with Krzysztof Maria Komendarek-Tymendorf)

Wladyslaw Komendarek is a Polish synthesist. In the 70's he was a keyboardist of progrock band Exodus and around 1983 he started his solo career. He is very diverse stylistically, but generally quite original. Sometimes he makes some weird things like putting in samples of rap verses, some shouting voices or vocoded speech etc. Overall, a lively, energetic affair. Promenada  and Klasykotronika contain synth versions of classical compositions. Later stuff tends to incorporate lots of modern techno elements. 

 


Komodo Haunts (UK)

Dance On the Serpent's Neck (2012)
Low Winged, Silken Plumes (2012)
Ancient Sea (2014) (S)
Earth Dream (2014)
Sujin (2015)

Hazy, low-fi tropical drone.

See also: Mt. Tjhris, Sandpiper.

 


Komodo Kolektif (UK)

Sumantras (2017) (EP)
Sundada (2019)
The Encyclopedia of Civilizations Vol. 5: Babylon (2023) (with Driftmachine)

Glasgow-based World Music ensemble led by Jon Keliehor. They use gamelan instruments, lots of percussion and analog synths. Nice and hypnotic sound.

See also: Keliehor, Jon

 


Komora A (Poland)

Mercury Time (2013)
Crystal Dwarf (2016)

Mostly dark drones and experimental industrial sounds from this Polish trio. Some brighter moments, too.

 


Kompromission (France)

Oscillations urbaines (2021)

This project from the guy who also makes martial industrial music and who goes by the name Dullmist is informed by such styles as synthwave, electro, industrial, minimal synth and of course Kraftwerk. There is a nice, gloomy, moody feel to most of the tracks. The vocals are sparse and some of the tracks are instrumental. This is EM-related stuff, I would say.

 


Komputer (UK)

Market Led (1996)
The World of Tomorrow (1997)
Synthetik (2007)

This Kraftwerk "copy" was formed in 1995 in London by Simon Leonard, David Baker and Jane Brereton. During the 80's, both Leonard and Baker were founders of proto-techno groups I Start Counting and Fortran 5, both released by Mute Records.

See also: Came, John

 


Komuro, Tetsuya (Japan)

Psychic Entertainment Sound Mr.Maric (1990)

Diverse composer (soundtrack, j-pop, electro, new wave, classical and piano music). The above album combines piano and electronics for an airy, sometimes intense, melodic, classically-influenced sound.

 


Kon Tiki Gemini (Russia)

Deep Discovery (2010) (with Cavernes)
Night Nights (2011)
Azure Maze (2011)

Ambient soundscapes.

 


Konakon (Italy)

NUN (2020)

Experimental electronics / glitch artist related to the live coding Max/MSP techniques. On NUN, there is a drift towards ambient electronics with even some (vaguely) melodic content. Strangely cold and satisfying. Best track: "Sea Glass".

 


Konau (Italy)

Speech From the Shadows (2006)

A collaborative project between Andrea Freschi (Subinterior) and Gabriele Panci (New Risen Throne). Dark Ambient.

See also: Subinterior, New Risen Throne.

 


Konda Unstruct (Germany)

A Temporary Forever (2021)
Build And Unstruct (2022)

German hip-hop artist. A Temporary Forever is an instrumental release that tends towards ambient EM.

 


Köner, Thomas (Germany)

Nunatak Gongamur (1990)
Teimo (1992)
Permafrost (1993)
Nuuk (1994)
Aubrite (1995)
Kaamos (1998)
Unerforschtes Gebiet (2001)
Daikan (2002)
Zyklop (2003)
La Barca (2009)
Neues Land (2010)
Tiento de las Nieves (2014)
Tiento de la Luz (2016)
Cloître (2017) (recorded in 2014) (with Jana Winderen)
Motus (2020)

Dark Ambient master.

See also: Kontakt Der Junglinge

 


Konformer (Germany)

Konformer (2023)

German drums / bass / synth trio between krautrock and EM. A rather moody / doomy sound prevails here.

 


Konikiewicz, Wojciech (Poland)

Muzyka nowej przestrzeni 1 (1993)
Muzyka nowej przestrzeni 2 (1993)
Cyber Jazz (2000) (with Wojciech Lewandowski)

Diverse jazz / rock / electronic musician. Muzyka is ambient; Cyber Jazz mixes jazz with EM.

 


Konkrete Kantikle (USA)

Konkrete Kantikle (2001)

I suppose, it's top-notch Medieval Ambient, with lots of doomy church organ, various echoing sounds, choirs etc. Konkrete Kantikle is Kelly Thistle.

See also: Thistle, Dream Radiation.

 


Konrad, Mario (Germany)

Submerging (1992)
Spirit Cave (2007)

Mario Konrad was born in 1973 and began his first experiments with synthesizers in 1989. His first album appeared in 1992 on Musique Intemporelle. He then collaborated with several ambient artists, including Amir Baghiri, and released a new album in 2007, called Spirit Cave. Mario makes somewhat ambient EM with traces of Steve Roach's style and those of other ambient composers.

 


Konsørn (Faroe Islands)

1418 (2022)

Richly orchestrated EM from this duo of Mattias Kapnas and Jan Rúni Poulsen. They use piano, drums and synthesizers. Melodic, pastoral, symphonic, cosmic... Very nice stuff from talented musicians.

 


Konstruct (UK)

Three (squared) (2021)

Nice hypnotic Ambient from this trio of Andy Heath, Simon McCorry and Alexander Caminada.

See also: Heath, Andy, McCorry, Simon.

 


Konsulat (Iceland)

Kolaport (2018) (S)

Icelandic duo. Side B of the Kolaport single, titled Lífsblómið, is EM in a unique style, featuring nice sequencers, a relaxed rhythms, good solos and some strange voices. Side A is more wacky but somehow also sounds more mainstream.

 


Kont (Sweden)

Skinner's Daydream (2021)

Nice Electronic Music from Umeå. Mostly slow-paced and pulsing, slightly dubby perhaps, but also very cosmic and classic-sounding.

 


Kontakt Der Junglinge (Germany)

Kontakt der Junglinge 1 (1999)
Kontakt der Junglinge O (2001)
Kontakt der Junglinge - 1 (2002)
Kontakt der Junglinge n (2003)
Makrophonie 1 (2014)

Thomas Koner's project with Asmus Tietchens. Dark Ambient sounds.

See also: Koner, Thomas

 


Kontroll-Raum (Germany / Netherlands)

Check In (2020)
Gate (2023)

This name is used for the Schönwälder / Rothe / Broekhius collaboration. Expect Berlin School-influenced music here.

See also: Schönwälder, Mario, Broekhuis, Bas, Fringo Chills.

 


Konx (Switzerland)

Demos (1983)
It's A Gun (1985)

A project by Peter Felippi.

See also: Felippi, Peter

 


Konx-On-Pax (UK)

Optimo Tracks (2010) (EP)
Light In Extension (2011)
Regional Surrealism (2012)
Caramel (2016)
Ways of Seeing (2019)

Varied project from this Glasgow-based musician (Tom Scholefield). Ranges from darkish tracks and mellotron-laden numbers (on Regional Surrealism) to complex compositions with traces of 1990's dance music even (Caramel). Someone compared it to Boards of Canada, which I don't think is a fitting comparison.

 


KooKoon (Germany)

High Wire (1996)
Inner Earth (1999)
Magnetic Moon (2002)

KooKoon is an alias of German musician Wolfgang Loos. High Wire is rhythmic and melodic, relaxing music. Inner Earth is an electroacoustic project composed of processed seismological recordings and subtle electronics. Magnetic Moon is a return to keyboard-based rhythmic / melodic compositions.

 


Kool Music (UK)

Greenhouse, Fish Tanks, Poultry Center (2022) (recorded in 2012)

Varied project of Glasgow-based Jasper Baydala. Greenhouse, Fish Tanks, Poultry Center is an ambient electronic work, which is pretty minimal, but has some nice tension builds.

 


Kopējā Izteiksme (Latvia)

Putni maina virzienu (2000)

Interestingly enough, some of the music of this duo of Jānis Brūveris and Ainārs Paukšēns brings to mind some of the upbeat material on Artemiy Artemiev's debut The Warming from 1993. Other tracks are much more centered around acoustic / classical instrumentation and as such, are hardly related to EM.

 


Kopf Kurz (Germany)

Die verborgene Stadt (2018)

Cologne-based project that exists since the early 1980's. On Die Verborgene Stadt, you will hear dark, stark, industrial electronics, between Noise Ambient and maybe the pulsing Conrad Schnitzler sound. Not bad if you ask me.

 


Kopfschmerztablette (Germany)

Das Zeittor (??)

One of the projects (the other one being Deutsches Kulturgut) of experimental / industrial / noise musician Michael Wurzer, who is also known for his work in Doc Wör Mirran. His discography is extensive and most of it will be very harsh / industrial for an average EM fan. However, the material heard on Das Zeittor (released somewhere in the late 1980's or early 1990's I think) will find some sympathy among those into starker / more cerebral proponents of progressive electronics, such as Conrad Schnitzler, Moebius and / or Peter Frohmader.

See also: Nome de Voyage, Doc Wör Mirran.

 


Kopp, Jonas (Argentina)

Non Virtual Reality (2019)

Varied synth soundscapes. Mostly darkish and cerebral. The other albums of this artist are supposedly in techno vein.

 


Kopper, Till (Germany)

Till Kopper (1987)
Till Kopper '90 (1990)

Synthesist.

See also: EL-KA

 


Kora et le Mechanix (Czech Republic)

Excursin (2006)
Metropolis (2009)
300 měsíců (2012)
10 000 žávorek (2015)
Soundscapes Eternity, Landscape Anthropology And Everything Gods of Railroad Crossings (2018)
Pouť krkonošská (2019)
Le pôle nord (2022)

Experimental electronics from Filip Homola and Michal Kořán, mostly with an ambient sound. Sometimes in the vein of Dark Space / Deep Ambient (as on 300 Měsíců).

See also: Kořán, Michal

 


Koraal (Spain)

La Casa del Volcán (2020)

A project of Barcelona-born John Talabot. To me, the electronic compositions inspired by the nature of the island of Lanzarote remind somewhat on Steve Roach's Tribal Ambient works, with lots of percussive sounds and stuff. There is also a dub techno influence.

 


Korablove (Russia)

Singular Plankter (2016)

Although Moscow-based Roman Smirnov aka Korablove is mostly known for his deep house music, the above album will appeal to fans of ambient electronics for sure.

 


Koral, Rem (Russia)

Purity of Mind (2019)

Ambient musician and DIY synth maker.

 


Kořán, Michal (Czech Republic)

Lepši stránka dní (2001)
Čtyři barvy (2017)
Live At HIS Voice Office, February 8​.​, 2018 (2018) (with Pavel Richter)
Live At Klub Famu (2018)
První květy (2020) (with Ágnes Kutas and Josef Jindrák)
Music From Airports (Homage To Brian Eno) (2021)
Šeherez​á​da (For Milo​š​) (2022)
Šumavský jam (2023) (with Jaroslav Kořán)

Diverse musician from Prague. Čtyři barvy features unusual ambient tracks with sort of an emphasis on samples and voices.

See also: Kora et le Mechanix, Dia Archa.

 


Korb (UK)

Korb (2018)
II (2020)
Ultraterrestrial / The Softest Machine (2022) (S)
From the Mountains To the Oceans (2022) (with El Hombre al Agua)
III (2022)

Krautrock duo with motorik rhythms, guitars and analog synths. Some of the tracks lean towards EM (the Dusseldorf School). File under EM-related.

See also: Mutante, Arboria.

 


Kordas, Miltos (Greece)

The Stairs Are Still There (2021)
The Killing Sun (2022)

 


Kordik, Daniel (Slovakia)

Ocela (2022)
Medzičasy (2022)

Slovak artist based in London. Ocela features electronic compositions with something of a Cluster flair.

 


Korean Jade (USA)

Devotion (2013) (S)
Window (2014) (S)
Interiors (2014)
Exotics (2017)
Kiosk Lens (2018)
An Erotic Fascination With Illness (2019)
Dyed Washed Eye (2020)
Playboy Jock (2021)

Varied soudnscapes and compositions, sometimes noisy, but often playful and melodic.

 


Koreless (UK)

Black Rainbow / Moonlight (2021) (S)
Agor (2021)

Complex compositions between symphonic / cinematic EM and deconstructed club. Koreless is Welsh artist Lewis Roberts.

 


Koriand'r (USA??)

Koriand'r (2019)

Mostly melodic, relaxed ambient synth compositions.

 


Korinth (Slovakia)

Sign of Eternal Return (2006)
Mysteries of the Greylands (2010) (with Phragments)

Neo-Classical Ambient of a rather intense nature.

 


Korjenic, Admir (Norway)

Taiga (2017) (S)

Diverse artist mixing krautrock / Dusseldorf vibes, house / disco and Ambient.

 


Kormorg (France)

Dungeon Myths (2019)

Moody, darkish, ambient compositions with a horror / melancholic fantasy vibe.

See also: Wyrdlander

 


Kornberger, Martin (Germany)

King's Crime (1981)
Dinner (1982) (with Klaus Fischer)
Bal macabre (1984) (with Volker Kuhn)
Embrace (1986) (with Volker Kuhn)

Mixture of Electronic Music and progrock from member of Changing Images.

See also: Changing Images

 


Koroiev (Spain)

Valverde (2019)

A project of Galician musician Roberto Casteleiro. Folk melodies, analog synths... A unique style based on the tradition and the innovation. Nice stuff.

 


Korridor (Sweden)

Dyson Sector NGC 224 (2014) (EP)
Acronym w Korridor (2015) (S)
End of Cycle (2018)

Another techno producer (Fabian Kempe) goes EM on some of the above material. Listening to the track "Dyson Sphere" from the Dyson Sector EP, with its hyperactive sequencer runs that sound like Berlin School on steroids, really makes me wanna hear a full-length space-inspired EM release from this guy.

 


Korsmo, Gretchen (USA)

Field Patterns (2021) (with CC Sorensen)

Texan artist with a lovely ambient style on Field Patterns - minimal, melodic, with lots of field recordings / processed sounds and a nostalgic feel.

See also: Wind Tide

 


Kortan, Marta (Poland)

Blue Era (2022)

Polish Dark Ambient artist.

 


Koshibe, Nobuyoshi (Japan)

Space Pirate Captain Harlock - Synthesizer Fantasy (1983) (soundtrack)
Space Sheriff Sharivan (1983) (with Takashi Kokubo and Michiaki Watanabe)
Urashiman (1983) (soundtrack) (with Takashi Kokubo)
Giant Gord (1984) (soundtrack) (with Takashi Kokubo)
Keniya (1984) (soundtrack) (with Takashi Kokubo)
L-Gaim (1985) (with Takashi Kokubo)
Mechadoc (1985) (soundtrack) (with Takashi Kokubo)
Wingman (1985) (soundtrack) (with Takashi Kokubo)
Macross II Mingmay's Songs (1986) (with Takashi Kokubo)

 


Kosmische Keuterboeren (Belgium)

Kosmische Keuterboeren (2007) (S)
Difterie (2008) (S)
Harvest (2010)
The Waiting Grounds (2012)

Electronic duo.

 


Kosmischer Läufer (UK)

The Secret Cosmic Music of the East German Olympic Program 1972-83 - Volume 1 (2013)
The Secret Cosmic Music of the East German Olympic Program 1972-83 - Volume 2 (2014)
The Secret Cosmic Music of the East German Olympic Program 1972-83 - Volume 3 (2015)
Live In Graz (2017) (S)
The Secret Cosmic Music of the East German Olympic Program 1972-83 - Volume 4 (2018)
The Secret Cosmic Music of the East German Olympic Program 1972-83 - Volume 5 (2023)

Alleged music culled from the East German state archives created as a soundtrack for training of East German athletes in the 1970's by one Martin Zeichnete, this is most certainly (and quite regrettably) a hoax invented by UK-based Unknown Capability Records and realized by Drew McFadyen. The music is influenced by Neu!, Cluster and Kraftwerk, and has that hypnotic motorik beat throughout. Fans of the Dusseldorf School will enjoy this.

 


Kosmogon (Sweden)

Mässan (2021)

With a cover, whose palette reminds on the venerable Departure From the Northern Wasteland by Michael Hoenig, you expect something special and indeed it is. Kosmogon is an EM duo of classically trained pianist Sophie Linder and member of progressive rock band Anekdoten, Nicklas Barker. The two play mellotrons, Logan String Melody, Farfisa organ, Arp Odyssey and tape. So, yes, a strictly analog setup for a sound that reminds on the golden days of EM, from the already mentioned masterpiece by Hoenig, to Manuel Goettsching circa New Age of Earth and of course Edgar Froese's Epsilon / Macula Transfer era. There is, however, a genuinely Swedish pastoral feel, which is to be expected and highly welcomed. Excellent EM that sounds very promising.

See also: Barker, Nicklas

 


Kosmogonik (Germany)

Polyverse (2021)

Electro artist. The shorter tracks and interludes are ambient EM, though. File under EM-related.

 


Kosmokotze (Germany)

Kosmokotze (2015)

Minimal analog compositions. Sometimes a bit Kraftwerk-ish (like Computer World's most abstract moments).

See also: Raeithel, Felix

 


Kösmonaut (USA)

Emanations (2011)
Kösmonaut
I (2011)
The Dilation of Mother Cosmos (2011)
Voyage of Time (2011)
Geist (2012)
Green (2012)
Orange (2013)
Paragon (2013)
Future Machines (2013)
Eagle Nebula (2016)
Master Generator (2016)
Songs For Healing (2016) (S)
Cobra Force (2016)
Deutsch Machines (2016)
Magnificent Desolation (2017)
Transgressive Transmissions (2022)
Contagion Vapors (2022)
Demo Trance Discs (2023) (recorded in 2012 - 2022) (with RUFFINI)
Magnificent Desolation (2023)

Cosmic, rhythmic synth music inspired by 1970's classics by Patrick R. Pärk from San-Angelo, Texas.

See also: Pärk, Patrick R., Life Education, Teeth of Glass.

 


Kosmorik (Germany)

Voyage of Discovery (2019)

Spacey EM from the guy who also makes more dungeon synth-influenced music as Grimrik. Some nice sequencing on this one.

See also: Grimrik

 


Kosmos (Canada)

Kosmos (2007)

Kosmos is a "space rock" group formed by Michel Langevin - a drummer for the band Voivod. They cover a lot of ground here, including guitar / synthesizer jams heavily influenced by 1970's krautrock, motorik rhythms and a completely electronic track ("Septial").

 


Kosmos (Netherlands)

Orion (2016)
Omega (2017)

Ambient / Space Music. Three long tracks.

 


Kosmos, Patrick (Belgium)

The Soundtracks (1984)
Mindscapes (1987)
The Concert (1987)
Lophophora (1987)
Nachtschade (1987) (with Damien Troch)
Monument (1988)
The Laser Project (1988)
Morphic Resonance (1988)
The Visitor (1988)
Faith (1989)
The Return of the Stardancer (1989)
The Concert - Klemdag 89 (1989)
Planet News (1989)
Kingdom Come (1990)
Cosmic Resonance (1991)
A Comet's Tale (1991) (recorded in 1990)
Virtual Reality (1993)
Trance Neutral Zone (1999)
Lucid Dreams (2000)
The Concert 2000 (2000)
The Healing Breath (2001)
Spiritual Dream (2002)

Patrick Wille "Kosmos" started his career in the 1970's, when he began combining traditional Eastern music (mainly Indian / raga / sitar works) with the latest in synthesizer technnology. Since then, he's given many concerts in unusual (but fairly traditional for EM) places such as cathedrals, planetariums, castles etc and released some cassette / CD albums, many of which contained music recorded live during various performances. I haven't heard much yet but his early stuff from the Eighties is excellent and highly recommended. In the late 1980's / early 1990's, IC / Digit label re-released on a series of CD's some of his tracks that were previously only available on cassette (these three CDs were Planet News, Cosmic Resonance and Comet's Tale). In 2000 a compilation CD of Patrick's music from 1984 - 1990 was released, called Monuments Vol. 1. The Chronicles box set followed in 2002, presumably containing music from all of Patrick's cassettes. His music from the New Millennium is supposedly much more new age-like and is of no big interest. Sadly, Patrick Kosmos passed away in early 2015.

See also: Sherab

 


Koss (Japan)

Silence (2015)

Ambient with a huge piano presence. A bit in the style of Brian Eno. Earlier works are more in ambient techno vein. Koss is Kuniyuki Takahashi.

 


Kössler, Sven (Germany)

Amalgamation (2019) (with Autumn of Communion and Si Matthews)
A Constant State of Flow (2019) (with Si Matthews)
Bck T Lvng (2019)
Bridges To Sechura (2023) (with Si Matthews)

German synthesist. Bck T Lvng marries warm analog synths in Prog EM style with some acid and techno influences. The second CD of the double CD set is dedicated to remixes by other artists.

 


Kostadis (Greece)

Unleash (2016)
Slumber (2017) (S)
Emerald (2022)

Kostadis Michael is an experimental electronic artist from Athens, Greece, and it is nice to see that this country continues its fine tradition of EM. The music on Emerald is pretty inventive, mixing analog synthesizers, effects, sampling, granular modules and processed / pitched voices. Very enjoyable EM indeed, mixing the old (or rather, the classic) with the new in a truly progressive fashion.

 


Kostoglotov (UK)

The Worst Love Songs Ever Written (2012) (S)
Louis Althusser Knows Why My Heart Is Asunder (2013) (S)
Broken Eyes (2013) (S)
Love Song For Broken Buildings (2013)

Kostoglotov is Daryl Worthington. On Louis Althusser... he uses repetitive organ arpeggios and analog synths, like Terry Riley meets Klaus Schulze in a futuristic glass dome. His other music is similar in style, mixing classic analog sounds, sequences and pads in various proportions.

See also: Beachers

 


Kosugi, Takehisa (Japan)

Catch Wave (1975)

Member of Taj Mahal Travellers who's been experimenting with electronic and concrete textures since the early 1960's. Catch Wave will be interesting to fans of both hard-core academic EM and the early experiments of German electronic / kraut musicians. He has some other albums that range from jazz improvisations to processed violin sounds.

 


Kotanna (Mexico)

Kotanna (2020) (S)
Imágenes Plásticas (2021) (S)

Nice and varied EM from this artist. Flashy, hypnotic, arpeggio-laden...

 


Kotev, Angel (Bulgaria)

Midnight Mood 1 (1982)
Midnight Mood 2 (1983)
Midnight Mood 3 (1990)

Bulgarian musician. Angel Kotev graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1977. He composed a lot of works in various genres, including some interesting electronic works during the 1980's.

 


Kotilainen, Esa (Finland)

Ajatuslapsi (1976)
Eanan, eallima eadni (1989) (with Nils-Aslak Valkeapää)
Valintoja yhdistämällä syntyy elämys (1989) (with Ilkka Niemeläinen and Juhani Aaltonen)
Turquoise Planet (2009)
-51°C (2010)
Soiva tehdas (2011)
Ulappa (2015)
Jäänalainen II (2018)
Tellus (2019)
Unisali (2021)

Wigwam keyboardist who released a solo electronic LP in 1977, the legendary but somewhat underrated Ajatuslapsi. He uses synths and organs and plays a floating type of music that could be vaguely compared to Klaus Schulze and his ilk. He then released a couple of CD's in a folk style before returning to ambient / electronic structures for his 2009 opus, Turquoise Planet..

 


Kotlinski, Krzysztof (Poland)

Black Rain (2019)

Moody and melancholic Ambient with piano, field recordings, loops, drones and some glitches. Just a touch of darkness.

 


Koto (Italy / Netherlands)

Masterpieces (1990)
Plays Synthesizer Hits (1991)
Plays Science-Fiction Movie Themes (1992)
From the Dawn of Time (1993)
Return of the Dragon (2021)

Space disco music. It was an Italian project from the early Eighties, but later Michel van der Kuy from Laserdance wrote music for Koto. It is also similar in style, albeit Koto is often a tad more laid-back and not as driving as Laserdance. But, generally, if you like Laserdance, you will also like this.

 


Kougaï, Syl (France)

Metaswing (2010)
ΙΧΘΥΣ (2015)
ΙΧΘΥΣ Extended (2016)
Modular Series • Season​-​01 (2021)

Experimental electronics with lots of unusual sounds and an explorative nature from this artist who likes to focus on modular synthesis.

 


Koutalieris, George (Greece)

La nuit blanche (2022) (S)

Multi-instrumentalist with a relaxed, melodic sound, mixing guitar and synths in a vaguely "balearic" setting.

 


Kovac, Kornelije (Serbia)

Izmedju svetlosti i tame (1977)
Iz drugog filma (1982)
Sampled Moon (1986)

Kornelije Kovac is one of the pioneers of Yugoslavian Electronic Music. He made mysterious synth compositions with a dash of guitar, perhaps a bit similar to Edgar Froese. Kovac is pretty well-known in former Yugoslavia as a composer for TV / movies and member of several groups (including Korni - a prog rock band).

 


Kovac, Roland (Austria)

Computer (1980)
Matrix (1989)

Austrian jazz pianist who has gone electronic for these library albums on Selected Sound.

 


Koval, Sergio (Argentina)

Clon (1995)
Works '95 - '98 (1999)
Leonard (2005) (with Sam Vitoulis)

Synthesist from Argentina living and working in Barcelona, Spain. Electronics in symphonic Vangelis and more rhythmic styles with sequencing.

 


Kowal, Sebby (Canada)

Bright Spaces (2021)
Dissolve (2022)
Blue Flowers In the Machine (2022)
Take This Moment (2022)
Formations (2023)
There Is Light (2023)

Ambient artist. Real name - Sebastian Paul.

See also: Paul, Sebastian

 


Kowalczyk, Kamil (Poland)

Aurora (2011)
Nova (2013)
Andromeda (2016)
Tranmisja (2017)

Darker Space Music (aka Dark Space) from this Polish-born musician who currently resides in Scotland.

 


Kowalski Room (UK)

I Can See Colours (2017)
A Walk In the Park (2018)
Temple of Light (2018)
City In the Sky (2018)
Postcards From the Future (2018)
Lost In Time (2020)
Organic Matter (2020)

Calm, minimal, often droning Ambient from Brin Coleman out of Manchester.

 


Kowalsky, Gregg (USA)

L'orange, l'orange (2017)
Eso est (2023)

Solo music from member of Date Palms. Similar in style, this is warm, analog droning EM. There were some earlier albums that I know nothing about at the moment.

See also: Date Palms

 


Kozlov, Alexey (Russia)

Mountains of Cimmeria (1996)

Solo album by leader and saxophone player of jazz fusion band Arsenal. This one is completely electronic and is based on general MIDI sounds. Not something for hardcore EM fans, but very typical of a lot of melodic synth artists of the late 1980's and early 1990's.

See also: Arsenal

 


Kozłowski, Piotr (Poland)

Nemo (2015)
Pandemia (2020)
Medea (2020) (with Michał Baran)
Na krańcach wszechświata (2021)

Flashy, melodic music from this synthesist.

 


Kozmonaut (Canada)

Flieg (1986)

Kozmonaut was a project of Michael Gutierrez who used a pseudonym Hans Schiller. Fascinated by Germany and Electronic Music, he released the above LP privately (there was a re-release in 2017). The music is a mixture of new wave songs / EBM, ambient electronics and wacky stuff seemingly influenced by Kraftwerk circa Radio-Activity (lots of noises, vocoded speech, etc.). Originally from Canada, he moved to San Francisco where his LP was released. Michael Gutierrez died of AIDS in 1994.

 


KP Transmission (Russia)

Sekretnaya proba (2014)
Temnoe poznaetsya chernim (2016) (S)
Sand (2017)
Apnoe (20180
Nereids (2019)
Beatrice (2020)
Inferno di Dante (2021) (S)
Transpointable Migrations (2023) (with Horses Waves)

Eerie soundscapes from Karina Kazaryan.

 


Krach der Roboter (Germany)

Hello World! (2009)
Anderswo (2010) (S)
Roboterland (2016)
Krach der Roboter (??)

Mechanical electronics from Berlin-based Andreas Stoiber. Long, repetitive tracks with Kraftwerk aesthetics taken to an extreme.

 


Kraemer, William (France??)

Teufelsberg (2019)

Steady rhythms and fat analog synths. Sort of a hybrid mininal synth / Prog EM feel here. Some tracks remind on early Mark Shreeve (circa Embryo / Thoughts of War). Some weird atmospheric / experimental pieces as well. Overall a mash-up of styles.

 


Kraft & Alexander (USA)

1812 - Nutcracker Suite (1977)

Not wanting to rest of Wendy Carlos' laurels, two sound engineers Jack Kraft and Larry Alexander got together in a studio to record an album of classical tunes performed on synthesizers. And who cares if they were 10 years late with that? Their composer of choice was Tchaikovsky and for this realization they used an ARP 2600, an ARP Odyssey and and ARP Pro-Soloist. So, strictly an ARP affair (apparently, they had friends at ARP who provided them with these tools), which set them apart from most "classical electronic" LP's of the time that were moog-dominated. As for the sound, I would say that they went the Tomita way, using lots of funny noises and strictly synthetic textures, some of which give the thing a cheesy flavour but on the other hand I find this approach more interesting and creative than Carlos' note-by-note renditions with imitations of classical instrumentation. There is a nice essay on the history of electronic music on the back cover and overall it's a good find for fans of warm, analogue synthesis.

 


Kraft, Konrad (Germany)

Arctica (1986)
Accident In Heaven (1987)
Acidshock (1988) (with Phase Pervers)
Sieben Tage und Nächte (1990) (with Dino Oon)
Environmental Studies (1992) (with Dino Oon)
Alien Atmospheres (1996)
Temporary Audiosculptures And Artefacts (2011)
Quadrat (2016)
Oval (2019)
Obtaal (2021)
Nifbin Circle (2023)

German electronic musician (real name - Detlef Funder) who has been dabbling with electronics since the early 1980's. He is difficult to pin down and sits somewhere between industrial, electro-acoustic music, ambient soundscapes and Prog EM of the Cluster school of thought.

 


Kraft, Suzanne (USA)

Missum (2010)
Talk From Home (2015)
What You Get For Being Young (2016)
Passive Aggressive (2017) (with Jonny Nash)
D.K./S.K. (2017) (with D.K.)
A Heart So White (2020) (with Jonny Nash)
Between No Things (2020) (with Suso Saiz)

Actually a pseudonym of one Diego Herrera. A mixture of ambient / EM and balearic-influenced tracks.

See also: MATstudio

 


KRAFTman (UK)

Electrique fabrique (2021)
Giro d'Italia (2023)

From the name of this Manchester-based artist you can guess he is influenced by Kraftwerk and indeed, you will find lots of crisp synths, stiff rhythms and catchy, repetitive melodies in his work. There is also some singing and a nice Kraftwerk cover ("Electric Cafe").

 


Kraftwelt (Denmark)

Deranged In Space (1996)
Electric Dimension (1996)
Retroish (1998)

I think the name pretty much says it all and you are already guessing that it's a 'tribute' band. However, as some people have pointed out, in trying to recreate the Kraftwerk sound, they at times end up sounding more like Tangerine Dream instead, which means long, sequencer-based pieces.

 


Kraftwerk (Germany)

Kraftwerk (1970)
Kraftwerk 2 (1971)
Ralf And Florian (1973)
Autobahn (1974)
Radio-Activity (1975)
Trans-Europe Express (1977)
The Man-Machine (1978)
Computer World (1981)
Tour de France (1983) (S)
Electric Cafe (1986)
The Mix (1991)
Concert Classics (1998) (recorded in 1975)
Expo 2000 (1999) (S)
Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)
Minimum-Maximum (2005)
Live 1971 (2013)
Soest Live (2020) (recorded in 1970)
Transmission Impossible (2022) (recorded in 1971 - 1981)
Live In Utrecht 1981 (2022)

Famous German band that is considered internationally to be the pioneers of techno music. Kraftwerk started as a duo of Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider. Before releasing their first Kraftwerk album they released a work of experimental music under "Organisation" name. The album was called Tone Float and is now very difficult to find. Musically it was a mixture of weird flute playing, guitar and electronic effects. Some have compared it to early Pink Floyd. The first two Kraftwerk albums continue in this direction, featuring (at times really weird) electronic excursions with some flute playing and cool motorik rhythms. The motorik aesthetics of these early albums were shared at that time and also later by some other German experimental bands, like Neu! and Cluster, for instance. After several personnel changes (Michael Rother of Neu! was briefly with Kraftwerk), the duo rejoined and recorded Ralf And Florian, which was a substantial leap forward towards their more recognizable style, featuring a nice mix of electronics and some acoustic touches. The same applies to Autobahn which was a big hit in Europe. (of course they had to cut the title track down to 3 or 4 minutes to be able to play that on radio) the last track on that album sounds as if it was created with acoustic instruments, nevertheless even these acoustic elements sound very unusual, as if they were processed in a way. The rest of the album is completely electronic. I have never actually heard something like this from other musicians. It is quite unique and, overall, the album is pretty good, in spite of its outright poppish nature in places. the next was Radio-Activity, which is probably my favourite Kraftwerk album of them all, although for an inexperienced listener it can be a bit of a pain to get into. By that time the classic Kraftwerk lineup of Hutter, Schneider, Bartos and Flür already took shape. Ok, to make the long story short: what I like about Kraftwerk is their ability to describe and transmit certain atmosphere, like, for instance, in Trans-Europe Express where they managed to capture the atmosphere of the night train ride perfectly and this work is pure genius with its simple and basic, but still strong and profound theme. In conclusion I'd like to mention that Kraftwerk are probably the most extravagant electronic band in history, with their robotic image, their famous "pseudo-concerts" and totally industrial and technological concept. There are many Kraftwerk clones out there, but none of them sound exactly like Kraftwerk.

See also: Electric Music, Bartos, Carl, Yamo, Flür, Wolfgang, Kranemann, Eberhard.

 


Krakatau (Australia)

Water Near A Bridge (2014)
Tharsis Montes / Apogean Tide (2016) (S)

Hybrid psychedelic / EM band consisting of Charlie Sexton (bass), Dylan Lieberman (drums) and James Tom (organ, keyboards). As you can see, no guitar here. The sound is a nice mix of floating analog keyboards and some krautrock-inspired moments.

See also: Hyperborea

 


Krakatau (Switzerland)

As... (2006)

Melodic, symphonic music with slight Vangelis & ethnic edges from Alexandre Borcic.

 


Kraken (Belgium)

Aquanaut (1999)
For Lisa (2003)
Amore (2005)
Chagrin (2006)
Drift (2007)
Nachtschade (2008)
Strop (2010)
Kraken (2014)
Todo lo que Muere (2016) (S)

Beautiful and mysterious, aquatic ambient sounds from Ricardo Gomez and Joris Vermost.

 


Krakenkraft (Germany)

Sonic Hymnary (2023)
Sononymic (2024)

Electronic soundscapes made with modular systems etc., mixed with a bit of Berlin School sequencing. Krakenkraft is Andreas Winterer.

 


Krakowitz (Poland)

Krakowitz (2018)

Polish duo between IDM, deep house and melodic EM. Nice and different.

 


Kralj, Miha (Slovenia)

Andromeda (1980)
Odyssey (1982)
Electric Dreams (1985)
Parallel Mirror (2022)

The first album is in Space style, the second more complex but less melodic. Electric Dreams is an attempt to combine the styles of the first two.

 


Kramer (USA)

Music For Films Edited By Moths (2022)
Baptismal - Ambient Symphony #1 (2023) (with Laraaji)

Mark Kramer is a varied jazz / rock musician. On Music For Films Edited By Moths, he presents cinematic, classically-inspired compositions, culminating with a gentle sequencer chugger "Or Perhaps You Imagined It All".

 


Kramer, Gregory (USA)

Phantom Patterns (2016) (with Gabe Raines)
Silent City Blizzard (2020) (S)
Veils of Transformation (2023) (recorded in 1972 - 1980)

This musician got some fame in the mid 1970's for his spontaneous live performances in New York's Central Park. These featured a set of modular synthesizers running from a generator and were called "the Electronic Music Mobile". Gregory Kramer studied at the California Institute of the Arts and briefly worked for a company that was selling Buchla synthesizers.

See also: Electronic Art Ensemble

 


Kramer, JJ (Germany)

Unknown Spheres (2020)

Relaxing Ambient with sounds of nature from Leipzig-based Julian Kramer.

 


Kramer, Niklas (Germany)

Habitat (2021) (with Joda Foerster)
Tactile Interactions (2022) (with Joda Foerster)
Altered Scenes And Slight Variations (2022)
Habitat II (2023) (with Joda Foerster)

Ambient "furniture music" - compositions for room design and buildings. A mixture of acoustic instruments and multiple synths.

 


Kranemann, Eberhard (Germany)

Klangfarben (2003)
One World - One Sound (2005) (with Yoichiro Kita)
KKK (2010)
Intuition (2011) (with Roland Graeter, Marei Seuthe and Klaus Dapper)
Four Electronic Pieces (2011)
Electronic Nature Drone (2011)
Onomato Sound Art (2011)
Songs, Rhythms And Sounds (2011) (with Oliver Blum)
Landscape Elements (2011)
Free Jazz (2011) (with Oliver Blum)
Spontaneous Composition (2015) (with Yoichiro Kita)
Luxatio (2015) (with VocColours)
Krautwerk (2017) (with Harald Grosskopf)
Electric Fluxus (2022) (with Pharmakustik)
Freedom of Sound (2023) (with Jochen Oberlack)

Eberhard Kranemann is an underground legend, early member of Kraftwerk and Neu! (circa 1971), as well as improvisor. His album Klangfarben is a long, sonic exploration-type work that will be enjoyed by fans of early krautrock / EM, as well as lovers of Experimental EM in general. Some of his other works may be based more on electro-acoustics and jazz improvisation, so tread with caution.

See also: Müller, Fritz, Kraftwerk.

 


Kranig, Christoph (Germany)

Places of Peace And Freedom (1994)
On the Wings of the Cranes (1996)
Emotions (2010)
Symphony of Lasting Memories (2020)

Melodic music, I think.

 


Kranivm (Italy)

Insanatorivm (1993)
The Brighter Edge of Death (1994)
I - The Blood (1995)

Kranivm was an ambient-oriented project of Marco Corbelli (Atrax Morgue). It explores a lot of moods and styles, from Death Ambient to Clinical and general horror ambience. Pretty good stuff.

 


Krantz, Elias (Sweden)

Island Rock (2006)
Night Ice (2011)
Lifelines (2016)

Swedish multi-instrumentalist. I don't know how Island Rock and Night Ice sound but Lifelines is a nice krautrock / prog / EM pastiche, a bit similar to Bo Hansson, but with a spacier feel and new elements.

 


Krantz, Theo (USA)

Wednesday 2 (2018)
Winamp Selections (2023) (S)

Moody ambient synth compositions.

 


Krapp's Last Tapes (Brazil)

Incidental Sci-Fi (2019) (S)

São Paulo-based artist who composes shorter tracks inspired by vintage (1950's, 1960's, 1970's) sci-fi movies. Melodic, sometimes abstract and noisy, with lots of movie samples.

 


Kratochvil, Martin (Czech Republic)

Elegie (1976)
Hodokvas (1979)
Asteroid (1981)
Hvezdon (1984)
Old Acquaintance (1986)
Ornament (1988)
Together (1990)
Moravian Concerts (1990)
Chiaroscuro (1993)
Temné slunce (2014) (recorded in 1979 - 1980)
Himalayan Echoes II (2015) (soundtrack)
Happiness (2017)

Czech musician and founder of the band "Jazz Q" that pioneered some sort of electronic jazz.

 


Kraus (Denmark)

Kraus (2015)

Kraus is a studio project of ambient musician Asger Kudahl with his brother William. Dramatic drones and field recordings on debut.

See also: Kudahl, Asger

 


Kraus (New Zealand)

The Facts (2007) (S)
Faster Than the Speed of Time (2010)
Supreme Commander (2011)
Here Come the Recorders (2015) (S)
Mountain of the Moon (2016) (S)
Red, Green & Blue (2016) (S)
Mahoney & Kraus (2016) (with Claire Mahoney)
Grip the Moon (2017)
A Golden Brain (2020)
Chronic Illness (2022)
Fire! Water! Air! Kraus! (2022)
Chronic Illness (2023)

Anarchic experimental project of Pat Kraus. He uses guitars, tapes, flutes and homemade synth. I will only list those releases, which I know for sure contain EM material. When he is in the synth mode, he is rough and unpolished, but sometimes melodic and quite accessible.

 


Krause, Bernie (USA)

Citadels of Mystery (1979)
The New Nonesuch Guide To Electronic Music (1981)
Equator (1986)
Nature (1987)

One half of the renowned duo Beaver & Krause, in 1979 he released an album of quiet, jazzy and a bit symphonic music (Citadels...). After that he had many other (supposedly, very good) albums released that dealt with his wildlife experiences and can be roughly labeled as "musique concrete", bar one LP - a sequel to Beaver & Krause's The Nonesuch Guide To Electronic Music in 1981. Equator is a combination of field recordings and synthesized compositions.

See also: Beaver & Krause

 


Kraus-Hübner, Hans (Germany)

Stations (1989)
Wege (1996) (with Fritz Schumacher)

Electronic Music by a synthesist who would become known as Art Forland.

See also: Art Forland

 


Kraut Sounds (Germany)

Nature (2014)
3 In 1 (2016)
Echoes (2017)
Drone Scapes (2018)
Live Drones (2018) (with Velo di Nebbia)
Spaces (2019)
Monuments (2020)
Seaside Stories (2020) (with Deep Tremolo Sustain)
Fjorden (2021)
Quando arriva la nebbia (2022) (with Velo di Nebbia)
Spheres (2022)

Electronic project from Munich influenced by both early 1970's German EM and dub techno.

 


Krawczuk, Michał (Poland)

Giants (2023)

Ambient artist. A mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds.

 


Krawedz Swiatow (Poland)

Live (2001)

A supergroup featuring Daniel Bloom, Dariusz Stawicki, Michal Dudek, Marek Szulen and Robert Blaszczyk (all on synthesizers). Mateusz Ozyra helps on bass, while Tomasz Bernarz and Tomasz Zur play guitars.

See also: Bloom, Daniel, Szulen, Marek.

 


Krebber, Steffen (Germany)

Amphiference (2022) (recorded in 2019) (S)

One of the rare artists that work on the intersection between academic / contemporary electronic and kraut / Prog EM.

 


Krebs, Julius (Germany)

East German synthesist.

 


Krebs, K.M. (USA)

The Seed Project (2001) (with Heath Yonaites)
Oneiromancy (2001)
The Light Will Fill the Darkness And Obliterate It (2003)
Alchymy (2007)

Kevin Krebs is an ambient soundscape artist.

 


Kredi Dubi (Norway)

Religion Is War (2003)

Vast sonicscape from noise artist who is also known as Iversen.

See also: Iversen

 


Kreidler (Germany)

Riva (1994)
Weekend (1996)
Fechterin (1997) (EP)
Mort aux vaches (1997) (EP)
Appearance And the Park (1998)
Kreidler (2000)
Circles (2000) (EP)
Eve Future (2002)
Eve Future Recall (2004)
Mosaik 2014 (2009)
Kreidler@NRW-Forum Das iPhone Konzert (2010) (S)
Tank (2010)
Mars Chronicles I-IV (2011)
Den (2012)
ABC (2014)
European Song (2017)
Flood (2019)
Spells And Daubs (2022)
Twists (A Visitor Arrives) (2024)

Recommended for fans of Cluster, Neu! and Harmonia. Hypnotic motorik rhythms with mucho experimental beeps and bleeps. Kreidler are Thomas Klein, Ansreas Reihse and Detlef Weinrich.

See also: Schneider, Stefan, Sølyst, Tolouse Low Trax.

 


Kreitchi, Stanislav (Russia)

Ansiana (2000)
Voices And Movement (2002)

Stanislav Kreitchi (1936 - 2021) was one of the pioneers of Russian Electronic Music. He was experimenting with ANS already in the 60's, together with Edward Artemiev. The two recorded the soundtrack to the movie "Cosmos" which was a very unusual electronic work, melodic and abstract at the same time. Kreitchi's 2000 album Ansiana, released on Electroshock Records, was created on the ANS and ovaloid, an acoustic instrument, and this is one of the strangest albums I have heard in the last several years. Parts of it are just abstract noises mixed with found sounds ("Tryptich Ocean"), parts are crazy vocal transformation experiments ("Six Days of Creation"), that sound extremely hypnotic, parts are almost exclusively ovaloid playing, which can get pretty dull at places. This album is very difficult to classify, but I would certainly recommend it for an adventurous listener. It's a great album simply because it's very daring and experimental, and in a world full of clones and stagnation of ideas, this certainly brings some fresh air.

 


Krell, Lothar (Germany)

Sinnfonie für Amphitrite (1991)
Echnaton's Return (1993) (with Lenny Mac Dowell)

Keyboardist who, starting from the 1970's, worked with several groups and projects in pop and rock fields, most notably with disco legend Supermax and The Lenny Mac Dowell Project. His own album from 1991 is all over the place stylistically. Pronouncedly new-agey, it has its atmospheric moments, but also has its cringeworthy moments (the overtly sweet stuff, the sax stuff or the cheesy, rhythmic pop stuff). It has its pretensions, mostly in its bombastic / symphonic aspirations that sound embarrassingly over-the-top. It is its diversity, though, that might justify its inclusion in the encylopedia of progressive electronics. I mean, an orthodox EM record it certainly ain't. But then again, neither it is a typical new age record or new instrumental record. A little bit on this, a little bit of that would be a better description. Speaking of EM, the criminally short "Between Worlds" is very relevant and very good (also, it sounds as if it was recorded way earlier than 1991). In the mid 1990's, Lothar Krell got involved in the techno / trance scene.

 


Kretek (Argentina)

Vol. 1 (2018) (S)

A duo from Mar del Plata doing tasty analog synthiness with all the right moves and influences of all the 1970's EM greats.

 


Kretzer, Harnes (Germany)

Refugium (2013)
Petrichor (2014)

Ambient with a large piano presence.

See also: Ohrebetäubende Stille

 


Kreutler (Belgium)

Visions One - Art & Technology (1992)
Visions Two - Art & Technology (1993)

Another name for the Lemaire / Vanderschaeve collaboration. Melodic / rhythmic EM.

See also: Micado

 


Kreuzberg (Germany)

Kreuzberg (2011)

Krautrock-influenced collective based on drums and percussion sounds. They use electronics on the long closer "Grille", although its pulsing, repetitive structure is somewhat lacking in variation. File under EM-related.

 


Kriesel, Kristian (Australia)

North Head (2010)
The Witchmaker (2012)
Chinese Lantern (2013)
The Healing Practice (2016)
The Ambient Ashes (2020)
The Leaves, Hope Filled Universe (2022)

North Head is an ambient electronic soundtrack to an UFO documentary that never saw the light of day. Echoes of Vangelis, "Close Encounters...." and more.

See also: Bizarre Dwarfs, The

 


Krigsgravene (Germany)

Kriegsweihnacht (2016)
Niemandsland (2016) (EP)

Martial Ambient.

See also: Primitive Outtakes

 


Krikl, Adrianna (USA)

Fragments (2020)

Varied ambient compositions from this Los Angeles-based musician.

 


Krikor (France)

Building Arnold Schwarzenegger (2019) (soundtrack)
Seven Hertz (2020) (recorded in 2018 - 2019)
Fallen Man (2021) (with Ron Morelli)
蝉が死んでいくのを聞きながら (2021)
Dear Jodie (2021) (soundtrack)
Equality (2022)

Krikor Kouchian is a French artist of Armenian descent. He is pretty varied musically and has made a few soundtracks. Building Arnold Schwarzenegger is very synthy, featuring both sequency and floating tracks. Seven Hertz also features EM / ambient material.

 


Kriller (Denmark)

I'm On the Phone (2020) (S)
I'm On the Metro (2020) (S)
Black Sunlight (2021)

Sort of droning, experimental electronics with some drum machine rhythms, samples and a sort of a kraut (Dusseldorf) vibe.

See also: Naturale

 


Krios (Italy)

Schwerindustrie (2007)
Kinetic Regression In Outer Space (2008)
La conquista dello spazio (2008) (EP)

See also: La Tredicesima Luna, Medhelan.

 


Kristallisauna (Sweden)

Baltoscandic Lust (2020)

EM that is copiously loaded with sequencer pulsations. Nice stuff.

 


Kristensen, Kim (Faroe Islands)

Aner (1990)
Nomads of Tomorrow (1993) (with Jens Winther)

Faroese jazz keyboardist who uses both piano and synthesizers, as well as flutes and guest musicians on varied instruments, mostly brass. Parts of Aner are actually electronic and quite pleasant - the first half of the long "Musik Fra En Brønd" and the (sadly) short closer "Vox Futura", along with a few other bits & pieces throughout the album. The rest is instrumental jazz, so the record is EM-related at best. Nomads of Tomorrow is even closer to pure jazz with trumpet and keyboards, drifting totally out of the EEM's stylistic frames. He had a few more releases, both on CD and digital, so check these out if you like his style, just don't expect any EM.

 


Kristian, David (Canada)

Synaesthesia (1994)
Cricklewood (1997)
Beneath the Valley of the Modulars (1998)
Sawdust, Sinedust, Squaredust (1999)
Room Tone (2000)
Kristian, Shalabi, St-Onge (2001) (with Sam Shalabi and Alexandre St-Onge)
My Three Suns (2002)
Music From the Mermaid Room (2003)
Music From the Mermaid Room Vol. 2 (2004)
Music From the Mermaid Room Vol. 3 (2004)
The City Without Windows / La Derniere Voix OST (2004)
Rhythms For A Rainy Season (2005)
The Mariana Trench (2005)
Sweet Bits (2005)
Ghost Storeys (2006) (with Ryosuke Aoike)
Black Beach (2011)
Be In Sync (2015) (S) (with Andrea Noce)
Aurora Polaris (2017)

Canadian musician who initially worked within IDM and related genres of music. The first album had some prog EM elements, though. Later he drifted towards drone and experimental Ambient. The Mariana Trench was recorded with just a Casio VL-Tone and processing.

 


Kristinsson, Steindór (Iceland)

Klippur (2020) (S)

Darkish, pulsing Electronic Music from this synthesist. Pretty good stuff.

 


Kristoff, V. (USA)

V. Kristoff (2016) (S)
Shelter From Environment (2016) (S) (with Dravier)
Cosmos (2018) (S)
Wax (2019) (S)
Urbana Tide (2019) (S) (with Dravier and Cafe Lounge)
Live In Barcelona (2019) (with Mateis e. aqir)
Big News (2020)
Sydra (2020)
Spring 2020 South America Tour (2020)
Slow Down (2021)
Golden Pacific (2021)
Nacturne (2021)
Reflections (2021)
Profiler (2023)
Spirals (2023)
Transcendental Meeting At Hatagaya (2023) (with Precipitation and Yu Ogu)

Seattle-based musician with a lo-fi, ambient style. Sometimes goes for the sequencer sound (as on parts of Live In Barcelona).

 


Kritzkom (France)

Mer agitée (2015) (S)
Oscillopsea (2016)
Void Minus Matter (2017)
Melt Map (2019)
Fuzziness (2021)
Soft Waves (2023)

Kritzkom is Marine Drouan, originally from Nantes. She is an electronic artist with a varied style. Soft Waves focuses on modular synthesis. It is somewhat basic-sounding (nothing too sophisticated here), but does manage to create a nice ambient feeling and mood.

 


Kriyaji (UK)

Star Galactica (2015)

Varied ambient electronics.

 


Krocker, Jon (Canada)

Monolog (1983)

Fat, upbeat analog EM with some of the tracks being slightly more atmospheric.

 


Krog, Tim (USA)

The Boogey Man (1980) (soundtrack)

Electronic soundtrack played on analog synthesizers. Done in collaboration with Jan Bartlett and Ed Christiano.

 


Kroma (Estonia)

Otsi mind merkuurilt (2013) (S)
Siin kus lõpeb maa (2014) (S)
Prince of the City (2015)
Suund (2020) (recorded in 2017)
Alpentor (2020) (EP)

Synthwave-related project, but also with sort of a thinny, late 1980's EM vibe sometimes.

 


Kromeshna (Russia)

Kromeshna & M.Nomized (2005) (S) (with M. Nomized)
Запертые в небо (2007) (S)
Antiworlds (2007) (S)

Simple Mysteries (2011)
Zapredel (2011) (with Fanum)
Lilac Honey (2011) (S) (with Bardoseneticcube)
Bagul'nik (2012)
... From Distant Box (2012)
Emyd Lub (2012) (S) (with Astral + Shit)
Kornilovo (2013)
Pentadrvg / Kromeshna (2013) (with Pentadrvg)
Atyazh (2013)
Grey Diptych (2014) (S)
Air Plima (2014) (with Astral + Shit)
Копальхен (2014) (with Lunar Abyss)
Tropic of Capricorn (2016)
Summer (2016)
Mnogotochie (2016)
Умолка (2017)
Мартята (2018)
И будут сады (2018) (with Hilderend)
Phantom Holiday (2018) (with Rhucle)
Two Rituals For the Sun (2018)
Eternal Waves (2018)
Kaleidoscope (2019) (with Bardoseneticcube)
Small Lake (2019)
White Rings (2020)
Winter Mushrooms (2021)
Spring Loops (2021)
Волосатые звёзды (2021) (with Nonpandoras)
Surfaces (2021) (with Chefkirk)
Притча о простых узорах (2022) (with Последний Изгнанник and Редкий Гость)
Травень (2023)
Mechanism of Eternity (2023) (with ORD)
Плотность пространства (2023) (S)
Ветер с тысячи озёр (2023) (with Норма Реакции)

Ambient artist from Saint-Petersburg (Vitaly Maklakov). Summer features a warm, flowing synth sound with some downtempo beats. Earlier works are based on field recordings and drones.

See also: Maklakov, Vitaly, Mynoda.

 


Kromhout, Melle (Netherlands)

Object Constancy (2022)

Experimental musician, part of the noise duo Glice. Darkish electronics with elements of glitch, but also very synthy and sometimes krauty.

 


Kron (USA)

Kron (2016) (EP)
Children of the KRON (2022) (S)

Los Angeles-based duo of Michael Sherer and Seal Krell. They use analog (including modulars) and virtual analog instruments and deliver three danceable and poppish tracks on the 2016 EP. Nice but very mainstream and hardly Prog. Quite surprisingly, though, they finish off with "Sky Temple" - a fantastic EM track in the style of Tangerine Dream's 1980's soundtracks, complete with urgent sequences and a great melodic refrain. It shows that there is a great EM potential in these guys.

 


Krone, Felix (Germany)

Die Kunst zu verschwinden (2017)
The Castle of the Pyrenees (2019) (EP)
Skulpturen 1 - 4 (2020)

Techno artist who always had some ambient leanings and finally released a completely ambient album in the form of Die Kunst... Soundscapes, collages and, yes, analog pulses and sequences.

 


Krozier And the Generator (Australia)

The Quirkshop Tapes (1979)
Tranceformer (1980)
Krozier's Krusaders (1980)
Orbital Circus (1980)

Basically Jeffrey Crozier (voice) with members of Rainbow Generator plus some guests. Crozier, a magician, illusionist and poet, apparently died in 1981, accidentally hanging himself while preparing one of his new tricks.

See also: Rainbow Generator, Generator, The, Mojo.

 


Krstičević, Mirko (Croatia)

All And Nothing At All (Film And Theatre Music 1978 - 1988) (2024)

Composer, bass / piano player, member of rock band Metak and a few other bands / projects. He is also known for his contemporary classical works. The collection All And Nothing At All focuses on his electronic works written for various films and theater plays / productions. Melodic, hymnal, sometimes ala 1980's Tangerine Dream soundtracks or Vangelis circa Chariots of Fire.

 


Kruczyński, Bartosz (Poland)

Baltic Beat (2016)
Selected Media 2016 - 2018 (2018)
Pulses (2019) (with Poly Chain)
Baltic Beat II (2019)
Selected Media 2016 - 2018 (2019)

Ambient music with some relaxed rhythms and a "balearic" feel. This mixture of keyboards and guitars is sometimes a bit reminiscent of Ashra.

See also: Phantom, The

 


Kruder, Peter (Austria)

„_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _„ (2023) (with Robert di Gioia)

 


Krüger, Klaus (Germany)

You Have To Pay (1980) (S)
One Is One (1981)
Zwischenmischung (1982)
Advanced Dance (2018) (recorded in 1982 - 1989)

German drummer and electronic musician. He participated on Tangerine Dream's Cyclone and Force Majeure albums. His solo stuff was released on the IC label and I have never heard this music, although it is said to be (not surprisingly) very rhythmic stuff.

See also: Tangerine Dream

 


Kruger, Natalie (France)

83% Invisible (2020)

Rhythmic, experimental electronics from this Brussels-based French artist.

 


Kruhl, Jens-Hinrich (Germany)

Out of Dreams (2001)

Synthesist who started his career in the 1980's, playing in a progressive rock band Lynx. During the next decade he became interested in Electronic Music via Winfried Trenkler's "Schwingungen" radioshow. He started composing solo tracks, first using internal sequencers of his synthesizers and then shifting to Cubase software. Jens-Hinrich states to be influenced by orchestral music, progrock and classic EM. Jens-Hinrich Kruhl alias WiesenBerg currently publishes his music via SoundCloud.

See also: WiesenBerg

 


Kruispunt (Japan)

Steganos-graphia (2023)

Floating synths with an uplifting, celestial vibe. Somewhat new-agey in the good sense (similar to some Iasos, Roach, contemporary droning ambience, etc.)

See also: Enitokwa

 


Krupski, Piotr (Poland)

Swiatlo prawdy (2000)
Planeta RX (2003) (S)
Kombimus (2005)
Elbing 1904 (2008)
Olsztyn - Elblag 2008 (2008) (with Adam Bownik and Andrzej Mierzynski)
Electronic Worlds (2017) (with friends)

Polish synthesist with a melodic style along the lines of Jarre and Kraftwerk. Kombimus is a "best of" selection with re-arranged and re-recorded pieces.

 


Krutogolov, Igor (Israel)

1970s Uzbek Electronic Music (2019)

Interesting and wacky concept from this diverse experimental musician.

 


Kruza, Richárd (Poland)

Oui (1988)

Polish keyboardist and vibraphone player. Oui was released in Hungary on a sublabel of state-owned Hungaroton. It is supposedly in an easy, melodic style typical of the day.

 


Kryfels (France)

Parsec (2014)
Spacemind (2015)
Lifecycle (2016)
Dreamland (2017)
Underlying (2018)
Brahma-Loke (2020)

Analog music that reminds on early Klaus Schulze. Kryfels is Richard Rafaillac.

 


Krylov, Dmitry (Russia)

Right Moment Will Never Come (2022) (EP)

Ambient artist based in Samara. I hear a slight Edward Artemiev influence here.

 


Kryptästhesie (Italy)

Leaves Laughter (1985)
Any Water Knows (1987)
Shaken At the Sun (1992)
Inner Whirl (1996)
No Age (1999)

Mainly psych / space rock, but more or less every album has a couple of electronic tracks.

See also: Olographic Landscapes

 


Kryptogen Rundfunk (Russia)

Silentium Universi (2004) (with DN23rd)
22.SZ (2004)
[W]interloop[s] (2008) (S) (with Sister Loolomie)
Live 2005 (2011)
Liquid Circuits (2016)
Tales From the Mirrored Spaces (2019)
Elusive Trajectories 2003 - 2006 (2019)
Dissoluteness (2020) (with Radioson)
To Dream Is To Destroy (2023)

Russian project (Artyom Ostapchuk) based in the Netherlands. Kryptogen Rundfunk is related to the industrial and noise scenes via the "radionoise" tag. Most of the material is not very violent and noisy, though, and will be enjoyed by fans of Dark Ambient (especially the Noise Ambient brand thereof) and artists like i.e. Bad Sector.

 


Krzywdy (Poland)

Czary (2020)

Polish one-man project (Mateusz Szymański) mixing synths / electronics with voices and folk elements. One can consider it an active form of Ritual Ambient or a very dark variety of World Music.

 


Krzyzanowski, Piotr (Poland)

Magnus luctus in ergastulo (1998)
Apsychastenia (1999)
Impresje szeptow (2000)
Apsychastenia 2 (2002)
Live Gorlice 2004 (2004)
Last Poem (2008)

Polish musician based in Torun. Ambient electronics, sometimes dark. Aka Brunette Models.

 


KSDS (UK)

Black Abba (2014)
Out of the Void (2015)
Non-Stop (2019)
Zener_12 (2020)
The Antique Hat Protection League (2021)

A series of soundscapes that range from sequencer-based to ambient, noisy, experimental and rhythmic / punky (with drums).

 


Kshatriy (Russia)

Kshatriy (2005)
Listopad vot on (2007) (with Lunar Abyss Deus Organum)
Drones (2008)
Uak-Kib (2008)
Slepok soznaniya (2009)
TaeT (2009) (with Vresnit)
Mushrooms And Kshatriy (??)
Live 190604 (??) (S)
Transforming Galaxy (2012)
From Heart To Heart (2013)
Sunyata Research (2014)
Time Is the Enemy (2016) (with Sonologyst)
Special Set (2016)
Samantabhadra (2016)
Tracks From Compilations (2016) (recorded in 2007 - 2016)
Sustained Variations For Prepared Piano & Excellent Reverberators (2020) (S)
Sustained Variations For Prepared Piano & Excellent Reverberators (Part 2) (2020) (S)
Sustained Variations For Prepared Piano & Excellent Reverberators In Three Parts (2021)
Do It With Magic! (2021)

Drone Ambient.

 


Kshatriyas Against Time (Russia)

No Future For Demokratur (2020)
Dämmerstunde (2020)
Seelenloch (2021)
Litvs (2021)
La Visitation de Pan (2021)

Droning ambient project of Arseny (Arseniy) Litvin. Pretty minimal sound. Sometimes with slight Martial elements.

 


Ksine (UK)

Dark-Ambient Christmas (2000)
Dark-Ambient Christmas 2 (2001)
Dark-Ambient Christmas 3 (2002)

Originally from London, Emin Jeremy Kolosine is a musician based in the Miami area. He is rather diverse musically and has a few aliases, as well as plays in a few bands / projects. The above is a series of ambient electronic releases made with "digital handheld devices, stylophones, classic analog synths and guitar". Despite its theme, this is no "switched-on" type of album full of Christmas tunes, but original (and rather bleak) ambient compositions.

 


Ku (Italy)

Tsunami (1997)

Whale sounds mixed with music from this trio that ranges from Cluster-like to new age and experimental.

 


Kubbi (Norway)

Ember (2015)
Taiga (2018)

Chiptune artist from Norway who on Ember decided to experiment with chiptune / EM / prog crossover genre, like Disasterpeace and a few others did before him.

 


Kubiak, Tomasz (Poland)

Out of Environment Space (1994)
Live In Pisz 1995 (1995)
Infomania (1995) (with Komendarek & Marek Manowski)
Some of Random Realities (1998)
Experience Headland (2001) (with Dariusz Kalinski)

Rhythmic, Berlin School-like Electronic Music.

 


Kubik, Henry (Australia)

The Touch (1995)

Perth-based electronic musician who composes melodic, relaxing and spacey music.

See also: Satori

 


Kubikov, Anton (Russia)

Whatness (2017)

Ambient music from this Moscow-based musician and deejay, previously known for a few 12-inchers aimed at the dance / club crowd.

 


Kubin, Felix (Germany)

Antarktis Slow Rock (1998) (S)
Schnitzler / Groscher Lausangriff (2000) (S)
TXRF (2012)
Zemsta Plutona (2013)
Tauscher (2015) (S)
Morgenröte / Aus Gold modelliert die Nacht (2018) (S) (with Mariola Brillowska)
Max Brand studie IV / Topia (2019)
E.M. Forster - Die Maschine steht still (2019)

Experimental musician without a single dominating style, taking in influences of both the club / techno scene, minimal synth / synth-pop and electro-acoustic music. The above albums will appeal to fans of experimental electronics, with nods to Conrad Schnitzler in particular.

See also: CEL

 


Kubizek, Wolfgang R. (Austria)

Deine Farben (1988)

Subtitled "Electric Violin Solo". Strange stuff here. There is a bed of atmospheric electronics and the synth solos are replaced by electric violin ones. On the other hand, there are moments of pulsing exstasy where the whole starts sounding like Inventions For Electric Guitar-era Goettsching gone Mozart-mad. Austria has a great tradition of classical music, so the release seems totally relevant in that regard. Still, from the EM perspective, it's somewhat weird, but at the same time fascinating stuff.

 


Kuborn, Chris (USA)

Static Movement (2021)

Ambient compositions from this Wisconsin-based artist. The music more or less follows the path trailblazed by American pioneers of Ambient and Space Music like Steve Roach, Jonn Serrie and Michael Stearns.

 


KubrixXx (USA)

Listless City (2017) (recorded in 2015)

Varied, mostly short tracks. Dystopian synths and elements of hip-hop / techno.

 


Kubusschnitt (Europe)

The Case (1999)
The Cube (2000)
The Singularity (2001)
Exeter (2004)
Nightshade (2006)
Kubient (2006)
Phoenix (2006)
Entropy's Evolution (2010)
The Core (2022)
Continuous Forms (2022) (recorded in 2002 and 2003)

Great Berlin School electronics. Kubusschnitt are Andy Bloyce (UK), Tom Coppens (Belgium), Ruud Heij (Netherlands) and Jens Peschke (Germany) who left the band after the release of The Singularity.

See also: WEirD, Navigator, Patchwork, Hyperkube, Soviet Space Dog Project, The.

 


Kucera, Petr (Czech Republic)

Eniel (1993) (with Jan Kunovsky)
Slunecna (1995)

Unique melodic electronics.

 


Kucharz, Larry (USA)

Unit 23 (1991)
Harmonic Luminosity (1993)
Metachoral Visions (1997)
Electrochoral Dreams (1998)
Unit 25: Dark Red (1998)
Digichoral Blue Portraits (1999)
Unit 28: Blue Motion (1999)
Computer Choral Green Prints (2000)
Techno Unit 30: Audiochrome (2000)
Techno Unit 32: Miscellaneous Tracks (2001)
Ambient Red Washes (2003)
Ambient Green Washes (2005)
Bridge Mix 37 (2005)
Electro Engravings (2006)
Blue Drawings And Text (2008)
Pastels (2009)
Unit IA42 (2011)
SMPHNCS - Electronic Symphonics (2014)

Minimalist Ambient works, sometimes comparable to Music For Airports by Brian Eno. Larry Kucharz started composing in the 1970's. A bit later, he began transcribing and re-recording his old works using electronic technology (mostly Fairlight computers but also Roland D-50 and a few other instruments).

 


Kucz, Konrad (Poland)

Vita contemplativa (1993)
Sny polskie (1993)
Cosmo (1994)
Suita tatrzanska (1996)
Echa gor (1996)
Babie lato (1997)
Live (1998)
Waltornium (1999)
Bezkresne laki I i II (2000)
Wrzosowiska (2003)
Venta (2003)
Soporus (2003)
Lamentacje adwentowe (2003)
Nagrania bardzo archivalne 1986 - 2004 (2004)
Tracks (2005)
Litania (2005)
Tubephonium (2007)
Tubeharmonium (2007)
Tatra (2008)
Raw Material (2008)
Railroad Paths (2008)
Music From Distance (2009)
Music From Distance 2 (2009)
Men's War Goes On (2009)
Le quattro stagioni (2009)
Prenty (2012) (with Mateusz Kwiatkowski and Robert Rasz)
Lutoslavia (2013) (with Mateusz Kwiatkowski and Robert Rasz)
The Four Seasons (2013)
Sleepy Music (2014)
Kucz & Klake (2015) (with Klake)
Air (2015)
Waltornium (2016)
Planetary (2020)
Gaude (2022) (with Mateusz Kwiatkowski and Michał Sławecki)
Zawieje (2024) (with Mateusz Kwiatkowski and Michał Sławecki)

Electronic Music in Berlin style. Some works are more ambient.

See also: Nemezis

 


Kudahl, Asger (Denmark)

Optegnelser fra Maniitsoq (2017) (S) (with William Kudahl)
Tilnærmelser I (2017) (S) (with William Kudahl)
Tilnærmelser II (2018) (S) (with William Kudahl)
Sketches For Revolution (2018)

Nice experimental, reflective, melodic compositions created on modular synth.

See also: Kraus

 


Kuedo (UK)

Severant (2011)
Assertion of A Surrounding Presence (2015) (S)
Slow Knife (2016)
Infinite Window (2022)

Severant is a strange, unexpected work from UK-born (and Berlin-based) producer Jamie Teasdale. He is known for his dubstep / footwork productions, but this album couples his trademark rhythms with cinematic synthesizer soundscapes and melodies that have echoes of "Bladerunner" and Tangerine Dream's 1980's soundtracks.

 


Kuhl, Tim (USA)

1982 (2015)
Sky Valley (2018)

New York-based drummer who as a solo artist composes largely instrumental, cinematic, synth-based music that sounds inspired by noir and horror films of the 1980's.

 


Kuhn, Peter (Germany)

Spinnentanz (1986)

Private release with (I think) EM and a guest performance by a violin quartet.

 


Kuhn, Peter (Switzerland)

No Way Out (1988)

This Peter Kuhn may or may not be the same as above, only after relocating to Switzerland. Then again, could be a completely different person.

 


Kukla, Kamil (Poland)

Gehenna (2020)
Double Cry (2023)

Music in an individual style, mixing sampling with dubstep, bass music and Progressive Electronic. Complex, neurotic, cinematic...

 


Kukuk, Hardy (Germany)

Atemnot (1981)
Timeless (2000)

Energetic, sequential electronics.

See also: A La Ping Pong, Beatboys 2000.

 


Kulikov, Vyacheslav (Russia)

Pallada (2000)
Songs of the Silver Forest (2003)

Vyacheslav Kulikov is also known as Moon Rainbow. Symphonic electronics on the verge of new age.

See also: Moon Rainbow

 


Kulk, Hans (Netherlands)

Beeldklank (2001)
Knowledge And Not Knowing (2001)
North-West (2002)
Aviatore (2003)
Time Average (2004)
Tingel-Tangel ernste Musik (2005)
Perpetual Flux (2006)
Breath of Brahma & Sri Crickts (2022) (with Waclaw Zimpel)

Born in 1962 in Amsterdam, Hans Kulk is an analogue synthesis enthusiast and synth repair shop master. He uses huge modular systems and analogue computers.

See also: Telesoniek Atelier

 


Kult Masek (Czech Republic)

2018 (2018) (S)
Zoomorph (2018) (S)
Walnut Instrument / Ballet For Skeptics (2023)

Ambient synth compositions of varied moods.

See also: Nechvátal, Michael

 


Kuma (UK)

Time Makes Memory of Us All (2020)
How To Shoot Somebody Who Outdrew You (2021)
Hounds And Echo In Conjunction (2022)
Buy the Tools You Need From Me (2022)
We Have Dark Friends (2023)

Darkish, gloomy ambient compositions from James Graham.

 


Kunicki, Tomasz (Poland)

Muzyka dla świątyń (2020)

Relaxed, pastoral, but rhythmic compositions. There is a slight Cluster feel to some of it.

 


Kunimoto, Yoshihiro (Japan)

Flight Planet (1987) (soundtrack)
Matendo Sonata (1988) (soundtrack) (with Nozomu Naka)

Japanese composer. The above are anime soundtracks with some interesting electronic arrangements. There are also vocal songs, though, so beware.

 


Kunisaki (USA)

Transient (2020)
Ghosts (2022)
Everything It Brings, Everything It Takes Away (2022)
Winter Portraits (2023)

From ambient to sequencer-based tracks.

See also: Silent Excerpts

 


Kunze, Bernd (Germany)

First Recordings (1992) (recorded in 1977 - 1982)
First Recordings & More (1992) (recorded in 1982 - 1992)
The Return of the Morlock (1992) (recorded in 1982 - 1985)
The Return of the Morlock Part II (1996) (recorded in 1992 - 1996)
The Morlock Runs Again (1997)
The Electronic Millennium (2001)
Improvisation For Guitar & Synthesizer (2001) (with Jonas Kunze)
The Best of (2001) (recorded in 1981 - 2000)
St Martin (2006) (with Jonas Kunze)

Synthesist who was born in 1958 and has been making Electronic Music officially since 1981. He works almost exclusively with analogue synthesizers.

 


Kuorinki (Finland)

Idiootin reitti (2019) (S)

From droning to experimental synth compositions. Mikko Kuorinki is a Helsinki-based visual, multi-discipline artist and musician.

 


Kupfer, Florian (Germany)

Unit (2021)

Steely cold ambient washes that reflect the port crane environment pictured on the sleeve.

 


Kupka, Craig (USA)

Modern Dance Technique Environments (1979)
Modern Dance Technique Environments Vol. 2 (1981)
Clouds (1981)
Crystals (1982)
Modern Dance Technique Environments Vol. 3 (1983)

Pioneering new age works that will also be of certain interest to fans of Brian Eno and Ambient in general. Not bad at all.

 


Kuprevičius, Giedrius (Lithuania)

Zodiako švytėjimas (1987)
Paros ženklai (1987)
Erotidijos (1994)
Banginio daina (1999)
Kristinos pasaulis (2000)
Madlen meilės girioje (2000)
Metų muzika (2010) (recorded in 1997 - 1999)

Lithuanian composer with multiple works in various genres, but mostly in classical vein. He is also a pioneer of Electronic Music, forming the Argo ensemble circa 1979 - 1980 with a few friends and colleagues. Before that, he had been experimenting with electronics as a solo artist. Some of the results can be heard on his Soundcloud page, such as "The Return of the Phonosaurus", recorded in the 1970's with Synthi 100 synthesizer (unfortunately, seems to be unreleased as of now). Very nice and quite dramatic / cinematic EM piece. Then there were a couple of electronic pieces recorded in 1984-1985 for a spa / massage center and many more electronic pieces.

See also: Argo

 


Kurek, Piotr (Poland)

Heat (2011)
Edena (2012)
Polygome (2019)
A Sacrifice Shall Be Made / All the Wicked Scenes (2020)
World Speaks (2022)
Peach Blossom (2023)
Smartwoods (2023)

It is not known for sure when exactly folk musician Piotr Kurek got interested in Electronic Music, but Edena is pure Prog EM in a unique style - repetitive and influenced by minimal composers like Terry Riley and Ariel Kalma.

See also: Piętnastka

 


Kurenniemi, Erkki (Finland)

DIMI 1 (1970) (S) (with Jukka Ruohomäki)
Recordings 1963 - 1973 (2002)
Rakkaus kulessa (2011) (with Circle)
DRY '73-9-8 (2011)
Rules (2012) (recorded in 1963 - 1975)
50 Years On-Off (2013) (recorded in 1963 - 2013)

Finnish Electronic Music pioneer (1941 - 2017). His solo historic stuff may not be for everyone as it is mostly of very experimental nature. Kurenniemi was the founder of Helsinki University's Electronic Music Studio in the 60's. He worked with many famous and not-so-famous people in the avant-garde, academic and progressive rock fields. The collection mentioned above contains music that was mostly written during the 1968 - 1971 period. A curious fact: one of the compositions, called "Dance of the Antropoids" can also be heard (in a different version) on the Wigwam album Tombstone Valentine. Erkki Kurenniemi designed his own custom synthesizers, among them the DIMI series synthesizers that were (and still are) used by Swedish musician Ralph Lundsten.

 


Kurihara, Teriyuki (Japan)

The Oblivion (2019)
Frozen Dust (2020)
Echoes Catalog III (2020)
Melody Tomb (2020) (with The Leaf Library)

Ambient composer who uses both guitar and electronics to sculpt his sound.

 


Kurma (USA)

Subaquatic Resonance (2014)
Fractured (2015)
There's A One (2016)

Soundscapes from Jody Wall out of Asheville, mostly of the darker, hypnotic variety.

 


Kuroi Ame (UK)

Sacred (2018)
眼泪含泪 (2020) (with 輕描淡寫)

Synthpunk / cyberpunk ambience from this duo. Some of the rhythmic tracks I found unnecessary, though.

See also: CMD094

 


Kurotokage (France)

Call To the Deep (2001)

Ethnic Ambient with lots of dark moments by Nicolas d. Faure and Alex Demtez (ex-Asmorod).

See also: Asmorod, Les Amants Maudits.

 


Kurstin, Pamela (USA)

Gymnopedie / Theremin Orchestra (2005)
Thinking Out Loud (2007)
Tunisia (2008) (with Pat Mastelotto)
Live At Hopfenstange (2011) (S)
Ouch Evil Slow Hop (2011) (with Sebastian Rochford)
Besides Fieldman (2011) (with Patrick Pulsinger, Hilary Jeffery and Rosemarie Heggen)

US-born theremin player currently residing in Vienna, Austria. Haunting sound.

 


Kurten, Lawrence (Japan)

Cult of Melancholia (2008)
Die Ruhe (2008)

I suppose, Lawrence Kurten is a pseudonym. The first album is classically influenced, with some mellotron textures. The second one is more atmospheric.

 


Kurtis, Luke (USA)

Akgkor Wat: An Instrumental Album (2017)
Electronic Quartets (2018)
Seance (2021) (EP)

Akgkor Wat is varied music that was originally composed as a background for Kurtis' poetry.

 


Kurtz Mindfields (France)

Journey Through the Analog Adventure (2015)
The Dreaming Void (2016)
Analogic Touch (2017) (with Tajmahal)
Gate of A New Dimension (2018)
SynthR3 The Burning School Tape (2020)
Flying From Berlin To Paris (2022)

Kurtz Mindfields is French synthesist Jean-Luc Briancon. Journey... is a 2-CD album full of classic analog explorations. If you like Berlin School and related genres, this will give you more than 2 hours of listening pleasure.

 


Kurvenschreiber (Russia)

Klebeband Baudrate (2012) (EP)
32 (2012)
Tesla Record #12 (2013) (S)
Kopf / Rückenfläsche (2017) (S)
Licht Ausgang (2023)

Experimental electronic trio consisting of Sergey Komarov, Vlad Dobrovolski and Ilya Sadovskiy. They prefer analog instrumentation and seem to be influenced by everything, from industrial / noise, to dub, cheesy space age electronics, vintage soundtracks and krautrock.

See also: Dobrovolski, Vlad

 


Kurzeja, Radosław (Poland)

Noce (2017)
Ogród botaniczny w Palermo (2020)

Ambient artist from Poland. Music heavily based on sampling, loops, digital techniques (although not exclusively). Not comparable to other artists.

 


Kusafuka, Kimihide (Japan)

Re-Musik (1983)
Demise Symphonika (1984)

Japanese noise musician and a pioneer of industrial / experimental musics. He is known as a member of The Haters, Techno Menses and many other known and unknown acts. The above works, released (on cassette) under his own name, represent a more melodic, listenable and EM-influenced side of his oeuvre. Demise Symphonika is rather ambient but with noisy elements, while Re-Music is full of repetitive sequences and melodies with a bit of a minimal synth feel. There were other releases as well that I need to investigate to see if they fit in, EM-wise.

 


Kuška, Martin (Czech Republic)

No Need To Hurry, But No Time To Waste (2018)
Assembly Plant For Human Priorities (2021)

Varied EM from this Czech artist, often with a warm analog sound. Sometimes with a Klaus Schulze feel.

 


Kustod, Jacques (Slovakia)

I Am Deranged (2017)

Rich, cosmic sound palette by this artist who states to be influenced by classic EM, sci-fi scores, electro-acoustic music, techno and krautrock. Only the opening track "Bizarre Space Objects" is pure EM, though. The rest has varying grades of techno influence, so the whole ends up in the EM-related category.

 


Kusuma, Jonathan (Indonesia)

Kerontang (2022) (S)

Jonathan Kusuma is an Indonesian artist based in Jakarta and Singapore. He can be usually found composing techno and nu-disco music. However, on Kerontang, he went Prog EM, with tracks ranging from fat drones to mad sequencing between the Berlin and the Dusseldorf schools to something more rhythmic, yet far from being danceable. An artist to look out for.

 


Kutiman (Israel)

Don't Hold Onto the Clouds (2018)

Interesting album from this diverse musician, songwriter and animator (real name - Ophir Kutiel). Middle-Eastern-tinged analog synth, reminding on early Popol Vuh and sometimes Klaus Schulze circa Picture Music.

 


Kutschera, Uli (Germany)

Romantische Suite (198?)
Requiem For E.T.A. Hoffmann (2022)

See also: Hirudo

 


Kuule, Sai (Estonia)

Chemicalgood (2022)

A mixture of ambient synths and techno-flavored rhythms, a bit in the style of Wahnfried's Trance Appeal. Actually, some parts of Chemicalgood are very reminiscent of that work indeed.

 


Kuźniak, Henryk (Poland)

Anna i wampir (2022) (recorded in 1981) (soundtrack)

Atmospheric soundtrack between ambient electronics, electroacoustics and neo-classical music.

 


Kvidera, Pete (USA)

Border Planes (2021) (S)

Playful synth compositions created on analog artifacts like Soma Lyra 8 and Ciat Lonbarde Cocoquantus, as well as Xynthesizr soft synth and field recordings. Nice tinkling sequences, melodic pads and gentle melodies.

 


KVLT (UK)

KLVLT (2013)

Interesting ambient project from Bristol, mixing subtle piano ala Eno / Budd with darkish, hypnotic soundworlds.

 


KWC 92 (Sweden)

Dream of the Walled City (2013) (soundtrack)
Iran (2016)
Dreamin' of A Vacation (2023)

Varied duo from Sweden. Mostly ambient, but also rhythmic, repetitive and sometimes in soft techno vein.

See also: Maxxxbass

 


Kwiatkowski, Marek (Poland)

Sygnał z Kondora (2016)
W innym świetle (2017)
Wszystkie kolory snu (2017)
Wojna na księżycu (2020)
Pokój nr 130 (2021)
Cisza, którą usłyszał świat (2021)
Ciemno​ś​ć i ple​ś​ń (2021)

Polish synthesist and electroacoustic composer. Sygnał z Kondora features narrative ambient pieces with an experimental flair and a slight 1960's influence, often bursting into a lush, 1970's TD pastiche. Nice and different.

 


KWME (Italia)

Soldati senza divise e senza bandiere (2017)
E' pazzia o la morte (2017)

Kalashnikov Wartime Music Ensemble is an alter ego of anarcho-punk band Kalashnikov Collective that deals with experimental music and imaginary soundtracks. Strange stuff that sounds like Art Zoyd loaded with vocoder voices and mixed with vintage giallo scores.

 


Kwook (Australia)

Unidentified Feathered Object (2003)
Skywave (2008)

Pulsing ambient soundscapes from Simon Bennett out of Perth, Australia. This music brings to mind some early 90's releases on Pete Namlook's FAX label.

 


Kyasuri (Belgium)

The Shape of What Is Missing (2011)
Ghosts Are Real (2018)
Aletheiamancer (2020)

A mixture of post-rock and melodic EM.

 


Kyle & Wilbur (UK)

Springtime Comes To Every Household (2018)

Electroacoustic duo of Kyle Clangin and Wilbur Armislow. They use flute and electronics for a meditative sound.

 


Kymatic Athens (Greece)

Υπνοδρόμιο (2020)

A project of Panagiotis Tomaras in droning Ambient / World Music vein, with lots of voices and chants.

See also: ΗΧΟΤΟΠίΑ, ΨΥΧΟΤΕΚ.

 


Kyo (Denmark)

Aktuel musik (2016)
Potentiel musik (2016)
I musik (2017)
Vi byder sommeren ind / Vi tackar för sommaren (2018)
All the Same Dream (2018) (with Jeuru)

Diverse duo of Frederik (Frederic) Valentin and Hannes Norrvide. I musik is a nice album marrying Progressive EM with elements of trap / vaporwave.

See also: Valentin, Frederic

 


Kyoto Connection, The (Argentina)

The Flower, the Bird And the Mountain (2022)
Postcards (2023)

Argentinean trio consisting of Facundo Arena, Jesica Rubino and Rodrigo Trado. They are inspired by Japanese culture and music. The Flower... is a nice, relaxed EM work dedicated to Japanese new age, environmental music and Ambient from the 1980's and 1990's.

 


Kyron (Portugal)

Starlit Remembrance (2020)
Ascending Plume of Faces (2021)
Dreaming Eden (2023)
Dracula 1897 Part 8 (2023) (S)

Nice EM from João Branco - melodic, warm, analog, with a slight hauntology vibe.

 


Kyryluk, Gregory (USA)

Ephemeral Highways (2004)

Tranquil EM from the man behind Alpha Wave Movement. Good for traveling.

See also: Alpha Wave Movement, Thought Guild, Subtle Shift.

 


K-X-P (Finland)

K-X-P (2010)
Easy EP (2011) (EP)
II (2012)
History of Techno (2014) (EP)
III Part I (2015)
III Part II (2016)
K-X-P (2018)
IV (2019)

Unclassifiable Finnish band consisting of Anssi Nykänen, Timo Kaukolampi, Tomi Leppänen and Tuomo Ilmari Puranen. They seem to have two drummers, a guitar player and a keyboardist / synth guy. The band seems to be mostly influenced by various forms of krautrock, especially the Dusseldorf School (lots of motorik aesthetics here). They do use Berlin School sequences as well, though, and I can even detect traces of Heldon in their music, although it may be just me. There is also that strange and typically Finnish ritual / black metal strain. Overall, a unique blend with the most varied set of influences. Mostly instrumental, with some vocalizations here and there.

See also: Kaukolampi, Timo

 


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