Index

 

So Shall Liszt (USA)

Particle Dream (1985)

Music by Jim Finch. Don Slepian gives a hand on one track. The style is not known.

 


Soar (Switzerland)

Soar (1995)
Botchibonsi (1997)
Lumumby (1997)
Klunker (1999)

Soar is Christian Aebi. He is influenced by krautrock and uses Minimoog, Farfisa organ, guitars, Wurlitzer piano, bass and other instruments.

 


Sobczak, Stan (USA)

Stanatron (2013)
Stan Land (2017)

Ambient electronics from this Providence, Rhode Island-based synthesist.

 


Soberanes, José (Mexico)

Trazos (2015)
Shelter (2015) (with Darren McClure)
The Rising Tide (2016)
Our Gravity Ends (2017)
Future Habrour (2017) (with Darren McClure)
Luz (2019)

Ambient artist from Mexico with lots of field recordings in his music.

 


Sobocan, John (Canada)

A Soft Circle (2012)

Ambient artist from Toronto.

See also: Bubble

 


Soccer96 (UK)

Soccer96 (2012)
As Above So Below (2016)
Rewind (2018)
Tactics (2020) (EP)
Inner Worlds (2022)

Synth and drums duo from London who started with a somewhat synth-pop / chiptune vein. On As Above So Below, they are still influenced by mainstream genres such as funk and synth-pop, but also by stuff like synthwave and vaporwave. However, there's also that sight Prog EM streak in the form of lush, Vangelis-like synths of the opener, the Bladerunner-esque atmosphere (reminds on "Morning at the Bradbury" somehow) of the short sketch "Manga" and the somewhat epic final part of the closer "Brutal Deluxe". File under EM-related, slightly EM-related...

See also: Dan Electro, Danalogue.

 


Soceco (USA)

Prelude To Heaven (2017)

Starting as a vaporwave project, it has now developed a minimal ambient drone sound.

 


Société Moderne (France)

Compilation Bleue (2019)

Mixture of ambient synth and some breakbeats.

 


SODA Lite (Australia)

Liquid Earth (2016)
In Eco (2017)
Rêveries In Terra Lerpa (2017)
Vale & Stone (2019)
Aqua Solar Cura (2022)

Ambient compositions. Relaxing, sort of new-agey sound with a slight vaporwave influence perhaps.

 


Söderqvist, Dan (Sweden)

Waterland (1984) (with Karl Gasleben)

Music by Twice A Man duo released under real names of the musicians. The music is supposedly a mixture of synth-pop and ambient stuff and one track was intended for an exhibition about dolphins and whales.

See also: Twice A Man, Cosmic Overdose.

 


Söderström, Andreas (Sweden)

Om Solen Väl Går Upp (2016)
Adelsö (2019) (with Rickard Jäverling)
Musiken Från Sveriges Radios Dramatisering Av Bröderna Lejonhjärta (2020)

Swedish multi-instrumentalist and folk musician who previously worked under an alias (ahem!) ASS. He is also a member of several bands. The above album features side-long tracks of reflective and pastoral quality. Oldfield meets Ambient?

 


Soeik (Japan??)

Aura (2021) (S)

Of interest here is the 5-minute title track that is a blast of classic analog sequencing (pretty subtle one).

 


Sofer, Daniel (USA)

The Sound of System (1982) (S) (with Todd McKinney)
Dreams (1982)

The Sound of System is a promo disc released by these two gentlemen who worked for Oberheim Electronics at the time. Needless to say, the music was all made on an Oberheim system (synth / drum machine / sequencer setup). This small record has two tracks of Sofer and two tracks of McKinney, so it's basically a split release. This music was never intended for sale.

 


Sofia Ozdravovna (Germany)

Eden In Transition (2016)
Housewife At the End of the World (2017)

Moody, monolithic ambient soundscapes mixing noises and industrial influences with reflective synths.

 


Soft Drive (UK)

UVB-76 (2018)
Ronin (2019)

Dark, rhythmic, melodic electronics like a mixture of synthwave and cinematic EM. Heavy "TD soundtrack" vibes here.

 


Soft Energy (France)

Sideral Space (1978)

One of several similar-sounding projects led by Philippe Renaux that all deal with cover versions of well-known synth (and not only synth) tunes and also include original compositions, two or three per album. In case of Sideral Space the original tracks include "Contact Day" and "First Meeting". A very mainstream and un-progressive sound here, but the synths are nice and warm and all.

See also: Renaux, Philippe, Research.

 


Soft Generator (UK / ???)

Ack • Now • Ledge (2021)
A Carefully Controlled Space (2021)
On A Map of Sound (2023)
On A Precipice of Sound (2023)

Ambient duo of Erik Schoster and David Newman. A slightly glitchy, 1990's-influenced sound.

 


Soft Ions (Canada)

Soft Ions (2017)
Nigh (2019)

A duo of Jenna Turner (violin, electronics) and Parker Thiessen (electronics). Ranges from noisy to melodic and ambient.

See also: Bong Sample, Private Investigators, Kaunsel.

 


Soft Machine (UK)

Third (1970)
Fifth (1972)
Seven (1973)
Alive And Well: Recorded In Paris (1978)

Legendary Canterbury / jazz / fusion band. Like many long-standing collectives, Soft Machine went through many lineup changes. The above albums contain some electronic or electronic-related material. The later incarnation of the band is led by oboe / sax / keyboard player Karl Jenkins. The live music is still jazz fusion at its core. However, it seems that the band had catched a "Tangerine Dream virus" to a certain degree as well, many sections being partly or predominantly electronic, such as the album closer for example. Seems fair, as none other than ex-Soft Machiner and synth enthusiast Mike Ratledge was recruited to help with his synthesizer expertise on some tracks. File under EM-related.

See also: Ratledge, Mike

 


Soft Mirage (USA / Canada)

Ionian Dream (2012)

Norm Chambers and Christian Richer. If you know Panabrite's way of combining soft acoustic guitar melodies with floating analog synths, this is more or less the same style.

See also: Panabrite, Element Kuuda, Chambers, Norm.

 


Soft Note (Russia)

Music Book Volume One (2010)
Celistic Music Book (2010)
Futurescapes (2011)
Singing Universe (2012)
Music Book Vol. II (2012)
Waterscapes (2013)

Soft Note is a project of young ambient artist Philipp Kalchuk.

 


Soft Places (USA)

Memory Does Not Pass (2023)

Reductionist pieces for voice and electronics. Hypnotic and definitely progressive-sounding.

 


Soft Riot (Canada)

Some More Terror (2014)

Moody synth soundscapes from Jack Duckworth (originally from Vancouver, now residing in London). This album is atypical, as his other releases reportedly contain song-based new wave / psychedelic electronic pop.

 


Soft System (Norway)

Stargroup 2 (2021)

Varied electronics from Oslo, from rhythmic, with a downtempo feel, to cosmic and completely floating / ambient. An impressive array of hardware and software tools is used here. Mostly short tracks.

 


Softbase (UK)

Of Its Time (2020)

Relaxed, Berlin School-infused music from Peter Ruczynski, member of Airsculpture. Although the sequences are an important element on some of the tracks, the whole sounds much more laid-back and ambient than typical Berlin School sound.

See also: Airsculpture

 


Softer Drive (USA)

Four of Horses (2021) (S)

St. Louis, Missouri-based project using analog textures and sequences. Nice cosmic, flowing EM. A bit of Klaus Schulze feel circa Timewind here.

 


Softest (USA)

Music For Rain: Volume One (2014)
Six Wishes (2016)

Ambient duo from Utah with a somewhat new agey sound.

 


Softie (Finland)

It Had Nothing To Do With Summer (2021)

Softie is Helsinki-based Ossi Kolehmainen. Melodic, melancholic ambient compositions. Nice.

 


Software (Germany)

Chip-Meditation Part I (1985)
Chip-Meditation Part II (1985)
Electronic Universe Part I (1985)
Syn-Code (1986)
Past-Present-Future (1987)
Past-Present-Future Part II (1987)
Digital Dance (1988)
Electronic Universe Part II (1988)
Dea Alba (1988)
Live 3rd Dimension (1989)
Fragrance (1990)
Ocean (1990)
Modesty-Blaze (1991)
Visions (1991)
Cave (1992)
Modesty-Blaze Vol. II (1992)
Cool Blue (1993)
Space Design (1993)
Heaven To Hell (1995)
Software As Hardware (1995)
Sky-Dive (1997)
Fire-Works (1998)

German synth duo. Mostly Michael Weisser with either Peter Mergener (most of the early and newest albums), Georg Stettner (Fragrance), or Billy Byte (Modesty-Blaze series and Cave). Newer releases are aimed at the new age market. Vintage works are ok.

See also: Mergener / Weisser, Mergener, Peter, G.E.N.E..

 


Softwerk (Germany)

Journey To the Spot (1983)
Sound Before Time (1989)

This seems to be some kind of Berlin-based visual studio that released a series of computer-generated fractal images in the 1980's that were pretty cutting-edge at the time. Apparently, they also made their own Electronic Music to accompany their works.

 


Sogge, Glenn (USA)

Homecoming - 8 Meditations (2017)

Varied soundscapes.

 


Söhle, Klaus (Germany??)

Cosmic Gardens (2023) (S)

Sort of utopian, new-agey synth compositions, a bit like Iasos maybe.

 


Sohrab (Iran)

A Hidden Place (2010)
Between Strangers (2013) (S)
Mossafer (2018) (EP)

Ambient artist born in 1984 in Tehran and currently residing in Berlin. He uses a lot of field recordings and subtle electronics.

 


Søjus1 (Germany)

Søjus1 (2016)
ORWO (2021)

Dresden-based duo of Simon Arnold and Ralph Müller. They have something of a hybrid post rock / krautrock aesthetic, using real drums together with electronics for a mixture of rhythmic and atmospheric numbers. Some of the tracks feature vocals, so beware.

 


Sokkyō (Belgium / Denmark)

Long Forgotten Memories (2015)

Calm, glitchy, mocrosound-laden ambience with a mixture of acoustic (mostly guitar) and electronic sounds. A duo of Ciro Berenguer and Heine Christensen.

See also: Ghost And Tape

 


Sokolovsky, Ivan (Russia)

Works of Various Years (1986)
Socialism And Love (1987)
Instant Victory of Black Painting (1988)
Living the Turkish Way (1989)
River, Lake, Sea (1990)
Pressure - Music For Rich (1991)
Yat-Kha (1993)
Conquest of Arctic (1995)
Khan's Afternoon Rest (1996)
Regredimur (2001)
Simulated Prison (2005) (with Serguei Letov)

Ivan Sokolovsky was born in 1962 in Leningrad (Saint-Petersburg) and started with music in the early 80's, building his own synthesizers and tape recorders. In 1983, he co-founded and started composing for the underground group Notchnoi Prospekt (Night Avenue), in which he also played synthesizers and electronically processed the band's other instruments. In 1989, he left the band to pursue a solo career and delved deeper into the realms of atmospheric ambient Electronic Music and ethnic music. Unfortunately, Ivan Sokolovsky died on the 15th of May, 2005. Notes: River, Lake, Sea is a compilation of works for various projects Ivan had been involved with; Conquest of Arctic was released under the "Soft Animals" project name; finally, Yat-Kha is not only the title of the album but also the name of the project that combined traditional Tuvan throat singing with electronics. Subsequent albums of Yat-Kha had nothing to do with Ivan.

See also: Notchnoi Prospekt

 


Sokolowski, Michael (USA)

Soul Pilgrimage (2021) (with Tim Reynolds)

US pianist. Soul Pilgrimage is an album based on electronics, which is nice and spacey, often with something of an Ashra vibe thanks to Reynolds' languid guitar contributions.

 


Sol Mortuus (Russia)

Extinction (2015)
Ur-Ala (2017)
Yol - Neuer (2023) (recorded in 2018 - 2020)

Shamanistic ambience inspired by legends and traditions of the Uralic people.

 


Sol Tek (Netherlands)

Steps Into Space (2012)

Albert Borkent is Sol Tek. Cosmic, psychedelic soundscapes with some slow rhythms from time to time.

See also: Lingua Lustra

 


Sol, Victor (Germany)

Gate / Sol (1994) (with Charles Gate)
Sky Love Dog (2010)

Gate / Sol is one of the more obscure early releases on Fax label. Both names (Charles Gate and Victor Sol) are pseudonyms of German artists. Victor Sol is actually Lars Müller, who a bit later released a solo techno album and then a nice and moody rhythmic / melodic EM disc Sky Love Dog. The music on Gate / Sol is not typical of the label's output as it's mostly quiet and relaxing, even new-agey, Ambient.

See also: Aerial Service Area, +N.

 


Sola Translatio (Italy)

Mother Sunrise (2000)
Ad Infinitum (2001)
Enigma (2006)

Sola Translatio are Alio Die and Opium (Matteo Zini). Ambient soundscapes.

See also: Alio Die, Opium.

 


Soland, Yanik (Switzerland)

YUKI (2021)

Interdisciplinary artist from Basel. Experimental EM with a wacky twist - processed / caroonish voices, cosmic synths, collages, etc. Pretty complex stuff. Not bad.

 


Solanum (Germany)

Spheres of Time (1997) (S)
Spectral Poetry (1999)

Dungeon synth / fantasy music with an extra EM / ambient flair in places. Pretty moody and nice most of the time. The second half of Spectral Poetry is occupied by some rather basic techno / trance tracks that sound out of place. Solanum was a project of B. Schmidt, one of the founding members of Depressive Silence.

See also: Depressive Silence

 


Solar (Sweden)

Things We Found, But Left Behind (2019)

A synth / drums duo from Sweden. Driving, melodic, sequencer-based EM with a rock flair.

 


Solar Bears (Ireland)

Advancement (2016)

A duo of John Kowalski and Rian Trench. They seem to be influenced by the sound of projects like Boards of Canada. However, at least Advancement has enough Prog EM influences to warrant an inclusion here.

 


Solar Dream Light Machine (UK)

Machine Visions (2009)

Paul Pinfold. Rhythmic, Kraftwerk-influenced tracks with some vocoder voices.

 


Solar Fields (Sweden)

Until We Meet the Sky (2020)
Reflective Frequencies (2021)
Blue Moon Station (2021)
Formations (2022)
Random Friday (2023)
Undiscovered Stories (2023)
Origin # 2 (2023)

A downtempo project of Magnus Birgersson created in the late 1990's. Until We Meet the Sky moves towards ambient structures and sounds. The same applies to Reflective Frequencies.

 


Solar Lodge (Italy)

Heartbeat of the Roses (1989)
Recicling Project 2 (1990)
Bluth und Bluthe (1990)
Topy TV, Tribute To Psychic TV (1990)
Eternity Into Stillness (1992)
Solar Lodge (1993)
According To the Rites of Beauty (1995)
Spells of Challenge (1999)
Wax And Wane (2002)

Floating electronics from Fulvio Biondo and Enrico Angarano. I think this will appeal to fans of both classic EM and Ambient forms.

 


Solar Moon System (Germany)

Logbook '94_'00 (2000)

Solar Moon System is a German collective of Tom Dams, Georg Boskamp and Uwe Lehr. Their album was produced by Klaus Schulze. Slow beats and atmospheres with some vocalizing here and there.

 


Solar Ocean (Russia)

Twilight October (2010)
Untitled (2010)
The Stars That Shine In the Depths (2010)
Untitled (2011) (S)
Enter Serenity (2012)
Melting Morning (2015)
Warm Flows / Emanating Currents (2017) (recorded in 2010 - 2015)

Ambient soundscapes.

 


Solar Powered Buddha (UK)

Power of Four (2014)
Library Music (2017)

Steve Lyon.

 


Solar Quest (UK)

EV003 (2022)

1990's ambient techno / chill-out / downtempo project of George Fleming-Saunders. EV003 has some sounds and atmospheres that will appeal to fans of EM.

See also: Entropica

 


Solaris (Germany)

Premiere (1978)

Same band as Cyborg.

See also: Cyborg

 


Solaris (Germany)

This band was formed in the late 1970's or early 1980's by Lutz Rahn (who left in the mid 1980's) and Toni Roberts. A bit later, Dave Schmidt aka Sula Bassana joined them. The group disbanded circa 1987 / 1988 but had given several live shows and recorded a couple of tapes.

See also: Rahn, Lutz, Sula Bassana.

 


Solaris (Germany)

Collaboration (2000)

A collaboration of Apoptose, Ambit and Polygon projects. Dark Ambient.

See also: Polygon

 


Solaris (Hungary)

Marsbeli Kronikaak (1983)

The first track starts surprisingly similar to the beginning of "Metropolis" by Kraftwerk. Later the music ventures into Tangerine Dream / Vangelis territory. Subsequent tracks are in similar vein, mixing TD-like sound (circa Tangram) with more rock elements. The third track even has some sounds that pleasantly recall Schulze from the mid-Eighties. The soloing is top-notch throughout and overall this album should appeal to fans of both Electronic Music and progressive / symphonic rock.

 


Solaris (Poland)

Solaris (1996)
Introitus (1998)
Mho (1999)
3K (1999)
MW 1602 (2004)

Polish Dark Ambient project (Rafal Detkos and Adam Kielsznia).

See also: Ucho

 


Solaris (Serbia / USA)

Aeon V (2017)

Post-apocalyptic / sci-fi ambience with a hypnotic, moody sound.

See also: Ascendant

 


Solarize (Germany)

Nachtwerk (1991 - 1998) (2019)

A duo of Wilfried Franzen and Thomas Grötz that exists since 1981. Nachtwerk gathers some of their pieces recorded during the 1990's. Diverse EM, rhythmic / melodic, but not very comparable to other artists, although the influences of German pioneers like Lutz Rahn, Wolfgang Riechmann, Kraftwerk and Cluster are there.

 


Solarstone (UK)

Island (2020)

A project of Richard John Mowatt, a trance artist active since the early 2000's. Island is a regular progressive trance / melodic trance disc, but each of its sides closes with a melodic ambient / EM piece. Of these, the closer "Tied", with its prominent sequence, is particularly memorable. File under EM-related.

 


Solatipour, Reza (Iran)

The Gate (2019)

Dark Ambient artist from Tehran.

 


Solberg, Snorre Magnar (Norway)

Arkhe Typos (2020)

Echoing sequences and arpeggios arranged in repeating patterns. Nice hypnotic EM from this Bergen-based artist.

 


Soleil Macabre (Germany)

Through the Eyes of Fall (2016)
Queen of Wands (2020)

A project of Wolfgang Kirchheim with drums by Marco Tecza and some additional keys by Martin Pohl. Soleil Macabre is all about improvised progrock / EM that to me often comes off as a hybrid of Christian von Escherscheim's Sommernachtstraum (the "sunny" mood), Bo Hansson and Änglagård (the mellotron). The tracks are long and largely based on improvisation. It is all very well played by some guys who are obviously competent musicians. The closing, sequencer-based section of "Equilibrium" (Queen of Wands)  is phenomenal and quite groovy / hypnotic.

See also: Glaswald

 


Soleil Vert (Canada)

Du Déluge au Désert (2006)

Mostly classic style synthesist from Quebec.

 


solemnland (Canada)

Unknown No. 1 (2023)

A project of Raymond Tani, whose first contact with Electronic Music or synthesizers happened in 1973. He is influenced by "György Ligeti, Béla Bartók, Edgar Froese, Isao Tomita, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and the landscapes of the North". Pretty nice and diverse atmospheric EM.

 


Solid Waste (USA)

Long Slow Dream (2016) (S)
Sketches From An Artificial Mountain (2016)
Visions (2017)
City of the Cosmos (2021)

Synth trio from St. Louis, consisting of Mario Martinez, Josh Kahl and Nate Bethel. Warm, floating sound, often somewhat new-agey.

 


Solipsism (UK)

Let's Watch the Sunrise (2011) (EP)
Soliloquy (2012)
Opiate Odyssey (2013) (with Nacht Plank)
The Cerenarian Sea (2014) (with Nacht Plank)
Sun Sign Symmetry (2014)
Thoth Machine (2015)
Kismet (2018)
In A Not So Distant Future (2024)

Craig Murphy from Glasgow creates varied soundscapes, mostly ambient, but also classically inspired and with glitchy elements.

 


Solipsist Paradise (Netherlands)

Aware (1996)

Same band as Wave World with Klaus Schulze on one track.

See also: Wave World

 


Solitaire (Germany)

Altered States (1990)
Ritual Ground (1991) (with Steve Roach)
Plains And Skies (1992)
Fearless (1995)
Nocturnes (1997)

Solitaire is basically German synthesist Elmar Schulte. Very good ambient electronics.

See also: Schulte, Elmar

 


Sollilja (USA)

In Looking, Disappears (2016)

Obscure electronics from Los Angeles. A mixture of tinkling analog synths / arpeggios and darker, industrial-tinged material.

 


Sollmann, Phillip (Germany)

Something Is Missing (2006)
Edition Rodeo 01 (2011) (S) (with Roman Flügel)
Gegen die Zeit (2016) (with John Guertler)
Monophonie (2020)

Experimental composer. Of interest are some parts of Gegen die Zeit, especially "Zeitgeist", with its lulling analog synths.

 


Solo Andata (Australia)

Fyris Swan (2006)
Solo Andata (2009)
Ritual (2010)
In the Lens (2015)

Ambient duo of Paul Fiocco and Kane Ikin. Like a substantially darker version of Brian Eno.

See also: Fiocco, Paul, Ikin, Kane.

 


Solo Archivist (Sweden)

Winter Spirals (2012)

Experimental musician with a considerable amount of releases to his credit. I don't know how much of it would actually qualify as Prog EM, but at least the above album apparently features atmospheric, melancholic synth compositions.

 


Soloi Sounds (Japan)

Patterns (2021)
Another Perspective (2021)
Frames (2022)
Currents (2023)

Varied ambient compositions, mostly airy and light. A project of Tokyo-based Yosuke Goto.

 


Soloist Anti Pop Totalization (Japan)

Synth In Japan (2022) (with Jin-Cromanyon)
In the Beginning of A New World (2022)

From aggressive and industrial-like rhythms to pure synth-pop and electro influenced by Kraftwerk.

 


Solstice (France)

Simon Field (2020) (S)

Ambient project of Ambre Kalvin. From field recordings to melodic, even hymnal material.

 


Soltau, Thorsten (Germany)

Catafalque (2016) (S)
Tektoplastie Art (2017) (with Pharmakustik)
Vox Catuli (2018) (with Max Kuiper)
Fabella (2019) (S)
Murgang 1971 (2019) (with Pharmakustik)
The She-Butterfly (2020) (with Pharmakustik)
Acker und Seche (2021) (with Emerge and RLW)
Gewächse im Zwielicht (2022)

Experimental musician who works with concrete textures a lot. On Catafalque, though, he goes for the ambient synth sound.

See also: Red Cliffs

 


Solune (France??)

Journey of the Folktales (2016) (EP)
Alteration-Cycles (2016)
The Hierophant (2017) (EP)
Blowing Techniques (2018)

Solune is a project of Etienne Dauta. He alternates between rhythmic techno / deep house tunes and floating synth / ambient compositions.

 


Solus (Hungary)

Night Oblivion (2010)

Simplistic and repetitive keyboard Ambient.

 


Solus (USA)

Solus (2022)

Electronic project of Tyler Hicks. Mostly shorter, lo-fi sketches in varied styles and without a clear direction.

 


Solveil (Germany)

Con Sense (2013)

Effective cosmic Ambient with occasional tribal beats on Databloem label.

See also: Con_Sense

 


Solvognen (UK)

IKB (2014)
R.G. (2014)
Warmth (2022) (with miunau)

R.G. offers rich, emotional, completely analogue-based soundscapes made with the help of modular synthesizers. IKB is more rhythmic but has the same feel overall.

 


Sølyst (Germany)

Sølyst (2011)
Lead (2013)
Polar / Pierbourg (2015) (with Tarwater)
The Steam Age (2016)
Spring (2021)

Metronomic electronics from Kreidler's drummer Thomas Klein.

See also: Kreidler, La!Neu?

 


Soma, Tomoaki (Japan)

Fukushima (2011) (S)
Puffball (2011)
Kodama (2012)
Cirrostratus (2013)
Late February (2013)
Kuebiko (2013)

Snow In March (2013)
Evanescent (2013)
Come Out of Hibernation (2013)
A Nest of Swallow (2013)
Black Summer Season (2013) (S)
The Puddles (2014)
Bonfire (2014)
Potaraka (2014)
This Old Tale (2014)
Ashino (2014)
Splitting Wood (2015)

Droning Ambient artist from Japan.

 


Somafree Institute (USA)

Vertical Helix Scan (2021) (recorded in 2019)

Seattle-based duo of Andrew Crawshaw, Justin Thomas Kleine, with Tim Call on drums. Nice melodic, propulsive EM.

See also: Crawshaw, Andrew, New Frontiers, Old Dark House.

 


Somatic Responses (UK)

Volatile Landscape (2023)
Unreal Memory (2024)

Pioneering IDM / acid techno duo (John and Paul Healy) from Wales. On Volatile Landscape, they are moving in the ambient direction, while still maintaining elements of IDM beats on a lot of the tracks. File under EM-related.

 


Somaticae (France)

SANAI (2022) (S)
Kleis (2022) (S)

Amédée De Murcia is a club-related artist who decided to go Prog Electronics on SANAI. Fast, intricate sequencing with a slight trance / deconstructed club feel.

 


Sombrous (USA)

Transcending the Umbra (2004)

Frosty dark / neo-classical ambience ala Vinterriket from M. Marino out of Minnesota, USA. Other influences include Robert Rich, Steve Roach and Brannan Lane.

 


Some Truths (UK)

Midnight Mornings Drenched In Dayglo (2011)
Damnation Poisoned With Rainbows (2011)
The First Gate of Dreaming (2011)
Low Point X (2013)
Some Friends I Lost To Bedlam, Others I Abandoned There (2014)
Bliss Abyss (2014)

The 2011 albums represent a cassette trilogy with music that sounds like Computerwelt-era Kraftwerk jamming with Conrad Schnitzler in a parallel universe. Some Truths is Ralph Cumbers.

See also: Bass Clef

 


Something Completely Different (Netherlands)

Megacatz (2001)
Marathon (2002)
The Book of Love (2003)
The Last Gate (2003)
Songs From 1981 - 1987 (2006)

Great rhythmic and melodic electronics by one Boele Gerkes. The collection Songs From 1981 - 1987 may not be for starters but it shows the musician developing his style. It begins with "Fender Volume Organ" - an experimental piece comprised of an organ drone and various spooky effects. "4th Jen Song" continues with a cheesy analogue sequence and an equally cheesy, positive melody. This is profoundly synthetic, even robotic music. Nice one. "Poly 800-7" contains a melodic sequence and a rather solemn melodic theme, reminding on historic scenes from the times of King Arthur. Everything was played on Korg Poly-800 synthesizer. "Philicorda 2" is a nice slab of hypnotic electric organ cheesyness. "Twin Peaks 2", on the other hand, is quite moody and atmospheric, with long-drawn pads and a distorted, screaming synth lead. "Jan Hammer" is a melodic, "commercial" tune with catchy hooks and very 1980's-sounding drums. I think fans of Jarre and, naturally, Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice" period will enjoy this. "Polysix 1" basically consists of phased analogue string sounds. Simple, but fine. A dramatic sequence appears towards the end. "The Whale Poly 800" is a thick-textured analogue piece, with layered string / pad sounds and an upbeat sequence. A new sequence emerges after a while, along with a good melodic theme. Fans of 1980's Tangerine Dream will enjoy this. "Poly 800-8" continues in a rather restrained mode, with pads, a very mundane sequence and a nice melody. "1e ESQ Nummer" starts in a Jarre-like manner, with an urgent sequence and a cascading synth tone. The drums start and it could easily be one of those "lost" tracks off Rendez-Vous sessions. "Filmscore" is a short, but intense sketch of heavy synth pads. "Poly 800-2" moves the cheese meter up a few notches. This is really as melodic and sweet as it gets. "Bayerisch" is extremely low-fi. Sounds like a folk tune blaring from the speaker of an old comuter game. "Poly 800-5 Distorted" starts with a spooky organ. Very soon an arpeggio comes in, together with a dramatic melodic theme. "Intro met ESQ-1" is basically just sequences and a few atmospheres. Very powerful, though. "Poly 800-4 Plus String" has rolling arpeggios and one of those typical melodies that fill this album. "Submarine" has a slow marching sequence and a few mysterious pads, together with more experimental textures. "Seagulls" begins with twittering synth effects and excellent analogue atmospheres. After a while you can hear a low, sober synth melody and a few guitar strums. The second section consists of upbeat sequences, melodies and effects. A few playing mistakes do not spoil the great impression this track leaves. "Brazen Sky Polysix" is dominated by rolling arpeggios and wooden, mundane melodic sonics. "Ryuteki", with it's reflective flutes, is a nice and cinematic way to finish this diverse collection.

 


Somfay, Jesse (Canada)

Between Heartbeats (2005)
A Catch In the Voice (2009)
Levamentum [Aqua Regia] (2016)

Levamentum features melodic music between ambient EM and club music. A nice, individual style with lots of filtered supersaw sounds. A Catch In the Voice is more in the style of hypnagogic pop / deconstructed club, but also with ambient influences.

 


Sommes, Jacoti (USA)

Travel Time (2020)

Columbus, Ohio-based synthesist. Pretty varied stuff, from wonderful cosmic pads / sequences of the opener through weird rhythmic excursions and abstract interludes to a funky 1980's synth vibe of "Pulse Start", "Push On" and "Everything Is Fine". It is all pretty expertly done.

 


Sommet (France)

Sommet (2012)

Varied EM from Sébastien Rosat out of Paris. Seems to be inspired by library music and film scores.

 


Somnam (Finland)

Melancholy's Masquerade (2007)

Varied emotional Ambient from this Finnish project out of Jyväskylä.

 


Somnium (Italy)

Arachnophobia (2011) (EP)
Gelida Vampa (2012)
Dissoluzioni / Ossessioni (2012)
Katadeo (2013)
Marinconia (2014)

Dark Ambient project from Italy formed in 2011. Also known as :§:omnium or simply :§:.

 


Somnium (Spain)

Paisajes Analogicos (1984)
Otros Mundos, Otros Soles (2001)

Somnium used to be a band (from Mieres, Asturias) that consisted of Manuel Jesus Rodriguez and Luis Fez. They made an album and then disappeared. The project was reanimated six years later and this time Rodriguez teamed up with Guzman Concejo. This line-up made Otros Mundos, Otros Soles with music that is very much in the classic EM tradition.

 


Somnivore (Finland)

1818 - 1991 (2005)
Maelstrom (2005) (with Kivelä)
Clergy of Oneiros (2007)
Sleepwalker's Sketchbook (2011)

Medieval Ambient with a horror edge.

See also: Kaarna

 


Somnoroase Păsărele (Romania)

ABECD (2013)
GAMA (2015) (S)
PATRU (2016) (S)
VOMA (2016)
CO (2016)
TION (2016)
ESSEN (2016)
DEMO (2017)
PENE (2017)
0RT0 (I-IV) (2017)
AUTO[1] (2018)
CAPITOL (2019)
AZZA (2020)
AUTO[R] (2021)
POLO (2021)
COSMS (2021)
ZAAZ (2022)
0RT0 (V-VI) (2022) (S)
ZEET (2022)
AGONAL (2022)

A project of Gili Mocanu who is a sonic artist and painter. I am not sure about his earlier works, but POLO features two almost identical slabs of stark, slowly shifting and randomly rhythmic electronics. Quite curious stuff, although I am not sure it holds the attention well. AZZA is darker and more ambient, with no rhythmic elements to speak of.

 


Son Ash (Denmark)

Easy Listening For the Hearing Impaired (2017)

Danish guitarist and singer-songwriter Andreas Pallisgaard Hansen who seems to have an alter ego, releasing sonic etudes done on analog synthesizers, ranging from the abstract to the melodic. Pretty nice stuff  overall, even if somewhat basic in places.

 


Son, Nika (Germany)

__I__ (2014)
Residency Tape 3: Nika Son (2018) (S)
To Eeyore (2020)

Nika Breithaupt aka Nika Son is a Hamburg-based experimental artist, relying on processed field recordings and minimal analog synths. To me, her work has something of a Conrad Schnitzler quality.

 


Son of A Lizard (Greece)

Existence Is Elsewhere (2021)

Solo project of Pijo - drummer of stoner rockers Lizardia. He is based in Volos and is influenced by Harmonia, Goblin, John Carpenter, Vangelis, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk.

 


Son of Chi (Netherlands)

The Transition Recordings (2021) (with Radboud Mens)
The Fifth World Recordings (2022) (with Arthur Flink)

Long, hypnotic ambient tracks.

See also: Oosterom, Hanyo van, Chi.

 


Son of Ohm (Netherlands)

Syrinx (2017)
Astronaut (2017)
Blackbirds (2018)
Cosmic Message (2018) (with Phrozenlight)
Electronic Muse (2018)
Paradigma (2019)
The Lo-Fi Backspace Camembert Files (2020)
The End of Time (2020)
Deeper Ground (2020)
Reflections (2021)
Wandering Monk (2021)
Sadhana (2023)

Music with a definite 1970's twist - sequences, organs and repetitive guitar patterns / solos really take you into early Tangerine Dream / Ashra territory.

See also: Leonardo

 


Sona Nyl (France)

Refugee (2016)

Varied ambient project from France. Sounds range from pure noise to rather melodic synth.

See also: El Prêtro Maniaco, Cathuria, Evolva.

 


Sonanaut (USA)

Sinking Upwards (2007)

Moody, cinematic mixture of downtempo and ambient EM. Nocturnal, urban atmosphere prevails here. A project of Simon Smart.

 


Sonda A Barnard (Venezuela)

Sonda A Barnard (2000)

Spacey electronics by Dario Sosa with progrock and jazz tendencies. Juan Carlos Ballesta plays percussion on this album.

 


Sone Institute (UK??)

Where Moth And Rust Consume (2018)

A project of Roman Bezdyk. The above is a strange and quirky album with a pop attitude but an experimental feeling. Sounds a bit influenced by Kraftwerk in places.

 


Songs For Pneumonia (Germany)

Steno (2016)

Experimental electronics from this Halle / Berlin-based group. Rich synth sound here, with echoes of classic German EM.

 


Songs of Death (???)

The End of Man (2023) (S)

Pure Doom Ambient sounds - distant tolling bells, ghosts of a brass orchestra, the atmosphere of tragedy, the fleetness of life and inevitability of death.

 


Sonic Area (France)

Eyes In the Sky (2016)
Ki (2021)

Varied techno / industrial-related artist (real name - Arnaud Coëffic). On Eyes In the Sky, he ventures into the territory of beatless EM and ambience.

 


Sonic Deception (Iceland)

Ghost Army (2016)

Grim ambient atmospheres and techno beats from Bjarki Jónsson.

 


Sonic Epiphany (USA)

Spheres of Music (2007)

Mostly Space Music influenced by Jonn Serrie.

 


Sonic Ponderings (USA)

Electro-Thought (2005)

Varied ambient and experimental compositions from Richard Wixner.

 


Sonic Research Society (Germany / Belgium)

Drifting Forward (2021)
Clean Air Factory (2022)

This duo of synthesists Godfried Stockmans and Christial Fiesel deliver under this moniker a rhythmic, partly even dancey kind of EM, with beats, bass sequences and wacky melodies. A curious sound and not what you'd expect.

See also: Fiesel, Christian, Stockman.

 


Soniq Theater (Germany)

Force Majeure (2011)
Stardust Memories (2013)
Heroes of the Past (2014)
Guitarissimo (2015) (recorded in 1990)
Globaliced (2016)
The Journey (2017)
Squaring the Circle (2018)
Brandenburg (2019)

Soniq Theater is a solo project of German keyboard player Alfred Mueller, a member of progressive rock band Rachel's Birthday. He released a lot of self-produced albums as Soniq Theater since 2000 and they are largely instrumental one-man band affairs in retro-prog vein, with Mueller taking care of everything, from synth solos and hammond organ imitations to programmed drums, sampled guitars and so on. On Force Majeure a certain Tangerine Dream influence is felt, mainly of 1985 - 1990 period. I will try to list his discs that contain electronic or electronic-related material here.

 


Sonic Theatre, The (Italy)

Opposite Worlds (??)

A project of Nat Amigoni, who is one of the artists from the Cybertracks record label roster.

See also: Virtualmind, U.P.I., Virtual Audio Project.

 


SONICrider (Netherlands)

Elapsus (2022)

Experimental EM that is alternatively abstract and sequencer-based.

 


Sonisk Blodbad (Norway)

Blue Room (2011) (S)
Dark Spring (2012)
Behind Doors of Water (2013) (S)
Drown (2014) (S)
Deux (2015)
Electric Mirror (2019)
The Shores of Oblivion (2022)

Ambient group that involves members of Big Robot. Two of the tracks from Dark Spring were composed by Conrad Schniztler who also appears as performer. Hard to describe their sound that includes influences from experimental music, classical music and more. Started as a Norwegian band, Sonisk Blodbad has since become international.

See also: Big Robot, Iversen.

 


Sonmi (USA)

Almost Human (2012)

North Carolina-based band with an energetic melodic sound mixing liquid guitars, drums, bass and lots of synths. Somehow comparable to Froese / Froese Tangerine Dream (circa Mars Polaris), Maxxess, Frank Dorittke, etc.

 


Sonmi451 (Belgium)

Vladivostok (2005)
A Phosphorous Spot (2006)
Probes & Prisms (2007)
Cloud Atlas (2007) (EP)
Spectrum (2010)
Ruis (2010)
Star Atlas (2011)
Four Peaks (2012)
Hummingbird (2013)
The Limbic System (2015)
Alice (2016)
Panta Rei (2017)
Seven Signals In the Sky (2021)
The Eighteen Minute Gap (2023)

Ambient music from Bernard Zwijzen. Early works have a strong IDM influence, so prog EM heads, tread with caution.

 


Sonne, Astrid (Denmark)

Human Lines (2017)
Cliodynamics (2019)
Live From Berlin Atonal 2018 (2020)
Outside of Your Lifetime (2021)

An experiment in electronics from this classically trained musician. Abstract, playful, sometimes grating and experimental.

 


Sonnenstadt (Germany)

We've Been Hiding Too Long (2020)

Interesting mixture of ambient EM and some hip-hop / downtempo rhythms from this Leipzig-based project.

 


Sonny Downs Quartet, The (Australia)

The Village Pond (2023) (recorded in 2020 - 2021)

Microtonal compositions played on Buchla 200e modular synthesizer. The music is playful, sort of minimal and completely analog (i.e. no midi or DAW).

 


Sonny Mountain (USA)

Bart Travels the Spaceways (2018)

Mostly exercises in drum machine rhythms, some coupled with psychedelic synth and some purely psychedelic synth with no rhythms.

 


Sonobe (Italy)

Frames n2 (2021)

Varied synthesist from Rome. Reflective melodies, complex sequences, pads, cosmic atmospheres - it's all there. Some Gert Emmens touches even ("Frame n12", in particular, is a track very much in Gert's style).

 


Sonogram (USA)

Heartbeat Submarines (1999)
Arrival Lounge (2002)
Substrates (2004) (recorded in 1995 - 1999)
Vinyl Studies (2007)
Pixels (2009)
Cubists (2011)
How We Saw Tomorrow (2013)
LED Melodies (2015)
Telescopic (2017)

Tear Ceremony's alter ego. Ambient.

See also: Tear Ceremony, Tapes And Topographies.

 


Sonologyst (Italy)

Interdimensional (2022)

Sonologyst is a dark experimental / post-industrial project of Raffaele Pezzella, active since 2012. On Interdimensional, he is more cosmic and ambient, which makes at least this particular album relevant for EEM.

 


Sonometer (Germany / France)

Sonolite (2021)

Dark, noisy soundcapes from Sascha Stadlmeier and Gildas Brugaro.

See also: Emerge

 


Sonoprint (USA)

Ambient Space (2007)

Ambient trio of Mikoli Weaver, Tom Taylor and Greg Cutright.

 


Sonorhc (France)

Outrelande (1982)
Portes d'Orient (1984)
K'An (1992)
Amazonia (2015) (recorded in 1985)

Ethnic progressive band led by Jean-François Gaël and Pierre Buffenoir. They released their first album titled Purf in 1972. That one was rock-influenced. However, on their follow-up (released after a 10-year break), that included some new music as well as archive material recorded in the 1970's, they changed to a krautrock-y mixture of ethnic instruments and electronics. I guess fans of World Music will like this. The same style continues in their only library release, Portes d'Orient.

 


Sonoronoise (???)

Tijeras Cortantes (2022)
Nave B (2023)

Bleak Noise Ambient / Polar Ambient from this project.

 


Sonur, Francisco (Argentina)

Incansable arroyo que canta en mi alma (2020)
Sleep Researchers (2021)
Morning Trials (2021)
Kind of Happiness (2021)
When the Light Comes All Over the Land (2023)

Argentinean ambient artist currently residing in Australia. Semi-acoustic sound, with a huge piano presence and some glitchiness.

 


SONYA™ SleepStation (Russia??)

SONYA™ SleepStation (2019)
The Beauty of Sleep (2020)

Long-form droning ambience.

 


SŌON (UK)

Noise (2019)

Electronic Music from Adi Newton (Clock DVA) and Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto). Sequenced pieces, noisy / experimental pieces, etc.

See also: Clock DVA, Dangers, Jack.

 


Soothsayer (USA)

Neptune's Daughter (2009) (S)
Inflow Illusion (2011) (S)
Offworld (2012) (S) (with Roy Orb D.MT.)
Keynes Utopia (2012)

Space Music with a bit of a low-fi feel from Steve Rosborough out of Minneapolis who has several cassette releases to his credit. He is also a member of free improvisation / noise duo Olives.

See also: Omni Gardens

 


Sophist, The (USA)

Subliminal Control (1987)

"One-man band" from NYC with his own brand of minimal synth-infused, instrumental music.

 


Sophos (Argentina)

Relatos Cósmicos (2013)
Mueon (2022)
Tales From Urania (2023)

Rich, melodic EM based on the sound of various synthesizers, mostly analog, but also FM and other digital. Various styles here: symphonic Vangelis, sequencer / Berlin School, Space Music... Sophos was initially a duo of Ulises Labaronnie and Rodrigo Etchebarne before the latter moved to the USA. Since then it's a solo project of Labaronnie.

 


Sopoorific (France)

Flesh Meshing (2018)
The Seep (2019) (EP) (with Blind Delon)
Auras Around Humans (2021)
Waterfall Cave (2022)

A project of Alison Flora. Experimental, often harsh electronics. The long closer "Unless+Uncertain Path" is very impressive EM in a unique style.

 


Sorb-i-tol (Finland)

Piste (2000) (recorded in 1996 - 2000)

Although a trip-hop project, Jukka Sillanpää's Sorb-i-tol collaborated with Mika Rintala (Verde) on Piste. The latter contributes his homemade theremin and synths and the whole ends up sounding very electronic and very Prog. A nice little gem of an album with music partly recorded live.

See also: Verde

 


Sordahl, Shanna (USA)

Radiate Don't Fear the Quietus (2018)
So She Shone / So They Shone (2022) (S)

Droning electronic compositions. Shanna Sordahl is a Bay Area musician who uses processed cello, synthesizers and voice.

 


Sordid Sound System (UK)

In A Year of 13 Moons (2015) (S)
Lux Exterior (2016)
Fear Eats the Soul (2017) (S)
Psychedelic Dungeon Disco Vol. IV (2018) (S)
Cape Perpetua (2019)

Sordid Sound System is a project of Scottish musician Stuart Evans who curiously mixes dub with analogue synthesizers, resulting in a somewhat krauty sound, like an extension of ideas first tried on Rastakraut Pasta by Moebius and Plank, but also the early solo work of Moebius.

 


Sørensen, Jesper (Denmark)

A New Time (2007)
Synthology (2014)
Skyrider (2017)
The World of ElecTron (2017)
Outer Limits (2018)
Dark Star (2018)
Zero Gravity (2018)
Best of 3 (2021)
Vita Bona Est (2022)
Vita Bona Est Companion (2022)

Synthesist with a classic rhythmic / melodic style.

 


Sorensen, Jon (UK)

2012: The 11:11 (2008)
The Core of Dreams (2008)
Cool Beans: Gods And Gothics (2008)
Witch Symphony (2009)
The Visualist (2009)
The Death of Grass (2009)
The Ken Russell (2009)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (2010)
The Raft of the Medusa (2010)
Music Inspired By the Television Series Prison Break (2010)

A film-maker who started his career in the 1970's, working on visual effects for "Alien", "Dark Crystal", "Flash Gordon", "Moonraker", "Outland" and more. Jon Sorensen is also a musician who composes cinematic music with ambient leanings, from light to dark, from melodic to experimental. Some new agey material, too.

 


Sørensen, Nicklas (Denmark)

Solo (2016)
Solo 2 (2018)
Always Already Here (2019) (with Jonas Munk)
Live (2022) (recorded in 2018 and 2017)
Live 2 (2023)

Hypnotic minimalism from guitarist of psychedelic / jam band / space rockers Papir. Repetitive guitar patterns that will be enjoyed by fans of Neu!, Michael Rother and Manuel Goettsching. Jonas Munk guests of synthesizers.

 


Sorenson, Beau (USA)

Indifference Will Devour You (2022)

Aka Beaunoise. Minimal, ambient compositions mixing acoustic instruments such as the piano and analog electronics (Buchla Easel, Prophet 5 and others). Pretty nice and competent stuff. Sometimes just excellent (as on "Lusitania", the title track and others).

See also: Beaunoise, Exurbs.

 


Sorgini, Giuliano (Italy)

Africa Oscura (2018) (recorded in 1974 - 1976)
Occulto (2020) (recorded in ??)
Sounds From the Far Space (2020) (recorded in 197?)

Giuliano Sorgini is an Italian funk / library composer. He also made music to a lot of soundtracks. Africa Oscura is a collection of music on which he only plays percussion / drums and synthesizers. Sort of a World Music / library EM style crossover. Pretty minimal and hypnotic.

 


Soroastra (Portugal)

Olímpiadas de Pensamentos Acelerados (2021)

Weird percussive music with dark synthesizers layered on top.

 


Sortlegeme (Denmark)

Awe (2019)
Zero Intensity (2021)

Danish techno-related act previously known as Outer Nothingness. The above works are related to ambient electronics, though. On Awe, you will find climatic ambient EM with many different sections, from melodic to noisy and intense.

 


SOS (UK)

SOS (1975)

Avant-garde / free jazz trio of Alan Skidmore, Mike Osborne and John Surman. The closing track "Calypso" is, suprisingly, a sequencer assault by Surman, on top of which the other two members improvise on saxes. Really, this sounds like Edgar Froese backing a free jazz band! Amazing crossover  EM / jazz stuff and, yes, it's basically a one-track inclusion. File under EM-related.

See also: Surman, John

 


SØS Gunver Ryberg (Denmark)

Entangled (2019)
Spine (2023)

Danish producer, deejay and club musician. Her ambient tracks, like "The Presence_eurydike" and "Silver Thread" (Entangled) are actually pretty nice. I wonder how a completely ambient / EM album by her would sound like. File under EM-related.

 


Sostrah Tinnitus (Italy)

Smell of Moisture After the Rain (2003) (S)
Les Debris de l'Ete (2003)
Favo di Fiele (2004)
Nebra (2004)
A Rain Water Stratum On the Sea (2005)
L'odore del ramo Spezzato (2005)
Caravanserraglio (2005)
Piccola Musica Per Staglieno (2005) (S)
Libellus Alchemicus Aegypticus (2007) (S)
Stain (2011) (with Opium)
Concredrones (2013) (with Maurizio Bianchi)
Peripherycal Minimaltronics (2018) (with Maurizio Bianchi)

A project of Mario Costa which is essentially a contituation of his previous project Tumulus Seraphim. While the former project was based on dark / deep isolationist structures, Sostrah Tinnitus is more organic sounding, like Ritual Ambient of artists such as Alio Die.

See also: Tumulus Seraphim

 


Sote (Iran)

Moscels (2020)
Majestic Noise Made In Beautiful Rotten Iran (2022)

Although Iranian musician Ata Ebtekar aka Sote is mainly known for his hardcore experimental works in genres such as electroacoustic music and IDM, he explores a more ambient, and at the same time, more emotionally rich and melodic territory on Moscels. Rather unique and definitely interesting. Best track: "Moscels Z". Majestic Noise... continues his exploration of more progressive sounds and styles.

 


Sotofett, Han (Norway)

Twotinos (2017)
The Buy Out (2019)
Noldus (2019) (S)

A pseudonym of Stefan Alvin Mitterer also known as a deejay. The Buy Out is basically an avant-garde jazz record, with Stefan playing synths. It begins and ends with lysergic synth / mellotron pieces, though, that sound as if lifted straight from Tangerine Dream / Edgar Froese prime period (circa Phaedra / Epsilon In Malaysian Pale). File under EM-related.

 


Sottosuolo (Italy)

Attoprimo (2015) (S)
Incubi (2018) (S)

To me, the music of this project sounds influenced by two musical worlds: on the one hand, the rich Italian tradition of industrial / noise explorers (i.e., Maurizio Bianchi, Atrax Morgue, etc.) and, on the other hand, the experimental end of the Prog EM spectrum with artists like Conrad Schnitzler, Moebius and their ilk. Minimal sound, sometimes noisy, sometimes sort of playful.

 


Sou, Suki (Macau)

Notes On Listening (2023)

London-based Sou grew up listening to Tawanese pop music and watching Hong Kong animation. After moving to the UK she set up a studio with a focus on analog systems like ARP 2500, Buchla and Serge. Playful, minialist, sequence-full EM with influences of the German classics and a unique touch. Nice stuff.

 


Soul Flask (UK)

The Twilight of Flight (2020)

Melodic music mixing analog synths and downtempo rhythms, a bit in the style of Boards of Canada, but closer to Prog EM.

 


Soul In Limbo (Australia)

Diffusing the Light (2007)
Driven By Thanatos (2008)

Dreamy, droning Ambient from Australia.

 


Soular System (France)

Birth of Paradise (1971)

Obscure release on Basf, this album features two long tracks of krautrock-ish atmospheres, with electronics and guitars. Soular System is a project of James Jacques Bolden. I am not sure about the 1971 release date, as there's no year of release on the LP and the music sounds more 1976 - 1977-ish.

 


Soule, Jeremy (USA)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrims - Atmospheres (2019) (soundtrack)

American video game composer. He mostly goes for the orchestral-type sound. The above release, however, will interest fans of Ambient.

 


Soulless Party, The (UK)

Tales From the Black Meadow (2013)
The Black Meadow Archive Vol. 1 (2020)
The Black Meadow Archive: The Lost Tapes (2021)
Macrocosmic Thinking (2022)

A somewhat hountology-related project of Kevin Oyston. Moody compositions, mostly of ambient nature and with a classical feel.

 


Soulscaper, The (Australia)

Inside Voices (2023)

Varied electronics, sometimes flowing, sometimes with an underlying pulse, but always maintaining a focus on modular synth sounds.

 


Soulstess (???)

Soulstess I (2019) (S)
Soulstess II (2020) (S)
Soulstess III (2020) (S)
Soulstess V (2021) (S)

Hypnotic winter ambience.

 


Soulvent (Georgia)

Fadein (2014)

A duo with a sequencer-based style, a bit similar to the Berlin School, but overall quite unique. The rhythmic tracks are closer to techno / club music.

See also: Octachoron

 


Soulwax (Belgium)

Belgica (2016) (soundtrack)
EMS Synthi 100 - DEEWEE Sessions Vol. 01 (2020)

Soulwax is a Belgian alternative rock / electroclash / indietronica band. For the above soundtrack, they composed music in different styles, inventing a fake artist name for each of the tracks. One of the "artists" is called Danyel Galaxy who appears in the video as a Klaus Schulze-like character, playing spacey synthesizer music with a rig that includes, among other gizmos, an ARP Odyssey, EMS Synthi 100 (!) and an RMI Harmonic Synthesizer. A one-track inclusion for now. Notes 30.05.2020: thankfully, the band's love for synth music finally shone through in all its glory on the great EMS Synthi 100 - DEEWEE Sessions Vol. 01, recorded on said mammoth synth by David and Stephen Dewaele. This is some great EM!

 


Sound 99 (Spain)

Reaktion (1993)
Radiospirits (1994)

See also: Vision Liquida

 


Sound Anomaly (Netherlands)

First Contact (1996)
World Vibes (1998)
Nano Creatures (2001)
Xmopolitan (2002)

Dutch group of musicians (Eric van Gasteren, Gert Voets and Christiaan van Lierop), whose style ranges from Vangelis / Kitaro to Tangerine Dream (on Nano Creatures), to something quite personal.

See also: Gasteren, Eric van

 


Sound Combustion (UK)

Magnetic Island (2020)

Melodic EM from this synthesist who goes by the name of Marakas.

 


Sound Effects of Death And Horror (UK)

The Rose And the Cross (2020)
Mota-Rolla (2021)
Sufficiently Desorientating (2021) (with Xqui)
Rossum Experimental Radio (2023)

Darkish drones and ambient compositions. Mota-Rolla is reminiscent of Fripp & Eno, Terry Riley and more.

 


Sound Force (Germany)

Reality (1994)

Thomas Bücker.

 


Sound Furniture (Japan??)

Rituals (2014)

Ambient with a new-agey slant.

 


Sound Gallery, The (USA)

Phos (2005)

California-based musician Herb Grimaud Jr. This album is a departure for his ethereal / wave / noise project whose previous outing was a group effort. This one, however, is pure Drone Ambient, as subdued and low as it gets.

 


Sound of Art (Netherlands)

Entrada (1995)
Synature (1997)

Melodic, easy-on-the-ear music.

 


Sound Out Light (USA)

Sound Out Light (2009)
Ornamental Skies (2011)
Bloom (2012) (S)
I'm Leaving This World (2014)
Pastfinder (2014)
Currents (2016)
Hanglyder (2017)
Peeling off the Grid (2021)

Music which , although rather experimental, is also deeply rooted in Berlin School tradition. Fat analog synth sounds, rich sequences and subtle melodies in a unique style. Good stuff from Dave Doyen out of Wilmington, Delaware. Earlier works are more in the style of droning Ambient.

See also: Wide Color, Vales.

 


Soundchaser Project, The (Brazil)

Intergalactic Radio Station (2001)

On Intergalactic Radio Station you will find very interesting synth music. It's very accessible and yet avoids sounding twee. Overall, a nostalgic feeling permeates all compositions, with lots of classic sounds. It has some spoken vocals but they do not detract from the music. (in fact, they are very clever - check out the Pink Floyd reference on "Neon Pink Glow") The style itself is almost impossible to define. It could be Berlin School, but the music is not sequencer-heavy. Instead, Renato Menezes and Soren Lemche (the musicians behind The Soundchaser Project) seem to have a knack for creating great melodies and wonderful solos that are featured on almost all tracks. These guys really know how to coax blistering solo sounds out of their synths. Just check out "Lunarscape" - I could listen to this stuff forever. It's maybe like some Vangelis with bits of TD, but not quite. Difficult to pin down but I encourage all synth music fans to check out The Soundchaser Project. Read the interview I did with The Soundchaser Project HERE.

 


Sounder (Poland)

Cryospace - Between the Lightyears (2008)

Sounder is synthesist Piotr Lewandowicz who makes classic Space Music, from light to dark. Sometimes with gentle rhythms and / or sequences.

See also: Ahblajam

 


Sounds From Underground (UK)

Sounds From Underground (1989)

A duo of Geoff and Pete Lucas with an ambient sound. The exact style is not known.

 


Sounds In Progress (France)

Elements (2016)

Metz-based guitar / synth duo of Jean Pascal Boffo and Séraphin Palmeri. Whimsical, sequencer-based, spacey, minimal, melodic, improvisational...

See also: Boffo, Jean Pascal, Séraphin.

 


Sounds of New Soma (Germany)

Beyond the Acid Dream (2014)
Moebius Tunnel (2016)
La grande bellezza (2017)
Mahatma macht Mittag (2017) (S)
Live At the Green Mushroom Festival (2018)
Nachdenken über Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser (2019)
10" (2020) (S)
Birne / Maya (2020) (S)
Live At Studio Helmtown (2021)
Trip (2021)
Musique bizarre (2022)
Fluxus 2071 (2023)

Krautrock-inspired duo of Alexander Djelassi and Dirk Raupach. These guys' music is mastered by Eroc and sounds clearly influenced by early 1970's "Kosmische Musik" scene.

 


Soundscape's Activity (Italy)

Soundscape's Activity (2014)
Elektromagnetik Sketches (2015)
The War of the Worlds (2020)

Italian duo of Marcello Malatesta and Marco di Battista who combine piano playing with a background bed of electronics. This combination at times takes on interesting forms, as on "Elektrotrip", for example, which is probably the closest they get to "regular" EM.

 


Soundtrack (USA)

Search For Sacred Land (2014)
2 (2014)
Dopamine Transistor (2017)

Varied synth compositions. Often sketchy and short, sort of lo-fi, sometimes ambient. A project of Cyrus Shahmir based in Atlanta, Georgia.

 


Soundtrackmusic (Australia)

Soundtrackmusic (2022)

Filmic music with lots of analog synths and guitars, inspired by vintage horror / sci-fi soundtracks and post-punk.

 


Soundwalker (Poland)

Soundwalking (2018)

Gdansk-born synthesist. Rich, melodic and sequencer-based EM.

 


Soundwaver (USA??)

Drive (2018)

Berlin School artist.

 


Souns (Canada)

Ambient A (2015)
(re) (2018)

Varied Ambient from Vancouver-based artist Michael Red.

 


Soup (Norway)

Entropia (2012)

Soup are a post-rock / progressive rock band from Trondheim. Amazingly, in December, 2012, they released this amazing EM work. Long tracks with relaxed sequences, slow rhythms and varied floating melodies. Nice cosmic trip music.

 


Sour Gout (Canada)

VIENNA//2516 (2016)
As You Leave (2018)
Cycle (Extended) (2018)
Eclipse (2018)
Dèrive (2018)
NewGen (2020)

Varied floating ambient synth, cinematic and a bit influenced by cyber / dystopian visions.

 


Source Vibrations (USA)

Solfeggio Harmonics Vol. 1 (2009)

Droning, meditative ambience with a healing / new-agey slant. A Boulder, Colorado-based project.

 


SourceCodeX (USA)

Codex Hypnox (2003)
Primordial Lands Arise (2007)
The Persistence of Ambience (2008)
Guided Relaxations Through Soundwaves (2008)
Prophetic Ambient Awakenings (2009)
Alien Ambience Royalty Free Files (2009)
Breaking Open of the Seventh Seal (2014)
Rebirth (2015)
Quarantine (2020)
Codex Hypnos II Mutation Mix (2020)

Ambient soundscapes from North Carolina-based artist John W. Patterson.

 


Souri, Shanin (Iran)

About This Time (2020)

Tehran-based artist who composes rather moody and sometimes slightly dark ambient EM.

 


Souster, Tim (UK)

Swit Drimz (1977)
The Future Is Now (1977) (S)
Nice And Nasty (1982)
Action, Not Talk (1983)

Tim Souster (1943 - 1994) was a British academic composer. However, he's also done some prog-inspired music, like for example his Swit Drimz LP, where he uses a minimoog, Farfisa organ, electric piano, recorded sounds, processed viola and more. There's also a single released that same year with music from an exhibition. The others are library LP's with unknown style.

See also: Birnbaum, Kevin

 


Souther, Richard (USA)

Heirborne (1985)
Innermission (1985)
Arc of Visibility (2022)

Basically a new age / Christian music writer, Souther released these two electronic works while recovering from his illness in the mid 80's.

 


Southfacing (UK)

Make Way For the Young (2015)
Euonym (2020)
Threnodies (2021)
A Witness To the End (2023)

Ambient of the droning variety.

 


Sova Stroj (Luxembourg)

Silent Earth (2015)
Cult Vaginal (2016)
Refugium (2017)
Stills (2018) (S)
Nebula/Nox (2018)
Live at Casino Luxembourg, 10.06.2017 (2018)
Transcend (2019)
Travelling Waves I (2022)

Dark, but with sort of a cosmic character, with sequences, drones, obscure sounds... Sova Stroj is Michel Flammant.

 


Sovetskaya Gone (USA)

Sovetskaya Gone (2008)
Live In the Darkness, Die In the Light (2009)
Guadalupe In the Promised Land (2009)
2182 kHz (2009) (S)
Graveyards of the Atlantic (2009) (S)
Sashweights & Bags of Birdshot (2010) (S)
Smiling Skies On the Back of Airplanes (2010) (S)
Kimberley Al Butnan (2011)

Synth project of Kevin Danchisko. Ranges from drone to sequencer-based (although, in my opinion, rather minimal and at times somewhat lacking in essence).

See also: Ossining

 


Soviet (USA)

Life Begins At Rewirement (2012) (soundtrack)

Synth-pop band of Keith Ruggiero released this soundtrack with a more ambient, EM-related instrumental sound.

 


Soviet Space Dog Project, The (UK)

Starcity (2021)
Vostok 1 (2022)
Mirabilia (2022)

London-based Andy Bloyce aka The Soviet Space Dog Project has been a listener and fan of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze for over 40 years. Expect lots of sequencing, cosmic atmospheres and melodic soloing here.

See also: Kubuschnitt, WEirD, T.A.F.S..

 


Soviet Space Research Institute (Greece)

ARPA Spatial Industries Commercial (2020)

A project of Thessaloniki-based Vladimiros Peilivanidis where he goes mostly for heavily sequencer-based EM sound, sometimes weirder, but always well-structured.

 


Sovijus (Lithuania)

...Found In the Dark (1994) (S)
Enkopts (1995) (S)
Touches (2016)

Experimental project from Lithuania. Early releases and demos from the 1990's are informed by dungeon synth, industrial and ritual music. Touches is an evocative work with elements of industrial, electro-acoustic music, Ambient and experimental electronics.

 


Sōzu Project (Italy)

Terra Australis (2014)
Spleen (2016)
Dendrophonia (2016) (with Bartholomäus Traubeck)
Aura (2017)
Breath Slowly (2017)
Garden (2018)
Fragility Can Fly (2019)
Electrostatic (2019) (recorded in 2015)
Icarus (2019)
Unseen (2020)

Ambient soundscapes from Paolo Mascolini.

 


Space (France)

Magic Fly (1977)
Deliverance (1977)
Just Blue (1978)
Deeper Zone (1979)
Space Magic Concerts (1996)
Symphonic Space Dream (2003)
From Earth To Mars (2011)

Electronic pop, sometimes with female vocals. This group was led by Didier Marouani with arrangements by Roland Romanelli.

See also: Paris France Transit, Marouani, Didier, Romanelli, Roland, Savers, The, Mc Lane Explosion.

 


Space (UK)

Space (1990)

Space was a short-lived project of The KLF's Jimi Cauty and Alex Paterson of The Orb. Contrary to expectations there are no techno beats to be found on this LP. In fact, the whole sounds like a hypnotic and minimal ambient thing, with occasional rhythmic sequences and voice samples, but mostly just drones, pads and concrete textures.

See also: Orb, The

 


Space (GR) (Greece)

Escape (2019)

From ambient soundscapes to heavily sequenced EM and gritty, IDM-like numbers. A project of Nick Delimpasis.

 


Space Aliens From Outer Space (Italy)

Space Aliens From Outer Space (2011) (EP)
Invade (2013)
Abduction (2015) (EP)
Nebulosity (2018)

Italian band with sort of a space rock / electronic sound, loaded with vocoder vocals. Pretty unique.

See also: Pugliano, Luigi, Milanesio, Marco.

 


Space Alliance (Italy)

Volume 2 (2007)

Electronic duo consisting of Flavio Rivabella and Marcello Fraioli. Melodic, rhythmic, experimental... Quite diverse.

 


Space Art (France)

Onyx (1976)
Trip In the Center Head (1978)
Nous Savons Tout / Melodie Moderne (1978) (S)
Play Back (1980)
Symphonix (1981) (S)
Revised (2012)
Space Art Tribute (2012)
To Be Or Not To Be / Seven Ages (2016) (S)
Entrevues (2020)
Personal Duty (2023)

Space Art were Dominique Perrier (1950 - 2023) and Roger Rizzitelli (1951 - 2010) who were Jarre's assistants at several concerts. Classic Electronic Music.

 


Space Arte (Germany)

Close Your Eyes... Sometimes (??)
Themes From the Fantastic World (??)
Lutzschena (1998)
Lutzschena 2000 (??)

A Leipzig-based project (led by Christian Nóvé) related to progressive rock band Dice.

 


Space Bonzo (Spain)

Los Planetas (2011)
CCCP (2013) (with Duga-3)

Los Planetas is experimental electronics inspired by the planets of the Solar System. Rather minimal and for some reason reminds on Tomita in places, although the sound here is very different. CCCP is a Dark Ambient / post-industrial type work. There is also an odd album of songs called Women (no relation to EM and hence, not included). Space Bonzo is Gustavo Álvarez Rico.

 


Space Dimension Controller (UK)

Love Beyond the Intersect (2019)

Varied project of Bristol-based Jack Hamill. Love Beyond the Intersect is a relaxed deep house trip, but there are also two ambient tracks. File under EM-related.

 


Space Dragon (Netherlands)

Dragon's Head Nebula (2019)

Varied spacey / rhythmic / melodic EM from Rick van Breugel.

 


Space Echo (Portugal)

po-16 (2017)
Viagens (2017) (S)

Varied music based on analog sounds.

 


Space Ghost (USA)

Patient Mind (2013) (S)
Endless Light (2018)
Aquarium Nightclub (2019)
Time To Dance (2020) (EP)
Private Paradise (2022)

Space Ghost is Oakland, California-based artist Sudi Wachspress. Patient Mind is filled with slow hip-hop / downtempo rhythms coupled with electronics, so it's not really EM, although there is one ambient track called "Observer". Most of his EM-related works remain unreleased on any physical format as of 2016, though. These include Pop Music For the Heavens (2013) and Swim (2015), an ambient and gently sequenced work performed on a Korg Mono/Poly synthesizer.

 


Space Habitat (USA)

Rising Interiors (2013)

Fat, analog synth tones for all the cosmonauts out there. A real hello from the 1970's by the duo of Daryl Groetsch and Jason E. Anderson.

See also: Pulse Emitter, Brother Raven, 2 Hands On Knobs, Harpoon Pole Vault.

 


Space Machine (Japan)

Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter (2001)
Space Machine 2 (2002)
Space Machine 3 (2002)
Dimension Degenerator (2004) (S)
Orbit Vector Generator (2004) (S)
Space-Time Echo (2005) (S)
Zone of Avoidance (2005) (S)

Yamazaki Maso (member of Masonna) with his space electronic project. Space Machine started in 2000 as a base for Yamazaki's experiments with analog synthesis. Comparable to Conrad Schnitzler

 


Space Machine (USA)

Space Machine (2021)

Analog, sequence-full Berlin School music from Fez Moreno out of Austin, Texas.

See also: Gamma Velorum

 


Space Megalithe (France)

Psyche Energy (2014)
Abstract Dimensions (2015)
Ancient Trances (2017)

Ambient / Space Music duo of Jean-Claude Gil and Christophe Barbier.

 


Space Mirrors (international)

The Obscure Side of Art (2022)

Space rock / progressive metal ensemble put together by Alisa Coral. On The Obscure Side of Art, a certain Berlin School / Tangerine Dream influence can be felt.

See also: Mirrors

 


Space Mountain (Canada)

Doomed Galaxies (2019)

Ambient music with a bit of a lo-fi feel.

 


Space Program (Denmark)

Space Program (2010) (S)
Æthereal (2012)

Droning, monolithic, sometimes noisy ambience from CR Hougaard.

 


Space Project (Hungary)

Nexus (1994)
Titanium (1996)

Melodic Electronic Music by Szathmari Tamas on Spheric Music label.

 


Space Project (Poland)

Beyond Imagination (2006)
The Return of Space Raiders (2008) (maxi)

Spacesynth duo consisting of Thomas Gillert and Marek Kolodynski.

See also: Spaceraider

 


Space Where She Was, The (USA)

PDX (2016)

Moody, rather minimal electronic ambience.

 


Spacecraft (France)

Paradoxe (1978)

With Ivan Coaquette from Musica Elettronica Viva and John Livengood from Red Noise. Sounds a bit similar to electronic spacey excursions of Ash Ra Tempel / Ashra.

See also: Livengood, John, Red Noise, Fondation.

 


Spacecraft (USA)

Spacecraft (1997)
Hummel (1998)
Earthtime Tapestry (1999)
Kaleida Dreams (1999)
Summer Town (2000)
Musical Meditation For World Peace (2000)
Cybersphere (2001)
Inside the Inside (2002)
Parthenon (2002)

Spacecraft consists of synthesists Tony Gerber, John Rose and Diane Timmons (Hummel), plus Giles Reaves (the rest). Space Music with rhythmic elements. Inside the Inside is a great space album with lots of sequencing.

See also: Gerber, Tony, Rose, John, Reaves, Giles.

 


Spaced Goats, The (France)

The Spaced Goats (2010)
We Made Contact (2012) (S)

Spacey, melancholic Ambient from Patrick Compagnon based in Ile-de-France.

 


Spacehawk (Sweden)

Laser Squad (2018)
The Last Guardian (2019)
Universe (2020)
Terracide (2021)
Space Opera (2022)

A project of Swedish spacesynth artist Anton Eriksson.

 


Spacekom (Canada)

Voyage Deux (2011)

A project that involves Jean-François Blanchette. The style is not known at the moment.

 


Spacelab (Poland)

The Orbit of Dreams (2005)

Sequencer-based music.

 


Spacelab (Sweden)

Space Is Big, Man Is Small (1990)
Spacelab (1993)

Spacelab is an electronic duo of Peter Folkesson and Stefan Ahnhem (two stepbrothers, actually). They have been around since the 1980's, releasing a few tracks on several LP and MC compilations. The eponymous album from 1993 actually gathers all tracks from their previous album and adds 7 new tracks.

 


Spacemaniac (Netherlands)

Optical Earth Cube (2020)

A project of Jeroen Boerstra. From New Berlin School (the opener, "The Timemachine", "Into the Dark", "Explore") to melodic / hymnal EM (ala Space Art).

 


Spacement (USA)

Spacement (2007)
Spacement II (2007)
Detonation Waves (2015)
After the Oil Wars (2017) (S)
NOIR (2021)

A project of Seattle-based Jeff Brown. Spacey mixture of synths and guitars. Space Music / Ambient.

See also: Brown, Jeff

 


Spaceraider (Poland)

Journey Into Space (2004)

Spacesynth project of Thomas Gillert.

See also: Space Project

 


Spacerocks (UK)

Spacerocks (2012)
More Modulations (2014)
Space Rocks (2016)

Varied EM, mostly analog, krautrock and sequencer-based.

 


Spaceseer (USA)

Where It's Always Springtime (2018) (S)
Re-Sonate (2020)
Colossi of Kahryatt (2020)
Roses of War (2021)
Sarracennia (2023)

Analog music from this Utah-based artist. Very basic on Where It's Always Springtime, consisting of just a bunch of arpeggios, and supposedly more ambient on Re-Sonate.

 


Spaceship (UK)

Spaceship (2009)
Breezeblock Rockery (2009) (EP)
Out of Time's Abyss (2010)
Compedium Obscura: Archive Recordings 1994 - 2009 (2011)
Kelvedon Hatch (2013)
Feilds: Churches & Rivers (2016)
The Imagined View, As Yet Unblighted (2017) (EP)
A Prospect of Loughton Brook (2017)
Fields 2: From the Sea To the Moor Via the Forest And the Stones (2017)
The Last Days (2018)
A Transect of Shackleton Knoll (2018)
Outcrops (2019)
Compendium Lux: Outtakes & Rarities 2017 - 2020 (2020)
Hell Stone / Machrie Moor (2021) (S)
Ravines (2022)
Structures (2024)

EM / krautrock-influenced project of Mark Williamson. Apparently, in the early stages it was much more influenced by metal genres.

See also: Crock Oss

 


Spaceship Eyes (USA)

Kamarupa (1997)
Of Cosmic Repercussions (2000)

Electronic project from Don Falcone (ex-Melting Euphoria and Thessalonians). Psychedelic EM, sometimes with slight techno-isms but generally quite ambient. There is one more album from this project, called Truth In the Eyes of A Spaceship (1998) that's far more techno-oriented.

See also: Spice Barons

 


SpaceTime (UK)

Born On the Wrong Planet (2023)

Ambient EM project of Darren Nye, who is mostly known for his techno / electro music. This one focuses on cosmic pads, arpeggios, sequences and melodies.

 


Spacetime Continuum (USA)

Empress Eyes (2023) (recorded in 2022)

A project of Jonah Sharp. Early albums (the 1990's) are supposedly ambient techno. Empress Eyes will appeal to fans of cosmic / sequencer EM, though.

 


Späher des Guten (Germany)

Herzblau (1995)

 


Spammerheads (Spain)

Espai, Temps i Matèria (2021)

Valencia-based duo of Ana Escudero and David Garrido. They use fat and rich synthesizer textures to create rather diverse EM tracks - from melodic and sequencer-based to something a bit more experimental and electro rhythms influenced by Kraftwerk.

 


Spanoudakis, Stamatis (Greece)

Maran Atha (1978)
Something Is Happening Here (1984) (with Vassilis Saleas)
Stone Years (1985) (soundtrack)

Ping Pong (1989)
Thalassa (1992)

Solo instrumental albums from this Greek composer and movie score writer. Stamatis Spanoudakis' orchestral style is a bit similar to later-day Vangelis in that he uses lush orchestral arrangements with some ethnic / Greek touches. He has played many instruments over the years, including synthesizers. Only a fraction of his (supposedly, EM-related) works appear here. His full discography includes lots of releases, most of which are soundtracks, children's records and vocal works.

 


Spardel, Gunnar (Germany)

Simplicity In A Complex World (2021)
The Fade To Afterlife (2023)

Neo-classical / electronic composer who is known for his Tigerforest project (trance / chillout music). Simplicity In A Complex World marries classical insrumentation and electronics much in the may the music of artists like Nils Frahm and Max Richter does.

 


Spare Death Icon (USA)

Northwind (2009) (S)
Highlander Seahorse (2009)
Survival (2011) (S)

Spare Death Icon is an alias of Seattle-based musician Jason E. Anderson who runs the Gift Tapes cassette label. Atmospheric synths and rhythmic electronic excursions with sequences.

 


Sparkling Wide Pressure (USA)

Dreams By Water (2009) (S)
I Think I Feel Clear Now (2009)
Insider Gazing (2009) (S)
Reborn In Action (2009)
Meaning Plane (??)
Seven Inside And Out (2009)
What Day It Is (2009)
Facing the Nothing World (2010)
Minor Phase Patterns (2010) (S) (with Derek Rogers)
Red Riverbed Sequence (2010) (S)
Field And String (2010)
Cosmos Blues (2011) (S)
Sing What You Remind Me of (2011)
No Need For A Meaning (2012)
Little Shrine (2012)
Grandfather Harmonic (2012)
Slowed Down Footage of Farming (2012)
Covered In Blue Colors (2012)
Press the Reverse And Give Me the Tape (2013)
Dream of Windows (2014)
Clouds And Stairs (2015)
Answerer (2016)
Dream of James And Frank (2017)
Leave Out the White Nights (2017)
In the Stream (2018)
Love ov Love (2018)
Find A Frame (2018)
Yowling Seers (2019)
Fake Spells (2020)

Cosmic synths, drones and atmospheres from Tennessee-based artist Frank Baugh. This is not his full discography but I am not sure if other releases would fit stylistically.

 


Sparling, Kent (USA)

Sounds Like: Kent Sparling (1994) (recorded in 1989 - 1994)
Route Canal Diary (1997)
Under New Manna (2000)
Camphor And Caraway (2000)
Leaf Spring (2003)
Evening Air, Freeway Birds, No Wind Birds (2006)
Indian King (2006)
Seventh Moon (2009) (soundtrack) (with Antonio Cora)
Mount Larsen (2018)
Possum Music: For the Nocturne Podcast (2020) (soundtrack)

Ambient soundscapes from this artist based in the north of California, USA. His first experimental / musique concrete compositions date back to 1985. Prior to that, Kent acted as a keyboardist and singer-songwriter for his own pop band Eyeland.

 


Sparrows (Japan)

Announcement (2011) (EP)
Collected Visits (2013)
Landing On the North American Continent (2017) (EP)
Berries (2019)

What would you get if you invited Jean-Jacques Perrey and Cluster to score a children's TV show in Japan? You would get Sparrows' special brand of cartoonish, but Prog-influenced electronics. This is also the type of EM that birds could produce if they could make music. Sparrows is a project of Ryota Miyake, a member of synth-pop group Crystal.

 


Spatium Saevus Sonitus (Greece)

Homo Industrialis (1996)
The Ritual of the Black Sun (1996)
Abolition - The Ritual of the Black Sun Part II (2000)

Ritual Dark Ambient.

 


Spätzer (USA)

Dérive (2019)

Repetitive, experimental, generative compositions from Aiken Bömers-Muller. Pretty interesting and unique if you ask me.

 


Spaventi, MarcoAntonio (Italy)

Viaggi (2015)
Isola sommersa (2016)
Vicino lontano (2023)
La molecola del tempo (2023) (with Enrico Demuro)

Italian musician currently residing in Amsterdam. Mixture of rhythmic, italo-like tracks and ambient, prog EM melters, all based on analog synthesizers.

 


Spear (Poland)

Spear (1994)
Dark Waters of Light (1997)
In Search of Sparks (1997)
Of Silence (1999)
Not Two (1999) (S)
Sapphire Flower (2001)
Black Holes, Dead Stars And Melting Genes (2014) (recorded in 1999 - 2002)

Dark Ambient in Lustmord vein.

See also: Za Siódmą Górą

 


Specht, Frank (Germany)

Sebastian In Traum (1999)

Solo Electronic Music from Rainbow Serpent member.

See also: Rainbow Serpent

 


Special Costello (Canada)

Life Matter Love Thought (2021)

Halifax-based group led by Jeremy Costello. They are more or less an indie pop formation. However, their heavy use of synthesizers, complex structure of songs (more like changing themes than actual virtuoso playing) and sophisticated concepts make them something more than a mere pop phenomenon. Moreover, the choice of synth sounds and the abundance of solos give them an unmistakable EM flavor. Those who like mixtures of lush, symphonic-sounding EM and singing may want to check this out. File under EM-related.

 


Special Forest (Canada)

Demo I (2023) (S)

Short "dungeon synth" tracks with a cosmic / melancholic atmosphere.

 


Special Touch (Germany)

Meditation In Pop (1989)

Claude Larson and Manuel Landy.

See also: VC People, Larson, Claude, Netzle, Klaus, Elmulab, Futura, Carlos, Power-Pack, Logo 2000.

 


Specimens (UK)

II (2015)
Sculptures (2016)
In the Dust of Idols (2018)
Intersections (2022)
Power Pain Privilege (2023)

Ambient soundscapes, often with a neo-classical feel.

 


Speck (Russia)

You Are Alone (2012)
Antiheart (2016)

Speck is Nikita Bondarev from Siberia. On You Are Alone, a classic, spacey and Berlin-influenced EM sound is heard. For Antiheart, there's a drastic shift towards neo-classical / Ambient structures.

See also: Bondarev, Nikita

 


Speckert, George A. (Germany)

Requiem For A World After (1981)

Concept LP "dedicated to those Men and Women who shall survive a nuclear annihilation, and who will have the task of creating a World After". George Speckert takes care of electronics and Massimo Grandi plays guitar. The sound is somewhat dark, cosmic and experimental. The album was produced and released in Germany but the artist is actually US-born. He studied in the UK and then relocated to Germany where his musical career started (that's why he is listed as a German artist). Sometimes this album is listed as "For A World After" by Requiem.

 


Specta Ciera (USA)

Overwintering (2014)
Surface (2018) (with Arbee)
Last Light (2020)
Continental Drift (2020) (with Offland)
Bioluminescence (2022)

Ambient project of Devin Underwood.

 


Spectator (???)

Morphology (??)
Rotations (??)

 


Spectra Atmospheric (Russia)

Soma (2009)

Dark Ambient.

 


Spectral Empire (UK)

Iron Muscle (2018) (EP)

Spectral Empire is a London-based duo of Kyle Martin (Land of Light, Vactrol Park) and George Thompson. They have released a few EPs in techno vein prior to Iron Muscle. However, on this release, they go for a nice, 1980's-influenced dystopian soundtrack-like sound, using lots of fat analog timbres. Nice.

See also: Black Merlin

 


Spectral Spire (Croatia)

Ruination of Tehten-Hurz (2020)
Beyond the Realms of Zanuh (2021)

Long tracks of dramatic or tragic synth melodies. Definitely influenced by the "dungeon synth" genre, but also with an extra mysterious / cosmic / ambient flair.

 


Spectral Tambours (Canada??)

Preliminary Draft (2019)

A duo that uses processed percussion and atmospheric electronics.

 


Spectral Tune (Germany)

Perspectivia (2022)
Structures (2023)
Go Green (2024)

Melodic / rhythmic EM with some orchestral sounds mixed in and a rich percussive content. A project of former Coral Cave member Erik Matheisen.

See also: Coral Cave, RikeErik.

 


Spectral Unit (Italy / UK)

Preternatural (2023)

Varied soundscape / experimental electronic project of Enrico Marani and Adi Newton.

See also: Samora, Clock DVA.

 


Spectraum (Italy??)

Microcreep (2019) (S)
Datableed (2020)

Sort of like dungeon synth for the sci-fi generation, with bleeping computers and synths.

 


Spectro Panico (???)

De Rerum Satana (2020)

Extremely obscure release, with only 4 vinyl copies of De Rerum Satana pressed. The music is full of organs, synth drones, incantations, etc. If you like Jacula / Antonius Rex type of stuff, this may float your boat.

 


Spectrum (UK)

Forever Alien (1997)

Sonic Boom's space rock / neo-psychedelia band goes completely synth-nuts on this album, layering heavy textures of analogue machines and distorted effects. There are some (mostly processed) vocals but I'm sure fans of analogue electronics will enjoy this one.

See also: Experimental Audio Research

 


Speed, Glue & Shinki (Japan)

Speed, Glue & Shinki (1972)

Heavy psych trio of Masayoshi Kabe, Shinki Chen and Joey Smith. This is their second album, the first being Eve from 1971. This one was released as double LP and the music was standard heavy psych / rock with side D being of interest to EM fans. It features a long suite called "Sun/Planets/Life/Moon" which is basically a solo moog piece played by Joey Smith. Definitely comparable to early Tangerine Dream (circa Zeit) but more sparse and minimal. Some might think of it as merely a collection of noises and effects.

 


Speed of Dark, The (Germany)

The Dark Water Edition (2007)

Frank Makowski's project in Dark Ambient mould. The Dark Water Edition consists of three mini-CD-R's.

See also: Makowski, Frank, Tranquillity, Ramp.

 


Speeed, Claude (UK)

My Skeleton (2014)
Sun Czar Temple (2015) (EP)
Infinity Ultra (2017)
Other Infinities (2017)
Hypersurface (2021)

Scottish artist (real name - Stuart Turner) born in Edinburgh and currently residing in Berlin. He mixes melodic synth tracks with noisier material. His music prior to Hypersurface is progressive and cerebral, with elements of "deconstructed club", noise, electro-acoustic, computer music, vaporwave, IDM and more. Hypersurface is a nice exploration of FM synthesis that will possibly appeal to a wider EM / ambient audience.

 


Speer, Paul (USA)

Collection 983: Spectral Voyages (1983)
Desert Vision (1987) (with David Lanz)
Collection 991: Music + Art (1991)
Quiet Thoughts (2000)
Wonders (2010) (with Paul Lawler)
Sonoran Odyssey (2020)

Basically a new age musician. This is not his full discography but other works are presumably of no interest to an EM fan. The first album may be ok-ish Electronic New Age but nothing to get excited about. Music + Art is mostly notable for the participation of Michael Stearns. Quiet Thoughts is done on just keyboards and is in the style of Stearns / Roach.

 


Spektr (Denmark)

Excelsior (2017)

Danish alternative rock band formed in 2001 as S.P.E.C.T.R.E. The above album will be enjoyed by fans of krautrock and the Dusseldorf School.

 


Spell (USA)

Time Waves (1979)

Spell was a two-man band (Joe Deihl and Jack Tamul) from the 70's with just piano and synth. This LP was released privately in Florida and produced for the Alexander Brest Planetarium.

See also: Tamul, Jack

 


Spell of Unseeing (USA)

Weaving Light And Shadow (2020 (S)

A project of Tim Rowland in crossover dungeon synth / EM style.

See also: Hole Dweller

 


Spellbound (USA)

Spellbound (1992)

A project of Randy Rico in Progrock / EM vein.

 


Spellbound Mire (Australia)

Spellbound Mire (2022)

"Dungeon synth"-related project with a prominent EM vibe (mostly in sounds, not melodies or structure).

 


Spellnocturnal (USA)

Six (2019)

Varied soundscapes, not so dark...

 


Spelterini (France)

Pergélisol / Chorémanie (2019)
Paréidolie (2022) (recorded in 2021)

Nantes-based krautrock / RIO-ish band, towards Verto, Arachnoid and Heldon / Lard Free realms.

 


Spence, Graham (UK)

Induced Sleep (1985)
Lone Island Bliss (1992)
Infinity (1996)
Zenith (2000)
Directions For Life (2004)

Apart from EM, Graham Spence also plays rock songs and Celtic music.

 


Spence, Sam (USA)

The Art of the Synthesizer (1972)

Library album with everything on it, from totally abstract twittering effects to quite listenable proto-Kraftwerk melodies. Today, Sam Spence continues to actively compose music, mainly for films and television.

 


Spence, Sean (UK)

Inwards (1993)

This album was released on Electronical Dreams label. Melodic / sequential EM with piano passages.

 


Spettro Family (Italy)

Spettro Family (2009) (S)
Strigoi (2010) (S)
Candelora (2011)
La Famiglia Spettro (2012) (S)
Rio Lapis (2012) (S)
The Tunnel (2013) (S)
The Tenant From Hell (2014) (S)
Per Svegliare Un Sonnambulo (2015)
Inverness (2017) (S)
Glow In the Dark (2018)

Imaginary soundtracks to horror movies from Stefano Iannone. Well in line with that current horror revival / hauntology trend. Something for fans of Goblin and contemporary horror revivalists.

 


Sphagnum (Russia)

Solar System (1992)
Full Moon (1994)

Sphagnum, also known as Sfagnum (original Russian name - Сфагнум), was a 1990's Russian synth duo consisting of Oleg Bunzhukov and Boris Usok. Both played Soviet analog machines (Formanta EMS-01, Junost 21, Ritm-2, PX-1100 reverb and a Soviet bass guitar). That lineup recorded Solar System (original Russian name - Систѣма Солнца). The music was pretty minimal, cosmic and melodic, obviously indebted to Jean-Michel Jarre, Space and other pioneers. A few cassette and reel-to-reel copies were made for friends and colleagues. In 2010, the album was re-relased on Andrey Klimkovsky's NEANE Records label. For Full Moon (Полнолуние), the lineup was expanded to include Konstantin Mitrochenkov and Dmitry Bunzhukov.

See also: Bunzhukov, Oleg

 


Sphäre Sechs (Germany)

Tiefschlaf (2012)
Enceladus (2015)
Particle Void (2018)
Transient Lunar Phenomenon (2019)
Beta Pictoris (2021)
Extradimension (2022)

Dark ambient drone from the duo of Martin Stürtzer (Phelios) and Christian Stritzel.

See also: Phelios, Stürtzer, Martin.

 


Spheeris, Chris (USA)

Primal-Tech Music (1982) (with Paul Voudouris)
Passage (1982) (with Paul Voudouris)
Electric Europe (1982)
Desires of the Heart (1984)

Desires of the Heart is a classic album of Electronic New Age, comparable in some ways to Direct by Vangelis. He has lots of other albums, but I'm far from being an expert. I have his discography, but to my knowledge not all of his albums are electronic. The ones that are interesting to EM fans are listed above.

 


Sphere Rex (Russia)

For Electronics And Piano (2009)

Classic Ambient ala Eno / Budd.

See also: Cyclotimia, Archon Orchestra, West State.

 


Spheric (Italy)

Music For Laboratories (2020)

Music combining acoustic and electronic sources with sort of a slight Cluster / Eno vibe. A project of double bass player and synthesist Orlando Lostumbo. The music was inspired by the environment of laboratories he worked in.

See also: One Sound Duo

 


Spheric Corner (Germany)

Wave Scope (1986)
Spheric Corner (??)
Midwinter (1990)

Varied melodic Electronic Music from the duo of Frithjof Mittl and Matthias Moos. They were based in Nürnberg.

 


Sphinx (South Africa)

Transformations (1989)
Absolute Animal (1990)
The Secret of Sphinx (1990)
Absolute Animal II (1992)
In the Beginning (1992)
Transformations (1993)
Mirrorball (1993)
Lunartrix (1993)
Absolute Old Continent Animal (??)

Also known as Sphinx Holotronic, this project was founded during the 1980's by South African producer and musician Jay Scott. Sphinx was dedicated to experimental / ambient soundscapes. During the 1990's, the music started shifting towards psytrance and chill-out electronica.

See also: Sphinx

 


Sphyxion (France)

Sphyxion (2016)
2 (2018)
3 (2021)

French duo with a repetitive, rhythmic sound.

See also: Indalaska

 


Spice Barons (USA)

Future Perfect State (1995)

Spice Barons is (was?) an ambient duo of Kim Cascone and Don Falcone with the participation of Paul Neyrinck. They had at least one album released on Silent Records with upbeat, techno-influenced ambient music.

See also: Spaceship Eyes, PGR.

 


Spider Farmer (Finland)

A Futile Gesture (2019)

Melodic tracks with rhythms, sometimes a bit reminiscent of Parallel Worlds. A Helsinki-based artist.

 


Spiegel, Laurie (USA)

The Expanding Universe (1980)
Unseen Worlds (1991)
Donnie And Laurie (2018) (recorded in ??) (S) (with Don Christensen)

Female artist born in Chicago in 1945. She started as a self-taught musician, then teached herself music notation and studied classical guitar privately in London. After playing banjo, mandolin and guitar for several years, she quickly transformed into an Electronic Music pioneer, utilizing electronic devices in music as early as 1969. In 1973, Laurie wrote interactive compositional software for Bell Labs computers and founded the New York University's Computer Music Studio. The Expanding Universe features hypnotic, minimal and repetitive electronic tracks, composed over a period of three years (1974 - 1976).

 


Spielerei (Netherlands)

Once Upon A Time (2004)
Wichman And Other Pieces (2004) (with Mantacoup)
Publix (2005)
Cold War (2007) (with Mantacoup)

Varied ambient soundscapes from one of the founders of Databloem label Dennis Knopper.

 


Spierenburg, Rob (Netherlands)

Let's Call It A Day (1992)
K2 - An Instrumental Expedition (1995)

New agey music, a bit in the style of 90's Vangelis.

 


Spieth, Joachim (Germany)

Irradiance (2017)
Tides (2020)
Ousia (2021)
Seasons (2022) (S)
Terrain (2022)
Reshape (2022)
Overlay (2023) (with Markus Guentner)

Varied techno-related artist who went the ambient route for Tides. Nice, hypnotic synth sounds, shifting drones and melodies on this one. Ousia continues in the same direction.

 


Spiluttini, Dino (Austria)

Heaven (2019)
Death Chants II (2023)

I am not sure about other releases of this Salzburg-born, Vienna-based artist, but Heaven features "heavenly" abstract compositions, with imitations of church and classical instrumentation, digital sonic artefacts, etc. Rather unique if you ask me. Some "operatic period" Klaus Schulze flashbacks here.

 


Spinefolder (USA)

The Desecration of the Firmament (1996)

From sample-heavy upbeat stuff with hard-hitting rhythms to melodic and even almost spacesynth-like. A good example of the latter style is "Khartoum", which is a pretty nice track if you ask me. Another great melodic track is "Solitaire", which is almost French in style. "Kerguela", with its spacey cascading synths and great melodies, is another highlight. A very competent release overall and I am surprised it is rather obscure and not widely known. Spinefolder (in some versions - SpineFolder) is (was?) a project of Tim Ebling.

 


Spinfield (New Zealand)

Spinfield (1989)
The Message (1999)

Spinfield is Steve McDonald who has also released a number of albums under his own name that are more or less in new age style, as far as I know. The above music is more interesting, though. McDonald draws inspiration from artists like Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, as well as progressive rock and ethnic music.

 


Spiral Index (USA)

Gilded Dawn (2011)

Panabrite's alter ego.

See also: Panabrite, Chambers, Norm.

 


Spiral Realms (UK / USA)

Trip To G9 (1995)
Crystal Jungles of Eos (1995)
Solar Wind (1996)

Spiral Realms is made up of Simon House (of Hawkwind and Anubian Lights fame) and American synthesist Len Del Rio (Nik Turner / Pressurehead). The music is entirely instrumental and consists of just House's violin playing and synthesizers. Solar Wind is an album that was recorded during Hawkwind's 1995 tour and the quality is NOT top-notch, although for a live recording it's ok (but, hey guys, why not make a mixing board recording?). The music is for the most part very energetic although it lacks variety and overall sounds a bit bland. There are some nice tracks, as for instance "Lunar Sea" which is quite driving stuff that reminds on both the latter day Tangerine Dream and the upbeat Jean-Michel Jarre. Some of the synth sounds are rather cool, those of trippy and spacey twittering variety. No wonder, considering the gear in use. (Len Del Rio used, among other artifacts, the Korg MS10, while Del Dettmar, who also helps out on this album and on Crystal Jungles... makes use of the VCS3!) Still, I'd prefer to hear more variety within their sound. The album contains a live rendition of Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" that first appeared on a PF tribute album.

See also: House, Simon, Hawkwind, Anubian Lights, Zero Gravity.

 


Spiral Vremeni (Russia)

Ïðîõîäÿ ñêâîçü ñâåò (2011)
Êîñòðû ïîäíåáåñüÿ
(2013)
Îáåùàíèå âåñíû (2018)
Âàëüñ ïàìÿòè (2018) (with Pleroma Orchestra)
Íåîáúÿòíîå (2021)

Aka Ñïèðàëü âðåìåíè, aka Spiral of Time. A project from Denis Vladimirov based in Tomsk, Siberia. Moody Ambient with cosmic stylings. Nice.

 


SpiralDreams (Hungary)

Cosmic Background Radiation (2010)
Dreams & Visions (2012)
Modifying (S) DNA Vol. 1 (??)
Another World Vol. 1 (2016)
Anywhere (2016)
Awakening (2016)
Nostalgia (2016)
Another World Vol. 2 (2017)
Persecuted (2017)
Somewhere Vol. 1 (2017)
Mystic World (2017)
Awakening Vol. 2 (2017)
Somewhere Vol. 2 (2017)
Awakening Vol. 3 (2017)
Dreaming of Me Vol. 1 (2017)
Dreaming of Me Vol. 2 (2017)
Survive Vol. 1 (2017)
Survive Vol. 2 (2017)
Movements (2017)
Therefore (2017)
Illusions (2017)
Movements II (2017)
Unpublished Songs (2017) (recorded in 2011 - 2013)
Unpublished Songs 2 (2017) (recorded in 2009 - 2013)
Unpublished Songs 3 Vol. 1 (2017) (recorded in 2009 - 2015)
The First Contact (2017)
Dreams And Visions (2017) (recorded in 2012)
Unpublished Songs 3 Vol. 2 (2017)
The Other Side of Life On Mars (2017)
Live Vol. 1 (2017)
Live Vol. 2 (2017)
Only More (2017)
The Spiral (2017)
Unpublished Songs Vol. 4 (2017) (recorded in 2009 - 2013)
Old Time (2017)
Live Vol. 3 (2017)
Movements III (2017)
Sequences (2018)
Rainbow (2018)
Miracles (2018)
Unpublished Songs 5 (2018)
Metropolis (2018)
LastWay (2018)
Live Vol. 4 (2018)
Live Vol. 5 (2018)
Angel Station (2018)
Miracles II (2018)
Ascent (2018)
Refraction of Light (2018)
Unpublished Songs 6 Vol. 1 (2018)
The Wanderer (2018)
Lonely Angel Live (2018)
The Lights of Nothing (2018)
Unpublished Songs Vol. 7 (2018) (recorded in 2009 - 2015)
Saturn (2018)
Unpublished Songs 7 Vol. 2 (2018)
Live Vol. 6 (2018)
Rainbow II (2018)
Live Vol. 7 (2019)
Elsewhere (2019)
Castle In the Sky (2019)
Castle In the Sky II (2019)
Unpublished Songs 8 Vol. 1 (2019)
LostDream (2019)
Sequences of Worlds (2019)
Unpublished Songs 8 Vol. 2 (2019)
Levitation Vol. 1 (2019)
Levitation Vol. 2 (2019)
Prophecy (2019)
Encore Live Vol. 1 (2019)
Encore Live Vol. 2 (2019)
Unpublished Songs 8 Vol. 3 (2019)
Exaltation (2019)
Distant Lights (2019)
Sequences of Worlds II (2019)
In Trance (2019)
Angelic Touch (2019)
Unpublished Songs 8 Vol. 3 (2020)
Moon Swirl (2020)
The Strangers (2020)
Euphoria (2020)
Without Illusions (2020)
Live Vol. 8 (2020)
Isolation (2020)
Colours (2020)
Valley of Angels Vol. 1 (2020)
Valley of Angels Vol. 2 (2020)
Infinite Time (2020)
Time Capsule (2020)
Babel Live (2020)
Sequences of Worlds III (2020)
Alien Dreams (2020)
Sequences of Worlds IV (2020)
Transitions Vol. 1 (2020)
Transitions Vol. 2 (2020)
Castle In the Sky Live (2020)
No Man's Land (2020)
Revelation (2020)
Unpublished Songs 9 (2020)
Shadowlight (2020)
Transitions Vol. 3 (2021)
Journey To Infinity (2021)
Journey To Infinity 2 (2021)
Road of Silence (2021)
DeJa Vu (2021)
Infinite Dreams Vol. 1 (2021)
Infinite Dreams Vol. 2 (2021)
Synthetic Worlds (2021)
Unpublished Songs 10 (2021)
Sequences In Worlds (2021)
Oblivion (2021)
Oblivion II (2021)
The Best of 2012 Vol. 1 (2021)
The Best of 2012 Vol. 2 (2021)
The Best of 2016 Vol. 1 (2021)
The Best of 2016 Vol. 2 (2021)
The Best of 2017 Vol. 1 (2021)
The Best of 2016 Vol. 2 (2021)
The Best of 2018 Vol. 1 (2021)
The Best of 2018 Vol. 2 (2021)
Transience (2021)
The Best of 2019 Vol. 1 (2021)
The Best of 2019 Vol. 2 (2021)
Oblivion III (2021)
The Best of 2020 Vol. 1 (2021)
The Best of 2020 Vol. 2 (2021)
Rush To Nothing (2021)
The Best of Live Vol. 1 A (2021)
The Best of Live Vol. 1 B (2021)
The Best of Live Vol. 2 A (2021)
The Best of Live Vol. 2 B (2021)
Sequences And Dreams (2021)
Song of Angels Vol. 1 (2022)
Song of Angels Vol. 2 (2022)
Skyline (2022)
Brightest Lights (2022)

Berlin School duo formed in 2009.

 


Spiraleye (UK)

The Space Between (2008)
Still (2009)
Ramelion (2011)

A duo of Neale Haddon (guitars, processing, guitar synth) and Peter Challoner (synthesizers & drum programming).

See also: Challoner, Peter

 


Spiralmaze (Greece)

Back To the Center (2014)
Domes of Dorlmeus (2018)

Intense, spaced-out, rhythmic rock / electronic compositions in the style of Ozric Tentacles.

 


Spirit & Form (Belgium)

010 / Spirit & Form (2017)
Spirit & Form (2020)

Repetitive, melodic, classically-influenced EM from David Edren and Bent Von Bent.

See also: Edren, David, DSRlines, Hare Akedod.

 


Spiritual OCD Frequency Fellowship (Canada)

Cosmoramic Projections (2013)

 


Spiritual Switchboard, The (USA)

Post-Age Variations (2016) (recorded in 2012)
Forbidden Sector (2017) (S)
All Else Is Error / Oscilloclast (2017) (S)

Another name for the Slusher / DeRosa collaboration in Teutonic style.

See also: Night Travelers, Mind Machine, Shingles.

 


Spiritus Naevus (France)

Age (1992)
Vibra (1993)
Ou-A (1994)

Low-fi, experimental music between Ambient and industrial. The last album was released under the "Der Spirit" moniker.

 


Spiritwave (UK)

2492 (2022)
Systems (2022) (recorded in 2021)
Visionaries (2022) (recorded in 2021)
Limitless (2022) (recorded in 2020)
Frontiers (2022) (recorded in 2020)
Nocturne (2022) (recorded in 2020)
Midnight Zone (2022) (recorded in 2020)
Telekinesis (2022) (recorded in 2019)
Subspace (2022) (recorded in 2019)
Solar Age (2022) (recorded in 2019)
Emerald Galaxy (2023)
Tempus Fugit (2023)
Astraldrones (2023)
Electronique Odyssey Vol. 1 (2023)
Electronique Odyssey Vol. 2 (2023)
Phenomena (2023) (recorded in 2018)
Beyond Reality (2023) (recorded in 2018)
Signs of Life (2023) (recorded in 2018)
Anomalies (2023) (recorded in 2018)
Voyages (2023) (recorded in 2018)
Cloudmorph (2023) (recorded in 2017)
Light Spheres (2023)
Occulations (2023)
Electronique Odyssey Vol. 3 (2023)
Phases of the Moon (2024) (recorded in 2023)
No Man's Land (2024) (recorded in 2016)

Spiritwave is Swansea-based synthesist Dean Meredith heavily influenced by Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream.

 


Spiro, Nad (Spain)

Atomic Spy (2012)
XcentriCity (2013)
Sirius Signals (2017)
Pedreres (2020)
L'Important (2022)

A pseudonym of Rosa Arruti. Although Pedreres was created with just an electric guitar and four different pedals, the range of sounds is pretty impressive and the whole has such a strong "early krautrock/EM" feel, that I decided to include it in EEM.

 


Spiros (Greece)

Cosmic Lighthouse (1991)

Rare electronic LP released in Germany. The full name of the artist is Spiros Markulakis.

 


Spissitude (Brazil)

Spissitude (2016) (S)

Dark soundscapes from Rodrigo Dário, between classic Dark Ambient and experimental electronics. Some guitar as well.

 


Spite Cathedral (???)

1'st (2018)
Lie If You Can't Hide (2018) (EP)
Rah Life (2018) (EP)
All You Ever Done Is Make My Nose Bleed (2018) (EP)
Acknowledge Death, Bury God (2019)
Det Tysta Våldet (2020) (S)
Leave the Lights On (2020)
The Human Touch (2020)
Allt Är En Tillfällighet, Allting Är Mitt Fel (2020)
Feel Through This (2020)
How To Navigate In the Dark (2021) (EP)

Dark electronics project of Dan Mortazavi. A mixture of industrial and ambient influences.

 


Spiteri, Danny (USA)

Crea Island (2014) (S)

Starting as a plunderphonics artist, San Jose-based Danny Spiteri developed a unique style, mixing a lot of sampled sounds with synthesized atmospheres. On Crea Island a lot of progressive electronic influences started to show themselves.

 


Spivak (Cyprus)

Μετά Το Ρέιβ (2020)
Rare Backwards (2021)
You Win Again (2023)

Ambient synth-pop artist (full name - Maria Spivak), influenced by 1980's post-punk and stuff like Lena Platonos. A mixture of her ethereal vocals and synths. Some of the compositions are largely instrumental. A pretty experimental but intriguing stuff overall.

 


Spivey, Brett (USA)

The Blue Heavens (2006)

An album of ambient soundscapes with space rock touches from this Florida-based artist whose previous outing Anamorphosis of Day (2003) was very IDM-influenced. However, on The Blue Heavens the techno elements are virtually absent in favour of a prog-influenced, hazy sound.

 


Splinter, Rene (Netherlands)

Transit Realities (2010)
Singularities (2011)
Modern Ruins (2013)
Frames (2014)

Solo Electronic Music from ex-member of Almery.

See also: Almery

 


Spoerri, Bruno (Switzerland)

Koncert Fur SIG-Pressluftwerkzeuge (1971) (S)
Konzert Fur Elektronischen Fahrschalter, Hubhydraulik, Elektrische Gitarre Und Synthesizer (1971) (S)
Oederlin Elektron (1972)
Bitte Mars Einfach, 1. Klasse (1972) (with Bruno Stanek)
Rollin' (1973) (S)
Die Musikmaschine (1973) (with the ensemble "Kaktus")
Switched-On Switzerland (1974)
Hepp Demo Spoerri (1976) (with Hardy Hepp)
Voice of Taurus (1978)
The Sound of the UFO's (1978) (with Reto Weber)
Baustellenmusik (1979) (S)
Toy Planet (1981) (with Irmin Schmidt)
ax+by+cz+d=0 (1983) (with Betha Sarasin)
Teddy Bär (1983) (soundtrack)
Double Brain (1985) (with Joel Vandroogenbroeck)
Controlled Risk (1988) (with Reto Weber)
Glückskugel (2006) (recorded in 1971 - 1980)
Extrakugel (2009)
Teddy Bär / Lilith (2013) (recorded in 1983)
Hommage au Frommage / Hollingsville (2013) (recorded in 1971 and 2013) (with Massonix)
Memories (2015)
Langstrasse Zwischen 12 und 12 (2016) (recorded in 1972) (soundtrack)
Rare & Unreleased 1971 - 1998 (2018)
In Between (2022) (with Roger Girod)
Musiques légères (1976-1982) (2023)

Swiss jazz-musician-turned-synthesist. I think his electronic works are more or less here. Not much known about them. Switched-On Switzerland is electronic interpretations of Swiss folk music. The early EP's are promotional records for various companies. I've heard only his collaborative LP with Can's Irmin Schmidt, Toy Planet. It features very diverse material: some forgettable and funky rhythmic tracks and atmospheric pieces, some of them true masterpices, for instance, the title track, as well as "Rapido De Noir" and "When the Waters Came To Life". A real oddity is "Yom Tov" that sounds like vintage, tequila-drenched Mexican festival music. The album makes use of Lyricon (a wind-controlled electronic instrument) and is well worth checking out, especially for tracks like "Toy Planet" and "When the Waters...".

See also: Control Company, Alphageneric#Taurus.

 


Spopielony (Poland)

Legendy (2019)

Dungeon synth / Ambient with something of a lo-fi feel.

 


Sporo Wody (Poland)

Orange Is A Snack (2021)

Multimedia artist Hubert Kurkiewicz. Orange Is A Snack is a varied ambient release, mostly meditative and / or mysterious, with dark, spacey synths, shadowy melodies and drones.

 


Sposito, Gianni (Italy)

Denebola (1980)
Cosmo Graffiti (1984)
Genere Pop Elettronico (1986)
Eudosso (1987)
The Sirens (1989)

Cosmo Graffiti is a library album with a nice cosmic analog synth sound.

 


Sprague, Emily A. (USA)

Water Memory (2018)
Mount Vision (2018)
Hill, Flower, Fog (2020)

Ambient modular synth compositions from this New York-based composer. Sort of peaceful.

 


Spring, Anselm (Germany)

Edition Visionova (1980) (with Zeus B. Held)
Macht der Schönheit (1987)
Music Art (1988) (with Zeus B. Held)

Anselm Spring is a German author, photographer and composer. On Macht der Schönheit, a duo of Ernst Ströer and Hans Peter Ströer (plus guests) lent a hand, and the music is in a sedate ambient mood, somewhat new agey. One track with vocals. This vinyl record is accompanied by a 80-page booklet.

 


Springcoil (Belgium)

Mirages & Ondulations (2021)

Moody electronics with elements of noise and post-industrial from Pierre-Emmanuel Maréchal.

 


SPRRW (???)

Decay of Courage (2018) (S)
A Dream In the Attic (2019) (S)

Varied melodic synth compositions.

 


Spruch, Jacek (Poland)

Canyon of Appeasement (??)

Early cassette release by future E=Motion mastermind under his real name.

See also: E=Motion, ESP.

 


SPS (Finland)

SPS (2015)

Varied Ambient from this Helsinki-based project (Sunny Seppä).

 


Spurensicherung (Germany)

Pathologische Normalität (1985)

Live electronic project of Hans-Dieter Schmidt (who had been playing with Finnegan's Wake during the 70's) and Hartmut Bar. After releasing this cassette Schmidt went on to form a new duo Imaginary Landscape with Bernd Hruby.

See also: Imaginary Landscape

 


Sputnic (Iran)

Broadcast (2014)
Silent Escape (2020)

Ambient artist Mehdi Saleh.

See also: Alphaxone

 


Spylacopa (USA)

Beneath the Earth That Lies Beneath the Sea (2019)

Intense soundscapes from this diverse project of John LaMacchia.

 


Spyra (Germany)

Excerpts 1 (1992) (recorded in 1986 - 1992)
Homelistening Is Killing Clubs (1995)
Future of the Past (1997)
My Little Garden of Sounds (1997)
Phonehead (1997)
Sferics (1998)
Virtual Vices (1998) (with Pete Namlook)
Etherlands (1999)
Virtual Vices II (2001) (with Pete Namlook)
Virtual Vices III (2002) (with Pete Namlook)
Elevator To Heaven (2002)
Virtual Vices IV (2002) (with Pete Namlook)
Invisible Fields (2003)
Achtundsechzig 31 (2003) (with Chris Lang)
Headphone Concert (2004)
Meditationen (2005)
Orphan Waves (2006)
Virtual Vices V (2006) (with Pete Namlook)
Space Cowboys @ Jelenia Gora (2007) (recorded in 2004) (with Keller, Schönwälder, Broekhuis and Fox)
High Phidelity (2007)
Gasoline 91 Octane (2008)
Virtual Vices VI (2008) (with Pete Namlook)
January In June (2009)
Sequest (2010) (with Chris Lang)
No Beats For 1 Hour (2010)
Staub (2014)
Requiem (2017) (with Roksana Vikaluk, Mani Neumeier and Konstantin Athanasiadis)
Dunst (2018)
inSPYRAtion (2019)
inSPYRAtion 2 (2020) (with Roksana Vikaluk and Hajo Liese)
Hospital (2021)
Little Garden of Sound 2022 (2022)

Wolfram der Spyra is, in my opinion, one of the most talented synthesists around. His music is New Berlin School, very energetic and with a cool modern feel. Some albums are more ambient than the others: for instance, My Little Garden of Sounds or some stuff from the Virtual Vices series. At the same time there's plenty of sequencer-based stuff even on the more ambient releases. The examples of his more rhythmic style can be found on Future of the Past, Elevator To Heaven and Meditationen, among others. Der Spyra's earlier material featured on Excerpts 1 is more experimental and apart from synths features some playing on an instrument called the "Steel Cello". Der Spyra is originally from Kassel, Germany. During the 80's, he became interested in Electronic Music applications and founded his own electronic studio where he made use of numerous custom-built instruments like the Triangle-pads, the Steel Cello or the Electrolyra. His soundsculptures were featured at some art exhibitions, including the well-known (at least in Germany) "Dokumenta IX". His ascent to EM fame began when he started collaborating with Pete Namlook, who in the 90's produced many young talented artists for his newly-formed FAX label. With Pete, Spyra started releasing a series of CD's dedicated to various forms of electromagnetic waves, of which Sferics was the first. The albums showed Spyra developing a fresh approach to EM that combined classic influences with contemporary / modern elements. Many more albums on different labels followed and nowadays Der Spyra is still at the forefront of current EM scene.

See also: Moon And Melody, Planet of the Arps.

 


Sqrtsigil (Poland)

Licho (2017)
Lost In (2018)
Materia (2019)
New Technologies Require Sacrifices (2020)
Voltage Depression (2021)
Dots Follower (2021)

A project of ambient artist Maciej Jaciuk. Organic sound, with lots of weird sounds, micro textures / glitches and slight dubby influences.

 


Squadra Omega (Italy)

Antiterra (2019)
Omega Mai (2021) (with Mai Mai Mai)

Improvising space rock / psych rock ensemble with changing members. Antiterra is basically an EM release.

 


Square Fauna (Russia)

Meet the Fauna (2020)

Interesting project from St. Petersburg, mixing multiple sequences and vintage analog sounds with glitchy rhythms.

 


Square Sun (UK)

Dennis (1989) (with Mark Deas)
Square Sun (1990)
Tierversuche, das Perfekte Konzept der Selbstvernichtung (1990)

Square Sun is Edinburgh-based musician Dion Trevarthen, a member (guitarist) of space rockers Sponge. These are all rare tapes supposedly in experimental style.

 


Square Wave (USA)

Square Wave (1986)
Scubatronics (1987)

Texan synth duo.

See also: Boone, Tim

 


square_wave (USA)

Aerodrome (2007)
23 Sec Coma (2008)
Mach Ångström (2009)
The Mesmer Eye (2010)

Static and intense analog soundscapes with some sequencer-based pieces ala Virgin-era Tangerine Dream. The project of Ty Hodson from Pacific Northwest region.

 


Square/Sine (Canada)

Square/Sine (2015)
Jappements à la lune (2017)

Feedback electronics / drums / percussions duo consisting of François Couture and David Dugas Dion. Noisy, rough, but with a kraut / prog edge. Not for the faint-hearted.

 


SquareWaves (UK)

Volume 1 (2016)

A loose electronic collective oriented toward live performances. Ranges in sound from rhythmic journeys bringing to mind Tangerine Dream's Logos - Poland era, to more ambient and experimental excursions, always with a lively, analog feel.

 


Squelcher (USA)

Squelcher (2017)
Seven Shooter (2019)

Rich analog sound pastiche on Seven Shooter, with nice sequencing on tracks like "Golden Orb", "It is 2 Minutes to Midnight Pt. 1".

 


Sraunus (Lithuania)

Asperatus Clouds (2013)
Vibrant Dead Rock (2015)
Season 1 (2015)
Atmospheric Insomnia (2017)
Equal Melodies (2018)
Surrealismus (2022)

Dub techno / ambient dub artist whose real name is Paulius Markitis. Vibrant Dead Rock, released on cassette, is a strange departure for him, as most of it is based on sequencing, with large space echoes and filtering applied, ending up sounding like Berlin School heard from a distance through a large canyon. Strange but interesting. Asperatus Clouds is another curious work which, although ambient dub for the most part, contains some purely ambient moments as well, such as the closing track for example.

 


SRC AD (France??)

Simulation (2017) (S)

Synthwave-like music from this mysterious project. Pretty melodic.

 


Sri Dinesh (France)

Para Symphonie (1978)

Extremely rare privately pressed LP by this yoga master (real name is unknown). The music is supposed to help you in your meditation and relaxation practice. It's a mixture of Electronic Music and a bit of new age.

 


Śrī Yushin Kurikkala (Sweden)

Landscape of Sounds (2022)
Dhyaan (2023)
Theremini Project (2023)

Under this pseudonym hides Benil Steimer - Swedish ethnic (mostly Indian style) musician, utilizing tamboura, sitar, as well as keyboards and especially theremin when in the electronic mode.

See also: Ekiwojjolo

 


Ssaliva (Belgium)

Thought Has Wings (2011) (S)
Sync Thrills (2012) (S)
RZA (2012) (S)
Pantani (2014)
Sextape Hiss (2015)
BE ME (2015)
4s4 (2016) (S)
keys2diversion (2016) (S)
We Never Happened (2017)
WYIN (2018) (S)
Unplugged Vol. 1 (2018)

Tread with caution. This project of François Boulanger alternates between lo-fi, "hypnagogic" pop / vaporwave, with distorted tape sound and hiss and prog EM. He does seem to like weaving some tasty sequencer / arpeggio textures, but seems to have somehow drifted more towards hypnagogic pop on later releases.

 


Ssiege (UK)

Fading Summer (2019)
Meteora (2021) (EP)
Beautiful Age (2023)

Varied electronic compositions from this London-based project, from melodic, trance-like, with traces of deconstructed club music to ambient and rhythmic, including 1980's style melodic EM (as on "Novo Eden").

 


Ssleeperhold (USA)

Ruleth (2013)

Solo Electronic Music from Los Angeles native José Cota, one of the original members of electropop outfit Medio Mutante. This is gritty, repetitive, rough material with some synthwave touches.

See also: Medio Mutante

 


St Hugh, William (USA)

The Luciferian (2019)
Weasels Devour the Sun (2020)
The Cracking Ship (2021)

Ambient artist with a menacing, classically-influenced sound.

 


St James Infirmary (UK)

An Antic Pause (2015)
A Heap of Broken Images (2017)
April (2020)
Apport (2020)
AttackDecaySustainRelease (2021)
Annoyances No. 6 (2021)
All About the Darkness (2021)
Astral Vibes (2021)
Armament (2021) (S)
Airlocked (2022)
Archipelago (2022)
Aquatic (2022)
As Well As Can Be Expected (2023)

Monolithic synth drones with some noisier moments. A project of C.W. Lang.

 


St. James, Jon (USA)

Fast Impressions (1986)

Jon St. James' 1984 album Trans-Atlantic featured a collection of pop songs. This one, however, leans towards the jazzy synth / fusion / EM instrumental style and features Jon's synths with some tasty and relaxed guitar solos from Allan Holdsworth.

See also: Starforce 1

 


St.ride (Italy)

Microstorie (2021)

Electronic punk / no-wave duo of Edo Grandi and Maurizio Gusmerini, active since about 2001. On Microstorie, they focus on shorter tracks, throwing in seemingly discordant sounds, like clangs, recorded noises and other electroacoustic debris and mixing them with a nice synth sound. I like the vocoder use on it, which makes it definitely Prog.

 


St. Tropez (Italy)

Icarus (1992) (recorded in 1977-1978)

Another one of those short-lived bands formed by Ciro Perrino in the late 1970's that sees him moving from progressive rock towards his later electronic style.

See also: Perrino, Ciro, SNC, La Compagnia Digitale.

 


STΔER (USA)

Telemetry (2019)
Equilibrium (2022)

Ian R. Staer is a Berlin School artist from Philadelphia.

 


Stabil Elite (Germany)

Gold (2011) (S)
Douze Pouze (2012)
Spumante (2016)

Krautrock / electronic trio of Lucan Croon, Nikolai Szymanski and Martin Sonnensberger, mostly influenced by the Dusseldorf School. A mixture of vocal and instrumental tracks.

See also: Airchina, Fanta Dorado & Der Innere Kreis, Croon, Lucas.

 


Stadelman, Jeffrey (USA)

Signaling (2021)

This artist seems to enjoy doing long tracks broken into different sections of extremely varying moods and textures - sort of sonic sketches. I wonder why he decided to adopt this approach. However, the results can be pretty entertaining.

 


Stadt (Belgium)

Meerstadt (2023)

"Krautpop" band from Gent. Meerstadt has some EM influences in its sound. Mostly instrumental, with a couple of vocal songs.

 


Stahlmann, Mitch (USA)

Into the Wish (2022)

Abstract and vaguely melodic compositions made of processed, re-processed and sampled flute sounds and other electronics. A pretty unique EM / electroacoustic hybrid.

See also: LCM

 


Stahlwerk 9 (Germany)

Alles Für Die Front Alles Für Den Krieg! (1995)
Heldenstadt Stalingrad (1995)
Blutmühle (1997)
Die Schwarze Fabrik (1998)
Oradour (1998)
Vaterland (2001)
Finis Germaniae (2002) (S)
Babi Yar (2003) (S)
212 (2004)
The Final Resistance (2005) (with Rasthof Dachau)
1905. The Price of Blood (2005)
Der Tod Nagelt Die Augen Zu... (2006)
Wings of Confusion (2006) (with Atrox)
Sebastian im Traum (2006) (S)
Revolution of the Antichrist (2007)
RetroMekanik (2009)
The Grey Ghost (2012)
Natruimchlorid (2021)
Dekalogie (2023)

Martial Ambient from Reinhard Hopfe, sometimes with (annoying) vocals.

 


Stainsby, Trevor (UK)

The Rhythm of Return (1989)

Supposedly, Tribal Ambient from this musician and engineer based in South Wales.

 


Stairway Maze (Russia)

Hollow Spaces (2017)
Kelevra (2019)
Decision Fatigue (2022)

Highly cinematic music with slow rhythms. Intense, melodic... A project of Denis Tverdokhleb based in Petrozavodsk.

 


Stakhanov (France)

Stakhanov (2021)

Deep, dark techno and equally deep and dark Prog EM compositions. The closer sounds like Heldon trapped in a parallel dimension. Stakhanov is a trio consiting of Fabien Ainardi, Léo Paillard and Mathieu Reynaud.

 


Stalactite (Japan / USA)

Stalactite (2022)

Collaborative electronic project between Susumu Mukai and Drew Brown (member of Sandro Perri's Off World). Prominent drum machine rhythms and wacky melodic synths.

 


Stalteri, Arturo (Italy)

Andre Sulla Luna (1979)
E Il Pavone Parlo' Alla Luna (1987) (recorded in 1980 - 1981)
Syriarise (1992)
Flowers (1995)
Circles (1998) (with Philip Glass)
CoolAugustMoon (2000)
Rings (2003)
Early Rings (2005) (recorded in 1974 - 1975)
Child of the Moon (2006)
Half Angels (2009)
From Ajanta To Lhasa (2020) (recorded in 1979)

Ex-Pierrot Lunaire cian who has released a string of solo works that range from organ and piano-based serialist music and minimal works to progrock-influenced stuff and Electronic Music. After his 1987 effort, E Il Pavone Parlo' Alla Luna, Arturo started concentrating more and more on the piano, while electronics and other instruments took a back seat. Of note are his collaboration with Philip Glass on Circles and his adaptations of Brian Eno works.

See also: Pierrot Lunaire

 


Stamer, Hans-Hasso (Germany)

Digital Life (1989)

East German synthesist.

 


Stametshroom (???)

The Last Candle (2020)

Pretty nice ambient electronics, mostly based on analog synth sounds.

 


Stamou, Tasos (Greece)

Seven Synth Drone Studies (2014) (recorded in 2010)
Antiqua Graecia (2021)

London-based Greek electroacoustic composer. Antiqua Graecia combines Greek folk traditions and field recordings with electronics. A good one for fans of World Music. Seven Synth Drone Studies is what the title promises. Further investigation is needed.

 


Stan Dart (Austria)

Accelerator (2015) (with Alien Nature)
Midnight (2016) (with Mark Dorricott)
Events (2016) (with Mark Dorricott)

Hometown Memories (2016)
Ecclesia (2017)
Supernova (2018)
MurInsel Vol. 1 (2018)
Seaside (2019) (with Mark Dorricott)
MurInsel Vol. 2 (2019)
Retrospective (2020)
MurInsel Vol. 3 (2020)

Diverse Electronic Music, mostly rhythmic / melodic, with classical and ambient influences.

 


Stan et Adam (Belgium)

Glockenspiel (1979)

Now we're talking real weirdness. Stan et Adam, a duo of brothers, apparently recorded this obscurity in their sister's bedroom, using multiple instruments and vocals. Most of the tracks here have a weird cabaret vibe, although with added synthesizer mayhem. Beware the vocals.

 


Stanbrook, Cliff (UK)

Star Signs (1995)

Melodic music based on signs of the zodiac by this British musician. Comparable to contemporary TD.

 


Stancati, Mario Lino (Italy)

Cross the Desert (2020)
Vairagya (2022)
Revision (2022)

Although difficult to classify within the frames of just one genre (maybe electroacoustic music?), Cross the Desert is definitely an inventive and progressive work that lovers of the more unorthodox forms of EM should enjoy.

 


Stanciu, Aurel (Romania)

Introspecţii (1997)

Bombastic, symphonic and rock-based electronics somewhat in the spirit of Rick Wakeman, although not that virtuosic and with some more instrospective, ambient sections.

 


Standard Grey (Canada)

A Series of Decisions (2016)
Dream Grammar (2017)
Recent Tape Works / Measurement (2020)
Handling (2021)
Particular Sites And Species (2022)
Peregrination (2023)

Analog synth music drawing influences from classic kosmische, Ambient / drone and industrial / noise. Canadian artist residing in Japan.

 


Stanford, John (New Zealand)

Deep Space (1999)
TimeScapes (2012)
Solar Echoes (2015)

Very cosmic, with lots of rhythm.

 


Stankiewicz, Thomas Davið (Iceland)

Resonance (2016)

 


Stapfer (Germany)

Dim Aesthetics (2015) (S)
Autumnal Tension (2015)
Northmantra (2015) (S)
Idolon (2017)

Subtle dark ambient sounds, sometimes on the verge of hearing, sometimes more intense and classically-influenced.

 


Stapleton, Steven (UK)

The Sadness of Things (1991) (with David Tibet)
Revenge of the Selfish Shellfish (1992) (with Tony Wakeford)
Musical Pumpkin Cottage (1996) (with David Tibet)
Octopus (1998) (with David Tibet)
Painting With Priests (2015) (with Christoph Heemann)
Dead Memory (2019) (with David Tibet)

Steve Stapleton is the man behind Nurse With Wound.

See also: Nurse With Wound

 


Star Child (USA)

Internal Alchemy (2018)

Melodic synth explorations from Kate Rose out of Portland, Oregon.

 


Star Club West (Belgium)

Forzetsn Tsu Drek (2019)

Belgian indie pop band who had no less than three releases in 2019. One of them was a weird, largely instrumental (with only a few songs with "vocals") work. It is also predominantly electronic, made in a unique style, with shades of Eno weirdness, Cluster etc. Nice and different.

 


Star of Asteroth (UK)

The Portal (2021) (S)

Nice, richly-sounding EM from Manchester. Sequences, 1980's sounds and an unmistakable Tangerine Dream atmosphere.

 


Star Robot System (Italy)

Robotica (2013)
Apollo (2014)
Asymmetric (2014)
Pantograph (2015)
Mechanized (2016)

Experimental, mechanical, Kraftwerk-like.

 


Star Sheperd (Netherlands)

Current Explorations In Star Synthesis (2018)

Danny Wolfers making a bunch of experimental and melodic tracks using his self-built Star Sheperd synthesizer.

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

 


Star Sounds Orchestra (Germany)

Planets (1991)
Phantastische Phaenomene (1992)
Kosmophonon (1992)
Inter Planetary Ambience (1995)
Psy-Force (1997)
...ooz (1999)
Music For Qigong Dancing (2004)
Okefenokee 2002 (2007) (with Airsculpture) (recorded in 2002)
Venus Transit (2014)

Steve Schroyder's project with Jens Zygar. I've heard that early albums are pretty good, but I have only ...ooz, which is very rhythmic psychedelic trance / techno kind of thing, therefore, not interesting musically, although the moog pyrotechnics are quite impressive on some tracks.

See also: Schroyder, Steve, Augenstern, Tangerine Dream, Dream Control.

 


Star Zeit (USA)

Islands Beyond Earth (1986)
Light Space (1987)
Rainbows Rising (1987)

Electronic Music from Michael Clay, who is one half of the Arizona-based duo Crystal.

See also: Crystal, Clay, Mike.

 


Staran Wake (UK)

Staran Wake (2023)

A duo of multi-instrumentalists / synthesists Andrew Bunsell and Tom Relleen. Improvised, acoustic / electronic, hypnotic, with sequences.

 


Starasvet (Belarus)

Pershy Dozhdzh (2004) (S)
Sontsa - Shlyakham Zhyccia i Smerci (2005)

Keyboard-based Pagan Ambient. The title of the first mini-album translates to "First Rain".

 


Starbirthed (USA)

Citrine Dreams (2017)
Chakra Four (2017)
The Dweller On the Threshold (2018)
Gems 1: Liquid Crystals (2018)
Starbirthed (2018)
Chakra Tree (2018)
Messages From... (2018)
More Messages From... (2019)
With the Mother (2019)
Starbathing (2019)
Chakra Two (2019)
Chakra Seven (2019)
Tour Guide (2020)
In Alignment (2020)
Loving-Kindness Meditation (2020)
Reflections of the Samith (2021)

Droney, new-agey duo of Ash Brooks and Matt Lajoie. Sometimes ventures into darker territory, somewhat akin to early EM / krautrock.

 


Starbuster, Ricky (USA)

Starburst (1983)
Protosyn (1983)
ESP (1983)
Starbuster '84 (1984)
Mood Series (1984)
Arcal Music Library (1984)
Live the Dream (1985)
Ocean Sand (1988)

Dynamic, new-wavey, electronic. With some vocals on some cassettes. Ricky Starbuster is a pseudonym of Richard J. Hauser from Madison, Wisconsin.

 


Starclash Hussein Thor II (France)

Barquette At the Moon (2011)

Supposedly abstract, cosmic electronics.

 


Stardrive (USA)

Intergalactic Trot (1973)
Stardrive (1974)

Robert Mason on synth backed by a jazz group. Intergalactic Trot contains a couple of cover versions (among them a Beatles song!) Sort of like a funky electronic Gong in space.

 


Stares To Nowhere (USA)

Stares To Nowhere (2000)
Entities (2000)
Inside the Dream Replicater (2000)
Before the Wheel (2000)
The Red Staircase (2003)
Stares To Nowhere JX (2003)
The Infinity Game (2004)
Bridge To Nowhere (2004)
The Perfect Planet (2005)
In Search For Water (2005)

Ambient project of Bill Fieger and Heather Lind, supposedly in Steve Roach vein.

See also: Oblivious Solitude

 


Starfire (USA)

Starfire (1996)

Mostly power space rock from Doug Buckley (he wrote the lyrics for Hawkwind's "Out of the Shadow"), except for the last track (20+ minutes) which is classic Berlin School electronic sequencer blast that all Tangerine Dream fans will drool over.

 


Starforce 1 (USA)

Starforce 1 (1981)

Jon St. James and Albin Konopka. Somewhat comparable to Tangerine Dream. Dale Hauskins on guitar (of Swiss progressive rock band Flame Dream.) Apart from Starforce 1, Jon St. James also collaborated with Allan Holdsworth on two subsequent solo albums.

See also: St. James, Jon

 


Starfucker (USA)

Ambient 1 (2020)

Aka STRFKR. Portland, Oregon-based indie pop / indietronica band. Ambient 1 is an experiment in instrumental synth composition, which has a nice warm sound to it. You can hear diverse influences here - from Tangerine Dream to film music and minimalism. They've got my attention.

 


Stargarden (USA)

Ambient Excursions (1999)
The Art of Analog Diversion (2000)
Step Off (2002)
Ambient Excursions (2004)
Music For Modern Listening (2005)

Diverse electronic compositions from Bobby DeVito, from ambient floaters (the first two) to sequencer-based (Step Off).

 


Stargate (Brazil)

Dominant (2017)

 


Stargazer's Assistant, The (UK)

The Other Side of the Island (2007)
Shivers & Voids (2008) (S)
Mirrors & Tides, Shivers & Voids (2013)
Remoteness of Light (2016)
Resurgam I, Resurgam II (2018)
Fire Worshipper (2023)

Unclassifiable band led by drummer and percussionist Dave Smith. The music comes off as a cross between neo-classical progressive rock (Univers Zero, Art Zoyd...), Dark Ambient and perhaps a touch of noise and electro-acoustic improvisation. Not very electronic most of the time but stylistically EM-related.

 


Stargoon (Canada)

Sky Ranch: The World Beyond the World (2019)

Space rock-related formation put together by Toronto-based Joe Strutt. Long tracks played by three / four guys with a synths / bass / drums setup. Between space / psychedelic rock and electronics.

 


Starink, Ed (Netherlands)

Cristallin (1981)
Inner Spirits (1985)
Moving Rhythm (1986)
Retrospection (1991)
Moods - Synthesizer Seasons (1993)
The Synthfony Album (1993)
Digi-Lite (1996)

Dutch synthesist born in 1952. Many of his albums are covers of well-known tunes. The above listed works are supposed to contain original music.

 


Starkey (Netherlands)

Space In Art (1996)

Space Music. Starkey was a duo of Nico van de Poel and Sjaak Sterk. The former was a painter very much into "Space Art". While opening an exhibition of his paintings in 1995, Sterk gave a performance of "cosmic music" with his colleague and friend Nico van de Poel. The music on Space In Art is based on that performance.

 


Starla Dust (USA)

Aquila Monastery (2009)

 


Starless Oracle, The (???)

Holographic Oasis (2023)

Glassy, sunlit ambient compositions with some flute and piano sounds alongside synths.

 


Starlite Coffins (USA)

Medicine Eagle (2013) (S)
Starlite Meditation Cult (2013)
Eruptionem (2014)
Rick Brown Hypnotherapist (2016)
White Hill, Black River (2016) (S)
Dead Horse Pasture (2017) (S)
Dead Horse Pasture II (2018)

Starlite Coffins is Ryan Brundage who makes music under several pseudonyms. He seems to be influenced by the industrial scene. I wouldn't put his Starlite Coffins project into industrial genre but I'm having a hard time trying to pinpoint it either. There's certainly an influence of industrial. However, the whole sounds more like a mixture of dark prog (circa Art Zoyd's "silent movie soundtracks"), EM, noise and an unclassifiable type of ritual, hypnotic sound. Or, you can simply file it under Experimental.

 


Starr, Daniel Victor (???)

Barriers (1976)

Private cassette release.

 


Stars of the Lid (USA)

Music For Nitrous Oxide (1995)
Gravitational Pull vs. The Desire For An Aquatic Life (1996)
The Ballasted Orchestra (1996)
Per Aspera Ad Astra (1998) (with Jon McCafferty)
Avec Laudenum (1999)
The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid (2001)
Stars of the Lid And Their Refinement of the Decline (2007)
Carte-De-Visite (2007)

Ambient music ala Brian Eno. If you like Discreet Music, check this out. Star's of the Lid is the duo of Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride.

See also: Aix Em Klemm, Wiltzie, Adam.

 


Stars Over Foy (Netherlands)

Planet Ambi Presents World of Ambient (2015)
Planet Ambi Presents World of Ambient Part II (2016)
The Dreamship (2016)
Mirror of Emotions (2016)
Outrunning the Darkness (2016) (with Art of Drone)
Planet Ambi Presents World of Ambient Part II (2017)
Want To Leave This World (Into Space) (2018) (S) (with Vechigen)

Ambient artist from Rotterdam.

 


Stars Without Light (Canada)

Beneath And Before (2023)

Stark, intense, foreboding soundscapes from Harlow MacFarlane.

See also: MacFarlane, Harlow, Funerary Call, Grey Towers Stone Temples.

 


Starseed Transmission (Australia)

Metamorphic Illumination (1993)

This album contains spacey, a bit Tangerine Dream-like journeys from Steve Law and Andrew "Orion" Park. There are four massive tracks that take you to the edge of your dreams. Every bit is filled to the top with sparkling clusters of synths, crystalline sequences and warm atmospheres. Sometimes one can hear echoes of TD's Zeit (as on "Etherea"), but most of the time the music is fairly original and the sound is VERY rich. A lot of analogue synthesizers were used to create an invigorating synthetic melange that portraits cosmos not as a cold, black abyss, but rather as a place full of wonders and excitement. Steve and Andrew's cosmos is cosmos filled with picturesque nebulae and bright stars that shine like beacons in the vastness of space: red, blue, yellow, white, orange, green - all kinds of stars. It's also the place where long space convoys roam cosmic highways and dwellers of solitary outposts enjoy the beauty of our Universe looking through the windows of their suites. Metamorphic Illumination has all "otherwordly" qualities you'd expect from EM but at the same time it's very warm and inviting, despite the mysterious bits. This is quite simply one of the best Electronic Music albums I've heard! 

See also: Guild of Fire, Law, Steve.

 


Starship Synthesizer Orchestra (Japan)

Space Roman (1978)

This is some kind of spacey disco album with covers of well-known film themes and supposedly also some original material recorded with the participation of Masanori Takahashi (aka Kitaro). Some tracks are supposedly more ambient or Prog EM.

See also: Kitaro

 


Startled Insects (UK)

Startled Insects (1984) (S)
Underworld / Black Spring (1985) (S)
Curse of the Pheromones (1987)
Life Pulse (1991)
Skin (1994) (with Biggie Tembo)

Unusual upbeat and ambient EM from the duo of Tim Norfolk and Bob Locke. The debut eponymous EP is also known as Overzoom.

 


Startzman, Ethan James (USA)

Let's All Run Away To Space (2020)
Equinox (2021)
Shamanic Verse (2021)

Nice long electronic tracks from this New York-based synthesist and experimental musician. Pretty varied - from experimental to cosmic and melodic.

 


Staruha Mha (Russia)

Rusali (2003)
Fires (2004)

Ritual Ambient from Roman Sidorov. Unfortunately, the author commited suicide in 2003, leaving no hope for the continuation of the project.

 


Staszek Fungus (Poland)

Bloudit (2021)

Moody, darkish ambient compositions with a cinematic flair and a post-industrial feel. Staszek Fungus is a pseudonym of Michał Lejczak.

 


Statham, Paul (UK)

Asylum (2017)

Intense soundscapes, often with a darkish mood. For some reasons, parts of it remind me on "Blade Runner".

 


Statics (Denmark)

Statics (1989)

A collection of music by three members of progressive rock band Atlantis - Flemming K. Pedersen, Eirik Moland and Kent Eskildsen. Rare private cassette release.

See also: Timescape

 


Statische Musen (Germany)

Diskretion. Funktionsmusik Für Verrichtungsboxen (2023)

A project of Asmus Tietchens. Abstract electronics, which in a way harken back to the atmospheres explored on the Club of Rome release. Another comparison would be a much more sparse Art Forland.

See also: Tietchens, Asmus, Club of Rome.

 


STBL (Spain)

Death of A Glacier (2019)
Reflected (2021)

Spanish ambient project.

 


Stearns, Michael (USA)

Desert Moon Walk (1977)
Ancient Leaves (1977)
Sustaining Cylinders (1978)
Morning Jewel (1979)
Planetary Unfolding (1980)
Sonic Texture (1983)
Lyra (1983)
Light Play (1983)
Chronos (1984) (soundtrack)
Plunge (1986)
Floating Whispers (1987)
Encounter (1988)
Sacred Pool (1988) (with Carolyn Conger)
Desert Solitaire (1989) (with Kevin Braheny and Steve Roach)
Baraka (1992) (soundtrack)
Sacred Site - Soundtracks And Compositions (1993) (recorded in 1983 - 1993)
Singing Stones (1994) (with Ron Sunsinger)
Kiva (1995) (with Steve Roach and Ron Sunsinger)
The Lost World (1995)
The Light In the Trees (1996)
Within (1998)
The Ninth Dimension (1998)
The Middle of Time (2000) (soundtrack)
Spirits of the Voyage (2000) (soundtrack)
Sorcerer (2000) (with Ron Sunsinger)
The Storm (2001)
The Soft Touch of Morning Light (2015) (recorded in 1979)
Music For the Dome (2016)
Convergence (2020) (with Erik Wøllo)
Beyond Earth & Sky (2021) (with Steve Roach)

A pioneer of the Space Music genre, Michael Stearns started to craft his own unique version of cosmic electronics since the early 1970's. By 1977, he managed to put together a studio and a specialized music label that issued his first works. By the start of the 1980's, Michael's name became associated with the then new new age movement, although it's quite clear that Michael's music has different roots (although he *might* share some ideas) and has not more to do with new age, than, say, Roedelius' music. The reason for this was the relaxing nature of Michael's compositions (I think someone out there could have assumed he could meditate to it), but it was also partly because at that time Michael worked with some acknowledged forerunners of the genre, namely Steven Halpern. Anyway, the new age misunderstanding aside, what does the music sound like? It's floating, slowly unfolding stuff based on textures and drones, not on direct melodies or rhythms. Michael Stearns is one of the earliest users of the Serge modular synthesizer - a behemoth with monster possibilities. Planetary Unfolding is an example of work realized almost entirely using Serge modules. Stearns collaborated with Steve Roach and Ron Sunsinger, among others. The album Light Play from 1983 was re-released on CD a year later as M'Ocean.

 


Stebbing, Tim (UK)

Orbiter (1985)
Twelve Dimensional World (1985)
Princess of Mars (1986)
Square One (1986)
Memoire Vive (1986)
Silverlake (1987)
Skylines (1990)
Into the Exponential (1991)

Floating and rhythmic electronics from this UK synthesist.

 


Steed, Ben (UK)

From Atop A Frozen Summit (2012)
From Here You Can See Everything (2013)

Ambient artist from Lincoln.

 


Steele, Jim (USA)

Deerheaded Facts (1991)
Neptune Rising (2006)

Concert pianist and keyboard player. Not sure about the first album (apparently it's a rare cassette release) but Neptune Rising features jazz-rock / fusion with a very strong electronic component. In fact it sounds like a 50/50 mix of fusion and EM (i.e. the rhythmic base is jazz-rock but the solos and the ubiquitous atmospheric sounds are straight from the EM school). In fact, I am not even sure that both albums were made by the same Jim Steele. For now they're under one entry, though.

 


Steeple of Fyre (USA)

Steeple of Fyre (1997)

One of the many Mauve Sideshow offshoots.

See also: Mauve Sideshow, Blessed Oblivion, Minus Infinity, Mistress of Strands, Thistle, Angel Provocateur, Torn Curtain, Kangaroo Kourt.

 


Steer, Paddy (UK)

Dragon's Breath (2009)
The Fortified Herd (2013)
Cult of Saint Margaret (2015) (with Cinema Soloriens)
Bifurcation Arrows Misleading Visuals (2016)
Arkipelagon (2019)

Originally a bass player who worked with Sun Ra Arkestra, among others, Paddy (Patrick) Steer is a visionary musician who uses drums, lap steel guitar, chromatic percussion, brass instruments and homemade electronics to create a hybrid of weird analog synth, zappaesque sense of humor, funk, brass rock, fusion and maybe a touch of jazz. His unique instruments like homemade voice transformer / vocoder, theremin, analog synths and more, as well as his unusual stage image (he likes to perform in a strange mask which illuminates from the inside when he speaks or sings) make him a unique voice in modern music.

 


Steer, Stefania (UK)

The Mind Is A Trap (2019)

London-based singer-songwriter and electric harp player. On The Mind Is A Trap, there is a move towards the electronic side, especially on the ambient, instrumental, synth-based tracks. Hopefully, she continues to explore more of that in the future.

 


Stef Animal (New Zealand)

Top Gear (2018)

Varied short tracks, each one made with a particular instrument (mostly vintage / toy keyboards and computers).

 


Steffl, Mike Hans (Germany)

Successful Failure (2022)
Calaboose Islands (2023)

Mike Hans Steffl has been making EM since the 1970's. He works mainly with a hardware setup and composes floating, relaxed, cosmic music with a Berlin School flair.

 


Stegmann, Karl-Heinz (Germany)

Ich Träume So Leise Von Dir (1987) (with Heinz Becker and Isabel Zeumer)

Music composed as a backing for the poetry of Else Lasker-Schüler. Keyboardist Stegmann provides some nice electronics throughout, with more than a fleeting Vangelis feeling (L'Apocalypse des Animaux, Blade Runner) sometimes. Nice and unknown EM-related disc for those with a liking for trumpet / synth hybrids. Beware the voice.

 


Steifl (Netherlands)

Residue (2020)
Travelling In Mechanical Waves (2022)

Richly orchestrated analog music with sequencer pulsations, sometimes a cartoon-y vibe or electro rhythms. File under EM-related.

 


Stein, Jo (Germany)

Days of Kebyreh (2018)
Ask Us (2018)

Spacey, largely improvised synth compositions with rhythms and mutated soloing. Some rather chaotic sequencing as well.

 


Steinbrick, Josiah (USA)

Meeting of Waters (2017)
Liquid / Devotion & Tongue Street Blue (2020)
Mouthfeel / Serene (2021) (with Sam Gendel)
Bliss Place (2021) (with Brin)

Minimal music based on acoustic and electronic sources.

 


Steiner, Frank Jr. (Germany)

I Ging Symphony (1996)
Human Symphony (2002)
Touching Silk (2004)
Into Forever (2012)
Momentum (2015)

The first album is similar in style to The China by Vangelis. Frank Steiner (b. in 1966) is mostly known as composer of ethnic music and producer of other artists.

 


Steiner, Gerhard (Germany)

Unexplored Dimensions (1988)

 


Steiner, Rubin (France)

Say Hello To the Dawn of Paradox (2019)
Fête (2020)

A pseudonym of French "electronica" artist Frédérick Landier. Fête is his foray into rhythmic, hypnotic EM influenced by the classics of the genre. The whole ends up sounding very similar to the synthwave genre in places. Say Hello... is similar in style.

See also: Drame

 


Stella 13 (USA)

When Soul Becomes Symphony (2008) (EP)

Ambient electronic project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Liz Larin.

 


Stella Z (China)

In the Woods, Will Be Late (2023)

Stella Yan Zheng is a Chinese-British electronic artist who likes analog sounds and cosmic / pastoral forms of EM. On In the Woods, Will Be Late, recorded in the Fujian province of China, she creates quirky, flowing, rhythmic, organic tracks full of tasty electronic sounds. This is probably what Cluster would have sounded like, had they been recording their music in the Chinese countryside. Nice stuff.

 


Stelladrine (France)

Not From This Earth (2001)
Le Rire des Etoiles (2002)
You'll Never See Your World Again (2005)

This project (the guy calls himself Tirdad CK) out of Ile-de-France was very much inspired by the old Sci-fi films of the 1950's and 1960's. The music ranges from pure Dark Space, to Noise Ambient, spacey guitar ballads and more rhythmic and experimental stuff.

See also: Necromondo

 


Stellar Nursery (USA??)

Arc To Arcturus (2010)

Dark cosmic synths and sequencer flights.

 


Stellar OM Source (France)

The Far Skies Fellowship (2005)
Ao Vivo Avenida (2006)
Crusader (2008)
Ode To Time / Love Cometh (2008) (with Warmer Milks)
Alliance (2009)
Heartlands Suite (2009)
How Do Siamese Twins Arrange Their Love Lives? (2009) (with Ashtray Navigations and Family Battle Snake)
Ocean Woman (2009)
Rise In Planes (2009)
Exises (2010)
Clarity (2011) (S)
Image Over Image (2012) (S)
Joy One Mile (2013)
I See Through You (2019) (S)

Stellar OM Source is French artist Christelle Gualdi, who currently resides in the Netherlands. Her music is characterized by an ethereal quality and sits somewhere between Ambient and Space Music.

 


Stellar, Victor (Russia)

Virtual Wars (2005)
Gladiator (2006)
Day And Night (2006)
Romantic (2007)
Abstraction (2008)
Charm of Your Eyes (2009)

To be honest, the Moscow-based artist and sound engineer Victor Stellar puzzles me. He tends to use shorter tracks, and some of his music sounds like the cheapest version of electronica / trance music, with cheesy samples, primitive 4/4 rhythms and quite uninspired synth sounds. On the other hand, he also does some sequencing and melodic solos in pure neo-prog EM vein. So where to place him? I don't know. I hope he forsakes the "electronica" ambitions for his next release and goes for the full-blown EM sound.

 


Stellarays (Portugal)

Cosmopollinators (2021)
L'Orchestra Pop le Stelle (2021)
Winter Resort Music (2024)

A trio consisting of Bruno Sousa, Alexandre Centeio e Corinna Sousa. They combine "avant-pop with space-age electronics".

See also: Ear Travelling Program, Centeio, Alexandre.

 


Stellaris (Poland)

Beyond Orbit (2023)

Spacesynth project of Tomasz Oleszko also known and DJ CON-T, with Adrian Porwol (Opposite Direction) helping out. Pure Laserdance vibes circa 1987 - 1992 here. Not bad.

 


Sten (Germany)

Earthshine (2022)

Sten is Peter M. Kersten. Earthshine is a mixture of uptempo techno tracks and ambient compositions, some with gentle pulses / sequences.

See also: Lawrence

 


Stenberg, Lisa (Sweden)

Monument (2018)

Minimal droning compositions made on EMS Synthi 200 and Synthi 100 synths installed at Osnabrück and Athens studios, respectively.

 


Stenzel, Kurt (USA)

Jodorowsky's Dune Original Motion Pucture Soundtrack (2015) (soundtrack)

Electronic soundtrack to a documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky's attempt to adapt the "Dune" novel to the large screen (interesting note: for the soundtrack to his movie, Jodorowsky intended to invite none other than Pink Floyd). The music with more than a passing resemblance to Tangerine Dream's classic works was created by Stelzel using an arsenal of analog synthesizers. Kurt Stenzel is a one-time member of a short-lived improvised jazz-rock ensemble Cookin' With Kurt.

See also: Beyond O Matic

 


Stephono ZIP (Italy)

Ghost Tracks (2019)
Scattered Tracks II + Not Expecting Anything Is the Best Thing (2022)

Italian experimental artist working in the areas of musique concrete, field recordings, experimental / tape music and analog synth music. Works in this later category or related thereto will be listed here.

 


Stepner, Ben (USA)

Memory of Breathing (2009)

Droning ambience.

 


Steppenkind (Germany)

Undefined Lovers (2022)

Berlin-based trio more or less in new wave / krautrock realms, with a strong electronic element.

 


Steptoe, Bradley (UK)

UK Astro (2019)

Repetitive, harsh, experimental electronics, beyond Conrad Schnitzler and Moebius. Actually, pretty engaging.

 


Stereo Dwarf (Denmark)

Echoes of Existence (2022) (recorded in 2020)
Ancient Sculptures (2022) (EP)

One of the projects of Kristian Thinning Andersen. This one focuses on long synth flights, slowly developing themes and endless sequences.

 


Stereo Hypnosis (Iceland)

Parallel Island (2007)
Hypnogogia (2009)
Synopsis (2011) (with Pulse)
Morphic Ritual (2014)
Toqqissivoq (2017) (S) (with Futuregrapher)
BJARMI (2019) (with Christopher Chaplin)
Hvolf (2021)
VÍK (2023) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Eraldo Bernocchi)

Unusual electronic duo consisting of Óskar Thorarensen and Pan Thorarensen. They combine lots of liquid guitars and synths for a floating, sometimes rhythmic and downtempo-influenced sound.

 


StereoBoy (Portugal)

OPO (2013)
Kung Fu (2020)

A project with changing members, formed by Luís Salgado, who takes care of electronics. On Kung Fu, recorded with a drummer and a percussionist, you will find ecstatic cosmic synths over motorik rhythms, almost industrial-tinged, darkish sound visions, metallic klangs and more. Interesting stuff for sure and quite enjoyable.

 


Stereocilia (UK)

Wormhole (2018)

A project of post-rock musician and guitarist John Scott. I don't know about his previous efforts (he usually mixes guitar with some synths / samplers) but Wormhole was recorded in a Rotterdam-based studio full of vintage analog synths, so the results are definitely very EM and quite interesting, too.

 


Stereofernic Orchidstra (USA)

Stereofernic Orchidstra (1974) (S)

A project of scientific researcher named Norman Lederman. Side A is a composition made with the recorded and amplified sounds of plants. Side B uses the same data to trigger an ARP 2600 synthesizer.

 


Sterk, Marco M. (Netherlands)

Floating Inside A Cone (2015) (S)

Analog synth music to an audiovisual installation.

See also: Gaussian Curve

 


Sterling, Louis (UK)

Adisceda (2019)

Varied ambient soundscapes with a touch of glitchiness from this musician based in Bath. Best tracks: "The Black Gate To Utopia", "Falstaff, In Awe", "Simoné".

 


Sterling, Maxwell (UK)

Laced With Rumour: Loud-Speaker of Truth (2020)
Turn of Phrase (2021)
Neon Hieroglyph (2023) (with Tai Shani)

Long tracks between electroacoustic, installation music and ambient EM.

 


Stermieri, Giulio (Italy)

Fort Da (2023)

A weird electronic foray from this jazz keyboardist. Recorded with just a Farfisa organ and a sampler, the music ranges from deranged, haunted house-like organ dirges to drones and wacky, rhythmic excursions reminding on Raymond Scott's 1950's and 1960's electronic experiments.

 


Stern-Combo Meißen (Germany)

Der Weite Weg (1979)

Aka Stern Meissen. Progressive rock band from East Germany. This is their third album and it's very very hated from what I've seen. Understandable, as it's pretty cheesy in places and is dominated by synthesizers. Needless to say that a lot of rock fans hate synthesizers. Ok, we are in the opposite camp here. I thought the shorter tracks were ok, not horrible but not great either, and of course I would certainly do without the singning. "The Sage" (has some interesting electronic moments) and the title track seem to be the highlights. What puzzles and in a way (positively) amazes is the inclusion of a long track that is a Tomita-styled electronic rendition of a Vivaldi composition. It's not something completely unheard of for them, as their debut already included an adaptation of a Mussorgsky piece, although that was more in a rock (ELP) style. File under EM-related.

 


Stettner, Georg (Germany)

Preview (1993)
Preview Zwo (1993)

The guy who appeared on the album Wanhfried - Trancelation. Rhythmic, sometimes techno-tinged EM.

 


Stevens, Mason (USA)

Cosmic Flight (1986) (with Tony Gerber and William Linton)
Luna Waves (2000)
One Step Into the Unknown (2003)

Space Music.

 


Stevens, Sean C. (USA)

March of the Whales (2015)
Cameron (2016) (with Dashiell Demeter)
Design / Fragmentation (2016)

Versatile electronic artist from San Francisco, working mainly within the experimental domain. He seems to be equally influenced by Morton Subotnick's clickety clack, early German EM's cosmic visions and current computer / glitch trends. The long track "Candesco Somnium" from March of the Whales, with its vocoded vocals and a strange, warped version of sequencer pulse, is where his Berlin School influences come to the fore.

 


Stevens, Sufjan (USA)

Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001)
Aporia (2020) (with Lowell Brams)
Convocations (2021)

Unusual and unexpected foray into electronics from this singer-songwriter. This instrumental album (Enjoy Your Rabbit) sounds like Cluster, Oldfield and Zappa playing together in a parallel universe. Fans of glitch music may also check this out. In 2020, he released another experiment in electronics together with Lowell Brams - the rich and melodic, even symphonic Aporia.

 


Stevenson, Alton (USA)

New Music Limited (2023) (S)

Playful, repetitive, sequence-full music, mostly major-key and uplifting.

 


Stevenson, Shepherd (USA)

Man Down (2022)

Los Angeles-based musician, bass player of alternative rock band Pigmy Love Circus. Amazingly, on Man Down, his first solo record, he goes the electronic route, creating varied and cinematic compositions, with piano, multiple synths, bass and even a touch of mellotron.

 


Steward, Alan (Netherlands??)

Just Listen (1976)

Alan Steward is supposedly a Dutch artist. I say supposedly, as no source seems to mention his birthplace, but his name does not sound Dutch to me and this applies to both his pseudonym and his real name (John Paul Gettisbourgh-Oxland). Sounds very English to me, but his LP is a very strange private press from the Netherlands. It is basically a one-man synth show with seemingly a pop concept but with a lot of fat and unique synthesizer sounds. As a synth man, he became a pioneer of EM in the 1970's, doing live shows with multiple synths and keyboards, but opting for a more dance-oriented, pop sound, as opposed to progressive. Later, Alan got involved in the jazz scene and produced music for several bands, including Baha Men and members of The Temptations.

 


Stewart, Graham & McGeever, Brendan (UK)

Larsson Sessions (2011)

Ambient synth vignettes (plus one longer track) from Scotland. Minimal, analog sound.

 


Stewart, John (USA)

The Other Side of Night (1988)
Planetary Revelations (??)
Beyond the Gate (1995)

Berlin School music ala Ashra / Klaus Schulze.

 


Stewart, Keith (USA)

Self-Realization (1992)
Meditative Motivative (1994)

Keith Stewart has been playing piano since age nine. During college years he started performing in rock bands. At the age of fifteen he built himself a minimoog-like kit synthesizer and that's when his interest in Electronic Music started to grow. Another major influence has been jazz music, especially bebop.

See also: I.E.

 


Stewart, Matthew (USA)

A World Bathed In Sunlight (2016)

Melodic music released on Spotted Peccary label. Continuing the label's tradition of accessible melodic electronics (e.g. Jon Jenkins, Erik Wøllo et al), the album mixes numerous piano melodies with a bed of atmospheric electronics and subtle acoustic touches.

 


Stichting Electronische Muziek (Netherlands??)

Stem Band Vol. 1 (1985)

Obscure trio of musicians with a private cassette release.

 


Stiletti-Ana (Finland)

Ab Ovo (2019)
I'm An Arpeggiator (2021)

A project of Ilari Larjosto. Drones, arpeggios, melodic meanderings, some rhythms... Pretty varied EM overall.

See also: Televisio, Jesse, Future Chroma.

 


Still Harbours (Canada)

Fluorochrome (2020)
Armature (2020)

Guitar / electronics duo in ambient style (Brad Deschamps and Jamie Jones).

See also: Anthéne, Deschamps, Brad, Bradley Sean Alexander.

 


Still Life (UK)

The Still City (2021)

A mixture of gently rhythmic house and atmospheric EM tracks from this duo.

 


Still Return (USA)

The Killing Sun (2020)

Brooklyn-based artist (Collin Ruffino). A mixture of ethereal pop songs and ambient electronics.

 


Stillborn (USA)

Seeking Release (1991)

 


Stillpoint (UK / USA)

Maps Without Edges (1996)

Nick Parkin, Martin Franklin (TUU) and Eddy Sayer (Lights In A Fat City). Ethnic/ Tribal Ambient.

See also: Parkin, Nick, Franklin, Martin, Lights In A Fat City, TUU.

 


StillStand (Germany)

StillStand (1998)
Nebel (1999)
Ordnung (2000)
Symbiosen (2001)
Peace (2001)
Schein (2004)
Kreuzung (2004)
Starre (2004)
Schauer (2006)
Rites ov Lamashtu (2008) (S) (with Conscientia Peccati)
Bionik (2009)
Das Leben In Vollen Zügen (2021)

Ambient soundscapes from Martin Steinebach.

See also: Conscientia Peccati, Compest.

 


Stilluppsteypa (Iceland)

Beach Jolanda (2018)

Started in the early 1990's as a punk band, Stilluppsteypa evolved into a more experimental outfit. I don't know how much of their output is Prog EM-friendly, but Beach Jolanda, with its long tracks full of inventive sampling and pulsing synths, certainly is.

 


Stilz (Canada)

Judicator (2015)
Hyperspace Drifter 2 (2016)

Stilz is synthwave artist Chris Pavez with a strong EM element in his music.

 


Stimulus (UK)

Demo of the Demo (1995)
Stimulus (1998)
A Motion Signal (1999)
Live (2000)
101 Meditations On A Mutual Agreement (??)
Unprepared Piano (??)
White Light Connection For Our Friends (??)
The Secret Tapes (2000) (recorded in 1995 - 1998)
Programme Music (2001) (S)
Who Makes the Machines That Make the Machines (2001)
Untitled (2006)
Untitled Landscapes One (2006)
The Mind Defies (2006)
Moments 3 (2008) (EP)
Document For the Future (2012)

Dark Ambient and otherwordly sci-fi-ish stuff from Richard Lee, Benjamin Topley and Jonathan Riley.

 


Stimulus Timbre (Malta)

Unfolding Cycles (2020)

A project of Keith Farrugia. Ambient compositions with some sequences and rhythms. Pretty varied EM overall.

 


Stinissen, Peter (Belgium)

Magic Melodies (1989)

Belgian musician born in 1966 in Genk. At the age of 6 years he started getting involved in music and by the mid-1980's he assembled a private synthesizer studio. Peter Stinissen is known as the man who staged and scored planetarium shows in his native town of Genk and composed several soundtracks.

 


Stinking Badger, The (UK)

Stabile Estimates (??)
Under the Mattress 1 & 2 (??)
Chunx Volume 1 (2010) (recorded in 1990 - 1997)
Soiling Charge (2011)

Stabile Estimates is an obscure underground cassette release of Electronic Music with traces of everything, from classic 70's cosmic stuff to 80's synth-pop. The Stinking Badger is a project of David Teledu from Halifax.

 


Stip, Valentin (France)

Sigh (2014)

French artist based in Montreal. Mostly ambient electronics, sometimes with glitchy rhythms and / or processed vocals.

 


Stirlitz (Russia)

The Language Barrier (1992)
Recharged (1999)
Sandscapes (2000)
Muzak For Museums Vol. I & II (??)

Stirlitz is the pseudonym of Russian synthesist Andrei Kolomitsev from Kaliningrad. He composed a lot of music for TV commercials that were shown on local TV channel. His style has some German influences.

 


Stitched Vision (Australia)

Ocean Glow (2010) (S)
Open Palms (2010) (S)
Fold (2011)
Headland (2013)

Jason Campbell who also runs the Eternal Solitude cassette label uses analog synthesizers to craft flowing tracks of electronic drones, melodies and noises.

See also: Collector, Campbell, J.

 


Stock, Angsar (Germany)

Episode I - A New Generation (2019)

Angsar Stock may well be the youngest electronic musician in the world (he is / was 10 at the time of the release of his debut). Angsar started playing synthesizers at the age of 6 and, with the help of his dad, managed to amass a nice collection of used instruments, so he is probably also the youngest artist to have his own studio, but don't quote me on that. His music is melodic and rhythmic, blending classic and new influences.

 


Stocker, Alan (UK)

Dreams of Home (1998)
A Set of Interludes (2008)

Solo music from Satsuma Nightmare frontman.

See also: Satsuma Nightmare

 


Stockhausen, Simon (Germany)

Floating Free (1992)

One of the sons (along with Markus Stockhausen) of German avant-garde / academic electronics giant Karlheinz Stockhausen, Simon is a keyboardist and jazz musician. He is often found playing together with his brother Markus, as well as giving support to other band projects and improvising ensembles. Floating Free may be his only solo album, or at least it is one of the few of its kind. The music here is almost entirely keyboard / synth-based. Simon plays in a relaxed, reflective, jazzy, but melodic and accessible style, not too far from what Tangerine Dream were doing at the time, but more spacey and unhurried. A nice work to listen to and something unexpected to be coming from the Stockhausen family clan. Best tracks: "Approaching Mars" and "Volcano".

 


Stockman (Belgium)

The World of Azquan (2002)
Mining (2005)
Mine Works (2006) (with Remo Perrotti)
Future Science (2007)
Solar Mission (2008) (with Mac of BIOnighT)
Sequences On Request (2010)
Experiment 545 (2012)
Part of the Industry (2014)
Astronauts Volume 9 (2021)

A project of Belgian musician Godfried Stockmans. The music is in a very emotional and heartfelt style that is extremely hard to classify. I suppose it could be called rhythmic Ambient, but the term 'Space Music' is more appropriate here, imho. Strong compositions and very cosmic. Great stuff!

See also: Sonic Research Society

 


Støjstøv (Denmark)

Støjstøv (2020)

Excellent and deep atmospheric EM project (Cai Bojsen-Møller and Jesper Siberg), with deep analog synths, spacey sound and subtle melodies.

 


Stokes, Saul (USA)

Burning Igloo (1995)
Washed In Mercury (1997)
Zo Pilots (1998)
A Collection of Live Recordings (2000)
Edge of the Forest (2000)
Outfolding (2000)
Abstraction (2001)
Thermal Transfer (2002) (with Vir Unis)
Fields (2003)
Radiate (2004)
Vast (2006)
Villa Galaxia (2008)
Metacollage (2009)
Sleek Nucleus (2012)
Local Crowd (2018)
Shattering Stimuli (2023)

Saul Stokes is an Ambient artist born in Seattle and currently residing in Oakland. I've heard Abstraction and I can say that I was hooked right from the beginning. Great ambient Space Music, created almost exclusively on self-built (mostly analogue) equipment. Very warm analogue sound. Actually, the music of Stokes reminded me more on the Space Music genre, especially artists like Telomere, than on some Ambient stuff. I haven't heard such warmth in music for a long time now. Despite being mostly arrhythmic and ambient in nature, the music holds the attention well, because the sounds are not static and there's plenty of experimentation involved. This guy knows how to do it. My highest recommendation.

 


Stokes, Steven D. (USA)

Seasoned Reasonings (??)

Early solo cassette by Texan synth artist who would later become known as Elemental.

See also: Elemental

 


Stokkink, Gerard (Netherlands)

Music From Shusaku & Dormu Dance Theater (1984)

See also: Oblique

 


Stoll, Steve (USA)

Locate (2008)
Tangled (2009) (with Jeff Green)
Praxis (2014)
Resurrecting the Bull (2015)
Solo In Place (2015)
Children of Gary (2017)

Steve Stoll is a NYC-based techno producer and DJ who has been on the scene since the 1990's. Every now and then he would release a more experimental or ambient album. I will try to list these EM-related works by him here.

 


Stolyar, Roman (Russia)

Credo (2003)

Academic musician from Novosibirsk. The above album was released by Electroshock Records and what a masterpiece it is. As Roman is primarily a jazz composer (pianist), so the first part of the disc features his jazz cycle "Credo RS". It's ok, but leaves me somewhat unimpressed. However, the following cycle "Songs of the Seasons" is a true masterpiece and five-star material for sure. If you like lush, very classically-influenced symphonic rock of The Enid (I do), this is along those lines, and at the same level at least. In fact, it's some of the best music I've heard in Prog for a long time. The singing of Yelena Silantieva is wonderful and it's a pity that she doesn't seem to have released anything. The disc closes with a flute-led electronic piece called "Meditation". This album is slept on by progressive rock fans and music fans in general. And very undeservedly so.

 


Stone (UK)

Earth FF (2022)

Aka Mistareez. Psychedelic ambience with sort of a 1990's "ambient techno" vibe and extra touches of glitch and UK bass.

 


Stone Anthem (UK)

Between the Bliss (2023)

Pretty cosmic and at the same time lulling and psychedelic ambience from Coventry.

 


Stone, David (???)

ガンマの年の反乱軍 (Renegades of Year Gamma) (2018)
Confessions of A Satan's Priestess (2020) (with Robert Ullysses)

The 2018 release is an imagined soundtrack in an experimental synth / synthwave style.

 


Stone Giants (Brazil)

West Coast Love Stories (2021)

Amon Tobin's pseudonym used for more experimental music. West Coast Love Stories has a bit of everything - collages, noises, strange vocal performances and "songs". It also has an unmistakable Progressive Electronic streak (especially on tracks like "The Girl With the Great Ideas" and "All of the Pillows"). File under EM related.

See also: Tobin, Amon

 


Stone Idols (UK)

Reversion (1996)

Rob Jenkins from Redshift creates tribal dreamscapes using synth and electronic guitar. Some friends give a hand: Martin Smith, Neil Cowley.

See also: Redshift

 


stønefruit (???)

Delta Waves (2023)

Relaxing Ambient in American style. Check out if you like Roach, Stearns, Rich, etc.

 


Stonehouse, Jeff (UK)

Broken (2013) (S)
Ghosts (2015) (S)
Mariner's Willow (2015)
On Returning (2015)
Become Becoming (2015)

A master of sound manipulation, Jeff Stonehouse has no formal music training but manages to create captivating ambient soundscapes with guitars, processing and electronics.

See also: Listening Mirror, Le Moors, Snoqualmie Falls.

 


Stonehouse, Martyn (UK)

Digital Dark Age (2017) (S)
Clara (2021) (soundtrack)
Megalithic Transport Network Phase 1 (2022)
Megalithic Transport Network Phase 2 (2023)

Synthesist, composer and modular synth artist with a cinematic, sometimes synthwave-influenced style.

 


Stordeur, Andre C. (Belgium)

18 Days (1979)
Complete Analog And Digital Electronic Works 1978 - 2000 (2015)
Oberheim SEM 8 Voice 1979-80 (2021) (recorded in 1979 - 2000)

Electronic Music influenced by Morton Subotnick's works and minimalism by this late musician (1941 - 2020). The sound is dominated by textures generated on Serge modular synthesizer.

 


Storer, Jovica (Belgium)

There Is Only One (2002)
Element (2004) (with Geert Verbeke)
Electronic Innerscapes (2007) (with Geert Verbeke)
Caramel (2007)

If you want to hear an "ambient" album without getting bored, then Element is for you. What we have here is more or less a demo disc and Geert Verbeke (who also plays singing bowls on the album) provides some nice Haiku verses for the booklet. Ok, it's a music encyclopedia, so I'll concentrate on the musical aspect here. Each track on this CD corresponds to a certain element, like water, wood, metal, earth etc. The style is pretty hard to describe. It's pretty exciting and represents a set of rhythmic, ambient and melodic pieces. There are a lot of tribal rhythms, so it's almost Tribal Ambient, although it sounds nothing like Steve Roach. The sounds he uses are generally very original and unlike anything I've heard. Overall, it's some kind of an ambient fusion that incorporates deep reverberated metallic / bowl sounds, lots of percussion, traditional EM, contemporary synth and what I can only describe as Jovica Storer style. The dynamics are great and the mysterious, at times a bit dark atmosphere prevails. The rhythms are very well constructed and overall I have to wonder how talented this guy is. I really hope to hear more from Jovica Storer in the near future. I for one recommend this disc to all lovers of ambient and melodious / rhythmic synth styles!

See also: Lounasan, Cycles of Moebius, Dreun.

 


Storey, Russell (New Zealand)

A Light Year's Journey (1992)
Eclipse (1994)
Dreams And Visions (1995)
Mariner (1995)
Aquamorphesis (2000)
Earthstar (2000)
Transglobal Friendship (2006)
Dragon Flight (2009)
Cosmic Kiwi (2010)
Berlin Via Betelgeuse (2010)
Hallucinating (2011) (with Stephen Palmer)
A Light Year's Journey Two (2012)
A World Through New Windows (2012)
Chronospace (2014)

Deep Space / Ambient musician from New Zealand.

See also: Aural Scenarios

 


Storløkken, Ståle (Norway)

The Haze of Sleeplessness (2019)

Norwegian jazz keyboarsist. This particular album is an electronic work full of analog synths. mellotron, organs, etc.

See also: Supersilent

 


Storm Factory (Portugal / Italy)

Storm Factory (2022)

Piano-based electronics from this duo of Rui Maia and Giulia Gallina. A bit in the spirit of Roedelius / Story collaborations.

See also: Maia, Rui

 


Stormhammer (USA)

Desolation (2011)
Solace (2011)
Toterhaufen (2012)
Änderung I (2012) (S)
Änderung II (2012) (S)
Änderung III (2013) (S)
Beschützer (2013)
Änderung IV (2015) (S)
Dröhnen (2016)

Gloomy, droney ambient project from Nevada (Christopher Redfern).

 


Stormloop (UK)

Waveforms (2004)
Snowbound (2011)
Nocturnal Winter (2012)
Back To Dust (2013)
Arctic Conditions (2013)
Cluster (2014)
Into the Void (2016)

Stormloop is an ambient project of Leeds-based musician and sound sculptor Kev Spence. Snowbound is his first CD release. A lot of mp3-only albums preceded it.

 


Storrs, David (USA)

Channel For the Light (1984)
Manifestation of the Pyramids (1986)
Invaders From Mars (1986) (soundtrack)

The 1984 album is a nice EM work consisting of two long tracks. Invaders... is an electronic soundtrack, which is an alternative version to the Christopher Young score.

See also: Upper Astral

 


Story, Tim (USA)

Threads (1980)
In Another Country (1982)
Untitled (1984)
Three Feet From the Moon (1985)
Wheat And Rust (1986)
Glass Green (1987)
Beguiled (1991)
A Desparate Serenity (1991) (with Dwight Ashley)
The Perfect Flaw (1994)
In Search of Angels (1994)
Drop (1997) (with Dwight Ashley)
The Persistence of Memory (1999) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius)
Shadowplay (2000)
Lunz (2002) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius)
Caravan (2005) (soundtrack)
Standing & Falling (2005) (with Dwight Ashley)
Buzzle (2006)
Inlandish (2008) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius)
Errata (2008) (with Dwight Ashley and Hans-Joachim Roedelius)
A Desparate Serenity (2010) (with Dwight Ashley)
Collected (2010) (recorded in 1988 - 2003)
Snowghost Pieces (2014) (with Dieter Moebius and Jon Leidecker)
Lazy Arc (2014) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius)
Squib, Last Image / Sometimes Less (2015) (S) (with Moebius, Jon Leidecker, Gudrun Gut and Hans-Joachim Irmler)
Familiar (2017) (recorded in ??) (with Dieter Moebius and Jon Leidecker)
Lunz 3 (2019) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius)
Moebius Strips (2021)
Rust Smudges (2022)
4 Hands (2022) (with Hans-Joachim Roedelius)

American Ambient composer born in 1957 in Philadelphia and currently residing in Ohio. Tim Story teached himself to play piano in a very individual style and also embraced the first wave of analog synthesizers in the 1970's. In the next decade his recording career started, with some albums getting critical acclaim from specialized EM / ambient press. His music is very often light and piano-based, like Harold Budd. On later albums he developed a highly melodic electronic chamber style, using piano, electronics and chamber music structures. Quite unique and very good, even if not totally my kind of thing. His 2005 collaborative effort with Dwight Ashley is an outstanding ambient release the veers a bit towards darker territories. Read my review of this album here.

 


Storyinsoil (USA)

Home Windows (2019)
Confined (2019)
The Great Northern (2020) (split with Eppu Kaipainen)
Passage (2021)

Varied playful, hypnotic ambient synth compositions.

 


Stout, David (USA)

Quartz Hills (1980)
Dance Disarray (1981)

 


Stover, Ken (USA)

Closer Than Home (1985)

The above album was re-released in 1988 on Hearts of Space as Sir Lancelot's Dream. Melodic, new-agey music with prominent piano.

 


Stowell, David M. (USA)

A Raven In Flight (2021)

Chicago-based musician. Lush rock songs, mostly with female vocals. The opener is a flashy, melodic EM piece, though.

 


Stoykov, Youri (Bulgaria)

Window To the Soul (1988)
Things (1990)
Transfiguration (1992)
The Legends (1996)
WIP (2011)

Bulgarian composer of Electronic Music who has been around for quite a while and peformed live since the 1980's, both solo and in collaboration with other Bulgarian EM pioneers, including Simo Lazarov.

 


Strakt (Australia)

Diagnoses (2022)

Modular synth-centered duo with a pretty listenable rhythmic / melodic sound. Some of the rhythms remind on the IDM genre.

 


Strand, Leif (Sweden)

Zodiak - De Tolv Temperamenten (1988)

Swedish jazz pianist (1942 - 2021). On Zodiak he plays piano and synths, and is accompanied by a few musicians on classical instruments. The album is melodic, new-agey and classically-influenced. It is nothing fancy but is rather pleasant and moody and will be enjoyed by fans of Electronic New Age.

 


Strand Unit (Ireland)

Rift And Calving (2018)
An Aspect of Presence (2022)
In Consequence of the Uncertainty (2023)

A project of Dublin-based Cian Walker. A bit dubby, the music uses mostly analog sounds in a seemingly disjointed and spontaneous manner. Overall, falls into the Experimental genre.

 


Strange Inside (Germany)

6 From 10 (1993)
Different Colours (1994)
The Lost Tapes (1996)
Moments In Passion (1997)
Stollwerck '96 (1997) (with Brainwork)

Prog-influenced EM by Gerd Lubos from Germany. 

 


Strange Mountain (Indonesia)

Strange Mountain (2012)
Shadow of the Metropolis (2013)
Ghost Rails (2013)
Childhood (2013)
Slow Midnight (2013)
Ancient Eyes (2014)
Forgiveness (2014)
Levitation Mist (2014)
Inhibitions (2014)
Faith Mirrors (2014)
Grunge Babylon (2014)
Recollection Fuckup (2014)
Golden Dust (2014)
A Quiet Dynasty (2014)
Rebel Without A Drone (??) (S)
Glass Clouds II (2015)
Language Sea (2016)
Mirroring (2016)
Rides Eternal (2018)
Please Wait For Me, Please Wait Forever (2019)
Hologram Blue (2019)
On An Apocalypse Surf Trip (2019)

Ambient project of Jakarta-based Marcel Thee. Sometimes loop-based, sometimes synthesizer and new age-like.

See also: Roman Catholic Skulls

 


Strange Telemetry (UK)

Dart (2023)
The Expanding Mind (2023) (recorded in 2020)
Into Fields Beyond Normal (2023)

Berlin School artist from the UK. Long sequencer flights with lots of mellotron sounds and liquid solos / multiple synth effects.

See also: Daniel, Michael, Hashtronaut, Daniel & Booth, Ethereal Electric Elixir.

 


Stranger Station (UK)

Gift of Storms (2007)
Echoes In Infinity (2009)
Voices (2021)

 


Stranieri, Luca (Italy)

Krötenschwanz (2002)
Plitschplatsch (2005)
In Tre Atti (2009)

Krautrock-influenced EM musician born in Sardegna in 1978 and currently residing in Germany. Experimental sound.

 


Strasarbs (Australia)

EP (2013) (EP)

Wacky, lulling, playful ambient EM from Grant Warner.

See also: Borange, Synth Pit.

 


Strater, Gary (USA)

Eleven To the Fourth Twice (2002)

Ambient EM by Starcastle bass player. I know it involves fractals in some way but no details about the musical style as of yet.

 


Stratis (Germany)

Exotic (1982)
New Face (1983)
Film Music (1984)
Musica da Ballo (1984)
Herzlos (2004)
As Life Goes By (2006)
Mokoyaro 1982 - 1985 (2012)

Synth duo formed in the early 1980's by Antonios Stratis (a Greek expat I would guess) and Albert Klein. Well sometimes they're minimal synth for sure, but they are also progressive and their instrumental tracks (and there are plenty of them) will be of certain interest for fans of EM, especially of that period in EM history. In fact, a large portion of their music has that pleasant Berlin School-ness so many EM fans will adore. Mokoyaro is a 5-LP set with their complete released works from the 1980's and some bonus tracks.

See also: 96 Eyes

 


Stratosphere (Belgium)

Lost In Unity (1992)
Introspective Spaces (1996) (S)

Life Reviewed (1999)
Reassembly (1999)
Dreamscape (2012)
In A Place of Mutual Understanding (2013) (with Dirk Serries)
Aftermath (2015)
Rise (2016)
Collaborations I (2018)
Repository (2019) (EP)
Between Worlds (2020) (with Ashtoreth)
Collaborations II (2021)
Cyclus (2023)

Ambient / dark. Stratosphere is Ronald Mariën.

 


Stratus Luna (Brazil)

Stratus Luna (2019)

Instrumental progressive rock trio from São Paulo, formed by Ricardo Santhiago, his brother Gustavo and Giovanni Lenti. Since 2017, Gabriel Golfetti is also a member. Mostly nice progrock / jazz-rock mixture here, with also a short electronic track ("NREM-1"). It is pretty nice and could have been longer. The band's keyboard player Gustavo Santhiago also has a solo album out ("Ánimam" from 2015) where he plays everything (mostly keyboards, but also drums, flute etc). This work is also pretty competent and has its moments, although not electronic (with only a few effects / synths).

 


Stratychuk, Perry Mark (Canada)

A Soft Look (1983) (S) (soundtrack)
EMS (1984)
Abbatoit Clown (??)

Winnipeg-based filmmaker, poet, actor and musician. He composed sooundtracks for most of his films and has been involved in the creation of Electronic Music since the early 1980's.

 


Straus, Ulla (USA)

Floor (2017)
Append (2017)
Chat (2018) (EP) (with Pontiac Streator)
Big Room (2019)
11 Items (2019) (with Pontiac Streator)
Tumbling Towards A Wall (2020)
Inside Means Inside Me (2020)
Limitless Frame (2021)
Memories of LOG (2021) (S) (with Perila)

Varied ambient soundscapes from Chicago, with some dub and tribal influences.

See also: LOG

 


Strawberry Swisher (USA)

Strawberry Swisher (2019)
Strawberry Mist (2022)

Ambient electronics with a bit of a vaporwave feel. A project of Sam White.

 


Strawe, Jorg (Germany)

Events In Motion (1990)
Electronic Passion (1991)
Legend of the Wolves (1991)
Jewels (1993)
Sequenzen Ohne Grenzen (1994)
Dialogue With the Universe (1995)

Joerg Strawe is the owner of CUE-Records and during the 1990's, he made Berlin School Electronic Music. I have Legend of the Wolves which is sort of a lengthy concept album. It gets dull at places but generally is quite good, especially the atmosphere. Most of the music is very laid-back and relaxed, with wide atmospherics and slow electronic rhythms.

 


Stray Ghost (UK)

Fabula Sjuzhet (2008) (S)
Losthilde (2009)
An Avalanche of Swollen Tongues (2009)
Nothing, But Death (2010)
Those Who Know Darkness See the Light (2012)
Mono No Aware (2012)
A Shade Under Thirty (2018)
Sonder (2018) (S)

Stray Ghost is ambient artist Anthony Saggers from Canterbury.

 


Stray Theories (Australia)

Ambient Places (2006) (EP)
Eyes Closed (2006) (EP)
Oceans Vol. 1 (2008) (EP)
Even Though We Sleep (2012)
Those Who Remain (2013)
All That Was Lost (2018)
This Light (2021)

Ambient project heavily influenced by post-rock / shoegaze. Stray Theories is Micah Templeton-Wolfe.

 


Streamline (USA)

Echo Lake (2005)
Beyond the Horizon (2005)
The Earth Ambient (2006)

Varied Ambient material from Gary Mulford, sometimes a bit on the new age side of things.

 


Streetmark (Germany)

Eileen (1977)

Because of all the mess and uncertainty as to which Streetmark albums can be considered electronic, I just decided to leave the album made with Wolfgang Riechmann in. You know... Just to be sure. Eileen was re-released in 1979 as Wolfgang Riechmann & Streetmark.

See also: Riechmann, Wolfgang, Raukes, Dorothea.

 


Streymoyer (USA)

Behind the Lights (2017)
Where (2018)

Ambient and melodic cinematic compositions influenced somewhat by vaporwave and dreampunk.

 


Strezov, George (Bulgaria)

Birth of A Flower (2019)
Surviving Mars (2022) (soundtrack)

Nice melodic, rhythmic EM mixing analog and orchestral sounds. Rich, symphonic, dynamic...

 


Stribog, Wiktor (Poland)

Poradnik Uśmiechu (2019) (soundtrack)
Latamy (2020)
Astroenergoterapia Psychosonoryczna (2023)

The 2019 release is a lo-fi electronic soundtrack, as if sourced from an old videotape.

 


Strickland, William (USA)

An Electronic Visit To the Zoo And Sound Hypnosis (1979)

William Strickland was an American conductor and organist. The above is suppodely his only electronic work.

 


Stride, Jorge Anthony (UK)

Sketches (2019)

Varied electronic compositions, mostly of ambient nature, but also with sequences etc.

 


Strigae (USA)

Drift (2017) (S)

Dark Space.

 


Striider (Netherlands)

Voorwaarts! (2012)
Heimweh (2012)
Bunkermuziek (2012)
Klanglieder (2012) (S)
Berlin (2012)
Runes And Ruins (2013)

Martial Ambient from Jornt Elzinga, leaning towards martial industrial during the more intense moments. Mostly rather ambient, though.

See also: Mesektet

 


Striking Violet (USA)

Zver' Iz Cygnus (2018)

Imagined synth soundtrack by this darkwave-related trio. This is pure pulsing EM (no relation to darkwave).

 


String (USA / UK)

Last Index of... (2022)

Nice and varied EM with a slight experimental bend from Justin Tipp (member of Georgia) and Zaheer Gulamhusein.

See also: XVARR, Waswaas.

 


Stringer, Matthew (UK)

The Second Sun (2015)
Changing Landscapes (2018)

Solo EM from member of Perge.

See also: Perge

 


Strittmater, Rick (USA)

Summer Bones (2003)
Noah503 (2004)
Carbon Based (2004)
Zona Pacifica 2026 (2008)
Eta Draconis (2008)
Dogstardiaries (2009)
Oceans 2010 (2010)

Varied music from this Maryland-based composer. He seems to prefer shorter tracks and composes everything, from ambient floaters to rhythmic stuff.

 


Strizzolo, Guillermo (Argentina)

Yddgrasil (2020)

Droning, amorphous ambient soundscapes from this Rosario-based artist.

 


Stroboseth (USA)

Bathe In Your Ashes (2020) (S)

Rhythmic, hymnal, a bit lo-fi stuff from Adam Matlock.

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

 


Strohner, Jiri (Czech Republic)

 


Strom, Pauline Anna (USA)

Trans-Millenia Consort (1982)
Angel Tears In Sunlight (2020)
Oceans of Tears (2023) (recorded in 1982 - 1983)

Blind musician (1946 - 2020) from San-Francisco area with a unique style. She could be new agey at times, but mostly went for a spacey, symphonic EM sound (a bit reminiscent of Vangelis) with rich analog synths, and even ventured into darker realms in her subsequent efforts.

See also: Trans-Millenia Consort

 


Strömberg, Mikael (Sweden)

Gonki (2017) (with Joakim Pirinen)

The above is more or a less a story telling / spoken word record. However, the background music by Mikael Strömberg is electronic and is excellent, ranging from ambient to sequencer-based. I wish there was a voiceless version of this. However, there are large stretches of music here, so it IS possible to listen to it just for the sake of music and still enjoy it.

See also: Igor, Slowbeat.

 


Strömberg, Olli (Sweden)

...Flood... (2009) (with Göran Granlund)
Nordre Älv (2013)
I Vinden (2013) (with Björn J:son Lindh)

Varied compositions from this synthesist and keyboard player. Mostly rhythmic, melodic or frenetic / experimental.

 


Stroon (Slovakia)

Triple Farewell (2012) (EP)
Vice Laboratory (2018)
Temple Timbre Embers (2020)
Überhormones (2021)

Stroon is Dalibor Kocian from Slovakia. He combines the richness of symphonic music with multiple polyphonic synth arrangements and repetitive structure of minimalism.

 


Stroschen, Lars (Germany)

Minimal Music Experiments (1986)

Experimental synthesist also known as Propeller Island.

See also: Propeller Island, Tonart.

 


Struck, Phil (Germany)

Schleswig-Holstein Aufnahmen (2020)
Der Ferne (2023)

Varied experimental musician from Kiel. Schleswig-Holstein Aufnahmen is a pastoral electronic / electroacoustic work with an ambient feel. I sense some Cluster influence deep down there.

 


Struck, Rainer (Germany)

Die Sieben Innere Meere (1995)

Melodic synth music.

 


Struiwigh, Nadia (Netherlands)

Lenticular (2017)
WHRRu (2018)
Oooso (2021) (S)
Pax Aurora (2021)
Birds of Paradise (2023)

Unclassifiable, melodic, intense and rhythmic electronic compositions.

 


Strulgattu & Meierkord (Sweden)

Fritt Efter En Väg (2017)
Ankomstkarta (2022)

Unusual ensemble that combines folk / classical and electronics. Ankomstkarta has a bit of a Klaus Schulze feel circa 2005 - 2022.

 


Strycharski, Dominik (Poland)

Symfonia Fabryki Ursus (2021)

Classically trained musician and flute / brass player. Strycharski also seems to be interested electronics, as the closing long track with its heavy sequenced rhythm attests. This sounds like a mixture of heavy-duty Berlin School and some stark 20th Century classical stuff.

 


Stryczek (Poland)

Swirling In the Dreams (2023)
Item. Objects. (2023)

Ambient compositions from Michał Wiśniowski. Melancholic, sometimes with an experimental edge.

 


Stubbleman (UK)

Mountains And Plains (2019)

Calm, ambient pieces with a cinematic flair from Pascal Gabriel.

 


Stuckens, Guy (Belgium)

Musique Pour Synthetiseurs, Guimbardes et Autres Instruments (1980) (with Marc Vanneste)
Solos (1981)
Magie Rouge (1983)
Duettiste (1985) (with M. Nomized)

Belgian musician who released a few cassettes in the early 1980's. His music is electronic, dominated by synths and drum machines, having that minimal slant typical of the period (similar to early Colin Potter).

See also: Zone Verte, BBR/NJR.

 


Studio Kosmische (UK)

Alpha 77 (2021)
Omega 76 (2021)
Gamma 75 (2021)
Ritual 74 (2022)
Universe B (2023) (with Ximes)
Beyond the Circle of the Fixed Stars (2023)
Lucifer Rising (2023)

Long tracks broken into multiple sections of cosmic synths, wacky rhythms, mellotrons, etc.

See also: Death In Vegas

 


Studiogruppe 1 (Germany)

Studiogruppe 1 (2022)

Studiogruppe 1 is Victor Shan. Sunny, easy-going, melodic / rhythmic EM, a bit similar in mood to Christian von Eschersheim's Sommernachtstraum.

 


STUFF. (Belgium)

STUFF. (2015)
Old Dreams New Planets (2017)
T(h)reats (2021)

Atwerpen-based quintet taking jazz-rock as a basis for their sound, and expanding it with lots of electronics and new ideas, like mixing in hip-hop influences, math rock, etc. Rather unique and nice listening.

 


Stupid Cosmonaut (UK)

Astral Transmissions (2016)
Algol (2017)
Digitalis (2018)

Spaced out EM / rock from Manchester. The group consists of Sam Read, Steven McNamara, Andy Hunt and Mark Hawnt.

 


Stupor (Germany)

Introflexie (1995)
Tristitia (1996)
Bete Noire (2003)

Dark Ambient project from Munich that includes Artur Zab.

 


Sturmovik (Germany)

Feldweihe (2000)
Schwarzer Tau (2005) (S)

Martial Ambient / industrial.

 


Stürtzer, Martin (Germany)

Seven Pieces For Synthesizer (2019)
Farcaster (2020)
Temporal Paradox (2021)
Illumination Cycle (2021)
The Stellar Winds (2021)
Theta Serpentis (2022)
Epsilon Eridani (2022)
Relativity (2022)
Circular Oscillations (2023)
Spaceport (2024)

Nice, relaxing ambient synth compositions with strong Berlin School vibes.

See also: Phelios, Sphäre Sechs.

 


Stuzha (Russia)

Through the Snowfield (2008) (S)
Siberian Sketches (2011)
Butugichag (2015)
Siberian Sketches pt.II (2017)

Frosty, melancholic soundscapes from Daniel Kazantsev, also known for his Space Music / Ambient project Algol. This is the darker side of his oeuvre.

See also: Algol

 


Stygian Stride (USA)

Stygian Stride (2013)

Stygian Stride is New York-based musician Jimy SeiTang. This music is based on analog synthesizers and is influenced by the EM classics of the 1970's but also by the modern scene.

 


Styles, Mark (USA)

Styles (1983)
Solestas (1987)

Mark Styles was Roger Powell's assistant during the recording of Air Pocket. He released at least one solo album with cosmic, minimalistic and floating music.

 


Styles, Matthew (UK)

Metro (2016) (EP)

Techno / deep house musician who on the above EP decided to let his EM influences shine, namely on "Wave 6".

 


Stylòo, Alberto (Italy)

Peach (2013)

Melodic music with new-agey and ethnic touches, sometimes reminding a bit on China by Vangelis. A pseudonym of Alberto Signorini.

 


Styrofoam (Belgium)

Political Songs (2020)

IDM-related project of Arne Van Petegem, active since the late 1990's. On Political Songs, there is a definite progressive EM vibe, with multiple tinkling sequences and analog synth melodies. Really nice and interesting EM here.

 


Suaves Figures (Poland / France)

Nouveaux Gymnastes (2012) (S)

Nice ambient, atmospheric and experimental EM from Piotr Kurek and Sylvia Monnier aka Mika Perez.

See also: Sunny Dunes, Monnier, Sylvia.

 


Sub Loam (UK)

Ohr (2009)
2 (2010) (EP)
Eathern Circle (2010)
The Ley Hunter's Companion (2011)
A Concise Dictionary of Plants And Their Uses (2014) (S)
The Portable Archive (2016) (recorded in 2010)
The Unfolding Map (2017)

Sub Loam is Thomas Shrubsole. It is not known how much of his output would qualify as EM. It seems that at least some of it is based on concrete textures and processed sounds. However, at least The Ley Hunter's Companion will be of interest to fans of the Berlin School.

See also: Jesus On Mars

 


Sub/Orbital (Canada)

Igniting the Derelict (2022)

Deep Ambient project of Jay Jumawan.

 


Subaeris (UK)

Shinjuku Underground (2013)
Transcendent God (2016)
The City In Rain (2018)
Bored Aristocrats (2023) (EP)

A project of David Russo, a vaporwave artist releasing music under countless pseudonyms. With Subaeris it's mostly vaporwave-related material, but also some cyberpunk-flavored ambient material as well, which I will try to list here. Shinjuku Underground is completely ambient (and rather good at that), while Transcendent God is mostly interesting for its 18-minute closer "Prelude To Transcendence".

See also: DARKPYRAMID, Kamokata, Chesumasuta, Hong Kong Express.

 


SubDan (Germany)

Es wird Sommer (2023)

Relaxed rhythmic music from Daniel Schock, between 1990's ambient techno / IDM trends and classic synth sounds.

 


Subdermic, The (UK)

Morphology (2018)
Trepidation Ladder (2019)

Female artist (real name - Lilly Phoenix) with a nice sound, mixing harsher, industrial noisy bits with rich ambient or even sequencer flights.

 


Subheim (Greece)

Foray (2015)
Trails (2016) (EP)
Conviction (2017) (EP) (with Monolog)
Πόλις (2020)
Raeon (2023)

A project of Konstantinos Katsikas based in Berlin. Raeon is moody, dystopian ambient electronics.

 


Subinterior (Italy)

Outfall (2002)
Insomnie (2003)
Obstacles (2005)
The Chrysalis Secret (2005)
Spring Meeting (2006) (S) (with Selaxon Lutberg)
Summer Meeting (2006) (S) (with Selaxon Lutberg)
Winter Meeting (2006) (S) (with Selaxon Lutberg)
Mesmerize (2008)
Fall Meeting (2009) (S) (with Selaxon Lutberg)

Dark Ambient project of Andrea Freschi from Milan, Italy. Andrea is a drummer for Canaan and member of Konau, along with Gabriel Panci (New Risen Throne). He makes his soundscapes with processed field / concrete recordings and subtle electronics.

See also: Coma Divine, Konau.

 


Subirana, Roger (Spain)

L´Indret Prohibit (2002)
Shedneryan (2011)
XII (2013)

Roger Subirana is based in Barcelona. He makes lush, cinematic music that uses a lot of imitations of classical / symphonic instruments and textures together with strictly synthetic timbres. He usually composes multi-part suites influenced by EM, film soundtracks and progressive rock. Often rather bombastic, with choirs and stuff.

 


Sublamp (USA)

Breathletters (2009)
Wickerships
(2010)
In
Our Hiding Voice (2011)
Orphan Horns (2012)
Lianas (2014)
H-H (2020)
Projector Ghosts (2022)

Drone Ambient by Ryan Connor.

 


Subletvis (Austria)

Not the Whole Truth (2022)

A project of Mo Nahold. Complex compositions often using sounds typical of "deconstructed club" music.

 


Sublimatio Mortis (Canada)

Mantras of Inner Calcination (2022)
The Philosophical Child (2023)
Transubstantiatio (2023)

Totally blackened Ritual Ambient, with lots of throat singing and incantations.

See also: Undirheimar

 


Subminimal (Iceland)

Intemperie (2019)

A project of Tjörvi Óskarsson. Nice and relaxing ambient compositions. Moody, a bit melancholic...

 


Subotnick, Morton (USA)

Silver Apples of the Moon (1967)
The Wild Bull (1968)
Touch (1969)
Jacob's Room (1970)
Sidewinder (1971)
Four Butterflies (1974)
Until Spring (1975)
A Sky of Cloudless Sulphur (1978)
The Wild Beasts (1981)
Return (1986)
Silver Apples of the Moon 50th Anniversary Live At Redcat (2020) (recorded in 2018)

Morton Subotnick (born in 1933) is one of the pioneers of synthesizer music mostly within academic format. However, some tend to see Silver Apples of the Moon and his other early all-synthesizer works as precursors to the so-called "sequencer music" that would emerge several years later, mainly from Germany. Works listed above may be of interest even to a "normal" EM fan.

 


Subphotic (UK)

Wardle Rigg (2023)

A project of Rebecca Denniff who sings and plays synths. In contrast to most releases of this kind, this is not synth pop or synth-dominated indie pop / rock, but literally vocal songs backed by Progressive EM.

 


Subradial (Poland)

Bioloophorm: I (2003)
Bioloophorm: II (2004)
Biorephorm (2005)
Ice Diving (2014)

Ambient music from Tomasz Szatewicz, somewhat similar to Biosphere in feel. Biorephorm is a compilation of remixes, adaptations and recyclings of Subradial's Bioloophorm 1 album created by Saul Stokes, Vir Unis, Off the Sky, The Circular Ruins, Vidna Obmana and Subradial himself.

 


Subrtova, Monika (Slovakia)

TOON (2023)

Drawing influences from 90's "electronica", techno and film music, London-based Subrtova creates gritty, but rich, spatial and hypnotic electronic compositions with cinematic qualities. Some of the more brooding synth melodies remind me on "The Thing" soundtrack.

 


Subseason (USA)

I (2009)

Ambient duo of Brooks Rongstad and Nathan Larson. Hypnotic, dark sound.

See also: Exuviae, Samsa.

 


Subsided (Croatia)

Music From Inconvenience (2017)

A bit low-fi ambience from Nemanja Vlahović.

 


Subsonic Experience (Germany)

Präposition (2003)

Bernhard Wöstheinrich and Thorsten Niestrath creating classic EM with some new elements.

See also: Centrozoon, Show of Exaggeration, The Redundant Rocker.

 


Subspace (USA)

A duo of Howard Moscovitz and Bill Fox.

See also: Xeroid Entity, Twyndyllyngs.

 


Substak (Greece)

View From the Orbital Module (2014)

Dark Space / Noise Ambient / Deep. A project of Kostas Staikos.

 


Subterranean Source (Italy)

Subterranean Source (2002)
Vivid Circles (2002)
Relic (2008)
Ellipsis (2021)

Dark Ambient by Andrea Bellucci (of Red Sector A and Son-Dha). Mastered by Robert Rich.

See also: Iluiteq, Ithaki.

 


Subtle Shift (USA)

Somber Frequencies (2022)

Another project by the rather prolific Gregory Kyryluk. This one sees him incorporating a lot of dub influences, but mixing them with a typically EM / Berlin School sound.

See also: Alpha Wave Movement, Open Canvas, Thought Guild, Within Reason, Kyryluk, Gregory, Biome.

 


SubtractiveLAD (Canada)

Kindred (2011)
The Language of Flowers (2013)
Wilderness (2014)

SubtractiveLAD is an alias of Vancouver-based musician Stephen Hummel. Known for his love for analog sounds, he likes to combine rich textures of synthesizers with varied club-based rhythms. The above albums may be interesting for those into modern EM hybrids (Moonbooter et al).

 


Suburban Cracked Collective (Australia)

Basquiat Upon the RSL (2016)
Pineal Dreams (2017)
These Awkward Fractions (2017)
Private Failings (2019)
Swimming Amongst the Dregs (2020)

Moody stuff like slow jazz played on synths and some drums. Sometimes reminds on an all-electronic Talk Talk circa The Laughing Stock.

 


Subverter (UK)

Dark Matter Tuxedo (2016)

A project of Daniel Thomason. Ranges from floating Ambient and cosmic synths to gently rhythmic with a "balearic" feel. Released by Psychonavigation Records.

 


Subway (UK)

Empty Head (2005)
Subway II (2009)

Electronic duo from London (Alan James and Michael Kirkman). Most of the material on Empty Head is more or less along the lines of 1990's / 2000's club-derived "electronica" - you know, stiff electro rhythms, looped melodies, sparse vocalizations, etc. However, the slightly longer title track takes its time to develop a bit more and in another manner - hearing its sequencer pulse, you immediately get hooked and discover their obvious classic EM influences. Thankfully, Subway II is much more influenced by Prog EM - all the warm synths, pastoral melodies, rhythms sound straight out of the Cluster / Harmonia school. Nice stuff.

 


Suck Electrònic (Spain)

L'Home Reanimat (1982)
Asfíxia Al Carrer València (2014) (recorded in 1976 - 1977)

This electronic band was formed in the 70's by Albert Gimenez, Michel Huygen and Jordi Garcia. Initially, it was called Yeti, but after their first concert the name was changed to Suck Electrònic. Through Michel Huygen, Gimenez met the musicians from Macromassa and joined them after Suck Electrònic called it a day. He continued to work with Huygen on some Neuronium albums. Note that sometimes Suck Electrònic is also referred to as Suck Electrònic Encyclopedic. The 1982 album was released by a different line-up with only Jordi Garcia left of the original members. The other musicians are Angel Galcera, Pito Galcera, Josep Gimenez (Albert??), Jaime and Manolo Torres. The music is a mixture of EM and space rock ala Hawkwind / Gong.

See also: Gimenez, Albert, Huygen, Michel.

 


Suda, Nobuto (Japan)

Ecotone (2010)
Sensitive Fields (2010)
Bloom (2010)
Bottom of Pocket (2010) (S)
Modest Calm (2011)
Twilight Garden (2011) (S)
From the Crack of the Folded Shadow (2011) (S)
Untitled (2012)
Blurred (2012)
In Search of May Apples (2012) (S) (with Danny Clay)
Lonely Voice In the Bottom of the Head (2012)
Scenes of Oblivion And Quiet (2012)
Auprès de la Rivière les Petites (2012) (S) (with Samuel André)
Transitoriness (2013)
Terminus (2014)
Rivers And Poems (2015) (S) (with Bistro Boy)
The Beauty of the Sea (??) (S)
Garden of Ghosts (2016) (with Hakobune)

Japanese Ambient artist based in Kyoto.

 


Suda, Norihito (Japan)

Sleep, Shared (2016) (with Stijn Hüwels)
Sunshine (2017)
Light Snowfall (2017)
Sansui (2019) (with Stijn Hüwels)

Japanese Ambient artist with a delicate sound.

 


Südekum, Frank (Germany)

Virtual Wave (2000)

Tangerine Dream style.

 


Sudnik, Tadeusz (Poland)

Tadeusz Sudnik & His Friends In Art (2017)
Triangle (2022) (with Krzysztof Majchrzak and India Czaijkowska)
Borello (2023) (with Krzesimir Dębski)

Polish audio engineer, synthesist and electronics specialist. The 2017 album features ensemble pieces and duo performances that lean towards electronic jazz but showcase Sudnik's synths nicely.

 


Suduaya (France)

SoulQuest (2022)

This particular album features ethnically spiced electronics between psychill / downtempo and ambient EM. Suduaya is Louis-David Roquefere.

 


Suemori (Japan)

Maebashi (2021)
Tawamure (2022)

A project of Yoshinobu Hoshina. Very enjoyable experimental sound, like taking the deepest Rastakraut Pasta / Material (Moebius / Plank) pastiche and processing it through the filter of Japanese experimental electronics like Sakamoto, Hosono and Tolerance. Repetitive, wacky, sample-laden, analog / digital...

See also: Hoshina Anniversary

 


Sugaya, Masahiro (Japan)

Music From Alejo (1987)
Pocket of Fever (1987)
The Long Living Things (1988)
Parade (1990)
The Bush of Ghosts (1994)
Kotam (2016)
Horizon Vol. 1 (2019) (recorded in ??)

A lot of this composer's music represents dance theater scores. The style is not known at the moment.

 


Sugimoto, Ryuichi (Japan)

The Arctic (1989) (soundtrack)
The Arctic II (1989) (soundtrack)

Soundtracks for TV documentaries about the Arctic from this little-known synthesist. The music falls somewhere between melodic / atmospheric Vangelis (ala Antarctica) and Kitaro.

 


Sui Generis (Poland)

Trichiliocosm (1996)

Electronic Music with Berlin School influences.

 


Suki, Chotto (France??)

Mother Nature's Silver Seed (2017)

Varied nocturnal ambience.

 


Sula Bassana (Germany)

Phasenvoid / Retronique (2003) (with Vibravoid)
Sulatronics (2003)
Dämmerung (2007) (with Modulfix)
Half Past Six (2007) (with Modiflux)
Sulatronics 2 (2009)
Silent Music (2009)
Pingpong (2009) (with Modulfix)
Brainwash (2010) (with Modulfix)
Kosmonauts (2015)
Shipwrecked (2015)
Organ Accumulator (2017)
The Ape Regards His Tail (2017) (soundtrack)
The Box (2020) (recorded in 2003 - 2018)
CV Sessions (2021)
Loop Station Drones (2021)
Shipwrecked (2022)
Nostalgia (2022)

Sula Bassana is a nom-de-plume of space rock / experimental musician Dave Schmidt. These albums are almost exclusively electronic-based.

See also: Solaris, Yttrium, Twilight Network, Verirrte Tiere.

 


Sulewski, Paweł (Poland)

Soothing Modular Sounds Not Only For Babies (2021)
Aphelium (2023)

Nice, melodic EM made of repetitive synth patterns from this synthesist. The title of the 2021 album is an obvious spoof on Raymond Scott's Soothing Sounds For Baby.

 


Sulk Rooms (UK)

Winter Visit (2021)
Overhead Conversations (2021)
Hymns For the Bone Horse (2022)
Viewers (2022)
Ceremony (2022)

Darkish, moody ambient compositions from Thomas Ragsdale.

See also: Ragsdale, Tom, Ffion.

 


Sullivan, Mark (USA)

Electronic Meditations (1983)

Michigan-based musician who uses guitar and synths.

 


Sulphur (Australia)

Der Fluch Des Lebens (2004)

More or less classic formula Dark Ambient from Adelaide-based artist Michael Szysz.

 


Sultan, Misha (Russia)

In Dreams of Sun (2015) (with Bisamråtta)
Êóðàæ (2020) (with Ïóðïóðíûé Äÿäÿ)
The Red Fern Road (2020)
Roots (2022)

Misha Sultan (real name - Mikhail Gavrilov) is an artist from Novosibirsk, Russia, currently residing in Turkey. His music is a mixture of ethnic influences and electronics. I would describe it as rhythmic World Music with lots of flute and even a touch of reggae.

See also: Tuk-Tuk

 


Sumitani, Satoshi (Japan)

Forest Marvelously (1986)

A low-key, new-agey ambient release with lots of field recordings.

See also: Tata

 


Summanen, Henrik (Sweden)

Between Heaven And Sea (2004) (soundtrack)
Ascension (2005)
Cave Songs (2006) (S)
The Great Attractor (2006)

Dark Ambient musician with a Ritual / musique concrete bend (Cave Songs) and Dark Space tendencies (The Great Attractor).

See also: Ahasverus

 


Summer Kagan (UK)

Summer Kagan (2020)

Scottish project from Edinburgh. Long tracks with drones and synth effects - slightly noisy and lo-fi.

 


Summer Night Air (UK)

3 (2005)
4 (2014)
5 (2022)

Ambient project with a bright, a bit new-agey sound. Some slight downtempo influences.

 


Summer Recreation Camp (Spain)

Dead Geography (2008) (with Mir)
Dolphins In Love (2011)
Cosmic Holiday (2011)
Myths (2012)
Bauxite Island (2012)
Hidden Hits 2010 - 2013 (2013)
General Algorithmics (2015)

Relaxing ambient tracks from this Catalan artist. Somewhat pastoral and contemplative.

See also: Kolàr, Jason, Milano, Vanessa, Quanta.

 


Summers, Harvey (UK)

Circle (1998)
Moon (2021)

The 1998 albums is Tribal Ambient somewhat in Steve Roach vein and with some Vangelis thrown in as well. His next EM release would be the 2021's Moon - an excellent, spacey, analog synth-laden work with some orchestral elements. At times bombastic ala Vangelis, at times uplifting ala Space Music, at times nostalgic, reminding on Edward Artemiev's soundtracks. Harvey Summers contributed a lot of music to a series of samplers with chill-out / ethnic music.

 


Summers, Isabella (UK)

Panic (2021) (with Brian H. Kim) (soundtrack)

Isabella Janet Florentina Summers is a UK-based producer and musician, member of indie rock band Florence And the Machine. Panic is a nice electronic soundtrack with lots of sequences / pulsations.

 


Sumner James (USA)

I Could Just Go On Forever (2023)
Dive 1: Refraction (2023) (with Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam and Saroon)

Durham, North Carolina-based Sumner James Philips is a synth-pop artist and member of Bombadil. I Could Just Go On Forever is his exercise in ambient electronics. Pretty classic-sounding stuff.

 


Sun Colored Pods (USA)

Sun Colored Pods (2020) (S)

Varied electronic tracks, mostly of meditative, relaxing and / or spacey quality.

See also: Odd Person

 


Sun Dial (UK)

Mind Control (2012)
Made In the Machine (2016)
Science Fiction (2018)

Formed in 1990 by Gary Ramon as a psychedelic rock band, Sun Dial passed through a more space rock-influenced phase before entering the more electronic waters with Science Fiction, on which there are tons of nice synths and some of the tracks are completely or almost completely electronic. A nice hybrid EM / space rock sound here. Two prior releases are something like transition works.

 


Sun Forest (Italy)

Transitions (2021)
Chanting the Square Deific (2022)

Solo project of Nicola Caleffi, member of neo-psychedelic band Julie's Haircut. Restrained, ambient flowing, repetitive, melodic. An Eno vibe is felt here. Nice sequencer material as well.

 


Sun Gong (USA)

Finite, Harmonious And Good (2022)

Georgia-based project of Michael Pierce in floating, meditative EM mould.

 


Sun Picture (Venezuela)

So Many Little Rooms (2021)
The Snow-Rat Audio Tape (2021)

A project of Venezuelan musician Carlos Lowenstein, currently residing in the USA. Warm, reflective synths. Sometimes gently rhythmic ala Cluster, sometimes jazzy, sometimes whimsical.

 


Sun Ra (USA)

Atlantis (1969)
My Brother the Wind (1970)
The Night of the Purple Moon (1970)
Live In Paris 1970 (1970)
My Brother the Wind Vol. 2 (1971)
The Solar Myth Approach Vol. 1 (1971)
The Solar Myth Approach Vol. 2 (1971)
Dark Myth Equation Visitation (1971)
Nidhamu (1971)
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 1 (1971)
Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 2 (1971)
Soundtrack To the Film Space Is the Place (1972) (soundtrack)
Outer Space Employment Agency (1973)
Astro Black (1973)
Crystal Spears (1973)
Cymbals (1973)
Concert For the Comet Kohoutek (1973)
Space Probe (1974)
Media Dreams (1978)
Disco 3000 (1978)
Saturn SR 51879 Single (1979) (S)
Beyond the Purple Star Zone (1980)
Oblique Parallax (1982)
Cosmo Sun Connection (1985)
John Cage Meets Sun Ra (1987) (with John Cage)
United World In Outer Space (2009) (recorded in 1975)
Prophet (2022) (recorded in 1986)

Sun Ra is an absolute legend in the field of free jazz, besides being a great visionary. The albums listed above are probably the most interesting Ra records for an EM fan. Of course this legendary character has a huge discography both as a soloist and with his Astro-Solar Infinity Arkestra, Solar Myth Arkestra and such other "arkestras". The ones I thought were of interest are those dominated by Ra's electronic textures and moog playing. Other players on these records usually assume a secondary role. Any of the above albums are recommended if you wish to check out Sun Ra at his most spacey and electronic, and each album generally has at least one long or several short electronic tracks. Crystal Spears and Cymbals were both released on CD as The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums.

 


Sun Through Eyelids (New Zealand)

Oceans of Separation (2016)
Impermanence (2017)
Hyperborea (2018)
Glacial Iridescence (2018)
Centuries (2019)
Akashic Resonance (2019)

Hypnotic ambient soundscapes. Darkish, but never pitch-black. Both melodic and droning elements are present.

 


Sun, Tom (UK)

British synthesist who was in contact with Direction Music label in the 1990's.

 


Sunahara, Yoshinori (Japan)

No Boys, No Cry Original Sound Track (2009) (soundtrack)

Electronic soundtrack from this Japanese downtempo / techno artist. This one often has a weird, Cluster-like feel to it.

 


Sunbeamer (USA)

Outside / Inside (2018)
Halcyon (2020)
Cape (2022)

A project of Austin-based Damon Barbieri, who uses mostly modular (Eurorack) gear. Intense drones and lighter synth compositions.

 


Sunchariot (Russia)

Ritual Head / Right Sun (2005)
Exorcism (2005)
Fictio (2007)
Ruina Astrasiab (2007)
Komodia Delta (2007) (S)
Eidyllion Delta (2007) (S)

Raw, unpolished Dark Ambient with strong Drone element from Rostov-On-Don-based artist Denis Shapovalov.

See also: Adriva, Enmerkar.

 


Sunda (UK)

No Borders (2019) (S)

Ambient project from Manchester with some noisy bits.

 


Sunda Arc (UK)

Flicker (2018) (EP)
Tides (2020)
Night Lands (2022)

Electronic project of brothers Jordan and Nick Smart, both members of Mammal Hands. Diverse music, merging club and prog influences and well as mysterious / mournful clarinet sounds.

 


Sundayman (Greece)

Retronome (2012)
Scene Missing (2016)
Outerland II (2022)

Greek singer and composer (Kyriakos Moustakas) who is very much into synths. He falls into the indie pop genre but uses a lot of EM influences by means of analog synths and drum machines. Examples of instrumental EM tracks are "Paradise" from Retronome and "Smooth" from Scene Missing, which sounds vaguely "Memories of Green"-ish (Vangelis). Outerland II has EM tracks as well. File under EM-related.

 


Sundberg, Stefan (Sweden)

Reach For Tomorrow (2004) (S)

A mini-CD from this synthesist.

 


Sundew (USA)

Played In Heaven (1996)

Ambient music from Martin Lee-Stephenson (with a few guest vocalists and musicians, including Bob Derwood Andrews on slide guitar).

See also: Vulse

 


Sundhelm (UK)

Glades of Flowering Stone (2023)

Relaxing Ambient with nature sounds. A project of Tom Sherlock.

See also: Mju, Mosman, Dungeonsoft, Samphire, Mind Wiper, Cloud Tears, Bioscanner.

 


Sundrips (Canada)

Arrays (2010)
Sundrips (2010)
Diffuse Contours (2010) (S)
Through Obversion (2010) (S)
Slow Futures (2010) (S)
Hidden Dimensions (2010)
Basejumping At Cliff Calvin (2010) (S)
Satellites of the Elders (2010) (with Ophivchvs)
Star Masters Live (2010) (S)
Phased Out (2011)
One Hundred Hints (2011)
Just A Glimpse (2011)
Peripheries (2011) (S)
The Shape of the Corridors (2011) (S)
Tangled Paths Swept Away (2011)
Guide (2011) (S)
Misplaced (2011)
Dream Studies (2012)
Lakeside View (2013)

One of the countless ambient cassette artists that have sprung up during the last several years, mainly in North America. Sundrips is a duo of Ryan Connolly and Nick Maturo.

See also: Event Cloak

 


Sundrugs (Poland)

Hidden Scenes (2013)
Low (2014)
Pure Evil Bliss (2022) (with Borys Dejnarovicz)

Melancholic droning soundscapes from Patryk T. Kawalarz.

 


Sundström, I.B. (Sweden)

1592 (2019)

Isak Sundström is a folk / pop / country artist from Sweden. Interestingly enough, he opens his album 1592 with a nice, long ambient piece called "Rosa Skog". The rest of the album is not really EM but there's potential for more material in our beloved genre for sure.

 


Suneaters (Germany)

Cosmic Insight, Baby Part 1 (2007) (S)

Suneaters is a duo of Tobias Fischer and Mirko Uhlig (also known as Feu Follet). Their debut 10" record is in typical Teutonic (Berlin School) style. Steve Jolliffe guests on flute.

See also: Feu Follet

 


Sungod (USA)

First Matter (2010)
Laurentide & Cordilleran + Others (2011)
Cuts From the Ether (2012)
Crash Galactic (2012)
Contackt (2013)
Sungod (2014)
Cahokia / Red Atmosphere (2015) (S)
Wave Refraction (2018)
Starscape (2023)

Crossover space rock / kraut / EM band led by Braden Balentine and Mike Sharp from Austin, Texas. One of the tracks off Cuts From the Ether is amusingly titled "Kraut Schulze".

See also: Sharp, Michael C.

 


Sunhiilow (France)

From There To Here (2012)
Invisible Totem (2015) (S)
Whispers of A Dream Wind (2020)
Beyond the Cycle (2021)
Walking Through the Dawned Shades (2022)
Lost In the Scenery (2023)

Tinkling sequences, pads and synth atmospheres from Valerie Magisson. Mostly short tracks. Some split releases also.

 


Sunmoonstar (Australia)

Ibid. (2015) (S)
The Great Barrier Reef (2017)
Rainbow Springs (2017)
Kartiny (2017)

Silky smooth ambient and melodic soundscapes from Sydney's Natasha Home (currently residing in Florida).

 


Sunn Rhsi (USA)

Hyper-Objects & Charts (2015)

Lo-fi analog improvisations reportedly inspired by the early work of Morton Subotnick. Sometimes meandering, but sometimes quite fascinating stuff.

 


Sunny Dunes (France)

Village Global (2011)
Emma's Tapes (2012)
Wash, Then Dance / Never Soon (2013)
Superfluere (2013)
Anhydride Tapes (2013)
Blue Far (2014)
Emmastaete (2015)

Nice melodic and sequencer-based electronic compositions, as well as ambient soundscapes, all drenched in a sea of field recordings. A project of Mika Perez.

See also: Suaves Figures, Monnier, Sylvia.

 


SunPath (USA)

Yasamine And the Snowflake Dragon (1980)
SunPath 2 (1984)

Privately released ambient synthesizer drift with new-agey flair from Jeff Berry out of New Mexico. Both tapes were re-released in 2016 (also on tape) as Dream Music. File under Electronic New Age or EM-related.

 


Sunplus (UK)

More Colour (2020)
Clear Muted Sine Recovery (2021)
Stimulus Solar Vitamin (2021) (S)
Soft Printing Machines (2022) (S)

A project of Scottish musician Rob Shields. As Sunplus, he makes ambient music that is quite minimal and, for some reason, reminds me on some of the stuff made by Jeff Greinke. Granular synthesis plays an important role here.

See also: Shields, Rob

 


Sunray (UK)

Dreamachine Music (1995)

UK psychedelic / space rock duo of Jon Chambers and John Lewis. Apparently, they started out in a much more electronic-oriented mould.

 


Sunroof (UK)

Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 1 (2021)
Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 2 (2023)

Playful or experimental modular synth compositions. Sunroof is a duo of Gareth Jones and Daniel Miller.

See also: Jones, Gareth

 


Sun's Journey Through the Night, The (UK)

Veiled Beneath the Shroud of Grief & Misery (2021)

Melancholic ambience from this atmospheric black metal project.

 


Sunset Strip, The (Australia)

The Endless Sea (2017)
Crystal Ships Infinite Arrivals (2018)
Open City (2023)

Psychedelic rockers with some EM influences on the above listed later albums.

 


Sunshine Playroom (UK)

The Old Railway Track (2023)

Mostly a guitar-based "hauntology" project. Some tracks (such as the arpeggio-laden "The Ghosts of Trains Passed" or the motorik-infused "The Beekeeper", for instance) are synth-based, though, so it becomes EM-related overall.

 


Sunstroke (Belgium)

Nothing's Wrong In Paradise (1985)

The above album was recorded in 1984 by two members of Belgian jazz-rock band Kandahar with Etienne Delarue as guest musician. Instruments used were: Memorymoog, Prophet 5 and 10, Roland TR-808, Fender Rhodes 73, Korg lead synth, acoustic and electronic pianos and percussion.

See also: Kandahar

 


Sunstrom Sound (USA)

Stormspace (2021)

Seattle-based artist (Jason Holstrom) whose style ranges from floating ambient synth to rhythmic arpeggio-laden goodness. Nice rhythmic / melodic EM.

 


Sunwarper (USA)

Future Fade (2021)

Nice, airy, bright, sun-drenched EM from this Los Angeles-based synthesist (Michael Jakucs). From completely floating to slowly rhythmic.

 


Sunya Beat (Germany)

Sunya Beat (1998)
Delhi Slide (1999)
The Jelenia Gora Sessions (2005)
Comin' Soon (2006)

A trio of Axel Manrico Heilhecker, Harald Grosskopf and Steve Baltes. The electronic guitar of Heilhecker sounds clearly influenced by Manuel Goettsching's style. Delhi Slide has a couple of songs with female vocals and the rest are rather intense instrumental workouts with cool rhythms, synths and wailing guitar. Ashra fans take note. 

See also: Grosskopf, Harald, Baltes, Steve, Ash Ra Tempel / Ashra, N-Tribe, Fishmoon.

 


Sunyata (Germany)

First Album (1991)

Electronic duo formed in 1990 by Martin Höwner and Steffen Scholz. The first album starts with deep bass notes. After a while a relaxed melodic theme is introduced, along with a slow rhythm. A nice melodic theme serves as the basis for this track. A bubbling bass line is a nice extra touch to this moody piece. "Distance From Ravel" is a classically inspired piece with a marching rhythm. Nothing to write home about but not bad either. The second part of this track is sub-titled "Believe the Eternity" and it immediately sets a mysterious tone with a synth pad and low, growling synths. An upbeat rhythm starts, taking us to early 1990's Tangerine Dream territory. I am not a fan of that period but those who like their Melrose and Quinoa might find this hugely enjoyable. Overall, I found this piece to be somewhat lacking in the timbral territory but very enjoyable melodic-wise. "After the Clouds" is a slow moody piece. I liked this one - simple but effective. "Remember Me A." sets a spookier tone with heavy bass and resonating synths. After a while a dreamy cor anglais melody starts. A rhythm propels this track forward in a relaxed and undemanding manner. This track did nothing to me - it's all too simple and accessible. "Hypnotic" is way more interesting. We have a bubbling synth bass line for a start which then transforms into a good late-1980's TD type melodic theme. "Ultimatum" introduces a new element - a metallic, resonating synth intro that doesn't sound like an intro to an early 1990's EM piece at all. It's all pretty dark and menacing, until a reflective harp / choir theme is introduced and we are treated to a more typical 1990's MIDI sound. "In A Fairy-Tale" sounds almost danceable, with its rolling bass line, upbeat drum machine and a simple melodic theme. I found it too easy-listening. "Esperanza" has a nice atmospheric beginning with bird song samples and a reflective harp / flute theme. Overall, this album a nice debut, albeit very typical of its era (i.e. lots of general MIDI sounds). The tracks were made with digital synths only and it shows. If you absolutely must have that analogue warmth in your music, perhaps it's better to steer clear of this one. However, if you enjoy general melodic EM or if you like that particular period (late 1980's - early 1990's), Sunyata's first album could be right up your valley. In 2005, a retrospective album was released, containing music recorded separately by members of Sunyata in 1993 - 1998. It's a techno album that has nothing to do with EM. You can read my review of it here.

 


Super Deep (USA)

Super Deep (2022)

A quartet of musicians doing relaxed electronic compositions with subtle sequencing and piano improvisations.

 


Super Fata (Norway)

Structural Tendency (2013)
Percipient (2015)

Drone Ambient from Jan Roos.

 


Super Hit (USA)

Super Hit (2017)
ESP (2019)
Move Closer To Your World (2022)

A project of Hayden Waggener between disco, krautrock, EM (mostly Dusseldorf School) and library music.

 


Super Minerals (USA)

Early Works (2005)
High Spear Trial (2006)
Ancient Signal (2007)
Live 5-13-08 (2008)
The Thaw (2008)
The Vooh (2008)
The Piss (2008)
The Pelagics (2008)
The Gooh (2009)
Multitudes (2009)
Live 3-20-08 (2009) (EP)
Clusters (2009)
Live (2011) (S)
Contacteer (2011)
The Hoax (2011)

Ambient duo of William Giacchi and Phil French.

 


Superalma Project (Portugal)

Bad Omen (2014)
Non-Genesis (2017)
Dystopian Children (2018)
How Nature Speaks (2021)

Porto-based project between dark soundscapes and rhythmic stuff that alternates between industrial drums and sequencer based with touches of techno.

 


Supereich (Turkey)

Horrorshow (2017)

Vintage horror sountrack pastiche from this project. To me, it is a bit lacking in focus, as if the author wanted to cover as many genres as possible in a single album, which does not always work in this case. The ambient / atmospheric tracks are rather nice, though. Pity they are too short.

 


Superficial Depth (Germany)

Digital Superimposing (1997)

Long-form Ambient from Uwe Schmidt.

See also: Atom, +N.

 


Superfluor (Spain)

Bienvenido Leo (2016) (EP)
Audioestesia Vol. 1 (2020) (EP)

Analog, varied, with IDM influences.

 


Superior London Pulp (UK)

The Real Occult's In the Pubs of the East End, In the Sinking Ships of the Thames (2022)
The Drift (2023)
Exploring Unheimlich South London / Subterranean Sound LDN (2023)
In the Luminous, Dragon-Green, Serpent-Haunted Sea (2023)

Deep, droning ambient project of Luke J Murray.

 


Superposition (USA)

Unity Gain (2020)
Glaciers (2023)

Chicago-based duo of Todd Carter and Michael Hartman. Post-rocky, electroacoustic tracks mixing synths, piano and drums. Like instrumental Talk Talk fronted by a synthesist.

 


Superpoze (France)

Jaguar (2013) (EP)
Opening (2015)
For We the Living (2017)
Frères Ennemis (2018) (soundtrack)
Hunter (2019) (soundtrack)
Nova Cardinale (2022)

A project of Gabriel Legeleux - a musician and deejay who started in deep house mould with touches of Progressive EM and ambient, with also sort of a shoegaze-y feel. However, I do think that he is best when doing soundtrack work. Electronic and synth-based, his soundtracks are moody and deep.

 


Supersempfft (Germany)

Roboterwerke (1979)
Metaluna (1981)
Futurist (1981)
Ei Abend bei den Robotenwerken (1982) (S)
Wunderwerke Wundertüte (2017) (recorded in 1979 - 1983)
Cosmotropics (2020) (recorded in 1982) (soundtrack)

Supersempfft was basically the project of Dieter Kolb plus some friends. Initially inspired by Kraftwerk, the music goes far beyond those influences.

See also: Wunderwerke, Alpha Orion.

 


Supersentient Intelligence Construct (???)

Transmission Vision (2016) (S)
Unravel (2016)

Dark, moody ambient synth compositions, cinematic and with an underlying feel of menace. Some noisy bits as well.

 


Supersilent (Norway)

9 (2009)

Atypical ambient album done with Hammond organs only. Supersilent is a free improvisation ensemble consisting of Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken, Jarle Vespestad and Helge Sten (Deathprod).

See also: Deathprod, Storløkken, Ståle.

 


Superteam (USA)

Superteam (2021)

Ambient synth trio from Austin, consisting of Chris Kallmyer, Matt Kivel and Korede Oladimeji. Relaxed, pastoral, reflective, with a bit of a Cluster feel, but with none of their quirkiness.

See also: Kallmyer, Chris, Kivel, Matt.

 


Suplington (UK)

Tokyo Reflections (2014) (EP)
Repeating Flowers (2017)
After Life (2019)

Mostly ambient soundscapes with a huge amount of field recordings. Some background technoid or downtempo rhythms as well.

 


Surachai (USA)

Assymetry Codex / Temple of the Weakening Sun (2017)
Come, Deathless (2019)
Violet (2022) (with Fyohna)

Chicago-based artist who is usually on the extreme side of the musical spectrum (from black metal to rhythmic noise / power electronics). The 2017 album is still pretty harsh as a whole. However, there's also that Prog EM streak running though it and getting more prominent on tracks like "III" or the short closer. File under EM-related.

 


Surface 10 (USA)

Surface 10 (1996)
Microscapes (1996)
Vector Fable (1999)
In Vitro Tide (2000)
Borrowed Time (2000)
Surface Tensions (2006)
A Stray Ending (2023)

More or less Berlin School-inspired Ambient on DiN label. Surface 10 is Californian synthesist Dean De Benedictis.

See also: Benedictis, Dean De, Cathexis.

 


Surman, John (UK)

Upon Reflection (1979)
Cloud Line Blue (1979) (with Karin Krog)
The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon (1981) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Such Winters of Memory (1983) (with Karin Krog)
Withholding Patterns (1985)

British saxopone player and improviser and one of the mainstays of the ECM label. Amazingly, The Amazing Adventures... features Surman improvising on his saxophone backed by what at times sounds like Tim Blake circa Crystal Machine ("In the Halls of Neptune") or Klaus Schulze circa Timewind ("Nestor's Saga"). Meanwhile, this trend had already started on Upon Reflection, whose opener combines a synth sequence that reminds on KS' Mirage as a basis for his sax improvisations, while the closer uses a flashier, a bit progrock-influenced style for synthesizer backing. The experiments in combining sax improvisations with electronics continue on Such Winters of Memory and Withholding Patterns. Further investigation is needed.

SOS

 


Surprise Barbue (France)

Super Barbu (2019)
Kabukichō (2021)

Rich, varied synthesizer music from this duo.

 


Surtt (Russia)

Fragment of Madness (2009)

Dark, atmospheric Ambient. Somewhat minimalist and very typical of the "Black metal guys doing ambient" scene.

 


Survey Channel (USA)

Mulberry (2019)
Along the Wind Spear (2020)
Myriagon Atlas (2020) (with Cpektir)
Silent Graphs (2021) (S)
Catalog Nectar (2021) (EP)
Canvas Doubles (2023)
Human Imagery (2023)

Varied synth tracks from this Buffalo, New York-based musician. From dark drones to cosmic solos, slow rhythms, etc. Sort of a lo-fi / vaporwave feel to some of the material.

 


Survivalist (UK)

The Cult of Murderous Children (2023)

Power electronics / noise alias of Martin Daniels. The Cult of Murderous Children is an atypical album, focusing on horror-infused ambient atmospheres.

 


Surya Kris Peters (Germany)

Status Flux (2015)
The Hermit (2016)
Holy Holy Holy (2017)
Ego Therapy (2019)
Lost Transmissions+ (2022)

Varied Electronic Music from Christian Peters, guitarist and vocalist of Samsara Blues Experiment. As a solo artist, he is seemingly influenced by early krautrock pioneers like Popol Vuh, pre-Autobahn Kraftwerk, as well as EM grands Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. There's a nice, laid-back "World Music meets Berlin School" feel to this one.

 


Suryummy (USA)

Our Polychromatic Breath (2006)
Prismatic Escalator (2015)
Genesis Clarity (2016)
Photon Slobber (2017)
Polynators (2021)

Warm ambient sounds from Emmett Feldman. Some more rhythmic tracks as well.

 


Sushi Jugend (Finland)

Untitled (2018)

Long tracks full of analog synths, pads, sequences, etc. Nice EM from Antti Vuornos.

 


Susobrino (Bolivia??)

La Hoja de Eucalipto (2019)

Suso Pérez is a Bolivian artist residing in Belgium or a Belgian artist of Bolivian descent (not sure which is the case). La Hoja... presents a very unique World Music, based on the traditions of the Andean country and analog synthesizers. Interestingly enough, large parts of the title track, for some reason, remind me on Klaus Schulze's Audentity. Lots of percussion here.

 


Suspended Memories (international)

Forgotten Gods (1992)
Earth Island (1993)

Suspended Memories are Suso Saiz, Steve Roach and Jorge Reyes. Tribal atmospheric Ambient.

See also: Saiz, Suso, Roach, Steve, Reyes, Jorge.

 


Suspirium (UK)

Shadows Breathing On Themselves (1991)
Orphée (1992)
Lygophillia (1992)
Tunnel Vision (1992)
Baked Beings (1992)
Malpertuis (1992)
Tenebrarum (1992)
Les Valseuses (1992)
Eschatus (1992)
Vestigia (1992)
Burning For Burning (1992)
Charnel Knowledge (1992)
Pleasure And Pain (1992)
Ars Moriendi (1992)
Victims (1993)
Modern Primitives (1993)
I Am Not I (1993)
1000 Cries Became A Scream (1993)
Metamorphosis (1994)
Faltzeit (1994)
The Enemy of My Enemy (1994)
Less Than Dust (1994)
The Human Condition (1995)
The Coming of Shadows (1995)
Dysphoria (1995)
Tempus Fugit (1996)
Awakening (1997)
Split Personality (1998)
The Philosopher's Stoned, Part One (2015)
The Philosopher's Stoned, Part Two (2015)
Keep Off the Grass (2015)
The View From Nowhere (2016)
The Wasteland (2016)
Other Methods of Suicide Are Available (2016)
The Melting Point of Light (2016)
The Point of Vanishing (2016)
Allotropy (2016)
Post Mortem (2017)
We Have Loved the Stars Too Fondly To Be Fearful of the Night (2017)

A guitar / synth duo from Ramsgate, Kent. Sometimes they were helped by a third member. The music is experimental and atmospheric, mostly influenced by the darker European EM like early Cluster, Peter Frohmader, Heldon, Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, early TD and Fripp & Eno. However, they have a lot of variation in their sound and venture into almost pure krautrock, industrial-tinged stuff and more.

 


Suuri Shamaani (Finland)

Mysteerien Maailma (1999)

Experimental Ambient by Marko Laiho of black metal band Beherit.

See also: Beherit

 


Suuri-Pieksä (Russia)

Ëó÷øèé êóñò/Fitolampa (2021) (S)

Laid-back ambient compositions with lush synths and a touch of distortion from this Saint-Petersburg-based project.

 


Suwa, Setsuko (Japan)

孤独な思い出の街 (2019)
Invitation To the Voyage (2019)

Ambient with something of a vaporwave / cyberpunk / futuristic theme going.

 


Suwa, Shingo (Japan)

MDF (2018)

Japanese techno artist. "Southern Cross" is a very fine ambient piece, though.

 


Suzuki, Keiichi (Japan)

Science Fiction (1978)

Keiichi Suzuki is a Japanese musician, film and game soundtrack composer. During the 1970's, he was a lead singer of art-pop band Moonriders. Then, in the 1980's he formed a new wave duo The Beatniks with ex-YMO musician Yukihiro Takahashi. The above may be his most obscure album, a strange concept inspired by science-fiction classics, where also a few members of his band Moonriders participate. The result is a mish-mash of styles, but the participation of none other than Hideki Matsutake as synthesizer programmer makes it worthy of checking out. In fact, the first track, called "HAL9000", is a bombastic electronic number, with cool analog synths and choirs ala Vangelis or The Alan Parsons Project. There may be other interesting electronic tracks as well. Further investigation is needed, but for now, file under EM-related.

 


Suzuki, Kissy (France)

Exploring the Seas of Consciousness (2014) (S)
Proposte Monochrome (2014)

Actually a pseudonym of French ambient artist David Teboul.

See also: Linear Bells

 


Suzuki, Takashi (Japan)

Resonance (2011)

New-agey music from this artist.

 


Suzuki, Yoshio (Japan)

Morning Picture (1984)
Touch of Rain (1985)

On IC label. Pretty quiet instrumental synth tracks. Yoshio Suzuki has a background in jazz music and is a descendant of a famous violin-making dynasty.

 


Suzuki, Yuri (Japan)

Scott's Dream - Music From A Reimagined Digital Electronium (2020)

Interesting record featuring compositions made with the help of a re-imagined digital version of Raymond Scott's Electronium composition instrument, originally conceived in 1959. Playful music with allusions to Scott of course, but also a bit similar to Cluster and other German pioneers of the Dusseldorf sound. Nice stuff.

 


Svær (Belgium)

Muted People (2020)
ë.λ.ハ (2021)

Gloomy ambient compositions with some noisy bits.

 


Svart Solace (USA)

A Night At the Spire (2020)
Runes of A Castle Keep (2021)
Nomadic (2021)

A mixture of dungeon synth and ambient electronics.

 


Svart1 (Italy)

AdExtremas (2010) (S)
Non Tutto Ciò Che Tace È Morto (2010)
Praha (2012)
Apriti al Buio e Condividilo (2016)
Monotono (2019)
Circondati Dai Petali Da Soli Moriamo (2021)
The First Cut Is the Deepest (2022)

Diverse industrial / post-industrial / noise / Dark Ambient project of Raimondo Gaviano from Cagliari, Sardegna. I will list his ambient stuff here. Most of it is pretty dark.

 


Svarte Fjell (Norway)

Horisont (2014)

Somewhat melancholic music from Norway. Between Ambient / Dark Ambient and dungeon synth.

 


Svarte Greiner (Norway)

Knive (2006)
Depardieu (2006) (S)
Raggsokk (2006) (S)
Til Seters (2008) (S)
Man Bird Dress (2008)
Live At WNUR (2008) (S)
Black River Live (2009) (S) (with Anduin)
There Has Been A Mistake (2009) (S)
Kappe (2009)
Penpals Forever (2010)
Untitled (2010)
Untitled Tour CDr (2010)
SGAR (2011) (with Alexander Rishaug)
Black Tie (2013)
Moss Garden (2016)
The Night Hag (2021) (with Kreng)
Devolving Trust (2022)

This artist (Erik K. Skodvin) started out in the "acoustic doom" mould, making creepy collages of field recordings and some classical (acoustic) instrumentation. However, this formula, very noticeable on his debut, was subsequently abandoned in favor of a more classic (and rather explorative) Dark Ambient sound, still with some elements of that initial acoustic style.

 


Svarti Loghin (Sweden)

Never Mind the Emptiness (2014)

Swedish black metal / acoustic folk band. Never Mind the Emptiness tends toward the latter, with lots of melancholic, winter synth / dungeon synth-like synths (mostly pads) and jangly guitars. File under EM-related.

 


Svartsinn (Norway)

Devouring Consciousness (2001)
Of Darkness And Re-Creation (2003)
Traces of Nothingness (2005)
Elegies For the End (2009)
Collected Obscurities (2017) (recorded in 2002 - 2012)
Mørkets Variabler (2017)

Dark Ambient like a cross between Amon and Lustmord, with extra touches of melody and sadness. Svartsinn is Jan Roger Pettersen.

 


Svensson (Germany)

Silent Echoes (1990)
Forgotten Island (1993)
White Horses (1997)
Foreign Object (2003)

Svensson is actually Tobias Becker, a film music composer, studio musician and Klaus Schulze collaborator who appears on Contemporary Works. Mixture of oboe, various wind-controlled instruments and EM.

See also: Noiz, Nick

 


Svensson, Jan (Sweden)

Pogrom (2011) (recorded in 1990)

Experimental analogue music, like a more accessible Conrad Schnitzler sometimes.

 


Svevn (Slovenia)

Luna (2014)

Darkish soundworlds from Ljubljana-based Jure Žitnik.

 


SVLBRD (Spain)

Svalbard (2016)
Stratus (2018)
Stratus Remodel (2018)
Inland (2020)
Hvit (Live) (2021)
Solstice (2021)
Somber (2022)
The Waves (2023)
How To Disappear (2024)

Side-project of Augustín Mena, also known as Warmth. Arctic ambience with a touch of techno. Warm and cold at the same time.

See also: Warmth

 


Swan And the Lake, The (Denmark)

Moments (2016)
Clouds (2017)

Music inspired by classical, minimalism, Ambient, downtempo and shoegaze by Emil Svane Breum.

 


Swann, Nick (UK)

Key (1983)
Pulse! Feel! Collapse! (1984)
Sound Paintings (1985)

Obscure cassettes, released privately by Nick Swann who is still active in music making. He makes rather atmospheric EM with influences from krautrock and Ambient (apart from synthesizers, he uses lots of guitars).

 


Swansen, Chris (USA)

Pulaski Skyway (1972)
Album II (1975)

Jazz musician who was one of the earliest users of the Moog synthesizer and was instrumental in bringing it to the the general attention, along with people like David Borden and Bernie Krause. These records feature the mighty moog and the first album was endorsed by Bob Moog himself. However, the musical style remains a mystery.

 


Swansither (UK)

Inner Space (2022)
The Waken (2023)

Swansither is Tom Kennedy who has no formal music training and works intuitively with modular systems to craft EM that focuses on pulsations, key changes and stiff rhythms. Varied, playful, experimental, abstract...

 


Sweatson Klank (USA)

Postcards (2022)

Los Angeles-based artist (Thomas Wilson) who offers a nice set of sonic postcards on his 2022 album. The tracks are mostly pretty ambient, but venture also into melodic / rhythmic territory, always retaining the relaxed feeling. I like how there is a photo of Thomas standing on a bunch of LP covers scattered on the floor, among which one can find Richard Burmer's Mosaic, which served as a signal for me and can be an indication of what to expect here, stylistically and sonically. His previous releases are supposedly in instrumental hip-hop / future jazz style.

 


Sweatt, Justin (USA)

Say Your Goodbyes (2018)

Louisiana-based electronic musician previosuly known as Xander Harris, releasing music under his real name.

See also: Harris, Xander, Future Museums.

 


Sweet Air (USA)

From the Felicity Facility (1971)

Private release out of Berkeley, California. Apparently it's something for those who can't get enough of those Terry Riley organ meditations.

See also: Cobalt

 


Sweet, David (USA)

Pioneer 7 (1989)
Musik Elektronen (1997)
Then...And Now (2008) (recorded in 1986 - 2007)

Dave Sweet has been creating melodic and rhythmic cosmic Electronic Music for many years now. In 1980, he lost four fingers on his right hand due to an industrial accident. Despite this, he continued to compose and perform not only as a solo artist but also as keyboardist for progrock / world music ensemble Anubis Spire.

 


Sweet Machines (Czech Republic)

Moon (1993)

Electronic duo of Roman Chovanec and Lumir Častka currently known as T-Sonic.

 


Sweitzer, Henry (USA)

Te Deum (1979)

Electronic Music made with an ARP Omni and a Synthi AKS. Presumably quite avant-guard-ish.

 


Swensen, Dave (USA)

Locked In (2015)
Direct Magic (2016)
Blue Mountain / The Turning Man (2017)
Garden Mirror (2017)
Pattern Keys (2017)

Ambient artist with a somewhat minimal sound.

 


Święcicki, Mateusz (Poland)

Halo Wenus (2017) (recorded in 1974)

Polish keyboardist (later with disco / pop ensemble Arp-Life) and a supporting band of an organist, a bass player and a drummer. Library vibes here, with spacey textures courtesy of Arp Odyssey synthesizer.

 


Swills & Phil//Mills (Netherlands)

Before New Angels (2023)

Dutch ambient duo of Sabine Willems and Phil Mills. Intense, droning, melodic, cinematic, sometimes with rhythms / throbs.

 


Swimwear Catalogue (Denmark)

Ntunxun (1995)
Fnoprx Boutique (1996)
This Is Elektronica (1999)

Danish trio of Niels Rønne, Steven Snedker and Flemming Kaspersen. Melodic Electronic Music with perhaps just a slight influence of the ambient techno scene of the time.

See also: Delayscape, Heinz Beauvaix.

 


Swirling Sunwheels (Canada)

The Strong Shall Prevail (2002)

Martial Ambient.

 


Swiss Arrow (USA)

First And Last Breath (2022)

Swiss Arrow is a project of Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Dark Ambient artist Daniel C. Heidebrecht.

 


Switched On SNES (USA)

A Link To the Past (2017) (S)
Secret of Mana (2018)
The Lost Levels Vol. 1 (2018)

This project is dedicated to analog synth arrangements of vintage game music.

 


Swoop And Cross (USA)

Stories of Disintegration (2018)

Neo-classical, melancholic Ambient with a huge piano presence. A project of Ruben Vale.

 


Sword-Thain Close (USA)

Where To And Where From (2022)

Melodic, hymnal, dungeon synth-like EM.

 


Swoyd Garden (Belgium)

Twine Bread & Old Spells (2021)

Varied electronic compositions, mostly dramatic and climatic, with fat pads, some tinkling sequences, processed voices and such. A project of Pierre Guais.

 


Sycantrhope (Spain)

Babel of Incoherent Paralellism (2013)
Slavery of Death (2014) (EP)
Returning the Lights (2014)
Coldest Theme (2014)
Violent Waves of Restlessness (2015)
Conceived & Abandoned (2015)
Revenge (2016)
Septimo Movimiento (2016)
No Future... (2017)
Mysticism In Spiral Maze (2017)

Diverse project by Vadym Z. that started as a rhythmic electronic / classical hybrid influenced by Delerium but went progressively ambient on later releases. Coldest Theme and Volent Waves... are his most ambient ones.

See also: Enearth, Coven Project.

 


Sygma (France)

Under the name Sygma was formed circa 1982 a solo electronic project of Pascal Lachaize who gave live performances of Electronic Music in the South West of France. There seems to be no released material from that era as of now, although some recordings are supposed to exist. A bit later, Lachaize would go on to form a group named Anoxie, with a more progressive rock-oriented sound.

See also: Anoxie

 


Sylken (Canada)

Illusions of Light (2000)
Ping (2002)
Sculptor (2003) (with Pholde)
Dreamlife (2004)
Terraform (2005)
Sadu Live (2006) (with Anomalous Disturbances and URM)
The Endless Vista (2007) (with Robert Carty)
Music For Spaceports (2013)

Ambient from Eric Hopper.

See also: SADU, Radio Silence.

 


Sylphe (France)

Le Vent Souffle ôu il Veut (2009) (recorded in 1979)

Luc Marianni's band from the 1970's. This album contains music recorded in 1975-1976 and mixed in 1977. It was released on CD in 2009 as part of a box set and re-released in 2013. The music combines progressive rock with Electronic Music.

See also: Marianni, Luc

 


Sylvanum (Russia)

A Forest Portal (2021)

Moody, dungeon synth-like ambient compositions with some analog warmth and an EM feel in places.

 


Sylvian, David (UK)

Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities (1985)
Gone To Earth (1986)
Plight & Premonition (1988) (with Holger Czukay)
Flux + Mutability (1989) (with Holger Czukay)
Ember Glance: The Permanence of Memory (1991)
Approaching Silence (1999)
Camphor (2002)
When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima (2007)
Playing the Schoolhouse (2015) (EP)
There Is No Love (2017) (S) (with Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell)

David Sylvian (real name - David Alan Batt) is of course the legendary leader and singer of new wave / synth-pop band Japan. He has a unique voice and on his solo works he often experiments with different styles. He has also done some ambient works, both solo and in collaboration with other renowned artists in the field, including, but not limited to Holger Czukay, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jon Hassell, Robert Fripp and others. I'll try to list his instrumental / ambient works here. Note that Ember Glance... consists of two tracks that were later re-released on Approaching Silence with one more track added.

 


Symbian (Belgium)

The Night (1991)
The Skywatcher (1993)
No Man's Land (1995)
Hypnotize (1995)
Inner Dates (1996)
Floating Silence (1996) (with Venja)
Navigator (1997)
Source of Secrets (2000)
A Voyage In Time (2003)

Relaxing music from Peter De Backer and Johan Van der Abeele. Navigator reminds on Vangelis. A Voyage In Time is a sampler with two new tracks.

 


Symbion Project (USA)

Wound Up By God Or the Devil (2007)
Contrapasso (2011)
Gishiki (2017)
Backscatter (2019)

Varied project of Kasson Crooker from Seattle. The above albums focus of analog synthesizers, in case of Gishiki  and Backscatter coupled with Japanese koto playing.

 


Symbiosis (Italy)

Passages (2006)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (2006)
Ricordo di Un'Estate (2007)
Abnormal Living Body Control (2007) (with Kenji Siratori)
Slavine (2008)
Spiriti di Neve e Foreste (??)
Crepuscoli Spirituali (2013)
Mikrokosmos (2016)

This Italian artist creates melancholic synth atmospheres with symphonic touches that will appeal to fans of Mortiis and Vinterriket. A Midsummer Night's Dream was re-released in 2007 with two additional tracks as Stabat Nvda Aestas.

See also: Orlandini, Valerio

 


Symbol (USA)

Online Architecture (2014)
Consequence Ornament (2016)
Lifted (2020)
Elevate (2022) (S)

Low-fi, synth ambience from Chris King who also plays in rock band This Will Destroy You.

 


Symboter (Germany)

Live (1981)
Matrix (1982)
Synchrotron (1983)
Phon-Ethik (1983)

This project by Olaf Schirm began already during the 1970's, when he started building his electronic studio filled with modular synthesizers (some custom-built) and other classic keyboard instruments & electronic gadgetry. In the early 80's Olaf released several solo cassettes in classic EM style as "Symboter" and participated in some jams with a band called Japotage. Olaf is still making music; some of his recent works are available as free downloads.

See also: Schirm, Olaf, Japotage

 


Symmetry (USA)

Parallel Allegories (2006) (recorded in 1991)

A project by Jose Murcia founded in 1978. This release contains ambient Electronic Music.

See also: Holosphere

 


SymphoCat (Russia)

Hear Waterfalls / Inner Waterfalls (2020)

Soft ambient music from Ilia Pucheglazov out of Rostov-On-Don.

 


Syn (UK)

Soundwave Traveller (2002)
Thru the Syngate (2003)
Synphara (2003)
Sonus (2004)
Orange (2004)
Skyline (2005)
The Glass Bridge (2006)
61 Cygnus-Alpha (2007)
Aqueous (2015)
Valles Marineris (2015)
Remnants (2015)
Pareidolia (2016)
Fauni-Genus (2017)
Sequence-I (2017)

Berlin School electronics by Scottish musician David T. Dewdney. Note that Orange contains different kind of music with lots of influences from the techno scene - rhythmic, danceable and uplifting. With Skyline it's a return to form with pure Berlin-based sequencer material and one long mellotron-drenched opus. David's music sounds more 70's Tangerine Dream than anything I've heard so far. Really, if you like long sequencer passages, solos, improvisation and tons of mellotron - Syn's ready to serve you heavy doses of electronic brilliance. In fact, some of the material sounds exactly like some kind of archive TD material from the mid to late 70's. Well, he does infuse these clasic sounds with his own touch, but the influences are quite obvious. From the long, mysterious, pulsing epicness of "Soundwave Traveller" to the mellotron-drenched tapestry of "Mellotropica", Syn will guide you through the realms of classic Berlin School sound. Other tracks of note include "Slipstream" - a track that sounds like an outtake from the "Thief" sessions (really, the sounds, rhythms, soloing - everything here reminds on this excellent soundtrack work by TD), "Freefall" - a classic formula Berlin School track with long rhythmic / sequenced section and an atmospheric conclusion, "Distant Vision" - a track that could easily have been recorded during Tangerine Dream's "Encore" tour (tons of mellotron), "Cydonia" and "Skyline" (both typical Berlin School tracks). My favourite tracks of the ones I heard are "Transcendant" (excellent sequencing!) and "Valles Marineris" - a totally unique, atmospheric trip with unusual rhythms and gorgeous pads / soundscapes. David's music is usually built around improvisations.  

 


Synaesthesia (Canada)

Embody (1994)
Desideratum (1995)
Ephemeral (1997)

The same people (Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber) as Delerium / Front Line Assembly. It is their most 'classic EM'-oriented project.

See also: Delerium, Fulber, Rhys.

 


Synapsis (???)

Materia (2010)
Continuum (2017)

Mostly bleak drones and soundscapes.

 


Synaptyx (UK)

Tunguska (2017)

Cold, cerebral synthwave / electro sound with elements of progressive electronic. A project of Aaron A. Fimister from Scotland.

 


Synarios (USA)

Uncontrolled Voltage (1982)

Electronic duo of Don Slepian and Lauri Paisley. Floating music released privately on cassette.

See also: Slepian, Don, Paisley, Lauri.

 


Synaxe (France)

Quadran (2019) (EP)
Quadron (2019) (EP)

Heavy analog synth drones from Patrice Bal.

 


Sync24 (Sweden)

Source (2007)
Comfortable Void (2012)
Ambient Archive 1996 - 2002 (2012)
Ominous (2018)

An artist (Daniel Segerstad) who mixes downtempo / psybient sounds with ambient tendencies. His ambient tracks can be considered as EM-related.

 


Syncboy (Germany)

Syncboy-Live 01 (2013)
Magnétisme & Vibrations (2017) (with Shitcluster and Tolouse Low Trax)
Aufnahme Koch (2018)
Pracht Live Tapes (2018)
Robots (2021) (S)
Umbrella Travel (2022)

Leipzig-based project self-described as "kraut-punk". For fans of motorik and related styles.

 


Synchestra (USA)

Mother Earth's Lullaby (1981)
Silver Ships (1982)
Electric Snowflake (1984)
Shoreline (1986) (with David Blonski)
Ideas Volume 1: Oasis (1987)

These albums by Ed Van Fleet's Synchestra's supposedly contain some interesting electronic orchestrations. File under Electronic New Age / Space Music.

See also: Van Fleet, Ed, Blue Star.

 


Synchronized (Netherlands)

Galaxy (2017)

A project of synthesist Francois ten Have, a nominant for best newcomer at Schallwende.

 


Synco (Germany)

Kaskade (1985)
Synthasia (1986)
Motodrom (1988)
85 - 89 (1989)
Evolution of Events (1991)
Reincarnation In A Superior System (1993)

A duo of Frank Klare and Mirko Luthge. Music similar to early Eighties' Tangerine Dream (the guys bought used equipment from TD and put it to great use). Recommended.

See also: Klare, Frank

 


Syndérèse (France)

Sol Victus (2021)

Melancholic EM compositions somewhat indebted to the dungeon synth genre, with touches of folk. I often got an "early Klaus Schulze" feeling when listening to it.

 


Syndromeda (Belgium)

Magma (1994)
Keeper of the Universal Energy (1995)
Beyond the Unknown (1996)
The Mind Synphony (1996)
Mind Trips (1997)
Circles of Life (1997)
The Legacy of God (1998)
Birth of A Black Hole (1999)
Syndromeda In CHAOS (2000) (with C.H.A.O.S.)
The Alien Abduction Phenomenon (2001)
In Touch With the Stars (2001)
Creatures From the Inner (2003)
Metaphysical Experiences (2005)
A Day In the Fields (2005)
Attack! (2006)
Last Days On Earth (2006)
The Resurrection (2006)
Mythical Pursuit (2008)
Best of Tapes & Unreleased 1995 - 2002 (2008)
Von Haulshoven Meets Syndromeda (2008) (with Von Haulshoven)
Twilight Conjunction (2009)
Classified (2009)
Waiting For the Second Sun (2010)
The Second Intelligent Lifeform (2010) (with Von Haulshoven)
The Rise of the Darkness (2011)
Time Will Never Be the Same (2012)
No More Frontiers (2013)
Fear of the Emptiness Space (2014) (with Perceptual Defence)
Connected! (2014)
The Final Conspiracy (2014)
Wormhole (2015) (with Perceptual Defence)
TMI (2015)
Volcanic Drift (2015) (with Mac of BIOnighT)
The End of the Universe (2016) (with Perceptual Defence)
When IN-side Becomes OUT-side (2016)
XXX (2017)
Live At Cosmic Nights 2017 (2018) (with Perceptual Defence)
Eternal Destination (2018)
Close To the Core (2019)
KALT (2020)
The Alien Arrival (2020) (with Perceptual Defence)
The Path of Isolation (2021)
Sessions In the Quantum Field (2021) (with Sensory++)
Order In the Chaos of Life (2022)
Journey To the Outness Beyond (2023) (with Sensory++)
Inside the Mental Hospital (2023)
Liftoff To Infinity (2024)

Syndromeda is Danny Budts who was born in 1958 in Wilrijk. At the age of 14 he started playing acoustic guitar. Four years later he played electric guitar in a rock band. However, in the mid 1970's he discovered Electronic Music and was impressed and inspired by it. In 1979 Danny built a Formant modular synthesizer and started experimenting with it. A Roland SH-2000 followed and his musical adventure began. During the years that followed Danny has accumulated a formidable amount of synths and samplers and built himself a studio in the back of his house. That's where most of his cassette and CD productions were realized. Danny's music can be described as rather straightforward Berlin School electronics, where sequenecing and solos play the most important roles. 

See also: Budts, Danny, Amin, Divided By Two.

 


Syndrone (Netherlands)

Outer Reaches (1992)
Being There (1993)
Blind Date (1996)

Dutch synth duo consisting of Andre Theelen and Harold Teunissen. A mixture of Ambient and rhythmic styles.

 


Synergy (USA)

Electronic Realizations For Rock Orchestra (1975)
Sequencer (1976)
Cords (1978)
Games (1979)
Audion (1980)
Computer Experiments Vol.1 (1981)
The Jupiter Menace (1982) (soundtrack)
Redstone (1986) (S)
Metropolitan Suite (1987)
Reconstructed Artifacts (2002)

Synergy is Larry Fast who is one of the pioneers of Electronic Music and one of the most important electronic musicians from America. His works are classics of the genre. There's no need to mention that they are recommended to any serious EM fan. The music is quite diverse, from classic rhythmic and atmospheric synthesizer excursions to almost neo-classical structures, to the most abstract and experimental forms of Ambient (on Computer Experiments).

See also: Intergalactic Touring Band, The

 


Synfonia (Germany)

Hyroglyphs (1991)

Obscure duo of Frank Loch and Lenna Reid, supposedly with a melodic style (a bit similar to Patrick O'Hearn).

 


Syngularity (Germany)

The 7th Dimension (2007)
A Musical Guide To Cosmic Wonders (2009)

Syngularity is German musician Pascal Gregory. On The 7th Dimension a lot of guest musicians participate and the music is a mixture of driving, melodic electronics ala Jarre and guitar playing in the style of post-1985 Tangerine Dream. "Anaximander" opens with moody effects, before a reflective organ / drums theme is introduced. This is spacey and Pink Floyd-like stuff, with floating guitar and rich keyboards. However, the sound becomes much more 80's like, as a steady drum rhythm is introduced. The wonderful guitar really adds to the atmosphere. "Hawking" opens with marimba-like sequences and a stiff electronic rhythm. Symphonic keyboards take over, as the track returns to its rhythmic formula. This one will be enjoyed by fans of the 1980's Tangerine Dream. "She's So Fine" is a rhythmic, dreamy piece in pure late 1980's, early 1990's TD tradition (think Melrose). This piece effectively combines fine keyboard arrangements and soaring, sometimes fast paced guitar solos. "Physics of Toys" is an uplifting electronic piece that reminds much more on Jarre's rhythmic style from the 1990's (circa Chronologie). "The Constant H" is another electronic piece with mucho sequenced elements and a few experimental touches (such as the heavily distorted / fuzzed guitar). "Appearance of Anything" takes thing to Jarre territory again. It doesn't remind on any particular work of the great frenchman, but the melodic sensibility is unmistakeably Jarre. "One Foot On the Floor" is the odd one of the lot, with it's pedestrian rhythm and a rather disjointed melodic content. A good track, though, with a nice guitar solo appearing in the second part. "Dream Vortex" surpsises with pure 1970's style sequencing and a trancey, totally out-there, cosmic atmosphere. "Tomorrow's Yesterday" is basically a "hard rock EM" track, with heavy riffs and organ chords combined with a drum rhythm, guitar solos and symphonic keyboards. "Ocean" is on the jazzy side of things, with saxes, pianos and all. Not the best track if you ask me. "M Theory" is a laid-back piece with fine guitar playing over a bed of electronic keyboards and a steady rhythm."Waking Life" relies too much on simple 4/4 techno beat. The textures and arrangements are fine, though. The title track is rather laid-back, with very pleasant guitar arrangements and a jazzy vibe (it works this time!). Also of note are quality synth sounds. "Her Oasis" is a romantic ballad that closes this album with reflective piano, flute melodies and a soaring guitar solo over a rock rhythm. Overall, if a driving hybrid of electronics and guitar is your idea of a good album, Syngularity's The 7th Dimension is something to check out. Style: TD circa 1988 - 1992, Jarre, Guido Meyer et al.

 


Synkro (UK)

Farewell (2015) (S)
Changes (2015)
Images (2019)
Information (2022) (EP)

Joe McBride makes dubstep, chillstep and drum and bass music as Synkro. However, there is an influence of Ambient on Changes, with several tracks being completely ambient and rather nice, the album closer even bringing some classic Steve Roach (circa Quiet Music) to mind. Farewell has two tracks with a flair of 1980's EM (a bit synthwave-like, but softer and more ambient). With Images, McBride created another EM / ambient-oriented work, with some techno influences.

 


Synkrotron (UK)

Synkrotron (??)

Warrington-based synthesist.

 


Synoiz (UK)

Ambients (2009)
Frontiers (2014)
The Forbidden (2017)

Dark drones, horror ambiences, dungeon melodies, rhythms...

 


Synopsis (Estonia)

Synopsis (1986)

A prog band formed by Igor Garšnek and Nevil Blumberg. Most of the time just your normal keyboard-drenched symphonic rock with lots of solos and a jazzy edge. However, it does contain enough electronic elements to actually enter the sphere of interest of EM fans. Some tracks are completely or almost completely electronic.

See also: Garšnek, Igor

 


Synopsis (France)

Gamme (1981)

Progressive rock band influenced by French "theatrical" symphonic prog like Ange, Mona Lisa, etc. They have lots of instrumental passages as well and often come as a mixture of symphonic prog and EM. Sometimes they even use drum machine. File under EM-related. There is an earlier album Minuit Ville that may also be interesting. Further investigation is needed.

See also: Marcel, Patrick

 


Synopsis (UK)

Surrillion Dreams (1998)
Tempus Fluxus (1999)
Gotterdammerung (2000)
Tales From the Holodeck (2002)
Earth Views (2005)
Precious Find (2019)

Music very much in the style of classic Tangerine Dream. What I've heard so far was quite good.

 


Synoptic Music Plant (Germany)

Floating Analogics (1995)

Actually a duo of Fanger & Siebert.

See also: Fanger, Thomas, Fanger & Siebert

 


Synrise (Germany)

Fade In (2000)

Miscellaneous bunch of melodic and rhythmic EM tracks from Stephan Dargel.

 


Synriser (???)

Carried By Wings (1986)

 


Synriser (Netherlands)

Electronic Music band formed in 1980 by Frank Roozdant. None of their music got released.

See also: Roozdant, Frank

 


Syn-Sing (Netherlands)

Voltage Controlled Tunes (1979)

Strange and obscure project of Leo Cornelissen (former guitar player of Fun of It) and Fred Janssen. Mostly short tracks of cheesy and funny electronics with some 1970's library music vibes.

 


Syntax (USA)

Transmissions (2016)

Californian synthwave artist with a slight Prog EM influence.

 


Syntech (Netherlands)

By Trial And Error (1989)
Atmospheres (1991)
Syn City (2019)

If you like Laserdance, then this is for you. Also fans of Jean-Michel Jarre may want to check it out. Syntech is the duo of Edvin Van Der Laag (the guy who designed covers for Laserdance records) and Huib Schippers.

See also: Trilithon

 


Synth Alien (Spain)

The Stars Are Not For Humans (2012) (S)
Cosmic Lights (2015) (S)
Stellar Walker (2015) (S)
Memories (2016) (S)
Beyond the Alpha Cygni (2016) (S)

An alias of Spanish electro artist Alberto Sanmartin. Most of the stuff he does is spacey analog electro with elements of spacesynth, but there are also more atmospheric tracks - check out "Saturn" from The Stars Are Not For Humans - it's great EM. There is also a split release with We Are the Hunters. File under EM-related.

 


Synth Bard (USA)

Gold Box Renditions (2015)
Ravenloft (2017)
Beyond the Crystal Cave (2019)
The Isle of Dread (2021)
Advanced Gold Box Renditions (2022)
Live From the Stone Griffin (2023)

New York-based artist Ben Dumbauld creates unofficial synth soundtracks to old video games / modules.

 


Synth Brothers (Denmark / Netherlands)

Music Session 2014 (2019)
Music Session 2015 (2019)
Music Session 2016 (2019)
Music Session 2017 (2019)
Music Session 2018 (2019)
Music Sessions. The Essential 2011 - 2013 (2019)

Studio sessions by an international group consisting of Henrik Fugmann, Torben Friedrich, Albert Steenbergen and Peter Slijkhuis. Melodic music, often in the style of Jean-Michel Jarre.

See also: ToXyGeNeDK

 


Synth.nl (Netherlands)

AeroDynamics (2007)
Atmosphere (2008)
OceanoGraphy (2009)
Refuge en Verre (2010) (with Ron Boots)
Apollo (2011)
Borkshavn (2020) (with Ron Boots)
Time Travel (2021)

Rhythmic and melodic music from Dutch synthesist Michel van Osenbruggen. Michel became interested in synthesizers during the late 1980's / early 1990's. It was at that time that he started collecting electronic instruments. Since 2005 Michel composes music on a regular basis. Two years later he started to release and promote his material. His early influences included Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis

 


Synth Pit (Australia)

Astoria (2016)

Synth duo from Australia in cosmic analog mould, influenced by several generations of EM artists, from the 1970's to the 1990's.

See also: Borange, Strasarbs.

 


Synth Replicants (Denmark)

Zentropol (2022)
Time Walker (2023)
Cyclus One (2023)
Cyclus Two (2023)
The Umbrella Man (2023) (recorded in 2022)
Atlantis (2023) (recorded in 2021)
Inner Sanctum (2023) (recorded in 2020)
Time of Legends (2023)
Multi Dimensional Transmission (2023) (recorded in 2020)
Real Love On the Metro (2023) (recorded in 2020)
Fairy Tales (2023) (recorded in 2020)
Continents (2024) (recorded in 2019)
Goodbye To the Moon (2024) (recorded in 2019)

Synth Replicants is Danish synthesist Per Thomhav. He uses a mostly hardware and partly software setup to create long, cosmic tracks inspired by Klaus Schulze.

 


Synth Sisters (Japan)

Milky Way (2012)
Quiet Awakening (2014)
Aube (2014)
Euphoria (2018)

Synth duo from Osaka that at times approaches classic EM sound but is pretty experimental overall and sometimes a bit noisy so I guess it will not be for everyone. With Aube, they seem to have plunged with both feet into the world of Prog EM.

 


Synth Space 2 (Canada)

Constellation Scorpius (2007)
Dark Journey (2008)

Space Music with strong Berlin School influences from Nova Scotia-based synthesist Norbert Vetter.

 


Synthasis (Germany)

Zu Abend Mein Herz (2006)

A duo consisting of Leander Reininghaus (guitar and effects) and Andreas von Garnier (synths). Berlin School-oriented music with sequences, e-guitar and mellotron sounds.

See also: Garnier, Andreas von, Lealoop.

 


Synthesis (Poland)

Space Travels (2005)
Galaxy Fighters (2012)
Satellite (2017)

Space disco in Laserdance style by Robert Ludwinski.

 


Synthesis (USA)

Invasion (1997)

Synthesis is Phil Brownleader from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

 


Synthesis Ltd. (USA)

Synthesis Ltd. (1983)

This is more or less a various artists album, done by the students of Saddleback Community College (members of the Electronic Music Club). It's a private release out of California with various styles, from minimal synth to Ambient.

 


Synthesis, Philip (France)

Philip Synthesis (??)

Privately pressed electronic LP. The style is a mixture of upbeat disco-ish and spacey tracks. The year of release is unknown but judging from the instrumentation must be from the late 1980's.

 


Synthetic Block (USA)

Synthetic Block (1998)
The Opposite of Staring Into Space (1999)
Live At the Gathering (2001)
Book of Formation (2001)
Driving Backward (2001)
Sonic Approach (2002)
Escape Velocity (2006)
Means of Ascent (2006)
Shadows On Water (2007) (with The Circular Ruins)
Live At the Gathering (2018) (with Dweller At the Threshold)

Electronic Music similar to Berlin School with new elements by one Jonathan Block. Book of Formation and Driving Backward contain (mostly) re-arranged pieces from Jonathan's early cassette releases (mostly culled from the 1995 - 1996 era).

See also: Block, Jonathan

 


Synthetic Machines (Germany)

Synthetic Machines Vol. 1 (2020)

Nice melodic, propulsive music by the duo of Kai Lüdeling and Roland Faber who for each of the tracks use only one specific synthesizer.

See also: Faber, Roland

 


Synthetic Music (international)

Synthetic Music (1978)

Music by Myriam Chadcar, Martin Lanibor, Jean-Pierre Decerf, William Gum-Boot and Lawrence Wiffin.

See also: Decerf, Jean-Pierre

 


Synthetic Orchestra (France)

E.T. Theme / Le Piano Spatial (1982) (S)

Electronic pop (Space, Paris France Transit, Zodiac vein) produced by G. Tempesti. Side one contains a John Williams cover, while flip is supposedly original composition.

 


Synthetic Reality (Canada)

Amber / Stasis (2018)

Long, massive tracks of electronic drones and obscure sounds from this Vancouver-based project of Kamil Kisiel. Strictly electronic, but very fluid and organic sounding stuff. Nice.

 


Synthetic Villains (UK)

Through A Crack of Light (2022)

An EM departure for this synth-pop project of Richard J Turner.

 


Synthetik (UK)

The Mind's Eye (1990)
Love Is Digital (1992) (S)
Technology (1993)
Technology v2.0 (1995)
Abstract (1996)
Precision Movements (2005)

Music by Kevin Bate comparable to Kraftwerk and Laserdance. Energetic.

 


Synthex (Netherlands)

Pythagoras (2012)
Mirrorland (2013)

Only 13 years old at the time of the release of his debut album, Jeffrey Haster (aka Synthex) is a new and upcoming talent in the EM world.

 


Synthfreq (USA)

Vol. 1 (2023)

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Synthfreq consists of two sisters - Danielle and Crystal Morales. In spite of their hearing and visual impairment, they manage to communicate and bring their creative ideas forth by means of synthesizers. The material is melodic and ranges fro 1980's-style synthwave to more atmospheric / progressive sounds, including some serious Tangerine Dream soundtrack vibes.

 


Synthi A (UK)

Ignition of the Sun (2016)

Performed by the Future Sound of London guys, Ignition of the Sun is an analog work made on said synthesizer that harkens back to the 1970's Electronic Music.

 


SynthOne (Poland)

Cold Heart of the Sun (2017)
Escape From Earth (2019)
The Rise of the Heroes (2020)

Spacesynth project of Polish musician Robert Gaj, who currently resides in Sweden.

 


Synthotherapy (Poland)

Test Signals (2021)
No More, My Lord (2023)

Relaxed, liquid sounds made of sequenced and floating elements. The second album is darker and moodier.

 


Synthuary (Italy)

Shador (1982)
Luce D'Inverno (1984)
In the Sun (198
6)
Digital Mind (1987)
Le Stelle Nelle Mani (1990)

Robotica (1991)

Early music by Mac of BIOnighT under another moniker and released on cassette.

See also: Mac

 


Synthuser (USA)

Witchking (1997)
October Fool's Day (1999)
Eleven One (1999)
Island of Misfit Noise (1999)
Ascension (2000)

Actually a pseudonym of Daniel Byerly.

See also: Cacophony, Bertrom, Cabot Jr., DiBane, Lee.

 


SynthX (Sweden)

Universe (1999)
Noxia (2011)

Melodic EM with some ambient passages. Note: although Universe was mostly a download release, a limited, "bootleg" physical run of the album also existed.

 


Syntoma (Mexico)

Syntoma (1982) (S)
No Me Puedo Controlar (1983)
Lost In Space (1984) (S)

I would describe this band as Mexican Kraftwerk fronted by a female vocalist! Some of the tracks are instrumental and overall this is quirkier than Kraftwerk, often with fast-paced rhythms and sort of a "chiptune" sound. Not terribly progressive (more along the lines of other early 1980's minimal synth / synth-pop artists, with a unique touch) but as a "fringe inclusion" it will do.

 


Syrinx (Canada)

Syrinx (1970)
Long Lost Relatives (1971)
Tumblers From the Vault 1970- 1972 (2016)

A band led by John Mills-Cockell.

See also: Mills-Cockell, John

 


Syrinx (Germany)

Meteora (1980)

Not to be confused with the Canadian Syrinx, this was an electronic project of Maximillian Marzinkowski (piano, synth, sequencers, vocoder) from Essen, helped by Harald Hoffmann (drums), Valerie Kolmetz (percussion) and Ferdi Manig (violin). It's one of the rarer German electronic albums with music in a varied style.

 


Sysselmann (Norway)

Nonfigurativ Musikk 4 (2015) (with Andre Og Håkon Duo)
The Northern Chronicles (2016)
Ritual of the Aurora Noir (2019) (EP)

Immersive ambient compositions. Not very dark, more like mysterious / hypnotic, with lots of field recordings. Real name of the musician is Thomas Narverud.

 


System 55 (UK)

The Cosmos Unveiled (1989)

Obscure release from Electronical Dreams label. System 55 was a project of Cornwall-based Bob Williams in classic EM style. A note for synth-heads: talk about the ability to aptly name the project!

 


System 6 (USA??)

Adventures Under the Stars (2009)
Promised Land Or Armageddon (2010)

Strange project combining upbeat techno / trance tracks with ambient numbers. The two sound as if made by completely different people.

 


System Olympia (Italy)

Delta of Venus (2020)

System Olympia is an alias of Francesca Macri who doesn't have a clear style and describes her music as "night rides in my Mercedes Benz". This is great in-the-car music, indeed, with nu-disco / synthwave / "balearic" / melodic progressive EM and ambient elements dominating.

 


Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (Poland)

Existential Nihilism (2011)
Disturbing Symptoms (2013)
Trapped In the Labyrinth of Time (2014) (S)
IDC-10 (2016) (EP)
Atrocity (2016) (EP)
Depopulation (2016) (EP)
Tularemia (2016) (EP)
Section To Provide the Human Material (2016) (EP)
Unit 731 (2016) (EP)
Dose of Sickness II. Part I (2016)
Dose of Sickness II. Part II (2016)
Internal Unrest (2016)
Ebola (2016)
Hopeless Reality (2016)
Uner Tan Syndrome (2016)
Hysteria (2016)
Psychotherapy (2016)
Human Paranoia (2016)
Agony (2016)
Ichtyosis Fetalis (2016)
Multiple Sclerosis (2016)
Syphilophobia (2016)
Outside Border of the Degenerate Imagination (2016)
Paraphilia (2016) (recorded in 2014)
Wykrzywione Zwysly II (2016)
Psychosis (2017) (S)
Trichotillomania (2017) (S)
Absentia (2017)
Autopsy (2017)
Agoraphobia (2017)
BZ (2017) (EP)
D.I.E (2017) (EP)
Cephalothoracoomphalopagus (2017) (EP)
M​ó​zgosk​ł​ad (2017) (EP)
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (2017) (EP)
Clostridium Botulinum (2017) (EP)
Meningohypophyseal (2017) (EP)
Pterional Craniotomy (2017) (EP)
Dread (2017) (EP)
Dr. Death (2017) (EP)
Claustrophobia (2017) (EP)
Asphyxiation (2017) (EP)
Sentenced To Death - Last 7 Minutes (2017) (EP)
Plague Called Humanity (2017) (EP)
A Life That Never Was (2017) (EP)
Cry In Silence (2017) (EP)
Experimental Forcing the Human Brain (2017) (EP)
Coffinmaker (2017) (EP)
Hallucinations (2017)
Unit 731 (2017)
Fungemia (2017)

Clinical Ambient. Fittingly dark but often strangely soothing.

See also: C.O.U.F.O.L., Fear And Aghast.

 


Systems Theory (USA)

Demos 1999 - 2000 (2000)
Demos 2001 - 2002 (2002)
Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies (2004)
Codetalkers (2007)

Electronic Music by Steven Davies-Morris, Greg Amov and Mike Dickson from California, USA. Very diverse but with Berlin School and modern / melodic elements dominating.

See also: Amov, Greg, Dickson, Mike.

 


Szafranski, Michal (Poland)

Sygnal z Odleglej Przestreni (2009)

Melodic music from this Polish synthesist.

 


Szajner, Bernard (France)

Some Deaths Take Forever (1980)
Superficial Music (1981)
Brute Reason (1983)
The Big Scare (1984) (S)
Indecent Delit (1986) (S)
Death And Other Small Illusions (2004)
Szajner's Bits And Pieces (2022)

Bernard Szajner is one of the pioneers of Electronic Music and laser light shows. During the 1970's, he became known thanks to his ability to stage spectacular visual shows that were used by many artists, including Jean-Michel Jarre, Magma, Gong and Klaus Schulze. He is also notable for inventing the Laser Harp - a synthesizer controller that used real light beams, made famous by Jean-Michel Jarre during the 1980's. His own works contain Electronic Music similar to Heldon in style, with much rock vigour and subtle zeuhl touches.

See also: Zed, Hypothetical Prophets, The.

 


sZARSz (Serbia)

Indecipherable Glyph (2020)

Dark, ritualistic ambience.

 


Szczepanik, Nicholas (USA)

Dull In Color (2007)
Astilbe Rubra (2007)
Ecru Epithet (2008)
To the Moon & Back Again (2008) (S)
Mi Otra Mitad (2008) (S)
Iomcin (2008) (S)
Everyone Is Someone's (2008) (S)
A Stillness Rarely Seen (2008) (S)
The Chiasmus (2009)
Dead Dad (2010)
Lack Affix (2010) (with Juan José Callarco)
American Gothic (2011) (with Jenks Miller)
Blue (2011) (S)
Only A Speck of What It Attempts To Represent (2011) (S)
With Dusk Detained (2011) (S)
Era Una Mañana Gris (2011) (S)
Gyre (2011) (S)
Forgotten Dreams Part I (2011) (S)
Forgotten Dreams Part II (2011) (S)
The Embossed Map of Your Essence (2011) (S)
Amaranthine (2011) (S)
Candor of Night (2011) (S)
An Underside (2011) (S)
Plase Stop Loving Me (2011)
We Make Life Sad (2012)
The Truth of Transience (2012)
Not Knowing (2014)

Drone Ambient artist from Chicago. Alternatively brooding, meditative or rich and emotional.

 


Szczepanski, Bogdan (Poland)

Dies (1991)
Zle Sny (1994)

 


Szeląg (Lithuania)

Dual Dilemma (2022)

Moody ambience with a few noisy bits.

See also: Undveld

 


Szemző, Tibor (Hungary)

Water Wonder No.1 (1983)
Snapshot From the Island (1987)
Private Exits (1989)
Meteo (1989) (with Janos Masik)
Ain't Nothing But A Little Music For Moving Pictures (1992) (recorded in 1988 - 1991)
Tractatus (1995)
Relative Things (1998) (recorded in 1994 - 1997)
Invisible Story (2001)
Csoma (2019)
Arbo X (Csoma Grooves) (2021)

Veteran Hungarian synthesist (born in 1955) with jazzy and cosmic stylings. Some of his works are non-electronic and are composed for chamber orchestra. Some tracks were recorded in the studio of Laszlo Hortobagyi and engineered by him. Tibor Szemző often works with multimedia projects and text-sound composition.

 


Szigeti, Istvan (Hungary)

Electroacoustic Compositions (1989)
Ianus (2001) (recorded in 1980 - 1999)

This synthesist (born in 1952) is often referred to as the Hungarian Klaus Schulze. He made a name for himself in the academic circles with significant achievements in the fields of electroacoustic, electronic and chamber / modern classical music.

 


Szirtes, Tom (UK)

Barely Breathing (2016)

Diverse downtempo / Prog EM music from this London-based artist. Ranges from gentle, relaxed, beat-driven tracks to pure evolving, sequencer goodness. Interesting tracks include "Entering Valhalla", "Journey Home" and "Construction Hill".

 


Szlajnda, Daniel (Poland)

Komorebi (2020)
Order In Chaos (2022)

Although known in the club circles as Daniel Drumz, Szlajnda went a different route for Komorebi. Building a modular synth and trying his hand on a deeper, more thoughtful and, dare I say it, progressive type of synthesis, he actually succeeds - it is a nice album of repetitive, sequence-full EM with just slight ethnic touches by means of chromatic percussion.

 


Szulen, Marek (Poland)

Ankaria (1999)
Creation - Universal Consciousness (2002)

Classic EM with lots of sequencing and soloing. Recommended for Berlin School enthusiasts.

See also: Krawedz Swiatow

 


Szun Waves (UK / Australia)

At Sacred Walls (2016)
New Hymn To Freedom (2018)
Earth Patterns (2022)

A trio of Luke Abbott (synthesizers), Laurence Pike (drums, percussion) and Jack Wyllie (sax, effects). Organic, jazzy mixture of warm electronics, live drumming and some sax improvisations.

See also: Abbott, Luke, Pike, Laurence, Paradise Cinema, Earlham Mystics, Forgiveness.

 


Szymalski, Andrzej (Poland)

Sudetony (1993)

Andrzej Szymalski is a Polish poet, musician and visual artist. In 1990 he moved to the Sudetes mountains where he started composing a cycle of Electronic Music works inspired by the surrounding nature that he called "Sudetony". These basically consisted of ambient soundscapes. The music was released on cassette somewhere in the early 1990's.

 


Szymczuk, Maciek (Poland)

Music For Cassandra (2015)
Light of the Dreams (2017)

Dramatic music mixing ambient styles and a more intense sound with elements of 1970's psychedelia. This is not his full discography.

 


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