You wanted Altus on vinyl?

I'm extremely thrilled to announce that a small piece of Altus has been pressed to vinyl, all thanks to A Strangely Isolated Place.

If you're not familiar with this label, I invite you to take the time to explore their offerings.

Listener-favourite Sodium Glow from Black Trees Among Amber Skies has been chosen to be part of this massive 3 x LP collection of ambient cuts, titled Full Circle.

PURCHASE HERE 

 

Update: It sold out ridiculously fast on Bandcamp.
Check out all the buy options at

 https://asip.lnk.to/asipv00xWE

 

Below is the press release:

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A Strangely Isolated Place / Full Circle (ASIPV00X)

We’re very excited to share with you our ten-year anniversary compilation titled, Full Circle. This has been well over a year in the making and was due to be released on the exact anniversary of August 26th, (the date of the first blog post in 2008), but due to our need to get a perfect press, it has been delayed a little until now.

~

The music presented in this compilation is probably the closest distillation of what has inspired A Strangely Isolated Place over the past ten years. The ASIP website and its many versions; blog posts; guest mixes; even some of the older archived (now hidden) posts, were revisited to find the perfect tracks to put forward.

There were, however, a few limitations in mind: (1) It had to be a track previously written about or featured in some capacity on ASIP from 2008-2018. (2) The track has previously not been released on vinyl. (3) The artist isn’t currently a part of the ASIP label family.
The end result isn’t a compilation of rarities, b-sides or label exclusives that you may have expected at a typical ten-year milestone. Instead, it’s a compilation of music that has helped define ASIP as many people know it today. From drone and space ambient; to shoegaze-inspired guitars; nostalgic electronica and melodic synthesizer music, Full Circle presents many of the elements that have been captured over the past ten years on A Strangely Isolated Place.

To help celebrate the occasion, all profits from this compilation will go to a charity called The Harmony Project. We felt that investing in and helping the next generation of potential musicians would be a fitting tribute to the overall concept of the release.

Pressed into the grooves of this record is some of the finest music to grace my ears that I felt passionate enough to feature on ASIP in the past, and now once more on vinyl - Ryan Griffin. In more ways than one, we’ve come full circle.

Full Circle track list:

A1. Rhian Sheehan / Quietly Returning
A2. Ous Mal / Marraskuu
A3. ASPIDISTRAFLY / Sea Of Glass
A4. Winterlight / Awake And Sleeping

B1. Altus / Sodium Glow
B2. Ourson / 237

C1. Stellardrone / Billions And Billions
C2. LJ Kruzer / Ter4
C3. Horizon Fire / Piney Hills Blaze
C4. Need A Name / Road To Berlin

D1. Freescha / Moving D2. Alla Farmer / Elektrik Sunrize
D3. Anders Ilar / Rain In All Familiar Places

E1. :papercutz / Where Beasts Die (Kiyoko remix)
E2. Solar Fields / Going In

F1. Ulrich Schnauss / Shine (Mint remix)
F2. bvdub / Don’t Say You Know

Artwork by Mario Morales
Additional layout and gatefold design by Nick Brzostowski
All tracks re-mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri

Release date: November 5th 2018. Format: 3xLP and digital download. (Silver and Transparent vinyl editions).

Altus News & New Release

This is a big update,
but I encourage you to take a few minutes to read through it. Thanks!

New Direction for Altus

The music of Altus has evolved over the past 17 years (since 2001), and it's always been difficult to narrow down the genre it belonged under. Ambient covers most of what I do but has never been a perfect fit.

Recently, the music has become “more ambient”, in that it could easily become aural wallpaper. That's not a slight against the music. Many others—myself included—enjoy ambient music in its “true form”, but it's been a nagging concern for me. I question if those who've been long-time listeners may not enjoy every album due to this shift.

Introducing Loneward

To rectify that, I present the new project: Loneward
and its first release: Protection.

This new project will exist alongside Altus, however from this point on, Loneward will be the source of my purer ambient and drone works. Recent examples would be Innerspace, Komorebi, as well as the ever-elusive Coma Cluster (to which I might be able to surpass one day).

Altus will return to the more active form of its past—Pioneer being the first album to begin that trend. Of course, there'll always be overlap of styles between the two projects, but my ultimate goal is to create a cohesive and consistent experience for both of them.

Purchase Protection from Bandcamp

Download Protection (MP3) for free

Rediscovering Burlorke

My third project, which is likely unknown to most of you, is Burlorke. This explores a completely different style of music. The first release With You, Without was released in 2016, however I didn’t do much to advertise it, and was separate from the Altus project which didn’t help with its exposure. In hindsight, trying to keep the two projects separate produced more work than I wanted, so to simplify things, it’s now available on my site for free download. I encourage you to check it out! If it's not to your liking, don't fret. This project will always take a backseat to Altus and Loneward.

Purchase With You, Without from Bandcamp

Download With You, Without (MP3) for free

Continued Updates & Where to Listen

News for all three projects will be available wherever you currently receive updates for Altus, and the home base for all my music will be https://altusmusic.ca. The landing page will now feature the latest release for each project, and the discography section will keep track of all albums.

And in case you weren’t aware, Altus, Loneward, and Burlorke are also available on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, Google Music, YouTube, Amazon, and of course, Bandcamp. While the complete Altus discography is not available on the major platforms, you’ll likely find your favourites there. If there’s an Altus album you’d like made available, don’t hesitate to let me know, but be aware that some albums won’t pass muster in the approval process for various reasons.

Finally, I’d like to say "thank you" to all those who’ve supported my work on Bandcamp, as well as through PayPal donations and purchasing/streaming on the various platforms. I'd also like to say "you're most welcome" to those who appreciate the option to download the music for free.

It’s been an amazing ride (24 Hours was released 17 years ago), and I hope that you’ll stay with me for many more years of aural adventures.

- Mike

"Pioneer" Now Available

Now available on Bandcamp (44.1kHz/24-bit) FLAC and WAV
as well as free MP3

It’d be a one-way trip,

but would you give up the chance

to be part of an expedition to another world?

Leave Earth behind and travel beyond our solar system. Altus returns with vast, evolving chord progressions, accompanied by articulate arpeggiated synths, pulsing basses, soaring leads, and lush pads.

High volume and active listening is encouraged.

Also available on Spotify, Google Music, Apple Music, Amazon, and YouTube.