Now available for free download: Altus - Winter Embrace (15th Anniversary Edition)

Winter Embrace
15th Anniversary Edition

I'll keep this short and sweet:
the free MP3 version is available to download now!

http://altusmusic.ca/we_15th.html
You'll find the MP3 link on the bottom left side.

Thank you to everyone who supported the album on Bandcamp, especially those who purchased the CD. Of course, factory-pressed CD copies are still available to purchase on Bandcamp and Databloem. So if you missed out before, please buy yourself a copy.

I'm currently very busy starting a new business (not music-related), but once things have settled in the new year, I have exciting news to announce my next music project. Without going into too much detail, I plan on trying to return the sound of Altus to its original form. If you've been enjoying the music I've been releasing these past few years, don't fret. That style won't disappear, it will only be released under a different name.

You'll have to wait to find out more.

Happy holidays, and my best to you for 2018.

Altus - Winter Embrace (15th Anniversary Edition)

Winter Embrace
15th Anniversary Edition

For many people, winter isn’t an enjoyable time of year. Even I have a love/hate relationship with the season, but when the snow is falling and everything is quiet, it slows the world down to my preferred state. That’s what I’ve been trying to capture in the music over all these years.

I’ve explored other aspects of winter, such as in the sombre Black Trees Among Amber Skies (2010), as well as recapturing the magic of the original Winter Embrace in The Sidereal Cycle 3 (2012). But I’ve been told by many long time listeners that the original holds a special place in their heart and mind.

 
Discover the story and creation of Winter Embrace

What I'm offering now is the definitive version of Winter Embrace. Aside from the twinkling bells that permeate the recording, everything you hear has been meticulously rebuilt from the ground up, treated with the utmost respect in terms of keeping the mood intact. To be clear, changes have been made, but if you were to compare, I think you’d agree this version is a vast improvement.

Factory-pressed CD in glossy 4-panel digipak now available!

Check out the review at Sonic Immersion
http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=A&review=73595

Buyers from the Americas
(and download / 24-bit formats + mp3)

Purchase at Bandcamp

Buyers from Europe / Asia / Africa / Australia

(for lower shipping fees)

Purchase at Databloem

Free MP3 download will be available on December 21, 2017.
A reminder email with a link will be sent at that time.

Prepare to Rediscover the Familiar

Prepare to rediscover the familiar in one week.

For the first time, Altus will be available on pressed CD.

Altus back catalogue now available at Bandcamp

After numerous requests, it's finally available. You'll now find all solo Altus albums available on Bandcamp. They're available to purchase at $1 an album, so you'd like to include more Altus in your Bandcamp library, the cost is minimal.

Later this summer, I aim to have everything available on all the major retailers and streaming services.

I may include collaborative albums in the future, but I'll need to work out those details with each artist.

Of course, nothing has changed in terms of availability elsewhere. You can still get all the albums for free via my site.

(It appears Bandcamp is sending e-mails when it wasn't supposed to. I apologize if you get a slew of e-mails about "new releases".)

"Sleep Theory Volume 3" Review at Sonic Immersion

Check out the review for Sleep Theory Volume 3 at Sonic Immersion.
http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=A&review=73545

Thank you as always, Bert!

"Sleep Theory Volume 3" Now Available

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

Settle in for three more sessions of sleep theory.
This is music not for sleeping, but to help you explore what happens while you sleep.

How Do You Listen to Altus?

Please take a moment to answer a few questions about how you listen to Altus.
https://goo.gl/forms/ZTcmYABuVjiV0U5E2

"Below The Root" review at Sonic Immersion

My thanks to Bert at Sonic Immersion for his review of "Below The Root"
http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=A&review=73503

"Below The Root" game background details

Curious to know more about the game Below The Root?
Here's a great post that goes into excellent detail:
http://blog.stahlmandesign.com/below-the-root-a-story-a-computer-game-and-my-lifelong-obsession/

"Below The Root" Now Available

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

Prepare yourself for a brooding, cinematic adventure below the root.
Listening on headphones in a darkened room is encouraged.


The title is based on a game from 1984 with the same name. The game’s story takes place after the Green Sky Trilogy of novels by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. It was one of the first open-world games where you could travel in any direction right from the beginning, presenting a very large gameworld for its time.

As a child, the game fascinated me, but not entirely due to the vast land to explore. I often pondered what lay beyond the gameworld’s borders. This music is an aural representation of what one might discover.

"Innerspace" review at Hypnagogue

Thanks John for sharing your detailed thoughts on Innerspace.
https://hypnagogue.net/2017/01/05/altus-innerspace/

Innerspace included in November's WVKR-FM "Secret Music" Top 20 Playlist

Thanks to Scott Raymond at WVKR-FM for including Innerspace in November's "Secret Music" Top 20 Playlist.

http://secretmusicwvkr.blogspot.com/2016/12/secret-music-news-december-2016.html

"Innerspace" review at Sonic Immersion

Check out the review for Innerspace at Sonic Immersion.
http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=A&review=73439

Thanks Bert!

"Innerspace" Now Available

Altus is proud to present INNERSPACE—a journey not beyond, but within. 70+ minutes of music in pure ambient form. It doesn't demand your attention, yet the sombre touch you've come to expect from Altus is here.

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

New Altus Single: "Until We Meet Again" on "Reflection" (Free Floating)

In case you weren't aware, the Free Floating label is closing its doors. Don't worry, the music will still be available, there simply won't be any new music released.

To commemorate, myself and 17 other artists have contributed new music for one final compilation, entitled Reflection.

Thank you, Brad, for all your hard work and time.

"The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow" review at Sonic Immersion

My thanks to Bert at Sonic Immersion for his review of The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow. Check it out! http://www.sonicimmersion.org/review.php?letter=A&review=73398

"The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow" Now Available

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

"Komorebi" review at Hypnagogue

I'm sorry to say I missed this review from Hypnagogue Reviews posted earlier this month. Thank you, John, for your kind words and touching review of Komorebi.

It means so much when listeners are able to connect with my music. Many of you have contacted me with similar words. You've allowed the music to interact with your experience, making it yours on a very personal level.

https://hypnagogue.net/2016/06/04/altus-komorebi/

Introducing a New Project: Burlorke

Burlorke - With You, Without

In the 90s, before Altus, I was known as Goon. The music was beat-oriented, and I knew nothing about the ambient genre. Over the past five years or so, I've been wanting to explore other genres. What I've produced is multitude of electronic genres mixed together, but could be best described as synthpop.

The debut album With You, Without has an 80s synth-heavy vibe accompanied by leads that are reminiscent of late 70s Berlin school, but with a modern edge that doesn't emulate either time period. Top it off with a few tracks that contain vocoded lyrics, and end it with a cinematic climax.

Needless to say, it's nothing like the music of Altus, but I encourage you to check out the official page to hear the music, and keep up-to-date through the various social media options available. You'll note that, unlike Altus, there's no free download option. Instead, it's available to purchase through Bandcamp (the best choice), iTunes, and Google Music. You can also stream it on Spotify and YouTube.

Thank you for taking the time to check out this new project, and I hope you enjoy it.

If you're not a fan, don't fret. Altus isn't going anywhere.

Altus playing on the "Hypnagogue Podcast" Episode 179

https://hypnagoguepodcast.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/episode-179/

Thanks to John at the Hypnagogue Podcast for including "Wander" (Komorebi/木漏れ日) in his latest episode.
Also includes tracks from Christopher Alvarado, Igneous Flame, and Robert Rich.