by Ben Hogwood
The second entry for Arcana’s contribution to #AmbientAugust is very different from the first. Whereas yesterday we enjoyed thoughts from the studio of Aphex Twin, today we hear from 44-year old Russian composer Anatoly Lyadov, and his remarkably vivid portrait of The Enchanted Lake.
Stillness like this in an orchestral piece is relatively rare…as is the luminous orchestration:
Published post no.2,966 – Sunday 2 August 2026
Published post no.2,965 – Saturday 1 August 2026
by Ben Hogwood
One of the benefits of social media is the opportunity to share music we love, to get new perspectives on music we know, and to discover whole new pathways and music we haven’t heard before.
This used to be one of the best things about Twitter, but for obvious reasons I’ve closed that particular door and now enjoy BlueSky, where a welcoming community share music challenges from month to month. I’ve enjoyed a few challenges, but the latest one is definitely worth sharing with Arcana readers.
Without further ado, welcome to #AmbientAugust – with thanks to Coinneach Rooney (@coinneachrooney.bsky.social), whose idea it was. The guidelines are:
“Post an ambient track each day in August. Modular synths, lo-fi guitars, digital landscapes, or whatever feels right to you. There are rules, but you’ll only find out what they are after breaking one. 😂 Use #AmbientAugust when you post.”
My contribution for day one is Aphex Twin‘s Xtal, one of the very first bits of music we heard from Richard James back in 1992, when it was released as the first track of his Selected Ambient Works Vol. 1 anthology for Apollo Records. It samples Evil at Play, a production music track by Steve Jefferies, Mary Carewe and Donald Greig, and Apache by Incredible Bongo Band.
The track has special significance for me, as the Selected Ambient Works Vol. 1 album played a part in helping me through glandular fever at university. Here it is – very simple, and blissful:
Published post no.2,965 – Saturday 1 August 2026
posted by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release.
British electronic music pioneer Dave Angel returns to R&S Records with A Time And Place, his first full-length album release for the seminal Belgian label. Arriving thirty-five years after Dave first joined the R&S family, the album reunites one of UK techno’s defining voices with the imprint that helped launch his career, renewing one of electronic music’s most enduring creative partnerships.
The first track to be made available from A Time And Place is Reflexion, featuring trumpeter Steve Waterman, an airy and jazz-inflected number that you can watch below:
A Time And Place feels less like a return than the continuation of a conversation left unfinished. Rather than revisiting former achievements, the album reflects the perspective of an artist whose creative journey has continued to evolve. Reconnecting with the label that first championed his work, Angel delivers his most personal and musically expansive statement to date.
Across fifteen compositions, the album reaches beyond the conventions of techno to reveal the full breadth of Angel’s musical identity. Drawing on jazz, soul, improvisation and richly textured electronic production, the album balances rhythmic precision with warmth, melody and emotional depth. Reflections on family, heritage, nature and the communities that have shaped his life sit alongside broader observations of the world around him, creating a body of work that feels both intimate and expansive.
That openness is reflected in a carefully chosen cast of collaborators. Celebrated trumpeter Steve Waterman features on both Réflexion and The Yellow Butterfly, bringing a lyrical, Miles Davis-inspired voice to the album after first catching Angel’s attention through his work on Paul Hazel’s Out Of This World. Elsewhere, legendary Chicago vocalist Robert Owens appears on Harmony Serenade, while guitarist Merv Carswell and vocalist Aurii Sky (Dave’s daughter, adding a poignant family connection) add further colour and texture to a record rooted in musicianship and shared expression.
While Dave Angel’s influence on British electronic music has long been established, A Time And Place reveals another dimension of an artist whose foundations were laid long before techno. Raised in a household immersed in live music and jazz culture, Angel has spent a lifetime absorbing sounds beyond the club, allowing those influences to surface naturally throughout a career defined by curiosity rather than convention.
For R&S Records, the album renews a relationship that stretches back to the label’s formative years. For Dave Angel, it reflects both the path travelled and the road ahead. Thirty-five years after 1st Voyage first announced his arrival, A Time And Place reunites artist and label with the same forward-looking spirit that brought them together in 1991, proof that the strongest creative partnerships continue to evolve.
Published post no.2,964 – Friday 31 July 2026
posted by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release. Sennen photographed by Brian David Stevens
Sennen release New Quiet, their first album in over 10 years, on 30 October. It’s a wonderfully warm and fuzzy record, self-recorded by the band but with the end results mixed by James Chapman, aka Maps. It sounds at once fresh but familiar, with the band approaching their music with an uncomplicated honesty.
The first single – the Big Star-shaped Here It Comes – is out now on all digital platforms. It is a bittersweet, summery song with a hopeful message, with its repeated refrain of “everything will be OK”.
“I didn’t write that line with any cynicism,” says singer / guitarist Larry Holmes. “There’s an awareness of how fragile being OK is, and the magic of the things in your life that make you feel like everything will be OK. Us making this new record was definitely one of those things.”
You can watch the video by Innerstrings below:
On New Quiet, the now London-based four-piece’s familiar influences are still there, but this time they are leaning into them rather than shying away. “In the past we’ve felt uncomfortable, but you can end up sabotaging a good idea like that,” explains singer/guitarist Rich Kelleway. “On this album, I think we’re feeling a sense of freedom from self-imposed stipulations we’ve put upon ourselves.”
In short, they’re having fun and enjoying being a band again, something that was inspired by putting together an expanded anniversary reissue of their classic debut album Widows in 2021. This certainly explains the slightly wistful atmosphere that pervades New Quiet, a mix of nostalgia and acceptance.
“When we did the Widows reissue we were able to recognise the unfiltered joy we got from being in a band and making music together when we were in our early 20s,” says Rich, “and making the new album has brought that into focus again.
“I’ve accepted that I need this band in my life. I like to think we’ve funnelled that feeling into making this record and it’s an honest expression of us, now.”
“Sennen is a lifeboat for us, and always has been,” adds singer/guitarist Larry Holmes. “The happy-sad, fear, hope stuff comes from us getting older and having to experience a fair old fucking slice of life here and there – as does everyone.”
Essentially, New Quiet is an album about itself; about the importance of being in a band; about making a record; about listening to music.
This band could be your life.
Published post no.2,963 – Thursday 30 July 2026
by Ben Hogwood. Picture by Johann Anton Völlner, Hamburg, courtesy of Wikipedia
On this day, 170 years ago, the composer Robert Schumann died in Bonn at the age of just 46.
For a while it was fashionable to criticise him on account of his musical quality, and especially orchestration – and indeed Mahler re-orchestrated all four of his numbered symphonies. Yet time has shown him to have much greater substance, with Schumann’s influence on composers such as György Kurtág revealed more explicitly in recent years. One piece the Hungarian composer treasures in particular is the late Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tale Narrations) Op.132, for clarinet, viola and piano:
One of the composer’s greatest champions is cellist Steven Isserlis, who can be seen playing the glorious Adagio and Allegro in A flat major Op.70 with Connie Shih:
Published post no.2,962 – Wednesday 29 July 2026
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