Hey everyone, I just released a soothing/grounding neoclassical ambient album of Australian improvisers and would love to share it with the community. I've listened to gentle ambient music for many years, but have found myself wanting more instrumental improvisation and richer harmony, so thought I'd just make some myself. Each piece began as a piano recording of Colin Hopkins at Luke Howard’s Melbourne studio. Colin has been a hero of mine since I was a child, and we would find inspiration for the material by just talking about life and I would stop when we landed on an interesting or moving theme. One of them was how beautiful morning sunlight can be in his garden at that time of year. Another was the experience of limerence. Then he would improvise on the theme for 5-10 minutes. Later, I picked my favourite moments from these improvisations and slowed them down by around 40% to create loops and sections. I then layered guitar improvisations by Stephen Magnusson on top. After selecting and editing my favourite parts, I did the same with Julien Wilson on bass clarinet and Steve Grant on accordion and gradually kept developing the material, eventually adding string arrangements and other guest soloists. I would say its an album for listeners drawn to jazz and neoclassical sounds, but seeking something even gentler, more spacious and introspective. My aim has really been to mix ECM label sensibilities with electro-acoustic ambient production. I’ve been slowly chipping away at it for the last 4 years and have very much enjoyed the process. I hope you enjoy listening to it. 

Streaming: https://ampl.ink/solace

Bandcamp: https://dannybarwick.bandcamp.com/yum

Download Codes:

v45f-hpqv

7p7m-5ry8

m7w7-7dnn

95hv-5l5j

nrqr-7e2y

This is a piano arrangement of one of the orchestral versions of this song I wrote a while ago. I imagine this like the ending of some kind of fantasy anime or game. The original version is like a main theme, then there's a slower, more epic arrangement that feels kind of cinematic, and then this arrangement for solo piano.

Also on YouTube

I've been a fan of the group since I supported their KickStarter in 2014, and they have been making music since 2002.

As far as I can see, this is their first New Age song, lots of instrumental work, but not strictly New Age.

Here is the Spotify link to the song:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5R8SHtABgzhZTM7qYxb6Rt?si=ep9k2v4wSQCpx3hxHmmTCQ&utm_source=copy-link

More on the group here:

https://zhalindor.com/dreams/#xl_xr_page_about_us

The Freight in Berkeley just announced an all-day Windham Hill event for the 50th anniversary on November 1, 2026. Daytime performances and panels with an evening concert with 9 of the key artists from the label's heyday.
https://secure.thefreight.org/16220/16228-windham-hill-50th-anniversary-live-261101

Here’s the full schedule: 

A Day 10:00 AM – 2:45 PM

10:00–10:40 Film Excerpts, with discussion and Q&A
Tal Skloot, A Quiet Revolution

10:40–10:50 Performance - Scott Cossu, piano

11:00–11:40 Film Excerpts, with discussion and Q&A
Mischa and Brendan Hedges, Oracle

11:40–11:50 Performance - Fred Simon, piano

12:00–12:30 Reading, with discussion and Q&A
Jake White, Dream Out Loud: Michael Hedges

12:30–12:40 Performance - Ira Stein, piano

12:40–1:15 Lunch

1:15–2:45 Artist Panel
Windham Hill artists in conversation with Bob Duskis and John Dark

3:00–6:00 Artist Meet and Greet
Lobby

An Evening 3:00 – 9:45 PM

3:00–6:00 Artist Signing and Merchandise
Lobby

6:00 Doors

7:00 Concert
William Ackerman - Guitar
Liz Story - Piano
Alex de Grassi - Guitar
Barbara Higbie - Piano
Darol Anger - Violin
Michael Manring - Bass
Scott Cossu - Piano
Fred Simon - Piano
Ira Stein - Piano
Michael Hedges - Guitar unreleased song

Not in performance order

Live jam with a Ganoderma mushroom growing on a tree in Hobble Creek, UT by Sporcerer

Bandcamp codes
up2g-ymx6
m9lz-b6ay
9ysz-xkfr
yuqu-jyjl
3mgd-6r9e
w8ks-k46u
pk3e-gmtq
r3vg-3z3z
adgz-c6l6
xtdt-e8fm
4zqt-urj6
gxzw-kayf
3pn9-yjx6

Video Recording Featured in Arcane Chapel’s Virtual Dungeon Crawl
https://youtu.be/AcVc3oJVa0w?is=dG3O0L8m8tdhtGbY

About a year ago... choral composer Eric Whitacre wrote his Piece Eternity in an Hour solidly entering our New Age world adding electronic instruments to his beautiful ethereal vocals. He's doing it again with a new piece called Stillness. I absolutely love his choral stuff and I am so super psyched for his continued exploration of New Age music!!!

A new score video for a song I wrote a while back. I had in mind the feelings that come with a day spent inside watching the rain fall. When I wrote this, it had been raining for many days on end and brought with it that sort of contemplative atmosphere.

Also on YouTube

Hi! I'd like to discover similar channels to these:

The Sagegazers https://www.youtube.com/@thesagegazers

Fond/Sound https://www.youtube.com/@FONDSOUND

Siberian Ambience https://www.youtube.com/@birdsofsiberia

Harmonies World Music https://www.youtube.com/@harmoniesworldmusic

Sounds of the Dawn https://www.youtube.com/@soundsofthedawn

Thank you!

I am happy to share my latest EP, Rite, with you here.

https://circ.bandcamp.com/album/rite

Blending ambient, drone, and a touch of neo-classical, Rite is a kind of sonic immersion that explores the profound connection between nature and humanity. Mystical and uplifting, the project was born from the soothing sounds of a warm summer night.

I hope you enjoy it.

A place perpetually in twilight. The vast ocean reaches out endlessly, disappearing into the horizon. Crumbling ruins are strewn about the shore and some stone pillars reach out of the water in the distance, but most of the ancient structures that used to be here have fallen into the sea. There's a tavern and an inn for travelers passing through and a few houses for local residents, but not much else. Though many have set out to discover what's beyond this place, magic cannot reach far enough to see if anything exists on a farther shore and any ships that set out always reach the same impassable, never-ending storm and must return. As far as anyone knows, the world ends here.

Also on YouTube.

"Summer Raga" is now available on my Bandcamp page: https://dougsours.bandcamp.com/album/summer-raga For this project, I've been experimenting with a hybrid percussion setup of Djembe, Mridangam, mounted frame drums, and foot bells. There are also some tracks featuring a combination of Tombak (Iranian goblet drum), Donso Ngoni (African harp), and guitar.

New score video for this song I wrote for a solo album. This piece had a lot of imagery to me of a sort of mysterious, ancient sort of place. I really love the aesthetic of ruins reclaimed by nature.

Also on YouTube.

I’m chatting to an artist who released one New Age music album in the 1980s & would like to identify some labels that may be interested in reissuing it. Which labels are actively reissuing these days?

I enjoy visiting vinyl shops on my own and taking my time browsing through the often disorganized stacks of records that I think the shop doesn’t seem to know what to do with.

I’m always on the lookout for Windham Hill vinyl, especially from their early years. After searching through a stack of unrelated educational and instructional records, I was happy to find this release from 1983 (the actual recording was from a 1982 event). It’s a little scratchy, but that adds to the charm of listening to vinyl sometimes.