In today's blog post, I have a special guest in Adrian Newton who has selected five personal highlights from the Whitelabrecs discography. Adrian has recently set up a new label called Evergreen, offering upcycled tapes and hand-printed artwork. I got to know Adrian after he'd visited the Contemporary Ambient Research Symposium in November '24, meeting Driftworks label founder Andrew Heath and event organiser James Edward Armstrong, who happens to be my mastering engineer of choice for many years. I wasn't at the event, but not long after, Adrian bought the whole label discography! He was part of the initial launch of our community, Inner Echo and is very much an active, supportive member. He kindly offered to write this blog post, summarising some his favourites from the Whitelabrecs catalog...

"With an astounding 265 releases - and counting - Whitelabrecs has developed one of the most extensive catalogues in contemporary ambient music. This plenitude creates its own kind of problem, though - where to start when exploring this cornucopia of musical riches? After all, if you rationed yourself to an album a day, it would take you more than nine months to listen to the whole lot. So here’s a shortlist of five personal favourites, to help get you started." Adrian Newton

David Cordero
Restless Nature

David is one of the most consistently wonderful ambient producers currently active, so no-one will be surprised to see him included here. His contribution to Whitelabrecs, dating from 2024, is a perfect illustration of why his music is so widely admired. It’s both expansive and immersive, providing a rich overall soundscape with plenty of intricate detail. Two of the track titles refer to serenity, so this should give you an idea of the general vibe. Leisurely guitar phrases meander over thick layers of synth pads, with occasional Eno-esque piano thrown in. The production and arrangement are immaculate throughout. It’s like staring into a deep pool of ambient goodness, which is gently swirling around, without actually going anywhere. Perfect. He’s recently started a tape label called Noray Records, so check it out if you’d like to explore his music further.

Jens Pauly
Below

One of those Ambient records for lovers of hiss and fuzz. Percussive found objects, piano and other string sounds weave gentle patterns over layers of synth pads and guitar textures. I loved the droney elements and the slightly gritty feel, together with the great use of bass. The music’s also highly melodic, even if the melodies are often buried, blurred or otherwise obscured. Somehow it all blends together perfectly. The sleeve notes refer to ‘emotional undergrowth’, which nailed it for me - there’s more here than initially meets the ear.

Logic Moon
I See Planets

Lush, this one. Deeply resonant electronic textures provide the foundation for all of the tracks, grounding the album in shimmering bass. Melodic fragments of piano and guitar interact with tiny granular sounds skittering in the background. Just delicious. Careful attention has clearly been given to both dynamics and structure, creating an almost orchestral or cinematic feel in places. So this isn’t an album that ever sits still. There are plenty of sci-fi references in the track titles, and the overall concept is something to do with retro-futurism. But this is far from conventional space music. It would, however, make a great soundtrack to a night spent under the stars.

Luis Miehlich
Re-Cartographies

My choice was a toss-up between this album from 2024, or a previous contribution to the label from the same artist, named ‘Timecuts’ - either could have made the shortlist. This is more neo-classical in flavour than my other selections, featuring as it does a set of compositions performed on piano and string ensemble, with occasional woodwinds. There are some more textural elements present as well as field recordings, use of which is both restrained and highly effective. The result is surprisingly varied and highly inventive, while often exploring territory that is rather sparse, even austere. I love the way the album moves between different approaches to creating ambient music, employing as it does both acoustic instrumentation and electronic processing. According to the sleevenotes, it’s an album that is supposed to be enjoyed while dozing off to sleep, but I found it far too engaging for that.

Samsuo
The Other Gold Side

This is such a beautiful album - so delicate and fragile. It’s firmly grounded in the ambient tradition that employs looping approaches with a guitar to create immersive drones, so it’s quite repetitive in places. But what’s wrong with that, when the loops are this good? Lots of lovely hiss as well, coupled with oodles of echoey reverb. Of course there’s no shortage of artists using these approaches in their work, so there’s a risk that this could sound clichéd, but when it’s so beautifully done, I couldn’t care less. This is just how I like my ambient served - warm, murky and timeless.

Honourable Mentions

I’m going to cheat here, ignoring the ‘top five’ brief, by recommending a few other highlights from the label. One of the aspects of Whitelabrecs that I especially like is how international the roster of artists is, with contributions from all over the world. Having spent a fair bit of time working and travelling in Latin America, it’s a particular delight to see so many artists featured from that part of the world. For example there are contributions from Uruguay (Caminauta), Mexico (Jose Soberanes), Argentina (Mi Cosa de Resistance), and Venezuela (Jose Silva). All are worth checking out, but ‘Modulated Tones no. 1’ by Jose Silva is probably my pick of this bunch, if only because of its expansive cinematic approach.

Other albums that nearly made the shortlist were: David Kohlne - Granular canvas (worth checking out for the thunderous bass alone), Steve Pacheco - The 4th (immaculate gentle textures) and Tapes and Topographies - Amplitudes (dreamy loops from abyssal depths) - all wonderful albums fully deserving your attention.

Adrian has a record label of his own called Evergreen, offering environmentally friendly small runs of upcycled tapes. You can check it out HERE!