Cole Pulice

It's that time of year when i start posting about all the music i missed or neglected from earlier this year.  It's one of the best parts about reading all these year-end favorites lists.  I always find something awesome i didn't hear the first time around.  Anyway, here's some what can only be described as ambient jazz from Oakland artist Cole Pulice from his "Land's End Eternal" LP that dropped all the way back in May.  Dig on the lush and soothing pastoral dreamscape of "After the Rain" below and get the album here from Leaving Records.

Luke Schneider

Nashville-based pedal steel guitarist Luke Schneider paints sonic vistas with his particular brand of ambient Americana, like staring into the wilderness or watching the mountains meet the night sky.  New album "For Dancing in Quiet Light" is out later this month on Leaving Records.  Pre-order it here and listen to the cosmic and meditative title track below.

Black Taffy

Dallas artist Black Taffy has been making weird music for a few years now, always interesting and worth checking out, and new album "Out Moon" might be his magnum opus.  Album opener "Pendulum Swing" is the sound of watching an old black and white movie's musical and dance sequence while time slows and you fall into it yourself.  The rest of the album follows suit with old classical samples, subdued beats, and warbled tape hiss, a dark, surreal, and ethereal world.  Check it out below and pre-order the LP here from Leaving Records.

Sam Gendel

LA experimental composer and saxophonist Sam Gendel has had a pretty big year, featuring a slew of different albums consisting of a brilliant collaboration, a record of previously unreleased material, and a live album.  And now we've got another new release with the crawling, noir-ish "blueblue."  Check out "Tate-Waku (Rising Steam)" below and order the LP here from Leaving Records.

William Tyler and Luke Schneider

William Tyler and Luke Schneider are both artists who often find themselves using their talents to craft a kind of ambient Americana, folk melodies and steel guitars for floating in space.  The duo just released a collaborative album, "Understand," and it's a hypnotic trip.  Check out "The Witness Tree" below and get the cassette here from Leaving Records.

Green-House

Nothing can soothe the nerves quite like new age music meant for plants.  It's true.  Check out "Six Songs for Invisible Gardens," the latest album from LA artist Green-House for confirmation.  Get zen with "Soft Meadow" below and grab the cassette here from Leaving Records.

Ami Dang

I had to leave the house earlier than normal today because the store opened two hours early for some kind of sale.  And hours before that, our 3-year old climbed into bed with us, to which i've pretty much been awake ever since.  And i really stayed up a little too late last night watching episodes of "The Boys" on Prime.  So i'm just kind of floating around in a sleepy haze state this morning, my mood being accentuated by the ambient psychedelia of Baltimore artist Ami Dang's latest album "Parted Plains."  Combining sitar with electronic elements, the whole project feels part world travel and part new age meditation, a pretty perfect combination for my brain this Saturday morning.  Check out "Auberjinn" below and get the album here from Leaving Records.

Ana Roxanne

At home with one sick child and another one who's wild and crazy and trying to find a happy balance between the two.  It's not working.  So, here's some meditative and minimalist music from LA artist Ana Roxanne, her new album "~​~​~" being a mix of sparse electronics, haunting, beautiful vocals, and a kind of new age, devotional spiritualism.  Listen to the "Nocturne" below and get the cassette or download here via Leaving Records.

Swan's Chamber

Georgia multi-instrumentalist Taylor Ross, has a new project coming out in March entitled Swan's Chamber.  Combining elements of folk, jazz, and classical music, the record comes off as a kind of neo-classical parlor album.  Listen to "Swan Three (Swan Wept)" below and pre-order the self-titled album here from Leaving Records.

Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes

I only just discovered the experimental electronic jazz of saxophonist Sam Gendel a couple of weeks ago, and now the artist has another new album out, this time around as a collaboration with like minded musician Sam Wilkes.  The duo crafted the unassuming and bubbling "Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar," a slowburn of improvisation using the aforementioned sax and bass as well as some electronic ambience and tones.  Listen to album opener "BOA" below and snag the cassette here from Leaving Records.

Cool Maritime

Cool Maritime is the experimental electronic project of Sean Hellfritsch, an LA composer/musician who also happens to be the spouse of fellow synth explorer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.  "Sharing Waves" has a kind of back to nature vibe going for it, analog synthesizers, sequencers, and modulators creating a soundtrack to the natural world.  Listen to "Climbing Up" below and get the album next month here from Leaving Records.

Sam Gendel

Keeping with the experimental saxophone trend of my listening habits today, earlier this year LA artist Sam Gendel released "Pass If Music," a collection of warped, strained, and strange songs created entirely out of sounds made by his sax.  "East LA Haze Dream" sounds just like what the title suggests, an airy, neon noir score for dark and surreal nights, a thick layer of sound hanging in the atmosphere.  Listen below and get the album here from Leaving Records.

Eola

I've been digging on the new record from Tonstartssbandht the last couple of weeks, having been a fan of their 2011 release "Now I am Become."  When digging into the band's back catalog, i had no idea they that they had so many releases (7 alone in between the 2 albums i have).  I also came across the side project of Edwin Mathis White called Eola, a kind of gospel-infused a capella record that sounds like a cult of Appalachian folk singers found a hidden trove of samplers and tape loops.  Listen to "How Far am I From Canaan?" below and get a copy of last year's "Dang" LP from Leaving Records.

Odd Nosdam remixed by Boards of Canada

Experimental hip-hop/electronic/ambient artist Odd Nosdam's new record "Sisters" hasn't even come out yet (get it Friday from Leaving Records), and its title track is already getting the remix treatment from Boards of Canada.  It's gorgeous.  Listen below.