“No man’s land”, a term usually reserved for unhabitable places, does not make this cover art justice. In reality, the Zhangjiajie National park is one of the most exciting attractions in all of China. The pillar-like rock formations have this very unique look and inspired the movie Avatar. I had this image by Joshua Sortino as my desktop background for a long time now and decided to dedicate Planetarium’s final (regular) episode of 2018 to it.
Niemandsland encompasses a wide range of styles of ambient music, but the two complementary opening tracks by Loscil, Aaron Martin, Dag Rosenqvist and the amazing acoustic guitar by Seabuckthorn on both set the tone really well. Later in the set, bold and full tracks by offthesky, vau, Yui Onodera, AngusMacRae and InsaDonjaKai are supported by the calmer sounds courtesy of Chihei Hatakeyama, Cheekbone, Anthéne, William Basinki and Lawrence English. As the penultimate track, I chose quite a rhythmic track for a change of pace in the archives of Planetarium.

Niemandsland (P104)
01 From the Mouth of the Sun & Seabuckthorn – Lesser Still [Lost Tribe] {00:00}
02 Loscil & Seabuckthorn – The River Cold and Primal [Thesis] {04:07}
03 Deru – The Overview Effect [Friends of Friends] {08:29}
04 Carl Craig feat. Francesco Tristano, LES SIECLES & François-Xavier Roth – Sandstorms (Siavash Amini Remix) [InFiné] {12:32}
05 William Basinski + Lawrence English – Selva Oscura [Temporary Residence] {18:44}
06 Anthéne – Hours [Home Normal] {30:30}
07 offthesky – Reliquum [Hidden Vibes] {33:20}
08 James Osland – I Had That Tendency Towards Solitude [Rusted Tone] {38:02}
09 Max Würden feat. Luis Reichard – Zweitens [Kompakt] {40:57}
10 Cheekbone – Hidden Dancefloor [Muzan] {46:57}
11 Mordançage – Floods Returning [Facture] {53:50}
12 ILUITEQ – A Prayer for the Departed [TXT] {58:05}
13 Vau – Solace [whitelab] {1:03:21}
14 Olan Mill – G [Unknown Tone] {1:09:27}
15 Soular Order – Alysm [City By Night] {1:11:24}
16 Angus MacRae & InsaDonjaKai – Afar [Thesis] {1:15:22}
17 Chihei Hatakeyama – Calm Sea [White Paddy Mountain] {1:18:57}
18 Olan Mill – Week 14 [Shimmering Moods] {1:27:38}
19 Yui Onodera – Cromo 3 [Kompakt] {1:31:58}
20 Jason Barty – The World Is at Rest [Wind Pictures] {1:34:46}

Image by : http://unsplash.com/@sortino

Planetarium Mixes Catalogue ID: p219