Presenting ... Dronescape 050 (waag_drs050) by Cousin Silas

It is a bittersweet moment for today marks the release of the 50th and last dronescape from Cousin Silas.

And, as always, it is a fitting addition to his dronescape collection and the weareallghost canon.

But it is the last of the series.

We released the first one in January, 2013 ... and I have been guilty of eeeking them out, trying to make the last ... 049 was released a year ago in February, 2023.

And so, an 11-year series comes to an end ... and I am both delighted and gutted:

Delighted because Cousin Silas took an idea I proposed to him and made happen ... and that idea, to take longform ambient and make it “Silasy”, has been so well received throughout the eleven years that the series has been going. For some, the Dronescapes ARE their viewpoint of Cousin Silas’ music and that delights me because I make no secret of being a huge fan myself.

Gutted because we’ve reached the end of the road with the Dronescape series ... there was only ever going to be fifty.

But what a way to finish the series and what a series that we have been given!

Dronescape 050 is a wonderfully brooding affair ... one that feels like the soundscape to the exploration of a far-off world. It is a track alive with possibility that fills me, as the listener, with anticipation as I take each imagined step.

This is one for the imagination ... it isn’t really a track that can be passively consumed, rather it is to be enjoyed in all its otherworldly glory.

I have said it before and will say it again ... I really do hope you find enjoyment in this piece. This is because I do. From the first listen, I found this piece to be deliciously engaging ... it is one for the headphones and maybe one too many coffees.

Who knows what will come next ... Cousin Silas has hinted of something new in the skunkworks.

I cannot wait for what is to come but, for now, I am content with this and the other forty nine Dronescapes ... and marvel at the 60-plus hours of longform ambient music that Cousin Silas has produced.

Please Note:
weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

Presenting ... Dronescape 049 (waag_drs049) by Cousin Silas

I am delighted to present the 49th dronescape from Cousin Silas ... another fitting addition to his dronescape collection and the weareallghost canon. 

Cousin Silas has been a true constant through the nearly eleven years waag has been in existence and it is always brilliant to receive one of his dronescapes "in the post". I get as excited now as I did back in the day when I received the first in what is a truly mammoth collection of longform audio. 

I have said it before and will say it again ... I really do hope you find solace in this piece. This is because I do. From the first listen, I found this piece to have a calming effect on my mind ... a delightfully harmonic oasis that gives me well needed respite from the busy-ness of my working day. 

Please Note: 
weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

Presenting ... Dronescape 048 (waag_drs048) by Cousin Silas

It's been a while.

So much has happened since the last Dronescape, back in January. WAAG has been on something of a hiatus ... it wasn't anything that was necessarily intended but, looking back, it was certainly something that was needed.

I've been doing this netlabel malarkey for just over 10 years ... and it was time for a break.

I am glad, however, to break this break with the 48th dronescape from Cousin Silas ... a musician whose music remains a constant in my life. It is, like those before it, a worthy addition to Cousin Silas' collection of Dronescapes on waag and a welcome addition to my collection on my iPhone ... a vibrant, glacial piece that speaks of the liminal spaces that can only be found when we stop moving and become still.

I hope you find solace in this piece.

Please Note:
weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

Presenting ... Dronescape 047 (waag_drs047) by Cousin Silas

On the second of January this year, I took an overnight coach from Glasgow to London with my youngest daughter. Miriam had booked to see the Harry Potter Studio Tour on the third of January and was intending on going with friends, not her old dad. But her friends could no longer make it and I, without really thinking about it, said I'd go with her. 

I totally loved it when I got there ... the Tour is fantastic and London is such a vibrant place to be. The coach journey, however, was something else. 

What gave me some comfort as we sped down to London (and then back up overnight from the fourth) was Cousin Silas' Dronescapes. I have a playlist of 039 to 046 on my iPhone, and I listened to them as I drifted in and out of sleep. 

Dronescape 047 (waag_drs047) is a worthy addition to Cousin Silas' collection of Dronescapes on waag and a welcome addition to my collection on my iPhone ... a vibrant, glacial piece that speaks of the liminal spaces found in the cold, quiet dawn and the dark, mysterious dusk. 

I hope you find solace in this piece. 

Please Note: 
weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape. 

Presenting ... Dronescape 046 (waag_drs046) by Cousin Silas

 

It's been over a year since we had the last Dronescape from Cousin Silas ... and in that time he's been very busy expanding his body-of-work over on his Bandcamp page (cousinsilas1.bandcamp.com) as well as with his "...and friends" collaborations here on weareallghosts.

I do love his longform pieces and continue to listen regularly to the Dronescapes he has released here ... as well as the Emporium drone series that he self-publishes. 

Nothing beats a continuous, unbroken stream of music for concentration and flow ... especially when working from home. I find longform audio to be very engaging and Dronescape 046 is no exception: waves of sound ... light, airy and free ... gently envelop the listener and provide a simply timeless place to be. 

Please take some time out to listen to Cousin Silas' latest Dronescape, I doubt you will regret it. I certainly haven't. 

Please Note: 

weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape. 

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release is available over on Archive for free. 

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs046

Presenting ... Dronescape 045 (waag_drs045) by Cousin Silas

 

Earlier in the year, August to be exact, I had the privilege of spending a few days in Fife, Scotland; As we drove to our digs in a farmhouse near Glenrothes, we decided to stop off in the beautiful village of Culross for a picnic lunch. 

The rain that day did not stop but that didn't deter us from exploring the village. We wandered around the cobbled streets and spent some time in the Palace's Gardens, which were kindly opened by the National Trust for Scotland, the custodians of said Palace. 

Afterwards, rather than heading back (we had visited the Palace before) we explored further and ended up in these wonderfully eerie and deathly quiet back lanes: lanes with cobbles that we treacherously slick with rain and green with various forms of intentional and unintentional flora ... lanes where no car could go ... lanes where you felt in another time and place, out of step and just passing through;

It is a wonderful memory that came to me almost immediately when I played the latest Dronescape from Cousin Silas ... a piece that reminds of the peace and quiet of these lanes, so much so that it informed the artwork for the release.

Dronescape 045 is a wonderfully gentle piece: vivid and yet relaxing; it is the perfect soundscape for these anxious times that we are living in ... music to relax with ... music to be enjoyed with headphones and minimal distractions ... the perfect accompaniment for "me time" whether your 71 minutes involves of a sound-bath or a bubble-bath ... or wandering with your camera in the back lanes of a historic village.

Take time out to listen to Cousin Silas' latest Dronescape, I doubt you will regret it. I certainly haven't.

Please Note:

weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape. 

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available in the next couple of days over on Archive (archive.org/details/we-are-all-ghosts) for free. 

- Thomas

Archive

Presenting ... Dronescape 044 (waag_drs044) by Cousin Silas

From the magical to the mysterious, it amazes me how Dronescape 043 can be so magical and then the next longform piece in the Dronescape series - "Dronescape 044" from Cousin Silas - can be so eerie, weird and mysterious.

When first I listened to this piece I was immediately taken with its vastness and sense of scale... it made me think of walking in the cyclopian city on the Antarctic plateau that was visited by Professor William Dyer in Lovecraft's seminal tale, "At the Mountains of Madness".

The piece has a breathless, otherworldly nature ... it features a constant drone that is interspersed with weird "moments" that shock the senses and bring a sense of the present to the listener.

This is a piece best listened to at night ... with headphones ... and no distractions ... it will inspire the darkest of dreams.

It is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release is over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs044

Presenting ... Dronescape 043 (waag_drs043) by Cousin Silas

What makes a Christmas song or film? Is it some explicit? Is it bells ... like the bells in "All I want for Christmas?" Or is it the subject matter ... like the lyrics to "O Holy Night"? Yes and yes ... but there is also something more, something implicit, something you attach to a piece of music or to a film you watch ... "Die Hard" isn't an explicitly Christmas movie ... but it is definitely part of so many people's traditions at Christmas that it is fundamental viewing in the Advent season, mine included.

There is something magical about Cousin Silas' latest dronescape that makes me think of Christmas and I'm not entirely sure I can explain it. There is an expansive quality about the piece: an openness and a lightness that makes me think of walking in freshly fallen snow, basking in that special morning light that we only see when the sun gently reflects on the white powder ...  there is a quietness to this moment too, a peaceful muffled stillness ... just the crunch of your feet as you slowly walk along. And yet, for all the quietness, there is a sense of grandeur too ... a sense of the awesome that I find intoxicating.

For me Dronescape 043 will be remembered as Cousin Silas' "Christmas" drone, implicit as it is, and I am so grateful for it ... for, as always, it arrives exactly when it is needed. I hope you will treasure this longform piece as much as I will.

It is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available in the next couple of days over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs043

Presenting ... Dronescape 042 (waag_drs042) by Cousin Silas

I've found myself fascinated with sleep lately, trying as I might to catch a meaningful and solid seven hours. I'm nearly there with my average over the last 28 days coming in a 6 hours and 55 minutes.

There has been a lot of emphasis on sleep, in music terms, recently too ... Max Richter's epic "Sleep" album, Hammock's "Songs for sleep" playlist on Spotify, and Sigur Ros presents Liminal Sleep ... are all music that I have listened to and gleefully consumed. I would, however, add Cousin Silas' dronescapes to this list ... especially his latest edition: Dronescape 042.

Cousin Silas' forty-second dronescape is a wonderfully relaxing affair with long, sweeping chords and an unhurried, calm countenance.

Whether you listen to this dronescape with the express purpose of catching some zzz's or not is up-to-you ... but I do know that this delightful longform piece will be something you comeback to in the days and weeks to come.

It is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.



That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release is available over on Archive for free.

Presenting ... Dronescape 040 (waag_drs040) by Cousin Silas

It has been a while since dronescape 039 ... nearly six months, in fact, and in that time Cousin Silas has released a couple of longform pieces inspired by the Berlin School of electronic music. He's also released the final selection of music created by him, in partnership with Tim Jones and Kevin Lyons; and he's began to rerelease his legendary TWANG! series. He's also been rather prolific on other netlabels, for example with two collections of "Short Stories" on the fab Studio 4632.

But for all that, the dronescapes are what folks ask for.

Just this morning I was lying in bed, listening to 039, as the early light got brighter. There is something truly magical about drifting off with a dronescape in your ears ... that special uninterrupted space where time gets all wibbly-wobbly and your brain can truly switch off.

Dronescape 040 is more of the same, in this regard. It is consistent with the longform pieces that have come before it and fits nicely into the canon. It provides that special space and gives the listener seventy minutes in which they can focus and go with the flow, or unfocus and let go of the flow, depending on their preference. It truly is a magical space and, as before, I really do hope you enjoy this dronescape as much as have and will.

It is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we do, we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available in the next couple of days over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs040

Presenting ... Dronescape 039 (waag_drs039) by Cousin Silas

It has been a while since dronescape 038 and in that time waag has released a number of different flavours of our favourite Cousin's ambient music: remixed, one-take guitar-orientated, dub, progressive, and atmospheric; and whilst I love all that he releases, I do have a soft spot for his dronescapes.

There is something about Cousin Silas' longform ambient music that sucks me in and envelops me like a warm Pendleton blanket, comforting me and relaxing me, stilling my busy head and helping me to concentrate; it's hard to describe how much I benefit from these pieces suffice to say they are a delight to me.

Dronescape 039 follows in the tradition Cousin Silas has created: it is a wonderfully atmospheric piece with various textures of sound that interact with each other in the most fascinating of ways ... the tinkle of a piano or the flourish of a synth arrive exactly when they should, breaking up the drone and keeping my interest piqued. I wait, with mounting anticipation, for the next wee moment of brilliance.

And brilliance it is ... this isn't just a longform drone but a piece of the most fascinating ambient expressionism, a piece to be delighted in rather than endured, a piece that will stay with you for a long time to come.

I really do hope you enjoy this dronescape as much as have and will ... here's to the next one!

As before, it is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available in the next couple of days over on Archive (archive.org/details/we-are-all-ghosts) for free.

- Thomas

Presenting ... Dronescape 038 (waag_drs038) by Cousin Silas

Cousin Silas shows no signs of flagging as we reach his thirty-eighth ... he takes his signature longform drone sound and creates another deep, drifting soundscape with all the added flourishes that we have grown accustomed to: the waves of guitar  juxtaposed with the choral synth, the apparently random notes on the keyboard that always appear at just the right time, the flashes of brilliance that keep you coming back for more;

I can't get enough of these soundscapes: I find them both relaxing and invaluable when I want to find my flow ... and turn to them everyday. They provide me comfort, something familiar I can hold onto when every thing around me appears to be frantic and chaotic.

I really do hope you enjoy this dronescape as much as have and will ... here's to the next one!

As before, it is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available in the next couple of days over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs038

Presenting ... Dronescape 037 by Cousin Silas

I always love it when the next dronescape arrives and I can dig deep ... I've been really busy with a new project in my day job and have thoroughly enjoyed diving into the detail with Cousin Silas' 37th longform dronescape to keep my company.

Simply put: it is a delight ... sonic healing for a heavy heart and a congested mind, aural balm for the times we can't quite focus;

Recently the Guardian did an article on ambient music ... in it they described one particular artist as "ambient for the flat white generation". It is purely coincidental that this cover for this dronescape features a flat white coffee, from a fab wee place in Glasgow, Scotland; I designed the cover a day before the article was published.

However, for me there is something there ... for I love my flat whites and I love ambient music ... I savour them both. I really hope you find this dronescape to be particularly palatable!

As before, it is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs037

Presenting ... Dronescape 036 (waag_drs036) by Cousin Silas

Not everyone can write longform music. It's not just a case of repeating a phrase and stretching it out for over an hour to create your drone; you have to make it interesting, and engaging ... it has to grab the listener's attention and keep it ... and it has to, dare I say, entertaining!
To make that kind of music take time and it takes talent ... and, most of all, it takes patience.

I am so glad Cousin Silas has all three!

weareallghosts are proud to present the thirty-sixth dronescape from Cousin Silas, a wonderfully imaginative seventy minute opus  that ticks all the boxes.

I regularly listen to Silas' dronescapes when I'm looking for some me time ... he's never let me down. Whether I need to zone out at work or want some peace and quiet at home or on the train to/from Glasgow ... Silas' dronescapes are a go-to choice. Dronescape 036 is a worthy addition to this rather extensive collection of longform music.

As before, it is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality then we need to levy a small charge for some of our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to pay then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free.

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs036

Presenting ... Dronescape 035 (waag_drs035) by Cousin Silas

As we move into 2017 I would like to give you a taste of things to come from weareallghosts … coming up over the next few days we’ll have a remix album from Cousin Silas, an expressive release from Matthew VandenBrook, a retrospective of the musician Chris Newman aka Delicate Apparatus, and a rereleased album from Coloured Lines. We also have this, the 35th dronescape from Cousin Silas.

Cousin Silas has promised 50 dronescapes and 2017 will see us get closer to that goal … a bittersweet goal, if truth be told, because I love his longform work and am proud to provide a home for the dronescape series.

As for the 35th dronescape, it is an utter delight … words do not do its 75 minutes justice … so I’m going to stop and ask you to have a listen. Today is New Year’s Eve (or Hogmanay in Scotland) and it is a busy time. This dronescape provides respite from this busyness … it gives you, the listener, some well earned time out. Take it and make of it what you will, what you need, and may your 2017 be awesome.

As before, it is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs035

Presenting ... Dronescape 034 (waag_drs034) by Cousin Silas

Cousin Silas’ 34th dronescape is another exceptional longform ambient soundscape. At 1 second under 73 minutes, it is an epic piece of ambience … one the draws you in and encourages to take a trip of profound personal discovery. Where it will take you, I don’t know … but it takes me to a place where I am truly present, providing me with focus for the here and now, helping me find my flow.

Dronescape 034 drowns out the distractions of a very busy, demanding world … and let’s me just be in the moment, whether it is as an accompaniment for a book or as a background to work; it also works very well on its own as a focal piece or as an aide to relaxation, softly lulling me to a restful state.

I can’t get enough of this and the other dronescapes in Cousin Silas’ body of work here at weareallghosts … and I commend 34 to you, it really is something beautiful indeed.

As before, it is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs034

Presenting ... "Dronescape 033 (waag_drs033)" by Cousin Silas

It has been a wee while since we had a dronescape from Cousin Silas, partly because he’s been so busy releasing collaborations and albums on other netlabels.

I’ve spoken before about my excitement when I get a dropbox link sent to me … I guess I’m as big a fan as anyone of Dave’s work and still get the feels when I hear a new dronescape from him.

Dronescape 033 is an absolute delight: it is the kind of music you want to hear of an lazy Sunday afternoon or a warm bubblebath, music that lets you switch off and drift away to wherever it is you drift off to. It is wonderfully unhurried, deep and engaging, you cannot fail to relax when this is on. It certainly works for me.

It is important to note that weareallghosts is funded through the money we receive for albums and dronescapes such as this. For us to realistically continue to put out this level of quality in the quantity that we need to levy a small charge for our releases. Please help out by buying the dronescape.

That said, if you aren’t able to then please note a 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free.

- Thomas

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs033

Presenting ... "Micro Dronescapes Vol 1" by Cousin Silas

A number of people have taken Cousin Silas’ Dronescapes series to their heart, myself included. I find them utterly fascinating and eagerly await each instalment like a child on Christmas Eve. This month, rather than release another dronescape in all its longform ambient glory, Cousin Silas has decided to put out 6 shorter pieces that all sit comfortably within the 11 to 13 minute range. These pieces are an utter delight: they are long enough to easily convey their respective ideas but not long enough to become repetitive … they are just right in a way Goldilocks would approve, if longform ambient soundscapes were her thing.

I am uplifted by the music presented, uplifted and refreshed in the way only music can and does. I hope you can connect to the music as I have.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. If you decide to download this album here for free, and you can with our best wishes, then all we ask is that you please tell people about it.

Tx



https://archive.org/details/waag_rel086

Presenting ... Dronescape 032 by Cousin Silas

Cousin Silas’ thirty-second dronescape is dedicated to the memory of Dame Zaha Hadid, the exceptional British architect who died recently. According to Wikipedia, Hadid liberated architectural geometry with the creation of highly expressive, sweeping fluid forms of multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry that evoke the chaos and flux of modern life.

I marvel at Hadid’s creations, especially the Riverside Museum in Glasgow (pictured on the album cover) … she was a true visionary.

Dronescape 032 encapsulates the same kind of vision, for me … expressive, fluid sound with sweeping elegant movement … a piece that presents multiple perspective points to aid access.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. If you decide to download this album here for free, and you can with our best wishes, then all we ask is that you please tell people about it.

Tx



https://archive.org/details/waag_drs032

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Presenting ... Cousin Silas' thirty-first dronescape

I am a huge fan of Cousin Silas’ dronescape series and get rather excited when I receive a link to the latest edition … I am genuinely surprised that we are now on the thirty-first edition AND the soundscapes presented seem to be getting better and better.

The thirty-first dronescape from Cousin Silas has me in space. It is a wet Saturday in Scotland, the 13th February to be exact … I am sitting in my living room looking out to rainy sleet and a greyish sky … and Cousin Silas has me in space, drifting peacefully with no real idea which way up is. Pure, unadulterated escapism!

That’s what I want from a dronescape: an escape. This escape may enable me to concentrate and find my flow … or it may allow me to chill out for 70 minutes … regardless of my personal reasoning, I’m looking to escape and Cousin Silas delivers with Dronescape 031 (as he has with the other thirty).

I hope you find your escape.

A 320kbps version of this release will be available over on Archive for free with a lossless version available on Bandcamp for ‘pay what you want’ which does include ‘free’. If you decide to download this album here for free, and you can with our best wishes, then all we ask is that you please tell people about it.

Tx

https://archive.org/details/waag_drs031