Thomas Köner - Daikan (2022)

Thomas Köner's eighth dark ambient tome was originally released in 2002, and now comes bundled with an exclusive bonus track. It sounds better than ever - perfect gear for the winter months.

Sporting a title that means "coldest" in Japanese, 'Daikan' is almost an hour long and as usual for Thomas Köner, plumbs the depths of what might be best understood as dark ambient. But Köner's always been more than a label; his music's so subtle and measured that it straddles the line between ambient and electro-acoustic, creating an atmosphere that's filled with dread, but never corny. Like his legendary trilogy of albums - "Nunatak", "Tiemo", "Permafrost" - 'Daikan' sounds as if it's been made with gongs recorded at the bottom of the ocean, with resonant tones that rumble as if they're emanating from a long time ago in our silurian history. There's a Lovecraftian intensity to this one in particular that would send shivers down the spine if it wasn't so well engineered - if anything, the bass tones lift 'Daikan' into another territory altogether, and serve as a gentle precursor for later material from artists like Lawrence English and Ben Frost.

Bonus track 'Banlieue Du Vide' comes from a video installation Köner presented in 2013 at Paris's Musée national d'art moderne. And while it's not as weighty or grim as 'Daikan' (it's got more in common with 2009's "La Barça"), the track's fusion of iced winds and pitch-black tones evokes a similar ancient, impressive tundra.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Thomas Köner - Daikan (54:08)
1.02 - Thomas Köner - Banlieue du Vide (Bonus) (12:03)