Marconi Union turns “13”, travels to “Tokyo”

One of my favorite ambient outfits in recent years has been the Manchester duo Richard Talbot and Jamie Crossley, better known as Marconi Union. Their music — a beautiful blend of electronic atmospheres and acoustic instrumentation (e.g., guitars, saxophones) — is perfect for nocturnal listening, whether you’re driving around the city at 2am or staring at your computer in the wee hours of the morning. As such, I’m excited to learn that they have two new releases out this month.

Over the past year, the band has been offering free downloads on their website. Their latest release, 13, compiles all of these downloads into a single album that is available for the low price of £1.99 (or approximately $3.30 at current exchange rates).

On July 27, Marconi Union will be releasing their next full-length via Germany’s BineMusic label. Entitled Tokyo, the album isn’t so much inspired by visits to the city, but rather, by the visions of Tokyo conjured up by pop culture. Here’s the band’s statement:

We wanted to produce an album that had a hi-tech ambience, the combination of this sound with our ongoing fascination in city life, conjured up images of the Tokyo we had seen in films, books and TV. This record isn’t about creating “authentic” Japanese music, or faithfully documenting the actual city which neither of us have visited. It is just us trying to capture a sense of our imaginary Tokyo.

More info, including sound clips and artwork, can be found here.

Thanks to Andrew for the 411.