Solar Fields – Extended

His best, easily. Also, Ultimae's best. Oh my goodness, what a deep journey. His other albums are so insanely well made and gorgeous of course but this is something different. Matches CBL's heartwarming, brooding, and melancholic feel with an added dimension of engineering. The other Solar Fields albums are less "ambient" than this. Even in beatless portions the elements in albums like Blue Moon, Leaving Home, Movements move quite actively, but here the ambience just hangs and sucks you in but is no less engaging. The price of these Ultimae albums is ridiculous since they are so demanded by collectors but if there is no other Solar Fields album to collect, get this one.

Anyone else's copy have warps on both disks? Just bought a brand new sealed copy and both vinyls are warped. Doesn't effect the sound.

Great pressing, really nice sound. I kinda expected some kind of pops and background noise but luckily sound on both vinyls is superb.

I'm a big fan of ambient music and this album is one of the best out there. Thank you very much Magnus. Fantastic work.

A beautiful, rich and dynamic space music album, seething with originality. It is peaceful and haunting with melancholy and speckled with the ASMR of cosmic rays and lost broadcasts. Like the cosmos at the first glance, it is peaceful, yet wild.
Favorite track: the whole album is my favorite track, but the 'Combinations' stands out in length and mysterious noises and the voice sample is just charming, you'll know what I mean :) Originally I could not decide if this is a meditation album or not. I think not, there is too much going on, even some fairly strong drums sometimes. Yet it is the most interesting soothing thing I have ever heard. It can turn your free time into an otherworldly experience.

For someone like me who is more into the spacey/droney/dark type of ambient, this is BY FAR the best Solar Fields album. I like the craft and skill that went into the other albums, but compared to "Extended", previous albums are somewhat harmless chill-out/psy-chill stuff. It's not "dark" ambient by any means, nor creepy or scary. Simply beautiful music with depth. Highly recommended.

This is an abstract, spacey album. It's full of light, airy, ethereal, and wistful sounds, often changing and difficult to grasp hold of. As they swirl around, moments of stronger intensity and clarity phase in and out. It's a treasure and one of Solar Fields' best, although it's not his most easily digestible. A beautiful, if enigmatic album.

If you're like Vert1 and you think you already know everything about music and expect it to conform to your expectations for it to be "good", then you might not like this depending on what your expectations are. Vert1 is used to techno and rap so he probably likes highly repetitive music that he can easily follow along with. In that case, it's not surprising that he lacks an ear for the subtleties of abstract ambient. On the positive side, he does seem to be interested in exploring different types of music, so there's a good chance that he'll acquire the taste for this, too, at some point.

The most overrated CD on Discogs I've purchased. Sample it or buy the mp3s before plunking down your cash on it. Massive letdown. Artist injects scary elements into tracks towards the middle of the album, which is lame. Got fairly embarrassing having this on after track 3 at work. There are 2 tracks I'd keep.

Get H.U.V.A. Network - Distances (off the same label) instead.

Edit for 2017: Get Solar Fields' Mirror's Edge score instead.

Unbelievable. Solar Fields's luminous atmospheres and soft melancholy are akin to the soul's longing for it's return home. Beautiful soundscapes and textures give way to an inward journey of joy that's hard to leave. Magnus is a master of his craft. I recommend all tracks to everyone.

[ Or how to destroy a great MIXED album ]

I don't know for how long the digital release of Extended has been released on Bandcamp web site, but after I purchased it last week, I was shocked to find out that tracks fade in and out in a linear manner (5-15 seconds fade-in at beginning, 10-15 seconds fade-out at end). I suppose Ultimae decided to create a set of individually able tracks, which could have been a good idea with any live pop/rock album containing different songs, but for God's sake! not with this Ambient album... :( -- The fades completely break the atmospheric flow of the music.

To crown it all, the guy that performed the fades might have changed is mind after 3 tracks (?). Starting from track 4, fades-in are missing. IOW, tracks 4,5,6 and 7 all start at full volume while still fade-out at the end. Is that a joke? Hmmm.

I could have enjoyed this album if it was not (badly) altered, but in its current state it's just not pleasant to listen. - I guess I got some editing to do with my favorite sound editor.