Product Description
2. Interlude – Hope for Early Microbial Forms USHK92224303
3. In the Outer Reaches (Remaster 2024)
4. The Barometric Sea (Remaster 2024)
5. The Great Sea Of Brachychiton (Remaster 2024)
6. HyperdriveEngage USHK92429101
7. Arctic Sun and Weather Experiment (Remaster 2024)
8. The Blue Dunes (single edit) USHK92225407
9. Primordial Oceans (Remaster 2024)
10. Halcyon Flowering Seas (Remaster 2024)
11. You are Here (with Telomere) (Remaster 2024)
12. Opening Your Eyes (Remaster 2024)
13. Introduction – The Chord of the Abyss (Remaster 2024)
14. St Valentine’s Dream (Remaster 2024)
15. Slow Moving Lifeforms 2 (Remaster 2024)
Chain DLK: "deepspace’s genius lies in his ability to merge the organic with the synthetic…And yet, there’s a wryness to deepspace’s work, a knowing wink that suggests he’s fully aware of the paradoxes he’s creating — music that’s both expansive and intimate, dense yet accessible."
Vertical Landscapes — Retrospective is a 91-minute collection of ambient electronic tracks from starfaring Australian artist deepspace. Including pieces from each of his 15 albums, both independent and released by Projekt Records, it’s hypnagogic space music carefully crafted to evoke a sense of wonder and exploration, perfect for relaxation, getting inspired, or just zoning out. With dream-like soundscapes and ethereal melodies, tracks are collected from the first album, The Barometric Sea in 2007, all the way to his most recent Projekt offering, The Black Orchid Galaxies in 2024. This phenomenal anthology displays the distinct harmonic language and unique explorations of the deepspace sound.
The diverse offerings travel from the quantum atomic level through microscopic botany, surreal landscapes and varied habitats and biomes, all the way to space exploration and vast interstellar structures. Nothing is too small or too large to ponder whether lucid or exploring the dimensions of dreams. All the markers of deepspace are here: breath-like washes of sound disappear and merge into the next and then unnoticeably transform into unexpected interludes. Impressionistic slow-motion dervishes, languid melodies obscured by sounds like mist, and details hidden in layers that beg further exploration — these are some of the deepspace trademarks within this 15-track retrospective.
Artist Bio:
deepspace is Brisbane, Australia-based ambient artist Mirko Ruckels. His hypnotic, glacial, dreamy and atmospheric work is created with synthesizers, software and acoustic instruments such as bells, guitars and piano. A love of drones and ambient sound led to a wondrous moment in 2006 when he began creating atmospheric environments that evoke liminal moods and spaces.
Recent press:
Exposé: “There is stillness, sonic acceleration, powerful meteor showers, deep bends and twists in the space-time continuum and more as the protagonists find their way through an endless world of ambient translucence and the far reaches of shimmering colorful worlds.”
Foxy Digitalis Magazine: “Deepspace crafts meticulous soundscapes to spark our imaginations, to immerse us within beautiful, dream-like landscapes.”
Bert Strolenberg, Sonic Immersion: “An ocean of ambient bliss”
Sean Williams, theAdelaidean: “Deepspace’s genius is evident in every perfectly chosen note, every delicately passing phrase, every unfolding chord that, combined, leads the listener irresistibly deeper into an embrace of warm and always surprising delight. Whether you’re listening to meditate or to enhance your being, you’ll find much to explore in this extraordinary new work. Its depth and breadth proves that deepspace has not reached the end of his sonic journeys – he is, if anything, just getting us started.”
Phil Derby, Electroambient Space: “Mirko’s mastery of the genre is on full display here.”
Exposé: “…gentle floating ambient electronics that coats the listeners’ spirit with subtle power and grace.”
Reviews Editor –
From Chain DLK
In a world where ambient music often competes to see who can stretch a single drone the longest, deepspace — otherwise known as Mirko Ruckels — has emerged as a kind of cosmic cartographer, charting the vast terrains of the mind and cosmos with his trademark precision and emotional depth. His latest release, Vertical Landscapes — Retrospective, is not just a collection of tracks; it’s a sprawling anthology that serves as both a testament to his past work and a beacon for future explorations.
Let’s get one thing clear: Ruckels isn’t just another ambient musician content with letting his synthesizers hum along like some overpriced white noise machine. No, he’s more akin to an aural alchemist, meticulously crafting soundscapes that demand your attention — not in a flashy, “look at me” way, but more like a serene whisper that you can’t quite ignore. It’s ironic, really, that music so seemingly intent on evoking stillness and peace can be so emotionally compelling.
The retrospective starts with “Bluespace”, a remastered track from the early days of his career. It’s an appropriate choice, a deep dive into the abyss of sound, where every note feels as if it’s been dipped in liquid velvet before being allowed to ripple outward. It’s the kind of music that evokes space — not the hostile, vacuum-filled expanse we know scientifically — but a more mystical, almost mythical dimension where dreams and reality blur.
And speaking of blurring lines, deepspace’s genius lies in his ability to merge the organic with the synthetic. Tracks like “The Barometric Sea” and “The Great Sea Of Brachychiton” make you wonder if he’s got a secret lair deep within some primordial forest, where he can commune with the spirits of ancient flora while programming his next masterpiece. The titles alone conjure images of forgotten landscapes, a recurring theme throughout the album, and Ruckels seems intent on being our guide through these half-remembered, half-imagined places.
For those familiar with his oeuvre, this retrospective serves as a comforting reminder that deepspace has always been about exploration, but it’s exploration with purpose. There’s a deep emotional resonance in tracks like “You are Here” (featuring Telomere) and “Opening Your Eyes”, both of which could easily serve as the soundtrack to a slow, contemplative walk through some foggy, dreamlike realm — one where time has no real meaning and every step is weighted with significance.
The irony, of course, is that while Vertical Landscapes — Retrospective presents itself as a culmination of 15 albums, it never feels like a “greatest hits” collection in the traditional sense. There’s no sense of finality here, no full stop to the sentence. Instead, it feels more like a semicolon; a pause for breath before plunging back into the unknown. This is especially true with tracks like “Slow Moving Lifeforms 2”, which, despite its title, reveals itself in waves, each one more intricate and textured than the last.
Musically, there’s an almost scientific rigor to how deepspace constructs his soundscapes. But this isn’t cold, clinical science — it’s more like a form of sonic biology, each piece of sound meticulously chosen and arranged to evoke not just an atmosphere, but a living, breathing world. “HyperdriveEngage” might sound like it’s ripped straight from a sci-fi epic, but there’s a pulse beneath its ambient textures that makes it feel as grounded as it is otherworldly.
And yet, there’s a wryness to deepspace’s work, a knowing wink that suggests he’s fully aware of the paradoxes he’s creating — music that’s both expansive and intimate, dense yet accessible. “Interlude – Hope for Early Microbial Forms” is a prime example: it’s a brief piece, just over a minute long, but it manages to encapsulate the essence of life in its nascent stages — a simple, fragile thing filled with infinite potential.
So where does Vertical Landscapes — Retrospective leave us? Probably right where deepspace wants us: floating somewhere between the stars and our own subconscious, unsure whether we’re exploring the outer reaches of the galaxy or the deepest recesses of our own minds. Either way, it’s a journey worth taking, and one that reaffirms deepspace’s status as a master of his craft. Vertical Landscapes — Retrospective isn’t just a retrospective; it’s an invitation. An invitation to lose yourself in sound, to wander through the landscapes that deepspace has so painstakingly created, and to perhaps, just perhaps, find a piece of yourself in the process. -Vito Camarretta