Trailblazing delicious colourful ambience through the galaxy, by way of a nebula this time, RIKAAR have, with the perfectly titled 'Ambient Nebula' created their magnum opus. An immaculate dreamy space-scape without a sense of urgency or any meaningful doubt in one's place in the universe. This is a record that makes you feel content to simply be. We don't have to understand all the mysteries of the universe to appreciate their beauty, but you'll come away from this record feeling a little more in tune with the universe.

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INTERVIEW
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George Ernst (Triplicate Records): What's an Unknown IVI00N ? I've been dying to know since I first heard the record!

RIKAAR: The unknown moon stands for Discovery, curiosity, expanding horizons, gaining experience, wanting to discover new things, making the impossible possible, amazement, joy, but also fears, doubts, change, life in the unknown X! Everyone has an unknown moon! There are an infinite number of unknown moons out there and in here

GE: What's new in your lives since last we talked?

RIKAAR: The biggest change is certainly the move to Hungary with my wife! Here I am upgrading to a PPL license. RIKAAR remains RIKAAR because we have been creating music together remotely through the internet since 2016. Which brings us to the next question...

GE: You know how good this record is right? Like... You've got a sense of 'Oh Wow! Look what we made', right?

RIKAAR: "Eigenlob stinkt" is a German saying! That's why we leave the judgment of whether this record is good or bad to the inclined listener and are happy about any criticism, good or bad. We exist and who knows maybe the tracks will later be entered into the StarStrek fleet Command music database😄 and Data will chill and dream of unknown moons...and of Love!

GE: How do you get into the astronautic mindset so effectively? I've listened to a lot of ambient records that're space-themed but few come close to what you two are able to achieve on these songs.

RIKAAR: That's a good and difficult question that is almost impossible to answer. How can you describe creative flow? We have both been influenced by since fiction since our earliest childhood. Terminator 1 and 2, Predator, Star Wars, Total Recall, Star Trek the next Generation etc and Baywatch 😄 Jokes aside. We try to develop our own sound, our own language,quasi the RIKAARian Klingonish of space music. Almost 3 weeks ago I listened to a concert by highly talented musicians in Budapest. A string trio! Not only did the music sheet look impressive and very complex, but the virtuoso playing of these people was absolutely impressive and world class! My point is that when we start to compose something, there is "nothing" at first. An empty sheet of music, an empty Cubase template. And then "suddenly" you have created something, be it an image, filmsequence, music or something else. That's the crazy thing about the whole life story. And we suspect most creative people and artists feel the same way ❤️ When you've created something, it's a beautiful thing!

GE: 'Niu Xpdtn Diep'. I'm going to need you to write this down phonetically please.

RIKAAR: Apparently our creative possibilities don't stop with music! You want to give the titles, from the head, looks from the not, from the infinite, a suitable title. Which, in turn, also comes from the brain. The titles are also important to us, they definitely steer us at least unconsciously in the direction we want! With the title "Niu Xpdtn Diep" (New Expedition Deep) we were not sponsored by a Chinese manufacturer for e-mobility😄 ...what a shame! But maybe they will discover us...in our lifetime :D

GE: Describe the perfect planet.

RIKAAR: We live on it! We can breathe and be creative! Nothing is perfect, everything is perfect! Suffering and happiness go hand in hand. No happiness without suffering and vice versa. Peace/War. Love/hate. What a crazy planet we are allowed to be on! It's incredible when you think about it. We are looking forward to summer but also to winter! Winter is creative time, summer is outdoor time! Peace Time? Maybe we can spend some Peaced Time and hope with our music in this crazy Times on this beautiful Planet.

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REVIEW
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RIKAAR are back! They're better than ever. Trailblazing delicious colourful ambience through the galaxy, by way of a nebula this time. It becomes immediately apparent listening to Ambient Nebula that they haven't lost an ounce of what made their trademark brand of shimmering cosmic instrumentals so compelling to listen to, and that their methodology of arranging their best 2023 tracks into an all killer – no filler collection was a clever move; there is not one moment of weakness here.

Coming a year and a half after 2022's excellent 'Gravitationally Bound', the record gets off to a good, (and decidedly chill) start with the less than pithily titled 'Unknown IVI00N (First Steps)', though you can't say it's not evocative. Certainly you can't say that about the music ever. The lush pad layers and occasional arpeggio flutters breathe purposeful momentum into a drumless expanse, pushing ever onward as the third cosmic voyage gets underway.
Next up we've got some terraforming, with the endlessly twinkly 'Digital Flowers on Analogue Planet'. Perhaps the title is more of a statement about technology gradually enveloping meatspace, or maybe they just called it that because it sounds cool. Well. It does sound cool, as does the music it's attached to. Grandiose space bounds and the iconic RIKAAResque sense of cosmic longing. A very fitting second track that helps to re-establish the brothers' pursuit of wonder and mystery.

Following DFoAP, comes the ethereal 'Ease of Belles Spaces', which may quite possibly contain my favourite RIKAAR chord progression ever. For the first time, something resembling percussion churns away in the background, ever so slightly, never in danger of threatening the record with revoking it's ambient credentials. It's a lovely track that brings to mind the finer recordings of Boards of Canada and Brian Eno.

Suddenly we're not in space. We're back home. Or at least on a planet that can sustain life, as the pretty melodies of green language grace the opening moments of the keyboard odyssey 'Niu Xpdtn Diep'. Images of greener, lusher pastures are conjured by the melody and textures. You can almost feel the grass beneath your feet, the breeze as it blows, and the sunlight on your face, perhaps a half-forgotten memory in the darkest reaches of space, but the music seems to optimistic for that. Only RIKAAR can create mental image quandaries like this, and that's why we love their music.

Leaving aside the fact that 'St – Kepler452b' implies the existence of St – Keplers 1-451 a & b, this is a nice tune. A little shorter than the mid-record behemoths, but it's subtle and pretty and not without an air of unease and menace. It's contemplative, but hints at darker notes, as contemplation often gives way to. The following 'Glowing Neige Achter A Szel' on the other hand is slightly more inscrutable, and doesn't immediately offer up an easy-to-identify mood or vibe. This is not a criticism. In an album soaked in mystery, a track or two SHOULD have a few tunes whose mood I can't fully comprehend, and I love it for that.

Lastly, but by no means leastly... is that a word? Anyway... 'Saturn Stairs - (The Final Stairs)', the grand finale is expansive, ethereal and very very beautiful. With a name like that you'd expect so I suppose, and RIKAAR, as ever, will not let you down. The piano-work on here is too gorgeous to sum up with words, but it builds quickly and settles into a melody that turns my soul to mush.

RIKAAR have, with the perfectly titled 'Ambient Nebula' created their magnum opus. An immaculate dreamy space-scape without a sense of urgency or any meaningful doubt in one's place in the universe. This is a record that makes you feel content to simply be. We don't have to understand all the mysteries of the universe to appreciate their beauty, but you'll come away from this record feeling a little more in tune with the universe.