Austere is an anonymous electronic music group known for producing work in a range of styles including classical minimalism, psybient, ambient, dark ambient, drone, glitch-ambient, and downtempo drum and bass. The group began collaborating in 1997, with their first release issued on January 1, 1998. Although they maintain anonymity, they are loosely based in Portland, Oregon, through an affiliation with Sound-O-Mat Recordings.
The two members of Austere have lived in several locations, including New York City, North Chatham in the United Kingdom, Portland, Seattle, Brighton, and San Francisco.
Their recordings in the classical minimalism genre, such as "Convergence", "Eco", "Pulse", and "Vox", draw influence from Steve Reich’s process music, particularly as described in his 1968 essay "Music as a Gradual Process".
Austere has collaborated with artists including Abstract Audio Systems from New York City, In The Now from Brighton, and Stephen Philips of Dark Duck Records.
The group has contributed music to various video and film projects. They provided the soundtrack for "The Thin Horizon", an independent film by Michael Peters of Artifexwerks in Forest Grove, Oregon. A track from the Dark Duck Records Drone Download Project was used in the independent film "Claude's Room". Their music has also been featured in several music videos, including "Abandon" and "Tiny Danser".
Members of Austere have also pursued solo projects under the names The Mystifying Oracle and Freq. Magnet. Freq. Magnet has released three full-length CDs, a DVD, and a track on a Hypnos compilation album.
Contents
Discography
The discography of Austere includes thirteen studio albums, four EPs, and ten compilation appearances. Several of these compilation contributions have been released through Hypnos. The group has also released a six-hour compilation box set that includes previously released material as well as three unreleased tracks.
DVDs
Releases
Convergence – self-released, 1998; reissued by The Sound-O-Mat, 2004
Monodia – self-released limited edition of 100, 1999
fade – self-released, 2000
Curio – first limited edition of 50 with gold foil, 2000; second unlimited edition, 2006
distance (with In The Now), 2002
Remission – Sound-O-Mat Recordings, 2003; "unreleased" in 2004
evergone (with Abstract Audio Systems), 2004
Remittance – Sound-O-Mat Recordings, 2004
Eco – Sound-O-Mat Recordings, 2005
faded (with Stephen Philips) – Sound-O-Mat Recordings, 2005; co-released by Dark Duck Records
faded DVD – Sound-O-Mat Recordings, 2006
Pulse – Hypnos "Secret Sounds" imprint, 2007
mirror – Blue Water Records, 2007
The Sound of Silence I: An Unnatural History of Rare and Unusual Tracks – Sound-O-Mat Recordings, 18 Jan 2008
Solyaris – Hypnos, 2008
Compilations
Each is a single track title followed by the compilation it appeared on.
Diapason on The Drone Download Project Year 1 – Dark Duck Records
Whainer (CD-only bonus track) on The Drone Download Project Year 1 – Dark Duck Records
Tea-Totaled on The Drone Download Project Year 2 – Dark Duck Records
The Hills Are Alive on Full Cold Moon: A Tribute to Jhonn Balance – Dark Winter
Big Bang into Particle Acceleration on Space Collaboration – The Ambient Collective
Wend on The Drone Download Project Year 3 – Dark Duck Records
The Cuce on Orgambient: Long Form Ambient Vol. 1 – Blue Water Records
Alchemy (Gold Into Lead demix) on Lena – Alchemy of Fingers and Dark – Hypnos
Puissant on The Drone Download Project Year 4 – Dark Duck Records
Fasciculate on The Drone Download Project Year 5 – Dark Duck Records
Crystil on Messages from a Subatomic World – Hypnos
All Austere releases are distributed by the ambient label Hypnos Records. In 2007, the band signed with both Hypnos Records and Blue Water Records.