Charles Bals

First press 2025. LTD clear vinyl.
Collector, seeker and storyteller Charles Bals brings his curatorial finesse to Hamburg's Bureau B with Ambientale, a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983 - 2000. Drifting effortlessly between digital exoticism, mellow fusion, new age groove and library electronics, the pieces range from largely obscure to utterly un-google-able, and coalesce into a stunning soundtrack to tranquil seas, desert sand and starlit skies. Cinematic and enigmatic, Ambientale is a stranger you've only just met but can't stop thinking about. A familiar face to those who dwell in the deep end of the record pool, Charles is an obsessive digger, always on the track of an otherwise unheard sound. Through two trips to 'Club Meduse' and star-crossed lovers 'America Dream Reserve' and 'Black Rain', he's also established himself as a mixtape auteur, weaving together the strange and beautiful into evocative compilations that transport listeners to distinct, imaginative realms. While his previous sets resembled Super-8 vignettes, populated by sun-kissed hedonists and drifting outsiders, 'Ambientale' sees Charles leave the human world behind, exploring all the world's wilderness on the scale of an IMAX epic. Rainforest, savanna, seascape and sand dune blur into one under digital manipulation, questioning the balance of nature and technology and wondering whether AI might discover the blueprint of all life and all planets.