OBREEL emerges as a compelling meeting point between three distinct yet profoundly complementary voices within contemporary ambient and experimental electronic music: Pepo Galán, Joachim Spieth, and Markus Guentner. The result is an album where rich textures, delicate fragility, and architectural clarity coalesce into compositions of meditative depth and luminous resonance.
The Music & Concept
OBREEL stands at the intersection of these three distinct artistic sensibilities, channeling a shared ethos of precision, space, and emotional subtlety. Across the album, sparse melodic gestures intertwine with gently evolving textures, creating a sonic language that feels both spacious and intensely focused. Each track on OBREEL is crafted with an attentive ear for detail — where tones breathe, silence is part of the composition, and every shift in timbre reveals new emotional nuance.
The collaboration reflects a mutual understanding among the artists: an embrace of reduction as a mode of expression and an exploration of how minimal elements can build immersive, emotionally charged sound worlds. The album’s sound world is one of quiet momentum — where lush ambience brushes against micro-rhythmic intricacies, and drifting atmospheres gesture toward landscapes shaped by memory, stillness, and contemplation.
OBREEL invites deep listening: its delicate architecture rewards attention, offering listeners an expansive field of sound that unfolds slowly yet surely, leaving room for reflection, introspection, and emotional resonance.
/album/obreel
(Pre-Order Link in Bio)
#ambient #affin #joachimspieth #markusguentner #pepogalan
AERIS by Markus Guentner is out today
A new compilation bringing together selected works from different phases of his longstanding relationship with the label — moving between cinematic atmospheres and deeply immersive sound design.
A cohesive journey through timeless material, carefully curated and newly contextualized as one continuous listening experience.
Now available on Bandcamp.
markus-guentner.bandcamp.com/album/aeris
m-guentner.de
affinmusic.de/booking-markus-guentner
Photo (1) by @pervitine
#markusguentner #affin #ambientmusic #electronicmusic
Joachim Spieth reflects on his journey from Cologne’s Delirium record store to becoming part of Kompakt’s formative years. From early releases like Abi ’99 to opening the first Pop Ambient compilation, he traces the evolution of his sound from micro-house and minimal techno to immersive ambient. The conversation explores his influences, creative process and collaboration with Markus Guentner, alongside the philosophy behind his latest album Vestige, a work centred on space, texture and sonic detail.
→ Interview by Tom Durston → Photo by Iulia Alexandra Magheru (@pervitine )
READ ON INVERTED-AUDIO.COM
With this mix, I want to creatively counter the perceived fleeting nature of today’s musical works - so it doesn’t just stop at acknowledging and lamenting it. So why not immerse myself for a few days in the shared history of the label from the most recent past, rummaging through it, searching for what fits with what, and letting it shine in a new context? For those who remember the stages because they were there, and also for those who may have missed something, or who have only recently become aware of the music... or those who are hearing and reading this for the first time and feel motivated to dive deeper into it?
Whatever the case, what ultimately matters is what moves you. Thank you for your time to those who have shared this journey with me, and to those who know how to use the results to enrich their daily lives.
Affin Ambient Works (2022–2026) will be released on May 22, 2026, as a DJ mix and accompanying compilation.
Available here:
affin.bandcamp.com/album/affin-ambient-works-2022-2026-curated-by-joachim-spieth
general info:
joachimspieth.de
affinmusic.de
#affin
#ambient
#curatedworks
#joachimspieth
Stillform - out now
A meeting of kinesthetic restraint and sonic precision.
Stillform unfolds in reduction: sparse motifs shaped with care, micro-rhythms and attenuated textures emerging and dissolving in quiet balance.
This collaboration brings together two distinct yet deeply aligned approaches to sound. Spatial sensitivity meets melodic clarity, forming an experience that feels both intimate and expansive. Each tone is given room to breathe, each silence carries weight - like a pause in thought.
Rather than insisting, Stillform invites.
It’s a record for deep listening, revealing new details with every return.
arovane.bandcamp.com/album/stillform
kompakt.fm/releases/stillform
juno.co.uk/products/yui-onodera-arovane-stillform-cd/1140139-01
pitp.us/products/yui-onodera-arovane-stillform-cd
—
Yui Onodera
A Tokyo-based composer and sound artist working at the intersection of environmental sound and architectural acoustics. His work treats sound as spatial material, shaping subtle, immersive sonic structures through field recordings, resonance, and texture.
affinmusic.de/booking-yuionodera
Arovane (Uwe Zahn)
A defining voice in IDM and ambient electronic music since the late 1990s. Known for warm melodic structures, intricate rhythms, and a deeply organic approach to digital sound, his work continues to evolve across introspective and detailed sonic landscapes.
affinmusic.de/booking-arovane
—
design | markus-guentner.de
mastering | artefactsmastering.com
Affin | affinmusic.de
#ambient #electronicmusic #idm #sounddesign #newmusic
Next Monday in Prague.
After many years of working together, Markus Guentner and I will share a stage for the very first time — presenting two individual live sets for a special Affin showcase as part of the Spectaculare Festival.
The evening will also mark Markus’ first live performance in nearly a decade, revisiting the ambient live sets he used to perform years ago.
It will also be the first ambient-focused Affin label showcase.
Tickets & info
spectaculare.cz/en/udalosti/markus-guentner-plus-joachim-spieth-affin-showcase
Boking inquiries
affinmusic.de/booking/
#spectacularefestival
#markusguentner
#joachimspieth
#affinbooking
#ambient
What remains after a sound fades?
Vestige explores traces — subtle presences between ambient space and dub-infused detail. Minimal sound particles expand into vast atmospheres where microscopic shifts in frequency carry unexpected weight.
Rhythm appears as quiet momentum within the texture — movement without insistence, tension suspended between motion and stillness.
Early reactions:
“Fearless and inventive… without losing sight of communication.” — Greg Fenton (Magazine Sixty)
“Oceanically deep soundscapes… an artful take on ambient dub-techno.” — Textura
“Immersive, detailed and excellently produced.” — Ambient Blog
“A cohesive reflection bridging many years of evolution.” — Headphone Commute
Out now on Affin.
joachimspieth.bandcamp.com/album/vestige
kompakt.fm/releases/vestige
juno.co.uk/products/joachim-spieth-vestige-cd/1129182-01/
Special thanks to Markus Guentner for the visual artwork and Artefacts Mastering for mastering the album.
joachimspieth.de
affinmusic.de
linktr.ee/joachimspieth
#joachimspieth #ambient #dub #vestige
Vestige is about what remains.
The weight of a sound after it has already faded.
Tiny particles, stretched across space.
Rhythm without insistence. Movement without destination.
Sounds surface, breathe, dissolve — leaving traces rather than statements.
No closure. No separation. Only resonance, suspended between presence and absence.
Vestige invites you to linger in that space.
listening event tonight
RSVP
joachimspieth.bandcamp.com/merch/vestige-listening-party
More context via the Substack link.
joachimspieth.substack.com/p/tracing-ones-own-path-vestige
website
affinmusic.de
links
linktr.ee/joachimspieth
Visualiser by @markusguentner_official
#joachimspieth
#vestige
#ambientdub
#affin
#album
🔥🔥🔥 Joachim Spieth – Vestige – Un espace où se rencontrent les influences Techno-Dub minimale et Electro-Ambient pour écouter, percevoir, revivre ! 🔥🔥🔥
Fondateur du prestigieux label AFFIN, JOACHIM SPIETH, à la fois DJ et producteur allemand, inspiré par des labels tels Kompakt Records ou Basic Channel, manipule et superpose avec grace rythmes, harmonies et effets, mêlant Ambient et Dub aérien, pour faire résonner sur son nouvel opus « Vestige » des sonorités du passé sous un nouveau jour, les entrainant avec émotion dans l’avenir, emprunt d’un souci exceptionnel du détail… Epoustouflant ! À découvrir inna Culture Dub :
🔊🔊🔊 /joachim-spieth-vestige/
Large Up,
AlexDub
#dub #technodub #ambient #electro #culturedub @joachimspieth@affinltd@pole_stefanbetke@kompaktrecords@culturedub
