deepspace: Vertical Landscapes — Retrospective (Digital)

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