Panabrite

Under the name Panabrite, Seattle-based electronic musician Norm Chambers makes lush, smoothly rippling music from vintage analog synthesizers and drum machines. His work draws from early new age, kosmische, and library music, and it's generally bright, bubbly, and expressive, evoking the sounds of nature while touching on sci-fi themes. He is incredibly prolific, with over two-dozen releases to his credit, but he remains inventive and never quite repeats himself. Chambers began releasing Panabrite albums as limited-edition cassettes in 2010, on labels like Cylindrical Habitat Modules, Hobo Cult, and Tranquility Tapes. In 2011, his album Science of the Sea was issued by Digitalis under the pseudonym Jürgen Müller. The album was presented as a reissue of an obscure, long-lost new age album from the early '80s, and was even granted a "Best New Reissue" review from Pitchfork. Even though it was later revealed to be a new recording by Chambers, it faithfully and imaginatively captured the sound of that era, and was easily one of the label's most successful releases. Several labels began releasing Chambers' work as Panabrite on LP and CD in 2012. That year, Under the Spire reissued his earlier cassette Illumination on vinyl, while LPs Soft Terminal and Sub-Aquatic Meditation were respectively released by Digitalis and Aguirre Records, and Australian label Preservation issued The Baroque Atrium CD. Tapes on VCO Records and Constellation Tatsu followed in 2013, and the slightly darker LP Pavilion appeared on Immune in 2014. The label also released his cassette, Disintegrating Landscape, in 2015. U.K. label Deep Distance issued Panabrite's LP Transfer in 2016. ~ Paul Simpson