A DREAM OF ANOTHER, by Ilyas Ahmed

A DREAM OF ANOTHER

by Ilyas Ahmed

supported by

Ohio River Valley Audio Archive thumbnail

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$9 USD or more
Shattered Lapis Blue Vinyl + Collage Artist Edition
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
**UPDATED - Vinyl+collage expected to ship early-December 2023 (originally mid-November)**

Limited artist edition on shattered lapis blue vinyl with unique, hand-torn, cut, assembled, and signed collage by Ilyas Ahmed, available exclusively from Geographic North.

Includes unlimited streaming of A DREAM OF ANOTHER via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out
Shattered Lapis Blue Vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
**UPDATED - Vinyl expected to ship early-December 2023 (originally mid-November)**

Includes unlimited streaming of A DREAM OF ANOTHER via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out

1.	Etched in Smoke 07:08	buy track
2.	Nasty Man 03:31	buy track
3.	Twice the Memory 04:53	buy track
4.	Little Devil 04:46	buy track
5.	Waves 02:43	buy track
6.	A Dream of Something 10:33	buy track
7.	Imagine There 03:15	buy track

about

**UPDATED - Vinyl expected to ship early-December 2023 (originally mid-November)**

Ilyas Ahmed has spent nearly two decades trudging through the murkiest sonic territories with patient consideration on his own, as a full time member of Grails, and together with the likes of Liz Harris (Grouper), Golden Retriever, and most recently Jefre Cantu-Ledesma on their 2021 collaborative LP 'You Can See Your Own Way Out'. Across a string of exquisite releases on Root Strata, Immune, Digitalis, and Time-Lag, the Pakistan-born, Portland, Oregon-based musician has spread out a tapestry of spectacular solitude, somewhere between off-kilter folk and grimly contemporary ambient music. Now, Ahmed returns to Geographic North with 'A Dream of Another', a spiritual successor to the distantly seething 'Behold Killers' (2019 via Geographic North) and his most hallucinatory and benevolently bereft record to date. Here, Ahmed sets out a new, more oblique path than ever before, eschewing lyrics and vocals, incorporating a solemn drum machine, and charting a series of waking dreams. The end result is a masterful LP written, recorded, and performed entirely by Ahmed, mastered by Chuck Johnson, and continues the excruciatingly beautiful, pained traditions of somber avant-melodists like Vini Reilly and Loren Connors.

Ahmed describes the progression of his work, culminating with 'A Dream of Another' : “The focus of my solo work has become existing at the nexus of form and formlessness. Like an overheard conversation or found object, an exposed exoskeleton of the idea of what an album is. A middle ground where each impulse is allowed and given equal space. Like a hazy memory of a faded picture. These pieces exist like the point waves retreat from the shore.”

Opener “Etched in Smoke” offers a stoic facade that belies a seemingly bottomless breadth of emotion. Dread is in the air, but its source is nowhere to be found. The sense is much like driving the wrong direction down a one-way street in an abandoned, one-light town. You turn down a shadowy corner only to meet “Nasty Man”, a doomed and grime covered figure who subtly hints at a tragic and unbelievably bewitched backstory. The anathematized journey continues on “Twice the Memory”, a subdued meditation that shimmers in a fog of echoing woe and a modicum of hope for good measure.

The haze dissipates with “Little Devil,” revealing a balmy full moon flecked with a sweet and shuffling drum machine loop. It’s a nihilistic waltz that perfectly soundtracks your own personal, comfortable nightmare. “Waves” invites a chorus of apparition-like melodies that rise and dissipate like dust in a mausoleum, simultaneously pregnant with pause and eerily vacant. “A Dream of Something,” the album’s magnum opus, is a glorious, wayfaring epic of wide-eyed nonchalance. ECM-worthy guitar tones speck a barren landscape at dawn, waking and retreating into the dim glow. “Imagine There” closes things out with elegance and forlorn optimism.

Ultimately, 'A Dream of Another" reveals Ahmed as a consummate composer of minimalist mantras and slow motion sonatas.

credits

released October 13, 2023

Played & recorded by Ilyas Ahmed

Additional recording & mix assistance by Branic Howard, Open Field Recordings

Mastered by Chuck Johnson
Designed by Farbod Kokabi

Reverse photo by Bahman Jalali
Ilyas photo by Sarah Meadows

Love & thanks to Sarah, Farbod & Bobby

license

about

Ilyas Ahmed Portland, Oregon

solo artist & member of Grails

Grails

contact / help

Contact Ilyas Ahmed

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Ilyas Ahmed, you may also like:

Daughter
by Raum

supported by 54 fans who also own “A DREAM OF ANOTHER”

beautiful the album seems like a walk through nature with so many little details surrounding u love it _crysknife
go to album
Shade
by Grouper

supported by 54 fans who also own “A DREAM OF ANOTHER”

Reminds me of getting back home after a long road-trip. That feeling of relief. The peace of being in your own presence.
go to album
Sketch for Winter IX: Perlita
by Carmen Villain

supported by 52 fans who also own “A DREAM OF ANOTHER”

Muted, greyscale ambient that aptly mimics the introspective calm and leaden stillness of winter. Hushed pads rise and curl like frosted mists, brittle rhythmic elements crunch and crack, and there's a resigned sense of solitude that permeates every second. This isn't quite as vibey and whimsical as "Only Love From Now On," but it's still a worthy addition to Villain's growing discography. PannionSeer
go to album
Sun Spar
by Ulaan Passerine

The music on “Sun Spar” defies easy categorization, whirling elements of drone, country, and classical into a head-spinning mix. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 4, 2022
go to album
Now & Thus Suite
by Collin Gorman Weiland

The Minneapolis DIY artist returns with an immersive album that is a tribute to the past and present. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 25, 2021
go to album
No Base Trio
by No Base Trio

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jul 14, 2020
go to album
The Wind of Things
by M. Sage

supported by 52 fans who also own “A DREAM OF ANOTHER”

Marion Brown->Mark Hollis->Hood->Maher Shalal Hash Baz->M. Sage selfstarter
go to album