Over the past 20 years its fair to say I have listened to a lot of ambient music. Some great and some , well, not so. Some CDs I have bought I have listened to only a handful of times while others have remained a regular fixture in my CD/LP player for over two decades and sound just as fresh as ever. One such long-player is "WonderGround" by Michael Andresen ( a.k..a Healer ).
I still remember the day I walked into the local psychedelic trance record store and saw it on display in the glass cabinet with it's cloudy CD jacket design. I asked the guy to put into the only CD player he had available and donned the headphones. Instantly I was transported to a world of dreamscapes and fantasy. Any stress that I felt that day was washed away in a matter of minutes as Healer's incredible debut album took hold of me. I bought it no questions asked.
Since it's release in 2000, Michael released just the one follow up album in 2004 titled "HigherGrounds". Emotionally and technically it is just as amazing as the debut but for me the WonderGround album remains a favorite. There is no real reasoning there - probably just because it was the first and it made a initial emotion connection with me. Michael also records trance music under the name "12 Moons" which has proven succuessful with appearances on over 20 compilations between 2000 and 2005.
So what has Andresen been up to since then you might ask ? Despite a lack of any further releases as either Healer or 12 Moons, he has been busy over the last few years working on video production and as a photographic artist. You can check out some of his work over at the Michael Andresen Website.
Perhaps the best news of recent times was Michael's decision to make all of his previous albums available as free downloads via the Ektoplazm website. How cool is that ! So if you have never experienced the Healer or 12 Moons sounds then now is the perfect time to start. Another thing that also looks promising is the release of a number of music videos on YouTube such as "Dream Time" which you can view below.
> You can also get more free music from this free album downloads site list