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The Gateless Gate is a pseudonym of Allister Thompson. Allister and I met on Twitter; a seemingly precarious beginning, but one that’s been fruitful and productive. We’ve worked on a variety of things together, most recently a collection of songs and soundscapes called Lord Introvert, please check it out here. Allister and I are both northern midwesterners, or at least that’s how I like to think about it. While I’m in Michigan and he in North Bay, Ontario, we have similar regional and cultural sensibilities, as well as personal and musical interests. It’s all of these things that attracts me to Allister’s music and why I’ve wanted to get him on the Ambient Soundbath for some time.
Allister is profoundly versatile and prolific. He’s inspired by and explores a lot of musical territory, never really sticking with one thing except maybe his songs, which is a good thing. I believe that Allister might be the greatest songwriter Canada has seen since Gordon Lightfoot. I don’t know if Gordo’s a big deal in the rest of the world, but in Michigan and throughout Ontario, really the Great Lakes basin, Gordon Lightfoot is kind of God, a giant among 70s songwriters and a real-life Canadian superstar; kind of the Drake of 1978. Gordon Lightfoot’s music is the landscape of the region, I think that’s why it endures.
This Soundbath was inspired by Allister’s newest recording, Primordia, which is available here. Some tracks from this recording are featured in this Soundbath. Here’s what he has to say about it:
“This is an ambient music album that reflects the influence of early 70s German kosmische, contemporary drone ambient, and a touch of Steve Reich. It was made with mellotron, organ, piano, and synthesizer sounds.
“It’s for sitting back and contemplating Deep Time.”
This Soundbath features these tracks, in this order:
- Before Us from Primordia- Bandcamp
- Plateau
- Nightwalk
- After Us from Primordia – Bandcamp
- A Voyage to Arcturus – Bandcamp
Check out Allister’s other work and vast catalog here:
- thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com
- thegatelessgate.net
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/
channel/ UC0P1FaNwbQ4Fk50fePjHPlw
Official Bio for Allister:
The Gateless Gate is the name under which Canadian Allister Thompson releases music in the ambient, new age, post-rock and kosmische genres. Thompson also releases singer-songwriter albums under his own name and as Twilight Fields, as well as psychedelia under several monikers. The Gateless Gate is named after a renowned collection of Zen koans.
Since 2012, The Gateless Gate has released numerous albums inspired by the greats of seventies German proto-ambient, contemporary drone music, and the lighter, more ambient end of the post-rock spectrum. Contemplation of nature during the different distinct boreal seasons is often the focus of his work.
Thompson works as a book editor and lives in North Bay, Ontario, Canada with a partner and three cats.
