Robert Henke - Layering Buddha

Label: Astral Industries – AI‑41
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: Jan 30, 2026
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient

Originally released in 2006, Layering Buddha is a seminal ambient work by Robert Henke - also known for his Monolake project and as a co-founder of Ableton. The album is constructed entirely from recordings of the FM3 Buddha Machine, a small loop-playing sound box with simple, meditative tones.

Henke recorded the device in high fidelity, then layered, processed and transformed those loops into slowly evolving sound fields. The result is music that feels both minimal and infinite - textures that hover, shift and decay in subtle, almost microscopic ways. Rather than conventional composition, Layering Buddha explores patience, repetition and the beauty of limited materials. It has since become widely regarded as a landmark in drone and contemporary ambient sound art.

The new Astral Industries anniversary edition marks 20 years of the project with a remastered 2LP 180g black vinyl gatefold, remastered by Robert Henke and featuring artwork by Theo Ellsworth, set for release on 30th January.

A. Layer 001/002
B. Layer 003/004
C. Layer 005/006/007
D. Layer 008/009/010