Michael Atherton

𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙮𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙮, 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝘼𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨 — 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

Originally released in 1990, Windshift finds the Australian composer and ethnomusicologist drawing from a vast cultural palette, weaving instruments such as didjeridu, hurdy-gurdy, kulintang, saron and jaw harp into a vivid, electro-acoustic landscape. Merging traditional timbres with samplers, synths, and early digital effects, Atherton crafts an ambient ritual of rhythm, resonance and migration — a sound world in motion between the Asia-Pacific and Europe.

A veteran of genre-defying ensembles like The Renaissance Players, Sirocco, and Southern Crossings, Atherton channels his lifelong fascination with vernacular and ancient musics into something timeless and borderless. The album’s sense of space and atmosphere feels both deeply personal and globally attuned, carrying the emotional imprint of his multicultural upbringing in suburban Sydney.

Now lovingly remastered by Mikey Young and reimagined visually by Glasgow artist Jamie Johnson, Windshift is reissued for the first time on vinyl by Infinite Expanse — a long-overdue rediscovery of one of Australia’s quietly visionary works in environmental and cross-cultural sound.