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Album Reviews
Album Review: Various Artists – Pop Ambient 2010 (Kompakt)
By Marc Samuels | Published on Tuesday 12 January 2010
‘Ambient’ has become a slightly pejorative term in recent years, a reputation garnered by endless chill out compilations for dinner parties all featuring the same safe and predictable tracks (Moby, Lemon Jelly, Zero 7, Air).
Ambient wasn’t always a byword for blandness or unengaging background listening though – the halcyon days of the early 90s produced some pioneering music (Global Communication, Aphex Twin of course and The Orb, who feature here), with compilations like Beyond’s ‘Ambient Dub’ series sounding wonderfully fresh.
Curated by Kompakt’s Wolfgang Voigt, the ‘Pop Ambient’ series – of which this is the 10th instalment – similarly showcases a selection of horizontal listening music from artists at the peak of their game. ‘Pop Ambient 2010’ eschews beats and bass to create a beautifully minimalist Eno-esque sound over the course of its 13 tracks, the best of which (DJ Koze’s plaintive piano lament ‘Bodenweich’, Jürgen Paape’s pulsing ‘864M’ and Mikkel Metal’s entrancing ‘Blue Items’, which is literally like waves lapping at the shore) represent blissful escapism without ever sounding too alien or otherworldly (not a bad thing in itself, just there’s a time and place for it, and this isn’t it).
Both icily cool and calmly warming, this is a perfect soundtrack for these cold, housebound days. MS
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