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 product info |
The first compilation is Sounds of a Universe Overheard, a collection of ten tracks exclusive to this CD, created by a cross-section of ambient, experimental and soundscape artists from around the world. Included in this diverse group are more established recording artists who will be known to most listeners to these genres, as well as new, emerging names. We feel a compilation is most interesting when it varies from the familiar to the new. This disc covers all sorts of territory in terms of sound, from more musical and soundtrack-like sounds, to darker ambient, to pure sonic experimentation. 2007. Press Information |
 review |
The label had two excellent compilations in its early days, so a new one is welcome and long overdue. Sounds of a Universe Overheard is a worthy addition to The Other World and Weightless, Effortless. Ten tracks weave together into a varied yet cohesive look at all things ambient. Jonathan Block’s “The Language of Rocks” starts us off, a cool synthetic electronic piece that seems just to get going and then fades teasingly into M. Peck’s “Somna” with bubbly water sounds and minimal ambience. This one is allowed more time to breathe and grow before it fades. Next up is Freq. Magnet’s “Nitrous,” very similar in its stark ambient approach but with a different set of sounds. Kirk Watson’s “Scarecrow” begins with a unique collage of various noises that, while not exactly musical, is pretty cool nonetheless. It soon develops into more traditional sounding floating ambient music; Watson is definitely someone to add to my list of names to watch. Always good is dreamSTATE, and their contribution “Ghost Nebula” is soothing dark shifting and drifting, which gets more intense as it goes. One of the more interesting new talents I’ve enjoyed is Seren Ffordd, and his “Strange Attractor” is another good one, a low rumbling number with an eerie cast to it. Dwight Ashley’s “Behold the Trampled Wheat” is typical of his dark experimental musical wanderings, taking things further down into the crevices. Justin Vanderberg follows with “Infection”, lighter by comparison to the prior two tracks but only by degrees. There is a softness and smoothness on this one that turns the blackness into charcoal perhaps. Igneous Flame aka Pete Kelly is a personal favorite of mine, and I’m glad to see him included here with “Pandora,” with his trademark dreamy electric guitar and treatments. The disc closes with Tau Ceti’s “Float,” which does as it says, in a lighter way that brings us back full circle. Light or dark, this cd does ambient right, and this collection is proof of that. Phil Derby / Electroambient Space |
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