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2010 marks the tenth instalment of the Pop Ambient series and before I get stuck into this review, this edition is by far one of the best I’ve heard from the series.

Since the series began 10 years ago it's been responsible for introducing me to compositions of sound that are unlike anything else. You can describe it however you like but for me I don't care about the genres it congregates, personally ambient techno just sounds rediculous. Nonetheless year after year each Pop Ambient compilation presents some of the finest ambient music out there, and there's no doubt that Pop Ambient has become a cornerstone annual release for Kompakt.

The whole ideology of Pop Ambient was conceived by co-owner of Kompakt Records and producer Wolfgang Voigt otherwise known as Love Inc, M:I:5, Mint and Gas. If you want to find out his other aliases head over to his Discogs page. Year after year Voigt personally selects tracks for the compilation, no doubt to pay homage to his own sound projects, most notably his early 90's project Gas.

The musical context often characterizes densely layered ambient soundscapes that are not concerned with beats, percussion or bass lines. Throughout Pop Ambient’s editions, the music has evolved ever so naturally, almost characterizing the blossoming of the floral arrangements that have graced the series covers year after year.

Over the years the series has been host to Kompakt’s keystone producers, Dettinger, DJ Koze, Wolfgang Voigt, Jurgen Paape, The Orb, Markus Guentner and Triola, the list is endless. This year’s track list is by no doubt a disappointment, most notably the presence of Dettinger. Olaf Dettinger hasn't released new material on Kompakt since his stunning 'Oasis' album in 2000. God knows what he's been up for the past 10 years, but this year he's back with a shimmering song 'Therefore'. According to Kompakt Dettinger will return so stay tuned.

For me there's an incredible quality to each song on Pop Ambient, something extremely vast and wholesome to them. Jürgen Paape's '864 M' and Brock Van Wey 'l You Know Where to Find Me' are two utterly breathtaking songs. They've both become key tracks in my morning commute on London's deafening Underground network. Trust me; 'l You Know Where to Find Me' is the perfect antidote in drowning out those screeches.

2010 also welcomes Brock Wan Wey to the Pop Ambient series. This man has become one of the most important ambient artists over the past few years. His ability to harmonize celestial vocals in 'l You Know Where to Find Me' has one of the most profound effects on any listener, instantly triggering emotions from any listener. As a result that primary concern that 17 minutes in length is just plain silly, in fact becomes totally obsolete.

DJ Koze flexes his Swahimi style production once again and as usual provides us with another weird and deranged track 'Bodenweich'. It begins with a two-part bass stab and a voice manipulated to sound like a passing car before dissolving into quiet piano samples and violin. It's easily one of my favourite tracks on the entire compilation and is another primary example of DJ Koze's incredible production capabilities.

The tenth instalment of Pop Ambient is a great addition to anyone's music library and musical knowledge. It's extremely private music that you don't really want to share with anyone else, it's for you to enjoy during the coldest days of the year. Others may not appreciate it, but what do they know, it's up to you. Download “In The Wind” by Thomas Fehlmann.

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DOWNLOAD - “In The Wind” Thomas Fehlmann

Tracklist:

1.   “The Sound Of One Lip Kissing” Marsen Jules
2.   “Lest You Forget” Brock Van Wey/BVDUB
3.   “Shildergasse” Triola
4.   “Zither Und Horn” Wolfgang Voigt
5.   “Clouds Across Face” Andrew Thomas
6.   “Glen Coe” The Orb
7.   “Blue Items” Mikkel Metal
8.   “Bodenweich” DJ Koze
9.   “864M” Jürgen Paape
10. “Therefore” Dettinger
11. “In The Wind” Thomas Fehlmann
12. “Deutz Air” Popnoname
13. “Will You Know Where To Find Me” Brock Van Wey/BV

Kompakt

TRG has always been a bit of a favourite of mine. Partly because of my infatuation with Hessle Audio, whereby anyone who releases on their label is automatically raised to a status of demi-god. In terms of drum arrangements there aren't many who can contest. Just give his remix of Al-Haca 'Kryptonite' a listen. Perhaps one of the best examples of Burial-esque 2-step groove that was created by Burial - and it never even saw a release! 

Now however we come to where TRG is at now, somewhere an awful lot nearer to offshoots of house than his 2-step past. Like a more linear approach to funky, though his production heritage shines through. Personal highlights come with tracks like 'Siberian Poker' and 'Discotek', although the real standout track that has me freaking out on every listen is 'Tribal Flex' It has literally everything. Rave stabs that should be used by the government to warn kids away from knife crime, enough bongos to disband a conga line and that syncopated shuffle that always makes my ears prick.

A notable release well worth checking, unfortunately though 'Tribal Flex' is a digital exclusive only available from Beatport. Whether it sees wax remains to be seen.

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Tracklist:

1. Twilight Riddim
2. Discotek
3. Siberian Poker
4. Purple Lights
5. Since Last Night
6. Strobe Lick
7. Tribal Flex

MySpace | Tempa Records

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The problem for a dance music producer used to churning out a steady stream of stacatto releases is how to make an LP that feels more than just a compilation. In many cases, erstwhile dancefloor-focussed artists get round the problem by eschewing the functionalism of their established work almost completely: for two disparate, successful examples, witness prog pioneer Sasha's celestial introspection on Airdrawndagger, or the schizoid, mutated brilliance of James Holden's The Idiots Are Winning. Not so here: pre-eminent promulgator of "post-minimal" techno and Ostgut/Berghain doyen Marcel Dettmann's first LP is - categorically - a techno album.

Whether it succeeds as such is another question. The filmic panorama and deep marine depth charges on ambient opener "Quasi" are promising, exactly the kind of introduction that suggest a story is set to be unfurled. Similarly, following track "Argon" continues to point towards some overarching narrative with 3 minutes of irregularly percussive, compelling experimentalism, but from there, Dettmann promptly reverts to his (prolific and successful) oeuvre.

Problem is, tracks such as "Screen", "Motive", "Reticie" and "Silex" all clock in around the 6 minute mark and share a fundamental sonic signature with most of Dettman's output since 2007: swathes of claustrophobic static; sinister reverberant synth textures; chewy filtered percussion; and that low frequency subduction zone melding sub bass and drum into one monstrously subsonic whole. Similarly, the maximal reliance on repetition and careful modulation of constituent parts remain the modus operandi, but within the format of a long player, the mind starts to wander. "Captivate" is better, getting much closer to the energy and insistence of high grade late-90s Tresor - clearly a major inspiration to Dettman et al - with it's memorable, hollow stabbed-synth hook and jittery, jutting, unforgiving percussion.

As is often the way, the album's best moments come when Dettmann reminds us of his full tonal range; significantly wider, as it turns out, than just the last two years' output on Hardwax-affiliated techno labels. "Drawing" lures and deceives with mournful, chiming piano chords and tape reel noise, "Home" offers a dubstepping 808 beneath the swirling radioactive textures of a Roswell '47 field recording, while "Viscous" throws up gloopy & chorussed synth guitar, a crunchy rock kick drum and and, as usual, more wide-angled static than a battery of broken radios in an echo chamber.

How to sum Dettmann up, then? On the one hand, the unwillingness to deviate from his sonic template - or to make this a Pyrrhic exercise in somehow proving his musical erudition - should be heartily commended. And of course, despite the format , this is still a collection of tracks designed for Berghain's hedonistic dancefloor as much as any other listening environment. Nevertheless, it is here today, offered as a coherent artistic statement, so must be judged accordingly.

Part of the singular reverence held towards Ricardo Villalobos stems from the reputation of both his long players - 2004's Thé Au Harem d'Archimède, and 2007's Alcachofa. Both are so unfathomly brilliant because, quite simply, they prove that Villalobos' deeply musical, non-programmatic approach to dance music is cruelly restricted and truncated by the single/EP format; whereas, for lesser producers, it is both the ceiling above, and safety net below, their creative scope. Perhaps, then, the album format separates the man from the boy: or rather, the musical artist  from the merely expert and prolific producer.

Tracklist:

"Organic" is among the most overused adjectives applied to electronic music, but Cobblestone Jazz’s seminal 2006 tracks “Dumptruck” and “India In Me” are as apt a target for that word as probably any other dancefloor record from the noughties. 2007’s stunning LP, “23 Seconds”, duly added extra dimensions of propulsive, jittery abstraction to the improvisational brew, further cementing the Canadian group – and the Wagon Repair label – as amongst our finest purveyors of dancefloor-friendly experimentalism.

This new E.P., ahead of a forthcoming new album, instead pursues a more introspective line. ‘A’ side “Chance Dub” definitely preponderates upon the latter, built as it is around a looping plucked riff, throbbing kick and phasing static ala any number of dub techno records, before overlaying a typically acoustic-sounding drum beat, bumping sub bass and gently lilting pads. Things progress in a rather uncharacteristically linear and repetitive fashion, leaving us with something that, whilst not unsatisfying, lacks the track development or the hook needed for our extended emotional investment.

‘B’ side “Chance” is better, spawning a locomotive relationship between the layered percussion and rolling bassline, a sparingly-deployed harmonized vocal hook and some full-blooded Rhodes piano virtuosity swimming in well-judged hall reverb. Where previous Cobblestone releases playfully alluded to or simply made emblematic the “jazz” component of their moniker, this is an out-and-out freeform, improvisational trip, while retaining a genuinely propulsive 4/4 force.

While these tracks undoubtedly continue to shine Wagon Repair's beacon for experimental-yet-functional dance music, they will still be judged against the abovementioned high points; and on that score, fail to deliver the floor-slaying, epic grandeur of “Dump Truck” or the unhinged, febrile, tech-edged darkness characterising much of “23 Seconds”. Having said that, there can surely be nothing more dispiriting as an artist to be continually judged against an older creative iteration, so perhaps that last comparison should be struck out, and this latest offering enjoyed for what it is: high quality organic dance music.

Tracklist:

A - Chance Dub 
B - Chance

MySpace | Wagon Repair

On first listen one track stands out from this EP. Pangaea's 'Why' is the most obvious follow on from previous monsters Router and Memories. I say obvious. It's nothing like obvious. This is some out-there, sped up funky track with so much atmosphere it sounds like Alan Rickman created it by splicing together sections of the VHS from the board game Atmosphere. Only that I don't like Alan Rickman, but I absolutely - to a worrying degree in fact, love this.

'Sunset Yellow' is the one though that will really do over a dancefloor. It builds until a plateau is reached with the most frantic, uncertain yet epic synths which continue to wind through the track.

The EP goes somewhere exciting though. Somewhere I’ve heard very little of recently. There is some dubstep on there, actual dubstep. I reckon 'Because Of You' and 'Dead Living' could actually, maybe even definitely be termed as the stuff. It might even get aired at some kind of silent disco for students, although obviously it won't. Oh nuts I said obvious again. I really don't mean to. This release is amazing. These two tracks aren't in fact 'obvious' or 'dubstep', they're hyper-dark spliced garage/ funk.

I think I was right to mention dubstep though. It shouldn't be an awful term. Dubstep was the most exciting genre out there, and still is in many respects. Pangaea's just made tracks that showcase how good it can be. The space and bounce of the drums, the fear mongering sub-bass. That constant feeling that nobody has ever relly made anything you could mistake this for. If anything it just makes me wish there was a FWD>> some time soon so I could go and submerge myself in it.

It's a release on Hessle, and for those who know that's enough to warrant your time. If you haven't heard their recent last ever show on subFM then go check it. Yessle!

Tracklist:

A   -  Why
B1 - Sunset Yellow
B2 - 5-HTP
 
C   - Neurons
D1 - Dead Living
D2 - Because of You

MySpace | Hessle Audio

Peter Van Hoesen had a pretty amazing 2009, but on the evidence of ‘Entropic Minus Six’, 2010 is going to be his annus mirabilis. Not only is there a Sendai project to look forward to, but also his next album ‘Entropic City’, of which the four tracks on offer here provide a tantalising glimpse.

‘Terminal’ bangs right from the get-go, and never lets up. Taking cues from the sci-fi aesthetic Redshape touched on in his ‘Dance Paradox’ LP, Van Hoesen ups the ante, delivering a genuine stomper that sounds like aliens conversing with each other in Berghain. ‘Strip It, Boost It’ is also trippy as sin, and shows its creator raising his production game. There is almost (but not quite) too much going on as the track revels in a clinical mash of frequencies. On the flip, ‘Quartz #1’ is the sonic equivalent of a car hitting a brick wall at full speed: twisted metal crumple zoning into nothing. The 12” closes with ‘Defense Against the Self’, a slightly less frenetic workout that nonetheless encapsulates Van Hoesen’s reductionist instincts, a wallop of disencumbered four-to-the-floor techno. If you’re still dusting off the cobwebs from last year, this should be just the tonic to bring you up to speed.

12" set for Release on February 8th on Time To Express (Distributed by Clone Distribution).

Tracklist:

a1 Terminal
a2 Strip It, Boost It
 
b1 Quart #1
b2 Defense Against The Self 

MySpace | Entropic City | Time To Express |

As the label copy states, it has been 10 years since Scott Monteith quietly launched his Deadbeat music project, and since that time his contribution to the dub techno genre has been impressive and consistent in equal measure, bringing his variations on the theme to labels as diverse as Wagon Repair and ~scape.

With this compilation he hasn’t attempted – wisely – to provide a comprehensive review of 17 years of Berlin’s legacy. Although a number of Basic Channel/Chain Reaction affiliated tracks appear, such as the genre high watermarks of Basic Channel's "Quadrant Dub," Maurizio's inexplicably driving "M6" and the impossibly deep bassline of Rhythm and Sound's beautiful "Mango Walk", the emphasis is very much on documenting the recent renaissance - or what could even be the second “golden period” of - dub techno.  As such, most of the selections are taken from the last two years.

Indeed, the biggest strength of "Radio Rothko" lies in the fact that, for a genre that can so often feel mired in nostalgia, Deadbeat hasn’t shied from contemporary innovations on the classic forms. After an opening third that focuses on the more ambient hues of the genre (where DeepChord, predictably, appear) Monteith uses the middle section of the selection to extract more upfront techno sounds (such as Deadbeat’s own “Port of Rix” and Marco Fürstenberg’s “Site 312”) out of the smoke-filled caverns, placing them seamlessly alongside the critically-beloved subterranean dubstep of 2562’s “Redux” and the digital abstractions of Monolake’s “Static”. These departures from the “template” are not only refreshing, I’d argue they’re essential for this compilation to work as a coherent and listenable whole.

The final third of the compilation returns us to more familiar territory, but with arguably the strongest cuts of all; and, given the fact I was unable to pick a weak track in the entire lot, that is hopefully saying something. Intrusion’s sublime “Tswana Dub”, Substance & Vainqueur’s bottomless “Reverberation “ and Mikkel Metal’s “Stephan” all ably prove how good the genre can be - and how relevant in 2010's Ostgut/Hardwax-dominated dancefloor techno landscape - when it’s proponents remember to enshrine rhythmic propulsion as well as ambience, power as well as width, hi-end percussion as well as static: to move feet as much as minds.

Deadbeat - "Radio Rothko" is released on 1st March 2010.

MySpace

Mike Shannon and his Cynosure label have been around for a while now, and although they’ve yet to register a full-blown hit, they consistently deliver difficult but deeply rewarding avant-techno fare. Shannon worked with vocalist Fadilla Demirtas on the excellent 'Sweets', a haunting, esoteric workout, that confounded and pleased in equal measure, and she returns on ‘Under the Radar’, a title that could well encapsulate the Canadian’s long presence in electronic music.

Shannon’s original cut adopts a more techy beat than previous outings, and he once again puts Demirtas to good use, coming across as a house diva for the Arab world. Villalobos too, provides a neat fit with Cynosure, and his remix is a welcome, if underwhelming addition. Harking back to the not-quite-walking, not-quite jogging pace of Alcachofa, he shows there’s still life to his micro-house aesthetic. The highlight though, is Deadbeat’s slowburner (with which Shannon began his FACT mix), a sultry beast that couples a steppas growl with twinkley chimes for over four minutes before relapsing into a crunchy, ritualistic release. Rozzo plums Motorcity Drum Ensemble territory for his take, all conveyor belt chords, cymbals, and a hint of handclaps.

The great revelation of the EP however, is not the beats, all competent as you please, but the way in which each artist makes Demirtas sound so different. Part Muezzin, part diva, with just a hint of Dancehall chanteuse, Shannon has found a more than suitable accomplice for his musical skulduggery. Under the radar? Probably not for long.

Cynosure / Mike Shannon MySpace

After ‘Fast Freeze’, MyMy could do no wrong in my eyes. The song (and it is a song, not a track, or a tool, or whatever else you choose to call it) was written as a song should be: it had a beginning, a middle and an end. But more than that, it exhibited an attention to melody, to sonic craftsmanship, that more producers would do well to emulate. If subsequent MyMy releases failed to a certain extent, it was only in comparison with the singular grace and noblesse of ‘Fast Freeze’. For their latest release on Will Saul’s Aus Music, MyMy have once again stuck to what they do best – woozey synths, breezy vocals, and that trademark attention to melody - but once again struggled to reach the dizzying heights they have previously set themselves.

Opener ‘Price Tag’ kicks things off with a slap-bass riff that gets yoked to mouth-wide-open vocals from Emika. Spaghetti-western whistling heralds the arrival of more vocals that scream “playful”, but are actually only playful in the way a puppy dropped on his head is playful. ‘Lights Go Down’ exhibits a more dance floor-oriented direction with tribal-not-tribal drums stomping away whilst ascending and descending synths attempt to add an eeriness that quite frankly isn’t there. The real highlight though is the Appleblim and Komonazmuk remix that teleports MyMy into a 90s London garage club, and leaves them sounding all the better for it. Refashioned as a post-garage ode to Mousse T’s ‘I’m Horny’, the vocal snippets work far better in these disorienting 2-step environs, literally dissolving before a Wagnerian doomfest of a breakdown. The digital only Sideshow remix works in the way public transport “works”: better than a horse and cart, but no Mercedes Benz.

The public transport analogy is a good one actually. Much like the thoughts of the bus driver, constantly travelling the same route, there is little here to surprise. Thanks to sterling work from Appleblim and Komonazmuk, this is not quite seen-it-all-before ennui, but it is certainly no ‘Fast Freeze’.

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MyMy Myspace

After two 12"s on the consistently brilliant Hotflush label earlier in 2009, Sigha returns with perhaps his most impressive release yet. Sigha's earlier releases established him, alongside producers such as Pangaea, T++ and Scuba, as a key purveyor of the techy side of the genre previously known as Dubstep. Although this release continues in the same vein as 'On The Strip' and 'Bruised', it becomes clear that Sigha has well and truly immersed himself in what his earlier productions pointed towards: mesmeric dub techno, but with an injection of garage's funk and swing.

Opener 'Rawww' ripples with infectious, sporadic energy stapled thinly together with a filtered, percussive synth, which runs throughout. The real joy here is the track's unpredictability: in ten minutes the groove changes almost at will, though always so subtle that it is impossible to tell what is coming next. The drums shift and click, layering over each other, dropping out and dipping back in, shifting from minimal and spacey to a bliss of funk with just a few extra drum hits in Omar S fashion.

The first track on the flip, entitled 'Hold My Heart Up To The Light', has a more skippy feel to it, which for the first two and a half minutes leads to a sense of claustrophobia, before being broken by some synth builds, then again being engulfed by the shivers of drum clicks. The occasional synth blocks stop just short of breaking the delicacy of the percussion here, and the result is a track which sounds at breaking point for its entirety, without its minimality ever becoming overwhelmed. 

The final track is the closest this 12" gets to linearity, and is the most obvious on the record to be heard on a dancefloor. This, however, does little to damage the feeling of dread Sigha does so well to establish on the previous two tracks. The drop comes halfway through, doubling the energy without losing any pre-drop subtlety and from here the track continues to a natural, unforced end. 

A touch more techy than his previous output, 'Rawww' is minimal, groove-laden, ominous and highly recommended.

Released on 12" and MP3 23/11/2009

Sigha Myspace