dubbleaye
Each song this year really stands out in its own unique & particular way.
From the start, Sonne begins with a quick, dramatic opening. The spacious soundscapes of Air, catchy guitar strums on Nero, the many collabs & the two ensemble pieces of the Sono Kollektiv; I find myself coming back to this Pop Ambient for the personality amongst the songs that seem to shine bright on this annual installment.
The cover art is perfect for the song selection here; beautiful, bright, & eye-catching.
Favorite track: Air.
Henrik Sundqvist
Love everything about these compilations. I started listening to Kompakt releases in 2021 to get some inner peace during the pandemic. Now I am hooked. Great lineup for working on art or just chilling on the couch.
Favorite track: Sieg Über Das Ungute.
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Pop Ambient 2023
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Tracklisting Vinyl:
1. Gen Pop - Blue
2. Morgen Wurde - Ende Sah feat. Tetsuroh Konishi
3. Max Würden - Retrieve
4. Triola - Kupferblüte
5. Sono Kollektiv - Bolzano Sessions IV
6. Jens-Uwe Beyer - Nero
7. Sono Kollektiv - Bolzano Sessions V
8. Reich & Würden - Receiver
9. Joachim Spieth / zakè - Air
10. Thore Pfeiffer / Kinbrae - Instinkt
11. Blank Gloss - Down At The Heel
Includes unlimited streaming of Pop Ambient 2023
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
A contemporary product of relentless capitalism has been a trend called slowness for several years now. In order to counteract the perceived fast pace of the times in which we live with a little deceleration, sustainability and relaxation, phenomena such as Slow Food, Slow Travel, Slow Fashion or even Slow Cruising, the tourist sailing of the world's oceans with somewhat smaller cruise ships "away from the mainstream", have been introduced into the world.
That slowness is more than the opposite of speed, that elements, things, sounds that move as if in slow motion unfold a special power, precision, aesthetics and beauty, doesn’t need to be explained twice to ambient musicians. The 23rd edition of the Pop Ambient compilation, compiled as always by Wolfgang Voigt, is no exception, but instead provides the proof. Already with the first tracks of Leandro Fresco/Thore Pfeiffer, Gen Pop (Burger, Pfeiffer, Würden), Morgen Wurde feat. Tetsuroh Konishi and Max Würden up to Triola's gloomy and melancholic "Kupferblüte", the feeling of a slowness and calmness not experienced before, of an exceedingly lively standstill, creeps over us. A mental state that resembles dreams, in which we follow strange events as if paralyzed, yet awake and sensory.
The Cologne-based Sono Kollektiv, an association of experimental artists Annie Bloch, Stefanie Grawe, Joel Jaffe, Alex Linster, Luis Weiß, Moritz Riesenbeck, Lukas Schäfer, Emily Wittbrodt and Max Würden, is represented for the first time with two contributions on Pop Ambient. The two works, the fragile "Bolzano Sessions IV" and the rather light-flooded "Bolzano Sessions V" (only available on CD and in the digital version) nestle perfectly into the musical whole of this year's compilation, not only in terms of their majestic leisureliness.
In Jens-Uwe Beyer's "Nero", melancholic guitar chords reduced to the bare minimum are carried away by the wind like leaves, the reverberation holding the last note so long that it almost comes to a stop in the ear. If you like it synesthetic, look at the once again ravishing cover artwork by Veronika Unland right at this moment. Colors and shapes in which there is both everything and nothing to discover. Both feel equally right.
The final third of Pop Ambient 2023 begins with Reich & Würden's herbaceous "Receiver," a track so dignified and carried by pads reminiscent of the sound of bagpipes that it would have perfectly punctuated her majesty the Queen's 8-hour funeral ceremony - a wonderful example, by the way, of the spiritual confluence of deceleration and precision that eventually turns into trance.
The slowness is joined by togetherness at the end: Pop Ambient veteran Joachim Spieth cooperates with American sound artist zakè on his literally weightless "Air", Thore Pfeiffer co-produced the wonderful "Instinct" with Scottish brother duo Andy and Mike Truscott aka Kinbrae. California duo Patrick Hills and Morgan Fox aka Blank Gloss close out the vinyl version with the yearning "Down At The Heel," while that honor falls to debutant Ümit Han on the Pop Ambient CD. "Sieg über das Ungute" (victory over the unpleasant) in all its beauty brings us painfully back to reality.
supported by 37 fans who also own “Pop Ambient 2023”
Burial fully realises the ambient aspects of his work that he has been leaning towards over the past few years. Whether you like it or not, you can't deny that this is undeniably Burial. Kutkh_Jackdaw
Rough-and-tumble folk guitars co-mingle with stark synth melodies on the LA duo's third LP, bridging the gap between Americana and ambient. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 22, 2023
supported by 37 fans who also own “Pop Ambient 2023”
As I drift away from the Earth and all its chaos, its gleam reduces to a speck in the vast cosmos surrounding me. I close my eyes and take my solace among the ocean of stars. Christopher Nolan