Pop Specialist 2016

It's no small feat to keep an ambient compilation fresh and interesting for over a decade, especially when the core aesthetic idea is as well-defined as Pop Ambient's. But this didn't keep Pop Ambient 2015 (KOMP 120CD/KOM 315LP) from finding a compelling balance between veteran contributors like Jens-Uwe Beyer and Leandro Fresco and new, idiosyncratic voices like Max Wurden and Thore Pfeiffer. They all return for Pop Ambient 2016, joining a captivating cast that also includes heavyweight soundsmiths, experimental composers, and ambient confidants. Pop Ambient 2016 opens with electroacoustic composer and installation artist Stephan Mathieu, whose highly textured opening drone April I'm Oktober bears all the hallmarks of a pop ambient classic, stealthily weaving in layers of sound and moving fluidly between territories. Meanwhile, The Orb show off the full extent of their experience in the field and have their own little ambient collage opera going on in Alpine Dawn, a slight detour from their beat-laden 2015 full-length Moonbuilding 2703 AD (KOMP 124CD/KOM 330LP), but on that same level of masterful sonic dexterity. SCSI-9's Anton Kubikov builds momentum with a sweet melody, slowly evolving to the atmospheric backdrop of a light synth rain, while Wurden imagines a dreamy yet twisted underwater world with lots of space to get lost in. He later returns for a collaboration with Pfeiffer, the other newcomer hero from Pop Ambient 2015, and the result is a fascinating amalgamation of both producers' distinct sonic sensibilities - the grittier, drone-based approach from Wurden and Pfeiffer's penchant for roaming samples and skewed loops. Another dedicated collab comes from Sicker Man and Gregor Schwellenbach, who team up for the string-infused, cinematic epic Turns. Longstanding Kompakt ally Mikkel Metal presents the surging Titan, followed by Fresco's magisterial rework of Dave DK's Veira from his 2015 Val Maira album (KOMP 121CD/KOM 326LP). Pfeiffer's Megamix of Wolfgang Voigt's Ruckverzauberung reimagines an entire concept series as one sweeping cut before Beyer continues his expeditions into hypnotic, semi-acoustic soundscapes on The Bremen, transitioning into the windy mountaintops of Fresco's mysterious, multi-layered Configuracion de Ataque. Pfeiffer has the honor of concluding Pop Ambient 2016 with the appropriately titled Idyll, a soothing, swirling synth study that gives the listener ample opportunity to return to mundane reality at their own pace.