Pop Ambient 2001

The ninth Kompakt compilation attempts to differentiate itself from its predecessors by focusing exclusively on a number of the Koln, Germany-based label's best ambient productions. Modeled primarily in the mold of Wolfgang Voigt's mid- to late-'90s work as Gas for Mille Plateaux, the ten songs featured on Pop Ambient 2001 don't concern themselves with beats, percussion, or basslines for the most part, instead emphasizing densely layered, highly nuanced, and meticulously sculpted ambient soundscapes of swirling synth tones and glistening piano-like melodies. The former swirling synth tones comprise the foundation for these ten tracks, a number of synth tones piled atop one another, each slowly stretching and modulating at a snail's pace to quite haunting yet soothing results. The latter glistening piano-like melodies play a larger part in some of the tracks than others, delicate notes seemingly floating atop the thick ambient foreground, each subtle and simple melody shining with a glossy coat of shimmering reverb and/or echo. But even if these aforementioned motifs seem consistent to each of the ten tracks on the compilation, each track no doubt possesses its own eccentric personality, giving the compilation a welcome sense of variety from one track to the next. For example, tracks such as Joachim Spieth's "You Don't Fool Me" and All's "Alltag" largely concern themselves with layer upon layer of slowly drifting ambient synth washes while others such as Dettinger's "Repeater" and Markus Guentner's "Regensburg" largely concern themselves with simple, effect-laden melodies. Overall, the thematic consistency that characterizes this album makes it one of Kompakt's more listenable compilations, even if the emphasis on ambient productions makes it one of their least essential. Furthermore, the appearance of several new-school artists such as Gustavo Lamas and Ulf Lohmann, alongside the label's mainstays (Wolfgang Voigt, Jorg Burger, Dettinger, Reinhard Voigt), also makes this a noteworthy release from the consistently impressive Kompakt camp. ~ Jason Birchmeier