Various: Pop Ambient 2016 – Album Review

Ambient music is experiencing another moment as people seek solace from the stresses of modern life by plugging in their headphones and going beatless.

There’s a new demand for music to fall asleep to or, at least, music which forsakes the groove.

This won't come as news to the folks at Kompakt who've compiled the Pop Ambient series since 2001, maintaining a balance between new visionaries and seasoned contributors.

The old school is represented here by such well seasoned travellers as The Orb, Jens-Uwe Beyer and Kompakt founder Wolfgang Voigt.

The newcomers include Thore Pfeiffer, whose Idyll is a gorgeously detailed pastoral delight.

There's also fantastically detailed passages like the elegant April In Oktober from Stephan Mathieu.

Soundtracks for falling asleep have never sounded so exciting.

[ kompakt.fm ]