It took a long time for Paul Dickow (aka Strategy) and E*Rock (founder of Audio Dregs) to compile the tracks for Ambient Not Not Ambient. Perhaps even long enough for stylistic shifts to occur in the very genre that they sought to highlight. But you would never be able to tell, such is the coherent feel across its seventeen songs. Curiously, beginning the collection with E*Vax (better known as one half of Ratatat) works much better than it really should, but then again ‘Awl’ is a distinctly different beast to much of E*Vax’s back catalogue. It forgoes melodic prettiness for an uneasy wash of synthetic noise that envelops the opening silence.
The haphazard collection of atonal elements in ‘Weird Boombox’ by Dania Shapes is the second sign of sedition from the ‘ambient’s guise. It’s superbly weird, alternating between a cacophonous rabble of squeaks and bleeps until finally, it drops out to reveal Bird Show’s rather excellent ‘Less of Everything’. Bird Show’s sound is akin to a more twee version of Spacemen 3, or perhaps even Spiritualized. It might seem like a tenuous link at first, but the vocal that fades in and out sounds uncannily like the melancholic hum of Jason Pierce. AM/PM’s ‘Even as We Here’ is intensely memorable, all phasing chimes and standard kick drum ensconced in the mix.
White Rainbow’s ‘See And The Field Feels’ amps up the tempo, relying on a scattered drum beat surrounded by echoes of high pitched squeals. It sets an unconventional pace for a collection built around the premise of “ambient’s music, relating more to the sentiment espoused by mid-90s IDM. ‘Ante Meridian’ by Freeform is yet another highlight, echoing the abstract but pleasing melodies of ex-label mate Squarepusher.
The strength of Ambient Not Not Ambient is as much in its well crafted track progression as in the title – perhaps the double negative aligns more with the subversive, genre-bending nature of the songs within than first thought. Though on some levels passing judgement on a name is as frivolous as doing the same for the cover, it actually reflects the album’ aesthetic to such a degree that it deserves mention. That’s certainly an achievement indeed.
Alexandra Savvides
