The reliability of the sun’s movement and other astronomical processes is only rivaled by the permanence of Donald Trump’s follicular waves. Culturally, we might also bring into the fray Kompakt’s annual Pop Ambient series, which was started by the Cologne-based label in 2001 and which has worked as a calendrical substitute for the onset of winter (close to) every year since, even if most people are too busy clenching fists and smiling over the prospect of genuine studio albums to get equally hyped. But rest assured, even if you are preoccupied with the new Grimes or what-have-you, a new label kompilation is coming, waiting in a German alley behind a trashcan, on the verge of trouncing you with the pleasant sounds that fit squarely within the genres specified!
Pop Ambient 2016 is set for release a week from now, on November 13, and NPR is serving the role of initial alley dweller by offering a preliminary free stream of the album, playable in full below. This edition in particular features tracks from Mikkel Metal and reinvigorated influencers The Orb, and there’s also a “Megamix” of Wolfgang Voigt’s “Rückverzauberung” served up by Thore Pfeiffer, who released his debut album on Kompakt’s Pop Ambient imprint earlier this year. It all sounds about how’d you’d expect, which shouldn’t be taken as discouragement on my part.
I’m feeling quite encouraged to float:
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Pop Ambient 2016 tracklisting:
01. Stephan Mathieu - April Im Oktober
02. The Orb - Alpine Dawn
03. Anton Kubikov - April
04. Max Würden - Unterwasser
05. Sicker Man & Gregor Schwellenbach - Turns
06. Würden & Pfeiffer - Feinherb
07. Mikkel Metal - Titan
08. Dave DK - Veira (Leandro Fresco Mix)
09. Wolfgang Voigt - Rückverzauberung (Thore Pfeiffer Megamix)
10. Jens-Uwe Beyer - The Bremen
11. Leandro Fresco - Configuración De Ataque
12. Thore Pfeiffer - Idyll