Since Richard D. James (aka Polygon Window) has seemingly selected all the ambient works, it seems his buddies U-ziq, Global Goon, Astrobotnia, and The Buddy System have footed the form considerably. On "Tom Told Me Pt.2" off of The Buddy System's numbly titled Transitions album, a sick, Fenno'berg-tinged jam takes over the proceedings with some thrilling immediacy. Like Future Sound of London, The Buddy System thrives on spiking their lush, ambient soundscapes with insistent Blade Runner-type punk throbbing. It may sound like the same-old, same-old at first, but, like all good ambient, Transitions sends you where you want to go, and it possesses some knock-you-on-your ass surprises in structural shifting.
Of course (of course!) I'm referring to the TKO of "Backyards Pt.1" towards the end the album. If you become bored and glazed o'er toward the beginning of the album, just skip to the second half and you're set. Contrapuntal rhythms dominate these chair-dancing anthems, along with stops and starts out of the broken circulatory system of that cyborg kid in AI (that you wish someone would just throw in the pool and roll the bubble wrap over). That is, I have no quarrel with The Buddy System's Wendy Carlos acrobatics with Orbital/Kraftwerk melodies. It will either win you over or blend into the background so you can get some work done.
It's a 3 because I've played on the windchimes at my parent's house just as well as The Buddy System (whose chime-stirring prowess is displayed for a few minutes at the albums end). Seriously though, it's a 3 because it gets a little of its own thing going amidst so much robbin' and stealin'. Transitions is worth checking out because... well, 3 out of 5 ain't so bad after all, and it'll surely fill the hungry listener's clicks/buzzes/synthwash quotient till Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol. 3. Fat chance, and most of us are too busy hanging out with Lemon of Pink to care anymore; but it'd be nice anyway. I think it's time the guy steps up for his return to his former status and cook up the next ambient torchsong record before Buddy System (maybe), The Books, Polmo Polpo, or Colleen do it for him. Wait, who am I reviewing again?
1. Guten Tag Berlin Pt. 1
2. Guten Tag Berlin Pt. 2
3. Live 27dec01 Pt. 2
4. Live 27dec01 Pt. 3
5. Tom Told Me Pt. 1
6. Tom Told Me Pt. 2
7. Backyards Pt. 1
8. Backyards Pt. 2