Various - Pop Ambient 2011 (Vinyl LP, CD)

If you start measuring your life out by these Pop Ambient comps, the years start to roll on by even faster than they normally do which is very fast indeed. I stopped listening to the excellent 2009 compilation only recently and it seems like only yesterday I had a flick through the 2010 effort. Now it's a case of "how is one supposed to keep up?" Well what we have here is one of the few compilation records that you really need as it usually showcases the best in your dub/techno/electronica/ambient type thing. The general consensus in the office is that these compilations have been getting darker and the opening track featuring Blixa Bargeld is tortured and strained in the way only Europeans can be. You'd never get an Englishman so openly upset. Anyway the second track by Marsten Jules is utterly captivating and although time is against me in trying to listen through the rest of the collection, I can tell you that it features Triola, Thomas Fehlman, Bvdub and the incredibly named Bhutan Tiger Rescue amongst others. These comps usually do steer away from the bigger household names but always contain gems you would not have otherwise stumbled across.