Atmo

The superb Music To Films is a cosmic mixture of ambient trance, robotic minimalism and panoramic melodies based on an unusual concept. Lieb and collaborator Dr Atmo conceived it as an "alternative soundtrack" to the wordless documentary film Koyaanisqatsi which was originally scored by Philip Glass. Despite its outstanding quality, Music To Films was never re-released after its initial small run and it quickly became one of the label's rarest CD releases.

"Car music for the Ambient-Vehicles of our days…" 4 long tracks starting at a slow 88 KMH with a nice slow dubby swinging beat. It grooves nicely. Then pops in a pulsing tone. Nicer. Then things start go get a bit more mysterious- especially with a woman giving the usual speech a stewardess gives before a plane takes off. Neato. 88 KMH picks up a bit more with some bubbly squirts and a nice beat about halfway into the track. Very nice. This cd has some really nice bass in it- deep and dubby. Very trancey. 90 KMH…faster and faster we go starting with a melody that continues in this track and the next. Again, the bass..getting more and more trancey. 130 KMH starts out with some low booming and then into some nice trancey stuff, clocking in around 130 (surprise!) or so.

The most basic compilation for American audiences interested in Pete Namlook's Fax Records is a two-disc set including tracks from Namlook guises Air, the Putney, 4Voice and Shades of Orion. A host of other Fax favorites make appearances: Plastikman's Richie Hawtin on the epic From Within track "Sad Alliance," Deep Space Network and Dr. Atmo on I.F.'s "Kisy Loa," Atom Heart and Tetsu Inoue on their Datacide track "Data Haku." Fax is easily the most traditional-sounding ambient label, and the music would make an equally strong impression on fans of Hearts of Space and Basic Channel.

The unconventional quartet of Amir Abadi (aka Dr. Atmo), Ingo Schnorrenberg, Michael Pagenstedt and former Tuxedomoon vocalist Blaine L. Reininger - having previously collaborated as Falling Infinities - returned in 1994 as U V O I I for the equally idiosyncratic Sound of Heaven, issued on the venerable Fax +49-69/450464 label headed by Pete Namlook. Atmo brings a strong ethnic rhythmic sensibility, whilst Schnorrenberg and Pagenstedt set the otherworldly, yet distinctly digital, atmosphere. Unusually for FAX, there are vocals here - Reininger recites his recondite and surrealistic poetry, as well as strained howls and some gorgeous violin contributions. Undeservedly underrated.

The original Ambient Cookbook came out back in 1995, and gave the listener a good cross section of the music available on Fax at the time. There was a mixture of music from not just Namlook, but also from the numerous other artists and collaborators on the label. Now, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the label, the Ambient Cookbook II has been released. Comparisons with the original release are of course inevitable, but in reality this new 4 CD set is something entirely new. Whilst still featuring an excellent selection of music from Fax, the majority of the tracks are by Namlook or Namlook & Collaborators. The only non-Namlook tracks are Atom's "Tuff Transmitter", Inoue's "Magnetic Field" and Jochem Paap's "Dx Synth". Overall, this is a highly recommended release, which would serve as a good introduction to the label…

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