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review by Dene Bebbington Ambiend is a self-released album by an artist who describes himself as a multimedia composer. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to be well known - his web presence is minimal and I could find little mention of this album. I say surprisingly because this is one of the best ambient albums I've heard for some time, possibly a treasure not so far discovered by many. Across ten discrete tracks Karl weaves (pardon the pun!) his ambient magic to create an album that hangs together well. Though the track lengths vary from around two to over eighteen minutes (all but one are under nine minutes long) the common thread that binds the album is a good sense of uplifting melody, even on pieces that are more in a floating/drifting vein - a good example of this is the aptly titled "Genteel" where a pretty synth line can lead one to imagine clouds gracefully moving across the sky. The opener "Headland" is for me the epitome of what Ambiend has to offer. While waves of reverbing synths come and go like waves lapping on the rocks of a headland a piano plays a contemplative melody, and other melodies sometimes make an appearance - a particularly pleasing and inspiring one sounds like a sax. For me personally this track is so good because it can lead me to recall memories of a sunny afternoon when I sat on the small island of Iona looking out over the sea just marvelling at the beauty of the setting. Several of the subsequent tracks are rhythmic, but again the most noticeable aspect is how it's all done melodically. Another stand out piece is "Su nylon", combining brief snippets of an operatic sounding female voice with synths, acoustic guitar, and an accordion like sound, it goes through several phases ranging from quiet and reflective to rhythmic or dramatic. Ambiend deserves an unqualified recommendation, it's one of the more beautiful ambient works to have come out in recent years and never fails to make me feel better whatever my mood. |
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