I picked up two CD's this weekend:
Haruomi Hosono: "Medicine Compilation from Quiet Lodge"
Somebody already wrote a pretty good schpeal on this last week. I was
pleasantly surprised (shocked, actually) to see that it is released
domestically in the US (Sony/TriStar). It's a pretty good mix of ambient,
comtemporary ambient dub and Japanese pop, with various tracks being
played in various genres. There is one track which is alot along the lines
of Amorphous Androgynous (the fifth track on the Hosono CD). Overall
mellow synthetic Hosono-genius. (Although he still hasn't outdone Malabar
Hotel IMHO.) Much more tolerable than Sakamoto's current solo work *blech*.
Bill Laswell: "Divination: Ambient Dub Volume 1"
Obviously someone's trying to cash in on the Ambient Dub series ;)
The copy I got (CD) was on Subharmonic in Brooklyn, which is why I got it
(to catch up on domestic east coast ambient) although I wouldn't be
surprised if it was originally released elsewhere. It's kinda gloomy, which
is refreshing in the contemporary ambient scene, but a few too many
screams-in-the-distance for me personally. Overall, very ambient, and
where there are beats it gets busy. I would say it's going to get played,
but probably won't be my top pick after a hard day in the mines.
-tt