IDM Mailing Archive

you really can't go wrong with

quoted 3 lines the "A Brief History of Ambient" 2CD comps on Virgin. They're up to at

> the "A Brief History of Ambient" 2CD comps on Virgin. They're up to at > least Volume Three, maybe Four > > as far as i know they are all out of print. which blows b/c there are

These are good comps. There were only three of them before Virgin took a turn with the series and ruined it, to my mind. The fourth volume was the well known "Isolationism" double, which I never got hold of, but it is all contemporary, and therefore misses the point of the original idea. After that they began to bury the "History of Ambient" title and feature other contemporary stuff. I don't know where it's at now, but the David Toop comps might be a part of the series, and if so, signal a return to the "history" aspect of the series. You can still find them around, even at Best Buy or Barnes and Noble. Charlie James

On Tue, 28 Apr 1998, Britton-James wrote:

quoted 9 lines These are good comps. There were only three of them before Virgin took a

> These are good comps. There were only three of them before Virgin took a > turn with the series and ruined it, to my mind. The fourth volume was > the well known "Isolationism" double, which I never got hold of, but it > is all contemporary, and therefore misses the point of the original > idea. After that they began to bury the "History of Ambient" title and > feature other contemporary stuff. I don't know where it's at now, but > the David Toop comps might be a part of the series, and if so, signal a > return to the "history" aspect of the series. You can still find them > around, even at Best Buy or Barnes and Noble.

Funny, I had the opposite prob. The 1st 3 read like they were excerpted from my rekkid collection, though I had to buy the 3rd for the brilliant Darshan remix, I skipped the 4th, finally picked up again w/ the Macro Dub Infection comp, which is brilliant. I like the comps in the series I've heard, don't know why they threw in some individual artists. Che

At 4:56 PM -0400 4/28/98, you wrote:

quoted 3 lines As far as availability/affordability goes, you really can't go wrong with

>As far as availability/affordability goes, you really can't go wrong with >the "A Brief History of Ambient" 2CD comps on Virgin. They're up to at >least Volume Three, maybe Four now (with 2CDs in each volume)

I believe that the comp "Ambient Isolation" is considered the fourth volume of the series. At any rate, this collection series is probably the closest thing to a definitive ambient progression available. At least it attempts to set the record straight, in contrast to the current preconception that ambient music began 20 years ago. 3

quoted 8 lines As far as availability/affordability goes, you really can't go wrong with

> > > >As far as availability/affordability goes, you really can't go wrong with > >the "A Brief History of Ambient" 2CD comps on Virgin. They're up to at > >least Volume Three, maybe Four now (with 2CDs in each volume) > > I believe that the comp "Ambient Isolation" is considered the fourth volume > of the series.

just to let those interested enough know that the ambient series which was marshalled by Simon Hopkins actually reached 24 volumes. the latter ones from 5-24 included the wonderful david toop 'ocean of sound compilations', japanese noise, and various artists including Techno Animal, Paul Schutze, Toop himself and Edgar Froese. if you can, track them down. i can't praise this series of releases highly enough. James [CV]ev/(V/Vm)

In a message dated 98-04-28 18:10:53 EDT, abpurvis@phoenix.Princeton.EDU writes: << as far as i know they are all out of print. which blows b/c there are tons of exclusive tracks by people like aphex, scorn, labradford, seefeel, etc etc etc. ambient 4 - isolationism is great, but i've only heard all of 3 and bits of 1 & 2 otherwise. >> I don't think so. The place I work actually has 1 & 2 in stock. Which is saying something. All of the collections are tremendous. Well, maybe not that good, but certainly educational regarding the history of ambient and to a lesser extent IDM. Just to hear Prince Far I on an "ambient" record is worth the cost. And where else would you think to find a FSOL remix of David Sylvian/Robert Fripp? Or Massive Attack recreating the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan? I'll quit rambling ... I know 1, 2, & 3 are all domestically released by Caroline. 4 is available only as an import (Dutch, I think). I picked another copy up 2 months ago for $10 at a local Blockbuster Music. They're out there, to paraphrase Richard Dreyfuss. James np: Seefeel "moodswing"