First up is a compilation, the first I've reviewed in a while. Ambient music used to thrive on such compilations, but, sadly, they are far less frequent these days--it remains the best way to be introduced to new artists while also showcasing intriguing album concepts and themes. Foundry's Bibimbap is based around the idea of the Korean dish created from a variety of ingredients. The overarching concept of the album, then, is a mixture of disparate and unused tracks by different artists that total to a satisfying meal.

• The first track is by newcomer Ben Swire, whose Equilibrium ep was reviewed here last year. "Amalgam" occupies the same chilled IDM territory as that ep, but feels stronger over five minutes than that release did in fifteen. Melancholy synth pads and a clicky beat lead to a dramatic tympani-like kickdrum. A symphonic techno mood is created, which culminates in a belltone march. Vocal samples and more luscious pads round out "Amalgam" nicely. This track represents the Bibimbap concept well, as many disparate elements are mixed to create a track that is more than the sum of its parts.
• Next is Ambient Review favorite Saul Stokes, whose "Cyclops Afternoon" feels like an outtake from the Fields sessions, mixed with some of the more chilled moods of Outfolding. Stokes's compilation tracks seem to have the same tones, and this is quite similar to the track on Databloem's Collection 2: Moving, with lovely and strange synth soloing and a mid-tempo urban groove (though urban by way of Trantor). Nice work, if not as memorable as Stokes's recent album material, especially the excellent new tracks on Radiate.
• Forrest Fang contributes "Filling the Bowl," a mixture of somewhat chaotic (though always pretty) ambience and gamelan, much like the material on 2000's excellent Gongland. It's been too long since that album, and this track causes me to hope another Fang full length won't be far behind. "Filling the Bowl" is relatively short, but the burbling ambience combined with Fang's synths melds quite neatly in the time span--a perfect amount of every ingredient makes for one of the best tracks on the disc.
• Next is Foundry label owner M. Bentley under his eM guise with the marvelously titled "The Twilight Pageant of the Bibimbots." The pageant begins with reverberant post-industrial sounds that strained my speakers. Gradually, a mechanical dirge that recalls Maria's strange dance in Lang's Metropolis exposes itself. It's a great track with an ethnic and haunting feel, with imagery of humanistic, though clearly artifical, forms dancing like mannequins in the twilight. A highlight.
• The second half of Bibimbap is populated by artists I'm unfamiliar with. It's also the point on the disc where things really start to get adventurous. Earwicker's "Entree" recalls both Popol Vuh's "Ich mache einen Spiegel" and more abstract ambient-techno from the late-nineties. It's a great track with a lot of strange sonics, both samples and tones, lancing across the speakers, all propelled by a downtempo beat that actually reminded me a little of Skinny Puppy, believe it or not.
• Chris de Giere's "Kimchi Tastes of Summer" is populated by uneasy blips and bleeps underpinned by subtle synth ambience. The track doesn't quite gel for me, even though the underlying synth is quite lush and gorgeous. Interestingly glitchy crackles intercede here and there, aligning this track with newer laptop composers, but, for the most part, this track is fairly forgettable.
• Thermal, former M-1 Alternative (remember them?) and AToI member, gives us "Muse of Exploration," a track that represents the perfect mixture of dreampop and ambient electronics, similar to music by Kiln and other artists who tread the line between indierock and ambient. I must admit I missed the heyday of C'est la Morte records, but it's good to know the artists are still out there, embracing new styles and staying relevant. The guitar work on "Muse of Exploration" is not to be missed by fans of Darla records' small electronic stable, and this track ranks as my favorite on the compilation.
• Finally, Dean Santomieri closes the compilation with the short, poignant, and poetic "Their hearts burst the bars, but their necks broke against the glass," a brief exploration in cut-up scissory electronics. It's a little like Nurse with Wound, but short enough that it maintains novelty without wearing on the listener. Cool stuff, though obtuse, and a mysterious and fun way to end the compilation.

Next up is Jonathan Hughes's remarkable follow-up to his album Trillium (both released on Foundry). Fluidities, a two CD set, is of note on a number of levels. First, it contains eleven new Hughes tracks. Second, it contains eleven tracks by some very notable names in modern ambient/electronic music: Ian Boddy, Tetsu Inoue, High Skies (formerly Em:t artist Gas), AToI, Saul Stokes, and others. Third, the two discs are meant to be played simultaneously. Yes, one can create 121 different six-minute "fantasy" collaborations by the artists on disc one and the artists on disc two, if a person has two CD players available to them in the same room. And if you rip all of the tracks to MP3 (or have two copies of the set), you can have even more combinations of songs ... perfect for those who'd like to see Tetsu Inoue and Ian Boddy pretending to create their own version of 2350 Broadway in 2004. This fun concept was an impossibility for me, technologically anyhow, so I'll review the separate tracks on Fluidities based on their own merit. It's a sprawling set, so I'll simply focus on highlights to prevent the review from taking over my entire webspace.

Disc one: Jonathan Hughes's "Snowdrift" is an absolutely lovely piano driven piece with Budd melodies mixing with simple sonic manipulations to form an update of the crystalline environments of The Plateaux of Mirror. Saul Stokes's "Summer" is an uncharacteristically environmental track, similar, for me, to his Edge of the Forest. It also, despite the title, fits very nicely with the icy atmospheres of the previous Hughes track. It's obvious Stokes pays a lot of attention to creating his music, as I've yet to hear a weak track by him, whether on a compilation or full-length. Hughes's "Photogenic" is an underwater, reverberant track, reminding me a little of the trippy, sparse excursions by Silent Records artist Pelican Daughters. Gorgeous and minimal. Next is "Memory II" by Jussi and Jaana Väisänen, and is also one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s Stars of the Lid conjoined with haunting vocal samples in not-English and strange unknowable clunks and noises, like a field recording of the spectral plane. Haunting and perfect. I found Susanne Brokesch's track, "Hostile Phone" to sound somewhat dated at first. Worth mentioning is its transformation into something that sounds like no less than Cluster's deep space oddities. Jonathan Hughes collaborates with Naryan Padmanabha on the unusual "Feel the Photons" with sparse, bright ambience, bizarre random noises, and a guitar line combining into a futuristic mantra-jam session. In a way, this sounds like what Bark Psychosis's new album would have been if it were focused more on the electronic spectrum. Great stuff. AToI contributes the watery "Dr. John Lilly's Precise Instructions (instrumental)" which bubbles along like Michael Mantra's psychoactive material. Dean Santomieri's "Seahorse Pajama Haiku" is nothing like his Bibimbap track; this time it's all lovely synth tones and more underwater ambience. A pretty, diverse track and completely a surprise after the cutup I'd previously experienced. Finally, Hughes's "Ophelia, the Daycleaner" closes disc one with a high-pitched and organ-flavored reverence. It's a holy sound, a music of the spheres.

Disc two: The second disc begins with ambient legend Tetsu Inoue. I have to admit that Inoue lost me after World Receiver; I haven't felt brave enough to explore his microsound journeys, deeming them a little too inaccessible for my tastes. "Soft Dome" may just prove me wrong, however. The experimental and chaotic textures are here, but they combine to form a relaxing river of microsound, quite easy to get caught up in. M. Bentley's "April" is an extremely minimal piano piece, lovely, stark, and one that I imagine mixes well with many of the other tracks on the set. Echoes of modern classical by Bentley diversify Fluidities, enriching the total in the process. "Two Thirteen" by Hughes and David Mussen reminds me a little of Robert Rich’s work, specifically the times Rich appears to create the sounds of an alien environment: glurp and the strange resonances emanating from unseen lifeforms. Hughes's "Reda" has a Biosphere flavor, more fragile icy environments and high-pitched radio transmissions from beyond. High Skies contributes exemplary work of contrasting textures that wisp in the air like different perfumes on "The Shipping Forecast." The collaboration between M. Bentley and Hughes yields "Atlantic," their version of the sinking of the Titanic, just as it hits bottom, perhaps. This may very well be my favorite track on disc two. UK master-synthesist Ian Boddy's "Suburbia" sure doesn't sound like what's going on outside my window. This is birdsong out of the final scenes of David Lynch's Blue Velvet, suburbia altered, though recognizable, but somehow off. Totally unlike much of the Boddy material I've heard, and simply breathtaking. The final Hughes track "Luminaria" is subterranean, the gurgle of hot forces beneath the earth's crust. Interstitial closes the entire set with "Indelible Ink" a typically strange, dark work of bassy harmonics that conjures claustrophobic imagery--enough to darken even the lightest tracks on the set, I'd imagine.

Fluidities has a conceptual quality that's hard to beat, and the inclusion of so many excellent artists further sweetens the deal. Each track, most conjuring the liquid qualities of the title, is with merit. Of course, I enjoyed the Hughes tracks the most, and even created a burned disc that featured them alone, so I could enjoy a makeshift new album. I can't comment on how the individual tracks might sound when combined with each other as directed in the liner notes, but the tracks are minimal and fluid enough to accommodate many combinations. Hughes proves with Fluidities that he is a forward thinking artist capable of producing interesting concepts and musical directions that should satisfy even the most hardened ambient fans. The tracks are always adventurous, without sacrificing listenability, and stand up to repeated stand-alone plays. In essence, Fluidities is an intriguing concept that does not require participation on the part of the listener for maximum enjoyment. It's one of the Foundry's most interesting releases and is highly recommended--it's a fascinating and diverse work that only increases my appetite for more of Jonathan Hughes's forward-thinking music.

Both Bibimbap and the double-disc Fluidities are available from The Foundry.