Ambient Fave from Half-Gig Compilation

Another favorite from Wein, Weib und Gesang, the massive, 34-track, nearly five-hour compilation from the Kikapu netlabel. (See yesterday’s entry for more info.) Feel free to download the half-gigabyte collection, or just pick out the Downstream recommendations. Today it’s “Senseless in Space,” credited to Souns: a pleasurable eight-minute modulated drone piece, with a mix of aquatic bass depth, ring-tone highlights and glitch textures — the glitch stuff never gets out of hand; it sounds as if the crinkled cellophane wrapper around a CD were part of its sonic content. “Senseless in Space” circulates in a loping manner, but manages its beats with an intriguing strategy — while a lot of beat-based music gets labeled “ambient” due to its casual, spacey aura, Souns keeps its rhythms ambiguous, so just as they come to determine a head-swaying pattern, they drift away. Pleasing stuff. Download “Senseless in Space” here and visit Kikapu.com.