There are many ambient sounds and musics, from the everyday soundscape to the barely-background of ambient techno. Somewhere amidst all that is what I’ve come to think of as “ecstatic ambient.” Ecstatic ambient amplifies the pulses inherent in tones and maximizes the surface textures, and in turn it yields what could be mistaken for one of Terry Riley’s electric ragas or one of Philip Glass’ early solo organ riffs. Such is “Expanding Universe” from Nuun. In just under two and a half minutes, it shreds the air, pushing saw-toothed waveforms and jittering static, and breaking it up with glitching beat-like demarcations. In a sense it’s noise music, but it’s entirely absent anything like a negative impulse. If it’s noise, it’s a joyful one.
Track originally posted at soundcloud.com/nuunnuun.