This lulling piece by Mike Brosco, “Awash,” makes a strong case for ambient music’s ability to waver between atmosphere and composition. At times this track, just three and a half minutes in playing time yet with the sense of something much longer, has the lushness of an evening’s semi-internalized backdrop, all distant insect noise and mental meandering. At others it introduces melody-like transitions, or developments, that the ear can focus on, such as shifts in register, and synthesizer warbles, and bits of symphonic impressionism. In those latter moments it achieves a proximity to early-1980s Brian Eno recordings, in particular On Land and Apollo. Very nicely done.
Track originally published at soundcloud.com/brosco. Brusco is based at Champaign, Illinois.