various: pop ambient 2019

Wolfgang Voigt (aka GAS)-curated series, Pop Ambient returns with a change of pace. Be prepared for a more acoustically prominent/avant-garde collection that follows the aesthetic of previous editions... and goes where you have never heard before in the series. "When a record label thrives after 25 years thanks to a focus of what was expected to be a short-lived music phenomenon called techno, then it stands to prove two things; that techno has taken its place amongst "serious" genres. KOMPAKT has never been only for techno, but stands as a broad-minded entity that has set out to cross-pollinatewithin the realm of electronic music. Through its course, KOMPAKT has sent all kinds of sub-genres, and crossover adventures based on the non-negotiable 4/4 beat around the world. The 100% kick drum-free Pop Ambient series is the most endearing and enduring concept that I have had the pleasure to curate. I felt there was a strong need to add a certain elegance -- ensouled by discourse as much as hedonism -- to a sound that was recognized as "chill out" music that could be heard in back rooms and forgotten festival areas. Over the years, I like to imagine that Pop Ambient has crystallized into musical universe of its own. I put together this year's edition by plowing through an ocean of sonic jewelry from all over the world. For this special edition, I create a homogenous experience that would both appeal to our followers and continue our tradition while integrating new micro-facets from neighboring musical universes as much as possible. The headline "Ambient" might sound a little too humble but it still helps as a necessary means of orientation in the best possible sense. Same goes for another dear tradition: Veronika Unland's abstract-floral cover design that keeps on pleasing our sore eyes year after year. Although every Pop Ambient edition doesn't shy away from diving into the relevant question of "What is contemporary discourse music", in the end it boils down to that elevated moment where all theory dissolves into ambient air, into a higher state of cosmic bliss. Pop Ambient is sacral music for non-believers." --Wolfgang Voigt Cologne, October 2018. Features: Thore Pfeiffer, Coupler, The Black Frame, Kenneth James Gibson, Morgen Wurde, Gregor Schwellenbach, Last Train To Brooklyn, Max Würden, Thomas Fehlmann, Leandro Fresco, Yui Onodera, and Triola.