Like its predecessor from early 2011, “Hidden Landscapes“, this second Audio Gourmet/Hibernate compilation offers a stunning palette of contemporary abstract impressionist music.
Compiled by Harry ‘Spheruleus’ Towell and Bartosz ‘Pleq’ Dziadosz, and presented with stunning photography by Jonathan Lees, “Hidden Landscapes 2” presents over 70 minutes of music by artists like Talvihorros, Danny Norbury, Federico Durand, Rudi Arapahoe, Lawrence English, Field Rotation, Pjusk, Offthesky, Konntinent, Strom Noir and Ian Hawgood (just to mention 11 of the 16 artists).
Although the tracks were selected to fit the dreamlike landscape from the cover art, the music offered is in fact quite diverse. The album opens with some quitar minimalism from Marsen Jules, continues to explore post-classical territory, taking a (somewhat Tolkienesque) detour with the beautiful Rudi Arapahoe track, dives into immersively deep ambient by Field Rotation, before slowly venturing into somewhat more glitchy and noisy experimental tracks.
There’s enough variation to keep the listener interested, yet the compilation stays coherent by avoiding too extreme deviations.
“Hidden Landscapes 2” presents a view into the kind of landscape you’ll never get tired of staring into…revealing new details with every new listening…the sounds just as fascinating as the cover image.
RUDI ARAPAHOE – DOUBLE BIND