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from the Electroambient Space Newsletter
written by Phil Derby
Electroambient Space site
Various Artists "Lost and Found"
(The Foundry/Hypnos, 2002)
What a great compilation this is. Known for being on the fringes of experimental ambient music, The Foundry this time comes up with a very cool, soothing blend of quiet atmospherics. Largely in the soft ambient vein, this is gentle, surreal stuff, quite accessible. It manages to be serious drone music and yet have a sense of delicacy and beauty. For instance, "Above The Earth" has abstract noises intermittently in the background, but features a beautiful soft bell sound as the dominant factor. It has a very calming effect, an extremely pleasant way to begin this 2-CD journey. "Occluded Forms" is considerably darker, quite a contrast but no less enjoyable. And so it goes through the entire set, sometimes noises and clicks, sometimes floaty, sometimes dark and drony, sometimes light and airy. It covers a fair amount of ambient territory, but also does a surprisingly good job of keeping a singular mood from start to finish. Though pieces have strong leanings toward dark or light, abstract or structured, nothing runs so far afield as to feel out of place here. Disc two is slightly more experimental than the very easy-flowing first disc, but that also gives a bit more edge to it, which isn't unwelcome, though disc one is easily my favorite taken as a whole. Steve Roach completists should be aware that he is a collaborator on one track toward the end of the compilation, as is vidnaObmana. Label founder Michael Bentley has carefully, lovingly assembled a retrospective of The Foundry's first five years, blending previously released material with alternative versions and all-new songs as well. If you've wondered about the various releases on this label and been afraid to check them out, this would be an excellent way to go about it.
(c) 2002 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space