Tom Middleton’s new AMBA project should provide a pretty fair indication of the route we’re taking; ambient music featuring orchestral, choral and electro acoustic arrangements. And here’s the drafts, pulled from current ITune playlists that include Beautiful Music, Sextrax, Early 90’s Hip Hop+Breakbeats, Ambient-Prog, Soundtracks Without Films, Obscuriosities, 70’s TV Nostalgia, and Future Folk.
Known for his recordings as Cosmos, Global Communication and The Jedi Knights (alongside Mark Pritchard) Middleton’s productions, remixes and DJ Sets have seen the former classical pianist recently rework the likes of Amp Fiddler and Mighty Dub Katz. His debut release for Family Recordings – The Trip –alleged to have shown an inventiveness rarely seen in the world of compilations – received widespread critical acclaim and remains the biggest seller in the series to date. 2005’s Cosmosonica – Crazy Covers allowed Tom to dig deeper into his record collection and The Trip 2 extends that remit.
Described by our host as a ‘vertical and a horizontal selection of lifetracks for the iTunes generation’ the record features a woozy, delicate mix of leisurely alternative that avoids the customary pitfalls of wilful eclecticism and market-driven choices both. It’s an honest mix, addressing the culturally vital (‘Thames TV Ident’, Laure Johnson’s ‘This Is Your Life’, the theme from ‘Vision On’), the familiar (Stereo MCs, Air, Simian, Beck, Goldfrapp), the folksy (Emiliana Torrini) and party-flavoured, anything-goes tomfoolery (Ronson and Rhymefest’s version of Air’s ‘Alpha Beta Gaga’, Caveman’s ‘I’m Ready’, Recluse, I Monster).
No need for a road map. The destination is obvious: an ambient cocktail party with guests Easy and Funk.