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First things first: the god of pads has returned. After a 6 years hiatus, ULF LOHMANN reports back to POP AMBIENT. As one of the first to break the mould, LOHMANN has shaped Kompakt's early ambient sound in a decisive manner. Fortunately, his two tear-jerking masterpieces PCC and SICHT sound like he was never gone.

We're also celebrating some sort of reunion with THE BIONAUT. It's the alter ego JÖRG BURGER used back in the early 90's, creating unforgettable hits such as "Everybody's Kissing Everyone" or the album "Lush Life Electronica", released via EMI's infamous sub-label Harvest. With the use of real guitars and vocals, the new TRIOLA MIX of the 1992 classic AQUAMARINE gives you a promising foretaste of the upcoming TRIOLA album expected in Spring and a BEST OF BIONAUT compilation on Kompakt Klassiks.

Complex and surprisingly varied, the 14th instalment in the long-running POP AMBIENT series continues with THOMAS FEHLMANN, whose contribution TREATMENT confidently combines the art of free-form vocabulary with well-chosen, economically set piano accents, followed by SIMON SCOTT and MIKKEL METAL who indulge in a sensitive, reduced loop aesthetic complete with echoes of sing-along melodies.

An indispensable POP AMBIENT regular for a few years now, MARSEN JULES endows this latest edition with THE PHILOSOPHERS TRAP - reminiscent of architecture, it's a bizarre soundscape of sublime elegance. COLOGNE TAPE is actually a Kraut electronics allstar live project that has been dreamed up for the modern era. Their cut MOORPARK is a picturesque gem of musical mushroom hunting in the enchanted forest of illusions.

Last but not least, WOLFGANG VOIGT makes a welcome entry. With RÜCKVERZAUBERUNG 8, he continues his eponymous project series in a reassured manner, with worryingly shimmering pads providing a necessary air of seriousness lurking at the fringes of beauty's darker side. No less compelling is his remix of CUPID'S HEAD, the title track of the latest full-length offering from THE FIELD. Going by his project name GAS for the first time since 2008, VOIGT once again showcases his unique, boundary-bending style between the abstract and the concrete, harmony and atonality, art and pop.

The caring fusion of music from diverse artists and styles into an atmospherically dense Gesamtkunstwerk makes the POP AMBIENT compilation an unparalleled - and timeless - listening experience.

Kompakt is a label, distribution & record store located in Cologne, Germany.

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