Ambient has often felt something akin to a dirty word. On the surface it can mean anything from field recordings, sections of Angelo Badalamenti scores, and those early Orb albums to insipid music played in 90s clubs where you hide away in after the main rooms got a bit too much. It is, of course, all of these things… and none of them.
The album opens with Gibsun’s ‘Come Home but Why?’. Subtle synths and the sound of birds give us the impression of tranquillity and calm. The sounds of the natural environment are a nice touch as they ground the music in the real world. As soon as we hear those cheeps we have a solid memory, or feeling, to hone in on, as the music billows about, free from beats and rhythmic angles. H
YLY ‘Stasis’ follows Gibsun. ‘Stasis’ feels more rigid and constructive than the opener. There is a manipulated vocal sample, but there are no field recordings. This is what I expected the album would be mostly like. Slightly uninspired synths meandering through a theme. The title seems very fitting. After the initial few moments, nothing much happens. This of course can be aimed at the majority of ambient music, but at least on the opener, there were interesting movements and motifs. Here we just have three minutes of, well, stasis.
The album is split into two types of song. Those that use field recordings and those that don’t. The Vendetta Suite’s ‘Lagan Bubbles’ uses sounds of water and boats. Like the opener it makes the music sound more dynamic. Seaplane’s ‘Satellite’ gives the album its first beats and proper bassline. The Fully Automatic Model ‘Otuaprah’ gives us a deep bassline and celestial tones. Both conjure up images of space and inter galactic flight and both work pretty well because of it.
The standout track is Timmy Stewart and Iain McCready’s ‘Awaiting Conor Hall.’ It tells the story of a night out from a DJ/promotor’s perspective. A lot of gear is mentioned, speakers, subs, and so forth. The music builds around the story, growing in anticipation. The music also is of a harder timbre than the previous tracks, and pretty much what follows.
When ‘Extended Delay’ works well it is everything I want from ambient music. Slow moving swells of sound flow out of my speakers. It reminds me of those videos of clouds at the top of mountains, when it looks as though they are being poured down the mountainside. Gibsun’s opening track is really effective in setting the mood. However, there are some songs that lean heavily on established tropes and cliches. Next to the tracks that works well they standout. This of course is a problem with all compilations. Some songs land. Others don’t.
At its best ‘Extended Delay’ has the power to remove you from your surroundings for a few minutes. The music has a quality to take you somewhere else. It’s almost transcendental. When it doesn’t you are reminded exactly where you are and what’s going on.
7/10
Words: Nick Roseblade
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