As temperatures cool and the year begins to wind down, few things delight electronic music fans around the world as much as the annual edition of Kompakt’s Pop Ambient compilation. Established in 2001, the end-of-year series is awash with enthralling ambient, electronic and minimal productions.
Pop Ambient 2018 (which you can pre-order here) was curated by label co-owner and producer extraordinaire Wolfgang Voigt. It features choice selections from a wealth of wildly talented up-and-coming and established artists including The Orb, Kenneth James Gibson, T.Raumschmiere, Kaito, Jens-Uwe Beyer, Würden, Pfeiffer, Yui Onodera, Mikkel Metal, Chuck Johnson, Triola and Fresco.
Ahead of the compendium’s release on November 17, Dr. Alex Paterson of the aforementioned Orb exclusively shares his all-time favorite Pop Ambient tracks.
Novi Sad – “Sommersonnenschein”
Ulf Lohmann – “Nicht Die Welt”
Gas – “Pop”
Andrew Thomas – “Fearsome Jewel”
The Field – “Kappsta”
Leandro Fresco – “Cuando El Sol Grita La Mañana”
Mohn – “Manifesto”
Altag 5 – All / Altag All ( unafilliated )
Yui Onodera – “Cromo2”
Thomas Fehlmann – “Camilla”
The Orb – “Glen Coe”
DJ Koze – “Bodenweich”
Image by Max Zerrahn