Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks

This is an ambient classic, composed by Brian Eno almost twenty years go and played by Eno, his brother Roger and Daniel Lanois. Whilst the web teems with exalted reviews, I'm a little less enthused about the music. The first half is, however, particularly fine, with gossamer textures brooding over vast and lifeless lunar spaces. Most fans of this album reserve their most ecstatic hyperbole for An Ending (Ascent) as a particularly fine track. It's cute but really not that special: an undulating series of chords with vague hymnic undertones. Too short as well to transport the listener into the groove. This delicate atmosphere is then suddenly punctured by incongruous country-and-western recollections (with Lanois on steel guitar). Frankly, it's hard to bear. Luckily the final two, longer tracks reconnect with the bleak atmosphere of the first half. As with all ambient, mood is everything. Given the right setting - night and sunrise experienced from a cosy bivouac on the summit of the Matterhorn, maybe - this kind of music could have a memorable impact ...

Max Richter - Infra/Jonsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps

I'm making further inroads in ambient territory. With very mixed results, however. Max Richter's Infra was a disappointment. Apparently it was recorded in a single day and as far as I'm concerned one can tell. It's listenable but kind of banal. In contrast to his Memoryhouse it doesn't have the kitschy slip-ups. But neither does it flourish some of the rare gems on that disc. It's a fairly monochrome album, almost literally so as a lot of it is radio static, mixed with some wistful, neo-romantic chamber music snippets. I listened to it only once and it didn't make a big impression on me.

Riceboy Sleeps is the result of a collaboration between Sigur Ros's frontman Jonsi and his partner Alex Somers. It's a genuine ambient album, 70 minutes of acoustic clouds wafting through the speakers. I believe that given the right setting and mood, the album can have an impact. It certainly captures something of the ethereal, unearthly atmosphere of the Icelandic interior. As soft background music for a meditation session, or as an acoustic accompaniment for a long car ride it certainly won't disappoint. But I don't think there is much more to say about it.