Genre: Ambient / Electronic

01 Anthea Caddy & Thembi Soddell - Plait
02 Stefan Funck - Nachtlkw
03 Budhaditya Chattopadhyay - Benaras
04 Music For One - Beginnings With No Ends
05 Costa Gröhn - Fundacio Antoni Tapies
06 Brandstifter - Rauschgiftengelloops
07 Bela Emerson - Subaqua
08 Patrick Franke - Cospudener See
09 Suspicion Breeds Confidence - Meriten Der Begeisterungsresistenz
10 Lasse-Marc Riek - Nord-Ostdeutschland 2006
11 Roland Etzin - Me And Myself
12 Roland Etzin & Lasse-Marc Riek - Car-Recording
13 Martin Moritz - Mitsubishi
14 Gran Où Lée - Klippenkeks
15 Carsten Klook - In Der Diskothek

Gruenrekorder’s Audio Art Compilation 03, a collection of soundscapes from across the world, provides an excellent accompaniment to a windowed early morning train ride to work. There’s just enough hushed noise of the birds and water variety to create a seamless blend between the cloud-filled, blue sky of the world outside and the interior space of one’s headphones. At first. Then comes the rush of industrial organization, wheels grinding into place, and bells ringing. Throughout the album the artists circulate wildly between these poles, intruding on pacifying moments with bowed screeches and electronic whirs. And, since, hopefully one’s commute to work isn’t as long as this record, the last few tracks provide a pick-me-up, a few danceable beats even, to carry one home after work and over a new threshold entirely.

Every so often a song interrupts the nature and klaxon mix to introduce a daydreamy concept, a few stolen moments of fading away from one’s fellow commuters. Standing out among these stand outs is Music for One (Canadian guitarist Sherry Ostapovitch)’s charming “Beginnings With No Ends”, which sounds like an outtake from Lee Ranaldo’s recent guitarwork at its most lucid, chiming moments. The guitar beats slowly step over the frets, pausing between notes, as if the guitarist is casting her eyes over the surrounding scenery, adding the slow motion time of a visualscape to the soundscape. Whereas Music for One’s guitar drifts oscillates wildly, Bela Emerson’s “Subaqua” renders the cello unrecognizable, looping it rapidly, as wider themes circumscribe vicious scrapes of and sawings at the instrument. The density of these two pieces adds a welcome degree of interruption to an album that can occasionally drift into the mesmerizing calm of soundscape beachcombing. Among the tracks that wring unease from soundfields and quiet are Suspicion Breeds Contempt’s “Meriten der Begeisterungsresistenz” and Lasse-Marc Riek’s “Nord-Ostdeutshland 2006,” both pieces that distend the more ambient forays found elsewhere on the album.

Gruenrekorder has embarked on a difficult task, collecting soundscapes without sidestepping too far into bird squawks and wind tunnels, and for the most part, they’ve succeeded in a creating an album of sparkly sequencing.