Over the past few years I think A State of Trance and Trance Around The World really got me into the ‘year mix thing’. Triple J’s hottest 100 still means something to me today. But only the disks before 1999. So what about ambient, experimental and ‘other’, the genre I listen to most? Well,  the Audio Gourmet label has just started a run of their top 10 most popular EPs offered by the label, this year. I have to add an important note to add here, to do with accessibility. Generally this kind of music runs at a dozen or more minutes a track, sometimes they run into hours. For a lot of them listening to the whole track is important to understanding the idea behind the piece. But the brilliant ones have moments that stand alone, which is a large part of the attraction of the genre for me. Anyhoo, Audio Gourmet only releases tracks that are the duration of ‘a coffee break’ in a somewhat novel attempt to make the genre more accessible. 15 minutes, no more! Consider it a form of distillation. The result is some quality material that doesn’t take long to get into.

Tonight at number 10 we have Before I Go by Carl Sagan’s Ghost. A restful two part release with long soft, airy passages. Breezes through pipes that wander to build something more solid in the deeper registers. Light and scattered static that doesn’t irritate, cosmic drones with suggestions of choir that ask questions but then satisfy. Water and soft chimes, you’ll be able to relax to this. Recorded August 2010 in Spokane, Washington. you can pick up the entire release, for free, from Audio Gourmet right here. You can visit the artist’s official site here www.carlsagansghost.com.

Before I Go Cover Art

Carl Sagan’s Ghost – Before I Go