Ambient is starting to lose all meaning. The younger chill hop/lo-fi/study beats generation have been appropriating the term for SEO ends, and now a large proportion of under 25s think that ambient music has a lazy hip hop beat to it. Even Bandcamp’s ambient blog - who should know better, hasn’t helped matters with the present journalist following his own, rather than the genre’s interests for far too long, muddying the waters and generally doing the genuine ambient labels and artists on the platform a financial disservice. As the term heads the same way as deep house and R&B I don’t know whether to start a campaign or just shrug my shoulders?
Saying that though, I do love a bit of ambient fusion - as long as it is responsibly labelled obviously, especially some atmospherics wrapped around muted machine rhythms, the kick drums suggesting that if you’re not dancing you should at least be down the gym, whilst those synthesized swathes advise you to lie on the sofa and close your eyes - what to do? It’s a sonic sweet and sour, and we all know how good that tastes.
Say hello to Charles A.D. aka Hiroyuki Tanaka, who in a similar, oxymoronic fashion is a farmer and deep house producer from Japan. I love his Instagram feed - a compelling mixture of ploughed furrows, prize vegetables, party flyers and music ephemera; in fact pretty much how I envisage The Slow Music Movement evolving!
Turnips aside, good house music albums are few and far between. It’s a singles and remix game, and the long players usually have far too much filler, but on West Pontoon Bridge Tanaka not only holds down the vibes and quality from start to finish he also, in best house music tradition, sets off on a bit of a journey.
Confidently eyeing the slowly filling club he sets the scene nicely with some mellow vibes, allowing the early birds to grab a drink and a catch up. Beats are broken, tones softer, tempos unhurried, the vibes set to stun rather than fun, although he drops the odd acid line and subtle classic house nod just to whet the appetites of those that know and remind people it’s not going to be a social all night. Then like a boss he locks eyes with the first on the dance floor and decides to mercilessly tease them by dropping an old school downtempo tune. I like it.
Just as the first grumbles are heard and dirty looks thrown he decides he’s had enough fun with the crowd and sounds the call to the floor. Classic chords appear, the ghost of acid house returns but this time stronger, the hooks get hookier and more insistent and the synths suggest a bit of hand raising could well be in order - party on, well for a few tunes anyway. Before you know it, a flat out ambient tune arrives to warn the crowd that the bouncer is on his way to the light switch. As the lights illuminate the hardcore a final sleepy slice of deep house rings out to get everyone swaying and smiling once last time. What a night.
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