"In recent years, the introductory texts for the Pop Ambient compilation series, which is released every year on Kompakt as the last release before the Christmas break, often began with the sentence 'Every year again.' 'Every year again,' a quiet, almost unnoticed maxim of self-evidentness. Because this is already the 25th issue to be published this year. 25 years in increasingly fast-moving times in the even faster-moving music business is an eternity that doesn't just feel like it. It is all the more remarkable how I, as someone who is always restless and often driven by this fast pace himself, pleasantly almost haven't realized how -- in pop-ambient contexts -- time does not pass (or passes differently) in the best sense. When compiling the 25th edition I was asked, among other things, what it was like that I was still doing this and whether I had a favorite track. In the spirit of bringing all the tracks together I don't have a favorite track, or all of them. But I have a favorite part (moment) that I played. In this case it was a broad chord in a change of key at minute 2:55 in the piece 'Circles' by Max Würden. A moment of majesty and familiarity that, at that moment, contains the entire Pop Ambient cosmos, that just works and doesn't explain anything -- and I said: 'that's the reason why I'm still doing this.' Pop Ambient is a statement without demands. Is promise without expectation. Is a path without a destination. Every year again." --Wolfgang Voigt, October 2024
As always, the indispensable final mastering by Jörg Burger ensures that everything is brought together and the sound is fine-tuned. And like every year, the 25th edition is of course wrapped in an abstract, floral magic creation by Veronika Unland. Over the years, the grace of her imagery has increasingly merged with the musical aura to form an unmistakable magical symbiosis. Featuring Leandro Fresco/Thore Pfeiffer, Pass Into Silence, Tamarma & Sebastian Mullaert, Sono Kollektiv, Nathalie Brum, Andrew Thomas, Julia Parr, Segensklang, Ümit Han, Max Würden, Blank Gloss, Hendrik Meyer, and Triola Zum.
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