'These Clouds…' is a compilation in celebration of the label’s 100th release, only the second ever Sound in Silence compilation. 'These Clouds…' consists of 18 exclusive new tracks, by an equal number of great artists, with a total duration of 80 minutes. Some of the artists have already been important members of Sound In Silence all these years, having released many wonderful albums on the label, and some others are new friends who just joined the label’s family and will probably present more of their music on the label’s future releases. Carefully compiled and mastered by George Mastrokostas (Absent Without Leave), this compilation is a dreamy blend of ambient, modern classical, electronica and post rock. Artists on this compilation are: Panoptique Electrical, Sven Laux, Yellow6, The Green Kingdom, Benoît Pioulard, Wil Bolton, David Newlyn, Akira Kosemura, Halftribe, A Lily, SineRider, Absent Without Leave, Hotel Neon, worriedaboutsatan, r beny, Jakob Lindhagen, The Humble Bee, and Hainbach. I have previously reviewed releases by only 8 of these artists, but have reviewed many more SIS artists that aren't on this compilation. With 18 tracks to get through (the longest SIS release at 79 minutes) I will just be covering the highlights.
As 'These Clouds...' suggests, there is a lot of amorphous drifting in these tracks. Panoptique Electrical sets the tone with "Slowly The Sorrow," an ethereal ambient piece with neoclassical leanings on the strings. Yellow6 gets a lot of mileage out of only a few well-placed guitar chords on "Everything And Then Nothing." The Green Kingdom's "Unspoken" seems to be the logical followup to Yellow6's previous track, seeming so much like Yellow6 that it may be difficult to tell them apart. I love the title - "Empty Packs of Thai Cigarettes" by Benoît Pioulard, but some of the sonics were just a tad too harsh. Akira Kosemura's "Echoes Of Water" is fluidly murky in a sea of tranquility. "Halftibe's"Distant Sky" sounds like a song from another galaxy. SineRider presents a gorgeous dream-like piece called "Vermilion" that is sure to spark some nostalgic rumination. Absent Without Leave weaves a wistful melody over subtle drone tones. Hotel Neon gives us some shoegazy experimental ambience with a beat on "Shadowed," and worriedaboutsatan's "Keygen Variations 2" is mysteriously enigmatic. r beny's "Farawayself" is so full of sound that it threatens to boil over. Jakob Lindhagen's "Thicker Than Water" is a more elaborate composition than most on this album nut nevertheless intriguing. The Humble Bee's"Small Copper" was just too staticky and noisy for me and Hainbach's "Trans-Atlantic" seemed just too experimental for this comp, not that it's a bad track, just kind of incongruous.
As far as bang-for-the-buck goes, 'These Clouds...' is a pretty good deal. This is a limited edition of 500 handmade and hand-numbered collectible copies. It is packaged in a lovely hand-stamped 127mm x 127mm 250 gsm light brown recycled cardboard envelope with the front cover image printed on a polaroid style photo paper and two insert sheets containing tracklist and information printed on a 120 gsm off-white recycled cardboard. It also comes bundled with a download code coupon and a Sound In Silence card. Or, you can just buy the digital version for 7 Euros.