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"In many respects, the ambient music movement has become as bloated and
stulifying as the worst art-rock of the '70s, moving further away from the
dancefloor towards self-indulgent electronic doodling. There are,
however, a handful of producers who still seem able to breathe some life
back into this moribund genre. A number of those artists are featured on
this exemplary compilation, which stands out among the endless streams of
ambient compilations that fill record-store racks. To begin with, the
highly talented Coldcut's "Autumn Leaves" (mixed by Irresistible Force), a
long-out-of-print gem, is featured here, immediately preceding the
gorgeous, celestial wanderings of Sounds From the Ground. Ambient
stalwarts Higher Intelligence Agency and Biosphere also contribute tracks
to this second in a series of ambient collections from the Waveform
label. The variation in aural textures here is impressive, from the
chanted dub atmospheres of Groove Corporation to the quietly menacing
"Late Night" by Insanity Sect. If you only acquire one ambient collection
this year, "Two A.D." should be it."
--CMJ New Music Monthly (July, 1995).
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