Video Premiere: Ambient 2.0 – AGA (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Despite the title, there are many sonic aspects found running through this new track by Alessandro Antolini in his guise as AGA that are far from ambient. But it is this blend of the dreamlike and drifting, with the beat-driven and bold, that creates the sonic texture of this beguiling piece. After all, is it not in the counterpoint of very different ideas, that place where opposites attract, from which the best and most creative expressions take flight?

It comes as no surprise to find that the man behind the sound is a drummer and drum teacher of more than twenty years, as it is the ebbing and flowing of tribal drums and percussive inclusions that contrast so brilliantly with the chime of the piano and the shimmer of synths.

It is easy to use Brian Eno‘s ambient experiments as a starting reference point, and there is certainly his sonic fingerprint to be found in its more formless and floating elements. But those more strident sounds, resonant drums, delicate cymbal strikes, and even the percussive nature of the piano are what take such gossamer beauty and give it form.

Add in the perfect video, a near-monochrome array of digital design and human movement, futuristic urbanism and beguiling performance images, and you have an unmissable package of sound and vision.

But then, with four albums to his name, compositions with the late Maestro Ezio Bosso, and sharing stages with the likes of Tom Barman (dEUS) and Blaine L. Reininger (Tuxedomoon), this is undoubtedly an artist that should be on every discerning music fan’s radar.

Instagram // Facebook // Spotify // Bandcamp