Various – Ambient 4: Isolationism

A remarkably forward-thinking compilation, especially given that '94 was arguably the peak of the '90s ambient boom. One of the first nails in the coffin of the chill-out room era, and put out by a major label at that! By this point, many of the bigger names in the ambient scene had begun to make tentative steps out of the ambient world, but nothing quite so bold as getting in Techno Animal's Kevin Martin to curate a 2CD set of dark ambient, noise, post-rock, illbient and post-industrial. The liner notes even spend most of their space laying into the then hugely popular ambient scene. Ok, so Martin singles out FSOL as one of the worst offenders, despite them being one of the weirdest of the ambient house crowd, and ironically this coming out shortly before they released ISDN, an album in the same stylistic ballpark as this compilation, but otherwise it's hard to criticise the scorched earth policy here. The following year proved to be a victory lap for ambient, but the writing was on the wall, and this compilation gave a good hint of the avenues experimental electronica and rock would take over the next few years. Of course, nobody on this compilation - Aphex aside - would come close to having the same success as many of the artists from the first three compilations in the series, but the mid '90s was the point where experimental music began to disappear from the charts for good. Looking back, it's maybe a last hurrah, but an incredibly irable one for a label as big as Virgin to put out.

Kevin Martin is GOD!!!
This comp is proof

Fuck Yeah...

Mark Morgan (4) - Fallout: The Soundtrack is the stuff of legend and regarded as one of the best video game soundtracks for good reason. This compilation, while quite pricey on the used market (thanks, Fallout fans!) is a worthy listen to anyone with even a ing interest in the Fallout series.

This compilation is worth checking out if you are a fan of ambient/noise/experimental music. All of the tracks are exclusive to this release and it's a great gateway to other underground artists including Zoviet and KK Null. The other Virgin Records Ambient series releases are also great but this one is my favorite due to it's dark & minimal theme. This album sounds best when played at a high volume.

Kevin Martin (Techno Animal/The Bug/Ice) compiles a zeitgeist-busting compilation of musics that actually didn't have a scene or a 'name' until Martin christened it Isolationism ( in retrospect all 'scenes' are the same- artists doing similar things without necessarily being aware of each others existence until a journalist dips his/her pen). Heavier in tone and style that the previous back catalogue-trawling compilations by Simon Hopkins etc, and drawing on mostly exclusive material, this set launched not only a new genre (which quickly became bogged down by gothic occult 'dark ambient' acts replete with dodgy right-wing imagery and references.... hello Cold Spring Records), but also pushed veteran improvisers like AMM and veteran drone industrialists like Zoviet: onto a stage for a new and younger audience to appreciate.
1994 was the ground zero for nouveau-ambient, and this compilation (along with Virgin's subsequent AMBT series and David Toop's brilliant 'Ocean of Sound' book set the scene for the years to come. Or the children of the zeitgeist, if you will.
Essential .

This was the fourth and last in Virgin Records' zeitgeist-capturing ambient compilation album series. Whereas the previous three double-CD sets were drawn exclusively from Virgin's back catalogue - albeit that Virgin could draw on Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, the Future Sound of London etc - this album was drawn from all over the place and even contained a number of original tracks, some of which are still quite rare ("Aphex Airlines", for example). It's a commendably out-there compilation, with Disco Inferno, Zoviet*, Total, O'Rang and a number of other acts who had been lumped in with the ambient boom (this was just before the "illbient" and "post-rock" had been invented). It's my favourite of the four compilations and makes for excellent Doom background music.