Coming by way of UK imprint Lo Recordings, Spaciousness 2 is a wonderfully textile and diverse collection of ambient and ambient-adjacent music.
Ambient music has long served as an antidote to a world that gets louder and louder. In their myriad of different ways, artists have attempted to catalogue the sounds between sounds; atmosphere, liminal spaces, and otherwise subtle pieces of everyday music that, when paid attention to, can be as arresting as an orchestra.
A new compilation series by Lo Recordings called Spaciousness attempts to explore explore this area of composition. The series’ first entry came out in 2019, and today, Spaciousness 2 has hit the shelves.
Lo Recordings head honcho Jon Tye described the Spaciousness as a series “that seeks to explore the connections, the overlaps, the roots and the future of a music variously referred to as ambient, deep listening, new age, fourth world and post classical”.
Spaciousness 2, as you’re probably realising, is a lovingly crafted collection. The curation comes from an obvious place of both knowledge and care, and the packaging created around the volume compliments the music handily.
Designed by Non Contact and Zack Liebermann, it’ll make a fine addition to anyone’s record collection as an art piece alone.
But there’s plenty to love between the sleeves, too. Across Spaciousness 2 you’ll find work from genre luminaries such as Suzanne Ciani, JD Emmanuel, and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – the former easing you into the record’s closing moments with her 1982 stunner The Third Waves.
Lo Recording’s own Ocean Moon remixes two tracks for the compilation; IKSRE’s Giant Kingfisher of Paradise and Mary Lattimore’s A Unicorn Catches A Falling Star. Both weren’t chosen for their high concept titles alone, they serve as two of the record’s most ephemeral cuts.
Spaciousness 2 is a record that will be hard not to enjoy – it’s a diverse compilation exploring the many faces of ambient, environmental, and new age music, stretching from the days of their conception to the very present. For those who are fans of these sounds, it’s one of the finer collections you can get your hands on.
For those who are new, it’s the perfect introduction to the not-so-loud worlds of these artists. Tune in, put up those feet, and space out.
Spaciousness 2 is out now via Lo Recordings. Pick up your copy here.
