In 2001, San Francisco-based IDM label Om Records released Environments, Vol. 1, the first in a projected series of multi-artist label compilations. From the title, one might expect an abstract, ambient sound-art quality to the proceedings, but while there's a definite chillout quality to most of these 12 tracks, two-step grooves like Boswick Gates' "You Are the Reason" and Landslide's "Muted Voices" are anything but somnambulant. Other highlights include the spacy "Poppen," a mixture of dubby bass and echoing synth lines over a funky '70s-style beat by Voom:Voom (better known as Kruder & Dorfmeister's Peter Kruder), and "Spineless" by Telefuzz, which sounds like what would have happened if Lee "Scratch" Perry had commandeered the mixing of Pink Floyd's Obscured by Clouds. The one downer is Afro-Mystik's "Ritual de Rua," which sets up a wicked funky Afro-Cuban groove but then doesn't do much of anything with it. Other than that slight misstep, Environments, Vol. 1, is uniformly excellent, low-key dance music. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide