Global Communication

Perhaps the most wildly successful ambient group to come out of the U.K., Global Communication often limited their remix work, instead focusing on their own productions. However, when the duo did set their sights on the work of others, it was usually to bring music from other genres into their vast and dreamy world. Remotion collects several of Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton's more intragenre remix attempts, turning songs by prog rock icon Jon Anderson, shoegazer group Chapterhouse, and rave stalwarts the Grid into misty clouds of ambient gas. The opening mix of Anderson's "Amor Real" zooms in on a singular cascading loop that becomes both trance-like and foreboding, not dissimilar to the repetitive minimalism of Steve Reich and melodically reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's main score for Risky Business. The pair diminish the bombast of the Grid's "Rollercoaster" to near nothingness, while "Delta Phase" and "Epsilon Phase" show Chapterhouse's Blood Music album stripped of its guitar chords and pop hooks, leaving only the wash of flange and distortion to be molded into GC's own formative style. The disc also hosts remixes of fellow ambient performers Nav Katze and Warp 69 as well as Pritchard and Middleton's own early work as Reload, all of which becomes one long and luxurious ambient trip for the taking. ~ Joshua Glazer, All Music Guide