VA - EXO3 (2017)

Ekster offer an enchanting almanac of adult contemporary ambient and electronic chamber music, pulling together label regulars with a strong haul of friends and peers including Suzanne Kraft, Gigi Masin, Jonny Nash, plus intriguing new names such as Fregnacciarius, Rembrandt Redandt, and Componium Ensemble.

With typically poetic, timeless form, Ekster provide a subtle, meditative backing track to modern times, trustingly sequencing the vibe for an unchallenging yet curious selection that hinges around two tracks from Roman Hiele - the bubbling vignette Buchla For Sunday and the gently unfolding, airborne tapestry of Birdwatching - alongside fine showing from their Belgian label family including Hantrax, with the chiming electro-jazz nocturne Walking With Raven, and Elko Blijweert on the sweetly Crepuscular Verletzetes Reh.

Foraging farther into the Belgian field, we also find a feathered piece of piano and strings by Politick in Misolidio, and the curdled harpsichord of local legend Roger 3000 on Nuptiale, while the set also introduces a handful of new Belgian artists, strikingly so in Fregnacciarius’s floating jazz-fusion work Ferragosto and Milan Warmoeskerken’s wistfully hyaline chimes in Glaasjes. And it almost goes without saying, but the three pieces by Kraft, Masin and Nash are all stripes of sublime, serving some of the comp’s most alluring highlights.