This was and still is a winner with regards to ambient electronica compilations from the 1990s many of them being very jagged and inconsistent track wise. Although some the sounds and drum beats tend to sound dated its got such a well thought out consistency to the music and theres not a unwelcomed track on this debut of which was to be a 3 disc continuum of ambient compilations.What you get hear is dreamy, beat oriented music from both sides of the Atlantic most artists of whom where unknown to many of us here in the US. I think those who where randomly exposed to these compilations either fell head over "ears" for the new genre of music or where followers of the then "new" grunge" rock movement which IMHO was garbage!Your get FSOL with their solid dubby bass-line infected "Calcium", HIA's brilliant uptempo groove "Solid Motion" and a slew of really well thought out ambient techno tracks. I recommend them all but the debut was a home run out in the cosmic left-field of progressive instrumental music of that decade!

This random impulse buy in 1993 turned me on to a whole new world. Quickly became a fan of all the acts presented here right as most of them were just getting started. FSOL was the big name then with 'Papua New Guinea' already huge, but Banco de Gaia became the most ambitious & enduring - still going strong today! pwog & hia also very special, they've never gotten much of the credit they truly deserve. And Mike Kandel representing the US west coast with style! Favorites are tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, and 9 - but the entire disc is solid bliss. The unoffical first astralwerks release. A few of these mixes are still difficult to find anywhere else on CD.

The first of four in the heavily influential Excursions into Ambience series. One of the first series of ambient releases distributed to America thanks to Astralwerks. Now the music: it's fitting that Tranquility Bass start this quirky hodge podge of "ambient". Michael Kandel was as eccentric as this series varied song to song. He offers Mya Yadana which unfortunately is one of lesser best tracks from early Exist Dance from my hometown. FSOL makes sense showing here but with the more uptempo album version of Calcium, and it doesn't seem to fit the goal of this series. But then hodge podge of electronics this series was. HIA offered Solid Motion (Black Hole remix) which in my opinion is one of the best HIA tracks from their earliest releases. HIA was right up there with early Biosphere as far as quality and a step ahead of the rest. Ultramarine feature the fabulous upstate mix of Saratoga on track 4. A genuine and memorable little acid ambient house track that samples the baseline from The Eagles "one of these nights" while strange, works like a charm over the bubbly bass, phat 808 kick and whimsical feelings. Fantastic and a hidden gem that will have everyone turning their head. Tarenah concludes the first half with an Indian detour. Not fond of this mix at all. I guess its which version you heard first. I got this cd in 1996 and already heard the much much better version on Ibiza Afterhours on moonshine in 1994.PWOG start off the second half with their brand of psychedelia dance but fitting to the series style less techno than normally. Track really never goes anywhere and is an average piece compared to the quality they have done. Gert-Jan Bijl and Dirk-Jan Hunegraff from Sensurreal recording under a different name in It's Thinking give us a very pleasant ambient house track that I really enjoy. Breezy and light hearted its a feel good track that would fit terrific in any deep house set. Coming from Sensurreal do we expect any less?! Very much like those guys. Tracks 7 & 9 are tracks that balance out the far reaching depth of the series' vision but don't do much for me. Finally Sub Sub ends the cd with one of the most classic chill out tracks all time in Past. Also featured on one of the best chill out mixes of all time from Phil Mison as well as Nick Warrens Back to Mine compilation. It's all what I imagined Cafe Del Mar to be. Like a breath of fresh air.Good cd. If you take out the best of the four Excursions in Ambience CDs and make a best of double set you have one of the best desert island CDs you can have. It's your job to choose what tracks.

Good Ambient Compilation with a wide range of global sounds. Best track in my opinion: Tarenah, which starts out as an Indian raga, mutates into some Bass Violin/Flutey jazz, and back to the raga and sitar...nice fusion is smooth throughout.