Tape: Milieu Plus (Minority)

With a search-engine defying name, Tape are deliberately under the radar. I'm sure this is their intention but this Stockholm trio create such interesting pieces of sound that they deserve to be heard further afield. I'd expected a droney piece of ambience when i first bought this record and, at low volume, that is what i thought i'd got - but when i turned it up and really listened i realised that the album is made up of dozens of little instrumental pieces played on dozens of instruments (piano, harmonium, saxophone, banjo, harmonica, trumpet, violin, lots of others) that flow around each other but never collide. This is far from ambient music and, in fact, would be done a disservice if used as pure ambience - as you would miss (like i initially did) all the beautiful artistry that has gone into creating such an outstanding piece of work.