Driftless Recordings has released “Driftless Ambient II”, a compilation album which introduces us to the talents of many of their artists. Each song on the album is recorded by an artist or group on the Driftless Recordings label and they all have awesome music for you to hear. These artists include CFCF’s “Dissection”, Jack Tatum’s “Above” and Andrew Abboushi’s “The Darkest Market”. This compilation brings together all of the unique sounds that make Driftless Recordings’ artists so amazing.

Jack Tatum’s colorful and whimsical song “Above” presents to us a glorious combination of music and background sound effects. CFCF’s“ Dissecting” is softly played and is a peaceful and sleepy tune in contrast to “Above”. Matt Mondanile’s “The Canonical Office” has the gloomy sounds of a keyboard and mostly effects. At eleven minutes and forty-four seconds long, JSHUA’s “Kyoto’s Realisms” is an amazing story being told through music and effects.

The introduction of the sound of waves and a strong gust of wind in North American’s “Diana” makes this a powerful song we will fall in love with. Lost Trail’s “Gloaming Drew Down and Was Gone” sounds as though someone is calling for help through a transistor radio, with music and the sounds of static in the background. I’m all for creativity, but the static drowns out the music. The intro in Megafortress’ “Two Birds” includes the sweet chirping of birds and the serene melody of a flute.

The slight static and powerful music in CFCF’s “usb” rounds out this creative track, making this a cool song to listen to. Andrew Abboushi’s “The Darkest Market” is a psychedelic track that will have you feeling as though you were in another world. Jack Tatum’s “S” has the glorious melody that would be best listened to during a sunrise. Forever’s “Lay Your Head at the Alter of the Beast” is a quiet song with the soft sounds of nature in the background. Finally, Driftless Ambient II/Lost Trail’s “Gloaming Drew Down and Was Gone” is a mixture of static and music, although you hear the static more than the music.

“Driftless Ambient II” showcases many awesome artists and their beautiful music. If you weren’t already familiar with these artists, you will be after listening to this album. This is an album you’re going to want to have in your collection.

Final Grade: A

About The Author

Lauren Beverly

Music Reviewer

I love to write and have been doing so since the age of eight. Fictional stories have always been a favorite of mine, because it gives me a chance to be creative and to express myself in a multitude of ways. On more than one occasion, a song proved to be the inspiration to several stories I have written. Believe it or not, some of those songs were on soundtracks! That’s mostly what I listen to, aside from hits from the 1950’s up to the 1980’s. I’ve learned that anything can be the inspiration to a story, even a poster from the 1990’s or a DVD cover.

I’ve lived in Upper Marlboro all of my life and spent much of my childhood watching cartoons of all kinds, and listening to my older sister’s cassette tapes. Growing up, I listened to everything Jackson related, Paula Abdul, Elton John, and even the controversial group Milli Vanilli. As a teenager, I continued to listen to old-school hits and that was pretty much all I liked, aside from listening to all of Michael Jackson’s music. To this day, I still love old-school hits. That hasn’t changed.

I own a variety of CDs from artists such as Styx, The BeeGees, Michael Jackson, Queen, The Yellow Submarine Soundtrack, and many others. When a soundtrack comes out, there will always be one specific song from that album that I’ll love. It never fails.

I’ve graduated from Bowie State University in December 2013 with a B.A. degree in English.

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