artist: Omnimotion country of origin: Sweden style(s): Ambient pop, environmental, experimental pop essential releases: Dream Wide Awake (2006, Aleph Zero Records)

Playfulness and curiosity distinguish the magnificent Dream Wide Awake, the second and most successful album by Swedish artist Stefan Lundaahl aka Omnimotion. It's the ambient pop equivalent of a very gifted child playing with old toys in new ways and it's also unlike anything else released on Israeli psy-ambient label Aleph Zero.

Over a variety of gentle beat patterns and synthesised tones, Lundhaal picks up a guitar, a flute, a violin or cheap-sounding keyboard and plays it with new eyes and hands. He's also joined by some female friends who all sing like nightingales. What comes out is beautiful and always a bit unexpected. Like the Incredible String Band's sweetest songs, this magic atmosphere of openness can transform even hippie-dippie lyrics like "green mountains/birds in the sky/sweet morning/that's how I saw you" into something deeply affecting. Warmer and more diverse then the darker, geekier electronica of Omnimotion's self-titled debut album, Dream Wide Awake is a unique and striking slice of ambient pop for the new century.

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