artist: Oti country of origin: UK style(s): Ambient, environmental, sound collage essential releases: Recollection (2005, Audiobulb Records)

Brian Eno's classic recordings were once the benchmark for "proper" ambience, music that creates a subtle but tangible environment that surrounds the listener. The benchmark among the current generation of artists includes the likes of Japanese composer Tetsu Inoue and Norway's Biosphere. That's where Damion Beail aka Oti comes in. He's worked with Inoue in the past and this album of part-music and part natural sound collage is comparable to Inoue's best work.

Recollection is the most rewarding kind of environmental ambience, particularly in those moments that brilliantly dissolve the boundary between music and environmental noise. Subtle droning chords and traces of melodies intermingle with locations sounds sourced from Beail's childhood and a trip he took through Poland. A snaking synth here, a Hammond organ there, reversed sounds, whispered voices...and that's just the first few minutes. At the right volume this shifting series of impressions hovers on the edge of perception, allowing your attention to dip in and out as you please, but wallpaper it is not. The album was years in the making, meticulously planned and refined, and sounds it.

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