artist: Ulrich Schnauss country of origin: Germany style(s): Ambient pop/rock essential releases: Faraway Trains Passing By (2001, City Centre Offices) A Strangely Isolated Place (2003, City Centre Offices)

As beloved as much by indie rock fans as electronica and chill enthusiasts, Berlin musician Ulrich Schnauus seemed to appear out of nowhere in 2001 with his sublime Faraway Trains Passing By. Truth is, he had been active for years under other names; even a casual listen to Trains shows none of the rawness or misfires you'd expect from an electronic composer taking his first steps.

These two albums of ambient pop instrumentals are chock full of great melodies and sweeping widescreen vistas. Their brilliance is in how they manage to be epic at the same time as they are intimate and personal. At the core of Schnauss music is a liquid sound that's immediately recognisable, on both these albums and the many remixes he's done for the chill, house and rock acts who've been knocking on his door. He uses extremely long delay and reverb effects on his guitars and synths to stretch out layers of notes and chords until they arc endlessly across the massive space he creates. His sound hangs magically in mid-air while always retaining a sense of momentum and purpose. Its this special ambience that's led to frequent and valid comparisons with indie pop/rock acts The Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and Chapterhouse. His insistent electronic breakbeats, on the other hand, certainly owe something to the rhythms that underpin the lush ambient techno of UK label Warp Records during its Artificial Intelligence era. Schnauss may wear his influences on his sleeve, but how.

Don't buy the argument that only the second album A Strangely Isolated Place is the real deal. That line seems to have evolved out of the gushing praise of an indie rock press who otherwise wouldn't give much electronica, dance or ambient music the time of day. Think of them as two sides of the same coin. Far Away Trains Passing By is the happier and more dreamy of the two, while A Strangely Isolated Place suggests a darker side with its distorted electric guitar textures, more obvious indie rock references and even wordless female vocals on occasion. Both are wonderful records full of beauty and longing, blessed with tunes you will find difficult to expel from your mind.

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