The early 21st century certainly wasn't as fertile a period for ambient music as, say, the '80s were. But there are a few exceptions, such as Toronto by way of New York composer/producer/guitarist,
Michael Brook. Although not as dedicated to the ambient genre as say,
Brian Eno once was,
Brook's 2006 release,
RockPaperScissors, manages to combine elements of the aforementioned genre with more traditional pop. Schooled by the likes of
Daniel Lanois (
Brook once worked as an engineer at
Lanois' studio) and none other than
Eno himself -- both appeared on
Brook's 1985 debut,
Hybrid --
RockPaperScissors shows that
Brook obviously picked up a thing or two stylistically from his mentors. Included is a guest vocal by
Lisa Germano on the airy "Want," as well as a posthumous contribution by
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the track "Pond" (
Brook utilized some outtake vocals from the late Pakistani singer --
Brook produced
Khan's 1994 release,
The Last Prophet). Teetering between ambient and new age at times,
RockPaperScissors sounds like the perfect background soundtrack for an art gallery opening. ~ Greg Prato