If 2016 had you fleeing for a panic room or depopulated wilderness, this could be your perfect soundtrack: a chilly but mostly benign 54-minute piece of ambient music that gradually smothers your worried internal monologue. Bell-like tones fall jazzily on to a bedrock of sustained blurry chords like clusters of droplets, as electronic wind whistles and bass looms from the deep – all at a pace that makes La Monte Young sound like Major Lazer.
Those with Apple devices can download an edition that algorithmically generates an ever-changing version from these elements, fulfilling Eno’s long-held desire for “endless music, music that would be there as long as you wanted it to be”. This neatly shakes dust off the idea of a canonical album passed down by an artist on high, and rethinks the role of music as companion rather than entertainer. But it is ultimately pompous: this techno-utopian lift music, while captivating, is not exactly worthy of eternity. What one piece of music is?
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