The Sight Below - Glider 10: Reworks (2018)

When Glider was first released in 2008, it felt like a natural phenomenon captured and recreated with sheets of astral guitar and electronic whispers. Rafael Anton Irisarri's debut album as The Sight Below is part of a long continuum of ambient-inspired musicians pushing at the edges of Brian Eno's iconic idea, incorporating elements of drone, minimalism, shoegaze, and techno with transformative effects. Ten years later, like-minded artists continue to explore the remote landscapes Glider traversed, and to celebrate the album's reissue, many of them have reworked its music for a special mixtape.

From electronic music pioneers like Biosphere, to Slowdive's Simon Scott, to Swedish techno auteur Acronym, each of the eight producers on Glider 10: Reworks brings a unique perspective to the source material. Composer Benoît Pioulard, a frequent collaborator with Irisarri, adds a new density and wistful pathos to the once sparse "Further Away." In the hands of Spanish ambient artist Warmth, the calming pulse of "A Fractured Smile" is inverted to a swirling bath of texture and light. Pop Ambient veterans Leandro Fresco and Markus Guentner both distill their reworks (“Without Motion” and “Dour”) into pure ethereal bliss. The two versions of Glider's opening track, "At First Touch," range from Yagya's immersive techno vista to an all but indiscernible mirage by Simon Scott. No matter the approach, the eight reworks featured here feel wholly contained in the singular ecosystem The Sight Below crafted 10 years ago.