It’s the end of the month, and the last few weeks since coming back from vacation has been one of some musical experimentation. I’ve been threading the iPod with an often eclectic collection of modern sounds to keep the brain fresh and spry with tastes that are trending away from what I learned to like from the radio-days of my youth.

I’ve been feeling somewhat electronic/ambient this month, and as such have been seeking out a fairly tight new collection of genre-specific tracks in that vein of audio. I don’t claim to be a music expert. I don’t want to be a music expert. But I do enjoy new sounds and I’m moving towards exploring that avenue as the year continues.

I’ve highlighted three new “albums” I’ve acquired recently:

Nick Warren | GU30 Paris

I stumbled upon this double-disc feature while poking through iTunes. It was a recommendation from a recommendation. You know how that goes. You find something you like, then the page says “You may also like…” and you follow the threads looking for something different. The iTunes download came with a stack of individual tracks, but also a duplicate of each “disc” strung together as a single mix — which is brilliant for long stretches at my desk, the cool, crisp ambiance flowing from song to song with nary an interruption or rare hint of silence. I’d hate to single out a particular song on this, because really it’s just something you put on in the back and let it go.

Gabriel and Dresden | Gabriel And Dresden

In my post-British-reverse-invasion-mood, I noted this upbeat album and have been taking it for a test drive. The sound is very layered, pulling from a large repertoire of mixes, even blending some random vocals into the overlay (where the other two albums I’ve profiled today avoid that stash entirely). A second hook was a mellowed cover of Dust In The Wind, previewed prior to download. Slick. I’ve add this to my driving playlist, as it is tending to be better for highway speed commuting than quiet afternoons in front of a grant proposal.

Trentemøller | Last Resort

Back to the ambient, this Danish mixer is right on the money with (as described on Amazon) “quiet phosphorescence and pristine beats.” Honestly, this is a very new acquisition, and I’ve only been through it a couple times total. But I do like what I hear so far. Unfortunately I think I may need to try it on a different set of speakers. The sad pair I have on my desk at work hardly due the nuance of the music justice. It leaves the impression that somewhere in amongst the padded beat are elements that are far more important, yet I’m not hearing — maybe just sensing. I’m going to give this one a few more listens before I decide where to rank it, where to list it, and what I ultimately think.