Bleep

Global Communication’s 1994 LP 76:14 is rightly considered a classic of 90s ambient music and a pioneering album, the influence of which resonates to this day. The duo of Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton have released many records down the years, from various Global Communication drops to their work under names such as Chameleon, Jedi Knights, Link & E621 and Reload. However, it would be safe to say that few of their records are as beloved or as important as this album, a sprawling epic which moves out from ambient music to take in kosmische synth, shoegaze, dub production techniques and many other genres besides. Now, more than twenty-five years on from its original release, 76:14 receives a reissue which ensures that it can inspire a whole new generation of electronic music pioneers.

Pritchard and Middleton set their stall out from the off, with first track ‘4:02’ combining hissing atmospherics with eerie and cinematic harmonies in a manner which recalls the abstractions of fellow 90s electronic explorers The Black Dog. From here on 76:14 moves through several phases - the halcyon delight of ‘14:31’, a number which has some of the KLF’s Chill Out to it; ‘7:39’s spacey downtempo roll; the busy interlocking keyboards of ‘8:07’ and ‘5:23’ - each of which brings you deeper into the world of this singular record.

This remastered edition of Global Communication’s 1994 LP 76:14 serves as a timely reminder that there are few ambient LPs as vital or as adventurous as this one.