Avenue

As an entity, mainstream dance music is essentially conservative, and so in its hands, “ambient” as a concept usually means something not that far removed from the Radio 4 idea of late-night relaxation – feet up, pipe and slippers at the ready, and the listener is on his or her way. In other words, totally devoid of personality. On the fringes of the genre, however, artists such as Amon Tobin and Funki Porcini have taken down-tempo rhythms and dreamy instrumentals into a far more idiosyncratic, adventurous place.

As an artist who is a favourite of Sasha, Pete Tong et al, Dortmund based studio whiz (and part-time tattooist) Peter Juergens undoubtedly belongs to the former category. His debut album is a standard issue mix of repetitive bass rhythms, ethereal synth washes and vocoder voice samples. The only moment that really distinguishes it from the chill-out compilations is the nine-minute ‘Summer Feelings’, which builds and builds into a blissed-out, comedown epic. Overall, though, Avenue is a largely inessential addition to a genre already clogged to breaking point.