Air Is Movement falls on the stronger side of ambient with unprocessed guitar notes and a clear sense of progression. This makes the EP much more active than its peers; at times, it even borders on post-rock. At 17 minutes, it’s a bit short, but bonus tracks round the project out, and there’s a lot more to choose from on the artist’s Bandcamp page. Minneapolis’ Ross Auger (Wet Eyes) has been progressing fairly quickly over the past year, and it would not surprise many if this were his year.
Opener “Shandy” is the album’s most immediate track, possessing echoes of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” while being entirely its own creature. The other tracks veer closer to Hammock, especially the hazy “Settle Down”, which expands “Shandy”s shoegaze element to fill the entire piece. Cecelia Erholtz guests on “The Let Go”, a throwback track that brings back reminders of the ambient/trip-hop truce of the mid-eighties. And “Take Air” shuffles down the hallway like a woozy patient after an all-night bender; that is, until the final two minutes, when the track begins to vibrate with synthesized energy. If air is movement, this piece makes certain that the atmosphere remains unsettled. In like fashion, Auger has been showing welcome movement of his own, and this EP is another step in the right direction. (Richard Allen)
(Website)
a closer listen 