Gaussian Curve: Clouds

A personal look back at an ambient classic released 10 years ago

I’m sitting on the rooftop of an Amsterdam townhouse. My friend, a lawyer whom I’d met back in my Hamburg days, casually lights up a joint.

We’re overlooking the canal on a late summer morning, listening to music on a small Bluetooth speaker.

There are gentle Rhodes chords and airy synth pads, woozy electric guitar and smooth acoustic instrumentation, wi…