The beauty of Vancouver is that when I least expect it, it has this tendency to surprise me in all the right ways. The Olympics are coming and I’m already getting sick of the chaos. The cure is always a dose of ambient.

Having done enough ambient shows around North America, coming home always gets me a little sad. Vancity is a fickle mistress when it comes to her appreciation of that which lacks beats. So when I came across not one but two shows in recent weeks that filled that gap, it was like Xmas morning but with Brian Eno records under the tree as opposed to a bike.

The Fake Sleep series being held at Video In Studios brings a slightly more indie oriented angle. Names like Solars, The Worker, Empty Love and Sade Sade brought a mumble and a gasp to a Friday night looking for more than top 40. Instead a shimmering reverberation that you could feel as much as you could hear was the order of the day. Sometimes all you need is a massive descending bassline and some analogue synth abuse.

Recent Montreal ex-pat Scant Intone is the connection between the more metallic sound of the Fake Sleep series and his own Quiet City series, having opened both shows just recently. Founder of the Panospria net label, Intones bring a more digital approach to his wafting waves of sound. Bringing the electro acoustic delight of 833-45 alongside Vancouver iconoclasts Coin Gutter, Quiet City looks to provide a proper home for the deep listening experience.

The glorious thing too, is that this is just what has gone down. A large number of Vancouver’s ambient scientists have spent the winter hunkered down and many will spent the Olympics still in hiding. the end result being that when they pop their heads out come spring, it’ll be as the best sounding groundhogs ever.