Ambient Recommendations

Moving beyond the 'duh, Eno' factor -- Lull and Thomas Koner are both very good if not exactly merry.

WELL. Hm...weird as it may sound, you could almost call His Name is Alive's second album ambient. Then again, there's always Vangelis.

Ah, bless you, Dan, of course. Mi Media Naranja also does the business, as does a fair amount of Stars of the Lid.

Aix Em Klemm, p'rhaps? (Is this a collaboration between someone from Labradford and someone from Stars of the Lid or did I dream that?) Less drone-y/more interesting than SOTL.

I'll also second Melissa's recommendation for Tangerine Dream's Phaedra.

• Gavin Bryars "The Sinking of the Titanic" (granted, it's quite Enoistic)
• Hochenkeit "omu4h 4aholab/400 Boys" (though it's more on the dreamy eastern sounding krautrock tip)

I could go into a whole realm of spacey, weird ambience a la Hash Jar Tempo, Bugskull, and more.. but I'm reluctant in fear of effigies of me stamped "ROCKIST" being burned.

Tom, try: Ultramarine's Every Man & Woman Is A Star, if you haven't already. Also obviously: The Beloved's "The Sun Rising".

For blissful undulating ambience, there's Global Communication's 76 14 and Dettinger's Intershop. I'm currently listening to Miss Dinky's Melodias Venenosas which is quite charming rippling-but-dinky ambient synth pieces, but I'm not quite sure if I'd recommend it unreservedly yet.

As for the spacy wacky samples... that's trickier. Arguably this tendency in Orb and KLF is more a nod towards the contemporary Acid House/DJ Records boom rather than something that is inherent to much ambient. So I could see, say, early 808 State fitting the bill, but they were only ambient in fits and bursts ("Sunrise" is great though).

a cop out only in that it's easier than making some positive. but come on tom, you gotta agree dance tends to get good when it goes a little dark. not all the time, but...

I do think certainly in the field of 'ambience' you find 'darkness' getting a little overdone - this is surely down to the subconscious need to differentiate it from new age heh.

Maybe. The thing that always struck me in regards Eno's On Land is how dark it sounds, whereas I was expecting something more light/happy since these were supposed to be memories of childhood places. It probably is, as Jess says, harder to make something positive (just can come up with some of these Boards of Canada minatures like 'Olson' as an example, arguably some tracks on SAW 85- 92).

Maybe "Bola- Soup"?

David Toop's Screen Ceremonies is good for when you want to feel like you're watching a sadistic ritual involving monkeys in the rainforest.

Also like Lamonte Young's Well-Tuned Piano and Morton Feldman's For Samuel Beckett lately, they're kind of ambient...

Miles Davis, He Loved Him Madly.

I always thought Systemische was Oval's best album. 94 Diskont is almost all one track, and it's kind of boring after a while.

Just the very words Chill Out bring on flashbacks...

I will get that album Tracer - sold!

old Biosphere stuff Solar Quest: The Orgship the Freezone compilations on SSR lots of artist on extreme records like Lights in a fat city, Vidna Obmana, Paul Schütze Autechre: amber

going back into time indeed...

golden claw music.

the ambient-techno-dub spin off by bloke from PWEI.

dug this out today as a random choice and loved every minute, all of which just made me seriously wish i was part of this weekends crusty-techno-dub weekend @ glade (orb/system 7/dreadzone/the grid etc etc)

this is my favorite ambient music of the year so far - and you made it (sorta):

http://www.inbflat.net/

playing around w/ that filled me w/ hope & happiness

That's really cool ZS. Thanks for the link

at the end of the most recent Ultima Thule podcast they played a lot of Trans Aurora, the new one by James Gordon Anderson, whose stuff I don't otherwise know but Trans Aurora sounds pretty amazing to me - almost like an inverted Steve Roach in that the notes shift relatively rapidly but occur in a similarly beatless landscape, and retain their textures but aren't as bassy...very weird stuff to my ears, really good I think

lovin this Caretaker album. haven't fallen for an ambient record so quickly in ages

that Caretaker album is my album of the year flat-out at this point. also notable for having a solidly interesting concept; at first the startling jumps from track to track kinda threw me, but the more I think about it the more I figure that's what remembering stuff when you've got Alzheimer's actually feels like.

i really like the two new stephan mathieu records this year, 'a static place' on 12k and 'remain' on the line label/imprint.

http://12k.com/

http://www.lineimprint.com/editions/cd/line_047/

they could just as well go on the rolling drone thread, wherever it is.

it looks like there are lot of other good ambientish and ambient-related things on 12k, some moving over more into modern-composition/new-music territory.

this michael ranta, mike lewis, & conny plank record, Mu, is blowing my mind lately.

check it out here: http://holywarbles.blogspot.com/2011/05/michael-ranta-mike-lewis-conny-plank-mu.html

Of the things I've heard on 12k, I think my favourites were Lawrence English's A Colour for Autumn and Giuseppe Ielasi's August. The Marcus Fischer one had lots of good write-ups last year, I need to go and listen to that again. All these are on Spotify btw if anyone's ineterested.

how about kenneth kirschner?

Not someone I know, but heaps of mp3's on his website:

http://www.kennethkirschner.com/

stillstream.com

internet radio station that is just unbelievably good

i came here to bluster that stillstream is no sleepbot, but it sort of is. +1

Alio Die - Suspended Feathers: Is this good?

I just bought it, and it is!

"Seriously, you should try Ulrich Schnauss Far Away Trains Passing By"

werd. is that 9 years old already?

also:

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Forest-Baka-Beyond/dp/B00000062C/ref=pd_sim_m_11

as sampled in:

http://www.amazon.com/Paths-1-7-Future-Sound-London/dp/B000003RVU/ref=sr_1_6?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1321542759&sr=1-6

Ambient songs I've discovered recently that I'm pretty into:

• Michael Hoenig - Voices of Where
• Eno/Fripp - Wind on Water
• Throbbing Gristle - E.Coli

• From the 70s
• Clocks in under, or around, 10 minutes, tops
• Stands the test of time. This doesn't mean it has to sound contemporary, but that it doesn't just sound like stock film score by today's standards, or 'New Age' in the most pejorative sense.

But yeah, recommendations would be appreciated.

i'm recording an ambient album at the moment! i suppose it would be bad for to post my own work though. i'm taking most of my inspiration from eno, + a smattering of recent chillectronic indie stuff like toro y moi, bon iver (ok not electronic or strictly ambient, but close enough for inspiration) and adding that aesthetic to the stuff my indonesian bandmates normally do. so, looking for recommendations same as 3x5.

my 3rd and 4th cents: Blade Runner Esper Edition OST

i don't think eno sounds new age-y very often though. at least not the classics like on land, ending (an ascent) etc. did you *really* not like, say, music for airports? perhaps playing in the background in another room as you do something else? i've yet to hear cheesy new age stuff that sounds at all similar to music for airports

*bad form

Surprised Biosphere's substrata did not get mentioned as a "field recordings mixed with music" example. Also Cirque.
Tetsu Inoue's World Receiver is a great call. I love these kinds of albums, they do funny things to my brain.

so sleepy so awake

http://soundcloud.com/etape/t-12

Surprised Biosphere's substrata did not get mentioned as a "field recordings mixed with music" example.

I'm not sure if there are actual field recordings on that album? I remember reading a interview of him before the album was released, where he mentioned that the album was inspired by his visit to Tibet, and to some Buddhist monastery there. The interviewer then asked if he'd taken a recorder with him, to record the music of the Buddhists and use it on the album. And he said no, he felt that it would've been wrong to record their music and use it like this, because it's sacred to them. He then explained that he didn't have any recorder with him in Tibet; the album is thematically based on the Tibet trip, but what he did was try to recreate the sounds he heard there after he trip was over, in his studio. (Though of course it's possible he did some field recordings in Norway and used them on the album,)

That seems like an interesting approach to doing this sort of ambient music, and I think that between the lines he was also criticizing the cultural appropriation of the "world techno" artists of that era, such as Banco de Gaia, who were straightforwardly sampling the (sacred) musics of other peoples.

Though of course it's possible he did some field recordings in Norway and used them on the album,)
Yeah I'm just talking about what I'm hearing on the record, not anything Tibet related. Incidentally, he did release an album of field recordings from mountain climbing in the Himalayas, it was pretty cool.

Okay, I checked the interview, it's in the book that accompanies the Trance Europe Express 3 comp, I misremembered it a bit. It was Nepal where he went, not Tibet, but he did go to some Buddhist monastery. And he says he actually meant to bring a DAT machine along, but forgot to. He told one of the Sherpas helping him that some Westerners sample the music from this place and use it in their productions, and it was the Sherpa who said, oh, it's sacred music, they probably wouldn't be happy if you sample it. So in the end he says it was a good thing he forgot the DAT. In the interview he also explains how Substrata came to be formed by his experience in Nepal and the lack of recorder (the interview is from 1994, and he never mentions the name of the album he's working on, but I assume it's Substrata, because it was the next solo album he released after the interview, and it totally sounds like what he's describing there):

In the end, I had to use my brain as a sampler, just remember what I was hearing. You know how, sometimes you might pick a particular smell in a particular situation and then, afterwards, that smell will always bring back the original memory. I find sounds are like that too. I played my friends some stuff I was working on the other day, and they all said it brought back Nepal for them.

I guess the mountain climbing field record was done at another time, then? There's also that album he did with Higher Intelligence Agency, which was recorded live at a festival in his hometown, and which uses mostly just sounds recorded there, like the snow melting and cable cars creaking. That one's pretty good too, real old-school conceptual ambient.

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/musicophilia_00_various_-_translucence_1974-2018_cover.jpg?w=1536

Various – ‘Translucence‘
A Tribute to Brian Eno | (1974-2018)

01 [00:00]
Yazz Ahmed – “Exhale” (2017)
Egisto Macchi – “Le Genti del Deserto” (1974)
Mnemonists – “Limbs” (1981)

02 [05:00]
Earthen Sea – “Delicately In the Sunlight” (2017)
Cliff Martinez – “Will She Come Back” (2002)

03 [09:50]
Pauline Oliveros – “Suiren” (1989)
Francisco – “Cosmic Beam Experience” (1976)
Susumu Yokota – “Saku” (2000)

04 [15:50]
Passengers – “Theme From ‘The Swan'” (1995)

05 [18:50]
Luciano Cilio – “Studio for Winds” (1977)
Paul Motian – “Psalm” (1982)
Bernard Parmegiani – “Geologie Sonore” (1975)

06 [24:20]
Daniel Littleton – “Elegy #1” (2002)
Monoton – “HZ Waltz” (1982)
David Sylvian – “The Wooden Cross” (1986)

07 [29:20]
Huun Huur Tu – “Harmonics in the Wind” (1999)
Brian Eno – “Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)” (1982)
Peter Gabriel – “Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain” (1985)
Matthew Herbert – “Forest Montage” (2002)

08 [34:20]
Shoko Hikage – “Sakura Zukiyo” (2013)
Chuck Johnson – “Riga Black” (2017)

09 [41:50]
Yo La Tengo – “Shortwave” (2018)
Tod Dockstader – “Approach” (2005)
Gigi Masin – “Tharros” (1986)
Michael Brook with Brian Eno – “Pond Life” (1985)

10 [46:00]
Arvo Part – “Spiegel im Spiegel” (1976)
Robert Fripp & Brian Eno – “Wind on Water” (1975)
The Haxan Cloak – “The Mirror Reflecting (Part 1)” (2013)

[Total Time: 56:30]

Really pleased with this "thick" ambient mix--I'd say it works per the "wallpaper music" definition but works even better as sound given your attention. Features a lot of heavy mixing of multiple tracks in a very seamless flow, and stumbled across a lot of great interactions--the blend between Shoko Hikage's koto and Chuck Johnson's pedal steel pieces at around 34:20 especially seemed as if they were born to be together. Hope you'll enjoy:

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/tribute-to-brian-eno-translucence/

Been listening to this tonight - really lovely! Did you use lossless sources at all? If so could I get a lossless copy?

Looks great, can’t wait to delve in. Thx soundslike!

the meadow and the trees cracking up some bank holiday bevvies before climate change and developers pummel with fists

Melina Serser at Pluie/Noir https://soundcloud.com/pluie-noir/pluienoirpodcast079

and

Nathalia at Intrinsic https://soundcloud.com/experimentintrinsic/intrinsic-nathalia

deru - 1979 (full thing is on youtube)

really great and underrated

Been listening to this tonight - really lovely! Did you use lossless sources at all? If so could I get a lossless copy?

― octobeard, Monday, August 27, 2018 3:59 AM (yesterday

It was all sourced from 320 or V-0 mp3s, because I just don't have enough room (or good enough ears) to rip my collection in FLAC, tend to keep only absolute favorites in lossless (like maybe 200 out of 8000 albums). I think I uploaded it for download at 320 to minimize the effects of reencoding--suspect Mixcloud doesn't maintain the bitrate. Sorry : \ But glad you like the mix!

the Taphephobia & Kave - Monuments album is really fucking good!

selected choice ambient cuts i have gathered over the years for those seeking sleeping/zoning music:

what happened - emeralds
eingya - helios
everyone goes home when the sun sets - andrew chalk
from gardens where we feel secure - virginia astley
explanation II - the olivia tremor control
let night come on bells end the day - sarah davachi
organ dirges - kali malone
eclipses - robert AA lowe/rose lazaar

I'd recommend H. Takahashi if you want something soothing like that

happy to see OTC in that list above

I see Chuck Johnson briefly mentioned above, his Balsams album has healing powers:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2rWkvguXepRyMmxIe8Brx3?si=9C9To1yqR06rqHa-Qx7WeQ

https://soundcloud.com/kukka-dj/wintermix-vol-ii

Since winter has properly come here this week, I decided to do a sequel to a wintery ambient mix I made a few years ago. The link is above, maybe you will enjoy it too. It's not all strictly ambient but I did try to make the mood transitions smooth, hope it works.

Tracklist
1. Lucette Bourdin - With Silver Claws
2. Alio Die & Amelia Cuni - Apsaras
3. Omni Vu Deity - Gobekii
4. Cosmic Baby - Stille
5. Zalys - Aftermath
6. Mariolina Zitta & Alio Die - Suono ipogeo (Part II)
7. Meg Bowles - Twilight Embrace
8. Alquimia - Processión
9. Ania Losinger - Ballet III
10. Jlin - Anamnesis (Part 1)
11. Mary Youngblood - Cold Wind

Nice. Any chance of turning on the download on soundcloud (or is that a premium feature now)?

Eh, I feel a bit dodgy doing that, since obviously I don't have the copyright for those tracks... But email me at tuomast dot alho at Google's mail, and I can help. :)

enjoying this, thanks T

Glad you like it!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4NLOZNxzCHkLVn8DKC3WWx?si=lqv5b4qlQkWspdYhjvY3tA

playlist by tom lea of local action and others

150 ambient songs isn’t nearly enough but it’s a start

My latest album is here (and there's 50% off thru the 31st with the code "synth"):

https://templo.bandcamp.com/album/roman-birds

Got a very nice writeup in Pitchfork this week as well.

New Sangam
This guy keeps getting better and better
http://kudatah.bandcamp.com/album/you-make-me

Abandoned 実体 - Virtual Graduation
https://open.spotify.com/track/4pR6Mwf31ibgtMlICSJVyq?si=iA7p6z9ZTK-c0pbx3oRTtQ

Big Fauna vibes from leaf observer Takashi Kokubo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEgmpe8nToU

lol that came up on my yt algorithm earlier. serene as hell but did feel like i needed to check on my stardew valley crops.

Weird! it has 78,000 views and it came up randomly for me as well. Wonder whats making it be recommended, is it an alt-right anthem?

can only hope yt finally fixed their shit so that it delivers people this rather than joe rogan clips

+Minus - A Rainy Koran Verse [UK Live]

effing gorgeous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiHHR9I3XAc

Following on from the Takashi Kokubo is this 2004 release from Hiroshi Yoshimura, not sure if he died immediately prior to release or whether its a collection of earlier works

Kelela's done an ambient mix for the Warp 20th anniversary NTS thing and sung over the top. It's very nice

https://soundcloud.com/kelelam/aquaphoria

小久保隆 - 01 [00:00 - 04:06]
Susumu Yokota - Hagoromo [04:06 - 7:52]
Marc Cary - Rhodes Ahead Intro [07:52 - 10:07]
Autechre - Altibzz [10:07 - 13:41]
Jonny Nash & Suzanne Kraft- Beluga’s Song [13:41 - 18:04]
Aphex Twin - Untitled [18:04 - 21:12]
Oneohtrix Point Never - Physical Memory [21:12 - 23:22]
Kareem Lotfy - FR3SH [23:22 - 26:55]
Biosphere - Chukhung [26:55 - 28:34]
Leila - Underwaters [28:34 - 31:28]
OCA - Heaven Cent [31:28 - 34:49]
Visible Cloaks - Screen [34:49 - 38:03]
Jaco Pastorius solo (live w/ Joni Mitchell, 1977) [38:03 - 41:10]
Iury Lech - Barreras [41:10 - 46:45]
Cliffdiver - Digital Dreams [46:45 - 51:30]

really feeling right now:

Polypores, the Impossibility
Aiden Baker, Deer Park

Polypores has a newer one but I haven't heard it yet.

Nice piece by vapor dreampunk kingpin HKE

https://nirvanaport.bandcamp.com/album/--4

Loscil's latest, Equivalents, and Visions' cinematically spaced-out Temples are both quite good.

Looks like a new Steve Roach is imminent as well.

super into Equivalents

On the more 'tribal' end of things, Alio Die's latest, with a Persian duo from Paris named Indalaska, is worth investigating as well.

The collaboration with Indalaska is a really strong album, although it's difficult to get a sense of what elements Indalaska are bringing to it (which happens to me a lot with Alio Die collabs, honestly)

a warped anthem
https://bedlamtapes.bandcamp.com/track/anthem-2

https://aescapesounds.bandcamp.com/track/night-city-ii-w-finlii

ISO slow, heavy reverb bright/clean guitar over soft drum machine, like first 7 minutes of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm9r0vIZYUw

^The first Durutti Column album comes to mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pddox1SYHko

Also on an unrelated note, Tetsu Inoue's Inland is the best ambient album ever, godlike sound design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmND3Al4gI

that durutti column album is a good call. was just listening to that last night!

Tetsu Inoue's Inland is the best ambient album ever

Agreed!!!

listening now, good stuff, thanks

1st three DC albums so crucial

Thanks J.

/Tetsu Inoue's Inland is the best ambient album ever/

Agreed!!!

IslandMan - Rest In Space


https://open.spotify.com/track/3mb2fkaJUlrRnwxGRGQAGS?si=g3bwAgAcS0CvDHwi8miAew

Alexis Georgopolis - Fragments of a Season.


https://open.spotify.com/album/1ByGvgEkjwolQcJTGxMApn?si=fzP_FRjRT1aNWCM_3m1RZA

Wouldn’t call either of these Ambient but some songs fit the bill.

This is just what an isolated soul needs just now

https://open.spotify.com/album/59NTtP2nGwOTmfQJ0JjPET?si=VJxw_Fa-TpugK98e4aZpUQ

Selected Media 2016-18 by Bartosz Kruczynski

This mix of African & Indonesian traditional music (w/effects and some electronic pieces mixed in) might not be ambient in the classical sense, but it was doing the trick for me yesterday:

https://soundcloud.com/wonj/wgm7

And led me to this Motoko & Myers album, which gets better and less fourth world-y after the first track: https://open.spotify.com/album/7EwZMTQ17UxzQof2rXffL4?si=UL4s_oWcQkaSEFtPm8s7mw

https://open.spotify.com/album/3kJCW2dy9ADRQOIdnAjXQL?si=NYVxSommT1yClU0shQGPyw

Float away on the mist...

Love love love this one, the title is self-explanatory:
https://astralplanerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/algorithmic-music-for-synthesised-strings

I want more people to hear this music, and support these artists, so posting here...

‘Old Souls Part XII: Phosphenes‘ is mix of enveloping, mind-shifting, heart-filling, time-dissolving ambient, abstract, experimental and electro-acoustic music by brilliant Black artists creating work of incredible beauty and power.

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/musicophilia_00_various_-_old-souls-part-xii-phosphenes_2016-2020_cover-a.jpg?w=1024

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/musicophilia_00_various_-_old-souls-part-xii-phosphenes_2016-2020_cover-b.jpg?w=1024

Various – ‘Old Souls – Part XII: Phosphenes’
2016-2020

(Phosphenes are the light you see when there is no light)

01 [00:00 – 04:35] Forest Management – “Your Privilege…” (‘Remain’ 2018)
02 [02:00 – 05:00] KMRU – “11” (‘Luft’ EP 2020)
03 [04:50 – 09:30] Imka – “Regret” (‘Who Taught You To Run’ EP 2020)
04 [05:00 – 07:30] Oui Ennui – “Fragile Yet Agile” (‘Wytai’ EP 2020)
05 [07:20 – 12:20] Lamin Fofana – “I Ran From It…” (‘Darkwater’ EP 2020)
06 [11:35 – 15:30] Lotic – “Love and Light” (‘Power’ 2018)
07 [15:30 – 19:10] Nazar – “Mother” (‘Guerrilla’ 2020)
08 [19:00 – 25:20] Laraaji – “Galexea” (‘The Onrush of Eternity’ 2019)
09 [25:20 – 30:00] Dedekind Cut – “Yin-Yang” (‘$uccessor’ 2016)
10 [29:25 – 32:20] Klein – “Silent” (‘Lifetime’ 2019)
11 [31:40 – 34:00] Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – “4 – 3” (‘Mind Kontrol’ 2020)
12 [34:00 – 36:40] Wayne Phoenix – “Burn False Messages” (‘Soaring…’ 2020)
13 [36:30 – 38:05] Chroma Field – “Triple Moon” (‘Void Out’ 2020)
14 [37:30 – 43:20] Space Afrika – “Bly” (‘Somewhere Decent To Live’ 2018)
15 [42:30 – 45:05] W.O.E. – “Enflux Dc 1” (‘Ultrawarm Indices’ 2020)
16 [44:00 – 47:25] Angel-Ho – “Parachute” (‘Death Becomes Her’ 2019)
17 [47:25 – 49:30] Infinity Knives – “Fur Arvo 2025” (‘Dear, Sudan’ 2019)
18 [49:30 – 51:55] Nailah Hunter – “White Flower, Dark Hill” (‘Spells’ EP 2020)
19 [51:30 – 56:25] Specimens – “Unfold In All DIrections” (‘In the Dust…’ 2018)
20 [56:10 – 60:00] Namir Blade – “False Heaven” (‘Worlds and Dreams’ 2018)

[Total Time: 1:00:00]

Fantastic mix, the Lotic track is esp. gorgeous.

yes, uhm. . .i'm dense. where can i hear it?

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2020/06/29/old-souls-xii/

mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/musicophilia/musicohphilia-old-souls-part-xii-phosphenes-2016-2020/

brilliant. thank you.

That's ace!

I've really been enjoying the albums by Ulla and Folder on Experiences Ltd. Ulla is Ulla Strauss, who you may know from her excellent EP with Pontiac Streator on West Mineral

West Mineral have also put out a grindcore record, which sounds like something that might happen in a music nerd's dream

https://boomkat.com/products/virtualdemonlaxative

Ha, shit, forgot to post an actual link! Thanks much, Jersey Al!

The Ulla album is right up there with my faves this year. Seems it just got a limited repress, if you're that way inclined.

has anyone listened to Yu Su's Roll with the Punches (a 12" that's 32 minutes long)? who knows how to classify stuff like this, but it's also sort of balearic, dance, dub, other things. i really like this release a lot

sorry, full title is 泉出通川为谷 / Roll With The Punches
came out on second circle, which is maybe distributed by music from memory?

Second Circle is an MFM sublabel. Dunno what you'd really classify Yu Su's music as, all of the above I guess. Her Preparations For Departure EP is very good.

I love the You’re Me album, it’s a collab between her and somebody else:

https://1080pcollection.bandcamp.com/album/plant-cell-division

Forest Management puts out some great records

Ooh nice, I’ll check that out!

KM at home listening to ambient and tending to his herb, is there a better life?

i have to admit, it's been a great weekend

Cheerz

i've put lightning in a twilight hour's cassette-only release from a couple years ago on youtube. it was ripped straight from the cassette, so the fidelity isn't amazing. music's wonderful though.

New Loscil. Loads of stuff like this about but he just seems to do it better/ deeper

https://open.spotify.com/track/0piAVJZfRRqqdC9W6jMKae?si=mk9uWBenQ8qJ13fPesfHRw

Yeah, enjoying this one. It is more "ambient" than a lot of his other records, which often have some underlying beats/oscilations/pulses.

btw there is a loscil thread, which I only point out because I think it's literally the only thread I've ever started in my 10 (?) years on this message board.

thanks for that recommendation, beautiful stuff

2814 - Lost in a Dream

https://soundcloud.com/dreamcatalogue/2814-lost-in-a-dream-1

this worked well last night- https://marchasselbalch.bandcamp.com/album/long-time

good call pickles, this might well achieve what zolpidem can't

New Loscil! Have to get on it. Love his work.

ive been binging on non "distintegration loops" basinski. so much material, so much of it great. he really has a touch for selecting the most elegiac fragments of sound and presenting them beautifully

dang. joanna brouk. i regret not having explored her music more after hearing her highlight track "lifting off" on the I Am the Center comp. but Lifting Off is just the first part of a 5-song "Maggi's Flute" sequence which is just the best. it's flute. with delay and reverb. it sounds really good and i wish i had a house in the country just so i could quietly play it through speakers outside. but the rest of the brouk comp it's on (NUMERO 069, Hearing Music) is also very good. it runs around $40-50 on discogs these days, but i need it

what's amazing about her music is that it has a sense of continuity and cohesion that sticks even with different instrumentations and themes. for example, check out "majesty suites - entrance of the queen of winter dawn", which seems to use french horn or something similar - it's a cousin to the Maggi's Flute sequence i mentioned earlier, not only with the reverb and delay setup, but also with the hard tape edits and the occasional glimpses of her throat (gasping for quick breaths when playing flute, snippets of some sort of guttural breath or half-syllable, delayed, on the majesty suites song)

btw, she's no one comp wonder - listen to "the space between". it's 21 minutes long, and even better than dave's version

i really like the album ‘peel’ by kmru on editions mego.

thanks for the Brouk tip Karl, listening now

1 Mile North released a new record this year that's quite lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYnakuHstsI

I was looking at that Brouk comp on Discogs and there’s quite a few people complaining that it’s a bad pressing

yeah I would definitely check Discogs before buying any ambient music on recently pressed vinyl

see also the fiasco re: Nurse With Wound's "Trippin' Music" 3LP, bad packing ruined a bunch.

I loved 1 Mile North back in the day - will check the new one for sure.

It's pretty good upon listening to a few tracks, Chinaski. The sort of sound is exactly what I want sometimes.

the table is the table just made an excellent ambient recommendation in a secret, forbidden, non-indexed thread, so i wanted to put it out here:

https://privateelevators.bandcamp.com/album/la-looks

also, after purchasing that on bandcamp, it automatically went on to the next track in my "collection", which is a preview track from the william basinksi album coming out in November, Lamentations. the alert went out on the basinski thread a while back, and one listen to the preview track, "O, My Daughter, O, My Sorrow", was enough to make me click the pre-order button.
holy shit, it is beautiful. the slow introduction of the voice - for some reason i strongly believe that the entire album will be a standout release for him, based off of these 6 minutes.

Joanna Brouk is great.

I've been feeling the new album from Romeo Poirier. This could go in the Balearic thread as well because it sort of overlaps both (and he's a lifeguard, which is a very Balearic job). RIYL Jon Hassell, Jan Jelinek's ambient stuff.

https://sferic.bandcamp.com/album/hotel-nota

An artist I've been liking a lot recently is Motion Sickness Of Time Travel. The 12-album collection 'Ballades' and her self-titled album are two of my favourites.

Thanks for the Romeo Poirier nod, paolo. Lovely stuff.

yeah it is wonderful

seeing as the thread has been revived, here's a pretty good in depth article about the original ambient house scene that's just been republished :

https://jointhefuture.net/2020/09/10/long-read-the-story-of-chill-out/

Thanks for the Tetsu Inoue recommendation upthread! Listened this morning and can tell I'm going to revisit for awhile.

Things I've been enjoying lately:
Sofie Birch - Themes For A Better Tomorrow Vol. II 'Hidden Terraces' (chill modular synth + field recordings)
https://vaagner.bandcamp.com/album/themes-for-a-better-tomorrow-vol-ii-hidden-terraces

H. Takahashi - Sonne und Wasser (warm take on Japanese minimalism)
https://wheretonow.bandcamp.com/album/sonne-und-wasser

Phil Struck - Schleswig-Holstein Aufnahmen (meandering/dark/warm soundscapes & miniatures, employs a drum machine or loops to a Cluster-esque affect at times)
https://philstruck.bandcamp.com/album/schleswig-holstein-aufnahmen

also the Steve Roach 'Quiet Music' reissues...don't know about anyone else, but ambient is about 90% of my listening this year.

That mix from the RBMA article on chillout is ace, thanks for pointing it out mark e

Another beautiful Poirier

https://kitrecs.bandcamp.com/album/plage-arri-re

The Motion Sickness Of Time Travel was new to me and I'm liking it a lot! So thanks!

this Kagami Smile album is huge sounding, seriously enveloping:

https://vill4in.bandcamp.com/album/dream-residue

feel like on ilx we once started to feel out the boundaries of a kind of “urban” vs “rural” vs “cosmic” vs “drug trip” ambient map.. or maybe it was just me trying to justify my indifference towards Stars of the Lid... but anyway this is definitely “urban” ambient

Dark ambient def feels underrepresented in these threads.

there was some of that in the ambient poll, too. seems impossible to pin down!

yeah I’m not a fan of dark ambient really, or “creepy” music in general.. love zoviet france tho, guess their stuff can get pretty dark

Deliberately creepy low-key horror dark ambient doesn't do much for me either but the cavernous, nocturnal and melancholy side of it definitely does.

Enjoying this Kagami Smile recommendation brimstead

I did that thing with Kagami Smile where I look (usually on RYM) at a band's discography, tut audibly at the sheer, daft size of it, and decide not to listen because overwhelmed.

Dark ambient is hard to make without being too cheesy. I do love some of it! I think my absolute "you have to hear this" from the past few years has been this David Terry record called Sorrow on Opal Tapes. He's in cult stoner weirdo group Bong, but this doesn't sound much like anything Bong has done.

I love this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_vSPsWJnEg&t=1188s

Apologies!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_vSPsWJnEg

But I also love New Risen Throne, Kammarheit, Gravetemple, and some other dark ambient stuff...The first two are particularly amazing when they're on.

ambient is about 90% of my listening this year

Same, since lockdown started anyway

Dark ambient def feels underrepresented in these threads.

― pomenitul, Monday, September 14, 2020 2:55 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I would suspect that the brighter, calming, new age adjacent vibe is the kind of escape most people are attracted to these days.

I've loved revisiting old ambient favourites and exploring the intersection between ambient/new age/Gigi Masin-adjacent/minimalism (holy and otherwise)/ECM & electroacoustic. Incredibly fertile ground.

hmmm my favorite stuff seems to have elements of both, like Biosphere's Cirque seems dark ambient adjacent. ambient that isn't goth or metal but is kinda subterranean.

I've been really into the "arctic" side of dark ambient these days. My drift-off-to-sleep soundtrack for the past week has been Thomas Köner's Aubrite and Kaamos back-to-back. Aubrite in particular feels special to me. There's nothing creepy about it--just pure, deep, all-enveloping darkness.
https://staalplaat.bandcamp.com/album/aubrite

Koner is all time but I don't reach for him much at the moment. As mentioned above, the brighter, calming stuff is where I'm at right now. I don't know that particular album though - will give it a listen.

idk if it's considered "all the way" ambient music, but william tyler's latest definitely reaches into areas of floating melancholy, if not quite full on "DARK AMBIENT."

Lots of stuff to check out. Thanks, all.

hmmm my favorite stuff seems to have elements of both, like Biosphere's Cirque seems dark ambient adjacent. ambient that isn't goth or metal but is kinda subterranean.

― lukas, Tuesday, September 15, 2020 12:26 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah totally i'm way into this liminal vibe

Struck me that I ought to recommend this as it's been a top favorite for well over a year at least, maybe approaching two?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faFyG4uFA74

ambient is about 90% of my listening this every year.

Same tbqh

all this dark ambient talk makes me wish i still had zeit on lp

feel like i need to save that deepchord track for a special run

ooh I'm gonna put that on right now, I have a super sweet Ohr OG /braggin

I've always got time for Zeit.

icwydt

I listen to dark ambient at work all day because it doesn't carry outside my office, but now I'm at home I listen to it even more because my giant speakers can do the nice rumbly bass... can't go wrong with Lustmord's "The Place Where the Black Stars Hang" or Raison d'Être's "In Sadness, Silence, and Solitude"

been listening to this guy all day lately while I wfh

https://rhucle.bandcamp.com/music

Not sure if it's been said on this thread before, but just about everything on the Clay Pipe label provides a rewarding listen and could be considered 'ambient'.

Nice sleeve, Rhucle is a good listen. Haven't checked in in a while as he is so prolific, but I have enjoyed a few Rhucle releases over the years. Thanks for the reminder.

man I'm kind of worried about the dude, no new releases since March

he's OK, he just released a new album called Middle!

cool thanks! I'm sure I'll listen tomorrow.

Thought I had seen one recently, glad I am not completely outside of time/reality!

yeah, I must have missed that before, released Sept. 4th

Never heard of Rhucle before. Thank you ilx user sleeve for this great rec!

My fave dark ambient listen is Kevin Martin's Isolationism compilation, which still feels definitive 26 years after it was released.

One of my go-to dark ambient records is David Lynch's 'The Air Is On Fire'. You don't see it mentioned a lot, not even in the Lynch-o-sphere (as far as I can tell anyway), but it's pitch black, unsettling but without any obvious 'I'm David Lynch!' in your face. It's dark and bare, I love it.

xp yeah all those "Ism" comps are still holding up

Sounds cool. I really liked his 'duet' with Marek Zebrowski, Polish Night Music, parts of which ended up in Inland Empire.

(xp)

new Richard Skelton sounding good as well, I think I learned abt him in this thread?

https://phantomlimblabel.bandcamp.com/album/these-charms-may-be-sung-over-a-wound

He's the best. I've been singing his praises for years, mentioned him in the poll last year.

Skelton is an ambient/neo-pastoral pagan god, no doubt about it.

xp yes that was it I think! thanks!

All those Virgin Brief History of Ambient compilations were great, although #4 (Isolationism) was a big departure... I bought it on release and it was too much for me, shelved it for like 15 years and then came back to it and loved it.

I keep wondering whether Richard is related to John.

xps

the zoviet france track on Isolationism is GREAT

and included in the new VOD "More Collusion" 2LP release, to my great delight

I have just spent a few mins on all fours peering at the bottom shelf of my CDs to see if I still have Isolationism and I do! Yay, thanks for the reminder, I'm gonna go listen to some Main now.

Not sure where the line is between vaporwave and ambient but I’ve been bingeing CMD094 and US Golf 95 today and pretty sure most ambient listeners would dig them both.

Christopher Bissonnette has released two albums this year, both very good. The newer one, WAYFINDING, is a nice mix of field recordings, guitar and piano.

Wholeheartedly recommend the new Grand River album on Editions Mego, 'Blink A Few Times To Clear Your Eyes'. Really engaging multi-layered stuff. Didn't know her work before this but her previous record was on Donato Dozzys label and is similarly great

lf58 - alterazione

this is really quite incredible

Alterazione presents a critical statement – distinguished by its technical execution and breathtaking artistry. The album itself is a cathedral of sound, each cavernous chamber an exploration of space and consciousness. Presented in four movements (one track per side), altogether they extend as a transportive experience of evolution for the listener.

Iniziazione – a steady departure that unfurls like the opening of a portal; a process of molecular transfiguration commences. Panoramic landscapes begin to stretch wide, glistening with an exotic beauty, before the shamanic incantations of Rituale draws things deeper. Pulsating rotations push through the next phase of transformation, now drenched in hyperspace white-noise. The procedure continues through the quiet ethereal orbit of Metamorfosi, before finishing with the three-part Evocazione/Contatto/Risveglio; uplifting synth motifs drive forward with optimism, before fading back into the great expanse.

Alterazione is both cerebral and meditative, and one cannot help but be pulled at the core by its potency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOpA2sDI7cM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h9wwyZ3qOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUW2KY7EN94

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g3KuJjuDiY

good find there, sounds nice!

Ambient / electroacoustic / electronic / experimental music is Black music:https://t.co/mTY1cb5BTS

w/ @joseph_kamaru @oui_ennui @laminfofana @_LOTIC @no_allies @lichensarealive @AngelHo_Studio @infinitykniives @nailah_hunter @NamirBlade et al pic.twitter.com/dIUZt8jehN

— Musicophilia (@musicophiliamix) October 27, 2020

Late great, I'm going to hazard a guess that album's on Astral Industries judging by the artwork? Will hit that up later cos they normally put out amazing stuff

haha yeah astral industries ftw

and yes they generally put out amazing stuff with amazing artwork but that one is a real standout for me, both in terms of music and artwork

excellent new work from Grand River who made one of my favourite albums from 2020. i love the way her pieces evolve, the mood is always shifting from light to darkness and back, but there's always a sense of beauty. awesome home set-up too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZPnuhx201M

I posted it on another thread but I really like the Ana Roxanne album from last year, and her NTS radio shows as well.

yeah, that's a good one too!

Jordan what's funny is my partner serendipitously recommendded that same ana roxanne album the other day, when you mentioned you heard it on spotify. so did she, that day, in a coffee shop! the spotify gods must have been shining on her that day.

I posted it on another thread but I really like the Ana Roxanne album from last year, and her NTS radio shows as well.

have had this in the pile to listen to for a while, and it turns out her album is a perfect sunday morning listen.
the only way to test such albums.

Y'all, it isn't even on the Astral Spirits "ambient" sub-label, but this record is simply extraordinary. Warmest ambient vibes, highly highly (wink) recommended.

https://aslittleflower.bandcamp.com/album/little-flower

I've quite liked what I've heard from Kelly Moran in general but this is <3

https://mmmmalibu.bandcamp.com/track/lost-at-sea-kelly-moran-remix

Loved Florian T M Zeisig's Coatcheck and the new one is just as good:

https://metronrecords.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-parents

On a rare trip back to his rural Bavarian hometown, producer and sound-artist Florian T M Zeisig was intrigued by a new addition to his parent's house, a vibroacoustic mattress purchased in the hopes of aiding their chronic sleep issues. Driven by a desire to reconnect in adulthood and help them finally find some rest, Zeisig spent the next two years researching vibroacoustic sound therapy, resulting in his third full-length LP 'Music for Parents'.

Building conceptual frameworks around intimate and personal encounters has always been the bedrock of Zeisig's work. His 2020 LP 'Coatcheck' explored emotional, physical and functional experiences of working in nightlife from the perspective of a garderobe attendant, a position he's held at various venues in Berlin over several years. With 'Music for Parents' he turns his attention to themes of sleep and healing, using elements of low-frequency sound therapy to create soothing soundscapes imbued with childhood memories and aspirations for creating better, more accepting familial relationships today. While rooted in the personal, the album was made with all those struggling with anxiety, stress and insomnia in mind.

Practically speaking, 'Music for Parents' can be paired with a vibroacoustic mattress or wearable bass device to enhance a listener's experience of the low frequencies. Zeisig will be teaming up with SubPac for a live rendition when gatherings can safely return, and frequently made use of their 'Wearable sub' while composing the record.

'Music for Parents' features cover artwork by his father and will come out on February 2nd, in celebration of the artist's mother's birthday.

Happy 60th Birthday Mom.

p4k review reminded me to check his out. It sounds great so far!

this*

know he's been talked about here, but KMRU released a new track this morning, and it's quite lovely, would fit in nicely with something from Skelton's record from last year.

https://kmru.bandcamp.com/track/falling-dreams

my friend tanner menard had this record released by Full Spectrum last year. it's quite lovely.

https://fullspectrumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/san-francisco-an-audiophony-in-four-movements

Presented as a suite in four movements, san francisco was recorded between 2006 and 2009 as an extension of the conceptual “envelope” music – inspired by Ray Johnson’s work – that they were doing around the Bay Area during that time. The artist provided their friends Ping Chu and Chris Horgan with envelopes containing conceptual scores that indicated trajectories for recording locations around the San Francisco metro. These recorded found sounds and environmental performances were then mixed with sounds generated from a physically modeled 30-foot long piano, utilizing various experimental tunings by Nick Gish.

Ever the poet, tanner structured the album to roughly mirror Sonata Allegro form; hence the title, ‘an audiophony.’ Taking inspiration from Bernadette Mayer’s approach to the traditional sonnet, they sought to create a vast, experimental, recursive and barely recognizable sonic experience, achieving striking divergence from the source material through subtle changes in tuning and gradual movements from melodic signal to noise

love the cover, very nostalgic photo for me <3

same tbh! i have a feeling that my next visit to the Bay is going to be filled with a lot of moments where i'm going to become irrationally emotional when i see, like, a seagull eating a dead pigeon at the Civic Center BART.

haven't seen many mentions of Sea Oleena on here, but jesus, this record is phenomenal

https://seaoleena.bandcamp.com/album/weaving-a-basket

like less creepy but similarly somnambulant Grouper

As genre tags go, that's got me interested.

Surprised 'slowcore' isn't listed as well.

That Caldwell/Tester 'Little Flower' record is great

Right? So beautiful!

i'm listening to the tape right now

😎

one of my favorite things about it is this, in the liner notes:

Sunday, April 16, 2017
Landon Caldwell: piano, synthesizers
Mark Tester: Arp Odyssey, field recordings

Sunday April 1, 2018
Landon Caldwell: electric piano, marimba, vibraphone, effects, percussion
Mark Tester: vibraphone, bass guitar, Casio SK1, percussion

Sunday April 21, 2019
Caldwell/Tester: Mixing

i don't know how intentional that was, but i think that's a really cool process - record, wait a year, record, wait a year, mix, wait a year, release

I noted that too! Love it

https://a-ton.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-yellow-haze-2

Nigerian sound and installation artist Emeka Ogboh has put a perfect debut album out, it's very evocative and pretty and moving stuff.

Nice, thanks

https://a-ton.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-yellow-haze-2

Nigerian sound and installation artist Emeka Ogboh has put a perfect debut album out, it's very evocative and pretty and moving stuff.

― calzino, Sunday, February 7, 2021 4:06 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

this is incredible, thank you for posting

anyone else getting a slight Rapoon or Muslimgauze vibe from parts of this?

Gosh, I think I just feel like this is like Deepchord or other similar sounds that really pushes on whether I'd consider it ambient— tbh, I like it, but I don't think it's ambient music.

And when I say I like it, I like it quite a lot.

no you're right, this is not what I'd classify as ambient at all.

lo-fi chill Rhodes piano to study to:
https://lionmilk.bandcamp.com/album/i-hope-you-are-well

xps yeah definite Muslimgauze vibes there, too rhythmic to work as ambient imo but quite good

I keep meaning to check out Muslimgauze!

they have so much stuff...are there a few that stand out in particular?

This is a good primer covering the different stages of his output imo (though with an output like that you'll get a diff primer depending on who you ask).

Karl iirc I put a link to a personal best-of in the ILM thread, just search my username

I also have a Spotify playlist:

http://open.spotify.com/user/sb0ut0n/playlist/5gm4mhkHE1DpPDjqomZdMj

thanks to you both! yes, just cursorily looking through his stuff, i quickly realized that i was asking a very complicated question! :)

Good list Sleeve! It's here btw, Karl.

Was gonna say there aren't complicated questions, just complicated/complicating answers ZS, but in this case... :)

siiiiick playlist, sleeve, thank you! LBI i have that primer bookmarked for this evening, but right now i'm enjoying the feeling of listening to this playlist and having zero clue about the origins or context of any of the songs. i allowed myself to read that he had died more than 20 years ago and that the music was still coming out, and that's enough for me for now. :)

Oh but that's totally the best way to dip your toes into this, enjoy!

that Rhodes album is sounding really nice, thanks for posting Jordan :-)

early muslimgauze is probably my favorite but I really haven’t heard anything I haven’t enjoyed

i thought about calling you out on the cocteau duo thread, given that i saw it on the poll regarding the two and only two cocteau musicians, who were also identical twins, but then thought i'd call you out here instead. sleeve, in your quick list of harold budd recommendations:

Ambient #2, Plateaux Of Mirror
The Pearl (w/Eno)
some people rep for the Obscure record, Pavilion Of Dreams, but I don't get that one at all.

― money, chicken and other DNA (sleeve), Tuesday, September 17, 2013 6:00 PM (seven years ago)

and i'm feeling a little hurt, and i can only hope that you've had a "moment" with pavilion of dreams in the last 7 years. and if you haven't, was it that same night when that moment was knocking at your door but you didn't open or say anything back? you know what i'm talking about. i'll take my answer online, later

i want to explore this new territory of "very aggressive" and "confrontational" ambient music

very passive-aggressive, though

oh, i guess my peace of mind playlist wasn't enough to make you forget your troubles for 3 minutes? *extremely focused and grooving kalimbas enter the mix*

for real though, i want to say that i rep hard for Pavilion of Dreams, which is not exactly ambient, but is still one of my all-time favorite recordings. i would love to hear it performed again, adapted, whatever

lol this Untold album has some kind of passive aggressive ambient vibes I might say:

https://www.discogs.com/Untold-Echo-In-The-Valley/master/746509

coming out only as a memory stick and a promo CD in Japan is pretty PA

Karl you'll be happy to hear that I did indeed click with Pavilion Of Dreams, and now have the proper appreciation of its beauty.

*drops the knife*

i am sorry for what i did last night. i know that i only did it to protect the honor of the pavilion, but that doesn't make it right

<3

This is getting off-track but I think people who are into that Emeka Ogboh or Muslimgauze would like this mix:
https://crackmagazine.net/article/mixprofile/azu-tiwaline/

(at least the first half)

hi folx, try this

https://freelovenrg.bandcamp.com/album/full-ashram-devotional-ceremony-volume-one

cool to see hometown folks (caldwell/tester) get some love here :)

i think i posted another one of her releases upthread, but digging this album-length sofie birch piece for Longform Editions:
https://longformeditions.bandcamp.com/track/behind-her-name-chestnuts-fall-forever

for real though, i want to say that i rep hard for Pavilion of Dreams, which is not exactly ambient, but is still one of my all-time favorite recordings. i would love to hear it performed again, adapted, whatever

Guessing you have heard this, but just in case.

i received two CDs from Andrew Chalk in the mail today, exceptionally beautiful ambient works. his mail order shop is unfortunately closed for the foreseeable, but the almost complete catalogue is available on bandcamp.

i recommend starting here: https://andrewchalk.bandcamp.com/album/violin-by-night

thanks, I have followed him in the past but lost track somewhere in the Mirror era

Apparently this is solo material from a member of Hundred Waters, really good. Love the lo-fi choir & strings/synth going on in 'konstantine'
https://trayer.bandcamp.com/album/new-forever-2

this is nice, getting some Grouper vibes from it?

i want to explore this new territory of "very aggressive" and "confrontational" ambient music

― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 9 February 2021 03:29 (two weeks ago) link

you shoulda been there when Deathprod performed at Big Ears

the table is the table just made an excellent ambient recommendation in a secret, forbidden, non-indexed thread, so i wanted to put it out here:

https://privateelevators.bandcamp.com/album/la-looks

Thank you for this! It's superb.

Probably my most-played tape cassette!

this is something nice to have on, without having to actively engage with it. it's peaceful-
https://ernestorodrigues.bandcamp.com/album/layering-time

hence, "ambient" ... durrrrrrrrrrr

This sounds promising: https://carmenvillain.bandcamp.com/album/sketch-for-winter-ix-perlita

it's really good!

I've listened— it is! I'm waiting til Friday to do a big ol' bandcamp order.

haha same

Not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere but the new Chuck Johnson album is very nice.

Real nice NTS mix to feed the endless need for ambient work music:
https://www.nts.live/shows/post-geography/episodes/post-geography-25th-february-2021

It's edited field recordings, but as one Youtube commenter notes, this reminds me of 'Stalker' or 'Nostalghia.' Very weird stuff from Jeph Jerman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qBoz2_Y6Zk

i got this in the mail yesterday. it is very, very good! mix of field recordings and some light musical touches. the label sent me some free bandcamp redeem codes so i'm looking forward to checking out some other things they've released.

https://salmonuniverse.bandcamp.com/album/ultra-letizia

and table, i'll put that jeph jerman field recording on later today when i'm working. i think i've loved everything that you recommend in the ambient sphere, so please feel free to share your time/space/music knowledge as you see fit

Dunno if this has been posted but Ohio (Upward, Broken, Always) is a pretty nice record - it's got two songs with vocals on it but the rest is beautiful instrumentals. Ohio is the band name. Upward, Broken, Always is the album name.

I love Jeph Jerman!

That McKee is cool, KM, thanks,

And likewise to you— I like everything you've posted in this musical realm!

Got this yesterday based on the review in the Quietus and a quick initial listen— it's lovely. I think my only complaint is that I wish he would let some of the tracks linger a bit longer! Still, really lovely as a whole—
https://arovane.bandcamp.com/album/wirkung

Haven't listened to anything by him since, well, Tides. Good to know he's still around.

Not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere but the new Chuck Johnson album is very nice.

― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, March 2, 2021 12:37 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I mentioned it in a few threads but nobody seemed to really say anything! I still need to listen to the full thing but the portions I’ve heard so far are gorgeous like the last one.

i think i posted another one of her releases upthread, but digging this album-length sofie birch piece for Longform Editions
appreciate this, Hidden Terraces (2020) is all time morning ambient for me

the new Chuck Johnson album is very nice
yes!

It's a really lovely record, bought it last friday!

Just got The Ambient Cookbook after listening to this track (not on the comp), my first Fax comp I think? Stoked to play it loud while my roommates are out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MPmrmmxaRo

Thinking about making an ambient mix but it's just Morphing Clouds. I don't think anyone would complain.

https://www.fluid-radio.co.uk/

This one came up randomly, listened to the whole thing for the first time in many years. Lovely record.

https://hshirptsubaki.bandcamp.com/album/after-hours

Virtual Dreams: Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, 1993-1997

"Virtual Dreams will delve into music produced during the 1990’s that redefined the boundaries of ‘Ambient’. This was music that explored the possibilities of Ambient within a new setting, created often by House and Techno producers for a world beyond dance floors but made very much with the pre-clubbing and post-clubbing listener in mind."

https://www.musicfrommemory.com/release.php?release_id=6879

Probably mentioned/discussed on the dedicated MfM thread but always worth bringing it up. The promotional mix cd by Tako Reyenga that was included in the first 150 orders is available on youtube and I endorse anyone that has bookmarked this thread to check it out, it's one of a kind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZb-ljW2NMc

Thanks for sharing - not at all what I was expecting but excellent anyway

Pauline Anna Strom - Angel Tears In Sunlight.

https://paulineannastrom.bandcamp.com/album/angel-tears-in-sunlight

Found this a little while ago on the quietus's Feb round-up. Saddened to also read there that she died at the end of last year.

Just a quick heads up about the big Soundquest Live festival happening online starting tomorrow:

https://soundquestfest.live/

Schedule can be found down the page, will be running off of Steve Roach's YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve4WMKjvNKU

I knew Pauline Anna Strom had been ill but I hadn’t realised she had died. Sad to hear it

my dear friend Ami Dang made this 'meditation mix' for Crack Magazine, it's lovely.

https://soundcloud.com/crackmagazine/meditation-mix-ami-dang

i should say, features some of her own projects, plus ILX faves Cucina Povera, KMRU, and others.

Hot ambient tip:
https://clairerousay.bandcamp.com/album/a-softer-focus

It's a good 'un

YES i just finished listening to that, it rules, her tape on no rent is super good too. though they don't sound super similar i was thinking of the rousay record alongside this:

https://rachika.bandcamp.com/album/our-hands-against-the-dusk

and

https://cachedmedia.bandcamp.com/album/futurangelics

thx Jordan, sounding good

no, the voices are a dealbreaker, sorry

don't think this has been mentioned, but it just got repressed & floated to my attention

LOG - LOG ET3RNAL on Experiences Ltd (Ulla + Perila)
https://bblisss.bandcamp.com/album/log-et3rnal

the Ulla upthread is fantastic and i'd say this is up there in a similar albeit more fractured-dub way

Yeah that’s great, I’m waiting for it to come on the mail <3

this album is good, and plus they made a cool little installation/walkthrough/listen website: https://niklaskramer.github.io/Habitat/

enjoying this PWYC ambient album, an appealingly lo-fi/bedroom take on Boards of Canada, DNTEL, Benoit Pioulard type stuff. sounds good real loud.

http://www.quoteunquoterecords.com/qur112.htm

oh and happy 4/20 everyone

Samples of this sounded great & interesting. Haven't listened to it front to back yet.

https://experimentalrooms.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-waves-from-niigata

Experimental Rooms is a label founded to bring together talented people to collaborate on a project celebrating Niigata, a sea-facing city in Japan. Niigata in Kanji can be translated as 新 “new,” 潟 “lagoon,” and 市 “city,” three eternal themes explored widely within Ambient Waves From Niigata.

Textural and organic, Ambient Waves from Niigata is a full-on sensorial experience and glimpse into a vital community of musicians and artists. Not only is the music from residents of Niigata, but the album’s design, sound treatment, cover photo and translations were done by Niigata’s music community as well.

don't think this has been mentioned, but it just got repressed & floated to my attention

LOG - LOG ET3RNAL on Experiences Ltd (Ulla + Perila)
https://bblisss.bandcamp.com/album/log-et3rnal

the Ulla upthread is fantastic and i'd say this is up there in a similar albeit more fractured-dub way

― dronestreet, Friday, April 9, 2021 3:16 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is great, thanks

really been enjoying the first blank gloss album ('January' on Night Young records) that came out last year and totally passed me by. kind of mixture between gigi masin/gaussian curve and labradford:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9qImWEP2Ns

new one out soon on Kompakt

some good bass vi action on there if my ears aren't mistook

that's incredible, thx

This is perfect, cheers.

I've made a compilation of this sort of stuff, using a title I think I nicked from someone on here: Yoga, Hungover.

yours is better than mine.

xp Fantastic. I'll be playing this constantly until the new album comes out. Their track from Pop Ambient, which is kinda like "Sweet Flag", will be on it.

Yours is pretty great boxedjoy! And I stole your title. And you have better hair. So.

Nice preview and snippets of the new album here xp

https://kompakt.fm/releases/melt

ah those clips sound great, thank you!

saw this recommended by roman flugel in a dj mag piece, new (gorgeous) thomas fehlman album

https://thomasfehlmann.bandcamp.com/album/b-ser-herbst

Listening to this one now, really lovely

https://pitp.bandcamp.com/album/unfailing-love

xp Thx map, that new Fehlmann sounds amazing on first flip-through

xp Yeah that label delivers the goods very well. Ended up subscribing to zake in full.

I used to be obsessed with Honigpumpe so I'm glad to hear about some new Fehlmann

Honigpumpe is a fucking class album btw!

If I could be bold and recommend myself.

It began as sort of a salute to Tetsuo Inoue's 'World Receiver', one of my favourite ambient records.

Lot's of radio voices and environmental recordings tied with 12 pieces borne out of little keyboard improvisations in one hour-long track.

There's even a very loose version of a Broadcast tune.

https://nowherians.bandcamp.com/album/rabbits-make-mochi-on-the-moon

If you need something soothing and lord knows I do, I can't recommend this Takashi Kokubo collection enough (very much on the new age end of Kankyo Ongaku):

https://takashikokubo.bandcamp.com/album/healing-collection-quiet-comfort

Latest Blank Gloss is lovely: https://blankgloss.bandcamp.com/album/melt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6p4u7XT_CY

I thought for sure this revive was going to be about this:

My condolences to all the ambient artists linked in Samuel McLemore's @toneglow blurb for the new Space Afrika recordhttps://t.co/uwHe6yesT2 pic.twitter.com/HUSkQGxDEQ

— Joshua Minsoo Kim (@misterminsoo) September 6, 2021

Has that not hit ILM yet? Or is it happening in another thread?

Oof. Is it The Disintegration Loops he's referencing in that last paragraph?

Ah nm, seen there's actual links to those getting dissed on the review on the website

Blank Gloss has been a really nice discovery for me, very into January (2020) and look forward to checking out Melt

not sure it qualifies as ambient but Hideyuki Hashimoto's minimal, subdued piano pieces have been hitting the spot for me lately https://hideyukihashimoto.com/

what's up with that Samuel McLemore dude, seems very negative, maybe time 2 chill 2 sum ambient tunez

Ah, I kept seeing odd emails about "ambient" on Twitter yesterday but couldn't make any sense of them.

those tone glow review panels offer a safe space for today's youth to engage in rampant consequence-free challoping in bafflingly microscopic arenas, fuckin love it

i too came here for that revive

love the careerist dig. god forbid someone make a living (or even $20) from their (ambient) music! lol, what an incredibly remote possibility

not that this is news for any of you, but as someone who works weekends at a record shop with an above-average "left-field/electronic" section...99% of our customers don't know who any of those artists linked in that piece are. afaic, anyone who likes music and is open to new music is cool by me. any gateway into a new genre (esp one as niche as 'ambient') for a listener is rad + should be celebrated. and i like saying "this record sux" as much as anyone

hmmm, on one hand i completely agree with you.

but on the other, maybe ambient music is just way too popular now and it's starting to get a little annoying for ambient dudes to recommend stuff that other people have already heard. and plus the new people who like ambient don't properly understand what made the top-tier stuff so good. also, the new ambient music likers probably buy face masks and do yoga and stuff like, but not like the people in the 80s did it, back when all that was very very underground

the gates of ambient music must be kept strong. a gate is not a gate if everyone passes through. a fully realized gate must create and enforce ingroups and outgroups. and at the top of that gate are the keepers. i reside in the castle, eating raw onions and spitting all over myself

here is a new ambient album I like: https://nueen.bandcamp.com/album/circular-sequence-2

take that tweet to the pitchfork thread or trend forecasting thread something, wtf who cares

here are a few cool records

https://nikolaienko-faitiche.bandcamp.com/album/rings

https://dust-editions.bandcamp.com/album/varispeed-hydra

https://v-i-s.bandcamp.com/album/wanderung-durch-wald-und-flur

sorrrrrrrry

don’t apologize, I apologize for not knowing about that tweet before this thread revive and for not caring and for posting ambient recommendations that might not be ambient. we’re all sorry

no, that was an ambient sorry!

*looks deep down into the infinite well*

"sooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

jks all around of course <3

i am working my way through these recommendations, as always. i drifted off to the new Blank Gloss last night and quite enjoyed that! and now i'm listening to the Circular Sequence release. bongo do you know how many tapes there were before it sold out?

ohhhhhhhhh ok shit sorry KM

I gotta say i’m not really into the mallet ambient stuff or clean cleansing ambient or overly healing crystal ambient. And I admit I did roll my eyes when I saw the dude from grizzly bear put an album out on music for memory. what does this dude think about proflific post-vaporwave ambient eg Dream Catalogue and adjacent? I don’t think I want to know!

this dude: Samuel tweet guy. Ok done posting.

seconding the good tip on that Blank Gloss -- recall hearing + liking that track on Pop Ambient and completely spaced on them afterwards

xp yeah i've never read the sam dude or the toneglow substack, either! they seem angry and disappointed at the state of ambience though.

i think sometimes it's dangerous to get too deep into things. i'd rather be the little wooden thing rolling against the lip of a tibetan singing bowl

Cherry picking ambient albums that have a "gimmick" whether authentic in their attention or indeed for marketing purposes, doesn't really address all of the not so "stagnant" examples out there. Surely if there is a surge in popularity there will be an influx of good AND "bad"...

Omg weird did my hands type "attention" when I meant "intention"? I meant intention*

not sorry for posting that tweet, i think it's funny and dumb and interesting all at once, and the resulting conversation (that i saw) on Twitter was actually pretty evenly split between people who thought it was ridiculous and people who, basically agree

what i wanna know is ... Julianna Barwick a narcissist? wha?

also, my "not sorry" was going along w/ the jokes, though now it seems all indignant because other stuff has posted before

i guess i don't know if i'm sorry or not

it's better to hover on the edge of sorry, between the subliminal and the liminal states of perception of wrongality

*wrongitude

I will say that I don't really understand the Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith praise. I wouldn't call her a ghoul, though— the music just seems ratioed to hell. It's also strange that McLemore cites Speaker Music as a critical take without referencing how it's a critical take, and how people like KMRU (among others) are doing quite a bit to dispel the notion that ambient music is colonial, or white, music. Deforrest Brown, like all people, has an agenda, and that's to promote his own vision of what music should be— sonic weaponry. (Really, his latest EP is great, but it has more in common with the wilder side of Jamal Moss and the drum-programming of Theo Parrish than anything else. https://speakermusic.bandcamp.com/album/soul-making-theodicy-2)

There's definitely a lot of bad ambient out there, but that's fine, because there's a lot of bad music out there, period.

jks all around of course <3

i am working my way through these recommendations, as always. i drifted off to the new Blank Gloss last night and quite enjoyed that! and now i'm listening to the Circular Sequence release. bongo do you know how many tapes there were before it sold out?

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, September 8, 2021 9:44 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

seemed like a small run, I think it was like 100 or 150, but I didn't buy the tape for some reason

tbf it is interesting to see this weak vitrol making the 15 min splash that it is (I have heard about this irl from ambient people as of this afternoon), but I guess the ambient world is so scene-y that a lot of people tend to be openly uncritical (of course being extremely critical in private), plus there aren't any music criticism places anymore that aren't straight PR. My own reaction is that yeah it's kind of funny, but who cares

Thanks brimstead for reminding me of that great Richard von der Schulenburg album, one of my earliest Bandcamp purchases if I'm remembering right, so nice I'm gonna link it twice
https://v-i-s.bandcamp.com/album/wanderung-durch-wald-und-flur

(Also, listening now to that Nikolaienko on Faitische that brimstead likewise rec'd--had already cursorily wishlisted it at some point recently and kept it moving, but damn this is nice too, reminding me a bit of Bellows' amazing creepy/sleepy tape loop alb Undercurrents on Black Truffle from last year)

https://nikolaienko-faitiche.bandcamp.com/album/rings
https://blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/undercurrent

Just saw new Pendant was announced:
https://westmineral.bandcamp.com/album/to-all-sides-they-will-stretch-out-their-hands-ouest091

...and had to get that Nikolaienko after a couple spins, another one that totally slipped past me. V nice.

This piano/cello collab with lots of field recording vibes is hitting the spot for me.

https://nataliabeylis.bandcamp.com/album/whose-woods-these-are

Hoping new Pendant gets a physical release

Vinyl version (w/ digital) is at Boomkat now: https://boomkat.com/products/to-all-sides-they-will-stretch-out-their-hands

I would think Forced Exposure would have some as well, but not listed yet.

Excellent, thank you! I love MMKYS and I'm stoked for this

that Whose Woods These Are by Eimear Reidy & Natalia Beylis is v nice thanks

glad you dig! i'm a real sucker for cello-forward ambient. my album of the year is Anne Bourne's wave

i also listened to that yesterday and dug, table! i'll check out Anne Bourne later today. i always save your up your reccos for my painting time. really just any recco on this thread

FUCK!

i'm going to start punishing myself for typos. the carrot approach did not work. we're just using the stick now

Back when I wrote about music (late 00s/early 10s) I was all over the ambient/drone scene. Now, I'm back to being bewildered by the possibilities and this thread (and the other ambient threads) are my only real way into the scene (whatever that means).

When I can stop listening to the new Low record, I'll check these out.

Here's the Anne Bourne. It is *exquisite*

https://annebourne.bandcamp.com/album/wave

She was an acolyte/friend of Oliveros, friends with Dempster, etc. Her bio is great:

Anne Bourne is a Toronto-based cellist and composer whose main efforts are geared toward the improvisational/20th century classical world. Although her early musical education was focused on the piano, the cello became her primary performance instrument. In addition to cello and 20th century piano studies, she also studied both South Indian and Ghanaian drumming, as well as free music, in the '80s. In 1994, she began ongoing studies with Pauline Oliveros, eventually leading to certification in the three-year Deep Listening Program. This program uses various methods to focus on attentively listening to and interacting with, not only music and musicians, but all sounds of the environment as a whole.

Active in the Toronto arts community, Bourne has conducted workshops and composed for various film and dance projects, and has also performed and collaborated with leading improvisers like Joe McPhee, Tom Cora, Hans Reichel, and Susie Ibarra. Performing with Pauline Oliveros, Tony Conrad, and David Grubbs, the premiere performance of Oliveros' "Primordial Lift" was recorded for release on the Table of the Elements label. Another concert, an improvised show with Fred Frith and John Oswald, was also recorded for eventual release.

Bourne's versatility as a cellist, keyboardist, and vocalist has also led to work with many of Canada's popular artists. She has performed and toured numerous times with both Jane Siberry and Loreena McKennitt. In addition to recording with both Siberry and McKennitt, she has appeared on albums by Sloan, Hayden, 13 Engines, the Devlins, Holly Cole, and Meryn Cadell.

Woah, that's quite the CV. I'm on it.

Actually, while I think of it, this fella has a new album and he's always interesting: https://robertcurgenven.bandcamp.com/

Not ambient as *such*. More soundscapes, I guess. I once put on a gig featuring him in a little venue and it was the most extraordinary pure sound experience I've ever had. Sound as landscape.

she has appeared on albums by Sloan, Hayden, 13 Engines, the Devlins, Holly Cole, and Meryn Cadell.

very off-topic but i had completely forgotten about Hayden until that. for some reason i got one of his cds as one of my very first in my collection and listened to it so much for a while

I loved Skyscraper National Park.

DL'd that Anne Bourne, only $4 CAD, thanks! I almost put on the "cistern" Deep Listening CD earlier today

Yes. Let's all try to get it into ILM albums of the year. I just let it play on a loop some days, tbh!

THE END YEAR POLL IS RIGGED

weirdly this Anne Bourne is reminding me more La Monte Young's "7th Dream of the Step-down Transformer" or whatever it's called, that long piece with the 8 horns

and yeah that Stuart Dempster LP "In The Great Abbey Of Clement VI" for sure

yikes maybe I actually don’t like ambient music… my partner refers to the music I listen to as “music for a super villain’s secret underwater bunker”

speaking of underwater bunkers, I am listening to this one now, a classic for me that I hadn't listened to in a year or so...certainly brushes with "dark ambient" but it's actually quite lovely and without many of the black metal affinities that other dark ambient has..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHfoCBw4lXs

sleeve, yeah, the patterns are there but the sound on the Bourne is much richer to me, as much as I adore that LaMonte Young recording

The Anne Bourne is lovely, thanks for the recommendation. I love these big, quavering (not-quite) drones. It reminds me of Richard Skelton in places.

Cool ambient jazz album

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nala-sinephro-space-18/

Recorded when she was just 22, Space 1.8 is the London-based musician’s debut album, though it sounds like the work of a far more experienced composer. On a suite of pieces that range from just over a minute in length to nearly 18 minutes, she weaves a loose fusion of jazz balladry, beat music, and the sort of beatless, synthesizer-centric whorls for which there’s no better word than “ambient.” Alice Coltrane’s spiritual jazz is an obvious touchstone; so is the otherworldly sound-shaping of Jon Hassell’s processed horn. Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders’ recent Promises is a tempting point of comparison, given the way Space 1.8 lays out soft, spongy electronics as the backdrop for emotive saxophone solos. Reed players Nubya Garcia, James Mollison, of the Ezra Collective, and Ahnansé—a saxophonist who has collaborated with a host of musicians including Garcia, Emma-Jean Thackray, and broken-beat icon IG Culture—all deliver standout performances. But Sinephro and her collaborators sound less concerned with precedent than possibility. Not so much interlocking as complementary, the album’s eight tracks—titled “Space 1” through “Space 8”—collectively map out a novel, singular terrain.

Indeed. I have a cool friend who recco’d that to me recently and have been LOVING it. Covers a lot of range, too. The last track in particular (17 minutes) is a red alert ambient recommendation for this thread, I think, but a lot of the previous tracks get into that territory too. Also some more kinetic, non ambient music that isn’t so ambient. Wonderful album.

I want to play in her band

I was surprised to find that it was sold out on every single conceivable marketplace that stocked it only 10 days ago. No word of limited pressing quantities mentioned anywhere. Wonder if it'll restock?

Downloading now, excited to listen.

Some of the ambient stuff on it reminds me of Ulla. I love the dynamics and interplay between its softer and louder moments.

It was weird because it was like that only hours after that review ran (sometimes BNM gives things a bump in sales), but I'm not sure where else there is buzz, because it was thoroughly cleaned out of all retailers selling online. Is there hype being generated somewhere else? I'm not as on top of things as I'd like to be.

xp to self

Like I came here and searched her name before KM posted and there was nothing, for instance. People must be talking or the first pressing was really low quantity.

https://nalasinephro.bandcamp.com/album/space-18

So in other words, where else is there buzz for this?

It's on Warp, FWIW.

I bought all the copies. I’m sorry.

Look, I don't know if I sound like an idiot or anything, but my takeaway from the fact that it's sold out so fast everywhere is that there must be a lot of excitement for this album, but I don't really know where to find any of the discussion that might corresponds to that excitement. I was also admittedly wondering out loud where I could pick up a copy eventually, but this isn't Warp customer support so that's not really what I'm asking ILX about.

Warp announced they'd signed her on Aug. 17. Not that long ago! There were definitely people excited and ready to order then, but it does seem odd that everything's gone already. Maybe the pressing was really small ... or maybe the P4k effect is still stronger than we realize. (Or both.)

Yeah I guess we're all a bit out of the loop. She's news to me. Sounds great!

Thanks for calling attention to the Blank Gloss disc - excellent stuff.

I just meant that people are probably buying whatever Warp is releasing. I was not being snarky.

If you've liked any of the other releases from The Transcendence Orchestra— last year's Feeling the Spirit was a favorite of mine— the new one on Editions Mego is pretty great, too.

https://thetranscendenceorchestra.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHbkPL9fcww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EmdTe0A9es

you know you're in for some serious ambient when you see multiple monome devices

New Anne Bourne is great https://annebourne.bandcamp.com/album/morning-i-drift

Got the notification for this today. I've been listening to Wave pretty much daily since you mentioned it on here.

^ in fact I'm listening to Wave right now as I'm reading this. Great record to start the day with.

minimal dark ambient via sonification of weather data. for fans of Lull, Thomas Köner, Kevin Drumm, et al

https://tenselessmusic.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-of-unknowing

Kind of haunting record from Matt Evans here, composed in the aftermath of the death of his partner (and an acquaintance of mine), Devra Freelander.
https://thisismattevans.bandcamp.com/album/touchless

more on the new age than ambient side but i've been enjoying 'cymbalom solos' by michael masley. originally released as a cassette in 1985 and reissued this year by telephone explosion. i also really love the album art

https://assets.boomkat.com/spree/products/752953/large/MichaelMasleyCymbalomSolos_1_1280x1280.jpeg

current favourite (although not fully representative) song: 'childbirth in cave art'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcqAejSkFlc

yeah totally, I picked that up over the weekend and am diggin it a ton <3

this is gorgeous except it gets treacly towards the end, it’s supposed to be a “companion” to Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Way:

https://wereleasewhateverthefuckwewantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/laistigh-den-ghleo

wonderful piece from Olivia Block, inhabiting the boundaries between ambient, field recording and electro-acoustic sound

https://oliviablock.bandcamp.com/track/october-1984

Listening to a few bits through my covid nimbus:

Black Swan, Repetition Hymns: https://blackswan.bandcamp.com/album/repetition-hymns-2xlp-digital-2020
Federico Durand, Herbario (Laurel is particularly lovely): https://federicodurand.bandcamp.com/track/laurel

I'm looking for music that would fit nicely in a playlist with these two things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjG0ivBT4lQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0Ex6bKnQ0

This might work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1xIUYZVKxQ

I'm liking the new Pendant album. It's a bit darker than the last one but not enough to be full on dark ambient

i like it too! agree that it's a little too lush to go full dark

Loving this: https://longformeditions.bandcamp.com/track/nine-movements-featuring-miguel-atwood-ferguson

ooh he did one of my favorite International Artists releases! thanks, will investigate

(Atwood-Ferguson, I mean)

Loving this: https://longformeditions.bandcamp.com/track/nine-movements-featuring-miguel-atwood-ferguson

This is great.

Just realised who Atwood & Ferguson are, too (thanks for the reminder, Sleeve)! If you meant this International Anthem rekkid, (with Carlos Niño) I wholeheartedly concur: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/chicago-waves

#onethread

^^ yep that's the one

https://coh-official.bandcamp.com/

8 Soisong broadcasts have been released already this year - by Ivan Pavlov (COH), not clear how many of this was made when Peter Christopherson was still alive but they're interesting and quite magical at times. Some fleeting beats, 60s chansons or Asian pop songs may also drift in and out, but I'd classify this as ambient, overall.

thanks for that

I friggin love the tune Dry by Donnacha Costello. Minimal ambient perfection. More good ambient, less bad ambient please. Soz I will check out the recent posts here now.

dog latin I'd also love it if you could make any other recommendations similar to Oh Why. No need to bring up Clams Casino, they're canon already obv.

“dry retch?” hell yeah. that whole Costello lp is beautiful if a bit hard on the ears at times

viborg, Clams Casino...I dunno, nothing I've ever heard has made me thing "this is great ambient music."

viborg, I think Balam Acab was lumped in with the whole witch house scene in the early '10s. It's by far the best track on the album. I dunno, maybe stuff like Haxan Cloak?

I posted this on the Spotify playlists thread, but you all might like this selection of ambient, neo-classical, game and movie soundtrack music I put together based on the three tunes I posted upthread. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6NEfOjtgKLoD7LyXPXVEkw?si=6dafc7d7a5424c4b

(caveat: it does get quite "dramatic" at times, but it's meant to be listened to in song order)

That's quite a diverse playlist! As for Clams Casino, that was an unintentional thread derail. I don't really think of them as ambient at all, I just got excited at the mention of Oh Why because that is the one witch house song I consider transcendent and I was hoping for more along the same lines. So thanks for sharing your playlist.

And you're right, the Costello song was Dry Retch -- the version I had from some obscure old comp was mislabeled. I'll have to give a listen to the Together Is The New Alone album, I'm not completely averse to difficult ambient. Didn't initially note that it's 20 years old now. Clearly I don't quite have my finger on the throbbing pulse of contemporary ambient.

new Christina Vantzou (tape/digital) - https://slow-moves.bandcamp.com/album/releasing-spores

Multi Natural was a favorite last year, excited to give this one some dedicated headspace

immediate connection to 'nine movements' posted above. deep vibrations.

this is gorgeous except it gets treacly towards the end, it’s supposed to be a “companion” to Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Way:

https://wereleasewhateverthefuckwewantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/laistigh-den-ghleo

― brimstead, Thursday, October 7, 2021 1:20 AM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is quite listenable. (Although maybe my version 'listenable' is dangerously close to treacly in general.) It does sound pretty heavily indebted to Music For Airports, I'm not familiar with Still Way tho.

Sorry earlier I meant to say "and you're right, brimstead" (about Dry Retch).