Your favourite ambient interludes…

…on predominantly non-ambient albums.

Radiohead's 'Treefingers' is a classic example of this. Spiritualized's 'Symphony Space' is another one that I can't imagine the rest of the album without.

There are plenty of instances of this in metal as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=876vrpDQGIE

This might be cheating a bit but 'Becalmed' feels like one of the few 'true' ambient tracks off Another Green World.

"More Hopes and Dreams" off Mercury by American Music Club. Supposedly the soundtrack of a testing signal form a local power station.

Mercury Rev , pick up if you’re there

Roxy Music - Tara
China Crisis - Jean Walks In Fresh Fields
Black Sabbath - Scarlet Pimpernel
This Mortal Coil - Fyt
Propaganda - La Carne, La Morte E Il Diavolo

although that last one is a bit too long a closer to count as an interlude tbh

Leonard Cohen - Tacoma Trailer (closing out The Future).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgg81za4vsQ

Underworld generally have one of these on every album but I think "To Heal" is probably the big standout

To me, ambient implies free-floating, almost abstract sound-painting not just a mellow instrumental. For instance, I wouldn't include "Tara" because it's got a clearly defined melody, structure and chord progression.

- "Underwater" on Shooting at the Moon by Kevin Ayers and the Whole World
- "Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats" and "Ravine" on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis
- "Moon, Turn the Tides...gently gently away" on Electric Ladyland by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
- "Fireworks (Still Life #5)" on Fireworks by Chris Stamey
- "Gravel Truck" on Cypress by Let's Active
- "4th of July" on The Unforgettable Fire by U2

To me, ambient implies free-floating, almost abstract sound-painting not just a mellow instrumental.

Correct.

Blur have a few of these but Optigan 1 from 13 springs to mind

I daresay the ambient section of Pink Floyd's 'Echoes' should count as well.

Sonic Youth - Providence (from Daydream Nation)

- "Underwater" on Shooting at the Moon by Kevin Ayers and the Whole World

^Definitely.

The first thing that comes to mind is Olivia Tremor control's 'Black Foliage'. Back in high school i was really into the ambient interludes on that, but found the pop songs annoying. I haven't heard it since th o.

The NIN Bowie nod/cop, "A Warm Place," is a good one.

I've always loved this Seam track:

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

_- "Underwater" on Shooting at the Moon by Kevin Ayers and the Whole World_

^Definitely.

The first thing that comes to mind is Olivia Tremor control's 'Black Foliage'. Back in high school i was really into the ambient interludes on that, but found the pop songs annoying. I haven't heard it since th o.

the end of “giant behemoth” by joe walsh

- "Gravel Truck" on Cypress by Let's Active
- "4th of July" on The Unforgettable Fire by U2

― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, July 27, 2021 10:29 AM (one week ago)

Both of those are used as interludes on one of my mixtapes of "dream" songs I made in the '80s. Others:

Brian Eno - "Inland Sea"
Mark Knopfler - "Whistle Theme," "Stargazer," "The Rocks & the Water" ('Local Hero' soundtrack), "Where Will You Go" ('Cal' soundtrack)
Pete Townshend - "Recorders"
Electric Light Orchestra - Coda from "Shangri La"
Pink Floyd - "Is There Anybody Out There," short excerpt from "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party Pt. 2"
Simon & Garfunkel - "Bookends Theme," "Bookends"
Pat Metheny - "The Bat, Pt. 2"
Peter Schickele - "Getting Ready" ('Silent Running' soundtrack)
Vangelis - Excerpt from "Heaven and Hell (Theme from 'Cosmos')"
Robyn Hitchcock - "Nocturne (Prelude)," "Nocturne (Demise)"
Laurie Anderson - "Radar," "Late Show," "White Lily"
XTC - "Over Rusty Water"
Bill Nelson - "Echo in Her Eyes (The Lamps of Oblivion)"
Rickie Lee Jones - "Prelude to Gravity"
Paul McCartney - "Be What You See"
Bryan Ferry - "A Waste Land"
Guide - "Andy Summers & Robert Fripp
U2 - "MLK," "The Ocean"

Julie Byrne - "Interlude"

I mean

Shriekback - "Coelacanth"(if the pan flute isn't too melodic to count)

The Clientele - "The Dance of Hours"

And about half of Camper Van Beethoven's Telephone Landslide Free Victory are ambient interludes.

well maybe the CVB one is cheating since some of the instrumentals are less ambient than weird violin-driven grooves

Daryl Hall - Urban Landscape (off Sacred Songs). The Farther Away I Am would count if it weren't for the singing.

All the little bits on MBV’s “Tremolo” EP
Half of Kendra Smith’s “Guild of Temporal Adventurers”

"Urban Landscape" also appears on Fripp's Exposure, along with two other ambient tracks, "Water Music I and II".

Those short tracks on Hood's The Cycle of Days and Seasons.