# Ambient Music



## Elctronica Acoustic

Atmospheric and wonderful. I recommend Aphex Twin's "Ambient Works 2" as well as Brian Eno's "Music for Airports". Yes indeed, I say, they are quiet a treat for the ears and mind. Consume often. 

Warning:

Aphex Twin's Ambient Works 2" is not exactly a "pleasant" album and may cause unwanted side-effects including nightmares, loss of sanity, depression, and hallucinations.


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## SchubertObsessive

I second these recommendations. I think Brian Eno's back catalogue has far more satisfying works than 'Music For Airports'. 'Apollo (Atmospheres & Soundtracks)' and his 'Evening Star' collaboration with another mighty Ambientialist, Robert Fripp seem to stand aloof.

Probably the most intense Ambient music I've experienced are these two albums from Maeror Tri: 'Myein' and 'The Beauty Of Sadness'.

It certainly does toy with your subconscious, and the whole effect of the music seems to describe the motions of states of consciousness itself with reference to uncertain and epic journeys.


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## dsunlin

A classic "ambient/space" piece is Novus Magnificat by Constance Demby. 

I think it really deserves to be considered a modern classic.


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## BuddhaBandit

I'm a HUGE Brian Eno fan... I have much of his catalogue. My vote, for Eno works, goes to Another Green World, one of the greatest albums I've ever heard. And, yes, Apollo is quite good, along with Ambient 4: On Land and the famous Music for Airports.

I also recommend Steve Roach's work, which includes many primitive and native instruments, especially from Australia.


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## Raphaël-A.

My favorite ambiant music artists/albums are probably Ildjarn's Hardangervidda and Biosphere.


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## Mark Harwood

Ha! Fripp & Eno's "The Equatorial Stars" is playing here as I type. 
As Brian Eno conceived it, ambient music should be ignorable, a subtle texture in your surroundings; the meaning has changed, as they do. This disc can quietly set a mood, but turn it up and listen, and more substantial things are revealed.


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## DeadlyKomplexx

I wanna start getting into this.Can someone give me a good couple albums that would provide a nice introduction to the whole genre?


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## Mark Harwood

Brian Eno: On Land
Steve Roach: The Magnificent Void
Steve Hillage & Miquette Giraudy: Rainbow Dome Musick

Slightly off-message, but big personal favourites:
Tangerine Dream: Zeit
Robert Fripp: A Blessing Of Tears


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## DeadlyKomplexx

Thanks man,will definitely check those out.


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## BuddhaBandit

A couple others-

The Orb: Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Tangerine Dream: Phaedra
Brian Eno: Discreet Music
Gavin Bryars: The Sinking of the Titanic
Moby: Hotel (2-disc edition; Disc 2 is loaded with ambient tracks)

I also second the Aphex Twin disc mentioned above.


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## SalieriIsInnocent

Dark side of the moon from pink floyd is as ambient as i like it
To me pink floyd were the first astronauts


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## Sanctus493

Elctronica Acoustic said:


> Atmospheric and wonderful. I recommend Aphex Twin's "Ambient Works 2" as well as Brian Eno's "Music for Airports". Yes indeed, I say, they are quiet a treat for the ears and mind. Consume often.
> 
> Warning:
> 
> Aphex Twin's Ambient Works 2" is not exactly a "pleasant" album and may cause unwanted side-effects including nightmares, loss of sanity, depression, and hallucinations.


Totally agree with both of those recommendations. Alongside the Aphex Twin album I would also recommend "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" (the first volume), equally awesome but a lot more accessible if you're looking for an introduction to Aphex Twin. Some of my other favourites:

Atem by Tangerine Dream
76:14 by Global Communication
In Sides by Orbital
In Den Garten Pharaohs by Popol Vuh
Before And After Science by Brian Eno - not completely ambient, but the second half of the album contains some beautiful ambient moments
Future Days by Can


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## Conservationist

Eno/Fripp, Biosphere, Maeror Tri are favorites.

For beat-driven ambient, Kraftwerk, Autechre, Lord Wind...


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## Elctronica Acoustic

Oh I must second your Autechre recommendation, wonderful stuff. But do you consider it ambient? Amber maybe...the new album Quaristice has some beautiful ambient stuff as well. 

Also Boards of Canada have done some lovely ambient, mostly short little snippets but TCH ends with 2 nice ambient peices.


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## BuddhaBandit

Elctronica Acoustic said:


> Also Boards of Canada have done some lovely ambient, mostly short little snippets.


"In A Beautiful Place Out Of the Country" is some great work, especially for an EP.


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## Conservationist

Elctronica Acoustic said:


> Oh I must second your Autechre recommendation, wonderful stuff. But do you consider it ambient? Amber maybe...


I at least am thinking of Amber. The line between ambient and electronica blurs, but generally when rhythm is used in a pop style I call it electronica.


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## Dedrater

Conservationist said:


> I at least am thinking of Amber. The line between ambient and electronica blurs, but generally when rhythm is used in a pop style I call it electronica.


I'd agree with that distinction.

For something ethereal and sublime, I'll recommend Brian Eno's collaboration with Harold Budd, _Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror_. It's very conducive to mental imagery.

For something less terrestrial and more cosmic, this forum should give Maeror Tri's monumental _Sensuum Mendacia_ a try. This work is easily one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard; I love how none of it recalls the mundane trivialities of modern, everyday life in the soundscape it creates.


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## Dim7

Elctronica Acoustic said:


> Also Boards of Canada have done some lovely ambient, mostly short little snippets but TCH ends with 2 nice ambient peices.


Boards of Canada annoys me - they have such an unique atmosphere. Usually electronic music sounds too plastic but BoC have such a warm sound. However, their music is so overtly minimalistic and repetitive that it gets on your nerves.


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## Kuntster

Listen to La Monte Young's entire Well Tuned Piano. 
That's some amazing ambient music. I think he was one of the forerunners before Eno and Fripp.


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## Conservationist

Cmaj7 said:


> However, their music is so overtly minimalistic and repetitive that it gets on your nerves.


Agreed. The word "directionless" comes to mind.

Eternal favorites:
Eno/Budd
Eno/Fripp
Biosphere
Tangerine Dream

And from the Synthpop category:

Kraftwerk
Lord Wind
Wolfsheim


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## Tapkaara

I've heard some "dark ambient" music and actually thought it was pretty cool.


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## Conservationist

Tapkaara said:


> I've heard some "dark ambient" music and actually thought it was pretty cool.


What did you have in mind?

I also wanted to add Justin Broadrick's "Final" and Jaaportit - Uumenissa to the list.


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## Methodistgirl

Ever heard of Skaven's music? Some of his music is Ambient.
judy tooley


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## Tapkaara

Conservationist said:


> What did you have in mind?
> 
> I also wanted to add Justin Broadrick's "Final" and Jaaportit - Uumenissa to the list.


I assume we are talking about the genre "ambient music," and not just music we like to have going in the background. Dark ambienbt is a sub-genre of ambient. It's kinda cool.


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## Conservationist

Tapkaara said:


> IDark ambienbt is a sub-genre of ambient. It's kinda cool.


Yep, was asking for artists, really, since it's a wide genre.

Does Ontario Blue qualify? Dark Sanctuary? Trying to think of some others.


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## Tapkaara

Conservationist said:


> Yep, was asking for artists, really, since it's a wide genre.
> 
> Does Ontario Blue qualify? Dark Sanctuary? Trying to think of some others.


I don't know who the artists were.


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## Dedrater

Tapkaara said:


> I've heard some "dark ambient" music and actually thought it was pretty cool.


Lustmord and Robert Rich both qualify, especially the former. They did a collaboration together based on the Tarkovsky film, _Stalker_ -- which, to be honest, I haven't seen and am not terribly interested in seeing -- using the same name as the movie for the album. Quite good space/dark hybrid.


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## Conservationist

Although it's cheesy, I always kind of liked Dark Sanctuary.


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## skalpel

Hope nobody minds that I'm bumping this very old thread because I'm a huge fan of Ambient music and the opening post mentions two of my favourite albums. For me, there are few things better in the small AM hours than a good set of headphones and Selected Ambient Works Vol. II by Aphex Twin. Brian Eno's Ambient 4: On Land has been mentioned too, which is also brilliant.

Far too often these days are people unfortunately hijacking the term 'dark ambient' to churn out simple, reverb-soaked field recordings that require little to no real compositional thought. This really is a shame and does an injustice to albums such as the two aforementioned and others like Oval's '94 Diskont', a handful of Stars of the Lid albums and, to an extent, Supersilent's '10'. These are real quality examples of sparse, nocturnal, bleak and sometimes disturbing music that have the ability to put you in a serene, trance-like state.

I like ambient to be claustrophobic and focussed, anybody have any examples similar to what I've mentioned? I'd love to hear more.


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## LordBlackudder

If you want disturbing music Akira Yamaoka is the master.


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## skalpel

Cheers! I have his Silent Hill II Soundtrack but I hadn't heard the other two pieces you posted. My only beef with him is that his synth sounds are just too obvious and 'vanilla' for my taste. For example, I liked the Final Fantasy piece there a lot but the high string note sounded like it came from a cheap keyboard and the stock choir 'aahs' sort of ruined it for me too. If he either worked with more original sounds or with real instruments I get the impression I'd like the guy's work much more because his atmospheres can be seriously intense.


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## neoshredder

I'm a big fan of Tangerine Dream. Their late 70's and early 80's stuff is hypnotizing. Great stuff to relax to.


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## Jeremy Marchant

I think the ambient music definition has widened so much it has become meaningless. The Akira Yamaoka tracks previously recommended don't seem to fufill Eno's definition of ambient as music which can be appreciated at low volume but which, if you increase the gain, will reveal detail you hadn't previously heard. Gavin Bryars's _Sinking of the Titanic_ certainly isn't ambient, just because it is slow, quiet and repetitive. On that basis, playing Philip Glass quietly would be ambient - which is ridiculous.

Ambient strikes me as a subgenre of mimimalist. Eno's pieces _Discreet music_ and _Music for airports_ are process pieces just as much as Reich's _Drumming _and Glass's _Music in twelve parts_ are. When it came to _On land_ and the early tracks on _Apollo_, Eno invented a completely _*different *_sort of ambient music: the soundscape. This is ambient because it can be heard subliminally, at low volume, to the point where one can't distinguish it from the birds and the wind in the trees of one's own garden.

Most of Eno's imitators do not come close to him in terms of subtlety of sound, discretion with the reverb knob, and imagination. Compare a few Eno albums with the two Eno/Budd collaborations, then with Budd's_ Lovely thunder_, then the Budd/Foxx collaborations, then John Foxx's _Cathedral oceans_. At each step, you'll get an appreciable degradation of subtlety, to the point where there's nothing "ambient" about the music: it's just slow, dreary and reverberant.


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## dsunlin

Music from the Hearts of Space is a radio show that once played every Sunday night on my public radio station. This is how I got hooked on the genre.

I don't know if the show is still being broadcast, but here's their website:
http://www.hos.com/


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## neoshredder




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## FutureDays

I'd recommend Bass Communion, espeically Ghosts on Magnetic Tape.


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## Kryten

neoshredder said:


> I'm a big fan of Tangerine Dream. Their late 70's and early 80's stuff is hypnotizing. Great stuff to relax to.


I now miss my copy of _Tangram_. I must rectify that soon


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## Kryten

_Waiting for Cousteau_ by Jean Michel Jarre has a wonderful 45min+ ambient piece on it - it's like sitting on a deserted beach at sunset just looking out over a calm, Mediterranean sea. Absolute bliss.


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## neoshredder

Ambient fans. Who are your favorite classical composers? Which ones you think have a similar sound to ambient music. I'm thinking Philip Glass and Steve Reich are the closest. What do you think?


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## norman bates

neoshredder said:


> Ambient fans. Who are your favorite classical composers? Which ones you think have a similar sound to ambient music. I'm thinking Philip Glass and Steve Reich are the closest. What do you think?


if you like dark ambient, try with the orchestral works of Giacinto Scelsi. Uaxuctum for me is a masterpiece, but i really like a lot of other works. Extremely static music, but really atmospheric, and...dark.

other pieces that you can find interesting

Jehan Alain - Le Jardin suspendu





Charles Koechlin - Le ciel etoilè (the first part of the piece in particular)





Ludger Brummer - Speed (thanks to Some guy that has posted a link to this piece)





there's also Eliane Radigue, with her extremely slow drones, but i don't like her music at all. Anyway, you can try La trilogie de la mort.


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## neoshredder

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm into dreamy ambient music like Tangerine Dream, Ashra, and lots of the late 70's ambient. Not sure about dark ambient. Will have to look into that more.


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## norman bates

neoshredder said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. I'm into dreamy ambient music like Tangerine Dream, Ashra, and lots of the late 70's ambient. Not sure about dark ambient. Will have to look into that more.


i don't know ashra but i do know tangerine dream, klaus schulze, popol vuh and some of that stuff. By the way, "dreamy ambient" has reminded me of Harold Budd, his first album is my personal definition of dreamy music:






while his Dark star/abandoned cities is on the contrary really dark.


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## rojo

Currently listening to

The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds


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## Philip

rojo said:


> Currently listening to
> 
> The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds


reminds me of shpongle


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## Cnote11

Ah, I love ambient. I'm sad to see that nobody has really mentioned any newer artists. Really, only the old popular ones have been thrown around for the most part. You could argue these things aren't strictly ambient (Boards of Canada for instance isn't exactly ambient music but they are classified as so anyway). Some artists that I love are

Colleen
Peter Broderick
Library Tapes
Boards Of Canada
Max Richter
Noveller
Grouper
Origamibiro
Hammock
Jacaszek
Olafur Arnalds
The Boats
Stars of the Lid 
Helios

and things like that. Really amazing music if you ask me. I have a pretty large ambient collection and it represents a rather large part of my listening.


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## Philip

neoshredder said:


> I'm a big fan of Tangerine Dream. Their late 70's and early 80's stuff is hypnotizing. Great stuff to relax to.





neoshredder said:


> Tangerine Dream - Hyperborea





neoshredder said:


> Ambient fans. Who are your favorite classical composers? Which ones you think have a similar sound to ambient music. I'm thinking Philip Glass and Steve Reich are the closest. What do you think?
> (also, i love tangerine dream!)





neoshredder said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. I'm into dreamy ambient music like Tangerine Dream, Ashra, and lots of the late 70's ambient. Not sure about dark ambient. Will have to look into that more.


but are you a fan of tangerine dream?


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## neoshredder

How did you guess?


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## neoshredder

Found a composer that blends them together. Max Richter. Sounds like Philip Glass but a little more ambient with sound effects.


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## Argus

Basinski, Hecker and Fullerton Whitman deserve a mention.


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## Cnote11

neoshredder said:


> Found a composer that blends them together. Max Richter. Sounds like Philip Glass but a little more ambient with sound effects.


You should check out some related composers like Sylvain Chauveau, Johann Johannsson, Olafur Arnalds, Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Balmorhea, and the like if you haven't already.

I agree with the above poster about Basinski and Hecker to the fullest. I've never really give a listen to Keith Fullerton Whitman, although I do like the likes of Philip Jeck, The Fun Years, Lawrence English, etc, so it is probably up my alley.

Edit: OH YES, check out Mico Nonet. It has members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, and Baltimore Symphony.


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## neoshredder

Yeah I'll check them out. Gotta be in a certain mindset to listen to ambient music but I definitely find it worthy of being part of things to listen to.


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## PrettyFlamingo

*This, like (almost) all of Sonic Koco's music is wonderful.
*​




*SONIC KOCO was formed in 2008. The band is mainly an instrumental ambient rock and studio band that comes from London, England.*​


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## DeepR

Ambient is my favorite genre next to classical music.

My favorite ambient artist is Steve Roach (not Reich). I consider him world's number one sound magician and one of the greatest musical artists of all time, regardless of genre. Some of his music reaches places and depths that other music can barely scratch the surface of.


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## norman bates

DeepR said:


> Ambient is my favorite genre next to classical music.
> 
> My favorite ambient artist is Steve Roach (not Reich). I consider him world's number one sound magician and one of the greatest musical artists of all time, regardless of genre. Some of his music reaches places and depths that other music can barely scratch the surface of.


dreamtime return is a fantastic album. I have to say that i have not listened a lot of his later stuff, because his really too much prolific, but if new age means steve roach, new age is a good genre.


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## Zauberberg

No mention of Global Communication yet?


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## DeepR

My favorite Brian Eno piece:






The first time I listened to 'On Land' was in bed with headphones, while slowly dozing off. I fell asleep, but the sounds of this track woke me up a bit and what happened then was magic. You could say I was listening in a semi-sleeping state, my body entirely relaxed. The music felt warm and soothing and it took me to a surrealistic place that was so weird and wonderful that I never wanted to leave that place again.


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## Ravndal




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## DeepR




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## DeepR

This is wonderful deep music. All the changes and shifts that take place are completely fascinating.


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## DeepR

Steve Roach is ahead of everyone. The rest is just trying to catch up.
One of my many favorites from Steve Roach is the album Blood Machine, a collaboration with Vir Unis.

"A musical depiction of the mechanical movements and properties of the bio-organism." It's futuristic and rhythmic. Some call it "fractal rhythms".

This video skips through the album to give you an impression:


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## Philip

Ravndal said:


> Svarte Greiner - Final Sleep


Very haunting... made me think of Eyes Wide Shut.


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## Ravndal

Philip said:


> Very haunting... made me think of Eyes Wide Shut.


Yeah. I love how the piece slowly dies out.

I don't know if you have heard about the band "Ulver". But they have a piece that reminds me a lot of final sleep.






I would recommend using spotify link for better quality: 




And this:






Makes my eyes wet everytime i hear it


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## neoshredder

Anyone heard of Andreas Vollenweider?


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## Ravndal

I just found out that "Biosphere" has sampled Debussy! This is from the first movement from "le mar".

He really caught that debussy athmosphere and just made it so much more disturbing and darker. WHAT A GENIOUS. God i love finding out things like these. So rewarding.


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## starthrower

neoshredder said:


> Anyone heard of Andreas Vollenweider?


The term ambient seems to be in vogue these days. Back when I first heard Vollenweider, people called it New Age music.

I like a few pieces on his 1981 album Behind The Gardens.


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## DeepR

I also like Steve Roach' sequencer stuff






and his tribal ambient






Basicly everything he makes.


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## DeepR

Tetsu Inoue, from the fantastic album Organic Cloud:


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## Philip

DeepR is the ambient expert.


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## DeepR

I was really into ambient before I got really into classical music. Now I love both. The other way around seems less likely to happen.


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## Philip

DeepR said:


> The other way around seems less likely to happen.


:wave: .


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## DeepR

cheers to that :tiphat:


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## DeepR

Ok, ok last one by Steve Roach for now and possibly my favorite...


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## ArthurBrain

Biosphere does some nice deep 'glacial' ambience at times...


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## ArthurBrain

Deep space ambience from the alias of 'Lustmord'....


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## Ravndal

ArthurBrain said:


> Biosphere does some nice deep 'glacial' ambience at times...


Biosphere is one of my favorites! Should check out the EP with "Deathprod". And his best album "Shenszou"


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## ArthurBrain

Ravndal said:


> Biosphere is one of my favorites! Should check out the EP with "Deathprod". And his best album "Shenszou"


I've heard some of Deathprod before, quite a dark form of ambient which would work well with Biosphere so I'll check it out 

In the darker vein here's a piece from Raison d'etre...


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## Ravndal

Oh. i like that! Very nice  thank you.

Since you like dark ambient, i highly recommend checking out "Murcof", incredibly intelligent music.











If you like that, i also recommend checking out his first and best album "Martes", the style is a bit minimal techno'ish, but it's one of the most atmospheric albums i have ever heard.






Everything is on spotify.

Some info about Murcof http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murcof

And a review from BBC about "Versailles Sessions" http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/x6f9


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## ArthurBrain

Ya know I almost put up a Murcof piece instead of raison d'etre.... 

Like you I think 'Martes' is the best. It's minimal but brimming with atmosphere. Nice picks.


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## Ravndal

It is, it is. Have you ever heard about the band "Ulver"?


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## ArthurBrain

Ravndal said:


> It is, it is. Have you ever heard about the band "Ulver"?


No, but I've noticed you've put some tracks up here so I'm now going to check them out.


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## Ravndal

Yeah, i recommend that a lot. They are pioneers in what they do! Started out as a black metal band, but gradually going over to the obscure eletronics. Each album is totally different from the last one.

Worth mentioning: They made me love music, like i love it today. They introduced me and inspired me, and have altered my life.

Best albums: Perdition City, Shadows Of The Sun, Lyckantropen Themes, Svidd Neger.
Best EPs: A Quick Fix of Melancholy, Teachings In Silence, Metamorphosis.

Those i have not mentioned is also great, but if i had to pick favorites, these are the ones 

I actually saw them at the opera in Oslo, in 2009. Their live show is 'epic'. Really.






This is a clip from that concert. Troughout the concert they had a bigscreen behind the band, showing really powerful pictures and films that suited the music perfectly. Totally breath-taking performance, which summoned more than a couple tears in my eyes.


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## Ravndal

Here is actually a trailer for the DVD.






Should check it out. The performance was unearthly.


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## ArthurBrain

Ravndal said:


> Yeah. I love how the piece slowly dies out.
> 
> I don't know if you have heard about the band "Ulver". But they have a piece that reminds me a lot of final sleep.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I would recommend using spotify link for better quality:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Makes my eyes wet everytime i hear it


Wow, I'm definitely going to have to check out some more of this outfit. I love the church bells on the second track, and the combination of abstract effects with melody gives a really hypnotising effect. Nice stuff....


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## ArthurBrain

An 'oldie' this one. One of the first 'Orb' remixes but still a nice spacey vibe running through it....


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## Philip

Ravndal said:


> Ulver - Not saved


Wow... these bells are heartwrenching......


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## ArthurBrain

Probably my favourite track off Murcof's 'Martes' album. Great production values IMO...


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## Ravndal

I agree! Great track. 

Though, those high pitched stabs is really painful... It's not so bad in this one, but some of his more recent stuff is almost unlistenable..


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## ArthurBrain

Pure space from early Tangerine Dream....


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## nikola

Something from Vangelis. I'm really his big fan since I was a kid. His music always touches me on some deeper level. I find his style quite original and unique. Here are some of his really the most ambiental pieces.
















Something really dark from great Badalamenti:


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## nikola

I actualy own everything that is connected with Twin Peaks music and of course, most of that music is more melodic than in this examples and there are hundreds and hundreds tunes and variations of tunes connected with Twin Peaks + 2 albums by Julee Cruise with Badalamenti's music. 
I love how he managed to create something completely unique using dark themes and putting together synth new age sounds with jazz sounds and actualy he made it to really work and creating one completely new universe at same time with new feelings. He is also able to compose such great melodies. Really a true talent!


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## DeepR

^ Nice contribution nikola.

Raison d'etre was mentioned before... Here's one of my favorites:






It seems he has a thing for combining harsh and metallic sounds with soothing synths and voices... and I have to say sometimes it works really well.


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## DeepR

Oophoi - Lord of the Starfields (excerpt)






The full piece lasts almost half an hour. It is GLORIOUS.


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## Schubussy

Ravndal said:


> Yeah, i recommend that a lot. They are pioneers in what they do! Started out as a black metal band, but gradually going over to the obscure eletronics. Each album is totally different from the last one.
> 
> Worth mentioning: They made me love music, like i love it today. They introduced me and inspired me, and have altered my life.
> 
> Best albums: Perdition City, Shadows Of The Sun, Lyckantropen Themes, Svidd Neger.
> Best EPs: A Quick Fix of Melancholy, Teachings In Silence, Metamorphosis.
> 
> Those i have not mentioned is also great, but if i had to pick favorites, these are the ones
> 
> I actually saw them at the opera in Oslo, in 2009. Their live show is 'epic'. Really.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is a clip from that concert. Troughout the concert they had a bigscreen behind the band, showing really powerful pictures and films that suited the music perfectly. Totally breath-taking performance, which summoned more than a couple tears in my eyes.


Yesss I love Ulver, I'd love to see them live.

An ambient/jazz crossover











My favourite electronic group





And Tim Hecker is great but it's the sort of thing that works better listened to as a full album


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## lukecubed

^Yeah I was going to post a bunch of Hecker next. Dude's a mad genius. Beautiful noise.


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## Ravndal

Tim Hecker is great, much of it reminds me of Fennesz (which i like a lot more actually). Boards of Canada is pretty good aswell. Great posts.


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## Schubussy

Ravndal said:


> Tim Hecker is great, much of it reminds me of Fennesz (which i like a lot more actually). Boards of Canada is pretty good aswell. Great posts.


I have Fennesz's 'Endless Summer' but I never really got into it, though I've only listened to it a few times; I'll have to give it another chance. I do like glitchy stuff... which reminds me:









And nice avatar, Endtroducing is amazing.


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## DeepR

Steve Roach - The Magnificent Void

I have listened to it many times but yesterday I was again totally mesmerized by its greatness and glory, I worship this album.
Not only a defining moment in ambient music, but modern art music in general.

Final track:


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## DeepR

R.I.P. Pete Namlook

Big loss for electronic music and ambient.

Here is Dark Side of the Moog IX with Klaus Schulze.


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## DeepR

Which is a bloody fantastic album, btw.


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## Flamme

Some wicked stuff i found today...Can literally blow your mind if you are not careful lol And also very eclectic but not in a pushy and pompous way...:devil:


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## Flamme

Would dare to say, true art and talent what i pretty rare to see nowadays.


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## deprofundis

I received a cd from the record store bad new my *arcana box-set *is out of print, good news is , i receive *Delerium* _archive vol 2_
in case you dont know em, there a duo from B.C canada. There early work is quite enjoyable the more early the better but mine archive 2 so it's not has rad has archive 1 that im waiting for and im also waithing for there stone tower cd and syrophenikan.

I dont know if i will receive stone tower since it's old and may be discontinued, but i order syrophenikan from a private distro this one will come up soon enought.What can i says about Delerium there a good band but there phase 3 is too pop for my taste,
phase 2 is reminescent of Jean-Michel jarre and kraftwerk , phase 1 face form illusion of dead can dance but hard to find and expensive.

Than im a shame of saying this but, i bought some *Kitaro*,i dont know if it fit into ambient... but that it.


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## Phil loves classical

Definitely a fan of Eno, but not much other ambient. Spotify also played songs by Grouper from their radio playlist. I downloaded her album Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill, which I thought had real nice ambience and sound.


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## Biwa

Jacaszek - Pentral

Just picked up the CD/DVD set. The DVD has an excellent 5.1 surround mix of this album for anyone interested.

https://www.discogs.com/ja/Jacaszek-Pentral/release/1688194


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## Biwa

Schiller - Leben

The SACD version of this wonderful album offers another superb 5.1 surround mix.


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## Biwa

Klaus Schulze: Rheingold: Live At The Loreley

Another superb DTS 5.1 surround mix for fans of ambient music is included on this DVD.


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## Bwv 1080

Jon Hassell put out a new album last year






https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/jon-hassell-listening-to-pictures-pentimento-volume-one/


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## pickybear

There is a lot of ambient music in my repertoire, many have classical music leanings. 

Some of my favorites. 

Susumu Yokota - Sakura
Nuno Canavarro - Plux Quba
Stars of the Lid - Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
Lino Capra Vaccina - Antico Adagio
Kankyo Ongaku: japanese ambient, Environmental and New Age music 1980-1990
Vanessa Amara - Like all mornings
Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet
Steve Hauschildt - Where All is Fled
Mono No Aware compilation
Laraaji Ambient 3: Day of Radiance
Boards of Canada - Beautiful Place Out in the Country
Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Cendre
Eluvium - Lambent Material
Bibio - Phantom Brickworks
Brian Eno - Discreet Music
Harold Budd - Avalon Sutra
Vidna Obmana - The River of Appearance
Fennesz - Endless Summer


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## tortkis

pickybear said:


> There is a lot of ambient music in my repertoire, many have classical music leanings.
> 
> Some of my favorites.
> 
> [...]
> Kankyo Ongaku: japanese ambient, Environmental and New Age music 1980-1990


This is an interesting compilation, including some rare recordings. The CD version includes 23 tracks and a nice hardcover booklet. (The download has only 10 tracks.) I want to hear more Jo Hisaishi's ealy works, which were results of the influence of minimalists and Takemitsu, according to the liner notes. Haruomi Hosono's Original BGM was composed for Muji store (apparel, household goods, etc.) and the melody was later used in Dark Side of the Star, a beautiful piece. I have Yoshimura's Wave Notation, Shimizu's commercial music album, and YMO's BGM., from which some tracks were taken.


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## Andante Largo

From all ambient sub-genres, my favorite is space ambient. 
Divine Matrix is one of my favorite artists from him.


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## Kopachris

I just found out Nine Inch Nails put out a couple new ambient albums last month. I haven't heard much NIN, but I'm giving this a try. Liking the first song of Ghosts V: Together. We'll see what Ghosts VI: Locusts sounds like later. The band put the albums out as a free download on their website: https://www.nin.com.



I'd also like to mention my own album of ambient music that I recently released, called The Grand Staircase: https://kopachris.bandcamp.com/album/the-grand-staircase



The idea is to help the listener imagine the environments and timescales involved in the creation of the rock layers of the Grand Staircase. To help with that, there is some prose to go along with each track, each rock layer:



> *Intro - Lithophones*
> You sit out in the open, camped on the edge of a plateau. The wind blows. The shaman sits behind a set of lithophones. He begins hitting the stones in a rhythmic fashion and they resonate, they speak, they sing! You hear a tale of time long past, of fantastic beasts, pristine shores, wet river crossings, and great cataclysms.
> 
> *Kaibab*
> Limestone, forming fractured cliffs, composed of the bodies of millions of small sea creatures. Under deep ocean pressure, crumbled shells became stone. Tan and silty, telling of warm, well-circulated oceans. But all that life was wiped out in a mass extinction for reasons no one can fathom.
> 
> *Moenkopi*
> Muddy, red sandstone with repeating patterns. Fossilized waves in the sand. Sea levels rising and falling. The deep ocean had become a broad tidal flat with no life.
> 
> *Chinle*
> A basin filled with flood plains, swamps, and lakes where a conglomerate of muds formed layers of shale. The stone is softer and forms sandy, crumbling slopes where exposed in cliffsides.
> 
> *Moenave / Kayenta*
> Red, interbedded sandstone and shale mark a gradual change to drier conditions. Mountains grew and the floodplains have become rivers and streams. Fantastic beasts, like scaley, flightless birds, roamed the land. They migrated, leaving tracks in the stream beds. Suddenly, a great dying.
> 
> *Navajo*
> The land has become a desert. Towering straight cliffs ranging from red to white formed from sand blown by the wind. At the top of the cliffs you'll find massive dunes frozen in time.
> 
> *Wahweap / Kaiparowits*
> Massive mountains made of mud. Gray and plain looking, but full of life. Terrifying birds and tyrannical lizards roamed the land. Until a sudden cataclysm wiped out all but the smallest creatures. A rock from space crashed into the Earth!
> 
> *Claron*
> Breathtaking natural amphitheaters filled with never ending hoodoos that will trick the eyes. Pink to orange limestone, soft and brittle. Beautiful towers, turrets, and crenellated ridges so intricate only nature could have created them.
> 
> *Solar Corona*
> As the tale concludes, you notice it has grown dimmer. Evening approaches, as though the sun is setting in all directions, but you see the sun above at mid-day! Suddenly, it's gone, replaced with a bright ring of light, with wisps coming off all around. This lasts a few minutes before the mid-day dawn and the world is light again.


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## Andante Largo

Opening track from Space Ambient music album "Lux Primordia" from 2013, created by Telomere (Chris MacDonald).


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Plowing through Brian Eno's "Music For Installations" these days. Halfway through now. I actually never really heard any Brian Eno before, but now I'm hooked on synthesizers. I even bought some more software to play around with on my mac and NI midi keyboard. Hopefully I can make some tracks myself


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## Andante Largo

Artist: Max Corbacho
Track: Light-Matrix Portal
Album: Ars Lucis
Year: 2009
Genre: Space Ambient


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## SanAntone

The music of *John Luther Adams* often has the same effect as ambient music. He takes his inspiration from the natural environment of Alaska and elsewhere - the expanse, the ambient stillness, and other attributes.

*Become Desert*






The thing I enjoy more about his music, as opposed to synthesized examples, is that was written for traditional acoustic instruments and the orchestra.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist

I've recently been exploring this amazing YouTube channel, and I've found some amazing gems.

Here's one I've particularly enjoyed:


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## WNvXXT

dsunlin said:


> Music from the Hearts of Space is a radio show that once played every Sunday night on my public radio station. This is how I got hooked on the genre.
> 
> I don't know if the show is still being broadcast, but here's their website:
> http://www.hos.com/


I listen to this now and then. WINTERTRONIC.


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## WNvXXT




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## DeepR

Andante Largo said:


> Opening track from Space Ambient music album "Lux Primordia" from 2013, created by Telomere (Chris MacDonald).


Yes, wonderful music. Inspired by Michael Stearns space music classic Planetary Unfolding and using the same modular synthesizer "The Mighty Serge", I believe. 
I don't think there is anything more majestic sounding (other than a full orchestra).


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## Bwv 1080

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist said:


> I've recently been exploring this amazing YouTube channel, and I've found some amazing gems.
> 
> Here's one I've particularly enjoyed:


This was another good album from OA, inspired by the Wang Chung soundtrack to Live and Die in LA


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## nikola




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## CatchARisingStar

Sorry for necroing this thread. I'm relatively new to ambient and have been enjoying listening to, and creating, it. Sure, I was aware of Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno and others over the years, but with my time occupied by other music and movies, I barely paid attention to the genre. Now, in the twilight of my life, I have an opportunity to explore this much-maligned artform which, incredibly, is alive and well and enjoying a renaissance of sorts.


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## NoCoPilot

Ambient -- and particularly DARK ambient -- are very much still alive, very much exploding with creativity right now, and very much worth your time. Vangelis, TD and Eno are the shallow end of the pool at this point.

Tell me what has turned your crank recently and I'll try to give you some recommendations.


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## Andante Largo

Among the sub-genres of the Ambient music, definitely my favorite is the Space Ambient.
My favorite artists are:

Telomere
Jim Ottaway
Jonn Serrie
Divine Matrix
Max Corbacho
Stellardrone
Thom Brennan


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## SanAntone

*Ian William Craig* - _Cradle For The Wanting_






1. Doubtshapes [00:00]
2. Habit Worn & Wandering [03:15]
3. No Cradle For The Whole Of It [10:43]
4. Each All In Another All [16:03]
5. Glassblower [20:56]
6. Empty, Circle, Tremble [25:43]
7. Shipbreaking [31:39]
8. Grace In Expectation [36:41]

Recital
2015

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

_Ian William Craig (born 1980) is a Canadian musician known for using broken tape machines. He is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Craig was classically trained in vocal performance and uses modified tape reels to distort his recorded voice. Music magazine Rolling Stone compared his style to that of William Basinski, Grouper, and Anohni. His 2016 Centres was the first release on FatCat's relaunched 130701 record label, which specializes in post-classical music and popularized the music of Max Richter and Hauschka.[2] The album received "universal acclaim", according to album review aggregator Metacritic. _

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0


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## Bwv 1080

some great stuff coming out of Iran


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## NoCoPilot




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## NoCoPilot




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## NoCoPilot




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## SanAntone

*Brian Eno – FOREVERANDEVERMORE*

_FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE_ is a record generated from, in its purest form, feelings. Like much of his work, _FOREVER_ has *Eno* building and crafting meticulously designed textures and soundscapes, all of which evoke a plethora of emotive concepts. (*clash music*)


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## SanAntone

*ALEKSANDRA SŁYŻ, A VIBRANT TOUCH*
In a recent interview with the innovative music and audiovisual art platform SHAPE+, Aleksandra Słyż described _A Vibrant Touch_ as an exploration of microtonal music and the power of resonance. As she put it, “Through this album, I want to create situations in which listeners cannot precisely say if the music they just heard lasted 15 or 50 minutes.” (dazed)


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## Andante Largo

Artist Name: *Divine Matrix *
Track Title: *Syzygy*
Album Title: *Celestial Phenomena (Soundscapes Vol. 3)*
Date: *2021*


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## vsl0

Suggested and recommended listening: Flesh & Space — 魂 (Tamashī) (ambient, experimental).


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## SanAntone

*Heather Woods Broderick ~ Domes *(Dauw)
For her instrumental debut (!), the artist has managed produce a work of cello that makes full use of its complex harmonies’ _volume_. Experimenting with interwoven loops, she emphasizes the instrument’s expansive sound to the point of giving it a physical presence; even if you do not listen to this album loudly, it is possible to feel the weight of every stroke, its mass building up as the loops interact. That is not to say this is a drone album – even at its noisiest, clarity is paramount, like watching a landslide at a distance, both titanic and simple. *(David Murrieta* *Flores)





*


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## SanAntone

_Ambient 1: Music for Airports_ is the sixth studio album by *Brian Eno*. It was released by Polydor Records in 1978. The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths. It was the first of four albums released in Eno's "Ambient" series, a term which he coined to differentiate his experimental and minimalistic approach to composition from "the products of the various purveyors of canned music". 

The music was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. To achieve this, Eno sought to create music "as ignorable as it is interesting." Though it is not the earliest entry in the genre, it was the first album ever to be explicitly created under the label "ambient music."

*Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports*


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## SanAntone

*MIKE LAZAREV – WHEN YOU ARE*

_When You Are_’s introspective layers uncoil and expand as they tunnel deeper into the mind, body, and spirit. *Mike Lazarev*’s refrained use of piano and the more-alert, blossoming synthesized textures are on a journey, and we as listeners are along for the ride with them. Floating far out and beyond this mortal coil, Lazarev’s music is equally at home among inner spheres and the outer tendrils of the physical Galaxy.

Touching down July 1 on Slowcraft, _When You Are_’s gently undulating distortion is a constant presence, but it isn’t too thorny and it moves at its own pace. Sometimes ascending and at other times seeming to slumber, whatever state or mood it’s currently in, it feels alive. The restriction on the distortion is also a green light for the other textures to breathe more freely, giving them room to expand. (continue)


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## SanAntone

*Keith Berry: Viable Systems 5*
VSM Theory

Some ambient artists fastidiously list every piece of gear used in a production, as well as provide background details about the project as a helpful entry-point for listeners. London, UK-based Keith Berry, on the other hand, provides nothing but the material itself and track titles that while allusive are ultimately enigmatic; any number of possible interpretations might be gleaned from a title such as “Synhistanai” or “Natsukashiik,” for example.


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## NoCoPilot

San Antone, you are doing an amazing job of digging up darn good ambient I've never heard of -- and I specialize in it!


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## SanAntone

*bvdub & Netherworld :: Equilibrium *(Glacial Movements)

The duo explores not so brooding sonic textures in favor of fragile, intense, and transportive soundscapes of calm beauty, employing different sound sources from organic to electronic with the addition of grainy noise dynamics. 

This opus soberly or solemnly called *Equilibrium*, is a collaborative album between two notorious and distinctive figures of the minimal ambient scene: *Netherworld* (founded and headed by Alessandro Tedeschi, owner of Glacial Movements Records) and *bvdub* (a hybrid sound art, post-pulsating techno and emotional isolationist drone ambient project of *Brock Van Wey* that I’ve started following since his first album published by Home Normal.) (Philippe Blache on 12/15/2022)


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## SanAntone

*Lauge & AES Dana : Terrene*






On Terrene the duo paint wide-open soundscapes that stretch with beautifully harmonic frequencies into the spacial sonic ether, punctuated by deep [DEEP!] bass and slow-moving, head-nodding, kaleidoscopic beats. This is a gorgeous terrestrial and interplanar journey that is especially welcome on this sunny yet very frigid morning, and I find myself basking in its luxuriant light, which feels remarkably organic and alive, even though I know it’s electronic music.


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## SanAntone

*Sub-photic scenario · Runar Magnusson*






Composer notes:
_This work was inspired by the deep ocean, the pressure, the darkness and the fact that there are amazing creatures down there creating their own light, brightening up their surroundings via bioluminescence. Using chemical reactions these lifeforms become pockets of lights in the otherwise pitch-black, harsh environment they live in.

It was not until I had finished writing the album in 2021, that I understood its relation to my own life at the time, of what I was going through, a deep, dark depression, struggling with keeping my head above the water.

Sub-Photic Scenario is a part of a trilogy of releases that are made in the period of 2018 – 2021 and will come out in ´22-´23. All of them are related, showing my state of mind in that period.
A connection I only understood afterwards._


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## SanAntone

*Civilistjävel! | Järnnätter *






For ‘Järnnätter’, Civilistjävel! take their cues from the Swedish expression “Iron Night”, traditionally used to describe long winter nights when the frost withers plants and crops. Under this poetically evocative phrase the music manifests an uncannily absorbing ecology of glacial, cracked rhythms and plangent nocturnal pads that, if you squint your ears a bit, comes to limn spirited soundscapes where the sun hardly rises and you can practically feel the frost crystallising on yr whiskers and eyelids. (Boomcat)


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## NoCoPilot

"Squint your ears" heh, I like that. I think I'll steal it.


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## SanAntone

*ARASH AKBARI :: AMNESTIC CONTINUUM*

Amnestic Continuum is a concept album and a multidisciplinary project that aims at creating sensitivity to the context and subjects behind these sequences of numbers. Using data-sonification to create musical compositions and soundscapes; data-visualization techniques to generate data sculpture; and poetic interpretations in written word by Chris Doherty-Ingram, a multisensory experience is created to explore how we relate and respond to the context and subjects behind datasets when filtered through the human experience.










Amnestic Continuum


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## SanAntone

*Peter Evans – BEYOND CIVILIZED AND PRIMITIVE*


__
https://soundcloud.com/dancing-wayang-records%2Fa3-what-is-possible

BEYOND CIVILIZED AND PRIMITIVE is the new solo album by American maverick trumpeter Peter Evans. Titled after a thought provoking essay by philosopher Ran Prieur, it is a heavyweight pressing and comes housed in hand screenprinted wrap around sleeves featuring the forceful brushwork of 15 year old artist Owen Gould.

Recorded during two sessions at Eastcote Studios, London, this album sees Evans push into uncharted territory by utilizing the recording facilities as compositional tools. Overdubbing and looping are the two significant techniques employed on this album. (read more)


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## SanAntone

*Skrika :: Kiss of Svorle*






Skrika’s second album on Cryo Chamber follows on from Fifth Nature in its use of bold dark cinematic sound design and brooding vocal soundscapes.


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## SanAntone

*KMRU & Aho Ssan - Limen* (SUB043)
Out on April 29. 2022






Last year, Kenyan sound artist Joseph Kamaru (aka KMRU) and French digital alchemist Niamké Désiré (aka Aho Ssan) were invited by Berlin Atonal to collaborate on a project for the festival's Metabolic Rift edition.

The duo had already been working together, but the offer provided the momentum to shift the conversation into another gear. Initially, they looked for thematic connections within their individual practices that might match Kamaru's meditative soundscapes with Désiré's crumbling cyberpunk expressionism, and surprisingly for two artists renowned for their grasp of minimalism, it was the opposite that drew their attention. Watching the world shift as it reacted to the spiraling pandemic, Kamaru and Désiré were moved to experiment with volume, physicality, and intense emotionality. (continue reading)


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