Recommendations for expanding my ambient collection

To paraphrase Julian Cope, ambient is useful music.

Here's 3 sort-of wild-cards for you:

Earth "Earth 2 (special low frequency version)"
'Ambient metal', 3 tracks in 78 mins. A little dark on one track (I don't like dark ambient), but nothing to scare the horses here. I play mine a lot at bedtime. Metal goes OM.

La Monte Young, 'The Well Tuned Piano'.
Lasts over six hours, not dissimilar to Brian Eno's piano sketches. But a lot longer. I made it to the end once, and was never been the same again. It's not just piano, it's the sound of the room, man!

And least wild-cardey of the bunch, Boards of Canada - "Music has the right to children" - woozy, evocative, atmospheric and a little trippy, though a little dancey to be truly ambient.

I feel sleepy now.

 

And at only 600-800$ used it's a real bargain

 

There is no more doom laden ambient music than from the group Dead Can Dance.

 

I'll take two so that I can listen to them Zaireeka-style.

 

Any Michael Stearns but check out "Planetary Unfolding" and "Chronos" soundtrack. If you can find them. Had the Chronos videotape for years and what a ride that was,finally found the cd but the short film was well worth watching.

 

Today's theme will be the recently mentioned "ambient dub" sub-genre. I'll try to mix things up a bit by including some more electronic tracks and move closer and closer to tracks with a very obvious reggae/dub influence. Let's get started.

Higher Intelligence Agency - "Skank" - Freefloater
A Positive Life - "The Calling (Ambient Mix)" - Synaesthetic
Banco De Gaia - "Desert Wind" - Various/Ambient Dub Vol. 1
Sounds From The Ground - "Triangle" - Kin
Sandoz - "White Darkness (Electronic Eye Remix)" - Various/Ambient Dub Vol. 4
Skull vs Ice - "Operation Mind Control" - Various/Macro Dub Infection 1
Subsurfing - "The Number Readers" - Frozen Ants
The Orb - "Supernova At The End Of The Universe" - Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld
Divination - "Baraka" - Dead Slow
100th Monkey - "Hoffman Dub" - Various/Planet Dub
Templeroy - "Dubometer" - Various/One A.D.

 

Ulrich Schnauss -- any of his albums. He also has several EPs.

 

I found a good entry point was listening to the streaming ambient channel of SomaFM.com while I work. (SomaFM.com has several channels, you just click on the ambient one and the music plays, and it says what is currently playing so that if you fall in love with a tune you can then track it down.)

 

I like Drone Zone even more than Soma for DEEP ambient. It's built right into iTunes to boot. Click on Radio then Ambient then Drone Zone. Like a slightly darker version of Hearts Of Space. I continually discover new artists while listening.

 

Neptune Towers - Caravans to Empire Algol

 

I've been enjoying Ambient Radio on Pandora. You guys ever listen to it?

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention Leyland Kirby upthread in my short list of Ambient that I really played a lot in the last year. His 3-CD set Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was is a fantastic collection, and bargain priced to boot. Seek it out!

 

The Caretaker = Leyland Kirby (You probably knew that ofcourse, but not everyone seems to know, he also released music as "VVM", a weird and noisy Shostakovich remix comes to mind)

2 more tips:

Black Swan - In 8 movements (Beautiful, dark and dreamy drones from this newcomer)
Machinefabriek/Piiptsjilling - That it stays winter forever

 

Right, that's Kirby -- I just wanted to call out that specific 3-CD set, and that came out under his own name. But thanks for making the connection!

VVM = I'm not sure I would recommend as Ambient -- a bit too weird -- but definitely some challenging, interesting stuff there!

 

Yes it's a great set, I've also got a vinyl version but I'm not sure if that's still available.


I just tried visiting Leyland's website, only to find out it's down, probably forever according to internet rumors http://forum.watmm.com/topic/62631-vvm-test-records-is-gone/

 

G'day,

Listening to this right now:



Marconi Union - Distance -- I recommended this previously ... it has nice pads and Labradford-like guitar lines. Well worth a listen IMHO.

--Geoff

 

The vintage John Cage piano composition "In a Landscape" is essential. It's not one of his more difficult pieces; it's utterly beautiful. I have it on a "John Cage Edition" CD on the Wergo label. William Orbit (who I know nothing about) did a good electronic-acoustic cover version of it I heard on the radio some years ago.

 

There was also a 2-CD version with different tracks. (Not sure if you saw that one.) Getting ahold of Kirby's stuff can get maddening at times; I recall that each of the three vinyl LPs of the Sadly set were released individually in small quantities, then repackaged shortly thereafter in a box for a cheaper price. Annoying.

 

Yeah, I love that station, as well. I listen to it while on my home computer late at night quite a bit. I just wish I could access it here at work; we have a really draconian computer policy that doesn't allow us to stream music or even check web-based email.

 

Divination 2 Dead Slow is FANTASTIC. It's a Laswell project with lots of ambient dub bass. One of my favorites.

 

Yes! Exactly what I am thinking.

I could sure use some type of filter, e.g. 10 best lists from which I would sift those titles mentioned most often...

My criteria are 1) acknowledged classics of the genre, and 2) price. I don't like to spend much $$ on music that I am not very sure of..

I picked up Global Communication 76:14 mentioned early in the thread, and like it a lot. My wife commented that is sounded "spacey" which of course is the point...

 

In terms of heading in to exploring Ambient, it's not as easy as some other genres, you really need to hear it on your own system, as it is about mood and texture. Your not going to pick that up from a u-tube clip and most of the classic stuff is from the early 90's so it's only going to be played at a limited number of clubs now.

So you either need a friend to loan you some albums or take a financial risk, how about your local library. I picked up on Boards Of Canada this way. They are one of the few that are currently producing great Ambient music. I'd say check out both Music Has A Right To Children and Geogaddi.

 

I hope I'm not creating all those links for nothing. There are plenty of 128kbps videos and videos over 20 minutes in length that should definitely give you a good feel for the music. I'll throw a few more links up at some point today.

As far as a top 10 list goes I can certainly give that a whack. I'll compose a list that will include what most people would refer to as "real" ambient...the really minimal stuff with no real "beats" to speak of. It will also include albums that I still consider "ambient" but will generally have beats and recognizable melodies, etc. These are in no order.

My Top 10 Favorite Ambient Albums

Steve Roach - I have over 100 of his albums so it's hard for me to pick a favorite. A few that I REALLY like are The Magnificent Void, Mystic Chords & Sacred Spaces and The Dream Circle. I'd highly recommend checking out Pure Flow and Space And Time first. These are both compilations of his that are beautifully mixed for a continuous flow of music.

Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Musick (1979) - Stone cold classic that sounds fresh even to this day.

Global Communication - 76:14 (1994) - Quite possibly my favorite album of all time. Gets better and better every time I listen to it. There is a 2CD version released a few years back that compiles some rare singles and some of their ventures into house music and makes for a varied listen.

The Orb - U.F.Orb (1992) - Be sure to buy the 2CD version that includes the 40 minute version of "Blue Room". My favorite Orb release.

The Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms (1994) - Great combination of pure ambient and dancefloor beats that REALLY works well. IMMENSE soundstage and holographic sound on this one.

Pete Namlook - Air I & II 2CD set (compilation 1994 - Albums 1993 & 1994) - If you poke around and be patient you should be able to snag this for around $30. An option is to get the reissues on the Ambient World label. If you've never been exposed to the fantastic music of Namlook then get ready for a life change. The Ambient Cookbook comps have already been mentioned and there is an alternative to those as well. Instinct America released them as Fax Compilation 1 & 2 both being 2CD sets.

Cabaret Voltaire - The Conversation (1994) - Mainly for the second disc which is just perfect. Possibly the most psychedelic hour ever.

The Irresistible Force - Flying High (1992) - Another of my all time faves. This one accompanied me on many journeys back in the early 90s. Psychedelic to the extreme.

Biosphere - Substrata (1997) - Perfect "chilly/icy" ambient album and the point where Geir Jennsen focused his sound into the classic Biosphere sound that most people prefer.

Michael Stearns - The Lost World (1995) - Audiophile sound on this DEEP album. One of the few electronic albums that is constantly name-checked in all the audio rags.

 

Lots of great recommendations here that I'm looking forward to checking out!

Here's a few I can think of:

Harold Budd - Lovely Thunder
Harold Budd - The White Arcades
Global Communication - Pentamerous Metamorphosis
Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - Mysterious Skin (soundtrack)
New Order - The Peter Saville Show Soundtrack

 

great thread...i love so much of this music

Some stuff I didn't see mentioned (may have missed), but is essential, in my opinion:

just about everything from Oren Ambarchi. I like In The Pendulum's Embrace and Suspension a lot.

Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet

Fennesz - Endless Summer and Black Sea

the young guys from Ohio, Emeralds, are doing great stuff. Their earlier heavy drone stuff like Allegory of Allergies was great, but their newer krautrock-ish synth stuff like Does It Look Like I'm Here is also excellent, imo.

Related to Emeralds, one of their guitar players, Mark McGuire, has been putting out great solo stuff.

Growing's early stuff like Sky Runs Into The Sea is ambient-ish stuff I listen to a lot. Their newer stuff is more...rhythmic, but still great.

I come to ambient from more of a drone background, but there's a lot of crossover for my tastes. If you can go a little more dark/metal, Sunn O)))'s Black One is GREAT record.