Ambient Music

[jeffp1717]

Couldn't find a thread on the subject, forgive me if I missed it.

Thanks to this board I have been turned on to the amazing sounds of Mark McGuire's guitar work and was hoping to find some more beautiful discoveries. I've also found this is one of the few genres of music I'm able to read or sleep to. Anyway, what are some ambient essentials in your eyes?

[zircona1]

I haven't listened to a lot of ambient music, I love Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol. I but find Vol. II really difficult to get into. I think it's b/c I like a little percussion or tempo instead of just droning.

I also like Moby, if he counts.

[Aurgasm]

I like ambient music. Right now I'm pretty much involved in studying the ambient acts at this year's Decibel Festival. Ulrich Schnauss is quite lovely.

[fatbastard]

Currently listening to TCH.

[nosurprises12]

Any exploration of ambient music has to start with Brian Eno's work from the 1970s (Discreet Music, Music for Films, Ambient 1: Music for Airports, Ambient 4: On Land, Apollo: Atmosphere's and Soundtracks); the guy practically invented the genre.

I also really enjoy William Basinski's Disintegration Loops.

[TomAz]

the guy practically invented the genre.

paging wmgaretjax.

[GoodGirlGalaxy]

Terre Thaemlitz (DJ Sprinkles) hasn't done ambient in a while, but this interview is funny.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1134

"When I was first DJing ambient music in New York, it was at this event called The Electric Lounge Machine. I forget the guy's name, but it was run by the graphic designer of Eightball Records at the time. It was the first regular ambient event in New York. Our objective was to see how quickly we could make people fall asleep."

Based on this quote, I'm sure Thaemlitz has some pretty good ambient mixes from the 90s.

[nosurprises12]

paging wmgaretjax.

I'm about to be taken to task, aren't I...

[TallGuyCM]

He'll be nice about it.

[TomAz]

He'll just note that claiming Eno as a founder of ambient is a popular inaccuracy and that there were plenty of people pioneering it earlier than that. He'll have a slight bitter, slightly resigned tone.

[weareyourfriends]

I bought myself DJ Shadow's Entroducing LP a couple days ago. I really love it.

[GoodGirlGalaxy]

I bought myself DJ Shadow's Entroducing LP a couple days ago. I really love it.

Not ambient but nice try.

[CrimesceneCookie]

Well that didn't take long.

[blazin]

I'm no expert, but here's some stuff I'm familiar with. (It's not my intention to embed ALL the videos, by the way... otherwise this would get too crazy, and it's not all 100% on-topic )

Modern "Ambient":
Chillwave is the more popular offshoot; it's been discussed in plenty of places on this forum already. Not ambient, but certainly derived from a combination of ambient, hip hop, pop, shoegaze etc.

I've been listening to lots of Peaking Lights' 936 and the new Washed Out and I realized that I don't have nearly enough of this kind of music,
any recommendations about similar albums would be appreciated

Memory Tapes, Toro Y Moi, Com Truise, Miracle Fortress, Neon Indian, Namine, Beat Connection, Chilly Willy, Blackbird Blackbird, Teen Daze were recommended by boardies in response to this. I'd add Pictureplane, Baths, Teengirl Fantasy, Star Slinger.
Neon Indian "Deadbeat Summer" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlJ27Dcv4fc
Washed Out - "Feel it all around" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DkslcOhytU
Baths - "Lovely Bloodflow" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVTrZjY2K5I

http://www.brainfeedersite.com/ - label incorporating elements of hip hop and dubstep with a strong ambient feel. Bassier and faster than old-school ambient in many cases.
Matthewdavid


Strangeloop

Teebs "Wind Loops" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SyHJVB8-RU
Lucky Dragons "Honeycombhouse" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iusxbRCjn5I
SFV Acid "Summer's Vage Cloud" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4EQ_ey2n74

Baths has an older, more "authentic" ambient project called Geotic which he's currently touring with Dntel. All his music is free to download here:
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/postfoetus/geotic.html


Dntel - Clelia II (his latest ~30min EP)


Carbon Based Life Forms


Robin Guthrie, of Cocteau Twins fame. His solo work and his collabs with Harold Budd and John Foxx make up the majority of his post-Cocteaus releases, but he has worked in the studio with many other bands. He also had a project with another female vocalist after he and Liz split, called Violet Indiana. If you like Mark McGuire, check out Robin.

[guedita]

I'm no expert, but here's some stuff I'm familiar with. (It's not my intention to embed ALL the videos, by the way... otherwise this would get too crazy, and it's not all 100% on-topic )

Modern "Ambient":
Chillwave is the more popular offshoot; it's been discussed in plenty of places on this forum already. Not ambient, but certainly derived from a combination of ambient, hip hop, pop, shoegaze etc.

Memory Tapes, Toro Y Moi, Com Truise, Miracle Fortress, Neon Indian, Namine, Beat Connection, Chilly Willy, Blackbird Blackbird, Teen Daze were recommended by boardies in response to this. I'd add Pictureplane, Baths, Teengirl Fantasy, Star Slinger.
Neon Indian "Deadbeat Summer" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlJ27Dcv4fc
Washed Out - "Feel it all around" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DkslcOhytU
Baths - "Lovely Bloodflow" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVTrZjY2K5I

http://www.brainfeedersite.com/ - label incorporating elements of hip hop and dubstep with a strong ambient feel. Bassier and faster than old-school ambient in many cases.
Matthewdavid

None of this is ambient. Chill-wave isn't ambient. Matthewdavid and almost everything I've heard off of Brainfeeder isn't ambient. No.

[CrimesceneCookie]

Why not post ambient clips instead of turning this into another douchey know-it-all thread.

[GoodGirlGalaxy]

Ambient is what you get in the backgrounds of movies by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Gaspar Noé, just noise with a pulse. It's also a lot of things but hip-hop, it is not.

[blazin]

90's Ambient - The stuff I grew up with:
Spacetime Continuum (aka Jonah Sharp, Reagenz, Strange Attractor, Emit Ecaps etc)
One of my favorite tracks of all time. This album, Sea Biscuit, has guided me through many journeys.

Possibly better known for his work With Terence McKenna (Researcher, author, lecturer fascinated with "hallucinogenic shamanism," primarily with DMT, yagé and mushrooms)
Check this link for an intro to their collaborations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USVNwNjmdkI

The Irresistible Force (aka Mixmaster Morris)
Flying High is still one of the masterpieces of that era, in my opinion. When my time comes, I hope someone injects me with a barrel full of k and puts this album on repeat.
Here's the title track:


The Higher Intelligence Agency



FSOL - Environments, Lifeforms are some of their more ambient works


The Orb - of course,one of the most well-known ambient projects of all time, but technically "ambient dub."


Other ambient/breakcore/IDM acts from this era (and beyond) include autechre, µ-Ziq, aphex twin, Seefeel, Black Dog Productions (which lost a member and became Plaid)...

Back in the day, I listed to a bit of psy-trance. One of the pioneers of the Harthouse label, along with Sven Vath, was Oliver Lieb. He's had a million projects including L.S.G, but Spicelab was my favorite. Ambient Trance at its finest.


Coil are a favorite of the dark ambient variety. They were formed from the ashes of Throbbing Gristle. Of their vast body of work, some is more ambient, some more industrial, some more acid, but all dark. Their music (overall) has more vocals than ambient normally incorporates, including spoken word/poetry. They've done a bit of soundtrack work, including for Hellraiser and Derek Jarman films. [RIP Jhonn and Sleazy]

[Gribbz]

There are only a couple of youtubes... but this album is one of my favorites.

[blazin]

None of this is ambient. Chill-wave isn't ambient. Matthewdavid and almost everything I've heard off of Brainfeeder isn't ambient. No.

Why not post ambient clips instead of turning this into another douchey know-it-all thread.

If you can't appreciate the time I spent putting together some stuff for the op of this thread, then fuck off. Go read another one. I was very clear about what I was posting, not trying to pretend it's "real" ambient. Besides, the genre is so deep and vast, there's no way anyone could cover everything. This is MY contribution. Where's yours?

I'm certainly no know-it-all. Forgive me for sharing something I'm passionate about... instead of regurgitating a bunch of the same old arguments about the same bands like many of the threads on here.
I figured after two years of coming here just to find information (and rolling my eyes at some of the attitudes) I'd finally start contributing. I didn't expect to be warmly welcomed, but come on...

I'm no expert, but here's some stuff I'm familiar with....
...it's not all 100% on-topic ...
...Not ambient, but certainly derived from a combination of ambient, hip hop, pop, shoegaze etc...

...incorporating elements of hip hop and dubstep with a strong ambient feel. Bassier and faster than old-school ambient in many cases.
...older, more "authentic" ambient project

[GoodGirlGalaxy]

Why not post ambient clips instead of turning this into another douchey know-it-all thread.

I don't want it to become that either. I listen to a lot of instrumental albums, and some of my favorite artists are almost completely instrumental, but most aren't leaning toward the ambient genre. The closest one I can think of of late is Infinite Body's Carve Out The Face of My God. I would really like to discuss more recent ambient artists and albums. Starting the first page off with a bunch of chill-wave artists is not a good sign that this thread will go far.

Chill-wave is the utilization of synthesizers and loops and noise to create pop music, dare-I-say an easy form of pop music because the majority of it is created within the confines of a bedroom, but it and the artists involved have shifted entirely away from the ambient genre to make their music more accessible to the internet masses. Ambient music is not sing-songy and beat-heavy, thus not Chill-wave.

Seriously though, watch Enter The Void and listen to Thomas Bangalter's semi-soundtrack - Ambient. And watch the scenes of the jungle in movies like Uncle Boonmee and Tropical Malady. Ambiance creates a mood, it is not there to use to grind up on a girl/boy, but to evoke an emotion from the sounds and washed-over noises it incorporates.

[guedita]

Look, the OP cited that he wants some ambient music suggestions along the line of what he's heard out of Mark McGuire. A ton of music I like as "an ambient feel" but that doesn't mean it's ambient and it doesn't mean it's worth posting for someone looking for a very specific thing.

[kreutz2112]

Colleen



Belong



Nadja. These guys aren't ambient electronic, which I think the OP was going for, and may not even be considered 'ambient', but are awesome nonetheless. This track is 21 minutes long.



Stars of the Lid

[bobert]

You guys and your genre arguments.

[Dogvolta]

The second I saw the thread title I knew it would very quickly devolve into a pissing match between who knows what about REAL ambient music. Pains in the asses you lot are.
I'm just about to head out of the office so I'll just quickly throw out some names in my normal ambient rotation:
Future Sounds of London
like 80% of Moby's work
Gui Borrato
Nightmares on Wax (Carboot Soul ftw)
The mentioned Brian Eno works
Trentmoller
Enigma (A Posteriori is AMAZING FOREVER)
Certain DJ Krush albums/tracks
William Orbit
I have tons others but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.
I appreciate all of the ones above that I've yet to have listened to, I *always* enjoy coming across new/different ambient work.

[blazin]

Look, the OP cited that he wants some ambient music suggestions along the line of what he's heard out of Mark McGuire. A ton of music I like as "an ambient feel" but that doesn't mean it's ambient and it doesn't mean it's worth posting for someone looking for a very specific thing.

Are you even a part of the discussion, or are you just here to try and police it? I'm sure jeffp1717 is a big boy and capable of combing through my response to find what he wants. That's the purpose of the descriptions, and the youtubes. And the whole idea behind a music forum as diverse as this one is not to limit oneself to such a narrow sound, is it?

I see people get bitched at all the time for starting threads unnecessarily, as well. It would seem a thread that has a genre as it's heading might be capable of encompassing more than one facet of said genre. The thread is called "Ambient Music," not "Artists that sound like Mark McGuire." And I gave him a specific recommendation that is pretty similar.

I'm done defending my actions to you... carry on.

[GoodGirlGalaxy]

If you can't appreciate the time I spent putting together some stuff for the op of this thread, then fuck off. Go read another one. I was very clear about what I was posting, not trying to pretend it's "real" ambient. Besides, the genre is so deep and vast, there's no way anyone could cover everything. This is MY contribution. Where's yours?

Your contributions are great. I was mostly talking to the few posters who contributed different genres. There have been a slew of new, genre-themed threads, so if chill-wave or hip-hop instrumental artists are all one can come up with when asked to contribute ambient recommendations then I urge those guys to create or contribute to threads of that specific genre.

Edit: Your more recent contributions are great.

[guedita]

You guys and your genre arguments.

Come on, precision when it comes to genres is important. Like I love Gui Boratto, but Dogvolta saying that he is ambient is simply wrong. It does a disservice to the genre he is actually part of and the genre of ambient. I don't know *enough* about the genre of ambient but I am pretty able to discern what isn't ambient on the basis that I thoroughly understand the distinctive qualities of other genres.

[guedita]

Are you even a part of the discussion, or are you just here to try and police it? I'm sure jeffp1717 is a big boy and capable of combing through my response to find what he wants. That's the purpose of the descriptions, and the youtubes. And the whole idea behind a music forum as diverse as this one is not to limit oneself to such a narrow sound, is it?

I see people get bitched at all the time for starting threads unnecessarily, as well. It would seem a thread that has a genre as it's heading might be capable of encompassing more than one facet of said genre. The thread is called "Ambient Music," not "Artists that sound like Mark McGuire." And I gave him a specific recommendation that is pretty similar.

I'm done defending my actions to you... carry on.

No, I'm not an expert and it's a genre I'd like more concrete clarification on from people who genuinely seem to know a bit about what might be essential ambient albums. That's why I didn't jump in and say stuff like the new Antlers album has an "ambient feel" to me and I really like it! Hyetal's Broadcast is dubstep but also sort of ambient! But there, now I have and now I've contributed. Also it appears as though my I-tunes has the new Gang Gang Dance listed as ambient. That can't be right.

[blazin]

Your contributions are great. I was mostly talking to the few posters who contributed different genres. There have been a slew of new, genre-themed threads, so if chill-wave or hip-hop instrumental artists are all one can come up with when asked to contribute ambient recommendations then I urge those guys to create or contribute to threads of that specific genre.

Edit: Your more recent contributions are great.

Thanks, and my hostility wasn't directed at you for the most part. I specifically split my post up into two sections, aside from sheer size, because I wanted to point out that there's a lot of new music that the current generation of teen and 20-somethings are much more familiar with that is derived from, but not, ambient. The stuff I know is mainly from the 90s, as I focused more on other areas like drum & bass in later years. I'm virtually clueless about pre-90s ambient, save for some of the industrial stuff. The most off-topic links I included are the ones I didn't embed, fwiw... and the ones i did could all fit into some sub-genre or another.

I'm trying to play by "the rules" of this forum, but everyone seems to have a different version of them so that makes it really hard to please everyone. I just want to share information in this vast area of life we call MUSIC and maybe find a few new treasures in the process. No harm intended.