20 Best Ambient

8/3/2019 20 Best Ambient

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20 best: Ambient

Words: Tony MarcusFirst published in FACT:26 (June/July 2008)Its a heavy, theoretical space to think about the relationship between music and silence, sound and thought and feeling.And theres a conceptual glamour about music so quiet that it might fade into but also enhance background noise. If you call this ambient then you might best begin with Brian Eno and the liner notes for his LP Music for Airports, written in1978 [though his first liner note reference to ambient was in 1975's DiscreetMusic]. Eno was particularly keen to note thedifferences between his ambient music (calming and provocative) and elevator music or muzak.Right now, actual muzak or elevator music is so hard to find that it would probably sound interesting if you did. Perhaps in1978 it was something that needed to be opposed. Its interesting that Enos ambient has a punk/post-punk date , and the verystarkness and self-discipline of some of his (and others) ambient LPs give them an affinity with the stark punk/post-punk ofMagazine, Gang of Four et al.

The word ambient comes from the Latin and means going about from iens going, and ambi, about. Which doesnt saypeaceful or beautiful or relaxing. It just says going about. Which suggests what? Present? In motion? And sort of just

there like a gas or perfume, molecules that diffuse in the air?Its interesting that Enos use of the word ambient has also been adopted (by writers and DJs , compilers of LPs, etc) to claimthat records made before 1978 were also ambient. The genre reached backwards through history to claim the classicalminimalism of Erik Satie and Arvo Prt, the post-industrial noise of Coil and Boyd Rice, certain late-60s records and certainearly to mid-70s Krautrock records. Just as the word punk reached back to claim MC5 and Iggy perhaps a true or seductiveor potent genre will always travel in time.I often get trapped in thinking that ambient music has to be plaintive and melancholy. Does ambient have to be melancholy? Notnecessarily, but it happens. Quiet music that creates space for meditation and memory might also make us sad or melancholic.

But it doesnt have to be that way the purest meditations (if you read ancient Indian and pre-Buddhist texts) are about goingbeyond memory, rather than indulging it.


2/21

BRIAN ENOAMBIENT 1: MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS(EG, 1978)

2/2The LP of angelic breath, whose killer tracks are minimal and layered choral tones that owe something to the classical works of[Arvo] Prt. An important record, a line in the sand, and what a concept; it seems to speak to, soundtrack (and perhaps critique)the modern world.

See also:Brian Eno DiscreetMusic (EG, 1975)Harold Budd & Brian Eno Ambient 2: The Plateaux ofMirrors (EG, 1980)Arvo Prt Alina (ECM, 1999)


3/21

POLEPOLE 3(MATADOR, 2000)

SilberfischFractured electronic dub that seems to have been formed from the outlines and after-images of sounds , from the surges and tracesthey leave behind on echo or delay units. Pole also uses vinyl hiss and cracks and tracks which contrast beautifully with thewarmer dub moves. [3, alongside its predecessors 1 and 2, is now available s a 3xCD package,123].

See also:Pole Pole 2 (Matador, 1999)Vladislav Delay Multila (Chain Reaction, 2000)VA Folds and Rhizomes For Gilles Deleuze (Sub Rosa, 1995)


4/21

WILLIAMBASINSKITHE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS(2062, 2002)

dlp 3Basinski says this was made from repeatedly copying old audio tapes (of his own music) until the sound disintegrated. And youget to hear the process as simple, delicate loops decay to fainter and shadowy works.See also:

William Basinski Shortwave Music (Raster-Noton, 1998)Philip Jeck Sand(Touch, 2008)GAS Knigsforst(Mille Plateaux, 1998)


5/21

CLUSTER& ENOCLUSTER AND ENO(SKY RECORDS, 1977)

Fr LuiseAn important record because its the meeting place between Eno and the Cosmic Krauts. Where the second Cluster LP isimportant for its dark loops and drones, this pre-figures most of Enos later, melodic ambient strategies. And like Aphexs firstLP, the tracks have the lyricism of songs.

See also:Brian Eno Ambient 4: On Land(EG, 1982)Harmonia & Eno Harmonia & Eno 76(Grnland, 2010)Cluster II(Brain, 1972)


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APHEX TWINSELECTED AMBIENT WORKS II(WARP, 1994)

Blue CalxThe firstAmbient Works is sweeter but this second LP, which is longer a two CD set is darker, stranger and harder tonegotiate. Tracks often seem to dissolve as you listen to them they are not easy to fix in the mind they are spooky , unravellingtextures.

See also:Aphex Twin -Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (R&S, 1992)Kevin Drumm - Imperial Distortion (Hospital Productions, 2008)Nurse With Wound Soliloquy For Lilith (Idle Hole Records, 1988)


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YOUNGMARBLE GIANTSCOLOSSAL YOUTH(ROUGH TRADE, 1980)

N.I.T.A.It was either this or Durutti Column from the post-punk period and YMG win as vocal-song-oriented music so stark andtruncated it embraces a silence and texture we know as ambient. Alison Stattons flat vocals, stark guitar and basic synth areexquisitely bleak the LP feels like it was recorded in Communist East Berlin.

See also:Cocteau Twins Head Over Heels (4AD, 1983)Wire 154 (Harvest, 1979)Gareth Williams & Marie Currie Flaming Tunes (self-released, 1985)


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ASHRA TEMPEL /MANUEL GTTSCHINGINVENTIONS FOR ELECTRIC GUITAR(KOSMISCHEMUSIK, 1975)

Pluralis (excerpt)Almost impossible to pick the most beautiful Ash Ra LP you need this and Schingungen and E2-E4 because ManuelGttsching makes the softest psychedelia. But the circling, minimal guitar on this LP reinvents the instrument as a mantra-delaymachine.

See also:Manuel Gttsching E2-E4 (Inteam GmbH, 1984) buyAsh Ra Tempel - New Age of Earth (RCA, 1976)Tortoise TNT(Thrill Jockey, 1998)


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THE ORBTHE ORBSADVENTURES BEYOND THE ULTRAWORLD(BIG LIFE, 1991)

Spanish Castles In Space (Pt.1)Little Fluffy Clouds is irritating and certain beats are dull but when the LP reaches Back Side of the Moon it opens , colossal,fresh space. And the astral jazz of Spanish Castles In Space is often missed in the fetish for The Orbs stoned NASA-isms.See also:

Steve Reich / Pat Metheny Electric Counterpoint(Nonesuch, 1989)Killing Joke Requiem (A Floating Leaf Always Reaches The Sea Dub Mix) (EG, 1992)Deepchord presents Echospace The ColdestSeason (Modern Love, 2007)


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KRAFTWERKRALFAND FLORIAN(PHILIPS/VERTIGO, 1973)

TongebirgeThis sits halfway between LSD-fried Kraut prog and the refined minimal art of classic Kraftwerk. They bring a weightless graceto heavier 70s aesthetic the sound of clean, modern air blowing out the late 60s/early-70s templates.See also:

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk(Philips, 1970)Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk 2 (Philips, 1971)Can Future Days (United Artists, 1974)


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MAINFIRMAMENT II(BEGGARS BANQUET, 1994)

Firmament II (excerpt)

Just two tracks on the LP, apparently made from guitars plus filters and pedals , although the sound is hard to source or accountfor. His records have been described as unknown negative space volume levels rise and fall; textures change unpredictably and like Pole there is a sense of fragmented delays and reversed exposures.

See also:Lull Cold Summer (Sentrax, 1994)Main Motion Pool (Beggars Banquet, 1994)My Bloody Valentine Loveless (Creation, 1991)


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BOBBY BEAUSOLEIL & THE FREEDOM ORCHESTRA

LUCIFER RISING OST

(LETHAL RECORDS / MAGICK THEATRE PRODUCTIONS, 2005)

Lucifer Rising Part 1

Recorded in jail while Beausoleil was serving life for what was allegedly the first of the Manson killings.

The soundtrack to Kenneth Angers occult epic, this matches psychedelic LSD freakout with drones,

echoes and treated guitars that sound like they were recorded at the centre of the Earth. There are also

moments of exquisite delicacy. Beausoleil is still in jail in the US.

See also:

Ghedalia Tazartes Diasporas (Cobalt, 1979)

A.R. & Machines Echo (Polydor, 1972)

Spacecraft Paradox (Not on label, 1978)


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GLOBAL COMMUNICATION

76:14

(DEDICATED, 1994)

14:31

The high watermark of an early-90s sensibility there are similar LPs from Boards of Canada and FSOL

all layered, complex, pretty and sci-fi. Its computer-organised psychedelia: utterly precise and fractal

clean. If this had been released on a bigger record label it would have been multi, multi-platinum.

See also:

Tangerine Dream Love On A Real Train, from Risky Business OST (Virgin, 1984)

Global Communication Blood Music: Pentamerous Metamorphosis (Dedicated, 1993)

Global Communication Maiden Voyage (Dedicated 12, 1994)


14/21

PSYCHE/BFC

ELEMENTS

(PLANET E, 1996)

Elements

A collection of the early, 1989-1990 Carl Craig tracks. There is rhythm some breaks and early Detroit

beats but the overall feel is tranquilised sci-fi; that narcoleptic, interior techno. And the LP ends with

someone (perhaps Carl) exhaling, almost snoring over a Tomita-like ambience.

See also:

Carl Craig More Songs About Food & Revolutionary Art (Planet E, 1997)

System 7 Sirenes (System 7.1) (Butterfly Records, 1994)

Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom Days of Mars (DFA, 2005)


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BIRDS AND SOUNDS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE: RECORDED AND PRODUCED BY ERIC SIMMS

(BBC RECORDS, 1970)

Organised by season with a tracklist that includes A Summer Woodland Dawn Chorus (Suffolk 1953)

and Hooded Crow and Geese on a Windswept Moor (Kinross, 1955). The BBC field/ambient series is

huge Railways Remembered and British Mammals and Amphibians are also great.

See also:

Virginia Astley From Gardens Where We Feel Secure (Rough Trade, 1983)

Chris Watson Wild Song At Dawn (FACT, 2007)

John Cameron Kes (Trunk, 2001)


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KLF

CHILL OUT

(KLF COMMUNICATIONS, 1990)

This is really part of The Orbs Ultraworld both LPs were born in the same Patterson/Cauty mix

sessions this is more amorphous, more about samples, suggestion and memory; a post-Ecstasy drift

through interior landscape.

See also:

Space Space (KLF Communications, 1990)

The Orb - Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions (Big Life, 1991)

The KLF Madrugada Eterna 12 (KLF Communications, 1990)


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LARAAJI PRODUCED BY BRIAN ENO

AMBIENT 3: DAY OF RADIANCE

(EG, 1980)

The Dance #1

This has a very different feel from the other ambient LPs its more like world music or meditation

music. Laraaji is playing what sounds like the harp but is zither and dulcimer. Eno slows the tapes,

extends the decay rate he maximises the sense of shimmer.

See also:

Roland P. Young Istet Serenade (EM, 2009)

John Hassell Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics (EG, 1980)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Musst Musst (Real World, 1990)


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GAS

POP

(MILLE PLATEAUX, 2000)

Untitled #4

Post-Basic Channel with tracks that sound like sheets of muted industrial texture. The one cut that has a

house/techno pulse suggests the entire LP is rooted in intense head blown off MDMA culture.

See also:

GAS Zauberberg (Mille Plateaux, 1997) buy

Basic Channel BCD (Basic Channel, 1995) buy

Love Inc. Lifes A Gas (Force Inc. Music Works, 1990)


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BRIAN ENO WITH ROGER ENO & DANIEL LANOIS

APOLLO ATMOSPHERES AND SOUNDTRACKS

(EG, 1983)

An Ending (Ascent)

Possibly the first LP to put country and western into space Enos rationale being the NASA space

mission relating Americas love of frontiers. The LP features the most plaintive of all Enos ambient

tracks, An Ending (Ascent) which sounds like a template for Aphexs Selected Ambient Works II.

See also:

Ennio Morricone Film Music 1966-1987 (Virgin, 1987)

Harold Budd, Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois - The Pearl (EG, 1984)

The Durutti Column Vini Reilly (Factory, 1984)


20/21

IRRESTISTIBLE FORCE

FLYING HIGH

(RISING HIGH, 1992)

Flying High

Acid lines and wacky, plastic electronics that pay homage to Subotnick and Jean-Jacques Perrey, Flying

High sort of plinks. The track Symphony on E is great with Joyce Grenfell samples for one more riff on

Albionndrugs.

See also:

William Orbit Strange Cargo (IRS, 1990)

Ulrich Schnauss - Far Away Trains Passing By (City Centre Offices, 2001) buy

The Orb Peel Sessions (BBC, 1996)


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THE CARETAKER

A STAIRWAY TO THE STARS

(V/VM TEST RECORDS, 2001)

A Stairway To The Stars

The entire LP is built from old 78s and 1920s dance records narcotized and bathed in hiss and gloom

until they feel like a scene from The Shining (the one where Jack meets bartender Lloyd). It also carries a

Weimar melancholia a record of haunted, European ballrooms.

See also:

Gavin Bryars, Philip Jeck & Alter Ego The Sinking of The Titanic (Touch, 2007)

Kreng LAutopsie Phnomnale De Dieu (Miasmah, 2009)

Burial Burial (Hyperdub, 2006)

Tony Marcus

First published in FACT:26 (June/July 2008)

20 Best Ambient

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