Okay folks, you've nominated 728 different albums plus the Buddha Machine! Now it's time to vote for your favourite ambient pieces of all time. Here's the rules:
* The list of albums you can vote from can be found in Google Docs and Pastebin. No write-in votes.
* Send your ballots to tuomast DOT alho AT gmail DOT com. After you've sent it, I'll try to reply within a day. If you don't get a reply, post to this thread and I'll check if I've received your message.
* You can vote for up to 50 albums.
* You can send either a weighted or an unweighted ballot. For weighted ballots, you #1 album gets 100 points, your #2 gets 98 points, and so on, up until #50, which gets 2 points. For unweighted ballots, each album gets 51 points.
* Your ballot can have less than 50 albums, but the rules above still apply, so you don't any extra points to distribute within a shorter ballot.
* Voting ends on Sunday, June 23rd. I won't start calculating the ballot until Monday morning (Finnish time), so you folks from USA can vote until midnight Sunday of your local time.
That's it, now get to listening and voting!
― Tuomas, Sunday, 2 June 2019 14:21 (four years ago) link
is this where I tell everyone how great the Aeolian String Ensemble record is?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdgUqeWhbV4
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Sunday, 2 June 2019 15:00 (four years ago) link
Bump!
― Tuomas, Monday, 3 June 2019 07:09 (four years ago) link
Listening to the alva noto xerrox 1, it is glitchy hissy static but also very good.
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Monday, 3 June 2019 21:34 (four years ago) link
All the Xerroxes are really good. My fave is 3. I dunno that I'd put it in the noise jukebox tho.
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 03:54 (four years ago) link
Bumping again.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 4 June 2019 13:51 (four years ago) link
I waded through it today, and it's such a daunting nominations list. So much to discover still. Think I will indeed vote weightless, as NV pointed out, if there's one fucking poll that doesn't warrant a weighted ballot it's this ambient one. Wish I had a billion years to sort through and get acquainted with and love the albums I don't already know.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 19:57 (four years ago) link
^^my thoughts exactly
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 20:14 (four years ago) link
I searched 'Kyle Bobby Dunn' on ilx today and saw your glowing rec in the noms thread! :) It is so so beautiful.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 20:27 (four years ago) link
This Aeolian String Ensemble record is great indeed!
If there's one record I feel needs to be heard it is this one - it's Thorn Hoedh, in 1993, doing with slow, melancholic orchestral music (I hear Wagners Parzival overture, Bruckner and I'm pretty sure Mahler) what The Caretaker twenty years later would repeat with old ragtime 78s.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGHkxqey6RE
― Siegbran, Tuesday, 4 June 2019 20:29 (four years ago) link
^^ see, these are the recommendations I desire from this thread. Thanks!
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 20:42 (four years ago) link
There is no way I can digest all the albums I didn't already know, and I easily had 50 that I definitely did know and love. (And for what it's worth, I'm in the camp that thinks it's okay to have broader definition of ambient.)
Anyway, sorry to all the other albums. That said I'm excited to see what makes it into the final results and will be chasing down everything that's new to me.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 22:30 (four years ago) link
Dang, I missed the nomination period for this, but checking the list, it seems like nearly every significant and minor album I'd vote for is on the list! Nicely done, everyone. Going to be hard to put together 50, but definitely will have no problem with 25-30.
― octobeard, Tuesday, 4 June 2019 23:39 (four years ago) link
stanning for my all-time favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S3owK3pN64
(the first 22 minutes are a bit drummy but also necessary)
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 01:28 (four years ago) link
I have that Woob album and the 1995 one too, but I've never really warmed up to them. To me they feel like a collection of popular early 90s ambient tropes with nothing unique or original about them.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 5 June 2019 09:24 (four years ago) link
1194 might get my #1 vote
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 09:29 (four years ago) link
however the main point i wanna make is that everybody who ignores this album is fucking up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FggRhbVrBVw
doh i forgot to nom any susanne brokesch durrrrrr
― massaman gai (front tea for two), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 09:37 (four years ago) link
I nominated Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Black Earth and it's not in the Pastebin
― Detective Picacho (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 5 June 2019 18:32 (four years ago) link
Oh, I must've missed that. I'm sorry. I edited the Google sheet to include it, and here's a new Pastebin link with it:
https://pastebin.com/N3CgEGMV
I'll ask the mods to change the Pastebin link in the opening post.
― Tuomas, Thursday, 6 June 2019 06:53 (four years ago) link
Btw, I've only received one ballot so far, hope there'll be many more. :)
― Tuomas, Thursday, 6 June 2019 06:59 (four years ago) link
Still listening!
― Siegbran, Thursday, 6 June 2019 08:50 (four years ago) link
yeah I have two weeks! I haven't even thought about it yet
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 6 June 2019 13:44 (four years ago) link
My top ten will be easy enough, but the next twenty will require some listening!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 6 June 2019 13:54 (four years ago) link
― Tuomas, Thursday, June 6, 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lol maybe I’ll exert more influence over this poll than I’d thought. Stars of the Lid ftw.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 6 June 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
I fully expect my fridge to win through the power of write-in votes, ILM don't let me down.
― Siegbran, Thursday, 6 June 2019 17:39 (four years ago) link
Recently I’ve read about how both la monte young and Richard D James we’re heavily inspired by being beat the hum of electricity, particularly near electrical towers. Fridge buzz is classic ambient imo
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Thursday, 6 June 2019 17:45 (four years ago) link
After starting to piece together a list, a couple glaring omissions from my past attempts at building my own personal ambient top 10 or top 20:
Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing For Us TomorrowVoice of Eye - Vespers
Both artists had other works nominated, but these two are pretty seminal for them, respectively. Surprised about the Hammock omission in particular... Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow is not only one of their best, but easily the most "ambient" of all their releases. I've not yet heard Voice of Eye's Transmigration, so perhaps that can potentially place on the lower end of things.
In any case, for those who haven't yet heard it, check out They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow:https://open.spotify.com/album/7gi9H6xQKjHG4KlPn9bYsS?si=T1T9dt2KS9iGUC8mYpQ1YQ
― octobeard, Thursday, 6 June 2019 21:04 (four years ago) link
Voice Of Eye is a great example of one I need to spend more time with, I really liked their "early" 2LP that came on VOD, but haven't re-listened to it in years
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 6 June 2019 21:08 (four years ago) link
One of those "Trance-Europe Express" compilations from the early nineties, which came with a large booklet of interviews and other articles, had a tongue-in-cheek guide to various electronic music genres. IIRC all the other genres had longer texts to explain them, but ambient defined with just one sentence: "Could be your refrigerator." :)
― Tuomas, Friday, 7 June 2019 06:32 (four years ago) link
My finds so far have been Dreamweapon and Hymnvs. Both brilliant.
There's a bunch I'd stan for, not least the Laraaji/Blues Control album.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3jB7kp8LU-I
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Saturday, 8 June 2019 14:09 (four years ago) link
Laraaji's laugh at the end of that track...
my first pass through (not even counting the vast amount I don't know) gave me 127 albums on a longlist...
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Saturday, 8 June 2019 22:29 (four years ago) link
Laraaji used to do laughter workshops!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 8 June 2019 23:00 (four years ago) link
I think an ILM poster may have gone to one?
― brimstead, Sunday, 9 June 2019 01:09 (four years ago) link
https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod.retreat.guru/images/178490/slide/5.jpg
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Sunday, 9 June 2019 09:46 (four years ago) link
Bump! Three ballots in so far.
― Tuomas, Monday, 10 June 2019 10:30 (four years ago) link
Ambient voters just kinda drift toward the finish line
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Monday, 10 June 2019 10:33 (four years ago) link
I would so go to that Laraaji workshop/camp thing.
― octobeard, Monday, 10 June 2019 15:59 (four years ago) link
I have my ballot pretty much done, I just feel bad because there must be several albums in the nom list that I would vote for but don’t have time to preview :-(
― brimstead, Monday, 10 June 2019 18:29 (four years ago) link
I mean preview all the noms to see which ones I would want to hear in full
― brimstead, Monday, 10 June 2019 18:33 (four years ago) link
Spent the day listening to Jon Hopkins' Late Night Tales, would have nominated it if I'd known about it last week!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, 10 June 2019 19:48 (four years ago) link
otm, i'm letting my list grow organically and unobtrusively
― Vape Store (crüt), Monday, 10 June 2019 19:58 (four years ago) link
― Tuomas, Monday, 10 June 2019 20:53 (four years ago) link
I'm 100% going to vote but just letting everything float about before leaving it right until the last second.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Monday, 10 June 2019 20:58 (four years ago) link
Grateful Dead is ambient right?
― brotherlovesdub, Monday, 10 June 2019 21:14 (four years ago) link
if you're far enough away from them, yes
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, 10 June 2019 21:28 (four years ago) link
is grayfolded ambient? Never heard it myself
― brimstead, Monday, 10 June 2019 21:56 (four years ago) link
Voted!
― paolo, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 08:17 (four years ago) link
I went through the nominations doc at the weekend and my initial shortlist came to 47 albums - there are loads of things on there I've never heard so I'm going to explore it a bit more before voting (will try to give anything mentioned in this thread a go too).
― Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 09:26 (four years ago) link
Looking forward to checking out some of the lower placing albums as imagine all the ones finishing higher will be the more well known albums.
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 10:11 (four years ago) link
Are you accepting mixed ballots Tuomas or is that too much hassle?
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 10:30 (four years ago) link
Sure, you can do a mixed ballot, just mark it clearly where the weighted part ends and the unweighted starts. And remember that the maximum number of points you can allot is 2550, so the sum of the weighted and unweighted parts can't be more than that.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 11:27 (four years ago) link
Bump.
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 12 June 2019 13:03 (four years ago) link
i'm also going through things on the list. will take a good while, really, but since i'm looking for work/underemployed/mostly writing at the moment, it's a perfect time to be listening all day.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Wednesday, 12 June 2019 19:54 (four years ago) link
― octobeard, Thursday, 6 June 2019 23:04 (six days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I'm a huge fan of Hammock although more for their post-rock/shoegaze than for their ambient, but I particularly like Mysterium and I should've nominated that, it's entirely without drums. They really go all-in with the melodrama (those song titles alone...) and I suppose that can be a turn off for some, but I still think it works.
Voice Of Eye are fantastic and I could've nominated Vespers just as well as Transmigration.
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 12 June 2019 20:47 (four years ago) link
really like this Minor Shadows record by 1 Mile North. Thanks to whoever nominated it.
Oh, also: can there be a downloadable Google doc made of the nomination list? I ask only because I really want this list in perpetuity, as I know there's no way I can listen to everything I haven't heard before votes are due.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:51 (four years ago) link
And I hope everyone will keep mentioning stuff here that they've discovered and liked so I can have a listen too before ballots are due!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 13 June 2019 14:07 (four years ago) link
1 Mile North was me! Always good to be near the top of the noms list...
I'd also stan for Peter Wright. Kiwi relocated to London (I think). Snowblind is excellent and so is Angels Fell Where The Kestrels Hover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfGrZj6HawM
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:02 (four years ago) link
This Aes Dana record is pretty standard mellow psy-trance and really shouldn't be in this poll. Like, it's pretty openly psy-trance.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Thursday, 13 June 2019 19:00 (four years ago) link
It has beats yes but not much more than say FSOL, Global Communication or Biosphere? It definitely has long stretches of typical ambient, esp the latter half of the record. But far enough if ppl think it's not ambient enough.
― Siegbran, Thursday, 13 June 2019 20:18 (four years ago) link
*fair enough*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju2RrrtzsHM
I was listening to the first Baked Beans albums for the first time in years because of this poll, and I think it makes a strong case against the "ambient music has no beats" argument. It has steady beats throughout, but they're not used for propulsion rather than mood and texture... Like in the track above, they help to deliver the mood of some remote desert at dusk, which is an image the track conveys perfectly, and I'm not sure if it could do that without any beats.
― Tuomas, Friday, 14 June 2019 06:35 (four years ago) link
Adding beats to ambient is like bitters in a drink: A few drops may spice it up a bit, but if you keep shaking the bottle, you will eventually cross the line from tasty into nasty.
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Friday, 14 June 2019 07:14 (four years ago) link
xp to Tuomas, in that case, i'd have nominated a lot more stuff from Chain Reaction records, because so many of those tracks are ambient using beats or percussive elements as texture and atmosphere.
(that is to say, i don't think that Baked Beans track is ambient, and neither is the Aes Dana. Though at least Baked Beans released good material).
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 14 June 2019 17:12 (four years ago) link
hey I nominated Multila!
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Friday, 14 June 2019 17:13 (four years ago) link
sleeve, i noticed that! :-) i would have nominated Fluxion's Bipolar Defect if I'd known that sort of stuff was viewed as acceptable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgz693taU3c
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 14 June 2019 20:17 (four years ago) link
(that's just a sampling from the whole 2xLP, obviously)
i had never heard of Alio Die and am totally smitten with Aura Seminalis, whoever nominated it I kiss you.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 14 June 2019 20:19 (four years ago) link
Also enjoying Alio Die, although their discography has that bewildering vastness that lots of artists in this field have. Where to start? (I used RYM and took a punt on Aura Seminalis. It's lovely.)
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Saturday, 15 June 2019 11:46 (four years ago) link
Chinaski, I also started by listening to that record, though the collaborations on the list are also pretty great.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 15 June 2019 21:37 (four years ago) link
I can help with some Alio Die recs! I nommed Aura Seminalis, glad people are digging it.
If you like Aura Seminalis, try Horas Tibi Serenas next, "In the Labyrinth Garden" might be his best single track ever. Those two albums are part of the Castles Sonorisations trilogy, the third being Tempus Rei which never really clicked with me.
Good albums from his early period (less drone and more found sound/field recordings/evocation of prehistory) are Under an Holy Ritual, The Hidden Spring (also part of a trilogy with Le Stanze Della Trascendenza and Leaves Net), and Suspended Feathers.
I like the Vocal Trilogy on Projekt, where he did an album each with vocalists who employ different styles - Asparas with Amelia Cuni, Eleusian Lullaby with Martina Galvagni, and Mei-Jyu with Chako (from Jack or Jive).
Post 2010 he has been wildly prolific and does a lot of collaborations with other artists... I really like "They Grow Layers of Life Within" from 2017 but mostly because I've listened to it so much over other recent work. If you like him, chances are you'll like whatever he releases. And it's all on Spotify, etc. so it's easy to poke around in his discography.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 15 June 2019 22:40 (four years ago) link
thank you!!
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 15 June 2019 22:49 (four years ago) link
My favourite Alio Die albums are:
Deconsecrated and Pure: where he samples religious classical works, but like with Gas the source material is mostly unrecognisable. About as spiritual as ambient can get.
Amongs the Circling Spires, with Sylvi Alli: ethereal wordless singing by Alli combined with pristine drones, lovely.
La sala dei cristalli, with Mariolina Zitta: Zitta is a "cave music" specialist, she's done solo records (which are also awesome) based on her drumming and recording stalactites and stalagmites in Italian caves, as well as bat sounds (enhanced so the human ear can hear them). This is a collaboration where Alio Die adds his ambient touch to her stalactite/stalagmite music, and it's exactly as good as it sounds.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 16 June 2019 11:56 (four years ago) link
oh wow, just realized there was no Between Interval nominated
― Vape Store (crüt), Sunday, 16 June 2019 14:42 (four years ago) link
Bump! Remember, this is the last week you can vote.
― Tuomas, Monday, 17 June 2019 05:22 (four years ago) link
Ballot submitted. Sentimentality really influenced my top 20. Hope it get some fringe records on the board.
― octobeard, Monday, 17 June 2019 09:05 (four years ago) link
I've squeezed my longlist down to 61 (unweighted). A litte more listening this week and I'm good to go.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Monday, 17 June 2019 09:38 (four years ago) link
Judging by the current situation, there'll be some controversial albums in the top 40, can't wait for the "not actually ambient" debates in the results thread. 😁
― Tuomas, Monday, 17 June 2019 11:16 (four years ago) link
I fully expect a top 3 of Portishead, Burzum and Arvo Pärt.
― Siegbran, Monday, 17 June 2019 11:19 (four years ago) link
Heh.
I'm afraid I won't have much time to dip into other people's noms, so I'll likely end up with an unadventurous list that solely reflects my ambient listening habits over the past 15-odd years.
― pomenitul, Monday, 17 June 2019 11:23 (four years ago) link
I took Arthur Russell and E2-E4 off my ballot because NOT AMBIENT while simultaneously arguing with myself, 'well, they sort of are...'.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Monday, 17 June 2019 14:22 (four years ago) link
A useful question to ask oneself is 'would x musician/composer be offended if we were to suggest that their music is ambient?' In Arvo Pärt's case, I'm pretty sure the answer would be 'yes'. Vikernes too, most likely, but he can go fuck himself.
― pomenitul, Monday, 17 June 2019 14:27 (four years ago) link
i dunno, that's very subjective, and a lot of musicians resist having their work being categorized as any genre. for example, just last night i was reading the liner notes for a. coltrane's A Monastic Trio, and it has an interview with her where she's talking about john coltrane preferring that his music not be thought of as "jazz"
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Monday, 17 June 2019 15:05 (four years ago) link
Fair enough. Speaking only for my own subjective self, I do find the idea of describing Pärt's post-1975 output as 'ambient' mildly offensive due to the music's explicitly religious and often narrative heft.
― pomenitul, Monday, 17 June 2019 15:18 (four years ago) link
ILX CHILLOUT FOR EGGHEADS POLL
― brimstead, Monday, 17 June 2019 16:44 (four years ago) link
can't wait for the "not actually ambient" debates in the results thread
Is this why stuff like stuff like Pygmalion and Excursions Into Ambience got nominated but not Selected Ambient Works 85-92? Quite a bit of inconsistency in the list WRT what constitutes ambient? FWIW SAW 85-92 doesn't meet my personal criteria, but I can understand why it is listed.
― octobeard, Monday, 17 June 2019 20:36 (four years ago) link
I'm still bummed the most purely ambient Hammock album wasn't nom'd but three very arguably NOT ambient albums by them were ... argh.
― octobeard, Monday, 17 June 2019 20:37 (four years ago) link
I played F. Hazel's rec, Alio Die's 'Aura Seminalis' tonight. Blissful. So good. (reminded me of Polish neo-classical/ambient dude Jacaszek, check him out).
I'm fully in Pomenitul's camp: I'll vote for what I know, because I've barely time to catch up on the million great recs on the nominations list. Alio Die's was just one tonight, which doesn't bode well if I'd scour through the whole list. Blessing and a curse, this.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 17 June 2019 21:44 (four years ago) link
not Selected Ambient Works 85-92?my favorite thing about this poll
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Monday, 17 June 2019 22:26 (four years ago) link
If other people wanted to nominate Hammock albums they had plenty of time
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 17 June 2019 22:38 (four years ago) link
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 07:18 (four years ago) link
Is Baked Beans out of print? I found a couple of tracks on YouTube and enjoyed them but I can’t find it for sale anywhere other than buying a second hand cd
― I am using your worlds, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 13:16 (four years ago) link
I know I missed the nominations thread but there’s seriously only two Orb records you can choose from?
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:00 (four years ago) link
(and not the one I’d vote for!)
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:02 (four years ago) link
Is Baked Beans out of print? I found a couple of tracks on YouTube and enjoyed them but I can’t find it for sale anywhere other than buying a second handřd cd
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:15 (four years ago) link
The second Baked Beans album is also great, but less ambient, so I didn't nominate that one.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:16 (four years ago) link
Hmm I would appreciate this ...help as well if at all possible
― Evan, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:24 (four years ago) link
Just hit me with an email.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:24 (four years ago) link
Done!
― Evan, Tuesday, 18 June 2019 15:44 (four years ago) link
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 19 June 2019 05:42 (four years ago) link
i'll be getting mine in tonight. i will continue to listen to the noms, though, because i'm getting some great material for an all-ambient iPod.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Wednesday, 19 June 2019 16:40 (four years ago) link
I'll rep for some Raison d'Etre, 1997's "In Sadness, Silence, and Solitude" is great if you like dark ambient, evoking haunted monasteries, abandoned industrial parks, etc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hbYiicsXk
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 19 June 2019 16:49 (four years ago) link
I should be turning mine in tomorrow, I just gotta order it
― brimstead, Wednesday, 19 June 2019 17:51 (four years ago) link
raison d’etre is top 5 for me yes, I’m most partial to The Empty Hollow Unfolds but it’s all good.
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 19 June 2019 21:49 (four years ago) link
The top 10 is starting to look pretty fixed, but there's still time to change that by voting!
― Tuomas, Thursday, 20 June 2019 19:13 (four years ago) link
I'll vote on the very last day, like god and Brian Eno intended
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Thursday, 20 June 2019 20:13 (four years ago) link
i'll also be submitting a last-minute ballot. like some recent posters, i'm afraid mine is going to be pretty boring because it's just going reflect my current pretty boring taste in ambient. i didn't spend nearly as much time as i wanted exploring the excellent suggestions in the nominations
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Thursday, 20 June 2019 20:19 (four years ago) link
Just trimmed down the noms to a longlist of 100. Haven't decided yet if I'm voting weighted or, er, weightless.
The nomination list is so overwhelming there was never going to be enough time to thoroughly check stuff out I don't know yet. Which is kind of a comforting thought :)
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 20 June 2019 20:38 (four years ago) link
If I do a mixed vote, is it ok to only have say 30 or 40 albums on there? Can make up to 50 if it's easier
― groovypanda, Friday, 21 June 2019 13:32 (four years ago) link
Nah, it can have less than 50 albums if you want, just follow the rules I mentioned upthread:
mark it clearly where the weighted part ends and the unweighted starts. And remember that the maximum number of points you can allot is 2550, so the sum of the weighted and unweighted parts can't be more than that.
― Tuomas, Friday, 21 June 2019 21:00 (four years ago) link
I sent mine in, did a mixed ballot of "ranked" and "unranked" instead of "weighted" and "unweighted," though I think I made it clear where each part begins and ends. thanks again for your hard work here, Tuomas.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 21 June 2019 21:37 (four years ago) link
Voted. That was tough.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Saturday, 22 June 2019 10:13 (four years ago) link
While voting, I thought of about 10 lps I forgot to nominate!
― nerve_pylon, Saturday, 22 June 2019 16:43 (four years ago) link
my ballot sucks
not just because it probably won't reach 50 votes, and not just because the selections are relatively unadventurous and generic ambient collection, but because after all the discussion and thinking about it, i still have no idea of how to translate the many meanings of 'ambient' to sound characteristics. there are more cases than i can count of albums i cut from my ballot because of genre ambiguity, while then later including some other album that was ambiguous in a similar way. why is OPN's Rifts acceptable for me but Roedelius' Selbstportrait vol II seems too melodic and song-based, for example? that kind of thing x 50. i feel defeated. i feel empty inside. i will try to submit later this evening.
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:08 (four years ago) link
IS disintegration loops ambient?
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:11 (four years ago) link
i am frustrated that after all this, it seems likely that is either the most ambient, or not ambient at all actually
I'm listening to Andrew Chalk & Christoph Heeman's "The Mirror Of The Sea" and it is every bit as great as I remember
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:15 (four years ago) link
i am pumped for these results, though. scanning through the nominations list, there are so many names that i've been meaning to check out for forever, so the rollout will help me hone in on a few
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:21 (four years ago) link
Voted
― Brad C., Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:36 (four years ago) link
about to vote
also i am a total idiot for not nominating dennis johnson's November and then annoying the hell out of everyone by demanding that they try to listen to it over the course of the afternoon. i admit that i have never made it through all 10 hours consecutively but it is nothing like an endurance test.
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:49 (four years ago) link
k i voted
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 22 June 2019 22:51 (four years ago) link
time to finish up my ballot I suppose
― Vape Store (crüt), Saturday, 22 June 2019 23:16 (four years ago) link
voted!
― Vape Store (crüt), Sunday, 23 June 2019 02:04 (four years ago) link
Just voted. Like many have mentioned; I'll mostly end up voting for the stuff I nominated (or would have if someone hadn't beaten me to it). I only came up with, I think, 36 votes. My main thing is that ambient music tends to be a "singles" thing for me, so I ended up sort of halfheartedly voting for albums that I really only love one or two songs off of. Regardless of how this poll turns out; what a treasure trove of music to check out. It's sad how hard it is to find some of this music.
― beard papa, Sunday, 23 June 2019 02:09 (four years ago) link
Voted! thanks to whoever nominated ABoneCroneDrone and Seconds In Formaldehyde. The former I had forgotten all about and the latter is a great new discovery!
― brimstead, Sunday, 23 June 2019 03:37 (four years ago) link
every album on my list is a stone cold classic
will vote tonight!
― Siegbran, Sunday, 23 June 2019 09:09 (four years ago) link
I agonised over my ballot for a good while and then thought 'fuck it, it's everyone else's I'm interested in' and made my peace.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Sunday, 23 June 2019 09:17 (four years ago) link
Voted (feebly and inadequately).
― pomenitul, Sunday, 23 June 2019 10:10 (four years ago) link
Sending my ballot tonight
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:17 (four years ago) link
I'm down to 50 finally, just thinking abt placement
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:41 (four years ago) link
Today is the last day to vote... I won't close the poll until I wake up tomorrow morning, which should be aroung 6AM GMT, so you still have 13 hours to vote.
Also, when you send your ballot, remember to mention in the message whether it's weighted or unweighted. I've answered all emails with ballots I've received so far, so if you've sent one but haven't gotten an answer from me, let me know in this thread.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 23 June 2019 16:12 (four years ago) link
I sent an unweighted ballot yesterday and didn't get a confirmation. Mine is a little skimpy at fifteen albums. I had some criteria in mind for deciding what was ambient and what wasn't, but thinking about my ballot I didn't really apply them consistently — broadly I was thinking of an emphasis on space and/or texture over melody and rhythm, but even under those broad guidelines (which don't really equate to "functional as background music") some tuneful things snuck in.
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Sunday, 23 June 2019 16:43 (four years ago) link
What is this other genre that some of you think these other artists ought to fall into, if not ambient? Too spaced out and atmospheric to be electronic, too melodic to be avant-grade. If I were to vote these albums into any poll, it would be this one.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:24 (four years ago) link
^^^I don’t mean that to sound antagonistic, just sharing my logic for why I chose some artists that others here seem to be struggling with whether to include or not.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:31 (four years ago) link
yeah, i have no idea. for example, tangerine dream. i really like both Phaedra and Zeit. somehow, i decided that Phaedra was not ambient enough (the pink floyd 'on the run' section about 5 minutes into the title track, in particular), but Zeit would qualify. but what is Phaedra? it's...electronic music? in a very different way, i also couldn't figure out whether morton feldman's Piano & String quartet is top of the line ambient, or not ambient
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:37 (four years ago) link
anyways, i will try to keep this in mind when we're all complaining about Tired Sounds of Starts of Lid placing high (which is one of my all time favorites, and which i didn't vote for because i don't think of it as an ambient album even though much of it is ambient and i've zoned out to a million times)
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:39 (four years ago) link
STARTS OF THE LID
A lid startler if ever there was one.
― pomenitul, Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:40 (four years ago) link
Same but Phaedra: yes, Zeit: no :) It's so arbitrary, and I like that.
Shame 'Music for the Rothko Chapel' wasn't nominated. I'd hit that as ambient. Piano & String too classically classical for me?
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:41 (four years ago) link
Heh, it's the other way around for me.
― pomenitul, Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:42 (four years ago) link
Zoning out, music escorting you to a personal and highly particular ambient zone = ambient, to me. So I voted for Tired Sounds.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:43 (four years ago) link
I sent an unweighted ballot yesterday and didn't get a confirmation.
Hmm, I wonder what's up with that... Did you send it to the address below?
https://i.imgur.com/yyJzfhr.jpg
Try to resend it to that address and report in this thread when you've done it, let's see if it gets through.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:43 (four years ago) link
i forgot to nom that jon gibson two solo pianos w/ bonus tracks disc AND suzanne brokesch NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
― massaman gai (front tea for two), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:43 (four years ago) link
yeah, i'd definitely vote for Rothko if it was there! my fav morton feldman (that i've heard - still exploring!), and yes, definitely more 'ambient'
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:45 (four years ago) link
I'm with "Zeit: ambient", "Phaedra: not" camp, and voted accordingly. To me Phaedra has a bit too much sense of direction to count as ambient, whereas Zeit feels like floating in space. But I do understand the case for Phaedra being ambient too, and probably some other albums I voted have even more direction than that, it's not clear-cut.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 23 June 2019 17:47 (four years ago) link
Zeit is definitely ambient to me. Phaedra is too propulsive. And Stars of the Lid has to be ambient, dunnit? Not sure where else I'd place it. Emobient, maybe.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:07 (four years ago) link
The only albums I sort of regret nominating and voting for are the two Growing albums. In both cases the first tracks are epic drones, and that’s what I think of when I think of them. But subsequent tracks really aren’t remotely ambient. Oh well. If I’m the only one who voted for them in the end you can strike them.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:11 (four years ago) link
^^ I've had that, where in memory or in 'feeling' records are ambient to me, but when listening w/ this poll in mind I think: wait, no, actually...
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:12 (four years ago) link
Yeah, that happened to me too, I had to scrap a couple of albums from my ballot cos I remembered them as being ambient based on how they begin, but upon listening to them I realised they got way too progressive later on.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:15 (four years ago) link
that was my reaction to listening to 76:14 again, i was surprised how beat-heavy a lot of it was
― Vape Store (crüt), Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:28 (four years ago) link
Ah thanks, Tuomas; I did manage to mess up your email. Ballot re-sent! Got your confirmation.
A basic problem I have is that the albums I like best on the noms list don't necessarily seem purely ambient (i.e., I love Phaedra and voted for it but the arguments against it above make sense to me... but I don't love Zeit, so I didn't vote for it).
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:29 (four years ago) link
Actually, Chinaski's solution to this problem was probably better than mine. Still, I'll be pleased if anyone else votes for Tierbeobachtungen.
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:40 (four years ago) link
I’ve always thought of Biosphere’s Patashnik as ambient but there’s surprisingly little material without beats on it.
― Siegbran, Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:47 (four years ago) link
Patashnik definitely is some kind of a ambient/techno hybrid, as was Microgravity before it. To me, Substrata is the first true ambient album by Biosphere. For a guy who's known as ambient musician first and foremost, Geir Jenssen certainly has done a lot of music based on beats and rhythms. He even released an EP a couple of years ago, The Petrified Forest, which is an obvious throwback to that Patashnik sound. It's a great record, but again, it doesn't sound sound ambient enough for me to have nominated it.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 23 June 2019 18:58 (four years ago) link
― groovypanda, Sunday, 23 June 2019 19:56 (four years ago) link
Departed Glories is the one for Biosphere
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Sunday, 23 June 2019 22:27 (four years ago) link
― Siegbran, Sunday, 23 June 2019 23:11 (four years ago) link
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Sunday, 23 June 2019 23:16 (four years ago) link
You don’t have to choose just one though! 50 votes, plenty of space.
I’m also surprised at how many people feel this way about DG. Doesn’t reach the heights (or depths) of Substrata or Cirque for me, but maybe I need to open my ears.
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Sunday, 23 June 2019 23:17 (four years ago) link
(also had many instances as noted upthread of "shit, I should have nominated ambient album x)
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Sunday, 23 June 2019 23:19 (four years ago) link
^^ same here.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 24 June 2019 00:07 (four years ago) link
voted with a split ballot, it turns out I can in fact pick only 25 ambient albums that are truly close to my heart
the only new one I included was one of the Voice Of Eye noms, I love that double LP of early stuff that VOD put out but had never checked out the later stuff.
I'd like to attempt a Spotify playlist of all the noms, but can't guarantee anything
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 24 June 2019 00:14 (four years ago) link
There is a Spotify playlist
― Vape Store (crüt), Monday, 24 June 2019 00:51 (four years ago) link
oh I missed that! thanks.
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 24 June 2019 01:11 (four years ago) link
damn I coulda been shuffling all this time
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 24 June 2019 01:12 (four years ago) link
for reference cuz I don't think it was linked in this thread:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4fPPFJHHNihMjlO9GVEs6F?si=hVKygUYXRJSuCafBZrfzlQ
― Ambient Police (sleeve), Monday, 24 June 2019 01:15 (four years ago) link
The voting is now closed, thanks to everyone! I'll start the results rollout later today or tomorrow.
― Tuomas, Monday, 24 June 2019 05:13 (four years ago) link
The mind revealing itself to itself: the TOP 100 AMBIENT ALBUMS as voted by ILX
― Tuomas, Monday, 24 June 2019 10:15 (four years ago) link
top 3 albums I slightly regret including on my ballot:
Belong - October Language (soothing noize ≠ ambient!)Slowdive - Pygmalion (too pop! parts of it have a backbeat and proper hummable melodies!)Tangerine Dream - Phaedra (too much chug-a-chug-a sequencer action!)
my ballot started out super purist, but then I got the notion of voting for 50 albums by 50 different artists, so I ended up padding it out with some stuff that wasn't a perfect fit, oops
anyways, here's some great cosmic horror ambient that idk if anyone else voted for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE9RPDgCn2w
(Tholen - Sternklang)
― tandoor vittles (unregistered), Monday, 24 June 2019 14:47 (four years ago) link
Results rolling out here: The mind revealing itself to itself: the TOP 100 AMBIENT ALBUMS as voted by ILX
― koogs, Monday, 24 June 2019 15:27 (four years ago) link