Rolling ambient/chill out/drone/moodz thread: from 2010s 'til infinity!

Sure!

glad tuomas said that !
tis his thread, but i am all about coffee table beats ..
anything that is recommended that i can buy in a high street music emporium the better i.e. fopp/hmv/rise

http://glisteningexamples.bandcamp.com/album/oxidation-states

just heard this today.. thick, beautiful mass laden with troubling dissonances and delightful timbres. varied tonal zones, heavy vibes throughout

I mentioned it in the Ethereal/Goth thread, where it didn't really belong other than being released by Projekt, but Stratosphere's Aftermath is really, really good in 2015:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOCE_xNuMeQ

My favorite ambient record of the year was Jonas Munk's Absorb/Fabric/Cascade--really lovely stuff.

Also Chihei Hatakeyama released I think five albums this year, most of them good, but his collaboration with Federico Durand, magical Imaginary Child, was the tops.

Other runners up: Jefre Cantu-Ledesma's A Year with 13 Moons and Sam Prekop's last album, which wasn't really ambient but was all modular synth stuff. Chris Bissonnette put out a nice one on Kranky, too.

basinski: cascade - pulls the same strings he always does, the ones that walk you over to stare at the rain on the window

kaitlyn aurelia smith: tides - you just woke up and you can float above the heap of thoughts on suspended waves of synthesis for a little while, calmly

some of my favs from 2015 (these are all on Spotify in the US):

Sarah Davachi – Qualities of Bodies Permanent: incredible psychedelic analog synth/mellotron/flute drones, everyone should listen to this
https://ctatsu.bandcamp.com/album/qualities-of-bodies-permanent

Ryuichi Sakamoto / Illuha / Taylor Dupree – Perpetual: delicate and beautiful microsounds
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual

Benoît Pioulard – Sonnet
https://pioulard.bandcamp.com/album/sonnet

Thore Pfeiffer – Im Blickfeld

Ken Camden – Dream Memory

Steve Hauschildt – Where All Is Fled

Oh yeah I like that Kaitlin Aurelia Smith album too. She has another one, Euclid, that's also very good.

I want to like Euclid more but when i listen to it I hear a lot of sounds I really don't like! especially the chipmunk vocals. there are some parts that sound cool to me but too much of it just grates

I really love that Jonas Munk record though

yeah sarah davachi is great

Benoît Pioulard – Sonnet
https://pioulard.bandcamp.com/album/sonnet

This one is great. I love to put it loud on speakers and let these beautiful sounds fill the room.

The Perils album is pretty enjoyable too (Perils = Benoit Pioulard + Kyle Bobby Dunn)

Ryuichi Sakamoto / Illuha / Taylor Dupree

Max Richter Sleep is excellent although I must admit I haven't sat through the entire eight hours of it yet.

Any love here for the Northern Electronics label? Acronym, Föd Dödd, Varg (no not *that* Varg).

On the "Sleep" note, Robert Rich recently released a Bluray which compiles two extra-long "sleep music" pieces by him, the 7 hour "Somnium", which was previously released in 2001 on DVD, and the 8 hour "Perpetual". which is a new piece. They're meant to be used as background music to doze off to; I've done that on my sofa, and the music certainly works well like that. But considering the length, they're also suprisingly rich in tecture... Obviously, on the surface level they are very slow and unmoving, otherwise they wouldn't serve the sleep function properly, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface.

http://www.discogs.com/Robert-Rich-Perpetual-A-Somnium-Continuum/release/6204275

"tecture" = "texture"

After being inactive for almost ten years, Northaunt returned this year and Istid I-II should be a sure thing for anyone who liked Biosphere's 'arctic' period.

e/tape

https://soundcloud.com/etape/t-12

http://www.touchmusic.org.uk/images/245x/TO48.jpg

a classic

also, https://noticerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/i-hope-you-like-the-universe

came out this year, very finely detailed and subtle.

gotta second Imperial Distortion (Drumm), it's both airy and massive sounding.. definitely heavier than the Toral stuff, but calming in its massiveness. still put it on to help me sleep

n.b. leave off the last track, "we all get it in the end", for your sleepytime playlist

Haptic is also excellent.. fantastically detailed compositions. Abeyance, for instance, is very slight and airy on the surface but there's remarkable volume and detail to its makeup.

mattress.... i do it every time (take off that track), hah

Jason Lescalleet's The Pilgrim has a similar 'surprise', sonically very similar. another hour-long piece worth getting familiar (it's on Bandcamp)

kaitlyn aurelia smith: tides

Hey, thanks for recommending this, I bought it from Bandcamp. Like Crüt, I was a bit weirded out by some of the elements in "Euclid" (though I still like them if I'm in the right mood), but this is just excellent ambient music, so oceanic and soothing.

Any love here for the Northern Electronics label? Acronym, Föd Dödd, Varg (no not *that* Varg).

i'm a fan, these are really really good:

http://www.discogs.com/Ulwhednar-Withatten-1892/master/635076

http://www.discogs.com/D%C3%85RFDHS-M%C3%B6rkret-Kylan-Tystnaden-Ensamheten/master/890509

i'm prob repeating myself from the noize dude thread but

this is an absolute classic, everyone listen to it right now
http://www.discogs.com/Heathered-Pearls-Loyal/master/554972

Thanks for starting the thread Tuomas!

Seraphim Rytm's Aeterna album is my fave ambient thing lately, it is apparently inspired by Tarkovsky and his obsession with water, like a lot of stuff on the Silent Season label it is very watery/evocative of nature type ambient.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XKBTIMGk60

yea I love that too

what are some other standouts on silent season? not too familiar

been playing this jack jutson album a lot lately:
https://youtu.be/_Zce6sKmbek

<3 how each track has some type of wind sound rustling around it

Oh yeah, that's good stuff.

Dream Carpets too

https://youtu.be/a4-HcZAa_Yo?list=PLN3rJSAGi0v3ryuJL7eQ5PGrc3J6ePpj5

http://www.discogs.com/Alva-Noto-Xerrox-Vol2/release/1610507

alva noto - xerrox vol. 2 -- similar to tim hecker's work, though it's more exquisite.. super-fine textures and tonal zones. volume 3 was released this year, but it doesn't feel so well-realized.

xxxp

There is an excellent Silent Season comp. Asc has made 2 excellent albums this year and I quite dig Purl and a couple of years back I absolutely loved the Segue album, their follow up - not on SS - wasn't much cop though. They are not the most prolific of labels but I really admire their commitment to such a good aesthetic.

Wow @ this thread. So much to catch up on.

I'm serious about that Heathered Pearls album, it was one of those "I've been hearing this music in my head all my life" experiences

xerrox vol. 3 is fantastic imo, probably my favourite of 2015 in this vein

Asc has made 2 excellent albums this year

Yeah was about to mention that, I really liked Imagine The Future even though it sounds at times a bit too close to FSOL and Burial. Fervent Dream is the minimalist one, I have only just got that but sounds great on first listen.

If we can recommend stuff that's a bit older, last year Oliver Lieb released Inside Voices (on Psychonavigation), his first ambient record in 20 years, and it's amazing!

Speaking of techno artists releasing surprise ambient albums ...

http://editionsmego.com/release/EMEGO-215

I checked the Silent Season bandcamp page, but it seems all their CDs are sold out, even the one that came last month. :( And I'm not really into paying 12$ + taxes for a digital release alone. Do you have to like pre-order their stuff so you might get a copy?

I'm a big fan of Natalie Beridze/TBA, and enjoyed her ambient album this year, "Between The Naps," which also included her prepared piano pieces (not "prepared" in the John Cage sense, more like programmed via computer)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUSRfoOcUe4b-Ok7VE3lQNYCIiuA4b_Um

She's also on the Gacha album "Send Two Sunsets," which isn't entirely ambient, but is mostly downtempo/lush. One of my faves this year.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu6sgxcUkSyMfFg3kgEmZ5MSmFW_PWbkC

if only that surgeon was on cd.
sounds fantastic.

Anyways, speaking of decent prizes for digital music, I noticed you can buy all the digital releases (excluding the two of her albums which have been released on CD) by French ambient producer Zalys for 4.50 Euros or more:

https://zalys.bandcamp.com/

Her music is very traditional space ambient, just glacial cosmic drones and synths with no beats, so there's few surprises there, but if this kind of "slowly drifting through galaxies" music appeals to you (as it does to me), you get over 5 hours of that stuff for peanuts.

the best new-to-me ambient album i have heard this year is the lisa gerrard album, the silver tree.
gorgeous vocals/production/sonic detail.
dark sounds vs layers vs production.
i mentioned this on the dedicated LG thread a few weeks ago and the fact that i was willing to send out cd copies to anyone interested given that the cds were being sold for bobbins.
i will of course extend that offer to the folks on this thread,
however, i will not be able to go back to the shop for a couple of weeks, due to the festive chaos, and so, there is a high probability that all of the cd copies will have been picked up by then.
but just in case.
and yes, the album is that good.
deep sensual trip hop styled ambience.
basically, the kinda stuff that soundtracks fragence adverts this time of year.

http://www.thesirenssound.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jocelyn-Pook-Untold-Things.jpg

surely i am not the only person that thinks this is special ?

many x-posts but thank you xelab + others for the silent season recs :D

another one I've returned to quite a bit:
https://25000kittens.bandcamp.com/

very new agey & soothing, I often put it on while studying

essential:

http://www.discogs.com/Suzanne-Kraft-Talk-From-Home/release/7110013

one of my fav lps this year

the jonny nash LP on the same label is also excellent

spent so much time w/gas POP, didn't realize that Zauberberg is the real masterpiece.

they're all great but pop is not my fav!

zauberberg maybe best at invoking that sensation of motion without movement he does so well.

while we're violating the thread criteria, and since it doesn't seem to have gotten much attention here, leyland kirby's "sadly the future is no longer what it was" is my most cherished thing in this neighborhood from the past several years. it affects me so much it's kind of embarrassing: https://leylandkirby.bandcamp.com/album/sadly-the-future-is-no-longer-what-it-was

also haven't quite found a way into KAS's "euclid" like i have "tides," as others said.

loving heathered pearls from stuff posted i've listened to so far, thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHWeHQwlKzM

I'm never sure which ambient thread is which but, either way, the new Emily A. Sprague is lovely: https://mlesprg.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-time

file under: moodz

RIYL horror soundtracks, dance music for weirdos, gongs, dreams, electroacoustic hybrid musics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCXMjZSJELn

(full disclosure this is my project)

hm maybe try this link to a track vs the whole thing
it's also on spotify and every other streaming service you might use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flhk-IDSTz8

just saw the cloud forest protection agency talk upthread.. and i have some top secret info on the creator of that project which leads me to believe this recent release might also be of interest:

https://akashasystem.bandcamp.com/album/heliocene

(it's made by the same individual)

ohhhhh word! I like some of the stuff that individual has put out on 100% Silk

crossposting from basinski thread

Been listening to this ambient cassette from a couple of Hobart teenagers recently: great Basinski pastiche. I mean, it's more than that, but it is very much a Basinski strain of ambient; highly recommend!

https://alteredstatestapes.bandcamp.com/album/plastic-magic-box

― H.P, Wednesday, October 15, 2025 5:39 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

haaa - this is my friend's kid and her girlfriend, I saw them front row at Basinski here a few months ago!

― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, October 15, 2025 5:53 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

No way! I just sent their label a fan email for thé this morning haha. Pass on my praise!

― H.P, Wednesday, October 15, 2025 6:08 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

wow i love this

― budo jeru, Wednesday, October 15, 2025 9:45 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah this is great

― sleeve, Thursday, October 16, 2025 8:04 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Listened to a LOT of similar stuff in the late 00s/early 10s; this is really bringing the nostalgia. Also reminds me of The Caretaker and Celer. Love that abyssal sound, and the way it shifts and wobbles, like the vibrato of decay.

― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Thursday, October 16, 2025 9:21 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

This is terrific!

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, October 17, 2025 1:20 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've listened to it like 5 times now

some Zoviet France vibes occasionally as well

― sleeve, Friday, October 17, 2025 11:25 AM (one minute ago)

xps that emily a sprague record is very nice

https://archaicmeditations.bandcamp.com/album/equanimity

Klaus Wolfe - Equanimity

really placid calming warm stuff. i don't know if klaus intended side a to evoke sunrise and side b sunset but i sure feel it.

Did yall hear this? I’m gonna listen to it tonight.

https://kifproductions.bandcamp.com/album/still-out-2

^ it rules

that Purelink live cassette is even better than Faith

Is it linked here somewhere?

This?
https://purelink.bandcamp.com/album/purelink-live-kzu003

yeah that one

also on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kudzuaudio/sets/purelink-live-kzu003

this is great! love it when the groove hits too

also tried listening to it as background to von der leyen in davos, kinda cool effect

Excellent sax drone:
https://p-e-r-f-label.bandcamp.com/album/morte-lil-s

This is really good too, violin/rhodes/synth, maybe the strings read as a bit too sentimental, but beautiful stuff
https://mariellejakobsons.bandcamp.com/album/the-patterns-lost-to-air-2

This lovely too, more viola that's a bit more submerged and mysterious
https://isabelpine.bandcamp.com/album/fables

caterina barbieri and sax player bendik giske. "at source"

https://caterinabarbieri.bandcamp.com/album/at-source

barbieri as good as ever <3

xp forgot to respond to jordan but those all rule too, went through them yesterday - the jakobsons record probs the highlight

Just sticking my head into this thread to see if Sa Pa's "Ambeesh" has been recommended and it hasn't so here I am to let you know it's recommended

https://sa-pa.bandcamp.com/album/ambeesh

First track here is all-time icy ambient. Still figuring out how I feel about the rest.

https://kevinrichardmartin.bandcamp.com/album/sub-zero-2026-remaster

This Rod Modell Frequencies In The Fog album is really nice

https://silentes.bandcamp.com/album/frequencies-in-the-fog

wow, really feeling this kwes. album kinds on warp. reverbed out reveries. i totally vibe with this stuff

https://www.discogs.com/release/36669901-Kwes-Kinds

srry, meant to post bandcamp link https://kwesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/kinds

The Booker Stardrum album is very very good.

Appleblim!

https://quietdetails.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-tides

New Rosenau & Sanborn is really good, I loved the first one.

Possibly the shortest EP that I'll love this year (under 8 min!), but Bossada is one of my very favorite underrated musicians (saxophone/piano/producer)

https://bossada.bandcamp.com/album/living-room

This is really excellent, very detailed and tactile (and engaging while still being, y'know, ambient)
https://quietdetails.bandcamp.com/album/thoughts-persist

This is an extremely strong addition to the fake gamelan canon:

https://tylerfriedman.bandcamp.com/album/metlasr

New Hatchback album is glorious. Four long form ambient pieces that are a balm for the soul

https://hatchbackk.bandcamp.com/album/phaser-for-the-ocean-chorus-for-the-moon

v nice

I seem to fall under the ambient umbrella, and this is my new one:

https://chrisirregardless.bandcamp.com/album/honeycomb-ghost-logic

I've been rinsing these Damian Dalla Torre albums, 'I Can See My Dreams' and 'Happy Floating'. Really rich albums, good writing, lots of live instruments, very Tortoise-y at times but also veering into more electronic territory.

https://damiandallatorre.bandcamp.com/album/happy-floating

https://damiandallatorre.bandcamp.com/album/i-can-feel-my-dreams

sounds great! love the live instrumentation

the hatchback album really hitting the spot, too

https://maximedenuc.bandcamp.com/album/nachthorn

Nachthorn takes its name from one of the 78 stops that make up the main organ in St. Antonius Church in Düsseldorf. This instrument, equipped with a system developed by the German company Sinua, offers the possibility of controlling all of its keyboards and timbres via a computer. The organ thus becomes a powerful synthesiser.

MIDI-controlled giant organ! second track is the one to preview in order to get hooked

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Wednesday, 1 October 2025 00:17 (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ctrl-F'd for this, as I only recently heard it. It's astounding

Excellent sax drone:
https://p-e-r-f-label.bandcamp.com/album/morte-lil-s

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, February 27, 2026 1:55 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

been listening to this almost constantly for months

Nice! I've been going back to this one on Moon Glyph (Lynn Avery & Cole Pulice), just gorgeous. Love the Ambrose Akinmusire cameo.

https://moonglyph.bandcamp.com/album/phantasy-reality

That Forca Maior link is broken now, I think the label changed their bandcamp url?

https://p-e-r-f-co.bandcamp.com/album/morte-lil-s

Excellent new one from Malcolm Pardon of Roll The Dice:
https://malcolmpardon.bandcamp.com/album/flesh-and-bones