i don't know about best i've heard in the past decade, but it is pretty good.
xpost
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 31 May 2019 23:23 (five years ago) link
I don't listen to that much new ambient to be fair. Checking out your list, I definitely like the Loscil but it is slightly treacly. RSE have a distinctive sound which as a hot take I'd rate higher.
The only other artist I recognize from yours is Sunn O)) but I'm not much of a drone fan if it's harder than SoTL (I do quite like their more droney cuts). Which other one would you rate as the greatest of the decade?
― viborg, Friday, 31 May 2019 23:50 (five years ago) link
Speaking of last minute, how about this Anthony Rother?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOAqGAuWZk&t=3337s
I'm familiar with the last song which just popped up on my random but I haven't had a chance to check out the full release yet. Hi ho hi ho it's off to work I go...
― viborg, Friday, 31 May 2019 23:58 (five years ago) link
Link is borked?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOAqGAuWZk
― viborg, Friday, 31 May 2019 23:59 (five years ago) link
why is fennesz not ambient?
I kind of feel that the intersection of drone and ambient is a pretty large overlap, and the sustained washes of Venice become texturally unobtrusive through its saturation, like minimalism through maximalism.
But as to why I denominated it, it's looking like I misread Lowell's post (I must have elided the "less"), haha oops.
Tuomas: please reinstate Fennesz - Venice.
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Saturday, 1 June 2019 01:11 (five years ago) link
thanks for the extension!
Thom Brennan – MountainsSeconds in Formaldehyde – Suchness 3Star Turbine – The Sleeping LandAndrew Pekler – Tristes Tropiques
26/40
― big gym sw0les (crüt), Saturday, 1 June 2019 01:23 (five years ago) link
sustained washes? are you thinking of another album?
― brimstead, Saturday, 1 June 2019 01:27 (five years ago) link
https://www.discogs.com/style/harsh+noise+wall
― brimstead, Saturday, 1 June 2019 01:34 (five years ago) link
https://harshnoisewally.tumblr.com/
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Saturday, 1 June 2019 02:35 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UerLIFo4d6k
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 1 June 2019 02:45 (five years ago) link
One more nom Broken Hearted Dragonflies: Insect Electronica From Southeast Asia
― Bitch, I Might Be Giants (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 1 June 2019 02:48 (five years ago) link
Also don’t forget FM3 - The Buddha Machine
― Bitch, I Might Be Giants (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 1 June 2019 03:06 (five years ago) link
The Buddha Machine is not a record, so it's not eligible, sorry. If you want, you can nominate some of FM3's actual albums. Also, someone has already nominated Robert Henke's Layering Buddha, which is an album made by sampling the Buddha Machine, so you can always vote for that.
― Tuomas, Saturday, 1 June 2019 06:59 (five years ago) link
It doesn't look like I have the time to go through the nominations today, so I'm gonna give you 24 hours more time. The nomination process ends this time tomorrow.
― Tuomas, Saturday, 1 June 2019 07:01 (five years ago) link
Boris - FloodJulia Kent - TemporalJulia Kent - Character
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Saturday, 1 June 2019 07:52 (five years ago) link
I have that album (62 Minutes on Mars), and while it's not among my favourite FAX releases, it's indubitably ambient. So feel free to nominate it, if you wanna.
― Tuomas, Saturday, 1 June 2019 11:19 (five years ago) link
many xposts to Viborg, I really think that Richard Skelton's work (Landings in particular, as well as his work as A Broken Consort) is probably my highest-rated of the past decade after SotL. it's definitely more influence by Arvo Part and a sort of academic minimalism, but it has an emotional depth in its slight variations that make it really worth for me.
Here's one from Landings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NTvcfkPq4Y
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 1 June 2019 15:52 (five years ago) link
and here is how his latest is described:
Music for the retreating ice-sheets of Iceland, produced whilst on a 'Frontiers in Retreat' residency in Seyðisfjörður in 2016. www.frontiersinretreat.org/artists/richard_skelton Front Variations is composed from sine waves subjected to increasing amounts of feedback in order to simulate the so-called 'ice-albedo' feedback mechanism. This is the process whereby the action of melting glaciers reduces the global surface area of ice, thereby reducing the amount of solar radiation that glaciers reflect, which in turn increases global temperatures and causes further glacial melting. Ring modulation and distortion were also used to further deteriorate the sound signal. Front Variations is also available as part of Quoin 4 - the annual publication for friends and patrons of Corbel Stone Press. Quoin 4 features data collected by the World Glacier Monitoring Service and aerial photography of arctic glaciers from the US Naval Oceanographic Office.
www.frontiersinretreat.org/artists/richard_skelton
Front Variations is composed from sine waves subjected to increasing amounts of feedback in order to simulate the so-called 'ice-albedo' feedback mechanism.
This is the process whereby the action of melting glaciers reduces the global surface area of ice, thereby reducing the amount of solar radiation that glaciers reflect, which in turn increases global temperatures and causes further glacial melting.
Ring modulation and distortion were also used to further deteriorate the sound signal.
Front Variations is also available as part of Quoin 4 - the annual publication for friends and patrons of Corbel Stone Press. Quoin 4 features data collected by the World Glacier Monitoring Service and aerial photography of arctic glaciers from the US Naval Oceanographic Office.
https://aeolian.bandcamp.com/album/front-variations-one-two
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 1 June 2019 15:54 (five years ago) link
Kyle Bobby Dunn - From Here To Eternity
just came out, and it's really good
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 1 June 2019 16:56 (five years ago) link
The Buddha Machine is not a record, so it's not eligible, sorry.― Tuomas, Saturday, June 1, 2019 2:59 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Tuomas, Saturday, June 1, 2019 2:59 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This is an absolute horseshit decision, you can listen to it on spotify*
https://open.spotify.com/album/7COTnWvHjhkq10ph3q4xH4?si=koVhRwTiQLmeodVPb4NbMg
*also thanks for spending an insane amount of your free time on this internet poll for my enjoyment
― Bitch, I Might Be Giants (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 1 June 2019 16:59 (five years ago) link
Can I sneak in: M. Geddes Gengras - IshiOmicron - AcrocosmV/A - Plug In + Turn On Vol. 2Skyramps - Days of Thunder (is this ambient?)
― beard papa, Saturday, 1 June 2019 17:01 (five years ago) link
lol whiney
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Saturday, 1 June 2019 17:02 (five years ago) link
It has an entry on Discogs too, idk what else you need
https://www.discogs.com/FM3-Buddha-Machine/master/517873
― Bitch, I Might Be Giants (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, 1 June 2019 17:04 (five years ago) link
According to that Discogs tracklist it’s too short!
― Siegbran, Saturday, 1 June 2019 17:32 (five years ago) link
Bonus time! I'll submit my final three:
Löwenritter - Prelude: Ten Seconds Before SunriseVangelis - Fais Que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long Que La NuitCernunnos Woods - Awaken the Empire of Dark Wood
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 1 June 2019 18:19 (five years ago) link
Cernunnos Woods, now there’s a name I haven’t heard in over twenty years.
― Siegbran, Saturday, 1 June 2019 22:02 (five years ago) link
Great call on Kasumasa Hashimoto, I must revisit his stuff, I love that little boutique label he was on, Noble Records, they have some lovely music, much better than Childisc.
― MaresNest, Saturday, 1 June 2019 22:17 (five years ago) link
dark forest ambient! it has some spoken word bits, but then so does the Harold Budd/Clive Wright stuff
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 1 June 2019 22:19 (five years ago) link
Dang it *Kazumasa
― MaresNest, Saturday, 1 June 2019 22:20 (five years ago) link
was considering Midori Takada's "Through the Looking Glass" but it seemed a bit too dynamic.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 1 June 2019 22:23 (five years ago) link
Kazumasa Hashimoto can be a bit twee but I find it delicate and poignant at its best. I don't want to discriminate but it seems like the urge to sweeten the mood is a common strain in much of the Japanese electronic music I've heard. There's a Japanese artist called Pass Into Silence who's made releases on Kompakt, the songs are some of the most exquisite ambient creations ever (I'm not so familiar with LPs). But it definitely has a lullaby quality about it.
MaresNest, what else do you especially like on Noble Records?
― viborg, Saturday, 1 June 2019 23:00 (five years ago) link
Saw1
― kraudive, Saturday, 1 June 2019 23:05 (five years ago) link
I find that Japanese musicians have a hard time making garden variety flat-line ambient or drone, they like to add more movement in there than is common sometimes adding more unusual chords and so on...
For noble records, I would recommend maybe Cinq, Midori Hirano, World's End Girlfriend, oh and Yasushi Yoshida especially.
― MaresNest, Saturday, 1 June 2019 23:08 (five years ago) link
I have an urge to embitter the mood, but still keep it sweet, like a foodie dark chocolate bar.
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Sunday, 2 June 2019 05:39 (five years ago) link
Spotify playlist not *quite* three weeks long. Its growth really slooowwwwed in the last few days, with all the retractions and generous helpings of not-on-Spotify stuff.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 2 June 2019 07:27 (five years ago) link
After consideration, I'm gonna allow the Buddha Machine in the poll. It's true that the individual loops only amount to 3 minutes of playing time, but on obviously the way it works means the music goes on as long as you want. And it certainly meets both the functional and aesthetic definition of ambient music perfectly.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 2 June 2019 11:21 (five years ago) link
The nominations are now closed, thanks to everyone for nomming such cool stuff! I'll finish the album sheet and probably will start the voting thread later today.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 2 June 2019 11:23 (five years ago) link
Thats too bad I forgot to nominate my refrigerator, it makes a very pleasant hum.
― Siegbran, Sunday, 2 June 2019 12:38 (five years ago) link
Eh I find your fridge to be a bit cold and empty with just a few stale old reheated ideas. Never enough to chew on and yet I keep coming back to it thinking there’ll be something new.
― Evan, Sunday, 2 June 2019 13:20 (five years ago) link
Fair enough, I retract the fridge.
― Siegbran, Sunday, 2 June 2019 14:10 (five years ago) link
Lots of found fridge sounds among the current noms tbf.
― pomenitul, Sunday, 2 June 2019 14:12 (five years ago) link
ILX AMBIENT ALBUMS POLL: the voting thread. Voting ends on Sunday, June 23rd.
― Tuomas, Sunday, 2 June 2019 14:22 (five years ago) link
Woooooo!
― Bitch, I Might Be Giants (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, 2 June 2019 15:38 (five years ago) link
I haven't got a chuffing CLUE about how to rank my choices. Might have to go unweighted for the first time ever.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Sunday, 2 June 2019 15:52 (five years ago) link
Weighting feels very counter to the ambient spirit ;-)
― specific goats my way (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 2 June 2019 17:04 (five years ago) link
XP - Rothko at the top plz :)
― MaresNest, Sunday, 2 June 2019 19:10 (five years ago) link
Can I at least hear the fridge to judge for myself before it's denommed to the abyss?
― Sassy Boutonnière (ledriver), Tuesday, 4 June 2019 03:51 (five years ago) link
of course, it's playing right now, you just have to listen for it ... very carefully
― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Thursday, 6 June 2019 13:25 (four years ago) link