The mind revealing itself to itself: the TOP 100 AMBIENT ALBUMS as voted by ILX

can anyone tell me what 5,4,3 were? page won't load for me - too many youtubes.

#5 Gas - Pop, 13 votes, 1 #1 votes, 771 points
#4 Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid, 12 votes, 1 #1 votes, 795 points
#3 Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports, 18 votes, 1 #1 votes, 1119 points

I wish I loved Gas as much as everyone else does. On paper it should be the ideal thing for me, it just ends up feeling like treading water. I'm going to keep listening though, in hopes of a gradual breakthrough.

XP thanks lukas!

Thanks for organising! My weighted ballot is...

Arthur Russell - World of Echo
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Manuel Göttsching - E2–E4
Jon Hassell / Brian Eno - Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land
Colleen - Captain of None
Various Artists - Mono No Aware
Jon Keliehor - The Beginning of Time
Iona Fortune - Tao of I
Harmonia & Eno '76 - Tracks and Traces
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green
Pendant - Make Me Know You Sweet
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Music for Nine Post Cards
Happy Meals - Full Ashram Devotional Ceremony (Volumes IV - VI)
Cucina Povera - Hilja
X.Y.R. - El Dorado
Penelope Trappes - Penelope One
Various Artists - Bblisss
Colleen - A Flame My Love, a Frequency
Cucina Povera - Zoom
Huerco S. - Untitled

page won't load for me - too many youtubes.

― massaman gai (front tea for two), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 05:23

pro tip for this kind of thread: go into Preferences and untick the "show images" box for a bit

As it appears I was the only one to vote for it, can I heartily recommend last year's The Fifty Eleven Project by Kasper Bjorke Quartet

https://www.theransomnote.com/music/track-by-track/track-by-track-kasper-bjrke-quartet-the-fifty-eleven-project/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO7Ui7cZMVs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0soJe31PdQ

So much good music to explore. I've tried the Hykes Solar Winds album a number of times over the years but it's never really 'caught'. A bit of context works wonders for me and reading about the cistern chapel suddenly opened everything up. Wow.

Thanks again for the poll, Tuomas.

And cheers for the trance recommendations, viborg!

The Ian William Craig record is really gorgeous and is making me weep tbh, thanks to those who placed it on their ballots.

https://www.amazon.com/DNA-Repair-528-Brian-Baxter/dp/B001MS7IQI

4 out of 5 stars - mission accomplished
March 24, 2011
Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase

Sound is what you get and turned down to a low background level truly accomplishes the purpose of balancing with 528 Hz.
It is very simple and direct...no fluff.

19 people found this helpful

--

great product
May 16, 2014
Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase

I enjoy using this cd to listen to the frequency of the upper C note. It seems to be relaxing or exhilarating depending on my needs.

2 people found this helpful

--

The real deal folks.
February 23, 2017
Format: Audio CDVerified Purchase

I have 3 other DNA repair CD's and they sound pretty and musical. This is the real stuff, pure and powerful, not for everyone. It has improved the quality of my sleep, no kidding. I thought I was just in my head but when my wife made the same comment to me (with out a single comment from me about my sleep pattern) that she is sleeping great with it in the back round.

--

ONE SOUND
April 30, 2011
Format: Audio CDVerified Purchase

THIS ENTIRE CD IS ONE SOUND.
IT IS NOT A PLEASANT SOUND, IT REMINDS ME OF THE 12 NOON WHISTLE THAT GOES OFF THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH.
I PLAY IN ON ONE PLAYER WHILE I LISTEN TO ANOTHER HEALING CD, WHEN TREATING ILL PATIENTS, THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT IT IS ON.
I HAVE NO RECORDS TO INDICATE THAT THE DNA IS REPAIRING AT THIS TIME.

4 people found this helpful

--

Works like a charm!
April 30, 2013
Format: Audio CD

This 528 Hz therapy worked like a charm on my DNA!

But I got my tones here, for free:

[...]

And also, this does not work.

Thanks for playing!
Jason

3 people found this helpful

One thing I've taken from this poll is a newfound appreciation for Music For Airports. I've enjoyed Eno's other ambient albums but MFA always just sounded a bit dull to me. With this type of music there is of course a fine line between something being deep/immersive and just plain boring and I felt that it was on the wrong side of that. I gave it another chance after the poll results and for some reason now I get it, so that's good

It seems like ambient's become quite a lot more popular over the last few years. I'm wondering if that's because people are more stressed than they used to be or is it just the way that trends in music work (or a bit of both). I certainly use it for self-care when I'm not feeling great.

I'd say it's the opposite? People work less and less, more time for relaxation, slower lifestyles etc. Spas, wellness, yoga, all booming. Ambient is the soundtrack to that.

People work less and less

uh this is patently false in most of the world

if there's any driver here it's "stress" about the end of the world actually happening in front of our eyes

https://ourworldindata.org/working-hours#the-decline-of-working-hours-per-year-after-the-industrial-revolution
(and this is just for workers, add to that aging populations with more and more retirees)

n 1980, the average worker clocked in 38.1 hours per week, which isn't that much below today's weekly average. However, back then, the typical worker only put in 43 weeks of work over the course of a year for an annual total of 1,638.3 hours. In other words, we're now spending roughly an extra 173 hours per year at our jobs in one way, shape, or form.

And that number doesn't even tell the whole story. Because an estimated 40% of U.S. employees regularly work more than 50 hours per week, and 20% work more than 60 hours per week, there are plenty of folks out there who might easily come close to hitting the 3,000-hour mark year after year (keeping in mind that these are the same people who are likely to forgo vacation time to meet deadlines and stay ahead of work-related obligations). And that could spell trouble not just for their physical health, but their productivity.

https://www.fool.com/careers/2017/12/17/heres-how-many-hours-the-average-american-works-pe.aspx

Siegbran and his Refinement of the Decline (of Working Hours)

Stuck In Traffic? You're Not Alone. New Data Show American Commute Times Are Longer

I don't know, but the combination of (more free time to enjoy long-form art) + (rise of relaxation/mindfulness/yoga) + (more old people who like slower music) looks like a perfect storm for ambient music to me.

oh I totally agree! I just think your perspective is a bit Euro-centric here and doesn't seem to match the actual data

also, stress :)

it’s cause people don’t listen to music anymore, they just put it on

just kidding

hence all the “is this ambient” talk. maybe it doesn’t matter if it’s all ambient now anyway

Personally I'd say that ambient music has more in common with self-care tools like ASMR or guided mindfulness exercises than other types of music in terms of how I use it to relax and/or deal with stress. It's mainly functional music for me.

I went to see O Yuki Conjugate and Zoviet France recently and it was like some kind of group relaxation session. It made me feel more like I was listening to ASMR than on a night out.

wow that's an amazing double bill!

I reckon it's more that the web just facilitates bringing affinity groups together. I certainly don't see any day to day evidence of more people listening to ambient music, but my internet interactions might lead me to think that way. Dunno.

I remember first getting into Richard Skelton back in 2010 and buying one of the 200-limited runs he produced (with pine cones and little bits of moor detritus included) and realising I legitimately knew in real life 10 people who owned one and internet-knew another 25. I could have been forgiven for thinking everyone was listening to Skelbo.

Loving that Caretaker album. Not sure how I'd not come across it before.

Reminds me a lot of playing Bioshock

I was always underwhelmed by anything Aphex Twin

One for the musical controp thread.

For maximum impact, that is.

SAWs I and II, and Polygon Window are nice... the rest, meh. Not my thing. SAW I though, so pretty. SAW II is just weird, it's like a book of ambient paint swatches. Good weird though, I like it a lot too.

i do think the resurgence of ambient/new age has something to do with changing lifestyles, but at least in the US, it doesn't have to do with working fewer hours. if you click that link siegbran posted above with the weekly work hours data and then manually add the united states, we here in the greatest country on earth are going in the opposite direction of europe, with more and more weekly work hours since the 1960s.

however, i do think work has something to do with it. at work, i listen to almost exclusively instrumental music, much of it "ambient". when i'm on the bus or train to and from work and i'm able to get a seat, i listen to ambient while i read. ambient is my work and reading music, and it's easier than ever these days to do make that happen via streaming. maybe more and more people are catching on to that? beats me.

but obviously there's more going on to the resurgence than just work. part of it is probably just the cyclical nature of taste

Ambient is great for office work, it rewards inattention, the hours accommodate listening to long-form works, and bonus: sometimes people come to your office and don't realize there's music playing but get disturbed by the "weird noises" and leave you alone.

interesting how it ends up being a class thing

working retail I just had to hear Coldplay and the National over and over

you guys, it's the "self care" epidemic amongst people who have time to even pencil in a yoga class between hustles.

or is the "sound bath" an older phenomenon than I'm aware of?

new age as a genre has had the self-care element since the 70s, although they didn't call it that then

xp it's really a shame how thoughtless the sound design is in most public / commercial spaces

true.

in all seriousness though, yoga with no music is the best yoga.

xp it's really a shame how thoughtless the sound design is in most public / commercial spaces

i completely agree. the urbanized world sounds like shit

i feel really fortunate that i get to pick my own music at work. it's one of the only reasons that keeps me at this otherwise nauseating job. unfortunately, though, putting on ambient would mean i wouldn't hear 98% of what was playing (kitchens are loud) and it would also be sort of unacceptable / not super morale boosting. i think that partly explains why i have a lot more to say here about the stooges and ac/dc and not so much harold budd

consider open headphones or ear clips?

similar situation here. A delicate balance.

i mean you just cannot be a line cook and wear headphones

ohh I only work next to one! Been a while since I was inside, blasting Deerhoof. They loved me.

Brilliant poll and rollout, everyone. I'm sorry I did not contribute.

I will surely be referencing this list for many months to come. Thank you!

Most recent Fax discovery: Namlook and Richie Hawtin's From Within I. Veers into NOTAMBIENT in places but is damn fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNk6Olt5Kc

For those interested, I re-sorted the results by decade:

1960s (2 albums, 0 in the top 20)
41. Miles Davis: In a Silent Way (1969)
74. Raymond Scott: Soothing Sounds for Baby Volume 1: 1 to 6 Months (1964)

1970s (13 albums, 3 in the top 20)
3. Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978)
16. Tangerine Dream: Phaedra (1974)
17. Brian Eno: Discreet Music (1975)
33. Fripp & Eno: Evening Star (1975)
36. Tangerine Dream: Zeit (1972)
39. Vangelis: L'apocalypse des animaux (1973)
40. Harmonia & Eno '76: Tracks and Traces (1976 (issued 1997))
44. Fripp & Eno: No Pussyfooting) (1973)
50. Brian Eno: Music for Films (1978)
52. Iasos: Inter-Dimensional Music (1975)
70. Popol Vuh: In den Gärten Pharaos (1971)
75. Charlemagne Palestine: Strumming Music (1974)
80. David Behrman: On the Other Ocean (1978)

1980s (20 albums, 7 in the top 20)
2. Brian Eno: Ambient 4: On Land (1982)
7. Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno: Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (1983)
9. Laraaji: Ambient 3: Day of Radiance (1980)
14. Harold Budd / Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois: The Pearl (1984)
15. Steve Roach: Structures from Silence (1984)
18. Manuel Göttsching: E2–E4 (1984)
19. Pauline Oliveros / Stuart Dempster / Panaiotis: Deep Listening (1989)
21. Arthur Russell: World of Echo (1986)
22. Laurie Spiegel: The Expanding Universe (1980)
24. Harold Budd / Brian Eno: Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980)
25. Brian Eno: Thursday Afternoon (1985)
26. Hiroshi Yoshimura: Music for Nine Post Cards (1982)
31. David Hykes & The Harmonic Choir: Hearing Solar Winds (1983)
49. Jon Hassell / Brian Eno: Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics (1980)
51. Harold Budd: The White Arcades (1988)
64. David Sylvian / Holger Czukay: Flux + Mutability (1989)
69. Constance Demby: Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate (1986)
83. Henry Flynt: You Are My Everlovin / Celestial Power (1986)
97. Hiroshi Yoshimura: Green (1986)
81 (tie). Syntonic Research Inc.: Environments 2: Tintinnabulation (Special Low Frequency Version) (1987)

1990s (26 albums, 6 in the top 20)
1. Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994)
6. Biosphere: Substrata (1997)
11. KLF, The: Chill Out (1990)
12. Orb, The: The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (1991)
13. Global Communication: 76:14:00 (1994)
20. Gas: Königsforst (1998)
27. Future Sound Of London, The: Lifeforms (1994)
28. Gas: Zauberberg (1997)
34. Éliane Radigue: Trilogie de la mort (1998)
38. Susumu Yokota: Sakura (1999)
42. Windy & Carl: Antarctica (The Bliss Out, Vol. 2) (1997)
45. Slowdive: Pygmalion (1995)
53. Autechre: Garbage (1995)
54. Thomas Köner: Permafrost (1993)
61. Oval: 94diskont. (1995)
68. Robert Rich & Lustmørd: Stalker (1995)
71. n/a: Symphonies of the Planets 1: NASA Voyager Recordings (1992)
76. Spacemen 3: Dreamweapon (1990)
84. Windy & Carl: Depths (1998)
56 (tie). Chapterhouse / Global Communication: Blood Music: Pentamerous Metamorphosis (1993)
56 (tie). Tetsu Inoue: World Receiver (1996)
66 (tie). Earth: Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version (1993)
66 (tie). Stuart Dempster: Underground Overlays from the Cistern Chapel (1995)
81 (tie). Woob: Woob 1194 (1994)
89 (tie). Steve Roach: The Magnificent Void (1996)
99 (tie). DeepChord presents Echospace: Liumin / Liumin Reduced (1997)

2000s (21 albums, 4 in the top 20)
4. Stars of the Lid: The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid (2001)
5. Gas: Pop (2000)
8. William Basinski: The Disintegration Loops (2002)
10. Stars of the Lid: Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline (2007)
23. Oneohtrix Point Never: Rifts (2009)
30. Bohren & Der Club of Gore: Black Earth (2002)
37. Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet (2006)
43. Eluvium: Talk Amongst the Trees (2005)
47. Dead Texan, The: The Dead Texan (2004)
55. Fennesz: Endless Summer (2001)
60. Alio Die: Aura seminalis (2008)
62. Loscil: Plume (2006)
63. Boris: Flood (2000)
79. Biosphere: Cirque (2000)
87. Keith Fullerton Whitman: Playthroughs (2002)
91. Richard Skelton: Landings (2009)
96. Ekkehard Ehlers: Plays (2002)
72 (tie). Deathprod: Morals and Dogma (2004)
77 (tie). Vladislav Delay: Multila (2000)
89 (tie). Tod Dockstader: Aerial #1 (2005)
29. Autechre: NTS Session 4 (2018)

2010s (18 albums, 0 in the top 20)
32. Various Artists: I Am the Center: Private Issue New Age Music in America, 1950–1990 (2013)
35. Caretaker, The: An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011)
46. Winged Victory for the Sullen, A: Atomos (2014)
48. Tim Hecker: Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
58. Max Richter: Sleep (2015)
59. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Async (2017)
65. Gigi Masin: Talk to the Sea (2014)
85. Justin Bieber: U Smile (800% Slower) (2010)
86. Loscil: Endless Falls (2010)
88. Oneohtrix Point Never: Replica (2011)
92. Labradford: Fixed::Context (2010)
93. 2814: 新しい日の誕生 (2015)
94. Meg Bowles: The Shimmering Land (2013)
95. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Tides (2014)
98. Hatchback: Zeus & Apollo (2011)
72 (tie). Terekke: Improvisational Loops (2018)
77 (tie). Ian William Craig: A Turn of Breath (2014)
99 (tie). Stars of the Lid: The Ballasted Orchestra (2010)

awesome thank you

Oh shoot, that last Stars of the Lid album is supposed to be 1997, not 2010. I hope that doesn't mean I fouled up others.