innerspaceboy

Recently in The Ultimate Compilation thread Nine and I were kicking about ideas for a list of essential recordings in the Ambient umbrella of musics.

Thus far we'd come up with the following:

DARK AMBIENT
Bohren & der Club of Gore - Black Earth
Deathprod - Morals and Dogma

DRONE
Fripp & Eno's (No Pussyfooting) - Side A - "The Heavenly Music Corporation"
Stars of the Lid, either The Tired Sounds of... or And the Refinement of the Decline
Robert Rich's 7-hour Somnium sleep concert DVD-audio album

AMBIENT HOUSE
Biosphere's Substrata and Microgravity LPs
The KLF's Chill Out
The Orb's 40:00 "Blue Room" single

AMBIENT DUB
The Orb's aforementioned "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain..."

AMBIENT TECHNO
Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children
Wolfgang Vogit (as Gas) - the Nah Und Fern box set
Global Communication's 76:14

TRIBAL AMBIENT
Steve Roach - Dreamtime Return
John Hassell & Brian Eno - Fourth World Vol 1: Possible Musics

AMBIENT GLITCH
Pantha du Prince - This Bliss
Telefon Tel Aviv - Fahrenheit Fair Enough

AMBIENT POP
Air - Moon Safari

BERLIN SCHOOL
Klaus Schulze - X or Timewind
Tangerine Dream's Phaedra
Edgar Froese - Epsilon in Malaysian Pale

AMBIENT CLASSICAL
Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra

AMBIENT JAZZ
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way

PSYBIENT
Carbon Based Lifeforms - World of Sleepers
Cell's "Audio Deepest Night"
Shpongle - Are You Shpongled?

Then today I remembered that not too long ago, I'd shot a two-part vinyl video feature as a 40-year chronology of the ambient genre. The two short videos showcased key recordings and some of my favorite records, with a few rarities thrown in for good measure.

It seemed only fitting that I dig them up and share them here for anyone interested in exploring some beautiful minimal music.

The retrospective begins with a summary of releases from 1973-2003.



Index for the impatient...

[1973] Fripp & Eno - (No Pussyfooting)
[1975] Fripp & Eno - Evening Star
[1982] Brian Eno - Music for Airports
[2010] The Black Dog - Music for Real Airports
[1980] Brian Eno - Ambient 2: Plateaux of Mirror
[1982] Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land
[1978] Brian Eno - Music for Films
[1975] Brian Eno - Discreet Music
[1980] Brian Eno & Jon Hassell - Fourth World Vol 1: Possible Musics
[1983] Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks
[1984] Harold Budd & Brian Eno - The Pearl
[1985] Brian Eno - Thursday Afternoon VHS
[1981] Brian Eno - Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan VHS
[1982] Vangelis - Blade Runner (2007 RSD issue)
[2002] Blade Runner: Espers 5CD Retirement Edition
[1983] Mannheim Steamroller: Fresh Aire Vol 1 1974-1983 (private release)
[1990] The KLF - Chill Out
[1990] Space - Space
[1991] The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
[1992] The Orb - The Blue Room 40:00 edit
[2003] REFERENCE TEXT: Mark Pendergrast - The Ambient Century

And the 2nd part examines more recent developments, from 1993 to the present.



[1993-2008] Pete Namlook - Fax Records (238 disc library)
[1994] Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol II
[1997] Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#8
[1999] Sigur Ros - Ágætis Byrjun
[2001] Robert Rich - Somnium (DVD-Audio)
[2001] múm - Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Okay
[2007] Pantha du Prince - This Bliss
[2008] Wolfgang Voigt (as Gas) - Nah Und Fern Box Set
[2009] Clint Mansell - Moon OST
[2011] A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen
[2010] Black Swan - In 8 Movements
[2011] Black Swan - The Quiet Divide
[2012] William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops 9LP + 5CD + DVD Box Set
[2013] The KLF Recovered & Remastered - KLF MINUS-SIX - This Is Not What Space Is About
[2014] The KLF Recovered & Remastered - KLF MINUS-TWO - This Is Not What Chill Out Is About

If you dig just one of these albums, then I've done my job.

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