Deep-tech house with an ambient vibe. Soothing and conveying energy at the same time. Great for work.
Oliver Koletzki – The Arc Of Tension
Tim Hecker – Anoyo
Hecker’s Japanese trip is an elegantly spaced ambient composition. Negative space, Japanese instruments, digital noise, ritual, calm, sacral scents.
RX-101 - Dopamine
I like that they call this braindance.
Daniel Thorne – Lines of Sight
Modern composition melting acoustic and electronic. The saxophonist background comes through at certain points. Has the vibe of some power noise but it is still atmospheric ambient.
The Black Dog – Black Daisy Wheel
Ambient dreamscapes with occasional thumping rhythms. Atmospheric soundtrack to slowly panning images of motion frozen in still frames.
“The mindset is beyond paranoid, the discourse so far post-fact that only opinion and assumed identity matter. […] The impact on mental health is corrosive: fear, uncertainty and doubt multiply and replicate until the most ridiculous theories are invented to explain the most basic things: tarmac, banana skins, duvets. […] The distinction between the real world and the world of an auto-hoaxer is so blurred that reality melts away; you’re only ever one personal detail away from being doxxed, at which point reality bites back, hard.”
Interesting to see that almost all moody ambient music lately are released with sleeve notes about a dystopian present, social degeneration, meaninglessness of communication, an evaporating trust in anything or anyone, and so on. One thing to note here is that these are not about dystopian futures anymore, but a dystopian current state. The other thing is that there are no megacorporations, alien intruders, getting lost in seventeenth dimensions, or black magic, all the various tropes of dark ambient are gone today, and everything is just a large blur of resignation, pointlessness and disappointment of people, our lives, the world.
Silk Road Assassins – State Of Ruin
The first EP I called ambient electronic, this one expands that with dubstep and moody melodies. Interestingly the track Taste of Metal was probably aimed to be a heavy hitting grime spitter, but listening to the vocal version I guess it’s lucky that the album features the instrumental one. No words are needed on this record, really. It’s much better as a music-only backdrop soundtrack for a dark room with dim light.
Burzum – Sôl austan, Mâni vestan
What I like about Burzum is that it’s soothing like My Dying Bride but doesn’t have the doom edge to it. I love listening to The Angel and the Dark River, the only caveat is that it sets my mood and mindset to a specific place. Burzum leaves me where I am, it just provides calmness and space for me to float in. Well, maybe not all Burzum records, but this one and Hliðskjálf certainly are like that.
Ultramarine – Signals Into Space
Something like an ageless bridge across nu jazz, ambient electronica, soft grooves and laidback head music. Soothing, relaxed, nice feelings, a light and gentle touch on the soul.
CUTS – A Gradual Decline
Melancholic, part wondering, part sharp and penetrating, electronic with a shoegaze attitude. And a powerful concept: “addresses the planet’s current fragility using actual field recordings of ice collapsing from glaciers.”
Slam – Athenaeum 101
IDM and ambient. A journey: looking at the star-studded night sky in a wide valley, then taking a trip inside a factory colony on a distant planet, and later back into the open space and nature again.