Post by beckoningthepneuma on Jul 20, 2012 1:20:19 GMT -8
I've made one or two posts on the old forum about ambient music, but I'll expand on it a little more this time round.
Suffering at this time of year normally comes from what we feel; what light we can see; and what we can hear [those annoying summer sounds of revelry, screaming and throbbing music]. Now, I can't help with the first two but I can certainly help with the third. What better sounds to fill the space in your auditory canals than those of cold desolate landscapes, the depth of booming caverns and dark, dystopian wastelands. Sounds better than listening to your neighbours and the music from their shitty barbeques, anyway.
So here I can recommend three artists whose music is particularly devoted to the sounds of the polar lands from the dark ambient genre. This music is very inactive - don't expect a lot of melody or rhythm - you'll generally get neither. But you will get atmosphere by the boatload. Long sections of cold ambiance, biting wind and the essence of the vast polar nights. Don't think that any of these albums are naff or classless like those things you hear pinging away in new age shops. Much better than that.
The main artist to specialise in this area is Thomas Koner. He has been prolific since the early 90s, with each of his ambient albums taking on a polar theme. Particularly of note is Permafrost or Nuuk.
rateyourmusic.com/artist/thomas_koner
Sleep Research Facility is another, particularly the album Deep Frieze which feels like being inside a cabin in the Antarctic. Each track on the album is named after a coordinate and location in the South Pole. I would recommend this as the first port of call for people interested in this area. Also of note is his album Dead Weather Machine.
rateyourmusic.com/artist/sleepresearch_facility
Another good album is Like A Slow River by Lull. The title refers to the glacial movements of ice. Again, another very gradual and cold album with escalating ambiance and atmosphere.
rateyourmusic.com/artist/lull
So I hope some of you find this information useful and of interest. If you have artistic sensibilities and need some respite, have a listen to some of those artists listed above.
Suffering at this time of year normally comes from what we feel; what light we can see; and what we can hear [those annoying summer sounds of revelry, screaming and throbbing music]. Now, I can't help with the first two but I can certainly help with the third. What better sounds to fill the space in your auditory canals than those of cold desolate landscapes, the depth of booming caverns and dark, dystopian wastelands. Sounds better than listening to your neighbours and the music from their shitty barbeques, anyway.
So here I can recommend three artists whose music is particularly devoted to the sounds of the polar lands from the dark ambient genre. This music is very inactive - don't expect a lot of melody or rhythm - you'll generally get neither. But you will get atmosphere by the boatload. Long sections of cold ambiance, biting wind and the essence of the vast polar nights. Don't think that any of these albums are naff or classless like those things you hear pinging away in new age shops. Much better than that.
The main artist to specialise in this area is Thomas Koner. He has been prolific since the early 90s, with each of his ambient albums taking on a polar theme. Particularly of note is Permafrost or Nuuk.
rateyourmusic.com/artist/thomas_koner
Sleep Research Facility is another, particularly the album Deep Frieze which feels like being inside a cabin in the Antarctic. Each track on the album is named after a coordinate and location in the South Pole. I would recommend this as the first port of call for people interested in this area. Also of note is his album Dead Weather Machine.
rateyourmusic.com/artist/sleepresearch_facility
Another good album is Like A Slow River by Lull. The title refers to the glacial movements of ice. Again, another very gradual and cold album with escalating ambiance and atmosphere.
rateyourmusic.com/artist/lull
So I hope some of you find this information useful and of interest. If you have artistic sensibilities and need some respite, have a listen to some of those artists listed above.