An Ambient Moment

Mira Schendel - Untitled (Disks) (1972)

It's been a long while since I went on an ambient bend, so I'm going to break that streak and regale some of the classic ambient I have in my collection. Starting off right with the grandfather of ambient Brian Eno. Granted I can see why the album this is from, Ambient I: Music For Airports might not be for everyone, but I think it's an important milestone regardless. Needless to say I adore it, so have yourself a listen of the 17 minute opening track simply called 1/1



Now I can't go throwing that out there without giving honorable mentions to the man who put ambient on my map in the first place. Selected Ambient Works Vol. II is masterpiece of the genre, one that is sadly incomplete depending on which version you get; the USA versions are missing a track dubbed "Hankie" (as all the tracks are named after a strange pie graph pictorial naming system), and almost all versions are missing the one I'm posting. Stone In Focus is a high point of the album, and one that is sorely missed on the tracklist. Here it is again for posterity.



Oneohtrix Point Never remains one of my current favourite Ambient artists. He may have strayed from his initial Juno-60 based synth sound but thankfully there's plenty of it to go around as is. Blue Drive is incredibly evocative, and I don't think it would have been if it went down an acoustic route like Eno's example above, or some of the more Piano-centric Aphex Twin tracks. It probably helps I'm a lover of all things synth but the atmosphere it creates is almost palpable.



-Claude Van Foxbat