Category Archives: Ambient

Dreamsploitation ~ The In-Between Years: 1959-1963

The In-Between Years: 1959-1963 opens with a flowing, sunken drone that swirls around a ghostly, ethereal vocal. They tie themselves together and remain bonded for life, like a lovers’ pact. It’s a truly beautiful start, and it remains a soothing, sedate listen

Dreamsploitation ~ The In-Between Years: 1959-1963

The In-Between Years: 1959-1963 opens with a flowing, sunken drone that swirls around a ghostly, ethereal vocal. They tie themselves together and remain bonded for life, like a lovers’ pact. It’s a truly beautiful start, and it remains a soothing, sedate listen

ACL 2014: Top Ten Ambient

This year, A Closer Listen continued to receive more ambient music than any other type, over 500 releases in all.  The ambient field is so competitive that only the most distinctive releases manage to break through and to form a lasting impression.

ACL 2014: Top Ten Ambient

This year, A Closer Listen continued to receive more ambient music than any other type, over 500 releases in all.  The ambient field is so competitive that only the most distinctive releases manage to break through and to form a lasting impression.

Galina Ozeran ~ Seasons

Female Russian recording artist Galina Ozeran (also known as Chikiss) has teamed with Siberian tape label Klammklang to offer a work of stark beauty: four tracks, four seasons, four different colored tapes, four sets of photos taken by her father Vladimir.  This

Galina Ozeran ~ Seasons

Female Russian recording artist Galina Ozeran (also known as Chikiss) has teamed with Siberian tape label Klammklang to offer a work of stark beauty: four tracks, four seasons, four different colored tapes, four sets of photos taken by her father Vladimir.  This

Celer ~ Sky Limits

In the mid-90’s, I boarded a Boeing 747 and flew across the Atlantic to Orlando, Florida. In that distant era, you could, for a couple of minutes or so, occasionally walk into the cockpit of a passenger jet on a long

Celer ~ Sky Limits

In the mid-90’s, I boarded a Boeing 747 and flew across the Atlantic to Orlando, Florida. In that distant era, you could, for a couple of minutes or so, occasionally walk into the cockpit of a passenger jet on a long

Lawrence English + Stephen Vitiello ~ Fable

We last encountered Lawrence English on the immersive Wilderness of Mirrors, released earlier this year; we last encountered Stephen Vitiello at the New York exhibition “In the Garden of Sonic Delights”.  On Fable, the artists join forces for the second time, following  2011’s Acute Inbetweens (Crónica).  Each album shares a

Lawrence English + Stephen Vitiello ~ Fable

We last encountered Lawrence English on the immersive Wilderness of Mirrors, released earlier this year; we last encountered Stephen Vitiello at the New York exhibition “In the Garden of Sonic Delights”.  On Fable, the artists join forces for the second time, following  2011’s Acute Inbetweens (Crónica).  Each album shares a

Wist Records ~ The Unofficial Countryside

41 years ago, Richard Mabey penned The Unofficial Countryside, an ode to the tenacity of nature.  His classic essay finally has its soundtrack: seven 3″ CDs in a hand-burned wooden box.  Wist Records continues to impress by going all-out in its presentation,

Wist Records ~ The Unofficial Countryside

41 years ago, Richard Mabey penned The Unofficial Countryside, an ode to the tenacity of nature.  His classic essay finally has its soundtrack: seven 3″ CDs in a hand-burned wooden box.  Wist Records continues to impress by going all-out in its presentation,

Porya Hatami ~ Arrivals and Departures

While many ambient releases owe a debt to Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, few share its specific subject matter.  In presentation and timbre, Porya Hatami‘s latest album can be seen as the spiritual successor to that earlier work.  The piano, textures and

Porya Hatami ~ Arrivals and Departures

While many ambient releases owe a debt to Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, few share its specific subject matter.  In presentation and timbre, Porya Hatami‘s latest album can be seen as the spiritual successor to that earlier work.  The piano, textures and

Pascal Savy ~ Adrift

Pascal Savy is a French musician who specializes in an organic kind of ambient that ages like the skin. His drifting drones are well versed in the art of decay, its vanquishing of youth and its intrinsic link to life.

Pascal Savy ~ Adrift

Pascal Savy is a French musician who specializes in an organic kind of ambient that ages like the skin. His drifting drones are well versed in the art of decay, its vanquishing of youth and its intrinsic link to life.