ACL 2015: Top Ten Ambient

We received and reviewed more ambient music in 2015 than any other genre.  Yet conversely, we also received and didn’t review more ambient music than in any other genre.  Ambient is a tricky form, so often eager to melt into the background.

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 2013: Top Ten Ambient

Ambient music continued to stretch its wings in 2013.  Among our top picks: an album conceived as a love letter, an EP addressing mental illness and a 7″ vinyl that samples the original Dracula.  It’s not just piano and birds anymore.

ACL 2012: Top Ten Ambient

A Closer Listen receives more submissions in the Ambient field than in any other, which means that our ambient artists must try even harder to stand out.  This seems ironic, since the nature of ambient music has been not to stand out.