Making my way through the old Bandcamp listings to pre-arrange my cart for the upcoming Friday, the wish list is a bit scatterbrained but there are moments of synchronicity there. I think I'm going to grab a boatload of IDM stuff this time around, but I also have a pretty big section of Ambient releases there too, which isn't a million miles away in the grand scheme of things. So I figured I'd talk a little about them today, it's on of my favourite genres after all.
Starting off with some Carbon Based Lifeforms, another entry in the 'this has been recommended to me so much but I've never checked it out' list. I did try and dip my toe into some of the ambient things I had lined up a little while ago, but they were all quite long, which I understand is kind of the point and all but it does make the task a little daunting when you have 10 15 minute tracks lined up. On that same note, Arecibo takes a fair bit of time to 'get going' as it were. Again, totally daft when you're talking ambient music but hopefully you can see what I mean. Aside from that though, it's very pretty - suitably spacey given its namesake and it's one of many tunes making me want to take up making my own ambience once again.
On a similar note, the work of Hiroshi Yoshimura isn't far away whenever I get into this sphere. A prolific name in the world of Ambient and enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the internet at large and from Light In The Attic Records attaining the rights to re-issue some of his works to make them more accessible. Yoshimura's work can get a little New Age at times, especially his later entries which can sound a little dated as a result - but I just adore the sound he has for the first 5 or so albums. The man has a very extensive back-catalogue, but the records available through Light In The Attic are a great starting point - Music For Nine Post Cards is his debut and is a touch less New Age styled than the one I've picked today, but both it and Green are must haves for any Ambient collection.
And finally, some more from Hinako Omori, a recent addition to my listening rotation after appearing on some compilation work. Her new album A Journey... came out not too long ago and I've been keeping tabs on the singles as they come out. There's an interesting move towards spoken word and vocals in general on it - my favourites being the The Knife-esque pitch bent self duets (but I am a sucker for any and all distorted vocals so I will admit I'm biased). Title track 'A Journey' is a perfect demo of this and also shows off my favourite sound of hers as well - cut from the same kind of cloth as early Oneohtrix Point Never, drenched in arpeggios with a cosy analogue hum. It's not quite as high tech sounding as OPN though, Omori's work is a lot lighter and has this lovely floating feeling to it.
And that'll do it for this time, I was tempted to put a couple OPN tracks on the end here but I figure I can hang onto those until next time. I hope you all enjoy this very relaxed instalment, I don't often go full ambient like this but I do really enjoy it. I appreciate it isn't everyone's cup of tea but I'll be back again soon enough with another entry. And of course, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.
-CVF
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