Ambient / Noise / Lowercase / Field Recordings / etc.

blenoxsmith said:
The new Tim Hecker album No Highs is just phenomenal. My favorite of his. It's been on rotation during my workday since it came out.
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Yea I’ve been listening to this. I don’t listen to a ton of ambient, but it definitely is different. More tension and sadness. At times it sounds like a sci-fi soundtrack. More rhythmic elements that I’ve heard from him.
 
Dtknuckles said:
Yea I’ve been listening to this. I don’t listen to a ton of ambient, but it definitely is different. More tension and sadness. At times it sounds like a sci-fi soundtrack. More rhythmic elements that I’ve heard from him.
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Been meaning to get around to this one, so I'm popping it on now. Sci-fi soundtrack is not surprising to hear since he did the score for Infinity Pool (of which I am eagerly awaiting the announcement of a vinyl pressing).
 
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Also, regarding this Hecker discussion, I do love the new one and the sci-fi soundtrack vibe, but to call it my favorite might be a bit knee jerk. I've now been revisiting his discography and there are so many gems. Each album feels like a unique statement too. This dude is a treasure for ambient fans. I got into him around Love Streams, but wow to some of those earlier records like Virgins, Ravedeath and Radio Amor!
 
blenoxsmith said:
Also, regarding this Hecker discussion, I do love the new one and the sci-fi soundtrack vibe, but to call it my favorite might be a bit knee jerk. I've now been revisiting his discography and there are so many gems. Each album feels like a unique statement too. This dude is a treasure for ambient fans. I got into him around Love Streams, but wow to some of those earlier records like Virgins, Ravedeath and Radio Amor!
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I did a ranking earlier in the year when I did a relisten through everything he's done. I should edit it to include No Highs which would probably wind up 6-8~ depending on how I feel with it.

I definitely like his newer stuff but I miss the older albums that seemed to flow really well together.

wokeupnew said:
Tim Hecker
  1. Harmony in Ultraviolet
  2. An Imaginary Country
  3. Radio Amor
  4. Ravedeath, 1972
  5. Virgins
  6. Mirages
  7. Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again
  8. Dropped Pianos
  9. Konoyo
  10. Love Streams
  11. Anoyo

An Imaginary Country is my personal favorite, but I think Harmony in Ultraviolet is objectively his best. I was surprised that I've listened to it the most according to last.fm. His first 6 albums until Ravedeath, 1972 are classic. He leaned into very boreal, droning ambient with those albums that is similar to Biosphere, Thomas Köner, Gas, etc. All of those albums feel like a complete unit, flow from song to song with a uniform theme. With Virgins, which tbf is a very good album, he started getting more esoteric, abstract, more percussive, and less droney. Songs are staggered and with less of a cohesive theme. They're fine albums but less magical than the others.
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wokeupnew said:
I did a ranking earlier in the year when I did a relisten through everything he's done. I should edit it to include No Highs which would probably wind up 6-8~ depending on how I feel with it.

I definitely like his newer stuff but I miss the older albums that seemed to flow really well together.
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I have a vinyl copy of Ravedeath I think. I didn’t get to listen to it much. But now that I live on my own part time I should pull it out and give it a spin.
 
Dtknuckles said:
I have a vinyl copy of Ravedeath I think. I didn’t get to listen to it much. But now that I live on my own part time I should pull it out and give it a spin.
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kranky needs to do a repress of that one since I don't have it (yet) along with Harmony in Ultraviolet
 
Past Inside The Present is always a mix of what you get for Ambient. But this.... this is good.



Also this caused me to randomly click on the "ambient" tag on bandcamp, clicked into Steve Roach's newest album and saw that Structures of Silence has been reissued -- and there's only 2 left!! get on it if you don't have it. I have been looking for it used for a while

 
Best Ambient albums in 2023 (so far) imho

Romance & Dean Hurley "River Of Dreams" (Ecstatic)

Yosuke Tokunaga "8 Quadrants" (Vaknar)

Mike Majkowski - Coast (Hands In The Dark)

Kinzua - None Of The Above (Offen)

Soutien George - Tarskapcsolatodban (Touched Music)

Wil Bolton - Like Floating Leaves (Laaps)

Lord Of The Isles - Subtle Thoughts (Lapsus)

Any other gems?
 
Accidentally found this album and it's become my favorite Ambient-ish album this year. Just absolutely gorgeous and moving. Went into a record store I had never been to here in NYC yesterday with my wfie and of course one of 300 copies in existence were staring right out of the bin at me, incredible pressing for what its worth, there are still some available on his bandcamp!

 
I think the people in this thread will specifically really enjoy this record club. These guys are fantastic at curating great ambient/electronic/neo-classical records for your collection. If y'all are in the hunt for a new record club with exciting personal curation, check out my post/review of In Sheep's Clothings new record club

In Sheep's Clothing Record Club

Coming in hot with an obscure record club for you all to consider. So the story of In Sheeps Clothing is an interesting one. I first encountered it in Los Angeles when it was a Japanese Whisky Vinyl Listening Bar located in the most beautiful bar space I have ever seen. They were known for their...
www.needlesandgrooves.com www.needlesandgrooves.com
 
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