Michael Bevilacqua ([info]time3) wrote,
@ 2007-12-06 00:09:00
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Entry tags:music

Created an essential ambient page

Originally published at Bevilacqua.us.

I supposed I should have created this years ago. But I did it now. And I will be updating it every once in a while when I find something that really makes me love life. Like that recent Stars of the Lid album I just can’t seem to get enough of.

Essential Ambient Page


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[info]asphalteden
2007-12-06 06:09 pm UTC (link)
Great list. I really need to check out the O'Hearn. I don't have anything by him.

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[info]time3
2007-12-06 06:55 pm UTC (link)
Thank you. Trust is definitely one of my top favorite albums in my collection. Slow Time by O'Hearn is pretty good as well. Do you have a copy of The Ambient Expanse by Roach, O'Hearn, Vidna Obmana, Vir Unis, Baccus?

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[info]asphalteden
2007-12-06 07:09 pm UTC (link)
Yes, I do! That is certainly one of my favorite ambient CDs. I forgot O'Hearn was on there, though all of the tracks are great. I think it's also where I learned about Vir Unis.

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[info]time3
2007-12-06 08:44 pm UTC (link)
O'Hearn's piece is the first on that CD, which is one of my favorite ambient pieces by him and probably my second favorite piece on that CD. In my experiences it sounds good only on very good speakers or headphones. I first heard Vir Unis from his collaboration with Roach on Body Electric.

I wish O'Hearn would play live in Philly at the Gatherings. I've mailed him before but have never received a response.

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[info]ehowton
2007-12-17 06:00 am UTC (link)
I love music. I grew up with classical & opera and filmscores. I enjoy all manner of music and have an extensive collection which spans many genres, but mostly I listen to my scores.

Classifying "score" as a genre is a tricky business though, as a film's score can be as varied as any work out there today. Filled with jazz or big band, highly orchestrated imbibed with classical overtones, or as progressive or as minimal as within their own fields.

Suffice it to say there are things I've learned I don't actually care for. Minimalistic compositions, for one. Odd, since I can listen to Yo Yo Ma's "Six works for a solo cello" by Bach for hours on end without getting bored. Where's the line of demarcation? Is it talent? I've written extensively in my blog of my disdain for Glass and Zimmer and yet...And yet here lately they've both managed to fill me with awe. Is it them sir, or is it me?

The reason I bring this up of course is ambient music. I feel at this point it would sound foolish to admit that I'm familiar with what it is as I had not heard of any of these you've listed (save Blade Runner for the above reasons). Given this entry coupled with a very sedate weekend (after restoring a VCS cluster Friday evening, that is as I was on call - why is it always Friday evening?) I decided to teach myself something new from your list, and my oh my, what a surprise lay in store for me!

I wasn't able to acquire them all, but I was able to obtain, and listen to, a large portion of the albums you've outlined here. I usually prefer to listen to something over and over to get a feel for it before I announce my position, but given the sheer volume of music, and my propensity to procrastinate where timely, ordered, quality listening time is concerned, suffice it to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Time alone will tell if I place my new favorites into rotation, but I'd like to thank you for taking the time to create not only a page of what you consider the best, but your commentary on the, 'why' as well. I have more still to listen to.

Thanks again.

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[info]time3
2007-12-17 03:13 pm UTC (link)
Where's the line of demarcation? Is it talent?

Absolutely is. You can use talent as a metaphor. My favorite reminder is the phrase "Ian McKellen could recite the phone book in its entirety and make it entertaining." It's the person interpreting the medium, be it spoken word, a photograph, a piece of art, or music, weather it be new or old, a single note or a complicated arpeggio. It's a musician's goal to play that note they have played a million times before and make it sound as rich and passionate as the instrument they have chosen to play it on can provide.

Much of this falls back to Beethoven's composition before which, music was played in a very patterned, predictable manner. Although Mozart was a genius, he had a very technical sound about him. It was Beethoven that first granted the magnificent orchestral sound with a interpretative, breathing, life-like quality. As the mood of the music composition changed, the mood was painted across the sound canvas making it much more apparent to the listener. A simple green was turned into lush fields of thick blades of grass shadowed with the gentle winds flowing across it, for example. This, I find is essential in music to this day, especially in the realm of electronic music where there is so much room for granting life through experiment.

The selections I choose simply fall into the category of "I can't get enough of this album, and I've been listening to it for greater than $x years." There are many more I could add, I just wont be until they pass that magical threshold where I wake up one day and say "Yea, this is one of those untouchable masterpieces." I hope you enjoy them, or at least discover some great new talent in the process.

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