Quiet ambient music is versatile. It can provide space for reflection, express cybernetic spirituality, or be played in hospitals. Its character can be cinematic or resemble a landscape. And the production process can take place on the premises of a scientific development company or in a home studio using large quantities of graph paper.
61 minutes of quiet sounds with Anthony Manning, Inoyama Land, Joanna Brouk, Laurie Spiegel and others.
Featured cover art: Inoyama Land – Danzindan-Pojidon
Playlist
Joanna Brouk – Golden Cloud Layers
The compositions by the Mills College graduate from the early 1980s, originally released on her own label Hummingbird Productions, were intended for meditation and reflection. They were appreciated not only by ambient heads, but also played by therapists and in hospitals. (1981, Hummingbird Productions / Re: Numero Group)
Tim Story – The Moors
With no release yet in sight, the young producer from Ohio works in his bedroom studio with a tape recorder and discovers the potential of tape loops to create worlds of echoes and textures. (1979-80, Eurock / Re: Dais Records)
Brian Eno – Final Sunset
One of Eno’s first soundtrack works is for the film Sebastiane by gay rights activist Derek Jarman; the director’s debut depicts the life and martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. (1976, EG / Re: Universal)
Laurie Spiegel – The Unquestioned Answer
Instead of writing compositions for synthesizers, Spiegel developed a system for programming them while experimenting with her concept of Slow Change Music at Bell Labs in New Jersey from 1974 to 1977. (1974, Philo / Re: Unseen Worlds)
Henry Kawahara – Lilac Strings
In order to explore areas beyond rationality, the media artist and electronic music producer draws on ideas of cybernetic spirituality from the early Nineties, which are rooted in ancient Japanese musical traditions and notions of cultural identity. (1992, Green Energy / Re: EM Records)
Midori Takada – Mr. Henri Rousseau’s Dream
Rich in detail, full of lightness and with an eye for timbre, this homage to Henri Rousseau’s last painting, The Dream from 1910, is reminiscent of a landscape. (1983, RCA Red Seal / Re: We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records)
Inoyama Land – 8·31
Attempting to enable listeners to dive into music, producer Haruomi Hosono invents the Water Delay System, which consists of three speakers and a subwoofer submerged in water. Their sounds are recorded and mixed back into the original tracks. (1983, Yen Records / Re: We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records)
Conrad Schnitzler – 01/1980
Improvisation with pre-recorded cassettes containing so-called solo tracks, found on a tape in Schnitzler’s archive labelled Film Music 1980 B. (1980, Bureau B)
Anthony Manning – Chromium Nebulae (Part 4)
Based on his own notation system, which involves large quantities of graph paper to visualise melody flows and map out structures, Manning’s composition is atmospheric, contemplative and exploratory. (1996, Irdial Discs)
Testpattern – Ocean Liner
Minimalist melodies from the mythical and unhurried realm of Japanese synth pop – produced by Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi from Yellow Magic Orchestra. (1982, Yen Records)
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