Experimental/Chillout/Ambient/Downtempo/Trip hop MEGATHREAD

cxsx said:
i am loving that Bliss album, man is that beautiful!


Glad to hear you like it! I'll go through my collection and see what else you might like.
 
Thanks for these suggestions, everybody! I really would love to buy some more chilled out/dubby CDs for my collection...

My chillout stuff at the moment consists of:

Hallucinogen in Dub <---- one of the most amazing CDs... EVER! :)
13th Moon - A Journey Into Future Consciousness

I bought my Dad Hydroponic Garden by Carbon Based Lifeforms once for Father's Day or his birthday or whatever... :)
 
PinholeStar said:
Entheogenic & Spontaneous Illumination both by Entheogenic. There's a big Indian/Pakistani-music influence in their stuff, which serves as a good bridge between "Western" ambient & the native music from that region by people like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & his ilk.

Walking Through by Kaya Project. This is the ambient/chillout incarnation of Seb Taylor, better known as Shakta. A fusion of Hawaiian, Indian, European & modern electronic musical influences with some gorgeous instrumentation. Highly recommended.

I second these. Also, Elixir by Kaya Project.
 
Be sure to check out this website for ambient downloads:

http://www.ambient.us/

Cheaper than iTunes, and much better quality MP3's. I'd love to see lots more folks support this, so they can expand their catalog.
 
aren´t we forgetting boards of canada? ;)

and ive got some other suggestions:

*abfahrt hinwil-links berge rechts seen

*lackluster

*yasume

*arovane

*bochum welt

*biosphere

and of course everything from the ninjatune label

and for some chillout sets check www.thetastates.com

sit back and relax :)
 
Wanna keep this thread going.

Check out Opalescent by Jon Hopkins. Very laid back, smooth soundscapes with a bit of melody, guitar, etc. Not as musically enthralling as Bliss, but very good to chill with.
 
Alright, looks like it's up to me to keep this alive!

William Orbit, "Strange Cargo 3"
 
MahanAtma said:
Alright, looks like it's up to me to keep this alive!

You didn't think that I'd let my lovely little thread of tranquil ambient goodness die did you?! ;)

Well, I mentioned him in the first page & I'm gonna mention him again : Solar Fields (aka Magnus Birgersson).

Words can't express the depth & beauty that the music of this phenomenal talent possesses. It's no wonder that on my last.fm page his name sits atop my chart of most listened to artists. Music, to me, should first & foremost bring pleasure to your life, & his has the ability to do that to such a degree that I feel the urge to listen to it every single day. As I said before, it's just kind, kind musical flames to warm your soul by.

He's released four albums so far: (click on links to hear track samples)

Reflective Frequencies - 2001
Blue Moon Station - 2003
Leaving Home - 2005
& the limited edition (only available through the Ultimae Records website) Extended - 2005

They're all superb IMO, but my favourite is probably "Blue Moon Station" which has some great mid-tempo tracks on it as well.

"Extended" was born out of a collaborative sound & visual installation that he did with an artist at an exhibition in Sweden. It's a companion piece to "Leaving Home" and is probably the deepest of all his albums, consisting of a collection of ambient soundscapes - some of the tracks are over 16 minutes long.

Continuing the themes of "deep" & "collaborative" he's also done an album with another fellow Ultimae Records ambient master called Aes Dana, under the moniker of "H.U.V.A. Network" (H.U.V.A. standing for "Humans Under Visual Atmospheres" - make of that what you will).
Their album Distances - 2004 is quite simply a masterpiece.

Someone on Discogs described it as : "Ambient chill in its purest, cleanest form. From featherlike, dreamy, tribal atmospheric chill, to deep, dark, dubby, alienated downbeat".
That says it all really.


So there you go. A characteristically self-indulgent post from me, espousing the musical wares of one of my absolute favourite artists. =D

If you like your ambient music deep, atmospheric & rich in musical textures & ideas then seek out some Solar Fields - you won't be disappointed.

:)
 
My personal ambient picks:

Biosphere - Substrata

Great atmospheric ambient album with a nordic feel. Can't be described adequately in words so just go check it out. :)

Stars of the Lid - Avec Laudenum

Perfect soothing come-down music.

Synaesthesia - Ephemeral

Another side project of the guys who did Delerium and Front Line Assembly... truly awesome the number of electronic genres these guys can span and define. Speaking of which, here's another one-

Conjure One - Conjure One

Don't get their 2005 album Extraordinary Ways, the earlier self-titled is the real masterpiece here. Musically somewhere between Synaesthesia and Delerium, incredibly chilled-out pop/electro (unlike Synaesthesia however, this isn't true ambient, it has a beat and vocals...) Fans of the band will recognise my username ;)

Thievery Corporation - The Outernational Sound

The most ridiculously laid-back trip-hop in existence. Tunes like Lebanese Blonde and Indra define the feeling of being so incredibly stoned that you can't move for anything...

Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport

More deliciously relaxed trip-hop/pop, the first half of the CD is packed with good stand-out tunes, and the filler later on isn't bad either. Blacksheep is probably the best song here, but not the only one I love.

I Monster - Neveroddoreven

Awesome chill-out pop album.

The Frozen Autumn - Fragments of Memories and The Pale Collection

More of a synth/darkwave band but still CDs to chill out to rather than dance to IMO. Worth a hear if you fancy somethin' a bit different.

And of course, Massive Attack, but that's been covered on the last page.
 
MahanAtma said:
Alright, looks like it's up to me to keep this alive!

William Orbit, "Strange Cargo 3"

Check out his new album "William Orbit - Hello Waveforms", it's QUITE NICE!!! %)
 
I'm surprised none of my fellow psy-heads have mentioned Makyo. He is totally amazing. I especially like his short album Padmasana

As for classics of psy-ambient, you can't go wrong with Manta Ray's Numinous Island or Eclipse: A Journey of Permanence and Impermanence, the seminal compliation from Twisted Records.
 
twi1cd025_b.jpg


TWISTED RECORDS

Ott : Blumenkraft (CD)

This album is AMAZING ! Highest sound develompent i've ever heard , real ear-candy.Ott's style - mix of dub\chill\tribal , some reggae vibes, his sounds flying from one speaker to another all the time :)
Imho after that album shpongle on second place now for me :)

If u want to have awesome trip , not matter what is second substance : lsd , shrooms , 2c-i , etc. first substance must be Ott - Blumenkraft cd :)
 
IDM:

Boards Of Canada
Arovane
Helios (wow..so beautiful)
Boom Bip
Telefon Tel Aviv
Dntel
Marumari

Psy-Ambient:

Solar Fields (Extended is INCREDIBLE)
Carbon Based Lifeforms (sad, pretty)
Ishq (AMAZING)
Shpongle
Omnimotion (good dubby stuff, very deep)
Aes Dana (very complex, dark stuff)
Makyo (ethnic, spacey)

Beatless Ambient/Drone:

Brian Eno (classic)
Ashera
Vangelis (did the Bladerunner score)
Stars Of The Lid (very emotionally powerful music)
Vir Unis
Steve Roach (classic)
Tangerine Dream
Rapoon
Alpha Wave Movement
Forrest Fang
Pete Namlook
Alio Die
Amorphous Androgynous (FSOL side project)
Robert Rich
Harold Budd (ambient pianist)

Post Rock:

The Album Leaf (wow..good acoustic/electric stuff)
Explosions In The Sky
Tarentel
Tristeza
 
unfortunately most of the releases are nearly impossible to find on p2p file sharing networks :-(
 
cyalume, just listen to the amount of work that has gone into making a tune like 'Smoked Glass and Chrome', then tell me you're not willing to pay for it... 8)

click here then click on the track name to listen

i'll just second the solar fields and aes dana recommendations, along with cell and mirror systems, because i saw all four do incredible live sets at a festival recently. just super cool, intelligent, beautiful, crisp, emotional music. spent some time with aes dana who is a really nice guy as well...
 
yay on a total whim i was captured by the beauty of 'Smoked Glass & Chrome' so i had to buy the album :) believe it or not that's the only Ott track i've ever heard!

i was introduced to it by a friend; after lots of good quality mdma crystal he stuck it on through his DT100s... life was very different after that moment :)
 
I've seen a lot of people bring up artists like Shpongle or Entheogenic. If you really dig psychadelic chill dubby shit, I recommend Capsula.

It'll probably be kinda tough to find tunes on p2p networks if thats your thing, but Capsula's album "Synthesis of Reality" is DEFINITELY worth the buy.

http://www.discogs.com/release/562303
 
Younger Brother - its simon posford ( one part of shpongle and hallucinogen)with prometheus

asura: code eternity & loost eden

deep dive corp. : beware of fake gurus

prometheus: robot-o-chan
 
Norules said:
Hesius Dome on Aussie Psyharmonics label

Fuck I hate this guy, I want him dead . . . YOUR FUCKED NORULES!
 
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