DAY TWO / DISC TWO
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An ambient alphabet
amnesiac
background
calming
deep
environmental
featureless
gentle
hypnotic
interior
jointless
keyless
limpid
minimalist
nocturnal
open
peaceful
quiet
restful
soothing
transparent
unobtrusive
vacant
waveless
xenial
yawn
zen
77 Million Paintings
small celestial gongs
wisps of synths
tones that reverberate for so long you forget where they began
varying shades of white
a post-hypnotic vagueness
suggestive, undefined sounds
knowing, yet unfamiliar—expected yet unknown
calming if ignored
lift the volume—unsettling
focused yet blurred
space, always space
enough to get lost in
Is reviewing ambient music an oxymoron? The central idea is to have a background wash of non-intrusive sounds, an aural tint, a salt bath to float upon so that you don’t really notice the music itself. Can ambient music be pushed to the foreground? Is that another oxymoron?
If, by definition, ambient music is meant to underpin rather than dominate, to flavour rather than direct, to hover rather than jostle, what is there to review? Varying shades of nothing?
Confronted with the six discs of this set, I brought in my reviewer’s template, the same one they taught us in Literature 101: compare and contrast. But there is a point where the variations that produce contrast are so small as to become meaningless. We float on a Sargasso Sea where a mere breath catches the attention… but only for a moment. It’s a world of drifting, of forgetting, a musical dementia.
Which begs the question, how many ambient albums does one need? A tinkly one, a whispering-synth one, a sounds of nature one… Maybe you only need one, in which case it would be Music for Airports.
Perhaps.
If only I could remember…
vinylconnection.com.au 
As David Crosby so eloquently said, “If I could only remember my name.” I think the answer to your rhetorical question of how many ambient albums is, as many as one wants.” I now want this sad really bad. It’s all in the eye of the beholder, eh? Thanks, Bruce! – Marty
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Eye and ear, Marty. Ear and eye.
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“how many ambient albums does one need?” Until a few years ago my answer would have been “eh – none”.
That’s changed though. I’d maybe say “a couple”. Cause sometimes it’s nice just to feel like you’re floating.
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Nicely put, J.
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I need many.
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Thought so.
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Interesting, I gave up on Eno after a couple of very lacklustre recent releases. I just can’t see that I’d ever listen to this, no matter how good it was, like you’ve touched on I probably have all the ambient I need.
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I have a few on a portable device in a playlist entitled ‘Rest’. Often I forget what artist belongs to which gentle sounds. Which is OK… though it is hard to imagine what an ambient music trainspotter would spot.
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My ambient playlist is called ‘Write’, because that’s what I use it for; as musical non-silence, I suppose you could say.
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Yep.
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[…] Next: DAY TWO / DISC TWO […]
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There was nothing ambient about this review Bruce – the words didn’t drift into the background as I enjoyed reading them!
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I’m glad. I the four I’ve written so far, this was my favourite. 🙂
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