Sunday, December 08, 2019

Best Ambient Music of 2019


It's an impossible task to narrow down the multitude of ambient recordings released every year into a definitive "Best of" list. There's so much music out there that I'll never hear it all and what I do hear is hard to give the proper attention to. So many factors can influence a record making the list - where did a first hear it, what mood was I in, what other music did I listen to around it, did I use it in a mix, etc. Suffice it to say, this list is not definitive and is highly subjective.

I will end up making two mixes from this list - this first one is more straight forward ambient and the next one will have a more modern classical/electro-acoustic tone. I split it into two mixes so that I didn't end up with a 4-hour mix. Ain't nobody got time for that!

So here it is, my personal favs of 2019, in alphabetical order:

1. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - The Undivided Five [ninja tune]
2. Ann Annie - wander into
3. Anne Muller - Heliopause [erased tapes]
4. anthéne - asymmetry [whitelabrecs]
5. Benoît Pioulard & Sean Curtis Patrick  - Avocationals [Beacon Sound]
6. Bersarin Quartet - methoden und maschinen [denovali]
7. Chihei Hatakeyama - Forgotten Hill [room 40]
8. Danny Scott Lane - how to empty a cup [shimmering moods]
9. Glåsbird - Grønland [whitelabrecs]
10. Halftribe - Backwater Revisited [dronarivm]
11. Hipnotic Earth - Suspended In Silence [whitelabrecs]
12. Hipnotic Earth - Extended Savasana [desert trax]
13. Ian Hawgood - impermanence [Slowcraft]
14. Innesti - Between Worlds
15. Jazzdefector and Slow Clinic - Green Echo [whitelabrecs]
16. Jens Pauly - Vihne [whitelabrecs]
17. Jogging House - Lure [seil records]
18. Jonsi & Alex - Lost And Found [krunk]
19. Kryshe - Hauch [serein]
20. Loneward - Home
21. Louigi Verona - Nocturnal Creatures
22. Luis Miehlich - Timecuts [whitelabrecs]
23. M. Grig - Mount Carmel [12k]
24. Marty Hicks - Olreilion [white paddy mountain]
25. Moss Covered Technology - Slow Walking [polar seas]
26. Ohio - upward, broken, always [12k]
27. Olga Wojciechowska - Infinite Distances [ASIP]
28. Past Inside The Present - Healing Sounds- A Compilation for Hurricane Recovery [pitp]
29. Plïnkï Plønkï - Pangur Din [piano & coffee records]
30. Porya Hatami, Aaron Martin, Roberto Attanasio - Sallaw [dronarivm]
31. Ripperton – Contrails [ESP institute]
32. Seabuckthorn - Crossing [eilean]
33. Sean Curtis Patrick - The Best Driving Music in the World Ever [pitp]
34. Sjors Mans - Noord [piano and coffee records]
35. Sven Laux and Daniela Orvin - The Writings [dronarivm]
36. The Phonometrician - Mnemosyne [lost tribe sound]
37. Trond Kallevag Hansen - Bedehus & Hawaii [hubro]
38. Various Artists - Place Language [fluid audio]
39. William Ryan Fritch - Deceptive Cadence- Music For Film Volume I & II [lost tribe sound]
40. William Ryan Frisch - Artifishal [lost tribe sound]


And here is mix #1:


[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ i t u n e s ]



T R A C K L I S T :
00:00    Innesti - Barrockstadt Station (Between Worlds)
04:28    anthéne - lucky (asymmetry)
07:25    Moss Covered Technology - Gen #4 (Slow Walking)
10:50    Ohio - Crepescule (upward, broken, always)
14:10    Benoît Pioulard & Sean Curtis Patrick  - Sunek (Avocationals)
17:25    Ripperton – Love Is Not Enough (Contrails)
22:22    Plïnkï Plønkï - Pangur Din (Pangur Din) 
27:05    Danny Scott Lane - Four (how to empty a cup)
30:12    Jogging House - Fountains (Lure)
34:18    Jens Pauly - Form (Vihne)
37:55    Jonsi & Alex - hundslappadrifa (Lost and Found)
42:55    Loneward - Savour (Home)
48:42    Louigi Verona - Coming of Dawn (Nocturnal Creatures)
54:02    Halftribe - Bumpy Roads (Backwater Revisited) 
56:18    Saltbreaker - Leaf pt 2 (Healing Sounds - A Compilation for Hurricane Recovery)
59:47    Hipnotic Earth - The Gentling (Suspended In Silence)
63:25    Ann Annie - wander into (wander into)
68:52    M. Grig - Capistrano (Mount Carmel)
71:08    Sean Curtis Patrick - Simon & Anna (The Best Driving Music in the World Ever)
73:50    Jazzdefector and Slow Clinic - Green Echo (Green Echo)
81:12    Kryshe - Meditation (Hauch)
84:27    Marty Hicks - Hiolorium (Olreilion)
90:07    Sjors Mans - Oventura (Noord)

95:18    end






5 comments:

Jens Alfke said...

Abul Mogard’s “And We Are Passing Through Silently” would be at the top of my list — pretty rare for a remix album.
I also need to listen to the new Loscil ... he’s pretty reliably good.

icastico said...

Great to see M. Grig on here. This one came out to recently to make it...https://aboombong.bandcamp.com/album/agnosis

Unknown said...

Simon Lomax - How the Shadow Falls, ILM - Gaya, Olan Mill – Sacred Geometry, øjeRum - Without Blood The Sun Darkens, Loscil - Equivalents.........

Low Light Mixes said...

Thanks for the recommendations! Some I know and some are totally new so I can't wait to check them out. Interesting that Loscil is mentioned twice - For some reason I just couldn't get into Equivalents. Maybe a little too droney & noisey for me. Thanks for listening and commenting. Here's to more great music in the new year!

the Interstellar Radio Station said...

Sounds like in general ambient music wasn't worth a damn in 2019. Here's to better luck in 2020.