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