In need of more thinking music. Ambient/Electronic/Classical...
Posted by: -goat- on 15 April 2013
Hi all,
I'm posting in hope of a few recommendations. I'm looking for some quiet music (I'll avoid using the term 'background music'!), music that can be played as a sonic backdrop for reading, writing etc... quiet times. No need to suggest the obvious Mr. Eno as I have already more or less exhausted his discography which I love almost in it's entirety. A few other favourites include, Stars of the Lid, Philip Glass (Solo Piano, String Quartets), Arvo Part, Murcof, Julianna Barwick and the most recent acquisition was William Basinski's Disintegration Loops. I'm not so much into stuff with dance origins such as The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld (although I like a fair bit on the Warp label, BOC, Aphex Twin, Autechre, but that's less ambient I guess), but I'd like to explore classical further perhaps... or anything else anyone might like to suggest!
I find this a good album to put on in the "background" when I want to work to music. Not sure what you would call it Ambient Jazz maybe. Not a brassy big band, but a more flexible blend of jazz brass and wind, but with its backbone formed from an electronic score. It was beautifully recorded in 1976, featuring the cream of British jazz musicians including Barbara Thompson, Tony Coe, Ian Carr & Paul Buckmaster.
Graham.
Might I suggest some Jazz?
Wynton Marsalis - Black Codes from the Underground
- This album makes for some great "quiet" listening with songs that are contemplative without being very energetic in contrast to something like Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Although, in the right state of mind A Love Supreme could work as background music too.
COIL - Time Machines
- This is ambient. There's lots of harmonic interplay between various drones in a given track on this album. It's very good for meditation, coding, deep thinking etc.
Amorphous Androgynous - Tales of Ephindra
- Another ambient record, this one does have dance roots as Amorphous Androgynous is a psuedonym of dance pioneers The Future Sound of London; but since you mentioned liking Autechre and Aphex Twin you'll probably like this too.
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
- This album has some great tracks that together set a nice atmosphere for working on a project or reading something like A Catcher in the Rye.
As I read this thread, I was listening to frequent Eno collaborator's Harold Budd's La Bella Vista. This, or much of Budd's other work seems worth a listen given your interests.
Since you're already familiar with Arvo Part, you may already know this album. But if not, it fits your bill exactly:
I'd also recommend this beautiful album of Erik Satie's more lyrical works:
Finally, I'd suggest this sublime solo piano album by Keith Jarrett ... mostly ballads, recorded at his home as a Chirstmas present for his (then) wife after he had just started to recover from CFS. Quiet beauty:
Happy thinking!
Some of Glass earlier (melodic/minimalist) piano works transcribed for modern harp. It all works very well, even better than for the original instrument if you ask me, and Meijer is a fabulous harpist. If you think harp is all sweet and softfocus, think again. The music works well as backdrop to other activities; for a work called Metamorphosis, nothing much is happening beyond the endless, slightly modified, repeat of the same chords, which over the bars makes for a slow melody.
Cheers,
EJ
maybe some johann johannsson..
'and in the endless pause there came the sound of bees' is a sound track album which would act as a good introduction. .. if you like that then there is his technology series of which 'Fordlandia' is a personal fave..