If anyone hasn't yet, I highly suggest that you check out the Hototogisu album that cjb posted in the Sendspace thread. It's fucking disgusting, and by that I mean a pure, joyous eargasm.

Hototogisu - Floating Japanese Oof! Gardens of the 21st Century

Oh shit, I somehow forgot Biosphere / Geir Jenssen in my earlier post. Biosphere's "Shen Zhou" is utterly unique and a pure pleasure. More recently, working under his given name, he made a fine audio-verite album of his ascent of Cho Oyu.

Anyone that comes from far northern Norway, makes great music and climbs fearsome peaks is pretty ok in my book.

Confidential to CJH: I've not heard you yet, but you're on my list and I've read good things...

Benny wrote:last year's ryuchi sakamoto and fennesz record, called 'insen', is the best ambient record that i heard in years. and i supposedly don't like ambient.

think that "insen" is sakamoto with carsten nikolai, aka alva noto. it's a beautiful record.

i would highly recommend philip jeck, who works with locked grooves on old portable record players. i love the "vinyl coda" records especially.

if you like classic eno & the like you might want to check out the first two records marsen jules has put out. sampe-based "orchestral ambient".

a guitarist friend who is deep into the drone is currently really into fear falls burning. i have yet to have the time to check out the stuff he's given to me.

i love ambient...i'm currently listening to Ruhr Hunter as i type this...

Lustmord tends to be one of my favorites...he's releasing a new album, i'm not sure if it's out already or not...

i listen to most of what everyone has mentioned already, Aphex's SAW Volume 2 is tremendously great stuff...

*looking through his itunes*

Alvin Lucier's I Am Sitting In A Room is brilliant in it's simplicity and it's subsequent building upon itself into oblivion...

AMM is good noise/ambient...

Alain Basso is pretty good but is more experimental...

Clara Rockmore is more classical but could fall into downtempo territory...

i have a lot of the Eno stuff that i'm sure everyone else here has...

a lot of Coil's stuff falls into ambient territory...

The Conet Project...

Hennie Bekker's stuff is pretty cheesy but some of it is fairly okay...

Polygon Window - one of Richard James' other projects...

Scanner's Lauwarm Instrumentals is excellent...

Sleep Research Facility...

the Urabe Masayoshi Urklang stuff someone posted a while back is really good...

i've got tons more but it's not in my computer at the moment...

I haven't seen Brian McBride mentioned. Maybe I missed him. He's 50% of Stars of the Lid. I think his stuff is a bit smoother than the other 50%, The Dead Texan.

See also, Chihei Hatakeyama. Maybe I missed that guy in here too.

jurgis rudkus wrote:Folks have mentioned Kranky but not specifically Gregg Kowalsky

FYP

Gregg is real good.

Angus Jung wrote:

HousewifeMan wrote:Folke Rabe- What?

I would like to find this record, and would appreciate tips on how to do so.

This is an incredible drone record. In cred i ble.

I'm a big fan of Coil, and their drone-y stuff--like Time Machines and Queens of the Circulating Library--is really excellent.

current faves;

Tim Hecker - Atlas 10"
Oren Ambarchi - In The Pendulum's Embrace
Belong - Same Places 12" on Table Of The Elements
Andrew Chalk - Time Of Hayfield


*gross spammage* i run a micro label, Low Point which has, IMHO, done some fine ambient releases, a couple even feature the PRF's CJH and honeyisfunny - check out the full skinny here;

www.low-point.com

please buy some of these records, i am skint...

Surfrider wrote:Are 'Remote Viewer' any good? Some of their stuff is really cheap on the boomkat website at the moment.

they're great. one of my favorite electronic-ish groups. of the stuff on the boomkat site, i can vouch for 'here i go again on my own' and 'quiet is the new loud'. very mellow, with glitchy beats throughout. the closest reference i can think of would be mum minus the vocals...lots of 'record static as rhythm' type of stuff (especially the 'surface shake off your cares' 12").