why is good (dark) ambient so impactful?

for all the Coil posted in this thread i haven't seen anything posted yet from what is probably technically their first straight 'ambient' album Worship The glitch, even though they did more ambient after Worship the glitch still stands as their most unique/weirdest/most beautiful attempt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUp8tUlftW8

its not 'drone' and it doesn't beat around the bush with melancholy easy listening new age vibes, its pretty alien but it is most definitly ambient

Edited July 4, 2015 by John Ehrlichman

You could argue that How To Destroy Angels was an ambient release (of sorts) ,,,,,,, and thats 1984.

 

To play pedantic devil's advocate, i'd personally steer clear of tags like "new-age" (which has some very flaky connotations) & terms like melancholic/easy-listening are a bit of a slight to some superb sounds. A lot of what they produced (and whats been posted posted here) are variations on similar themes - WtG, the Equinox and Solstice releases, genius tunes regardless of what label we'd like to put on them.

 

If i had to i'd say WtG almost falls outside the realms of any standard classification. Even Coil admitted that WtG was some kind of channeling of extra-terrestrial unknowns that, once the broadcast finished, they were never able to re-access in subsequent recordings and studio time.

 

Beyond the above, Queens of the Circulating Library pushes the dark ambient buttons deliciously .....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nurse With Wound's 'The Golden Age Of Telekinesis (Early Mix)' is quite a trip. The later version goes completely mental as the track builds, whereas the initial early version/mix stays with the strangeness and lets it twist & turn in its own sweet time:

 

i also think Black Light District and Stolen and Contaminated Songs are deeply underrated and mostly ambient sounding albums of theirs. my faovirte coil period in general has always been LSD --> Musk to play in the dark by far

BLD is a phenomenal album. Red Skeletons is hugely inspirational for me.

amazing catalog, just look at the favourites listed here

 

hours of immersive listening

Many great stuff mentioned in this thread. I still think that Throbbing Gristle made the darkest music ever. There are nowadays countless of dark ambient artists and many various forms of dark ambient, but even today I am still mostly impressed with the stuff like Hamburger Lady:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTljpH7cfW8

This also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CvctY6trzE

This track should be mentioned, I generally don't see people mention it often:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX-6q_h-5Ns

In connection to this track, this Ceephax track sounds similar (and shows many talents of Andy Jenkinson):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyqH7YFOj7k

Finally, this should also be mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HMtJWzx6xk

 

In my opinion, their magic lies in their honesty. They are able to transform the purest human emotions and conditions into music. I honestly think that no one has been able to do that (at least that successfully) besides them, as far as electronic music is concerned. By listening to Hamburger Lady you can basically feel the burnt flesh in your mouth, and the agony of a person having to live with such a terrible condition. Also, Michael Bonner said it well:"“Hamburger Lady”, inspired by the tale of a burns victim, pulsates like some grotesque organism." (from http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/throbbing-gristle-the-industrial-pioneers-reissued).That Beachy Head track is also very powerful, and you can basically feel the darkest thoughts of a person about to commit suicide. As a matter of fact, of all the electronic music i've heard, TG's music seems most alive to me. Sometimes all the other electronic music seems kind of empty to me. That doesn't mean that it's bad, or anything. Far from it. It simply seems empty in a way that you can somehow distance yourself from it. You can listen to it but it doesn't completely occupy your attention and it doesn't feel so deep and mind-altering the way TG's music does. Even their simplest tracks can engrave into your mind. By listening to their music you can basically instantly feel your DNA changing.

So, not only were TG crucial for the development of electronic music in general (if I had to choose only one electronic album to own it would very probably be 20 Jazz Funk Greats) but they were also crucial in the way we perceive music and ourselves in general. After all, these two aspects may not be independent at all, but rather very intertwined. In fact, I am even gonna go as far as to say that TG is the most important electronic band ever, even more important than Kraftwerk. Sure, Kraftwerk started everything, or at least gave the most significant impulse, but it was TG that injected the purpose and essence of humanity in that Kraftwerk-activated machine imho. Or maybe it's pointless to talk about who's more important than who. Oh well...

 

It's like many other musicians try to be something they aren't, and TG don't pretend to be something, rather they are that something (this may sound stupid but I seriously believe this phrase applies to TG). It's actually very enlightening when you start thinking about industrial music as such. The way i perceive it (and would like to believe in), industrial music was originally supposed to be about critizing modern society and the way people treat each other. It was about changing the way people perceive themselves and the world around them. Nowadays people identify industrial with harsh and loud music and noises, but to me original industrial was much more than that. It was not just about innovating music, but also about innovating human minds. TG are the innovators of the human spirit/mind. Many people copied their sound but failed to copy their original vision, imho (also the case with many other musicians/bands). No matter how unpleasant TG's tracks may seem at first, their sense of purpose and honesty pulsates beneath them all. It really is true that it takes time for the masterpieces to be perceiveable as such. You play 20 Jazz Funk Greats today and realize how empty and sterile most of the music really is. Also, it would be fair to say that D.o.A. was a very important factor in the development of dark ambient imho.

 

And, finally, in the end, I would also like to say that I have a deep respect for Coil, Psychic TV, Chris And Cosey, etc., but I still think that TG was far more important than all of their later projects.

 

So, yeah. A long post. But it had to be said.

 

TL;DR: TG are Gods.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Freak of the week

  On 7/5/2015 at 3:02 AM, Salem1976 said:

BLD is a phenomenal album. Red Skeletons is hugely inspirational for me.

 

Definitely my favourite on that album. One of those pieces of music that makes me feel things I can't quite put into words. Any clue what all the telephone conversation samples are from? Recorded for the song or taken from elsewhere?

Surprised at only one mention of Lustmord but it's hard to find his stuff on YT, he really hates any kind of "piracy" of his work. I'd link Place Where The Black Stars Hang but not a lot of decent versions of it, probably one of my first forays into ambient as a teen, that album really change my view on music.

 

 

Another favourite artist of mine

 

 

BDN sort of counts I guess

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Ob-2RXe9I

  On 7/4/2015 at 11:44 AM, WeAreOceans said:

 

  On 7/4/2015 at 3:17 AM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 7/3/2015 at 12:21 PM, WeAreOceans said:

reminds me of Celer's lovely warm loops, but turning the thermostat down.

 

what's a good starting point with Celer, in your opinion?

 

I've been a big fan of some similar artists like Hakobune, former selves, widesky, etc

 

 

I couldn't tell you, their discography is vast and I have personally only scratched the surface of their work. Personal favourites of mine are Sadha, Foolish Causes of Fail and Ruin, Vestiges of an Inherent Melancholy and Discourses of the Withered.

 

Check out Chubby Wolf as well, after Danielle died in 2009 her husband and partner in Celer has been releasing some of her work as that alias.

 

 

Yeah I remember stumbling upon Chubby Wolf on lastfm, around the same time I found out about Celer and others via Ctatsu tapes. Her death was quite a shock when I read about it, and I can't imagine being in the same position as her partner without feeling very sad, being in a relationship like that myself with my wife/partner.

  On 7/1/2015 at 3:13 PM, xf said:

i've never been able to articulate exactly why this is the case. i'm sure it's something to do with the ambiguity of familiar sounds causing associative memories/emotions to be triggered, but that's about as close as i get without starting to yammer off into nonsensical trife. anybody got any theories on this?

 

its both with me, though most of this music I'd call "melancholy" ambient / drone in my case since I always associate dark ambient with guys like Lustmord (who is good but someone I wouldn't actively listen to as often) a lot of dark ambient / drone metal / noise / etc. for me is usually more impactful live or when the physical wall of sound is a big part of the listening experience...there's a local band called thousand foot whale claw that has an awesome live show - one time I saw them they literally had 3 or 4 synths that they gradually detuned and/or pitch-shifted down into this gradual and tremendous closure to a drone piece they were doing

 

anyway it's funny because much like electronic music in general, I didn't actively seek out such music as a kid through my late teenage years, but incidental exposure to "ambient" or classical music that was ambient in nature music happened a lot and in hindsight some of my favorite music shaped my taste later on... stuff like Eno's bits on U2's Joshua Tree, or the instrumental pipe organ music I'd hear in church before service started, or bits of music childrens film soundtracks by Horner and John Williams. with electronic music it was often the synth bits in classic rock songs that I loved most.

 

but yeah, it's kind of a "chicken or egg" question for me - nostalgia or the music itself? it's a bit of a circular answer I guess

 

three songs I love with similar vibes, upbeat but kind of melancholy, or at the very least reflective

 

heard this in 1992, when I was 6

 

heard this 12 years later

 

heard this in 20 years later

Edited July 5, 2015 by joshuatx

joachem paap's masterpieces:

 

endlessly beautiful, timeless a la saw2

 

dark dark introspective

 

speedy j, come back to ambient plz!

Keep em coming

 

A British artist who deserves a few further references here is Andrew Liles. The bloke has an insanely intuitive grasp for producing sounds that intrigue, disturb and charm in equal measure. Stacks of superb material from collaborations with Steven Stapleton's NWW & has added another layer of audio wtf to some of Current 93's more recent releases. I've been buying his records for aeons and yet the array of side projects and ltd vinyl editions are a whole universe of sounds to be explored..... def worth a hunt as a lot of his harder to find/pricier vinyl catalog is now available via digi formats

 

1st track takes a min to get going, but then.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

couple more

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90hJ8ozO2sw

last 1 for tonight, wee clip from an in-store event at Rough Trade, with classical singer Ernesto Tomasini bringing the vocal weirdness/presence

 

(apologies for u-tub quality)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WILj-Yv1EEc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lMj4B5UyKc

  On 7/5/2015 at 11:41 AM, Freak of the week said:

Many great stuff mentioned in this thread. I still think that Throbbing Gristle made the darkest music ever.

Very true, I still think Throbbing Gristle is perhaps the darkest band to have walked the earth, darker than the most extreme black metal band you can think of, mainly because they pulled off a sort of psychological horror than makes your hair stand on end, the most otherwordly, disturbing expression of pure insanity and raw emotion ever conveyed. TG were like a insane, tripped-out dark carnival, a freak-show circus of sorts, exploring the kind of ominous emotions that no other musical act has been brave enough to tap into.

Hamburger Lady is a great one, I also recommend Very Friendly (based on infamous UK murderers Ian Bradey and Myra Hindley):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghR5XXi4QGw

the Zyklon B Zombie single, their first ever release:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy3FTt8lCyk

as well as all of Heathen Earth, my personal favorite of their albums, the first track of which always throws me into some sort of weird evil Alice-in-Wonderland-type headspace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81xHcMZcCpo

 

I would also recommend reading this very interesting story I found about a woman who had sex on acid and DMT while listening to Throbbing Gristle:

https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=9473

 

  On 7/3/2015 at 8:20 AM, cwmbrancity said:

 

  On 7/3/2015 at 5:45 AM, willochill said:

Good to know there's another RHK fan on this forum

 

Fuckin LOVE Kirk, Sheffield's finest & such a contrast to Manchester. Def the real genius behind Cabaret Voltaire. The man's influence on British electronic music (and music in general) is painfully neglected. Tunes-wise your ears are spoiled for choice; the warped as fuck funk of Voice Of America, the utter headfuck of Disposable Half-Truths.....eg:

 

 

Very nice stuff mentioned in this post, Disposable Half-Truths is one of my favorite albums actually:

 

Datacrime is also dark and wicked:

how about shroomdot micro3 from the afx soundclown, that's the dankest pooped my pants ambient i heard in a long time

its the paranoia of Kirk thats fun, cos the bloke has the imagination to back it up and not just rely on dissonant abrasive sequences

 

Obsession snakes and crackles along like an old ghost

 

 

Wait & Shuffle is almost d&b from 1982:

 

 

and Slugging For Jesus reminds me of amphetamines, acid & cheap cider plus you wont hear a better piss-take of tv evangelism

 

 

 

TG's Hamburger Lady is pure heaviness. During a period recovering in hospital from a car wreck not so long ago, it kept oozing into my mind. Every time I looked in the mirror to check how the scarring was doing or especially when the cleaners & their pulsing hoover things did the rounds....... "Hamburgerrr Layyydeeeeeee......"

halve maen by double leopards is a dark ambient and drone classic. way out there and mysterious.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8IQZ3BJhRs

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJXp_DXG6U