Hey y’all, I’m Josh. I worked at Pure Pop a couple of years back, right around the time Sue Norton was packing up for NYC. As was the case with Sue and Casey, the time I spent in that dingy basement broadened and refined my musical knowledge more than I ever would’ve expected. It seemed like I was constantly discovering some new, mind-blowing album through one of my co-workers or a Pure Pop patron, and I’ve got nothing but love for the place because of it.
These days I’m involved in a few different music projects, which are all tied to Aether Everywhere, the experimental label and online resource I help to run with Pure Pop lifer, Tanner McCuin, and the drumtastic leader of The Le Duo, JB Ledoux. Feel free to check out the website, which has been lovingly constructed by Tanner, and join the discussion forums for music updates and general shenanigans. www.aethereverywhere.com
I’ve been asked to write about a few ambient and drone albums I feel deserve some recognition. If you’re reading this, then you’re probably already familiar with the highlights of these genres, like Brian Eno’s ambient releases, Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works, Vol II, Biosphere’s Substrata, and Stars of the Lid’s The Tired Sounds… (and if you’re not, get on ‘em!), so I’m providing a chronological list of seven albums you may not be aware of, but are definitely worthy of your attention.
1) Klaus Schulze – Irrlicht
(Ohr; 1972)
Cosmic drones from Ash Ra Tempel and Tangerine Dream ex-member, Klaus Schulze. Using an organ, electronic effects, and a heavily-processed orchestra, Schulz created three colossal monsters that catapult you into the deepest recesses of space. Sharing many attributes with Tangerine Dream’s masterstroke, Zeit, any lover of early ‘70s German music has a gaping hole in his/her album collection without this one.
2) Tetsu Inoue – Ambiant Otaku
(Fax; 1994)
Relatively unknown, but highly touted by hardcore ambient fans, Inoue has been producing a steady stream of quality albums over the past couple of decades. One of his biggest fans, John Zorn, has released several of his servings on the awesome Tzadik label. Ambiant Otaku is most often cited as Inoue’s masterpiece, as well as one of the genre’s landmarks, and for good reason. Equally delicate and heady (which isn’t easy to pull off), you could easily spend weeks with this and his slightly darker offering, Organic Cloud, which was released a year later.
3) Pete Namlook – Air II
(Instinct Record; 1994)
Despite the fact that he’s released more than 100 albums, founded the venerable German ambient label, Fax, and collaborated with the likes of Klaus Schulze, Bill Laswell, Biosphere, Richie Hawtin, and Higher Intelligence Agency (to name a few), not many people seem to know much about Pete Namlook. I haven’t even begun to put a dent in his massive discography, but from what I’ve heard so far, Air II stands above the rest. Namlook deftly mixed shimmering synth pads, a barrage of exotic instruments, and plenty of interesting rhythms to create 11 pieces that work wonderfully as a unified whole, and take on almost a gothy feel in some spots. It remains one of those albums that always seems to find its way back to my ears before too long, and it’s usually one of the first to spring to mind when I’m asked to recommend an awesome album.
4) Thomas Koner – Nuuk:
(Big Cat Records; 1997)
Dark ambient really doesn’t get any better than this. Koner, who’s one half of Chain Reaction alum Porter Ricks, created a stunning album that perpetually evokes the barren, frozen landscapes of Greenland. Here’s a link to the Dusted review of Nuuk’s 2004 reissue, seeing as how it was penned by another Ghost of Pure Pop Past and all.
5) Hazard – Wind
(Ash International; 2001)
B.J. Nilsen, aka Hazard, hit a roadblock while trying to effectively capture the sounds of the wind, so he did one better by borrowing sound clips from field recording maestro Chris Watson. He then subjected these recordings to extensive digital processing and came out the other side with drones harrowing enough to recall Eno’s On Land. Highly textural and trippy as hell, this one’s not nearly as academic as it sounds on paper.
6) Christopher Bissonnette – Periphery
(Kranky; 2005)
For Periphery, sound artist Christopher Bissonnette weaved together snippets of piano and orchestral samples and stretched them into the unrecognizable, leaving only a ghostly blur where the source material once was. Bissonnette’s skillful patchwork summoned the sounds of barnacle-encrusted pianos and violins sighing from the recesses of an arctic sea, getting swept up by the currents, and gently floating back down to the ocean floor.
7) Lusine ICL – Language Barrier:
(Hymen; 2007)
I can’t stress enough that you should give this one at least five loud headphone spins before you make any decisions. All of the parts that initially sound elementary become deeply resonant and flat-out gorgeous with each subsequent play. Ambient or not, this is the perfect album to cue up when you’re taking a mellow drive on a sunny autumn day. Or to put it another way, if you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to hear The Field’s Sublime sounds on a morphine drip, skip right to track 3 and press play.
