Ambient & drone
5 records5 artists
Ambient and drone: records built on texture, duration and space rather than rhythm. Long tones and minimal ambient, dark and ritual ambient, electroacoustic music and musique concrète: tape, field recordings, modular synthesis and slow harmonic change.
The roots run from Brian Eno's ambient records and the long tones of La Monte Young and Éliane Radigue back to Pierre Schaeffer and the Paris studio that became the GRM, where musique concrète first treated recorded sound as material. Later came the dark and isolationist ambient of Lustmord, the Kranky and Touch catalogues, William Basinski's decaying tape loops, the hauntology of Ghost Box and The Caretaker, and a new generation working with modular synthesisers and field recordings.
What we look for: records that reward attention, where a single sound is allowed to change slowly and where place, memory or process can be heard. We file here drone and minimal ambient, dark and ritual ambient, most electroacoustic and field-recording work, and beatless modular music. When a drone record leans on distortion and weight rather than space, it usually goes under Noise & power electronics instead.
New ambient & drone records
- 02.10 Maria W Horn — Melting Pillars of SnowA chamber ensemble, algorithmic synthesis, and guest narration from Michael Gira: Maria W Horn’s Melting Pillars of Snow arrives today via XKatedral. The full-length is available digitally and as a 200-copy Bandcamp-exclusive white vinyl edition housed in printed sleeves.Play via Bandcamp: Maria W Horn — Melting Pillars of Snow Details: Maria W Horn — Melting Pillars of Snow
- 01.10 Saint Abdullah & Eomac — When The Sandbox Has No EdgeSeventeen tracks featuring contributions from Armand Hammer, Richie Culver, and Che Chen: Saint Abdullah & Eomac’s fifth collaborative album, When The Sandbox Has No Edge, is available for pre-order ahead of its October 16 release on double black vinyl LP and digital formats.Play via Bandcamp: Saint Abdullah & Eomac — When The Sandbox Has No Edge Details: Saint Abdullah & Eomac — When The Sandbox Has No Edge
- 01.10Deep cutAcronym — MalmPlay via Bandcamp: Acronym — MalmRead: Acronym — Malm
- 01.10 Kali Malone — Burning SongRecorded at Leipzig’s historic Thomaskirche, Kali Malone’s Burning Song arrives via Ideologic Organ. The album is currently up for pre-order ahead of its October 30 digital release, with physical formats, including CD, standard black vinyl, and a limited 500-copy pink marble LP, all complete with a poster, shipping around November 13.Play via Bandcamp: Kali Malone — Burning Song Details: Kali Malone — Burning Song
- 27.09 Alessandro Cortini — MemorieMemorie 1 and 2, finally as one. Alessandro Cortini's pieces for the EMS Synthi AKS reach vinyl for the first time via Katalog, out since August 28 and also available digitally.Play via Bandcamp: Alessandro Cortini — Memorie Details: Alessandro Cortini — Memorie
Live: ambient & drone artists on stage
- Kali Malone Berner Münster, Bern (CH) Details: Kali Malone at Berner Münster, SUN 11.10
- Saint Abdullah & Eomac Volumens, Valencia (ES) Details: Saint Abdullah & Eomac at Volumens, TUE 13.10
- Saint Abdullah & Eomac 16 Toneladas, Valencia (ES) Details: Saint Abdullah & Eomac at 16 Toneladas, SAT 17.10
- Kali Malone City Hall of Stockholm, Stockholm (SE) Details: Kali Malone at City Hall of Stockholm, SUN 22.11
- Alessandro Cortini Verdi Teatro, Genoa (IT) Details: Alessandro Cortini at Verdi Teatro, FRI 27.11
Dates can change: check the official page before you go.
Artists and labels
Acronym · Alessandro Cortini · Kali Malone · Maria W. Horn · Saint Abdullah & Eomac · XKatedral · Planet Mu · Field Records · Ideologic Organ · Katalog