Thanks to the xx and Burial creating 'depth, texture and space', there's a revival in that most 90s of sounds
Beanbags, brain machines and fractal videos in clubs; the Orb playing space chess on Top Of The Pops; whale noises and the KLF's sheep bleating; T-shirts emblazoned with silver spacesuited DJ Mixmaster Morris's slogan "I THINK THEREFORE I AMBIENT". Among the many "did that really happen?" elements of early 90s raving, the popularity of ambient music ranks high.
Of course, there was a rich history of experimentation leading up to ambient's unlikely moment in the spotlight, from the new age movement's rippling meditation tapes to Brian Eno's high-class "musical wallpaper". The rave era, however, pushed ambient to the fore (even if it also engendered a sense of faint embarrassment which led to the genre quickly fading from view).
Until now, that is. The Orb's 25th anniversary coincides with them playing their biggest shows in years. Tom Middleton, of 90s ambient stars Global Communication, just played a huge show at the Jodrell Bank observatory. Boards Of Canada hit the album top 10 recently, and their Warp labelmate Oneohtrix Point Never's new album brings avant garde soundscapes to surprisingly large audiences.
And there's more. The late ambient guru Pete Namlook is to get a lavish tribute box set, featuring electronic superstars such as Richie Hawtin. Meanwhile, a stunningly beautiful compilation on the Light In The Attic label called I Am The Center showcases the outsider art of privately released new age music, while a reissue programme of music by new age/ambient oddballs such as Laraaji, Space Lady and Harold Budd gives you all the levitational sound you could ever need.
So why now? Alex Paterson of the Orb places it within electronic music's general resurgence – "Ambient is being rebranded, like EDM in the States just now," he says – but he also suggests it's part of a bigger cycle, pointing to the centenary of the Italian futurists' Art Of Noises manifesto. Tom Middleton credits young acts such as the xx, Burial and Fuck Buttons for bringing "depth, texture and space" in contrast to the bombast of EDM and pop, suggesting "we crave respite from the relentless bombardment of full-range bangs, booms, wubs and thumps."
Indeed, as Mixmaster Morris says, "ambient never went away; in fact, the amount of albums kept on increasing." And, really, ambient's influence was always there in odd niches such as folktronica, noise and the kind of arty scenes that gestated acts like Oneohtrix and co, all of which are feeding back into the current interest in abstract, beatless music. OK, it might not be time to buy shares in flotation tank centres just yet, but amid the jittery 21st-century cultural overload, ambient does sound remarkably fresh. Maybe it is time, in Paterson's words, "to march backwards into the future" again.
by Joe Muggs via Music: Electronic music | theguardian.com
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