Link: Christina Vantzou’s Official Site

The beautiful wraparound cover art of Vantzou’s kranky debut.  A presumably lovely woman bent at the waist, amidst dense foliage (location unknown and therefore anywhere), and the photo is taken in a way we find eerie and familiar, as though we’re remembering the time from a dream. Are we in love with the woman?  Why does she bend down to plunge her hands into the undergrowth? The type on the sleeve is so delicate: does it represent the opening credits to a film we have just begun watching?  Is the film in progress, and have we stumbled upon a critical scene? Is the sleeve imagery gently faded to suggest that the scene is beginning, fading in, or ending, fading out?

This cover art identifies the album as part of an imaginary music scene—a scene inhabited by artists like Deaf Center, Liz Harris, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Goldmund, the Miasmah label, and spectral others.  How can we identify this scene by its sound?  Its sound embodies our subconscious’s slow-motion, half-remembered honeyed relics, all contained in the strange zone of our dreams (these are the hidden lands within).

When I hear the long tones of neo-classical drone music in films, I think, “Something big is happening, something internal, a slow realization.” I’m a deeply flawed viewer: when these things happen in movies, I always miss the meaning.  “I know that was a big deal,” I think, “or they would not have used that music at that moment.  In movies, nothing is done without a reason.”  Sometimes I’ll bother to do research later; it’s so easy to find terrific writings online about films, any film you can name. “What a brilliant thing,” I think, “and I hadn’t imagined it was happening until I read this article.” Other times, the thing I saw wasn’t very brilliant at all—it was just my mind adding things to it.  No matter, all fine, all valid. It doesn’t need to have a meaning, it doesn’t have to signify anything.

Vantzou scores these vapory moments on No. 1.  For the better part of an hour something big is happening inside, or so the music says.  Inside the sleeve, Vantzou—one half of The Dead Texan with Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie, who, together, created one of the greatest ambient albums of the last decade—is photographed wearing a lovely black dress and a smile, near a brick wall.  Difficult to tell if she is rising in the air, falling to the ground, or stationed on earth.

The Quiet Sounds 33: Now You Can Let Go

As the leaves tumble …

Tracklist:

1. “As I Drift Off” by Eluvium from When I Live by the Garden and the Sea (Temporary Residence)
2. “Firelight Compliant” by The Fun Years from Why We’re All Below Average (self-released)
3. “Burn Me Out from the Inside” by The Sight Below from It All Falls Apart (SMM/Ghostly)
4. “First Light: Shimmer of Gulls” by Ben Fleury-Steiner from Keep a Weather Eye Open (Infraction)
5. “Wipe” by Philip Jeck from 7 (Touch)
6. “11 Generations of My Fathers” by Christina Vantzou from SMM: Context (SMM/Ghostly)
7. “Abyss” by Fennesz + Sakamoto from Cendre (Touch)
8. “For the Self-Medicating” by Adam Pacione from Delayed, Vol. 6 (self-released)
9. “Circles III” by Daizok from Autumn Scenes (Install)
10. “Nineteen” by Pillowdiver from Sleeping Pills (12K)
11. “Retuned Minor” by Brian Grainger from Eight Thousander (Attack 9)
12. “7″ by Eluder from Rituals (Install)
13. “Statuit” by Kyle Bobby Dunn from Ways of Meaning (Desire Path Recordings)
14. “Part 2″ (edit) by Celer from Engaged Touches (Home Normal)

The Quiet Sounds 32: Vocal Motion
If it has vocals, is it ambient?

Tracklist:

1. “Plectrum” by Twine from Twine (Ghostly International)
2. “Ruby-Ha” by Seefeel from Succour (Warp)
3. “Murk” by Transient Waves from Transient Waves (Che/i)
4. “Mary, On the Wall” by Grouper from A | A: Alien Observer (Yellow Electric)
5. “There Was No More Time” by Sara Ayers from Echoes of Polyhymnia (Hypnos)
6. “XVLA” by Lovesliescrushing from Chorus (Automatic Entertainment/Line)
7. “Walking and Falling” by Laurie Anderson from Big Science (Elektra/Nonesuch)
8. “Incense of Voice” by Sawako from Hum (12K)
9. “Azukiiro No Kaori” by Susumu Yokota from Sakura (Leaf)
10. “See-Through by Arthur Russell from World of Echo (Audika)
11. “Cherry Coloured Funk” (Mark Clifford remix) by Cocteau Twins from Otherness (Capitol)
12. “Keep Up the Good Work” by Julianna Barwick from The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
13. “Epilogue” by Soriah from Chao Organica in A Minor (Beta Lactam Ring)
14. “Lens by Lens” by David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir from Hearing Solar Winds (Ocora)
15. “From the Birds” by Jim Cole & Spectral Voices from Sky (Spectral Spiral Music)

The Quiet Sounds 31: Muy Bien in 2010

best of the year 2010 …

Tracklist:
1. Concert Silence, “Strange Footing” from Rain Furniture (Infraction)
2. Richard Pinhas, “Legend” from Metal/Crystal (Cuneiform)
3. Scott Cortez, “Part VI” from Twin Radiant Flux (Line)
4. Stellar OM Source, “Icy Eyes” from Trilogy Select (Olde English Spelling Bee)
5. Cepia, “Hype Man” from Cepia (Cepia Music)
6. Seven Fields of Aphelion, “Lake Feet” from Periphery (Graveface)
7. The Alps, “Black Mountain” from Le Voyage (Type)
8. Alio Die, “Speculum Naturae” from Tripudium Naturae (Hic Sunt Leones)
9. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, “Body Within Body” from Love Is a Stream (Type)
10. Balam Acab, “See Birds (sun)” from See Birds (Tri Angle)
11. Toro y Moi, “Freak Love” from Causers of This (Carpark)
12. Washed Out, “You’ll See It” from Life of Leisure (Mexican Summer)
13. Moon Wiring Club, “Edwardian Romance” from A Spare Tabby at the Cat’s Wedding (Gecophonic)
14. Oneohtrix Point Never, “Ouroboros” from Returnal (Editions Mego)
15. Colored Mushroom and the Medicine Rocks, “Drifts” from At Red Frosting (Wagon)
16. Alva Noto, “Argonaut-Version” from For 2 (Line)
17. Kyle Bobby Dunn, “Empty Gazing” from A Young Person’s Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn (Low Point)

Scott Cortez—Twin Radiant Flux (12k/Line)

Cortez was the mastermind behind the art-damaged beautiful noise group Lovesliescrushing in the 90s, and suffered for years in obscurity, perhaps because their music was so far ahead of its time. Now that blissed out shoegaze is back in vogue, not to mention all sorts of sandblasted ambient sound (see Jefre Cantu-Ledesma below), it appears people are finally taking notice. This year gave us the excellent collection, Girl. Echo. Suns. Veils, of older rarities and a marvelous disc of classic drones, as well as a reworked reissue of the Chorus album (also on Line thanks to the kindly intervention of Richard Chartier) from a few years back that had, like, no distro anywhere. My favorite is Twin Radiant Flux, a white-hot set of drifting dreamtones and submerged melodies. Let’s hope this prolific phase continues indefinitely.

Keith Berry—The Cartesian Plane (Elevator Bath)

Another treasured obscurity returned this year, in the form of a lovely new 12″ picture disc from Keith Berry. This is deep and austere droning of the highest caliber (think Paul Bradley or Thomas Köner) by a name that deserves to be known by a far greater audience of ambient fans. Perhaps Berry is an acquired taste, judging by the extremely minimal nature of his work. Nevertheless, the keyword with this one is: enveloping. Don’t miss.

Stellar OM Source—Trilogy Select (Olde English Spelling Bee)

2010 was the year of classic electronic music sounds reborn for a new generation of hipsters—one that takes imaginary 80s new age soundtrack music and combines it with pure kosmiche into a strangely familiar, yet wholly alien terrain. I heard great records by Oneohtrix Point Never, Dylan Ettinger, Radio People, Steve Moore, Emeralds (see below), all in this vein, and all terribly good listens. Not sure 80s new age ever sounded like this, but who cares. It’s kind of like hauntology where the artist is half-remembering something from childhood and trying to recreate the feeling. Anyway, Stellar OM Source’s Trilogy Select cobbles together tracks from three previous solo CDRs to make a record that’s like a less polished, more punk-rock Oneohtrix Point Never—in other words, completely wasted electronic music from the sulphuric acid planet. Recommended if you liked Carpenter’s soundtrack to Assault on Precinct 13 and early (think Blackdance) Klaus Schulze.

Pale Blue Sky—Shades of Grey (Arbor)

This one came as quite a suprise to me—fabulous airy ambient that reminds me of nothing less than Steve Roach’s magnificent Structures from Silence. If you’d told me this was released in 1982 on some private press new age label, I’d have believed you. No. It’s 2010. Stratospheric and elegant, I played this for days on end along with the split PBS did with Cloaked Light, also on Arbor.

David Tagg—Pentecost (Install)

One of the rare Tagg releases not on CDR or other disposable formats, this record is entirely composed of organ drones stretched and melted and reshaped. I was surprised at how frequently I found this one on the player, as it’s rather understated the first few times you listen. As you get into it though, the sound is positively HUGE, almost like the delicate cloud sculptures of William Basinski. Tagg’s work is always released in very limited forms (still looking for a copy of his excellent Waist Deep Seas of Milk myself), so don’t sleep on this one.

Concert Silence—9.22.07 (Infraction)

If you, like me, were a bit disappointed by the use of vocals on the latest Eluvium (or, worse still, put off by his gradual progression toward sickly sweet piano compositions) you might want to look out for his release under the name Concert Silence, which harks back to his earlier records like Lambent Material with a tougher, noisier edge. I thought this was perhaps the most compelling pure ambient release of the year, perhaps not a tough feat in what I felt was a relatively weak year for ambient, but still excellent work. Recommended for fans of early Stars of the Lid.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma–Love Is a Stream (Type)

Talk about shoegaze coming back in full force. Some of us (me) are still saying, “hey, it never left!” Here’s a great example of dream pop with most of the pop extracted and backfilled with crunchy noise on the order of Fennesz or perhaps the rougher side of Grouper. This record seems to me to be most indebted by recent Fennesz, but I have to admit that I’ve played this one a whole lot more than I have Black Sea, so there you are. Ledesma also released interesting work on Install (a split with David Tagg) and an excellent krautrocky throwback as part of his band The Alps, called Le Voyage, also on Type.

Emeralds—Does It Look Like I’m Here? (Editions Mego)

I guess this was the year of Emeralds. I bought so many records by them and their offshoots and solo projects, and I loved them all. Perhaps it’s because they’re so similar? Either way, nobody right now is doing music the way they are, and in such quantity. The big one this year was their Mego debut, Does It Look Like I’m Here?, and it got a lot of press in surprising places, such as the rather trendy and less-than-adventurous Pitchfork. But this does nothing to reduce the power of this amazing record, which is likely their most focused and accessible work yet. If you, like me, prefer their earlier, noisier work to the new, more melodic Vangelis-y stuff, there was plenty of that to go around, too. I also enjoyed the records that arrived to reissue out of print cassette releases by offshoots/solo projects from Mark McGuire, Outer Space, Imaginary Softwoods, Mist, and Colored Mushroom and the Medicine Rocks.

Andrew Chalk—Ghost of Nakhodka (Faraway Press)

Been a while since Andrew Chalk has appeared on one of my lists, but this record had to be included. Hard to describe this one, it’s almost like lysergic celtic elfland music to play while you read Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood. Completely entrancing. I think this appeared on cassette originally (whatever), but now it’s on CD with a monstrous opener piece that opens the door, and then several miniature Enoesque Music for Films vignettes to close things up. Fantastic music by yet another unsung master of the form.

A Young Person’s Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn (Low Point)

Had never heard of Kyle Bobby Dunn prior to this release, but he’s got my attention now. This sprawling two-CD set (apparently comprised of older material among other things) runs the gamut from austere ambient to more “symphonic” (for lack of a better descriptor) material that you might have expected from Stars of the Lid. Appropriate, then, that one of his earlier records appeared on Sedimental, same as the beloved first SotL record, Music for Nitrous Oxide. Smooth and nice, perfect late night winter listening.

Moon Wiring Club—A Spare Tabby at the Cat’s Wedding

Though I’ve followed the Ghost Box label (and, unwittingly, most of the other hauntology boffins before they had a name for it) for a while, somehow the extremely fine Moon Wiring Club eluded my notice until February of this year. No longer, as I have picked up all four of his records since then, including this one, which is brand new and available in two attractive formats with different tracks. Where I might have found some of the other Ghost Box crew “not going far enough” into the weird brambles of curious British electronic music, MWC digs deep into the BBC archives to source some completely sick samples of the kinds of curiosities only a true weirdo with an enormous collection of cult fiction would appreciate. This material is incredibly well realized, from the almost edible (and consistent) packaging and artwork, to the endless samples from dozens of radio plays and strange public TV sources. For me, this was the music I’d always hoped would exist one day, and here it is before us.

Reissues and Short Stuff

Balam Acab—”See Birds” 12″ (Tri Angle)

I don’t know what witch house is and I don’t care. It sounds a little bit like dubstep mixed with that weird shuffly southern rap beat that you hear on the radio sometimes, bass like on cough syrup. So they made up a scene of it and started some buzz, whatever, that’s how it always seems to go, since time immemorial. I picked up this interesting little 12, though, and it’s dead good. Reminds me a bit of Burial if you introduced Seefeel’s penchant for unusual texture and the vocalist from Cranes. Will definitely be on the lookout for more.

Washed Out—Life of Leisure ep (Mexican Summer)

I guess it’s the most popular thing on my list, but I played this more than any other release this year. It is “chillwave” so take it however you will. Kind of stuttery italo-disco samples and lyrics you can’t quite understand. I think I would have been gaga for this as a teen, just making out with every PYT in my way, if I’d had this record back then. I saw the guy live too and was pretty impressed by the whole thing, especially since it’s just a guy in front of some equipment dancing the night away. Nice work if you can get it.

O Yuki Conjugate—Ambiguism 1983-1987 (Vinyl on Demand)

I’d be remiss if I left this thing out, a monster 4-LP set of incredibly difficult to locate work by the original masters of ethno-tribal ambient music, O Yuki Conjugate. Tons of great music in a sumptuous box set with bonus booklets and other goodies. If you know OYC, you know what to expect.
Reminds me of a time, now long gone, when it felt like anything in music was possible.

Edward Larry Gordon—Celestial Vibration (Soul Jazz)

Who could have expected this one coming? Mr. Gordon (aka Larajji) is one of the treasures of ambient music and holy minimalism. Here’s a very welcome reissue of one of his earliest albums (earliest?) on CD—one hour of the celestial zither meditations sure to straighten out the kinks after a long day at the office. I found myself playing this one in the car a lot and appreciating the way light would bounce around as I drove through a forest on the way to work. Absolutely unmissable work.

Celer—All at Once Is What Eternity Is 3″ (Taalem)

There was a whole ton of Celer released this year, and I have to admit that most of it did not strike my fancy. A few records of extended drones, and nothing really grabbed my attention in the overwhelming landscape of ambient music today. Perhaps it is just that I have heard too much of it, I don’t know. What I did really like was this tiny gem of a 3″ CDR, released on the French label Taalem. This reminds me of the Celer albums I’ve liked in the past, such as Engaged Touches and Discourses of the Withered. As with all excellent 3″ releases, it is over far too soon for me, though I must admit that 20 minutes is quite often just the perfect amount of tantalizing ambient.

Honorable Mentions or Favorites Unrelated to the Genre

Teen Dream by Beach House (Sub Pop)
Gemini by Wild Nothing (Captured Tracks)
Keep a Weather Eye Open by Ben Fleury-Steiner (Infraction)
Liumin by Echospace (Modern Love)
The Art of Dying Alone by BVDub (Glacial Movements)
Traba by Simon Scott (Immune)
Shoals by Taylor Deupree (12K)
Before Today by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (4AD)
Returnal by Oneohtrix Point Never (Mego)
Panoramic Dreams Bathed in Seldomness by Celer (Basses Frequences)
Causers of This by Toro y Moi (Carpark)
Colored Mushroom and the Medicine Rocks (Wagon)
Mark McGuire—Off in the Distance (Cylindrical Habitat Modules)
Mist—Glowing Net ep (Amethyst Sunset)

There Has Been A Change
79.3 MB — fifty-eight minutes

codeine folk, benzo-bucolia, poignant samples … a stop-gap measure until I can get a new episode completed …

Tracklist:
1. Adam Pacione, “Soilbind Morning Glory” from A Cleansing Ascension (Elevator Bath)
2. Vince Guaraldi, “There’s Been a Change” from The Lost Cues from the “Charlie Brown” Television Specials vol. 1 (D&D)
3. Bill Nelson, “Tender Encounters (States of Grace)” from Pavilions of the Heart and Soul (Cocteau)
4. Tim Buckley, “Blue Melody” from Blue Afternoon (Straight)
5. William Basinski, “Evening Scars” from Shortwave Music (Raster Noton)
6. Harold Budd, “Saint’s Name Spoken” from By the Dawn’s Early Light (Opal)
7. Eluder, “In the End It Won’t Matter” from The Most Beautiful Blue (Infraction)
8. Matthew Robert Cooper, “Miniatures” (excerpt) from Miniatures (Gaarden)
9. Ennio Morricone, “Invenzione Per John” from Giu la Testa soundtrack
10. Deerhunter, “Tape Hiss Orchid” from Cryptograms (Kranky)
11/12. The Dead Texan, “Taco Me Manque,” “Aegina Airlines” from The Dead Texan (Kranky)
13. The Boats, “May Our Enemies Never Find Happiness” from Tomorrow Time (Moteer)
14. Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois, “Always Returning” from Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (Opal)
15. Seefeel, “Silent Pool” from Quique (Too Pure)

Innovators old and new …

Tracklist:
1. “Where Does Time Go” by Oneohtrix Point Never from Returnal (Mego) (Start time: 0:42)
2. “Powers of Audition” by Jonas Reinhardt from Powers of Audition (Kranky) (6:10)
3. “Veterano” by Harmonia from Musik von Harmonia (Brain) (10:37)
4. “Trips Through the Park” (edit) by Mark McGuire from Tidings/Amethyst Waves (Weird Forest) (14:20)
5. “Germany” by White Rainbow from Zome (States Rights Records) (21:58)
6. “Tanzmusik” by Kraftwerk from Ralf & Florian (Germanofon) (26:31)
7. “Circulus Vitiosus” by Heldon from Electronique Guerilla (Cuneiform Records) (33:08)
8. “Genetic” by Emeralds from Does It Look Like I’m Here? (Mego) (40:10)
9-10. “Growth Sequence” & “Cloud Motion” by Steve Roach from Now/Traveler (Fortuna) (58:55)
11. “Interlude (Drift)” by Pale Blue Sky from Shades of Grey (Arbor) (80:08)
12. “Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)” by Brian Eno from Ambient 4: On Land (EG) (82:10)
13. “Two Rivers” by Andrew Chalk from Ghost of Nakhodka (Siren Records) (87:17)

The eerie and whimsical sound of aged and ageless BBC electronic music and television, now with a decidedly modern (and twisted) twist by today’s strangest artists, plus one orgy. An uninterrupted mix.

Tracklist:
1. “In Your Own Time” by Moon Wiring Club from <em>Shoes Off and Chairs Away</em> (<a href=”http://www.blankworkshop.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Gecophonic</a>)
2. “Main Titles” by John Gale from <i>Dr. Phibes Rises Again!</i> soundtrack (<a href=”http://www.perseverancerecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Perseverance</a>)
3. “Rosy Retrospection” by The Caretaker from <em>Persistent Repetition of Phrases</em> (<a href=”http://www.installsound.net/” target=”_blank”>Install</a>)
4. “Melancholia VIII” by William Basinski from <em>Melancholia</em> (<a href=”http://www.mmlxii.com/” target=”_blank”>2062</a>)
5. “Grey Water” by Tor Lundvall from <em>Empty City</em> (<a href=”http://strangefortune.com/” target=”_blank”>Strange Fortune</a>)
6. “Amoeba” by Woob from <em>Woob</em> (<a href=”http://www.emit.cc/” target=”_blank”>Em:t</a>)
7. “Hotel Freund” by Black to Comm from <em>Alphabet 1968</em> (<a href=”http://www.typerecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Type</a>)
8. “Warp/Warpable” by Deathprod from <em>Nordheim Transformed</em> (<a href=”http://www.runegrammofon.com/” target=”_blank”>Rune Grammofon</a>)
9. “Ten Years or Twenty” by Moon Wiring Club from <em>Shoes Off and Chairs Away</em> (<a href=”http://www.blankworkshop.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Gecophonic</a>)
10. “The Willows” by Belbury Poly from <em>The Willows</em>  (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
11. “The New Mobility” by Belbury Poly from <em>The Owl’s Map</em>  (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
12. “Dead Eyes Opened” by Severed Heads from <em>ComMerz</em> (<a href=”http://www.ltmrecordings.com/” target=”_blank”>LTM</a>)
13. “The Devil Is in the Details” by Boards of Canada from <em>Geogaddi</em> (<a href=”http://www.warprecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Warp</a>)
14. “New Trumpets of Time” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti from <em>Lover Boy</em> (<a href=”http://www.ballbearingspinatas.com/” target=”_blank”>Ballbearings Pinatas</a>)
15. “Secret Admirer” by Freescha from <em>Head Warlock Double Stare</em> (<a href=”http://www.attacknine.com/” target=”_blank”>Attack 9</a>)
16. “My Game of Loving” by White Noise from <em>An Electric Storm</em> (Island)
17. “Salty Sun Tales” by The Focus Group from <em>We Are All Pan’s People</em> (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
18. “They Are in the Room with Us Right Now” by Roj from <em>The Transactional Dharma of Roj</em> (<a href=”http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/” target=”_blank”>Ghost Box</a>)
19. “Man” by Edward Williams from Life on Earth (<a href=”http://www.trunkrecords.com/” target=”_blank”>Trunk</a>)

… and various clippings from the BBC Sound Effects Library (Volumes 8, 15, 19), released by Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Princeton NJ.

Alva Noto—Xerrox, Vol. 2 (Raster-Noton)
An incredibly immersive album sure to appeal to fans of what we used to call glitch or microsound in olden times as well as folks who like their ambient music with meat and volume. Raster-Noton also released Atom™’s fine Kraftwerk homage, Leidgut, which almost made this list.

Papercuts—You Can Have What You Want (Gnomonsong)
I guess you could call this indie rock, but what does that even mean any more? It’s kind of similar to what Beach House are doing, though a little more on the hypnotic drone side of things. Spaced themes, plenty of reverb, and a faded-out sixties vibe. I played this one incessantly.

The Church—Untitled #23 (Second Motion)
They’re my favorite band, sure, but I wouldn’t put them on the list if I didn’t like the music (example: the execrable Shriek soundtrack they did last year). See my full review here.

Ducktails—Landscapes (Olde English Spelling Bee)
This LP-only release was a breath of fresh air to me this summer. I can’t say I’m convinced that “glo-fi” or “chillwave” is the next big thing in trendy indie music (if it is, I hope they give it a new name)—it’s just too hypnotic, and that never sells records to the kiddies, in my experience. Anyway, this had some great post-punk guitar tracks amidst Tang-Dream mandala sequencing and even some Ariel Pink inspired goodies.

Oneohtrix Point Never—Rifts (No Fun Productions)
The Russian Mind LP would have been on my list had it not been contained inside this mammoth double-CD compilation of most of the rest of the Point Never catalog. I love the new “classic” electronic music coming out right now. We who’ve been into it for years think it’s about time Schulze and Göttsching and Hoenig started getting some credit for making brain busting space drones years and years before many of us were born. Now if Steve Roach and Michael Stearns began getting some press, we’d really be going places….

Mokira—Persona (Type)
I found this album length paean to Spacemen 3 wholly bewitching. It runs the gamut from classic Fax Records style ambient, to William Basinski/Wolfgang Voigt classical loop echoes, to full-on Sonic Boom guitar phasing. This record is a classic from start to finish.

Animal Collective—Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
I know, I know, this one was everywhere, and it doesn’t need me adding to the hype. Look, I’m thirty-three years old and I was the oldest guy at their local concert last year. I did not belong amidst the robo-tripping teens and the afrobeat text-dancing. I had no idea about any of this. But I sure played the latest Animal Collective CD a lot in 2009, even if it did make me a little more “NPR” inside. I’m not positive how much real longevity this record will have, but it would have been disingenuous for me not to include it on this list.

Sleepy Town Manufacture & Unit 21—No Traces (Infraction)
This one dwells in the hinterlands of ambient, all spooky samples and Biosphere-esque imaginary landscapes for films that never were (you can also insert your own overused stock description for ambient music here). Infraction is the ambient label to watch—classic material reissued, acclaimed artists supported, new and wonderful music unearthed. They deserve your support.

Celer—Engaged Touches (Home Normal)
Celer just got better and better last year with a string of memorable ambient releases on a variety of new and interesting labels. While several of their works were great in 2009, this was undoubtedly my favorite, two thick slabs of ambient classical vignettes, sad and haunting and eternal. Unfortunately, this CD went out of print, but those who are curious to know the unique sound of Celer are directed to their other fine 2009 albums on Low Point, Slow Flow, and Sentient Recognition Archive.

Tim Hecker—An Imaginary Country (Kranky)
Tim Hecker is probably the best way to get your wayward friends into listening to ambient and electronic music. His records have a backbone and it’s a great taster for those who can’t seem to initially find interest in the harmonic tone float background music of a lot of other material. While An Imaginary Country doesn’t represent the great stylistic leap forward of Hecker’s previous album, it still proves that he’s one of today’s best in “the field”—this one’s a titanic swath of cleansing distortion that suggests impressive alien vistas.

The B12 Records Archive; (7 volume, 14 CD set on B12 Records)
I used to dream about getting this music when it was all rare 12″ vinyl back in the grand old days of Warp. Who could afford the £200 price tags on that crap? The generous B12 guys come through with a vast set of everything they ever released on the label. All fourteen CDs are essential purchases for those who love Warp’s Artificial Intelligence series, GPR, the A.R.T. stable, and the sound of Detroit techno …

Belbury Poly—From an Ancient Star (Ghost Box)
The hauntology “genre” seems to be a bit hard to pin down, though the Ghost Box label is determined as the core source for the scattered sounds of library music, Ron Grainer, 70s supernatural TV programming, original Doctor Who or The Tomorrow People, and BBC logotones. Belbury Poly are my favorite Ghost Box act and this album is perhaps their best—a zippy and fun collection of themes to British shows about psychic detectives that never were. If you grew up in the seventies and early eighties, and were a total nerd, you’ll know just want I’m talking about within a few minutes of putting From and Ancient Star on the player. You can almost see Jon Pertwee board his hovercraft …

Black Moth Super Rainbow—Eating Us (Graveface)
BMSR are hard to pigeonhole and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy their stuff so much. Too poppy to be experimental, too weird to be indie rock … it’s a little of both and not really either. There’s a decidedly Electric Company PBS vibe about what they’re doing—maybe it’s all the vocoders and patently false hippy lyrics. I think they’re a love-it or hate-it affair. Check out my last podcast and see what you think.

Adam Pacione—2009 “Still Life” 3″ series
I think the most incredible ambient music of 2009 came out of Adam Pacione’s archives this year, in the form of his fourteen volume Still Life series of 3″ CDRs. Every last one of them was good, and some were downright transcendent, like “Ending Titles.” This guy has my full attention, and if you like traditional ambient, he should have yours too.

White Rainbow—New Clouds (Kranky)
Adam Forkner was on a fake “shit list” in the back of my mind for talking a slight amount of trash about Steve Roach on his shareblog. Kids have some nerve dropping a deuce on the masters of a genre of music they owe total allegiance to, is the way I see it. It’s like those new age vs. ambient wonks going around the internet a few years back. That kind of discussion is just preposterous. Nevertheless, this latest album of four solid White Rainbow tracks is quite excellent, if perhaps a bit too indebted to Ashra here and there. It’s still a mighty fine listen, and way more new age than ambient, in a good way.

Here is part two of my best-of selection for 2009. This segment goes a little further afield into music that flirts with indie rock, techno, among other styles, but it’s still so quiet …

Tracklist:

1. “Add Infinity” by Mountains from Choral (Thrill Jockey)
Mountains have been quietly releasing albums for the last several years that sit between lovely Takoma style guitar passages and granular synth ambience that wouldn’t be out of place on 12K or Raster-Noton. Lately their stuff has become even more bucolic in nature, culminating in this year’s fine Choral album, which is as good a naturalist ambient drone record as you are likely to hear anywhere. Also worth looking out for are the fine works of fifty percent of Mountains: Koen Holtkamp.

2. “Maginot” by Benoit Pioulard from “Flocks” 7″ (Blue Flea)
I was lucky enough to see Thomas Meluch (Pioulard himself) live this year at the local Wordless Music Concert Series here in New York, where he supported bliss-out veterans Windy and Carl. Meluch himself straddles the line between atmospheric dream pop and straight ambient, and does it very well. This confection from his latest 7″ on Windy and Carl’s own label is a great example of having feet both on the ground and way out in the aether.

3. “Dopplerton” by Bibio from Vignetting the Compost (Mush)
Bibio got bad press for years as a kind of Boards of Canada copycat. This is unfair, not because it’s untrue, but because he was probably the best BoC copycat out there. Recently he’s moved in a different direction for his association with Warp Records, but not before he released this fine ambient folk record. It’s sunny and gorgeous, and, in my opinion, sounds as though he’d shorn himself of any BoC association well before Warp came knocking.

4. “Part 2″ by Grouper from live recording from All Tomorrow’s Parties (Free Music Archive)
I heard this song when Grouper played live a few months ago and wondered what the song title was. Thankfully, Free Music Archive released the entire set from another show from around the same time so I can at least possess the track, if not the title. Check out FMA for more unreleased Grouper, as well as free music by a staggering number of excellent artists.

5. “From An Ancient Star” by Belbury Poly from From an Ancient Star (Ghost Box)
Doing electronic music as if it’s 1979 is a “thing” right now, and I love it. Belbury Poly were there before a lot of other artists, with their 2004 debut, The Willows (especially notable for what appears to be a Dalek singing—and I’m talking OG Doctor Who, here). The latest might serve as a great soundtrack to Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place, but it also serves to remind of dusty Penguin paperbacks, Arthur Machen, Beaver and Krause, and strange field recordings from an old BBC nature documentary. These guys are mining the late 20th century nerd subconscious.

6. “Fields Are Breathing” by Black Moth Super Rainbow from Eating Us (Graveface)
I completely forgot to mention that I played this in the podcast, and for that I apologize. I love BMSR, who mix completely bonkers psych-rock with In Search Of … electro sensibilities. Like playing Belbury Poly on angel dust while watching a Sid and Marty Krofft broadcast? I’m running out of descriptors for this stuff, I can’t help it. Anyway, this disc came in a hairy case, and I’m a sucker for anything sung on a vocoder; so sue me.

7. “Spring” by Ducktails from Landscapes (Olde English Spelling Bee)
I used to live one NJ town over from the artist known as Ducktails, but that was likely before he was born. At the same time, I kind of get the Jersey Shore vibe he’s going for, even if he might not have been old enough to remember it as it was in the late 80s (and, according to MTV, still today). This track will likely appeal to those who enjoy Animal Collective and the like, but the rest of the record oscillates between this sort of thing and bizarro synth patterns. Chillwave? Glo-fi? C’mon.

8. “The Void” by Papercuts from You Can Have What You Want (Gnomonsong)
I have to admit I’m normally skeptical of “indie rock,” but there’s a supremely chilled-out variety going around right now (until the next temporary trend appears), and I’m really grooving on it. I watched the video for another track on this and it had all the right moves: post-apocalyptic hermits, warm and echoey organs (with help from a Beach House member, apparently), and some truly nice harmonies. Here’s the video, and the whole record is a gem, too.

9. “Quicksand” by Lotus Plaza from The Floodlight Collective (Kranky)
Speaking of indie rock, here’s the dream pop side-project of the guitarist from hipster faves Deerhunter. I like the main band, too, and the solo recordings prove this is a group of very talented guys. In my opinion, none of the music would be out of place on 4AD back in the grand old days of the label, and, coming from me, that is very high praise indeed. The Phil Spector drums are a nice touch, too.

10. “Long Way” by Parks from Hidden (Infraction)
Parks made it onto my best-of from last year with his fine Umber album, so it’s no surprise to see him here again, though I doubt it’ll be making my top-fifteen of ’09 (to come on ZapTown soon). This one is a bit different, sometimes reminding me of the euro-techno of Peter Benisch, with that distinct (and very slick) ambient sound noted on his earlier work. Vocals make their way into the mix here and there, something I normally eschew in this type of music, but they seem to work pretty well, and are not excessive or distracting. I’ll be keeping my eyes on future works from Parks—one of the distinctly interesting new “scene” of Russian ambient musicians.

11. “Lest You Forget” by BVdub from We Were the Sun (Quietus)
Brock Van Wey made a big splash with listeners this year with his sprawling White Clouds Drift On and On. While I enjoyed that album, it didn’t have the punch I was expecting, considering all the positive press I continue to hear. My initial feeling was that it was impressive only if you hadn’t heard a lot of ambient lately, and many of the tracks were far too long for their weight, not to mention terribly sweet and “emotional” with a capital E. Still nice stuff, (especially the Intrusion remix disc), but nothing earth-crumbling, especially when compared with recent work by The Sight Below and Markus Guentner, for instance. Still, the limited CDR on Quietus (sounds like outtakes from White Clouds to me), really struck me as something special, despite its similarity to the other album. This is the sweet and pretty final track from the record, and it makes a good segue to what I hope will be a sweet and pretty 2010.

Happy holidays everyone!