Ambient Music
Feb 8, 2016 at 11:18 AM Post #18 of 1,495
As a general question, how do you all find new dark ambient music (other than reading forum threads such as this one)?  I am new to the dark ambient genre and really like what I have heard so far, but I'm wondering how to go about finding new music given that this seems to be a very niche genre. 
 
So far I have identified a couple labels that produce a lot of what I like: Cyclic Law and Cryo Chamber, so going to these labels' websites has allowed me to discover new artists.  Some of the artists mentioned in this thread don't seem to be on a label, however.  One example would be Noctilucant.  How does one go about discovering these artists?  Is there a dark ambient blog, website, or live stream that you use to find new artists?
 
Feb 8, 2016 at 11:55 AM Post #19 of 1,495
  As a general question, how do you all find new dark ambient music (other than reading forum threads such as this one)?  I am new to the dark ambient genre and really like what I have heard so far, but I'm wondering how to go about finding new music given that this seems to be a very niche genre. 
 
So far I have identified a couple labels that produce a lot of what I like: Cyclic Law and Cryo Chamber, so going to these labels' websites has allowed me to discover new artists.  Some of the artists mentioned in this thread don't seem to be on a label, however.  One example would be Noctilucant.  How does one go about discovering these artists?  Is there a dark ambient blog, website, or live stream that you use to find new artists?

My introduction to dark ambient was also through Cryo Chamber. I've just been going through bandcamp looking for more music. Usually i'll look at the people who have purchased music from Cryo Chamber and see what else is in their collection. If i like what i see, i'll follow that person. As for Noctilucant, i found his music through the Ambient Online website:
 
http://www.ambientonline.org/
 
Usually members will post in the "Members releases" forum saying they have released new material either via bandcamp or soundcloud.
 
There are some youtubers who post mixes as well and i've linked one below:
 
https://www.youtube.com/user/jonnie13black/videos
 
There are probably a lot more, but bandcamp has been my go to for the past 8 months.
 
I was also able to find playlists on Spotify for dark ambient, some better than others.
 
What are you currently listening to?
 
Feb 8, 2016 at 2:16 PM Post #20 of 1,495
 
  As a general question, how do you all find new dark ambient music (other than reading forum threads such as this one)?  I am new to the dark ambient genre and really like what I have heard so far, but I'm wondering how to go about finding new music given that this seems to be a very niche genre. 
 
So far I have identified a couple labels that produce a lot of what I like: Cyclic Law and Cryo Chamber, so going to these labels' websites has allowed me to discover new artists.  Some of the artists mentioned in this thread don't seem to be on a label, however.  One example would be Noctilucant.  How does one go about discovering these artists?  Is there a dark ambient blog, website, or live stream that you use to find new artists?

My introduction to dark ambient was also through Cryo Chamber. I've just been going through bandcamp looking for more music. Usually i'll look at the people who have purchased music from Cryo Chamber and see what else is in their collection. If i like what i see, i'll follow that person. […]

What Kundi said. Bandcamp is a great source of contemporary music, especially of the niche variety. I would recommend Bandcamp's Discover feature and selecting ambient. You can even narrow down the search to more specific sub-genres like dark ambient, drone, etc. Click the link below to get started.
 
https://bandcamp.com/?g=ambient&s=top&p=0&gn=0&f=all&w=0#discover
 
I do a lot of what Kundi does and look at the collections of the people who have purchased albums that I like. Some people have exceptional taste and finding such collections is a true gold mine.
 

 

Dirty Knobs - The Hermit Seeks the Stillness
https://zacbentz.bandcamp.com/album/the-hermit-seeks-the-stillness
 
My most listened album last year.
 
Feb 8, 2016 at 4:38 PM Post #22 of 1,495
  My introduction to dark ambient was also through Cryo Chamber. I've just been going through bandcamp looking for more music. Usually i'll look at the people who have purchased music from Cryo Chamber and see what else is in their collection. If i like what i see, i'll follow that person. As for Noctilucant, i found his music through the Ambient Online website:
 
http://www.ambientonline.org/
 
Usually members will post in the "Members releases" forum saying they have released new material either via bandcamp or soundcloud.
 
There are some youtubers who post mixes as well and i've linked one below:
 
https://www.youtube.com/user/jonnie13black/videos
 
There are probably a lot more, but bandcamp has been my go to for the past 8 months.
 
I was also able to find playlists on Spotify for dark ambient, some better than others.
 
What are you currently listening to?

 
Thanks, those are good resources.  To answer your question "What are you currently listening to?", here are some of the artists I have listened to and my impressions so far:
 
Kammarheit - this is probably my favorite dark ambient artist so far, with "The Starwheel" being my favorite album.
 
Northaunt - this is another one of my favorites, with "Istid I-II" being better than "Horizons".
 
Sleep Research Facility - I like "Nostromo" and "Deep Frieze", but not "Stealth".
 
Atrium Carceri - I have listened to a few of their albums but so far have not liked them because a lot of their songs have a beat, which I don't really like in dark ambient music.
 
Desiderii Marginis - Similar to Atrium Carceri, I have listened to a couple albums but didn't like some of the songs because they have a beat.
 
Lustmord - I have listened to "Heresy", "The Place Where the Black Stars Hang", and "The Word as Power"; overall I like them, although I don't like all of the loud effects added to "Heresy".
 
Raison D'Etre - I have listened to "When the Earth Dissolves in Ashes"; similar to Lustmord I think they overdo the loud sound effects on a lot of the songs.
 
Cities Last Broadcast - I liked "The Cancelled Earth".
 
False Mirror - I liked "Derelict World".
 
I have also listened to a lot of artists I found just browsing the Cryo Chamber website: God Body Disconnect, Sabled Sun, Dronny Darko, and others.  I've also found a few more from searching these forums and looking at the recommendations that pop up on Amazon when searching for any of the above albums.
 
I've been trying to sample a wide range of artists just to see what's out there.  I'll pick an album at random and then if I like it, I'll try another album by the same artist.  Otherwise I'll move on to a different artist.
 
Finally I should also add a link to the artist that got me started looking for dark ambient music in the first place:
 
https://aubreyhodges.bandcamp.com/
 
I played PSX doom as a kid back in the mid-90's and that was my first exposure to "dark ambient" music.  I thought the dark ambient soundtrack gave the PSX version of the game a much creepier feel compared to the PC version.  I'm not sure that the game would still be considered scary today, but it definitely creeped me out back then.  It wasn't until very recently that I had an urge to listen to that soundtrack again and wondered if it was available online.  I found the Doom bandcamp page above and then wondered if there was other music like that, which led me to the dark ambient genre.
 
 
 
A few general trends I'm noticing:
 
1. I don't like dark ambient with a beat
2. I don't like it when they use a lot of sudden loud noises; some might be using it to create a darker atmosphere, but I think the best is when the sound effects are softer, more subtle, and create a general feeling of dread/unease/mystery that leaves you wondering what their source might be.
3. A lot of this music seems to sound very similar.  I suppose that's not necessarily different than many other genres of music, but creating new/original dark ambient music seems like it would be very challenging given that it needs to be different while still remaining subtle (see point 2).  I just hope there's a lot more to discover than the handful of albums I listed above.  I often find myself thinking "this sounds very similar to X", and it's hard to justify buying two albums from two completely different artists when they sound very similar.
4. I found a couple dark ambient subreddits but they don't seem to get much activity.  The head-fi music forum seems to be more active in that regard.
 
Feb 8, 2016 at 6:32 PM Post #23 of 1,495
Some selections from 12k.
 

Marsen Jules - The Endless Change of Colour
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-endless-change-of-colour
 

Ryuichi Sakamoto, Illuha & Taylor Deupree - Perpetual
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual
 

Illuha - Akari
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/akari
 

Steinbrüchel - Parallel Landscapes
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-landscapes
 

Steve Peters & Steve Roden - Not a Leaf Remains as It Was
https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/not-a-leaf-remains-as-it-was
 
Feb 10, 2016 at 7:10 PM Post #24 of 1,495
Hey all, new-ish to head-fi here.
 
One way I like to find Ambient/Drone stuff is by listening to SomaFM.com.  If you can stand 128kbps (seems to be fine for this kind of stuff, to my uneducated ears), they have at least two great stations -- The "Drone Zone" and "Deep Space One".  There are a couple of other ambient-tech like stations that are also good (like Space Station Soma), although not pure ambient.
 
I figure most people know about SomaFM but just wanted to throw this out there in case someone didn't.
 
Feb 10, 2016 at 10:57 PM Post #26 of 1,495
  Hey all, new-ish to head-fi here.
 
One way I like to find Ambient/Drone stuff is by listening to SomaFM.com.  If you can stand 128kbps (seems to be fine for this kind of stuff, to my uneducated ears), they have at least two great stations -- The "Drone Zone" and "Deep Space One".  There are a couple of other ambient-tech like stations that are also good (like Space Station Soma), although not pure ambient.
 
I figure most people know about SomaFM but just wanted to throw this out there in case someone didn't.


Thanks for the recommendation, I didn't know about SomaFM.
 
Is it true that 128 kbps is indistinguishable from 320 kbps for ambient music, and/or that the bitrate matters less for this type of music?  That's a test I've been meaning to do but haven't tried yet.
 
Feb 12, 2016 at 10:30 AM Post #27 of 1,495

t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 - 信仰
https://telepathtelepath.bandcamp.com/album/--30
 
One of my favorite releases from 2015 and a free download to boot.
 
Feb 16, 2016 at 3:41 AM Post #29 of 1,495

Black Swan - Tone Poetry
https://blackswan.bandcamp.com/album/tone-poetry-2014
 
I love this album.
 

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