In this section, we introduce little-known, but remarkable finds from the world of ambient. Many of the releases we're exploring here aren't even available on most streaming platforms. We intentionally don’t limit ourselves to any specific genre or time. Our goal is to help ambient fans and music lovers find unique underrated records for their collection or just to have a good time.
Keys for Eclipse – Downpour
Label: Élan Vital (Macedonia), 2020
Format: digital, cassette, CD
Keys for Eclipse is the musical project by Jacob Anthony from Aberdeen, Scotland. Jacob prefers to maintain a certain aura of mystery around him by not revealing anything about himself on social media and not even showing his photos. So all we can know about him is his music.
The description for this release on Bandcamp states that the author was also inspired by Akira Yamaoka's work on the Silent Hill franchise, but this album can hardly be called sinister or frightening, and even more so attributed to the dark ambient genre, although there are still some light disturbing dissonances. When listening to Downpour, you may notice a slight feeling of longing and some strange nostalgia, as if you vaguely remember something that you either saw in a dream long time ago, you imagined, or happened to you in a past life.
Ghost Shift – Silver Lake
Label: Hush Hush Records (USA), 2020
Genre, style: #ambient
Format: digital
Ronnie Neeley is an artist from Rochester, Minnesota who has released only one album under the pseudonym Ghost Shift. He admits that he did not plan to release it at all, but rather composed it only for himself as a reflection of his own experience. But fate decreed that the album had to be heard.
The compositionally mature release Silver Lake is a cathartic and intimate sonic journey. “I’m not used to writing such minimal music, this album was an exercise in restraint”, says Ronnie. This music is about the search for inner happiness, a musical diary in which the artist reflects on individual growing, acceptance of himself and those around him, about finding peace and harmony through the contemplation of nature.
Pandelindio – Undisco
Label: Makrame Records (Spain), 2012
Format: digital, cassette, CD
Pandelindio is an Argentinian band that performs acoustic ambient folk and drone, playing instruments from all over the world: Indian tanpura and shruti box, Australian didgeridoo, Japanese koto, African kalimba, various flutes and so on. Pandelindio is composed of three artists: Corina Inveninato, Federico Fossati and Pablo Picco, each of whom also performs in other musical bands.
Pandelindio's music can be called pan-ethnic because of its extraordinary combination of timbres, it sounds very authentic and modern at the same time. Guillermo Ricci called their style ritual minimalism, which quite accurately reflects the hypnotic, almost magical effect that the album has on the listener.
Please share your impressions of these releases in the comments down below and feel free to suggest albums for our next reviews. Reviewed by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)
Edited by Iuliia Rychkova
More surreal ambient music in our Spotify playlist
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