July Ambience
What I mostly listened to in July, ranked by numbers of plays (per Plexamp) and with a short blurb if a review is not available.
- Terry Allen - Lubbock (On Everything). Essential cosmic country/outlaw country from the Seventies.
- Laura Agnusdei - Flowers are blooming in Antarctica. Is this Jazz? Is this ambient? I have no idea but what I do know is that this album is simply stunning. Another essential release.
- Joshua Abrams - Music for life itself and The Interrupters. Loopy and laid back Jazz that only Joshua Abrams can deliver. For come downs and Sunday mornings.
- Dead Neanderthals - Other Worlds. A complete departure for this jazz/metal/drone/noise band. Think Neu and you will know what this sounds like. Exceptional.
- Pan American and Kramer - Interior of an Edifice under the sea. The kind of sonic adventure/ambient that you want to go on forever. Essential.
- SUSS - SUSS. A fantastic overview of what SUSS was and where they are going. Cosmic ambient country sans vocals.
- Jef Martens - Orchid Alto. An exploration of the taishogoto, a Japanese stringed instrument. The end results are otherworldly and resonance filled.
- Relatively Clean Rivers - S/T. Managed to track down a bootleg CD of this. Fantastic private press psych/cosmic country from the seventies.
- Can - Tago Mago. Released in 1971 and is still challenging and pushing the envelope. Bands like Radiohead owe them a debt.
- Can - Future Days. A more ambient, psychedelic and put together Can. Released in 1973 and still feels modern.
- Andrew Chalk - Dreams: Scenes I - XV. Ambient that only Andrew Chalk can do. If you know Andrew Chalk then you know this is worth getting (as is everything). And if you don't, start exploring.
- Drew McDowall - A thread, silvered and trembling. The heir apparent to the musical explorations that Coil were pursuing in their final phase. Essential for all who enjoy the esoteric and Moon Musick.
Photo by Daniel De Los Santos, Mardi Gras - Galveston TX