In recent years, ambient music has become less scene-oriented, and its audience has developed into a more scattered listenership. Ambient pieces are being crafted by rock bands, laptop composers and, of course, Eno-esque studio veterans.

Biosphere - Tombant

The early nineties were a pivotal period for ambient music. Names like The Future Sound of London, Global Communication and Pete Namlook perhaps gave the genre its biggest audience in history. And while most of these figures’ records haven’t aged all that well, Tromso, Norway’s Geir Jenssen (aka Biosphere) has managed to stay active and relevant ever since his 1992 debut, Microgravity. While Jenssen’s early releases can be nestled contently beside other ambient records of that time, he later traded the skittering, echo-laden percussion and looping synth phrases with eerily serene, beatless atmospherics. Jenssen’s 1997 opus Substrata has been regarded by some as the best ambient record of all time, trouncing even celebrated classics like Music for Airports, Apollo and On Land. “Tombant,” which is culled from last year’s Cirque LP, continues the Arctic-inspired equanimity of Substrata while exercising a more barebones song structure. Jenssen’s forthcoming album Dropsonde will hit shelves in late September.

[buy stuff here]

Chib - Soo

The soft, unpredictable tracks of Tokyo-based producer Yukiko Chiba (aka Chib) are certainly not the most conventional examples of ambient music. However, Chiba clearly has a knack for a sparse, spare placement of samples and awkward-yet-appealing melodics, values upon which ambient music was founded. The bizarre “Soo” is just as dumbfounding as its title. Sample-based keys and pads hiccup, honk and chirp along in a seemingly tempoless fashion. The rest of Chiba’s exceptional 2004 debut mini LP, Moco, which clocks in at just under 30 minutes, follows in this eccentric pattern. There’s no current info as to whether or not she’ll be releasing anything soon, but fingers crossed.

[buy stuff here]

Efterklang - Antitech

“Antitech” is lifted from this Danish post-rock ensemble’s 2003 Springer EP. The initial pressing saw a mere 500 copies. Leaf has been kind enough to reissue this obscure gem in the wake of Efterklang’s 2004 full length debut, Tipper. While most ambient music these days is crafted by solo artists, it’s refreshing to hear what a full, thorough sound this eight piece outfit is capable of. Sometimes jazzy, sometimes atmospheric, “Antitech” is an evolving piece heavy on both electronics and live instrumentation. The beat is present, but it’s entirely inconspicuous and unobtrusive. Vocals are introduced towards the end of the seven-minute-plus oeuvre, but they too are gentle, harmless and welcome.

[buy stuff here]

Logreybeam - thisTormentAndThought

Perhaps best known as one half of Yasume, a duo whose full length, Where We’re From the Birds Sing a Pretty Song, dropped on City Centre Offices in 2003, Gabe Morley (aka Logreybeam) fashions a semi-beatless, post-IDM palette of ambience somewhere between the work of Christian Fennesz and the abovementioned Geir Jenssen. Morley’s solo debut was peddled by the UK-based Type imprint and hit shelves last September. “thisTormentAndThought” didn’t make it onto the album’s track list, but its tranquil nature juxtaposed by a certain ghostly apprehension would have made it a welcome addition. At just under the two-minute mark, it’s a refreshing contradiction to the age-old standard of the overly lengthy ambient track. Sometimes it’s just better when a composer introduces the environment at hand and moves forward rather than insisting we bask in it for half an hour. For the time being, you’ll only hear “thisTormentAndThought” here on Stylus.

[buy stuff here]