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Ambient Related Releases (Drone, Field Recording, Neo-Classical, Experimental)


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I just thought it was a record you were supposed to experience while sleeping and didn't realize the vinyl release wasn't a box set.

 

A "listen to this while you sleep" 8-hour boxset would be both hilarious and obnoxious.  On one hand I'm iffy about owning, more or less, a fragment of the full suite... but on the other hand, there's just no way I could dedicate 8 hours to something that's intentionally supposed to accommodate sleep.  I'm very eager to hear what he has in store, though.  I predict lots of late-night browsing with the digital full-length playing in the background.  Depending on how it impacts me, I may have no problem shelling out ~$40 PPD for the abbreviated vinyl version... but as it stands, it's not atop my list of vinyl priorities.

 

Those inquiring about the Erased Tapes press of AWVFTS' self-titled – add it to your watch list on Discogs.  I just scooped up a copy for $24 PPD, imported from Germany.  The album has provided enough enjoyment for me over the years, and it felt time to own the proper press.  [Especially if it sounds as good as everyone is saying it does, compared to the Kranky press.]

 

And to tie those two paragraphs together – what are some of your favorite ambient / modern-classical albums to fall asleep to?  Obviously I don't physically spin vinyl records after I crawl into bed, but I do queue up a nice, somber listen when I'm eager to drift off.  Do you guys have any favorites that provide a good night's slumber?  Some of my favorites, in no particular order;

 

Jónsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps.  Just total bliss from the start of the first track.  I almost never make it through the first song.

Kyle Bobby Dunn – Bring Me the Head of Kyle Bobby Dunn.  Double album of 2+ hours of lush, dreamy ambient.  Pleasant to intermittently wake up to.

Hammock – The Sleepover Series, Vol. 2.  Obvious name is obvious.  Some of the drifty-est, spaciest, relaxing ambient out there.  Mmm.

Max Richter – Memoryhouse.  I almost feel guilty about dozing off with this playing because it's so good, but that piano gets me good.

Stars of the Lid – And Their Refinement of the Great Decline.  I mean, how could you not?

 

Those are just a few of my favorites.  Post-shower and cozied up in bed, there are few things more enjoyable in life.  I also love being transported with F♯ A♯ ∞.  There's something so soothing about the darkness and melancholy of Dead Flag Blues.  I'm usually passed out by the Cowboy movement at the end of the first track.  The climax of East Hastings and the general intensity of Providence used to wake me up, but I've played it so many times that my brain kind of tunes it out and I sleep like a baby.  I don't think there's any other Godspeed record I drift off to.

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And to tie those two paragraphs together – what are some of your favorite ambient / modern-classical albums to fall asleep to?  Obviously I don't physically spin vinyl records after I crawl into bed, but I do queue up a nice, somber listen when I'm eager to drift off.  Do you guys have any favorites that provide a good night's slumber?  Some of my favorites, in no particular order;

 

Jónsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps.  Just total bliss from the start of the first track.  I almost never make it through the first song.

 

This reminds of my time in Oviedo, Spain...

I put on Sigur Ros' ( ) on itunes and fell asleep only to be cruelly woken up by the first riffs of Slipknot's IOWA :D

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This looks like a great price, ships from the UK:

http://www.discogs.com/sell/item/259893665

 

That's not their S/T

 

Derek - The Erased Tapes version sounds better than the Kranky? Let me know -- I picked up the Kranky one at Amoeba not too long ago but haven't spun it yet.

 

Saw AWFTFS a few months ago, it was absolutely breathtaking. My girlfriend cried.

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Do you guys have any favorites that provide a good night's slumber? 

Here are some of my picks:

Definitely 'Riceboy Sleeps' and SOTL 'Refinement' or 'Tired Sounds'

AWVFTS S/T

Lowercase Noises 'Migratory Patterns' or any of the EPs he did for his kids. I love 'Blake'.

The Tumbled Sea 'Melody Summer'

Eluvium 'Copia' or 'An Accidental Memory' or 'Talk Amongst the Trees'

 

Funny that you mentioned F#A#--I listened to that the other night and I was out by the end of track one as well.

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I've got my manual table in the living room, and my automatic in my bedroom for the exact purpose of falling asleep to records.

 

Lifestyles of the rich and famous.

 

Derek - The Erased Tapes version sounds better than the Kranky? Let me know -- I picked up the Kranky one at Amoeba not too long ago but haven't spun it yet.

 

Saw AWFTFS a few months ago, it was absolutely breathtaking. My girlfriend cried.

 

Allegedly all Erased Tapes versions sound vastly superior to Kranky presses... they're just quite a bit more pricey if you're ordering directly from the distro.  Before I found out that all copies of Atomos are pressed on clear vinyl, I shelled out something like $52 to PO the clear /500 version from Erased Tapes.  I initially felt a little foolish afterwards, when I learned that Kranky was selling clear copies (minus the gatefold) for half the cost... but my copy sounds so pristine and glorious that I have no regrets.  I'll admit that my S/T could sound a little crisper, but a good clean bears satisfactory quality for me.  Really eager to see how the ET press compares.

 

I'm glad you could catch AWVFTS live.  I was able to do so at the end of last year, and it was easily one of the most magical things I've witnessed.  Just surreal.  The tears are justified.

 

Here are some of my picks:

Definitely 'Riceboy Sleeps' and SOTL 'Refinement' or 'Tired Sounds'

AWVFTS S/T

Lowercase Noises 'Migratory Patterns' or any of the EPs he did for his kids. I love 'Blake'.

The Tumbled Sea 'Melody Summer'

Eluvium 'Copia' or 'An Accidental Memory' or 'Talk Amongst the Trees'

 

Funny that you mentioned F#A#--I listened to that the other night and I was out by the end of track one as well.

 

Can't believe I forgot AWVFTS' S/T, despite just talking about it in that same post.  Great pick.  Those piano chords hit me like a NyQuil overdose.  I've also had some really comfy drifts with that Tumbled Sea record, and pretty much any Eluvium release.  Haven't tried any Lowercase Noises but that seems like a great idea.

 

If I'm super tired and know I won't wake up during the album, I also really enjoy Mogwai's CODY.  The first handful of songs walk this razor-thin line of nostalgia and melancholy for me, and it's so incredibly good.  Unfortunately, I've woken up a few too many times to Ex-Cowboy and Christmas Steps – and consequently thought the world may be ending.

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You're in for quite a treat! The group is one of the more unique takes on 'noise' I've come across. I'll always have a soft spot for power electronics and all of that, but there's not much innovation in that genre, sans Frozen Niagara Falls in more recent times. (to my knowledge)

 

I'll have to move it to mid-afternoon if it's power electronics :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

New record from a band called F ingers off of Blackest Ever Black - just got favorably reviewed by Pitchfork, if that matters to you, and the single they've got out is pretty sweet.

 

Want to hear another track before I pull the trigger, but I have a feeling I'll be picking this one up.

 

https://soundcloud.com/blackest-ever-black/f-ingers-tantrum-time

 

http://blackesteverblack.bigcartel.com/product/f-ingers-i-hide-before-dinner-i-blackest044-lp

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Do you guys have any favorites that provide a good night's slumber?  

 

I rarely have trouble sleeping and try not to rely on music for it, but Marconi Union gets my highest recommendation.

 

I don't own anything on vinyl by them, and have never made it past 5 minutes into a single track of theirs on youtube before corking off.

 

One day I'm going to listen to them during the day time while up and around and no chance of falling asleep so I can hear an entire album.

 

Opening up two youtube windows and playing BaBaTiKiDiDo (with or without the DiDo crazy vocals section merged in) and a Rain/Thunderstorm track at the same time is a great sedative/hypnotic for me as well.

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