atmospheric/instrumental/chill/mood kinda music.

[cobl04]

so lately i've been really getting into this sort of music.

it began when i received a copy of DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... (i can't remember how i got it, i think it was a gift) and my interest in it is growing ever larger.

i've discovered the merits of Brian Eno's solo work - Another Green World has some tremendous instrumental pieces of the type i'm describing - and of course his influences on many artists. Bowie's A New Career in a New Town is one of my favourite songs, ever.

Massive Attack have also come into my knowledge, i now own three of their albums.

i'd just like to know where else i can find this sort of music, of a really good calibre. i love driving around at night to Endtroducing... for example.

discuss, recommend, appreciate, mercilessly vilify. that's what we're here for.

 

[redhotswami]

Have you listened to any Explosions In The Sky?

 

[IWasBored]

Have you listened to any Explosions In The Sky?

yeah.

if not, you should do that asap.




i like the aphex twin ambient sounds whatchamacallit album quite a bit.

 

[liamcool]

Talk Talk, maybe? Spirit of Eden is pretty laidback if very dark and depressing.

 

[u2popmofo]

Yeah, post-rock is definitely a genre you may want to look into.

 

[indra]

All India Radio might be of interest.

Click here for website.

 

[iron yuppie]

Definitely look into the following Miles Davis albums: ESP, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and especially In a Silent Way. These are albums that find Miles in the early stages of electronic experimentation, and they focus strongly on atmosphere (see the ESP track "Mood," for instance).

Also look to the track "He Loved Him Madly," which is a thirty-minute long organ-based vamp. Eno once cited that track as the inspiration for his ambient work.

 

[phanan]

The American Dollar
God Is An Astronaut

 

[Popmartijn]

Talk Talk, maybe? Spirit of Eden is pretty laidback if very dark and depressing.

And I'd like to add The Colour Of Spring as a recommedation. A brilliant album, in a way the OK Computer of the Eighties (especially if you consider the growth in sound of Talk Talk between It's My Life and The Colour Of Spring).

More recommendations in the atmospheric genre:
Air - Moon Safari (their first album, quite laidback, heavy on mood and excellent overall)
The Orb - U.F.Orb and Live 93 (the latter might be a live album, but their soundscapes stayed true to their atmospheric selves. Pioneers of the chill-out house music)

 

[LemonMelon]

Since your request was incredibly broad, so is my list, which encompasses post-rock, downtempo, ambient, slowcore, dream pop, shoegaze and abstract hip-hop. It's a little messy, but you could probably make a terrific playlist out of tracks from this:

Air - Moon Safari
Aphex Twin ‐ Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Bat For Lashes ‐ Two Suns
Bjork - Homogenic
Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children
Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music For Airports
Burial - Untrue
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Cocteau Twins - Treasure
Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Faust - IV
Four Tet - There Is Love In You
Low - I Could Live In Hope
Madvillain - Madvillainy
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
The Notwist - Neon Golden
Pantha du Prince - Black Noise
Portishead - Dummy
Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill
Ride - Nowhere
Röyksopp - Melody A.M.
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Slowdive - Souvlaki
Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
The Verve - A Storm In Heaven
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

Jazz is a whole different ball of wax, a lot of it could tenuously apply. Definitely check out Miles Davis' In A Silent Way, it has a lot of funk inflections that you might find pleasing, and it's all rather soothing. Equally funky, although slightly more upbeat is Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson. "Melody" is fucking mindblowing, and the album goes by exceptionally quickly, as it's under a half hour in length. Terrific albums, those two.

I would attach videos to all of these, but because it embeds no matter what, I can't. It would break the thread. In any case, 28 albums on that list and two more recommended in the paragraph below, so those 30 should hold you for a while.

 

[u2popmofo]

You did Notwist backwardz. Otherwise, my ears fap to lists like that.

 

[LemonMelon]

Fixed. I was too busy jumping to the next record to get the name right. The way of the dilettante, I suppose.

 

[bono_212]

That is a list I can get behind

(and listen to, I only know about half of those)

 

[kingofsorrow]

try Homogenic. not really instrumental, but the singers voice blends so well into the music it might as well be. check them on youtube.

 

[lazarus]

Going off the original post which referenced Massive Attack, have you heard any Thievery Corporation? Part of the "downtempo" (Downtempo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) genre that was big earlier last decade.

I highly recommend their first three albums Sounds From the Thievery Hi-Fi, The Mirror Conspiracy, and The Richest Man in Babylon. Later albums are good too but not as much in the vein of what you're asking about. They often feature trip-hop beats but with more exotic instrumentation, occasionally foreign language vocalists, but there are also many instrumentals.

YouTube - Lebanese Blonde Thievery Corporation

YouTube - Downbeat Music: Thievery Corporation - 2001 Spliff Odyssey

YouTube - The Richest Man In Babylon by Thievery Corporation


Also, Kruder & Dorfmeister are well-worth checking out, specifically their double album of remixes The K&D Sessions.

 

[LemonMelon]

Holy fuck. Tack on another album to my list above.

Tortoise - TNT

YouTube - Tortoise - A Simple Way To Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work

YouTube - Tortoise - In Sarah, Mencken, Christ, And Beethoven...

Parts of this album make me think of Explosions In The Sky covering Dark Side-era Pink Floyd, In A Silent Way, and maybe even a little Aja. It's fucking beautiful.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Slowdive - Souvlaki

Souvlaki Space Station makes me feel like fighting aliens, not chilling.

 

[cobl04]

thank you all, much appreciated. i think i'll definitely look into Explosions in the Sky asap, i've heard many good things about them.

thanks elmel for the list, that will indeed keep me going, and reminds me to check out that Four Tet album.

i've loved what i've heard from MA so far laz so your Thievery Corp. recommendation will be trusted.

Definitely look into the following Miles Davis albums: ESP, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and especially In a Silent Way. These are albums that find Miles in the early stages of electronic experimentation, and they focus strongly on atmosphere (see the ESP track "Mood," for instance).

Also look to the track "He Loved Him Madly," which is a thirty-minute long organ-based vamp. Eno once cited that track as the inspiration for his ambient work.

i'll check these out too; i've got Kind of Blue, and whilst that really didn't take me to another place, nor really have the effect that is so often written about, it was very intriguing and i definitely want to check out some of Davis' other work. i mean he was a cool motherfucker, and didn't Wayne Shorter (whose work i ADORE on Aja) play with him?

Parts of this album make me think of Explosions In The Sky covering Dark Side-era Pink Floyd, In A Silent Way, and maybe even a little Aja. It's fucking beautiful.

yeah, that sounds good to me

 

[iron yuppie]

i'll check these out too; i've got Kind of Blue, and whilst that really didn't take me to another place, nor really have the effect that is so often written about, it was very intriguing and i definitely want to check out some of Davis' other work. i mean he was a cool motherfucker, and didn't Wayne Shorter (whose work i ADORE on Aja) play with him?

Yeah, Wayne was a major songwriter for many of the albums that I suggested. If you like him, you might check out his Blue Note catalogue, which is extremely impressive. I'm not sure if jazz is a point of interest for you though - others have certainly made a lot of excellent suggestions to which you might first look.

 

[Registered Dude]

check out Eno's Music for Airports for a classic ambient work, or Mountains, self-titled, for something a little newer

 

[Registered Dude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9VtH3sDCrE&feature=PlayList&p=38485FC699EF5C1D&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT859-RTWnk&feature=related

so relaxing.. great to just phase out while listening to this band

 

[lazarus]

Also, going in another direction, I've often found late-period Everything But The Girl very calming, especially Tracey Thorn's voice (she's the one who does vocals on Massive Attack's Protection).

They have a great album that's largely acoustic, Amplified Heart, and its two follow-ups are more in the electronic vein, with Walking Wounded exploring drum-and-bass and trip-hop, and Temperamental more house-sounding but also has its mellow moments.

YouTube - EBTG-Walking Wounded

 

[MikeyJB]

Recently bought Popol Vuh's 'Films of Werner Herzog - Best Of', great collection with some atmospheric gems, been listening to it loads.

 

[cobl04]

So turns out triple j unearthed is not a massive pile of shit. A friend recommended these guys to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70YvlaFQoe8

Awesome shit.

 

[Imperor]

Can I pull a Cape Dory and pimp something for the dozenth time? Because Balam Acab's Wander/Wonder.