Man, Dark Ambient music. Such a weird form of music. I've shared some stories in the past, about how my dad heard some of it playing in my car when I was taking him somewhere and at one point shushed me suddenly and asked "Do you hear that? What is that?!" and I explained it was the music I listened to, and he proclaimed incredulously (and judgmentally) "I thought it was your brakes!" Then another time when a friend said it sounded like a vacuum cleaner (I wish I could remember that track/album [as it totally didn't {I think}]). Then once at work, a bunch of us were driving out for lunch and I made the mistake of volunteering to drive. I had shut the car off without first turning off my cd player. When I started the car, my music was waiting for me, and soared. Click here to listen to the exact moment that flared up in a car full of coworkers. My one friend shouted, "YOU LISTEN TO MURDER MUSIC!!!" She still tells people about this, as if I'm a serial killer.
Still have a hard time articulating what is so appealing about this stuff. Ambient, moody, sad, unnerving, poignant, and soothing. And vast. I love that there are artists making this stuff. And I love that I've been into it since the 90s. Watching it change over the decades has been really neat, as this stuff never ages. Never feels outdated. So the classics will always be there as if they were written yesterday. And the new stuff by new artists will continue this weird Dark journey. Murder music and all.
This long track by a favorite Dark Ambient project called Tineidae got me thinking about this stuff. I'm 42 minutes into it and feeling very nostalgic about this neat hobby.
Click below to listen...
13 comments:
Giving it a whirl now while working on a prop…
This is excellent…
Some forms of music only seem to appeal to a certain type of person. In most cases, you either love it or you hate it when it comes to "extreme" genre's of music.
I can appreciate the fact that you've found a type of music that you're passionate about, that's frickn' awesome. I don't know if dark ambient music would qualify as an "extreme" genre, but I'd be willing to bet that if you asked your friends for a honest opinion on your music of choice, you'd get those kinds of responses.
I'm only saying this because I'm a fan of a type of music that definitely gets those kinds of responses, Black/Death metal. I've been a metal head since the late 70's, and have always liked main stream rock music(AC/DC, Zeppelin, Rush), but as I've gotten older(63), my taste in music has grown darker and heavier(Watain, Behemoth, Inquisition)which has put me at odds with about 95% of people in general.
If you've found a type of music that can still make the hair on your arms stand-up at times, don't ever let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't listen to.
Keep the faith.
Thanks for sharing that! I can totally relate. And no worries, I shall keep the faith! I never heard of Watain or Behemoth or Inquisition, but I'm going to check them out.
And it's like the expression goes, "there's no disputing tastes..." and there really isn't. A person loves what they love, and I'm grateful to have a lot of cool stuff to love.
I've never had great success expressing the appeal of the genre either, but I think that the closest I've come was to say that the music was like the musical embodiment of nighttime.
It's strange and unusual, somewhat unnerving, boundless and tranquil; exactly the feeling that I get after midnight.
Or, maybe I just think that because I only found that an entirely different musical world even existed after everyone else went to sleep.
In the early 90s, and well before the rise of the internet, late night / overnight radio programs (or transmissions) like 'Hearts of Space' and 'Echoes' provided the initial exposure to ambient music, and the dreamy vastness was absolutely the appeal. They became a nightly appointment, and helped shut the clattering of the noisy world off for a while.
I would imagine that these posts are having a similar effect...only now, no one even has to wait for nightfall.
Totally am familiar with Echoes of course. And I too recall finding gems on late night radio. Star's End was definitely an influence, but hardly dark ambient... just the ambient part.
The Musical Embodiment of Nighttime is incredibly apt.
Let me know what you think of those 3 bands and of my music of choice. I can listen to classical music all day if I have to, it's very calming. I also consider movie soundtracks to be modern history's equal to classical music.
The only music I listen to that you might consider to be dark ambient would be from Midnight Syndicate? I like to listen to it when I'm reading horror fiction in the background. There's also Cryo Chamber, they have a huge library of music to choose from.
I'll def let you know.
I have occasionally listened to Midnight Syndicate and they definitely fall into the bucket of Dark Ambient. And I'm a huge supporter of Cryo Chamber's projects. Love that record label.
Their Lovecraft themed collections are the perfect background music for reading. I just finished reading The Haunting of Ashburn House by DARCY COATES. I liked it enough to be interested in checking out another one of her books next time we're at Barnes&Noble.
Are you a reader? Do you have time to read with all the stuff you always seem to be working on?
Definitely not a current reader. I will take forever to finish any given book. I spend my spare time working on props or looking for blog material. Currently reading Harvest Home, and it's taking me MONTHS and I think I'm only around page 100.
That said, I've read every word Ray Bradbury has ever written. But I agree about Dark Ambient and reading. They belong together.
Mr Macabre, Happy to report that I've sampled the three groups you mentioned and really dig their stuff. I was expecting some very harsh stuff and it totally wasn't. I think my concept of Black/Death Metal was all over the place. So I appreciate the mention of those. Spotify has their popular stuff ranked, so I was clicking through. Out of the three, Watain is my fave. Was really digging their Agony and Ecstasy album.
You should definitely listen to their records Sworn to the Dark, Lawless Darkness, and The Wild Hunt then. I'm glad you like them.
Will do!
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