I have been hearing requests over the last few months for a new ambient mix, but despite how much I’d have liked to deliver, the truth was and is, that I don’t accumulate enough solid new material at a pace as quickly as other genres, like hip hop and house.  However, it’s been a few months since I released Mount Vision, and it might appear to be that a Mount Vision Part 2 could come, complete with new photos, if the conditions permit when I return for Xmas this weekend.  We shall see what comes of it, here are some of the artists I would definitely plan on playing in my next mix.

A Setting Sun – Raspberry

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veteran has a new EP coming out this January called Flower Garden of Doom.  It almost sounds like a goofy title when you first read it, but I myself was surprised and grew to love the title when I learned what it referred to.  Listeners will find out when they hear tracks like this– the entire EP is a meditiation on singularity and the rich spectrum inherent within.  If this looks too heady, just press play and skip to the next paragraph or stop reading, this track is incredibly soothing.  If you like the sound, it is part of what Moodgadget refers to as low levels, the label’s unique slice of ambient, and a unique facet within its catalog.

Grouper – Heavy Water / I’d Rather Be Sleeping

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Liz Harris has been softly singing me to sleep every night for the last month, I am addicted, and madly in love with .  Her intoxicating voice is stronger than any sleep aid, something in the murky, filtered, reverberating guitars creates a blanket of pure warmth.  I admit, I didn’t get into it that quickly, but eventually I started listening to her morbidly-titled Dragging A Dear Up A Hill in its entirety, and combined it with Rameses III for the best sleep music cocktail I’ve had in a long while.  Now, I simply can’t get enough, just check out the lyrics of this track.

Gastón Arévalo – Dubois

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is a new one on my radar, Ryan got me into his music via Thinner, a deep, dubby net label with lots of great material.  Now, you might notice that this track has a beat going on, and isn’t quite ambient…but I would still look to include it, because I don’t want the next mix to be droning the entire time.  This track has an equally warm backing, but features some really deep, dubbed out percussion that sort of plods along through the snow at a leisurely pace.

Rameses III – We Shall Never Sing of Sorrow

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As mentioned above, coupled with Grouper, the folksy, organic ambient music of has been on heavy rotation when it’s time to hit the hay or just relax.  These guys have combined a pretty interesting visual side to their music (see the cover above), which when combined with their titles, like I Could Not Love You More, or this track- We Shall Never Sing Of Sorrow, it paints some very interesting pictures that can be interpreted in any number of ways.  I really like it when a musician lays out a set of cues as to what they are expressing, but completely leave it up to the listeners to build the story for themselves.

Posted in Music Posted by Alex on Dec 21 2009 12:00 pm

Tags: A Setting Sun, Ambient, Gastón Arévalo, Grouper, Moodgadget, Rameses III, Thinner