Aphex Twin Ambient music: Anything like 'On Land' by Brain Eno?

[Guest The Dirt]

I've searched for years to find something like 'On Land' by Brian Eno. Almost every song on that album defines the perfect type of music for me. The closest things I've ever found is Substrata by Biosphere, if not Apollo by Eno as well, among a few other Eno albums (like Music For Films, etc). Selected Ambient Works II by Aphex Twin was really cool, too; not quite what I'm talking about, but it was a great addition to my library of music, as was Lifeforms by FSOL. I've heard of plenty of dark ambient that all just sounds the same (like Stalker, which I found boring) but I would like as many suggestions as you could possibly give me. Please, for the love of all that is great D=

[chim]

It's a great album indeed.. there's not alot of ambient that sounds -just- like it, but some ambient that has a similar, earthy feel. How the fuck could you find stalker boring? Just a few albums off the top of my head (kind of):

 

Andrew Deutsch - Loops over Land

Tetsu Inoue & Bill Laswell - Cymatic Scan

everything by Vidna Obmana

everything by Philip Wilkerson

Jeff greinke - cities in fog

some of the stuff by Harold Budd

Sleep Research Facility - Nostromo

Robert Rich - Humidity

Chad Hoefler - Twilight in the Offing

Chris Meloche - Distant Rituals

James Plotkin - Mosquito dream

Mathias Grassow - The clear light of death

[chenGOD]

At the moment, I am of the firm belief that "Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirrors" is the best thing that both Harold Budd and Brian Eno have ever done, with "Above Chiangmai" being the culmination of all points of beauty.

[Atop]

thanks for the list chim, need to check a lot of those....

[Guest Coalbucket PI]

I don't really know, my ambient music of choice is Shuttle358 but thats not similar. I think The Pearl by Eno & Budd is one of the best ambient albums I've got but I presume you have that already

[40days]

At the moment, I am of the firm belief that "Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirrors" is the best thing that both Harold Budd and Brian Eno have ever done

I agree, but I can't decide between Plateaux and The Pearl. They're both very beautiful albums and definitely in my top ten ambient list. The Pearl leans more on the nature sound side, so as for this thread it might connect more to Ambient 4 - but with its piano it's still in my opinion quite far removed.

 

It's actually rather hard to think of very similar music to that album. Voigt's GAS sprung to my mind, especially the Pop album, but it's got beats and other not-too-ambient elements on the latter half. Robert Rich was also mentioned by chimera and I think it's suitable. I really dig Trances / Drones (it's drone based and way simpler than Ambient 4, though) and especially Fissures, a collaboration album by Alio Die and Rich. Have you heard it?

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robert%20rich%20fissures&search=Search

[jeremymacgregor87]

I always thought "Per Aspera Ad Astra" by Stars of the Lid was a lot like "On Land". That album is strange, most other Stars or Eno I can just drift away too, but these two always seems to set me off on a middle-of-the-night panic.

 

But yeah, "Per Aspera Ad Astra". GO

[soundwave]

Tetsu Inoue's World Receiver album was supposed to be inspired by Ambient4 and is still one of the best ambient albums ever imho

 

also check out Outland by Pete Namlook/Bill Laswell and any of the Inoue/Namlook collabs especially the 2350 Broadway series which are live studio jams

[Guest The Dirt]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions so far, I didn't think I'd get so many. I'll get back to all of you after I've checked all this material out.

 

It's a great album indeed.. there's not alot of ambient that sounds -just- like it, but some ambient that has a similar, earthy feel. How the fuck could you find stalker boring?

 

I figure that maybe it's because Stalker doesn't feel like anything more than noises without a sense a life, but I really should give it another chance, because it's been a very long time since I've listened to it. That, and it's immensely famous as an ambient classic. But yeah, I realize that On Land is sort of one of a kind, but I appreciate any unique suggestions from anyone, because the ambient genre is so hard to explore with how obscure most of it is. It took me long enough to even find out about Biosphere, and he's definitely one of the best finds I've come across.

[chenGOD]

Man I could have sworn I posted the "Outland" recommendation, but whatever, I heartily endorse that. Also some of Namlook's stuff under the "Silence" moniker is fucking money.

[chim]

I heartily support the Outland and Namlook suggestions.

 

I figure that maybe it's because Stalker doesn't feel like anything more than noises without a sense a life, but I really should give it another chance, because it's been a very long time since I've listened to it.

 

The thing that makes stalker great is it's intensely visual nature, it paints scenes and feelings through sounds and timbres rather than more "purposeful" melodies, a common staple of both robert rich and lustmord. Given its theme, it really couldn't sound better in my opinion.

 

But yeah, I realize that On Land is sort of one of a kind, but I appreciate any unique suggestions from anyone, because the ambient genre is so hard to explore with how obscure most of it is. It took me long enough to even find out about Biosphere, and he's definitely one of the best finds I've come across.

 

It is, I wouldn't be surprised if half of the stuff I mentioned isn't available on any p2p or filesharing site..

 

At the moment, I am of the firm belief that "Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirrors" is the best thing that both Harold Budd and Brian Eno have ever done

I agree, but I can't decide between Plateaux and The Pearl. They're both very beautiful albums and definitely in my top ten ambient list. The Pearl leans more on the nature sound side, so as for this thread it might connect more to Ambient 4 - but with its piano it's still in my opinion quite far removed.

 

It's actually rather hard to think of very similar music to that album. Voigt's GAS sprung to my mind, especially the Pop album, but it's got beats and other not-too-ambient elements on the latter half. Robert Rich was also mentioned by chimera and I think it's suitable. I really dig Trances / Drones (it's drone based and way simpler than Ambient 4, though) and especially Fissures, a collaboration album by Alio Die and Rich. Have you heard it?

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robert%20rich%20fissures&search=Search

 

I agree that it's REAL difficult to decide between plateaux or the pearl. One always has to follow the other whenever I play one of them.

 

Alio Die is my favourite ambient artist, I usually jump at any opportunity to recommend him but he really doesn't sound anything like brian eno; it's all pipes, tubes and bells weaved in some organic foresty texture. But while we're here and all, his album il Tempo Magico di Saturnia Pavonia (*cough* PM *cough*) is absolutely amazing.

[Guest Enter a new display name]

Per Aspera Ad Astra has always been an awfully underrated album. I could easily say this is one of my favorite ambient albums, if not my favorite. If I had to pick an album that described me, I would very likely choose this one.

 

I discovered Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror last year and I haven't got tired of it, it's simply incredible.

[Redruth]

brian eno - the shutov assembly

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M55ik4vTxP4

 

jacaszek - treny

 

[YEK]

i remember this dark ambient cd a friend let me check out back in the day, it was called "a murder of angels" artist or album name? i dunno. i'm gonna seek that shit out, it was really great.

 

edit: a murder of angels is the artist name and the album is called while you sleep/

[Guest The Dirt]

I discovered Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror last year and I haven't got tired of it, it's simply incredible.

 

If you really like Ambient 2 and The Pearl, check out The White Arcades by Harold Budd. It's another great work in the same style. Ambient 2 isn't really similar at all to On Land, but several other Eno productions certainly are, such as The Shutov Assembly, and the Music For Films trilogy is some of the best music I've ever heard.

 

Seriously, anyone who enjoys Brian Eno's music but doesn't own the three Music For Films albums - hear them. There's nothing quite like them.

 

As far as Stars of the Lid goes, I've never gotten into them but I got a hold of Per Aspera Ad Astra and I'll probably listen to it tonight.

[mcbpete]

Thomas Köner's La Barca is really similar to On Land (though with slightly more field recordings) so I suggest checking that one out - http://boomkat.com/cds/225409-thomas-koner-la-barca (It's out of stock there but if you google the album it's easily 'obtainable' from the front page - You naughty pirate you !). It's a really great album, I listened to it loads last year ....

[chenGOD]

I discovered Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror last year and I haven't got tired of it, it's simply incredible.

 

If you really like Ambient 2 and The Pearl, check out The White Arcades by Harold Budd. It's another great work in the same style. Ambient 2 isn't really similar at all to On Land, but several other Eno productions certainly are, such as The Shutov Assembly, and the Music For Films trilogy is some of the best music I've ever heard.

 

Seriously, anyone who enjoys Brian Eno's music but doesn't own the three Music For Films albums - hear them. There's nothing quite like them.

 

As far as Stars of the Lid goes, I've never gotten into them but I got a hold of Per Aspera Ad Astra and I'll probably listen to it tonight.

 

 

yeah i suppose I should clarify - I wasn't really comparing Ambient 2 to On Land (I would rather compare "Apollo - Atmospheres and Soundtracks" to On Land) - merely saying at the moment it's probably the most beautiful thing for me to listen to. :)

 

I like stars of the lid quite a bit, but wouldn't ever really compare them to Eno...

 

Pete Namlook on the other hand...

[digit]

check out 'Raising Earthly Spirits' by Rapoon.

 

you can hear some previews of it here.

[Guest Super lurker ultra V12]

O Yuki Conjugate

[Guest The Dirt]

yeah i suppose I should clarify - I wasn't really comparing Ambient 2 to On Land (I would rather compare "Apollo - Atmospheres and Soundtracks" to On Land) - merely saying at the moment it's probably the most beautiful thing for me to listen to. :)

 

I like stars of the lid quite a bit, but wouldn't ever really compare them to Eno...

 

Pete Namlook on the other hand...

 

I got really into the Tired Sounds of Stars of The Lid; it's extremely boring at a first glance, but when paid attention to, there's some really killer pieces in there. I especially loved Gasfarming, and the Lonely People (are Getting Lonelier).

 

As far as Namlook, it seems he's got a handful of great stuff and a handful of typical stuff. I really want to build a small collection of his best works; I'll definitely get that Silence material and check it out.

[Terpentintollwut]

Thomas Köner's La Barca is really similar to On Land

 

I'm curious. How about "Unerforschtes Gebiet"? Artwork kinda reminds me of On Land as well:

 

[Guest Calx Sherbet]

I discovered Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror last year and I haven't got tired of it, it's simply incredible.

 

If you really like Ambient 2 and The Pearl, check out The White Arcades by Harold Budd. It's another great work in the same style. Ambient 2 isn't really similar at all to On Land, but several other Eno productions certainly are, such as The Shutov Assembly, and the Music For Films trilogy is some of the best music I've ever heard.

 

Seriously, anyone who enjoys Brian Eno's music but doesn't own the three Music For Films albums - hear them. There's nothing quite like them.

 

As far as Stars of the Lid goes, I've never gotten into them but I got a hold of Per Aspera Ad Astra and I'll probably listen to it tonight.

 

 

yeah i suppose I should clarify - I wasn't really comparing Ambient 2 to On Land (I would rather compare "Apollo - Atmospheres and Soundtracks" to On Land) - merely saying at the moment it's probably the most beautiful thing for me to listen to. :)

 

I like stars of the lid quite a bit, but wouldn't ever really compare them to Eno...

 

Pete Namlook on the other hand...

 

the mentioning of Shutov Assembly is awesome to see. i wouldn't necessarily make the comparison, but it's definitely worth hearing. along the Budd suggestions.

 

speaking of On Land, the inside notes of the CD case are amazing. excellent insight. i don't get how he comes up with his theories.