I always listen to early 90s UK ambient techno in January. My pick this year is the first Global Communications album.
I always listen to early 90s UK ambient techno in January. My pick this year is the first Global Communications album.
The two tendencies in 'ambient' - experimental avant performance and amorphous chill muzak out are practically diametric opposites.
Noise is not meditative.
goes both way, though. dark ambient can be unsettling and foreboding, while other ambient is soothing and relaxing.
'Tons' of people?
Pink and white noise is often used as for relaxation purposes, but that is a particular physiological response related to pre-natal intrauterine sound, and is generally a sleep aid rather than a listening experience - Ive even seen it prescribed.
Whilst their might be some crossover, Id say the contingent of people who listen to Merzbow or avant noise for relaxation are a fairly tiny minority.
Its not just that - power ambient and the experimental are specifically designed with the idea that the audience will pay attention - at odds with Eno's definition of music that can be 'ignorable'. This is a 180 of the New Age approach of music which is intended to diffuse attention and allow the audience to drift away.
I may be a bit diadactic on this, but Ive been grappling with these contradictions on a professional level on and off since the 90's, and especially over the last few years.
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