Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
La Monte Thornton Young is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best known for his exploration of sustained tones, beginning with his 1958 composition Trio for Strings. His compositions have called into question the nature and definition of music, most prominently in the text scores of his Compositions 1960. While few of his recordings remain in print, his work has inspired prominent musicians across various genres, including avant-garde, rock, and ambient music.
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is an American non-profit organization based in San Francisco that seeks to start and promote a long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster/cheaper" mindset and to promote "slower/better" thinking. The Long Now Foundation hopes to "creatively foster responsibility" in the framework of the next 10,000 years. In a manner somewhat similar to the Holocene calendar, the foundation uses 5-digit dates to address the Year 10,000 problem. The organization's logo is X, a capital X with an overline, a representation of 10,000 in Roman numerals.
The Clock of the Long Now, also called the 10,000-year clock, is a mechanical clock under construction that is designed to keep time for 10,000 years. It is being built by the Long Now Foundation. A two-meter prototype is on display at the Science Museum in London. As of June 2018, two more prototypes are on display at The Long Now Museum & Store at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
Laurie Spiegel is an American composer. She has worked at Bell Laboratories, in computer graphics, and is known primarily for her electronic-music compositions and her algorithmic composition software Music Mouse. She also plays the guitar and lute.
Evening Star is the second studio album by British musicians Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. It was recorded from 1974 to 1975 and released in December 1975 by Island Records.
Cluster & Eno is a collaborative album by German electronic music group Cluster and English ambient musician Brian Eno. The style of this album is a collection of gentle melodies: a mixture of Eno's ambient sensibilities and Cluster's avant-garde style.
Drone music, drone-based music, or simply drone, is a minimalist genre of music that emphasizes the use of sustained sounds, notes, or tone clusters called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy compositions featuring relatively slight harmonic variations. La Monte Young, one of its 1960s originators, defined it in 2000 as "the sustained tone branch of minimalism". Music containing drones can be found in many regional traditions across Asia, Australia, and Europe, but the genre label is generally reserved for music originating with the Western classical tradition. Elements of drone music have been incorporated in diverse genres such as rock, ambient, and techno.
Another Day on Earth is the twenty-second solo studio album by Brian Eno, released on 13 June 2005 in the UK and Europe through Hannibal Records, and on 14 June 2005 in the US. The album predominantly recorded and mixed on Macintosh software, using Logic Pro, over a period of four years.
Amiina is an Icelandic band composed of members Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, and Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and Guðmundur Vignir Karlsson. In the past they have frequently performed live and in the studio with Sigur Rós.
Wah Wah is the sixth studio album by the Manchester-based English indie rock band James. After the success of their fourth album, Seven (1992), the band entered Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire, to record their fifth album Laid in early 1993 with producer Brian Eno, with whom the group had longed to work. Prior to recording Laid, Eno observed the band's jam sessions at their Manchester rehearsal room, and considered these improvised pieces to be as important to the band's music as their eventually crafted songs. He requested to the group that whilst they were recording Laid, they would also concurrently record an album of their improvisations which Eno and, by Eno's request, second producer Markus Dravs would produce in a secondary studio in the Real World complex. Each composition started off with the band's improvisation being recorded, which Dravs would then edit, generally alone whilst James and Eno were recording Laid. Eno and Dravs would take a "promising" part of a recording and then mixed them only once. Tim Booth's desire to re-record some of his vocals caused friction in the studio.
Guitar Solos is the debut solo album of English guitarist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith. It was recorded while Frith was still a member of the English experimental rock group Henry Cow and was released in the United Kingdom on LP record by Caroline Records in October 1974. The album comprises eight tracks of unaccompanied and improvised music played on prepared guitars by Frith without any overdubbing.
Dream Theory in Malaya: Fourth World Volume Two is an album by Jon Hassell, released in 1981. It is the sequel to his collaboration with Brian Eno, Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics, which was released the previous year. The recording draws influence from the culture of the Senoi people of Malaya.
Tracks and Traces is a collaborative album by German kosmische supergroup Harmonia and British musician Brian Eno, initially credited to Harmonia 76. Eno joined the group at Harmonia's studio in Forst, Germany for the September 1976 recording sessions.
Veil is the fourth studio album by American noise rock band Band of Susans. After establishing their "classic-line up" with their previous album The Word and the Flesh (1991), and recording the EP Now (1992), the band aimed for a new, more sonic and experimental direction on Veil, after the more song-centric approach to The Word and the Flesh. Recording the album in early 1993, Veil shows the band expand the margins of their sound with a more experimental approach. The album was described as "smokey" by one critic and an "epic swell of guitar and noise" by another. The album has been said to combine "R&B rhythms with crushed sonic shards," and has been compared to, and is sometimes considered to be shoegazing music.
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, also known by the mononym Eno, is an English musician, composer, record producer and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
On the Road is a live album by the bluegrass band Country Gentlemen, recorded in 1963. It continues to offer some of the best collection of songs by the first classic lineup of the group. The album originally contained 13 songs, selection from 2 concerts in 1962 and 1963. In 2001, Smithsonian Folkways re-released the album as a CD with 6 bonus tracks, recorded at Carnegie Hall on September 16, 1961.The album offers blend of folk and bluegrass music, while expanding compositions of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley as well as traditional songs to the more progressive bluegrass sound.
The Appointed Hour is a collaborative album by singer and guitarist Peter Hammill and ambient musician Roger Eno. It was released in January 2001 by Fie! Records.
The Long Now may refer to:
All Is Always Now – Live at The Stone is a 2019 three-CD box set of live improvised music performed by English guitarist Fred Frith with other musicians, including Theresa Wong, Ikue Mori, Pauline Oliveros and Laurie Anderson. It was recorded between 2007 and 2016 at The Stone in New York City, and was released in March 2019 by Intakt Records in Switzerland.
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