Masterpieces of ambient music. Recommended popular tracks.
Ambient music—a term popularized by the English composer Brian Eno—is a genre often referred to as “environmental music,” though its definition is quite ambiguous.
Put simply, rather than music that reaches out directly to the listener, it’s said to be music that gently envelops them; yet due to that ambiguity, its styles vary widely.
This time, I’ve selected some classic tracks of ambient music.
Please take your time and enjoy until the end.
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Ambient music masterpieces. Recommended popular tracks (21–30)
1/1Brian Eno
This is the opening track from Ambient 1: Music for Airports, the album in which Brian Eno, a pioneer of ambient music, first advocated the concept of ambient.
As the album title suggests, it is a work themed as music for airports.
Electric CounterpointSteve Reich
The exceedingly famous minimalist masterpiece by contemporary composer Steve Reich, Electric Counterpoint.
It’s a piece written for electric guitar, performed by Pat Metheny with multitrack recording.
It is the finest masterpiece of human-performed minimal music.
Piano AquieuStars of the Lid
This is a track from Tired Sounds of, a 2001 release by the Texas ambient duo Stars of the Lid.
Although the album title suggests “tired” sounds, the music feels less dark and more cinematic in its atmosphere.
RhubarbAphex Twin
This is a track from Selected Ambient Works Volume II, released in 1994, which many consider Aphex Twin’s greatest masterpiece.
Its contourless sounds float and waver, evoking a strange sensation that’s neither pleasant nor unpleasant.
Perpetuum MobilePenguin Cafe Orchestra
Penguin Cafe Orchestra is a British ensemble that offers music incorporating elements of classical, minimal, folk/world, and contemporary music.
They debuted in 1976 with an album that included this piece and went on to thrive as a leading figure in environmental (ambient) music.
SunrainAshra
A landmark of German electronics and a forerunner of today’s techno and new age music, this is Ashra’s 1976 work.
True to its title, it conjures an aural world where you can almost see sunlight pouring down—calm, warm, meditative music.
The Dance #1LARAAJI
The third installment in Brian Eno’s Ambient series was one he produced only, and it was this work by electronic zither player Laraaji.
A zither is a traditional stringed instrument used in German-speaking regions, similar to the koto in Japan.