Top 10 Wildest Ambient/Experimental/Drone Albums, EPs and 7ā³s of 2016
1. Grouper - Paradise Valley
Paradise Valley by Grouper
Grouper pulls out a late 7ā³ in 2016 that instantly shot to the top of my favorites this year, and not just with ambient releases, but with any and all of them. Though itās brief, Paradise Valley contains such a pure intimacy, warmth and healing. Itāll wrap you up in a blanket of gorgeous catharsis that you wonāt want to depart from. The 7ā³ is a stripped-down affair - not the usual flood of delay, reverb and decayed sound loops - but itās still completely haunting in itās subdued delivery.
2. Benoit Pioulard - Stanza III
Stanza III by BenoƮt Pioulard
For the third entry in his Stanza series, Benoit Pioulard (aka Tom Meluch) adds a healthy dose of distortion to his slow-shimmer guitar loops, pushing his ambient drone to take a textural dip in the shoegaze pool. Lovely and soothing as always, Stanza III further solidifies Tom as a prolific luminary amongst the ambient and drone communities.
3. Dominic Coppola - Beloved
Beloved by Dominic Coppola
Feathered and silver, Beloved sweeps into your ears with swirling cascades of ambient drone. Iāve listened to this one over and over this past year, particularly when Iām going to sleep. Itās a perfect passage from anxiety and rambling brain to deep calm and beautiful surrender.
4. Foxes in Fiction - Vacant Pavilion/Hypar Deluxe
Vacant Pavilion / Hypar Redux by Foxes in Fiction
A master of the bent, decayed tape loop, Warren of Foxes in Fiction crafts a reflective and distant-memory-lament kind of ambient that permeates the first track of this 7ā³. He balances things out with a sullen keyboard meditation on the second half, his softly obscured vocals bringing in that truly soothing sadness.
5. Mallets - Replaced Tiles
Replaced Tiles by Mallets
Decidedly lo-fi and slathered in warbling chorus, Replaced Tiles offers a cocktail of swirling drone, punctuated by faraway noise crashes. This very textural release excels at riding on the border of foreboding and ethereal beauty.
6. Desolate Horizons - I Thought Iād Never Find You
I Thought Iād Never Find You by Desolate Horizons
I Thought Iād Never Find You is a heavy dose of ambient shoegaze, that shows towering walls of distortion standing high and mighty above you. However, the distorted textures are never harsh, only expansive, and theyāre always underlined by flowing streams of satin.
7. How To Disappear Completely - Fever Ray II
Fever Ray II by How To Disappear Completely
HTDC turns out top quality ambient on a fairly regular basis, so itās always hard to choose a favorite. I chose Fever Ray II for itās distinctive arrangements, filled to the brim with smooth, glacial electronic textures. While the EP has a brightness in its production, itās emotion is decidedly pensive and longing.
8. .paperman - figs
This one really strikes me every time I listen to it. With itās gothic, whirling-glass synths, bubbling electronic noises and faint vocals loops, calling Figs āenigmaticā is putting very mildly. Itās that deeply engaging kind of haunt ambient that feels somehow ancient and primordial but also transcendent of time and space.
9. Craun - ĪĪ£Ī„ĪĪĪĪ
Glistening, infinitely-looped synths that build and build on top of each other, ĪĪ£Ī„ĪĪĪĪ exemplifies Craun as a skilled craftsmen of ambient drone. Found-sound textures crackle and fuzz, and pangs of dissonance chime just underneath to render a spectral darkness amidst the full synth arrangements.
10. é© å½ å° å„³ - ćµ ć ć© ć¤ ć
ćµ ć ć© ć¤ ć by é© å½ å° å„³
Like a bright ice cave, you slide along inside ćµ ć ć© ć¤ ć, wondering where the slopes and pits will take you. All around a smoothly nocturnal ambient affair that offers the occasional distant noise to keep itās mystery dynamic.
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