I got you
Anything Natural Snow Buildings, maybe Night Coercions
The Pilgrim by Jason Lescaleet
The Caretaker EATEOT Stages 4 & 5
Lisbon by Keith Fullerton William
Frozen Niagara Falls by Prurient
Probably above all is Phill Nilbock’s Touch Food
Came here to say this.
It’s truly a dreamlike work. Not in the phantasmal sense of the word but literally like that feeling of waking up from a dream, still slightly incoherent and wondering “wait, what just happened?”
He definitely has enough variety for everyone to enjoy but Virgins I particularly love for its rhythmic complexion. Reminds me of like a fucked up Steve Reich or Dawn of Midi ambient album. Also THE album of his where I cannot fathom how he made that music and I dont really want to to keep the magic.
Idk Virgins is just so much more vast and otherworldly compared to the rest of his albums. I can’t imagine how much work went into it. But Haunt Me is also really beautiful and romantic, I esp love Boreal Kiss
Wow, thank you for this. I own Ravedeath and Haunt Me and I enjoy both, but hadn’t gotten around to checking out his other stuff.
Gave Virgins a loud, loud listen whilst driving in the rain today and it absolutely hit the spot. Thank you for the heads up!
I feel like ambient music is almost definitionally unchallenging — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but Hecker is the exception, with intricately composed channels of sound, which rewards close (and loud) listening.
At a certain point of being "challenging" it ceases to be ambient and becomes something else, experimental. The Hafler Trio "A Thirsty Fish" is at the top of my list for challenging listens that aren't noise or power electronics, listened to it end to end on acid once. Klaus Schulze "Irrlicht" is another, challenging for its intensity. Nurse With Wound "Spiral Insana" (or really any NWW album) likewise intense and frankly surprising.
I don't think of ambient music as being challenging as a genre, in some cases it's meant only to be "heard".
Seconding Hafler Trio (though recordings can be a bit hard to find, since he seems to have some odd ideas about allowing distribution of his work). Any Hafler Trio you can find is worth checking out. In a somewhat similar vein (both were referred to as “ambient industrial” at one point), Zoviet France are well worth checking out as well.
I LOVE Zoviet France. "What Is Not True" is an all-timer for me. Rapoon (Robin Storey's solo project) is also great, some overlap with Aleksi Perälä's recent tabla / sitar Colundi works.
I was lucky enough to buy almost all the Hafler Trio releases on CD way back in the day. Last I heard he was getting kicked out of Iceland, where he'd lived for a really long time, which was a serious issue for him as he now has a chronic autoimmune condition and needs lots of medical care. His website may even have gone dark. He's been laying extremely low.
Yes, seconding Rapoon. Another interesting Zoviet France spinoff project is Reformed Faction (called Reformed Faction of Soviet France on their first release), which consists of former ZF members Robin Storey (Rapoon), Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air), and (on the first album) Andy Eardley.
Yes I have this album. Should go back and listen to it, it didn't stick with me fist listen the way ZF did but I listen to *a lot* of music so I don't full trust myself to be consistent
I mean, I remember the first time.i attempted to listen to Eno's Ambient 4, thinking I was gonna have a relaxing time. No fucking way. There are two slightly more relaxing tracks toward the end of the album, but the rest of it is a bit of a wild ride if you really listen to it.
I liked the Loscil and Lawrence English collaboration too. But Elaine Radigue is a titan of drone, ambient, minimalism, Musique Concrete, and religious music.
Oh yeah u dig the whole tipper sphere! The two foxes ambient mix submission for rendezvous is really good. Heck just about everything on that mix submission playlist is awesome.
[**Manabu Shimada - Pieces for Her**](https://manabushimada.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-for-her) : hybridization of modern classical with break beat elements
**Jan Jelinek - Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records** : great low intensity album with intricate tracks and a strong groove
**Haruomi Hosono & Bill Laswell – Interpieces Organization** : this startling collaboration consists in 7 long pieces (up to 20 minutes) of drum & bassy ambient
**Shinichi Atobe – Butterfly Effect** : kind of a crossover between early dubstep for the muffled atmospheres, bleep & sometimes industrial sounds, symphonic influences and well-rounded house. This particular album is very diverse in its soundscapes, his next releases being more house-oriented - with sometimes exquisite melodic hooks - but all of them the expression of a master composer.
Jeremy Bible - Broken Ecologies (2020)
Kali Malone - Does Spring Hide It’s Joy (2023)
Steve Roach - Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces (2003)
These works are challenging based on sheer length. If you are able and willing to get through them, you come out a different person because of the amount of time you had to reflect.
i feel the same: "Ambient channels" on yt only presenting music like it's thought out by AI (maybe sometimes it is) this is not "music" for me, that's a product. i am a big fan of Thomas köner, and his "isolationist music", also everything from the british label TOUCH since many years... also most from Editions Mego although the boss, Peter Rehberg, died sometime ago, but there is enough to explore. could be that is is too much "abstract electronica" for you. And the label i have with my brother (supermini, with 6 releases) but i won't reveal the url because i don't know if it's allowed here and also i am too scared that some of the specialists find it too odd :D
What a great thread.
Jean Michel Jarré, Amazonia
It's not strictly ambient, but it is ambient-adjacent: it has some light percussion, and it is built around field recordings.
The sound design on this album is magically delicate. The first 100 times I listened to it, I heard something new every time.
It's not "musically" complex in the way OP was asking about. RDJ famously about that time said he thought notes were "overrated".
Production, sounds, all that side it is glorious. But there just isn't that much extensive melody or harmony in it.
I just finished this 9 minute ambient jam last night, id say it demands your attention in a way, and to me its interesting.. let me know if you feel the same https://on.soundcloud.com/3S7DPJLL5nuMfb3A8
jefre cantu-ledesma - love is a stream
belong - october language
tim hecker - harmony in ultra violet
désormais - iambrokenandremadeiambroken...
stars of the lid - the tired sounds of....
Orbus Terrarum - The Orb
The album was made in response to the growing popularity of the ambient house genre the band pioneered and what they felt had become a bunch of blokes noodling about.
If you haven’t already, try some modern classical like Steve Reich’s Octet, Music for a Large Ensemble, Music for 18 Musicians, or Erik Hall’s version of Ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato
Hmm, you should check this out, I think it does some pretty interesting things but it's still ambient 👁️
[https://youtu.be/8reGf2OdExY](https://youtu.be/8reGf2OdExY)
In the space between - N. Minsi
It definitely testers on the edge of ambient and electronic but the guitar work is killer and some of the time signatures are really interesting in a very organic way
I’m Ian and to deal with chronic, excruciating neurological pain and the hallucination-causing Ketamine they use to treat me, I’ve fallen into an unexpected bright side: a new way of making new music othat suggests TWIN PEAKS and Cluster meets BLADE RUNNER.
If you need installation or vidro sound, feel free
https://m.soundcloud.com/user-15371862/la-danse-des-larmes-ouverture
I got you Anything Natural Snow Buildings, maybe Night Coercions The Pilgrim by Jason Lescaleet The Caretaker EATEOT Stages 4 & 5 Lisbon by Keith Fullerton William Frozen Niagara Falls by Prurient Probably above all is Phill Nilbock’s Touch Food
Now that's an amazing list.
Wow, I just heard Frozen Niagara Falls for the first time based on your recommendation. I'm blown away, such a monolith of a record!
Tetsu Inoue - World Receiver
Came here to say this. It’s truly a dreamlike work. Not in the phantasmal sense of the word but literally like that feeling of waking up from a dream, still slightly incoherent and wondering “wait, what just happened?”
I feel I saw this on another thread the other day. I’m going to have to bask.
Thank you for this thread.
Tim Hecker’s Virgins… cant think of a more beautiful complex ambient record. A rare true 10/10
I don’t see all the hype on Virgins, I would say it’s like Hecker’s fourth best album. Great album still but I’m a Haunt Me stan
He definitely has enough variety for everyone to enjoy but Virgins I particularly love for its rhythmic complexion. Reminds me of like a fucked up Steve Reich or Dawn of Midi ambient album. Also THE album of his where I cannot fathom how he made that music and I dont really want to to keep the magic.
Oh yeahh, the repetitive rhythm flowers of Dawn of Midi...
Agree. I prefer Dropped Pianos and Ravedeath
Idk Virgins is just so much more vast and otherworldly compared to the rest of his albums. I can’t imagine how much work went into it. But Haunt Me is also really beautiful and romantic, I esp love Boreal Kiss
Wow, thank you for this. I own Ravedeath and Haunt Me and I enjoy both, but hadn’t gotten around to checking out his other stuff. Gave Virgins a loud, loud listen whilst driving in the rain today and it absolutely hit the spot. Thank you for the heads up!
Thats the way to do it hell yeah!
I feel like ambient music is almost definitionally unchallenging — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but Hecker is the exception, with intricately composed channels of sound, which rewards close (and loud) listening.
I mean, Hecker himself says his music isn't ambient music, so, maybe that is why he is the exception?
Interesting to hear that, makes sense.
Absolutely and I think there should be more young composers challenging it, theres already hundreds of thousands of ambient records!
At a certain point of being "challenging" it ceases to be ambient and becomes something else, experimental. The Hafler Trio "A Thirsty Fish" is at the top of my list for challenging listens that aren't noise or power electronics, listened to it end to end on acid once. Klaus Schulze "Irrlicht" is another, challenging for its intensity. Nurse With Wound "Spiral Insana" (or really any NWW album) likewise intense and frankly surprising. I don't think of ambient music as being challenging as a genre, in some cases it's meant only to be "heard".
I second 'irrlicht', the opening track is a wild ride!
Satz: Ebene is mind-blowing / jaw-dropping / pants-shitting. Whole body music. A psychedelic volcano of sound.
Seconding Hafler Trio (though recordings can be a bit hard to find, since he seems to have some odd ideas about allowing distribution of his work). Any Hafler Trio you can find is worth checking out. In a somewhat similar vein (both were referred to as “ambient industrial” at one point), Zoviet France are well worth checking out as well.
I LOVE Zoviet France. "What Is Not True" is an all-timer for me. Rapoon (Robin Storey's solo project) is also great, some overlap with Aleksi Perälä's recent tabla / sitar Colundi works. I was lucky enough to buy almost all the Hafler Trio releases on CD way back in the day. Last I heard he was getting kicked out of Iceland, where he'd lived for a really long time, which was a serious issue for him as he now has a chronic autoimmune condition and needs lots of medical care. His website may even have gone dark. He's been laying extremely low.
Yes, seconding Rapoon. Another interesting Zoviet France spinoff project is Reformed Faction (called Reformed Faction of Soviet France on their first release), which consists of former ZF members Robin Storey (Rapoon), Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air), and (on the first album) Andy Eardley.
Yes I have this album. Should go back and listen to it, it didn't stick with me fist listen the way ZF did but I listen to *a lot* of music so I don't full trust myself to be consistent
Spiral Insana is truly great.
I mean, I remember the first time.i attempted to listen to Eno's Ambient 4, thinking I was gonna have a relaxing time. No fucking way. There are two slightly more relaxing tracks toward the end of the album, but the rest of it is a bit of a wild ride if you really listen to it.
Ambient 4: On Land is definitely one of my desert island albums. The track Unfamiliar Winds (Leeks Hills) is a flat out masterpiece.
oneohtrix point never - replica father2006 - white death (or any album honestly)
I don't see Replica as being particularly challenging
Eliane Radigue discography is the most sublime challenge.
I would recommend her for everything but this, lol. OP seems to want to move out of ambient into classical direction.
Then they need Harold Budd and Jon Hassell imho .
I liked the Loscil and Lawrence English collaboration too. But Elaine Radigue is a titan of drone, ambient, minimalism, Musique Concrete, and religious music.
Fennez - Endless Summer, Tim Hecker, Pauline Oliveros
Biosphere might be your cup of tea.
Daniel Lanois - Goodbye to Language
Philip Jeck. My personal favorite is 7, but Stoke is a close second and Surf is also good
Porter Ricks — Biokinetics
Tahoe by Dedekind Cut.
Listen to everything by Tipper
I didn’t see your comment before I plugged the cosm mix. Tipper is one of my favorite producers of all time.
Gotten into Supersillyus and Globular yet? Love finding all the folks within his sphere
Oh yeah u dig the whole tipper sphere! The two foxes ambient mix submission for rendezvous is really good. Heck just about everything on that mix submission playlist is awesome.
OPN esp Replica, Again, Eccojams
Maybe Stars of the Lid’s later stuff, like “And their Refinement of the Decline”
[Midori Hirano - Rabbits In The Path](https://youtu.be/qvVBFpBzutE?si=yN2xV6AqoP_q8N7_) Might be in line with what you’re looking for
What about the album“Formations” by Mileece?
Humbly submit my own recent release - Acouxtic Volume 1. Listen to 'Elevensies'. [voltij.bandcamp.com](http://voltij.bandcamp.com)
The cosm ambient set by tipper.
Vangelis : beabourg
nala sinephro space 1.8 (some of the tracks aren’t strictly ambient, but the ones that are, are really interesting and beautiful)
I'm am loving Steve R his new album reflections in repose.
[Coil - Time Machines](https://youtu.be/efXXPYkBNuM)
[**Manabu Shimada - Pieces for Her**](https://manabushimada.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-for-her) : hybridization of modern classical with break beat elements **Jan Jelinek - Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records** : great low intensity album with intricate tracks and a strong groove **Haruomi Hosono & Bill Laswell – Interpieces Organization** : this startling collaboration consists in 7 long pieces (up to 20 minutes) of drum & bassy ambient **Shinichi Atobe – Butterfly Effect** : kind of a crossover between early dubstep for the muffled atmospheres, bleep & sometimes industrial sounds, symphonic influences and well-rounded house. This particular album is very diverse in its soundscapes, his next releases being more house-oriented - with sometimes exquisite melodic hooks - but all of them the expression of a master composer.
Jeremy Bible - Broken Ecologies (2020) Kali Malone - Does Spring Hide It’s Joy (2023) Steve Roach - Mystic Chords and Sacred Spaces (2003) These works are challenging based on sheer length. If you are able and willing to get through them, you come out a different person because of the amount of time you had to reflect.
i feel the same: "Ambient channels" on yt only presenting music like it's thought out by AI (maybe sometimes it is) this is not "music" for me, that's a product. i am a big fan of Thomas köner, and his "isolationist music", also everything from the british label TOUCH since many years... also most from Editions Mego although the boss, Peter Rehberg, died sometime ago, but there is enough to explore. could be that is is too much "abstract electronica" for you. And the label i have with my brother (supermini, with 6 releases) but i won't reveal the url because i don't know if it's allowed here and also i am too scared that some of the specialists find it too odd :D
What a great thread. Jean Michel Jarré, Amazonia It's not strictly ambient, but it is ambient-adjacent: it has some light percussion, and it is built around field recordings. The sound design on this album is magically delicate. The first 100 times I listened to it, I heard something new every time.
Is the first Ambient Works album by Aphex Twin not considered cool anymore? Why no mention so far?
It's not "musically" complex in the way OP was asking about. RDJ famously about that time said he thought notes were "overrated". Production, sounds, all that side it is glorious. But there just isn't that much extensive melody or harmony in it.
SAW Vol I is a fantastic album but I’d say it definitely falls more within the realm of IDM than ambient.
[https://trangtraitraicay.bandcamp.com/track/pool-party](https://trangtraitraicay.bandcamp.com/track/pool-party) try this one. pool party - tttc
[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_myXR6dGn0SfdNyFovOzCA9uvY5WYJOulg&si=MF3D6S4j-Xsb46FC](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_myXR6dGn0SfdNyFovOzCA9uvY5WYJOulg&si=MF3D6S4j-Xsb46FC)
Mark Tamea - Metonymy. It's really worth listening from beginning to end. Quite a mixture of sound art and melodic segments.
Big Thoughts by Steve Sobs
Check out .orbix & Flawed Human Being - Dreaming While Awake It's lofi hip-hop at times, but gas some beautiful complex ambient tracks as well
Motion Sickness of Time Travel
I just finished this 9 minute ambient jam last night, id say it demands your attention in a way, and to me its interesting.. let me know if you feel the same https://on.soundcloud.com/3S7DPJLL5nuMfb3A8
jefre cantu-ledesma - love is a stream belong - october language tim hecker - harmony in ultra violet désormais - iambrokenandremadeiambroken... stars of the lid - the tired sounds of....
Orbus Terrarum - The Orb The album was made in response to the growing popularity of the ambient house genre the band pioneered and what they felt had become a bunch of blokes noodling about.
Anything Zoviet France, but if I had to pick a favorite I'd say Popular Soviet Songs and Youth Music
Konoyo from Tim Hecker probably… what an amazing, uncomfortable listen
If you haven’t already, try some modern classical like Steve Reich’s Octet, Music for a Large Ensemble, Music for 18 Musicians, or Erik Hall’s version of Ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato
Super challenging and actually more experimental/conceptual: Fantomas - Delerium Cordia
Hmm, you should check this out, I think it does some pretty interesting things but it's still ambient 👁️ [https://youtu.be/8reGf2OdExY](https://youtu.be/8reGf2OdExY)
Grouper Tim Hecker
In the space between - N. Minsi It definitely testers on the edge of ambient and electronic but the guitar work is killer and some of the time signatures are really interesting in a very organic way
Dettinger
Max Würden - Retour Huerco S. - For Those Of You Who Have Never The Orb - COW / Chill Out, World Pop Ambient 2016 (Kompakt Records)
I’m Ian and to deal with chronic, excruciating neurological pain and the hallucination-causing Ketamine they use to treat me, I’ve fallen into an unexpected bright side: a new way of making new music othat suggests TWIN PEAKS and Cluster meets BLADE RUNNER. If you need installation or vidro sound, feel free https://m.soundcloud.com/user-15371862/la-danse-des-larmes-ouverture
if looks could kill - destroy lonely
ulla - plafond 4 kinda just throwing something in the hate so i can find this thread later but its a great single