Trying to explain “ambient music” can get pretty tricky, but here goes: “ambient” can suggest music of little or no rhythm, with background sounds and effects as foreground music, as in the spacey and beautiful works by Brian Eno. However, with the advent of “chill-out” rooms which co-evolved with pounding techno raves, ambient music grew into a larger all-encompassing genre that might have a rhythmic or trancey escapist groove, might have electronic keyboards and/or spacemusic melodies or themes, or might be the background-as-foreground idea, or possibly all of these at once. On this edition of New Sounds, hear works of the atmospheric variety by Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, which use simple piano chords and layered themes. There’s also the sound fragmentation of Christopher Willits, who folds fractured guitar lines on top of one another. Plus, music by Brian Eno and more.

PROGRAM #2236, Ambient Music (First aired 1-13-04)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Brian Eno	On Land	The Lost Day [9:00]	Editions EG#20** Amazon.com*
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto	Vrioon	Uoon II [9:30] Duoon [5:30]	r-n#50 www.raster-noton.de
I / DEX	Seqsextend	Outsert [5:00]	Nexsound#18 www.nexsound.org
Various artists: Sebastian Roux	EADGBE	Toasa [6:00]	12K#1025 www.12K.com
Various artists: Christopher Willits		Champagne And Soda [3:30]
Brian Eno	Shutov Assembly	Lanzarote [5:00]	Opal/Warner Bros #2-45010. Available for purchase at Amazon.com*

*, ** - Find the recordings you've heard - go to the New Sounds Recordings Information page