by Ben Hogwood
I have always admired the ability of Anthony Gonzalez to paint expansive musical pictures in his work as main writer for M83. However he is an extremely effective ambient writer too, as he showed on the largely instrumental release Digital Shades Vol. 1 in 2007, writing almost completely without beats. Coloring The Void is a completely unhurried example from the album’s core, scaling the peaks of euphoria as it progresses:
Published post no.2,980 – Monday 9 August 2026
by Ben Hogwood
The work of Andrew Weatherall is greatly missed, not least because he managed to include so many different forms and genres in his writing. We don’t always associate him with ambient music, but Sabres of Paradise, the group he was part of with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, wrote an absolute beauty with this heat-soaked track:
Published post no.2,979 – Monday 9 August 2026
by Ben Hogwood
A full appreciation of the visionary producer William Orbit will follow tomorrow, but for now here is one of the most effective tracks from his album recasting classical music, Pieces in a Modern Style. In it he takes two of Henryk Górecki‘s Pieces in the Old Style, of which this is the first:
Published post no.2,978 – Sunday 8 August 2026
by Ben Hogwood
Michael Brook’s Cobalt Blue album from 1992 has just been re-released by 4AD, bringing his form of studied guitar ambience to new audiences, while reminding those who listened the first time around just how good it is.
Brook played the ‘infinite guitar’, an instrument he created that could sustain notes indefinitely. He was joined by ambient music royalty, with Brian and Roger Eno contributing, along with Daniel Lanois. The result is a rather beautiful long-form composition dividing nicely into 12 parts. The second, Breakdown, is particularly blissful:
Published post no.2,972 – Friday 6 August 2026
by Ben Hogwood
James Braddell has been remarkably prolific under this pseudonym – so with plenty more to explore, I’ll leave a high point from his Fast Asleep album on Ninja Tune from 2002. Very deep indeed…
The Funki Porcini Bandcamp page appears to be fully up to date, and has a very impressive discography
Published post no.2,968 – Tuesday 4 August 2026
