When the seep of electronic music experiments puddled into the astral oozings of 1970s-era space rock, ambient music was born. In actuality, the seeds of Ambient had been fermenting since the late nineteenth century. That's when French composer Erik Satie began... [more]

When the seep of electronic music experiments puddled into the astral oozings of 1970s-era space rock, ambient music was born. In actuality, the seeds of Ambient had been fermenting since the late nineteenth century. That's when French composer Erik Satie began giving titles like "Phonic Floor Tiles" to melodious, atmospheric compositions that were meant to create a soothing background to other activities, rather than take center stage. A dozen or so years after Satie started using sounds as interior decoration, Major General George Squier began toying with a notion of sonic mood enhancement piped directly into the home and available by paid subscription. Unfortunately, the result of this utopian vision was his patented invention, Muzak -- the bland sameness of which is more totalitarian than utopian! By the end of the twentieth century, the term ambient, credited to ubiquitous rock creative Brian Eno, was being applied to all manner of recordings: from the lo-fi, narcotic guitar-fuzz of Flying Saucer Attack to the moody, electronic drone of Aphex Twin's early works. "Serious composers" befitting the label include Pauline Oliveros -- considered by some to be the godmother of ambient -- whose concept of "Deep Listening" brought background into the foreground. Another is computer music pioneer Laurie Spiegel, who used algorithms to create her sparse soundscapes of the 1970s. If listening, in 1999, to Scotland's Boards of Canada recalls aural cosmonauts Gong and their echoing giggle 'n' glissando experiments of a quarter century before, it should come as no surprise. Maybe this explains why The Orb, one of the only charting groups of the genre since electronic popsters Kraftwerk, even hired ex-Gong member Steve Hillage to mix tracks for them. Whether it be early analog synth knob twiddlings, or the psychedelic chill-out music of a rave's twilight hours, ambient comes alive whenever music aspires to be more of an environment than an event. [show less]