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The 10 Best Ambient/Instrumental Albums of 2018

A great ambient album can provide a space to step into, or make the trees on your morning walk seem a little taller and the light a little more vivid or the world seem a little more like a dream.

Music

Kasper Bjørke Quartet: The Fifty Eleven Project

Danish producer Kasper Bjørke takes the listener on an anxiety-ridden journey through a cancer diagnosis with The Fifty Eleven Project.

Reviews

SUSS's Country-Ambient Sound Achieves Bizarre New Heights with the "Steam" video (premiere)

SUSS is a country-ambient group who are dropping an expanded edition of their stellar debut effort, and they are sharing a new video for "Steam".

Evan Sawdey

Music

Johnny Goth Delivers Lo-Fi Goodness Via "Sleep in the Light" (premiere)

Johnny Goth's "Sleep in the Light" arrives ahead of new split single with Molly Drag. Set the controls for the heart of the slack.

Music

Yesterday's Jukebox: The Durutti Column's 'Without Mercy'

The Durutti Column's hesitant and beguiling foray into the realm of modern classical gets the thorough revisit that it deserves.

Reviews

Geotic Is Inspired by the Transportive Power of Music on 'Traversa'

Geotic's Traversa is a vividly inventive album with bold use of sonic textures and full of gleaming hooks. Traversa is certainly a journey worth taking.

Music

Brits in Hot Weather #7: Elder Island, Childcare, Eliza Shaddad, Calva Louise, and Cal Raasay

In this edition we have multi-layered, electronic music from Elder Island, lo-fi, infectious indie from Childcare, stunning indie from Eliza Shaddad, kinetic bubblegum punk from Calva Louise, and the slow-burning new single from Cal Raasay.

Music

Eli Keszler's 'Stadium' Is a Warm, Jittery, Percussive Delight

The ninth solo record from avant-garde percussionist Eli Keszler shows him combining his typically dazzling percussion with unique soundscapes.

Music

Four Seconds Ago Deliver a Promising Debut with 'The Vacancy'

Transitioning from heavy metal to chill ambient sounds effortless in the hands Four Seconds Ago on The Vacancy, and shows how well they can transverse genres with equal measures of style and substance.

Music

OddZoo Introduces Listeners to 'Future Flesh' (album stream)

European trio OddZoo taps into sounds that will appeal to fans of the Soft Moon, M83, A Perfect Circle, and Cult of Luna.

Music

LARAAJI, Arji OceAnanda, and Dallas Acid Deliver Experimental, Meditative 'Arrive Without Leaving' (album stream)

Born from a single, six-hour session, the debut from this collaborative project between ambient pioneers and Austin innovators arrives October 12.

Jedd Beaudoin

Music

Sarah Davachi's 'Gave in Rest' Sounds Like Music That's Been Floating Around for Eons Waiting to Be Bottled

One of ambient's most austere artists, Sarah Davachi, expands her sound, but her music is more mysterious than ever on Gave in Rest.

Music

Rhian Sheehan's "The Absence of You" Mourns in Subtle Moonlight (premiere)

Rhian Sheehan's latest composition could just as well decorate a slice of sci-fi cinema as it could his forthcoming album as it wraps listeners in a gentle, ethereal despair.

Music

Tim Hecker Explores the Negative Space with 'Konoyo'

While carrying over many of the practices of his previous record, Tim Hecker shifts his perspective away from the dreamscapes of Love Streams and explores a darker spiritual realm on Konoyo.

Music

Sigillum S Produce One of the Best Dark Experimental Albums of the Year

Italian audio collective Sigillum S are probably not nearly as well known as they ought to be, for The Irresistible Art of Space Colonization and Its Mutation Implications is one of the finest dark electronic albums of the year.

Music

Less Bells Explore the Mystique of Joshua Tree on 'Solifuge'

Multi-instrumentalist Julie Carpenter a.k.a Less Bells unveils her new project with Solifuge, a record of controlled experimentalism, serene atmospherics and great depth.

Music

Pop Ten

The 70 Best Albums of 2018

The 20 Best Avant-Garde and Experimental Albums of 2018

The 20 Best Americana Albums of 2018

The 20 Best Folk Albums of 2018

The Best Metal of 2018

The 10 Best Indie Rock Albums of 2018

The 10 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2018

The Best World Music of 2018

Short Stories: The 12 Best Collections of 2018

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