Nocturnal Emissions
(yes I tend toward the dark side…)
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Speaking of Aphex Twin!
And what still feels to me like the perfect realization of… something. Not sure what but I can listen to this on repeat for hours. Aphex Twin #19 from about 1994? 95? Excursions in Ambient compilation:
Finally, I don’t know if anyone has called Bohren & der Club of Gore “ambient,” but anything at 4bpm is going to sound ambient.
That this is traditional bass, drums, and guitar might make it seem a little out of place, but doing something similar in digital terms could be very interesting, I think.
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Currently far from my home and my daw and my rack, so I am particularly nostalgic and hungry for music. This to explain myself why I love so much this post. Thanks Lars, you made my evening! And the Lounge category is getting points this way.
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This too could be thought of as out of genre, but I always took it as ambient-jazz work that put ahead anticipations of the genre. It blew my mind in my youth. It’s the album Third from Soft Machine. It has major echoes of psychedelia and prog, but also hidden episodes and patterns that I always felt as seminal roots for later ambient electronica. I found this quote on the web, and I agree: Third predicted every kind of newage and ambient music. Another wonderful review reminds us that their major interest was trying to “soundify” the music.
Here I 'm posting Moon in June, the piece on the third facade of the double album (I have the vinyl, and it’s like the little bear of a child).
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Beautiful thread. I don’t even know where to start (besides the obvious).
Recently though I have been listening quite a lot to Thom Brennan and Craig Padilla. Especially Thom Brennan has been an absolute pleasure listening to.
I keep returning back to artists from Ultimae Records - Aes Dana and Co. Although most of their work sometimes is a bit more upbeat it still has that ambient feel.
When it comes Eno my all time favorite has to be The Pearl, in collaboration with Harold Budd. I think it must be my most played ambient work of all time. I love the way the piano is used…heavy use of reverb. If anyone knows what type of reverb was used I’d love to know!
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More relevant to the genre spotted here than the Soft Machine credits… BOC was another act that I loved, drawing the downtempo side of ambient electronica.
The first album here.
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I’ve been in love with this klaus Schultze Crystal Lake since a long time.
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Thank you all and thanks a lot @LarsBjerregaard for your hard work and time. I trully appreciate it. I like to compose ambient with VCV and at the same time, I’m a complete newbie except for some tracks I’ve found on the internet.
I’m currently listening to Eno’s Signals, it’s absolutely beautiful!
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Amazing thread, thanks! I’d like to put in a shout for Chill Out by the KLF:
Released in 1990, it predated most of the more famous ambient techno of that period, and I always felt it was under-rated.
Also, Lifeforms by The Future Sound of London is what started me off in electronic music. Slightly more techno, but check out Environments part I and II for more ambient FSOL.
Might not be old enough to fit the “classic” qualifier, but, Bruno Sanfilippo is a favorite.
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yes! anything/everything Klaus Schultze
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also, full on ‘f pitchfork’ disclaimer, but still a nice list/good resource: https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/
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In the early 2000’s, my toddler son had sleep issues. Sometimes the only way to get him to sleep was to sit by his bed. For hours. It was at this time that I started listening to ambient music on my newly acquired ipod. The first records I purchased were Robert Rich’s, Inner Landscapes and Steve Roach’s, Early Man. My mind was blown and my ambient journey began.
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you may be interested in my playlist ‘early sources of inspiration’, which actually starts off with eric satie… https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3uoDdw5f0IzrbhCeo5iGZNKfwuJPcQX4
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Not necessarily classic, but I love this collection of modern day ambient composers:
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Indeed it is Jean Sébastien! Just listen to the whole Apollo album from start to finish, it’s amazing! It’s on Spotify and other places…
That’s quite an extensive list there Matthew, looking forward to going through it, bit by bit. Thanks!
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Jimmy Cauty’s Space album is also worth a listen to:
It was originally written with Alex Paterson but the one that went on sale had his contributions removed. It’s much more ‘Orb-y’
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Thank you to everyone who has posted in this thread. There is some beautiful music here that I never would have heard otherwise. 
Does eleven years count as “classic”? If so, my favourite ambient album is The Fieldtriqp Reconstructions by Brian Crabtree. It was a limited CD-R of remixes of Fieldtriqp’s stuff (one of my absolute faves) but is now digitally streamerised and all that.
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