Ambient Music Guide Podcast

A 2 PART AMBITRONICA SPECIAL: DRUM 'N' BASS 'N' DREAMY BREAKS 1994-2017.

Compiled & mixed by Mike G at Rubycon Sound, May-June 2020. Tracklist at ambientmusicguide.com.

Around 1994 I remember hearing the track ‘Mutant Jazz’ by the mysterious T Power vs MK Ultra. It was getting airplay on Oz public radio station Triple J, which broke a fair bit of new indie and electronic music from the UK back then.

It started as a slow, funky trumpet-led lounge break that – completely unexpectedly – segued into the fast, stuttering, skittering beats of what I soon learned was called jungle. Then, following this initial segue, ‘Mutant Jazz’ improbably and brilliantly married both: slow and fast, dreamy and kinetic.

As jungle quickly morphed beyond the underground and spread around and outside the UK it became known as drum ‘n’ bass. The more ambient, atmospheric tip championed by the likes of LTJ Bukem and his label Good Looking Records became yet another iteration of ambient dance music alongside ambient techno, IDM, ambient dub, lounge, ambient breaks and a slew of other subgenres. Two or more of these styles were frequently fused together, and “intelligent” drum ‘n’ bass was one of the most eclectic and inventive styles of them all.

These two mixes capture rich, atmospheric drum ‘n’ bass and breakbeat tunes that are personal faves, mostly dating from back in the day but also a few recent ones including cuts from genre giants Blu Mar Ten. Pioneers like Bukem and A Guy Called Gerald are here, but so too are some stonking cosmic tracks from Australian and New Zealand artists which you have probably never heard and I think you’ll like. A lot.

Episode 05 features recent music by Roger & Brian Eno, Woob, Lingua Lustra, Boris Lelong, Saphileaum, Ember, Federico Mosconi, and classics from Vangelis, Ishq and Mychael Danna.

The Tranquility Tones mix series showcases harmonic drones and dreamy progressions, timeless music from then and now.

Compiled & mixed by Mike G at Rubycon Sound, May 2020.

Tracklist at http://ambientmusicguide.com

Episode 6 features new and old synth grooves spanning over 40 years - Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Woob, Phaeleh, Backstage Gurus, Beaumont Hannant, Cinnamon Chasers, One Arc Degree, Gen Pop, Rone, James Bernard, Thomas Lemmer, L.S.G. (Oliver Lieb) and Irresistible Force.

Compiled & mixed by Mike G @ Rubycon Sound, May 2020.

Dedicated to Kraftwerk's Florian Schneider (1947-2020). Cover art based on design by El Lissitzky (1890-1941).

The Ambitronica mix series mines the atmospheric grooves of ambient dance music at every level - newbies, classics, and the genre's pre-90's roots in early synthpop, dub, prog rock, art rock, Krautrock, lounge and Berlin-school trance. More at http://ambientmusicguide.com

In both its first incarnation (1994-1998) and its second one (2003-2006), the UK-based Emit label (officially spelt em:t) delivered a varied, idiosyncratic vision of ambient music in the tradition of the great ambient labels of yore like Editions EG. Although now long gone, Emit's reputation in the dance and electronic underground for quality and innovation remains undiminished to this day. The artists provided us with some of the most thrilling, audacious chill-out music of the 90's and beyond.

This two-volume mix series captures my personal highlights from the official Emit releases, as well as from three 'ghost' albums that were more or less finished but never released.

Respect to the various Emit crews: David Thompson, Chris Allen, Tom Smyth, Will Joss, Matt Hall and John Bagguley.

Escape your speakers.

Compiled & mixed by Mike G @ Rubycon Sound, March-April 2020.

More at http://ambientmusicguide.com/

In both its first incarnation (1994-1998) and its second one (2003-2006), the UK-based Emit label (officially spelt em:t) delivered a varied, idiosyncratic vision of ambient music in the tradition of the great ambient labels of yore like Editions EG. Although now long gone, Emit's reputation in the dance and electronic underground for quality and innovation remains undiminished to this day. The artists provided us with some of the most thrilling, audacious chill-out music of the 90's and beyond.

This two-volume mix series captures my personal highlights from the official Emit releases, as well as from three 'ghost' albums that were more or less finished but never released.

Respect to the various Emit crews: David Thompson, Chris Allen, Tom Smyth, Will Joss, Matt Hall and John Bagguley.

Escape your speakers.

Compiled & mixed by Mike G @ Rubycon Sound, March-April 2020.

More at http://ambientmusicguide.com/