i've been listening to this all morning and last night, and, well it's good. but as much as i love ambient music and am simultaneously confused by the raving reviews tim hecker and belong and the likes have been getting (mostly due to the fact i thought noone was paying attention to this kind of music)---- i have a couple things to say for myself.
there is ambient music, which, i think, really produces something subtle and environmental, like "music for airports". and then there is ambient music as a culmination of a genre, like maybe this "belong" fellow. (the music is very good, don't get me wrong- and i'll get to that later). the thing i love about ambient music is that you are given to listen to nothing so specific that you grow to hate it in 2 weeks of repetitive play. in fact, ambient music only gets better the more you play it. if there are any nuances not heard the first second or third time around, you will discover them eventually if you keep listening.
like i was saying about culminating- i think this might be happening with this type of music, which is an exciting and also a scary thing- because i wouldn't want it to get lost in a sudden wave of arty trendiness.
one trend i've noticed is that young people making ambient music today tend to include alot of trebly, brash, distortion noise into the mix. normally, i love this sort of texture- but usually in a "rock" environment. when i put on an "ambient" record, i don't want it to grate on me. this kind of music isn't for those who wish to "show off" their skills. the world today is full of distortion pedals, laptops, and endless synth combinations- i know distortion is radical for the occasional bliss-out landscape, but really- why every song? there is something about this electronic noise/tone/texture that distances me, makes me feel cold. i don't know why, but i think it's indicativce of the inherent quality of a particularly trebly white noise.
one note, in an ambient piece, holds more importance than a hundred elsewhere. id say my ambient albums with the most repeated plays are those which are soft, warm, and oozy. not post-eno punk rock.
anyway, Belong is very good- however, next time, please give me something warmer, softer, more emotional and reminiscent of maybe an airport, if you need to.
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