Lady of Synth's Top 100 Space/Ambient/Electronic/New Age Albums!

[Lexi Darling]

I've wanted to do something like this ever since I found The Other Site back in 2007 and read Urban Hatemonger's 100 thread. I feel like I could never list my 100 favorite albums across all genres, but as my brand is on the synthy side of things, I think I can tackle this.

This list will be in order of quality, with 1 being my favorite of all time. Reviews will be off the cuff, stream of consciousness musings written as I relisten to each album. The music will vary from synthesized space ambient to acoustic new age to prog-adjacent electronic, everything my brain files into that admittedly vague box.

I hope you will enjoy coming on this interstellar journey with me!

[Janszoon]

I'm looking forward to it!

[Trollheart]

Sounds like this could be very interesting. I'll be reading.

[Guybrush]

Subscribed    👍

[Nimbly9]

Love it. Will definitely be following!

[ribbons]

Really looking forward to this as well! 

And by the way, so glad you are posting and sharing with us after all those years.  You were definitely worth the wait.   

[tristan_geoff]

Excited to see what albums u pick!

[Lexi Darling]

Overjoyed to see all the support and interest in this project!

I just finished outlining the list of 100 albums, all that's left is to order them and then I can get to writing. I have lots of personal life stuff going on like moving plus a new job, so the one thing I can't promise is a consistent schedule.

[Lexi Darling]

Good morning! Just an additional disclaimer before the review: This is a list of my favorites. It is not meant to be an objective ranking based on influence or how well-regarded the albums are. My taste goes against the grain sometimes, and I'm sure true blue spaceheads will get very angry at some of my picks. C'est la vie. I'm also doing only one album per artist in the interest of diversity. With that out of the way, here goes nothing!



100. Robert Rich & B. Lustmord – Stalker (1995)

Though the word ambient is in the title of this thread, there are actually comparatively few purely ambient albums on my list. Most of my other picks are too structured and have too much of those pesky things like "consistent meter" and "discernable lead melodies" to really qualify. Although I suppose this album really isn't strictly ambient either, if we are to go by Brian Eno's definition that ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting. Stalker has such a feeling of ominous dread in its atmosphere that you'd be hard pressed to ignore it.

At any rate, this album is a collaborative project between two artists who are both legends in their respective genres. Rich is a veteran ambient and space music artist best known for all-night concerts meant for the audience to sleep to, as well as putting out a couple of ridiculously long albums in the 2000s that span multiple discs and upwards of seven hours. I'm less familiar with Lustmord and his oeuvre, but I know he came from the post-industrial music scene and is an important figure in the subgenre of dark ambient.

This album is a vivid and haunting atmospheric journey, managing to create an unsettling atmosphere without relying on cliche menacing or dissonant chord progressions. At the same time it's never too atonal or noisy, making it great music for pensive moods. One thing this album isn't is boring, and yes, even Miss Ambient Space Drone gets bored by some ambient music, haha.

My favorite piece on the album is track 4, "Delusion Fields". Subtle thunks of metallic percussion echo into the distance over the calm but uneasy bed of sound before giving way to a mystical flute solo that soars over the landscape. It is a perfect encapsulation of the juxtaposition between dark post-industrial ambient and elements of classical space music beauty that makes this album work so well. Both collaborators play to their strengths yet the album is more than the sum of its parts.

I picture myself walking through the fog in the wee hours of the morning to this album, very much on edge but still appreciating the serenity and evocative atmosphere it conjures. Rich and Lustmord are masters of sound design, and manage to tell a musical story without most traditional musical elements. Far from the static wallpaper music that ambient music gets pigeonholed as being, this album is not something I'm in the mood for very often, but it really hits the sweetest of spots whenever I am.

[Trollheart]

Nice. Your descriptive prose and your ability to evoke a mood through the music you're writing about is impressive. More please.

[Toy Revolver]

i've listened to lots of both of their music but i don't remember this one

it's now on the list

in our punk scenester clique when i was young SPK were very popular but i was only into them peripherally

he's been at it a looooong time

i guess he deserves it considering everything but sometimes i feel like he takes up a little more space in the dark ambient scene than he should

i also feel like the genre has stagnated over the past three years

i'm less drawn to check out new releases than i used to be

[Janszoon]

I'm vaguely aware of Robert Rich and B. Lustmord, but I don't really know much about them, and I've never even heard of this album despite the fact that it sounds like something that would totally have been in my wheelhouse in 1995. Now my interest is piqued. I'm really looking forward to giving this a listen!

[ribbons]

This album is a vivid and haunting atmospheric journey, managing to create an unsettling atmosphere without relying on cliche menacing or dissonant chord progressions...

You've got me sold here, Lady!  I'm familiar with Robert Rich but never heard of B. Lustmord.  Definitely putting Stalker on my listening list on the strength of your beautiful review.  Well done, and thanks!   

[Lexi Darling]

Thank you all for your wonderful support! <3

[Toy Revolver]

i made this playlist of robert rich's less beat oriented music a few years ago btw

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wnaQh0wZiuuu8dAujt17h?si=jAW2cyrPQgCrpE9ipX5OhA