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

[robhr]

Love Stalker. Both the album and the film it's referencing.

Gonna have to pay attention to this thread.

[Lexi Darling]

99. Lord Lovidicus – Book of Lore, Vol. 1 (2015)

This is where I may lose some of you. For those unfamiliar, there exists a niche subgenre, micro-genre even, of electronic music that is referred to as dungeon synth. Influenced by medieval fantasy and RPG soundtracks, it often features low-fidelity synths and samples and can seem hokey or facile to the uninitiated. But I love it and there's gonna be a bit of it on this list, so buckle up.

This particular dungeon synth album is generally considered to be a modern classic and influential on the genre, though like most of its practitioners I know very little about the artist himself or the context of the work. My history with this album is a wonderful example of one of my favorite areas to discover new music: the YouTube recommendation sidebar.

As a writer of fiction I find myself drawn to any kind of music that evokes a fantastical atmosphere, and not just medieval stuff. Dungeon synth blends my love of fictional flights of fancy with my love of electronic music and makes a perfect soundtrack for my own writing sessions. I enjoy being whisked away into an artist's own little universe, which in turn inspires me when I weave my own worlds of wonder.

It's very video gamey, and that's in no way a turn-off for me. Though I have played a total of maybe two new video games in the last five years, I grew up on Ocarina of Time, Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. If you know those games, you know stuff like this is a deeply nostalgic sound for me. But there is something uniquely hypnotic about Lord Lovidicus' music, with its consistently dark and grim tone and rigid percussion. It is unified in sound and concept yet still has its twists, such as the icy synthesized arpeggios in the latter part of "Behold the King of Elves" and the warm serenity of the synthesized string washes and wistful flute melodies in "Telperion and Laurelin".

Make no mistake, this album is full of tropes that some may find to be cliches of modern faux-medieval music, but for me the tropes are comforting. Lovidicus treads well-worn ground, leaning hard into the classical dungeon synth schtick, and ends up creating a no-frills masterpiece of the genre. I discovered this album about six years ago, and I still listen to it when I write. It's creatively stimulating music without being so out-there and mind-blowingly original that it distracts me from my writing. If nothing else, listening to this album makes me wish it had existed back in my college Dungeons and Dragons days.

[Toy Revolver]

listening to it now - i never thought to research the pioneers of the genre so thank you for that - if i may be so bold i have three in mind i'd like to chime in and recognize

a) Infinite Winter
by Tears ov Blood

https://gondolinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-winter

b) Level One Mage
by Erik Gundel

https://erikgundel.bandcamp.com/album/level-one-mage

c) Sorcerous Steel
by Sequestered Keep

https://sequesteredkeep.bandcamp.com/album/sorcerous-steel-2

modern faux-medieval

heck, i'm blown away by how well these artists pull it off - i'm not an expert or anything but early western music has been in my musical rotations since high school - from gregorian chant to the developments in the renaissance and i think it's fantastic and amazing these people create what i think of as neo-early renaissance music on their computers at home - my hat is off to them - dungeon synth is a really fun and frankly reliably good genre - it's a great bandcamp tag for finding something to listen to -

[Lexi Darling]

heck, i'm blown away by how well these artists pull it off - i'm not an expert or anything but early western music has been in my musical rotations since high school - from gregorian chant to the developments in the renaissance and i think it's fantastic and amazing these people create what i think of as neo-early renaissance music on their computers at home - my hat is off to them - dungeon synth is a really fun and frankly reliably good genre - it's a great bandcamp tag for finding something to listen to -

I'm absolutely clueless as to actual medieval and Renaissance music, haha. Anything before, like, the 30s is a huge musical blind spot for me. But I agree, there's a huge amount of great dungeon synth releases on the net. I'm partial to the mid-90s artists that inspired the modern genre, and there will be several more dungeon synth entries to come. Thank you for reading, and I will check out the recommendations! I'm familiar with Sequestered Keep but not that particular album, and the others will be fresh for me.

[Toy Revolver]

Anything before, like, the 30s is a huge musical blind spot for me

The 1430's?

[Lexi Darling]

Nah, the 3030s.



But if you're asking honestly I meant the 1930s. Curse our colloquialisms!

[robhr]

Not familiar with the artist or the genre of dungeon synth.

I'll check it out, may want to write in my fantasy series to it.

[Toy Revolver]

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.

pretty amazing this is from 95 because this style didn't really gain a strong foothold until around 2010

just finished listening to it btw -

and get up on the next on already please

[Lexi Darling]

pretty amazing this is from 95 because this style didn't really gain a strong foothold until around 2010

just finished listening to it btw -

and get up on the next on already please

I've been very busy lately, I am 95% done with the next entry, should be up tonight after my work shift

[Toy Revolver]

pretty amazing this is from 95 because this style didn't really gain a strong foothold until around 2010

just finished listening to it btw -

and get up on the next on already please

I've been very busy lately, I am 95% done with the next entry, should be up tonight after my work shift

do you need me to call your boss?

[Trollheart]

Have you heard Lights and Motion?

and Carbon Based Lifeforms?

[Lexi Darling]

do you need me to call your boss?

Haha, let's just say if everything goes according to plan, I'll be spending a lot more time at home come August.

Until then updates will probably be pretty sporadic. I really appreciate your continued support!

[Lexi Darling]

Have you heard Lights and Motion?

and Carbon Based Lifeforms?

Not familiar with Lights and Motion but I do love Carbon Based Lifeforms and (spoilers) they are on the 100 list.

[Toy Revolver]

Not familiar with Lights and Motion but I do love Carbon Based Lifeforms

same

[Lexi Darling]

Don't call it a comeback.



98. Roedelius - Wenn Der Südwind Weht (1981)

I love progressive music. There's nothing quite like side-long suites of ebbing and flowing compositions that take you on a journey full of twists and turns. But I also appreciate the beauty in simplicity and repetition, and this album, a solo effort from one half of legendary German duo Cluster, is a masterclass in the latter.

This album's sound is like a warm hug, enveloping me with a blanket of steady percussive keyboard plonks that serve as a bed for gentle, expressive melodic synth leads. It's a beautiful sound that stands out from much of Roedelius' cosmic contemporaries. For me this album conjures up an atmosphere not unlike watching clouds drift through the sky. A good amount of the tracks follow a similar formula, but it is comforting in its familiarity. It feels like a kind of music that has been an innate part of me all my life.

When the album does throw curveballs, they are all the more impactful, such as the eight minute piece "Saumpfad" which opts for a more haunting sound. Low, buzzing synths create a sort of rhythmic drone as dissonant organ swells cascade over them. It's an eerie turn, like the drifting clouds have become dark and thunder has begun to boom in the distance.

There is little here in the way of sophisticated chord progressions or innovative compositional structures, and the album is better for it. Roedelius had a distinct vision for this album, and he accomplishes this mission with flying colors. It's a hypnotic, spellbinding and gorgeous work that always ends up being better than I remembered every time I go back to it.