Many people asked me about some of the tracks that were being played during our three services in the Abide venue at Greenbelt. So here’s a little run through of a few of the tracks that were used and some stuff on the internet on ambient/classical music.
1. Helios- Keith Kenniff aka Helios/Goldmund (he goes by a variety of names) is an incredible Boston based artists. Do check out his website at www.unseen-music.com for some free mixes and tracks. Most of the tracks I played were from the two Helios albums Eingya and Caesura. Eingya has been one of my favourite albums for a long time!
2. Olafur Arnalds- This Icelandic composer is a recent find for me but I’ve been playing his album “and they have escaped the weight of darkness” a lot recently so do have a look at his stuff.
3. Arvo Part- A little more “traditional” but I used his “Fratres” a few times in the service. If you don’t know his music you really should!
4. Stars of the Lid- These guys are very famous in Ambient circles. Most of the tracks I used were from the album “And their Refinement of the Decline”
5. Ten and Tracer- Another recent find, a lot of their music is free have a look here
6. Max Richter- His albums are all highly recommended!
7. Feedback loop label- This is a great netlabel offering a number of free tracks and if you like them you can buy the full albums. The address is here. Ambienteer is particularly worth a listen.
In terms of places to buy music I’d recommend www.boomkat.com over Amazon or itunes. They have a great system for downloads and their reviews and comments are very detailed. Also worth having a look at is their 14 tracks series.
And to finish a couple of blogs for ambient music that are a great read are www.disquiet.com and http://astrangelyisolatedplace.wordpress.com/. A Strangely Isolated Place is I assume named after a Ulrich Schnauss album that I’m fairly sure I used. They also run a great series of mixes.