Frans Friederich – Ambient 1998 – 2013

Frans Friederich is a dutch trumpet-player, musician, composer and music teacher living in Zierikzee, Holland.

Friederich’s Bandcamp page displays an extensive overview of his work, all compiled by their different styles and downloadable for free (!).
All these compilations present a large array of adventurous experiments, but there are two specific release that justify recommendation here on Ambientblog: “Ambient 2002 – 2013” and “Ambient 2 – 1998 – 2013” , respectively (- you probably guessed thát).

Jeff Bridges – Sleeping Tapes

Imagine Jeff Bridges – or The Dude, if you prefer – sitting right next to your bed, telling you stories like a granddad to his grandson would do … bedtime stories, memories he just seems to improvise on the spot, or even guided fantasies to help you doze off…
Would you be able to fall asleep?
Or would you fight off sleep to make sure you can listen to all he has to tell you?

John Kannenberg – Cordolium

“Cordolium” – literally: ‘Heartfelt grief’: from cor (“heart”) + dolor (“pain, sorrow”) – is a (digital download only) album presenting seven “Laments for the heart in flux”.

The basic material comes from field-recordings from all over the world but they are edited and processed in such a way that the track become true compositions:
“Audio poems of love, loss, longing and heartache in all its forms”.

Stephan Mathieu – Nachtstücke

The ink of the cover of his previous release Sacred Grounds” had barely dried when Stephan Mathieu announced his new release called Nachtstücke“.
(metaphorically speaking of course: these are both download-only releases).

The first thing to notice is that the full release of these “Night Pieces” is 260 minutes in length – that’s about a half night’s sleep!
For most – if not all – listeners, four hours and twenty minutes of extended droning is simply too much for concentrated listening. So that obviously is not what this music is intended for.

Undisclosed – 7C858C

One of the most active and vibrant websites about electronic, experimental and instrumental music I know, Headphone Commute, has even found the time to start a new side-project called “Undisclosed”.
“The project allows each musician to explore a particular sonic territory, while remaining detached from all of the previous associations with their notable name. The series also invites the listener to strip away all of the predisposed concepts and instead focus on the only thing that really matters — MUSIC”