Under-rated Ambient

[petekelly]

Following from the recent over-rated albums post. For sake of balance,I thought I'd add an under-rated artists / albums post.
Here's a quick list of artists I feel deserve more exposure:

Matthew Florianz
Lucette Bourdin (RIP)
Peter James
Rudy Ensueno
Jim Cole

Speaking about under-rated albums, 'Out and About' by Alp (Roger from 'O Yuki Conjugate') is a really refreshing sound.
http://www.discogs.com/Alp-Out-And-About-With-Alp/release/198635

[headonist]

Joel Tammik

[Poaalpina]

Tear Ceremony "An Hourglass of Opals" 1993.

[jkn]

Great list, Pete. 

There are several artists I love that are fairly new on the block.  Cinchel is one I find very raw, heartfelt, thick guitar, and like he's just beginning his journey in making this kind of music (see Public Spaces Lab and Feedback Loop netlabels or his bandcamp page).  Specta Ciera is another I keep turning to on my ipod... love his collab with Marcus Fischer (on Distance netlabel) and with Jacob Newman (on APK's Data Obscura label) 

[Bill Binkelman]

Meg Bowles - her 2011 release, A Quiet Light, is one of the best fusions of space and ambient in years. To release something this excellent after a more than 10 year absence is, IMO, unprecedented.

Richard Bone - I don't think he has ever gotten the level of recognition he deserves. He has had some "average works" but a lot of his stuff is superb and he is a VERSATILE artist.

Michael Allison/Darshan Ambient - If you look at his body of work, whether it be his pastoral ambient CDs like Providence, The Zen Master's Diary, or Autumn Light, or his more recent rhythmic stuff, you can't help but be VERY impressed.

Basically EVERYTHING released on APK's label. Yeah, that covers a lot of ground, but talk about maintaining CONSISTENT quality - sheesh! He's deservedly lauded here at Hypnos but APK (whether what he records himself under various pseudonyms or the other artists he chooses to release) is amazing...also his cover art is frequently beautiful and evocative.

Ben Swire - He's not the most prolific artist but both his Foundry EP, Equilibrium, and his 2010 recording, From Here to There, on Preservation are as good as glitchy yet melodic ambient gets, IMO.

Marconi Union - I haven't heard everything by this enigmatic duo, but Distance and A Lost Connection are moody, urban soundscapes suitable for late night neon-infused cruising by car.

Tristan Feldbauer (and others depending on the album) - I may be the only big fan this guy has but I cannot get enough of his blend of chill/ambient/retro-EM music. His best album, the enigmatically titled Recordings, is one of my all-time favorites. Like Swire's work, it's PERFECT for late night drives down city streets.

[ffcal]

Re APK--I agree, Bill.  I've liked almost everything I've heard so far from Anthony's label, especially Anthony's own work, such as Invisible Cities.  I was pleasantly surprised by one of Michael Allison's releases from a few years ago that had a bit more perk than I expected.

Haven't able to get into Marconi Union so much; they remind me too much of music I must have heard before.

Forrest

[spectral67]

Anything by David Parsons, Maitreya, Thom Brennan and Andrew Forrest.

[hjalmer]

repeat frequently

phobos | always consistent long form journeys
disturbed earth | excellent catalog and collaborations
circle of pines | darkwater pond and the insistence of memory
darren harper | descend is black and mystical
andrew lahiff | for the lighter moments
simulacra | great drones
the sound gallery | always coming back to phos
frequent sync
diatonis | long time following

h

[DeepR]

Blood Box

For creating some of the, if not the deepest, most sophisticated and beautiful (dark) ambient I've ever heard.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Blood+Box

The Iron Dream and Funerals in an Empty Room. Awe inspiring albums. Total mind trips.

[drone on]

Good topic.  Most underrated ambient for me would be:

Awen (sequencer artist like k. Schulze)

AEM (ambient sequencer again)

Robert Carty

[APK]

A quick thank you to Bill and Forrest for their words about DataObscura and my own work.
Very much appreciated.

I do often feel I toil in obscurity.

Anthony

[Seren]

A quick thank you to Bill and Forrest for their words about DataObscura and my own work.
Very much appreciated.

I do often feel I toil in obscurity.

Anthony

I toil in Obsurity - sounds like an ambient album title.

[drone on]

I Toil in Obscurity Behind the Magnificent Void

[judd stephens]

Richard Bone - I don't think he has ever gotten the level of recognition he deserves. He has had some "average works" but a lot of his stuff is superb and he is a VERSATILE artist.

Amen to that. 

[Scott M2]

I Toil in Obscurity for The Magnificent Void
might be an apt job description for
most of the artists on this forum.

[Jeff Sampson]

Thanks for the  Specta Ciera mention, JKN - a nice, new discovery for me.

[LNerell]

I do often feel I toil in obscurity.

Yes, I think a case can be made that just about all ambient music is under-rated these days.

[Ein Sophistry]

Meg Bowles - her 2011 release, A Quiet Light, is one of the best fusions of space and ambient in years. To release something this excellent after a more than 10 year absence is, IMO, unprecedented.

Great call. Back in the day, it seemed she was always in the shadows of the space music giants (Demby, Stearns, Serrie, etc.), but she's really done something awesome and unique with this release, expertly traversing a very fine line between classic space music and pure ambient.

I've been enthralled by Seren Ffordd's music ever since hearing The Portal's Dreaming on my girlfriend's home theater system (ok, technically, it was her dad's) while playing Dead Space. I'd just splurged on a ton of umbra/penumbra releases and loaded them all up into the CD changer. The Portal's Dreaming came up right when I entered a particularly eerie zero-g section of the game. It all fit together just perfectly. I definitely hope The Martian Chronicles gets Andy some more exposure.

Tau Ceti also merits mention here. He's mostly known as Gigi's collaborator on Celestial Geometries, but he has some great solo releases as well. Some of his EPs are delightfully otherworldly and experimental (Achernar, Albhali, Pulsar, etc.). Achernar, in particular, is quite the trip.