Non Ambient Purchases 2015

[thirdsystem]

I was thinking that this might be the year I have purchased the fewest non ambient albums ever, but maybe not.....

Riverside - Fear, Love and the Time Machine . May actually be release of the year, all genres, for me.

Todd Rundgren - Global , very good but mainly bought for the DVD of older classic Todd tunes.

Anderson/Ponty Band - very good but a murderous reggae version of an old Yes classic track thereon.

Mabel Greer's Toyshop - New Way Of Life . Chris Squire's first band. THE best bass player of all time. Made without him as he has departed earth :(

Ozric Tentacles - Technicians of the Sacred

Tangerine Dream - Quantum Key , great new Dream music with the lingering touch of Herr Froese.

Think that is about it.

[Dave Michuda]

thirdsystem - I've bee going in the opposite direction.  Over the past 6 years or so I've been buying less & less ambient and more & more "normal" music, which for me is indie, indie/folk and jazz.  Maybe it's because I already have enough ambient music to last several lifetimes or more likely my tastes have just changed a bit.

Here are my favorite album purchases of 2015:

1) Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
2) The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beuatiful World
3) Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit & Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
4) Public Service Broadcasting - The Race for Space
5) Tame Impala - Currents
6) Aero Flynn - Aero Flynn
7) Maria Schneider - The Thompson Fields
8] Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp
9) Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield - Sing Elliott Smith
10) Ibeyi - Ibeyi
11) Beruit - No No No
12) Dengue Fever - The Deepest Lake
13) Other Lives - Rituals
14) The Lone Bellow - Then Came The Morning
15) Leon Bridges - Coming Home
16) Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
17) Beach House - Depression Cherry
18) The Chemical Brothers - Born in the Echoes
19) Nosaj Thing - Fated
20) New Order - Music Complete

Here's a Mixcloud mix of one song from each album...
https://www.mixcloud.com/elementsofsound/best-albums-of-2015/

[thirdsystem]

That's interesting Dave. I can see reaching that stage. I also now have ambient of every description for every mood but I am not in overload yet,in fact still hungrily collecting and exploring as much as I can. I have been in ambient mode for several years now to the virtual exclusion of all else.

Think I  bought three non ambient in 2014 so this year there has definitely been more. Also got Peter Gabriel 1 on vinyl for Christmas and I forgot about The Tangent - Le Sacre de Travail. So that's up to 8 now. A good year for non ambient then  ;)

Think I am missing quality releases from my old Prog bands like Yes/Genesis/Rush the most. I am talking Close To The Edge / Lamb Lies Down / Hemispheres quality here. Can't see anything ever approaching this now.

So I am very glad for the stimulating and thought provoking world of ambient music.

[Ein Sophistry]

2015 was a very metal-intensive year for me. Must be due to frustration over the educational/vocational cul-de-sac I've steered myself into.

Anyway, my top 15 non-ambient releases:

1.) A Forest of Stars – Beware the Sword You Cannot See
2.) Dreadnought – Bridging Realms
3.) Enshine – Singularity
4.) Ethereal Shroud – They Became the Falling Ash
5.) Kauan – Sorni Nai
6.) Nechochwen – Heart of Akamon
7.) Öxxö Xööx – Nämïdäë
8.) Pomegranate Tiger – Boundless
9.) So Hideous – Laurestine
10.) Sunset in the 12th House – Mozaic
11.) Tangled Thoughts of Leaving – Yield to Despair
12.) Thy Catafalque – Sgùrr
13.) Ulvesang – Ulvesang
14.) Kamasi Washington – The Epic
15.) We Lost the Sea – Departure Songs