A couple of new-ish releases in the Marmite world of ambient have caught my attention this year. This is not new material, as such, but new compilations of old, difficult to find stuff most folks will have never heard. The first Kankyo Ongaku – Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 is a beautifully packaged (in CD or LP form – the download is highlights only) release with an informative essay on the origins of Japanese ambient, and detailed notes on each of the tracks. The double CD version, which I have, is more like a hardback book than an album. Like other forms of ambient, Japanese environmental music is indebted to Eno, Cage and Satie’s furniture music, among others, but Japan was, in some ways, primed for ambient through its long tradition of incorporating natural sounds into outdoor spaces and garden design. Ambient became hugely popular in Japan in the 80s, a counterpoint to the garish excesses of the decade, an agrarian retreat in a glitzy, overcrowded metropolis. The music on this album is calm and spacious, with lots of room around the notes.

The music on La Ola Interior: Spanish Ambient and Acid Exoticism 1983-1990 is » Continue Reading.