ya know it's really hard to say, and I mean really hard. this music is special. but based off my first impressions, I found The Ballasted Orchestra to be the most moving. I can feel an immediate connection with all four tho (the other three being the aforementioned And Their Refinement; The Tired Sounds... and Per Aspera Ad Astra)
Ballasted Orchestra is definitely a masterpiece. I think it’s my current fav too, though tbh an argument could be made for each one
there isn’t a single artists I’ve listened to in my life more than sotl - it’s literally part of me / my dna now
Cool that you dig that Matt Lajoie record! Do you mean the one I posted or the one from my list? Either way, dude released a ton of music last year, and I can totally recommend the following: Sun Language (which is the companion album to Paraclete Tongue) Everlasting Spring (which I love the most right now) and The Center and the Fringe (this is from 2019 though) Still need to spend more time with Forged and the Crucible and Beyond Separation: A New Beginning (which uses only the banjo). So all in all, dude has an unreal output. I highly recommend subscribing to the label, it now is $50/year and you get the entire discography on top (this is for the month of January only). I agree about all the Americana-tinged ambient, I am also falling hard for all that stuff. Pedal steel rules.
I checked out both Everlasting Spring and Sun Language yesterday and was in love with them both. Hyped to check out the rest.
thinking of spending 2021 listening to pretty much nothing else but Stars of the Lid and William Basinski
New one from Norm Chambers. Looking through his Bandcamp, I recognized his previous album Air Example. Maybe it was posted in here a couple years back?
ambient day today. loved the Gi Gi record BTW, thanks for the rec @JM95 great bewildering record. for the pedal steel guitar fans. getting a Jon Hassell / fourth world influence from this too. short gorgeous and spacious piano album. fell in love immediately with this one. stunning and bizarre tropical/celestial ambient.
Top 15 of 2020: 1. Waveform Transmission - V3.0 - 3.9 2. FUJI||||||||||TA - iki & KŌMORI 3. Nils Frahm - Tripping with Nils Frahm 4. CS + Kreme - Snoopy 5. Sarah Davachi - Gathers 6. Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders 7. ana roxanne - Because of a Flower 8. Ulla - Tumblings Towards a Wall 9. bvdub - Wrath & Apathy 10. Bellows - Undercurrent 11. 355.11125 - Untitled 12. Judith Hamann - Peaks 13. Contours - Balafon Sketches 14. Kassel Jaeger - Swamps/Things 15. Koyil - Healing Cycles I liked way more than this but this is what comes to mind.