IMO, one of the most underloved subgenres of glitch is glitch ambient. Sure sure we could probably all go on for days about how Do While is one of the greatest achievements in glitch music (because it legitimately is), but there’s more to it than one long form piece from one specific group.
Here’s a couple select personal faves:
If anyone has any more deeper cuts than the usual suspects then lemme hear em, I’m p. much constantly on the look out for more lush glitch ambient tunes <3
It’s got such a gorgeous sense of light melancholy mixed in with the feeling that everything is going to be ok regardless. I’ve never met a more stunning and beautiful song than Xerrox Isola, honestly.
Haven’t heard either of these before. First one is a bit loud/jagged to count as ambient imo but its still a very striking tune regardless. W/ the second one…I can’t even notice the glitch elements in that, it’s just a very unsettling vibe. You sure you didn’t intend to post that in the hauntology thread?
I used to read all of Mark Richard-san’s Resonant Frequency op-eds. really cool pieces that are sadly absent from Pfork now…
So let me preface this by saying that I didn’t previously really understand how to define ‘glitch’ and looking at the Wiki page (which defined it roughly how I would) it seems to be pretty broadly defined. I’d consider these tracks to have glitchy elements at least, and they’re all real nice ambient. Having said that it seems that I may think of these tracks as ‘glitchy’ because they are clicky.
First two are from Raster Noton, so wouldn’t be surprised if OP knows a lot of this stuff considering Alva Noto’s connection - Kangding Ray’s first album is full of beautiful glitchy ambient tracks with nice gentle grooves. First track is probably my favourite.
Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto have done quite a few albums together - again wouldn’t be surprised if OP knows this stuff - and they are all on a similar vibe to this track. Very sparse. This is the one that stands out to me most.
Olafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm both more into nice vintage synths and acoustic instruments but this track combines the warm synths with more glitchy sounds.
The Disintegration Loops are really cool - very repetitive but a really interesting technique. Basically a tape loop being played and recorded over and over until the tape literally disintegrates. That’s what I understand to be the case anyway.
Also worth noting the first two tracks on Skee Mask’s new release Compro have really nice glitchy elements, a little on the Arnalds/Frahm vibe.
@cafe ahh shit i totally forgot about 28!! what a wonderfully calm album that is. perfect library music, imho.
edit: unrelated side note if any of yall havent checked noriko’s collab with tyme. yet, you should; its called “gyu”.
@topcat yeah you got the rough definition there. glitch is definitely broad which is why i try and hone it in a bit with the specification of “ambient” on top; my three linked videos were also to help kind of guide the style i mean. kangding ray, im aware of, but is very much an artist i need to check out more. noto + sakamoto’s collabs are absolutely stunning; im quite partial to vrioon myself. havent heard the ólafur arnalds/nils frahm track but im gonna get on that asap. and d|p 1.1 used to get me to sleep a short while ago, so i definitely have a fond memory of that track; im not sure i would place it in amongst the style im aiming at mind you. ta for the contributions!
A bit more beat heavy than usual but very much welcome nonetheless. Another nice beat based glitch ambient classic is Tilman Ehrhorn’s Task
that Alva Noto + Ryuchi Sakamoto track changed my life when I first heard it on Odeko’s first Rinse FM guest mix. I was just about to post that one when I saw this thread.
(57 minutes)
Fennesz is a strange one for me because hes one i’ve never properly been able to get into for a long time. Like until I heard the title track on its own, I completely didn’t get what people saw in Endless Summer at all, haha. Giving that album another go in definitely on the plates for later on though.