CD-Charts Position 51
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Blue Bell Knoll

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Cocteau Twins

Release Date April 05, 2004
;Someone once said to me that their favourite Cocteau Twins song was always the one they were listening to at the time which is pretty succinct and effective way of surmising how special this band are /were. Released in 1988 and coming after the sometimes airily wonderful collaboration with Harold Budd "The Moon and the Melodies" Blue Bell Knoll saw the band revert to their classic line up of Robin Guthrie (guitars and general grumpiness) Elizabeth Fraser( mercurial vocal gorgeousness) and Simon Raymonde ( bass and spectacular spiky haircut) though there is a feel of some programming having gone into this album (just listen to the skittish backing rhythms on the title track or "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat" )but there are also
marimba, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 52
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Penguin Cafe Orchestra

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Penguin Cafe Orchestra

Release Date July 06, 1987
I have loved this album since it was released. It is sounds strange the first time it is heard. If you like it will become part of your life and part of your soul.

I saw the Penguin Cafe Orchestra play at Islington Union Chapel in 2007 when they played three concerts. It was one of the most astounding concerts I have seen. The atmosphere was electric with excitement that was shared by both the audience and the players alike.

The music was, apparently, created by Penguin Cafe's founding member so that he and his friends could meet and share a common interest. Not many works are created for nine musicians from very different disciplines; two violins, a cello, a saxophone, an oboe, pianist and trash percussion. The musicians ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 53
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Goodbye

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Ulrich Schnauss

Release Date June 25, 2007
Ever since I bough this album it has become a resident CD in my player. Which is a bit worrying.

CD-Charts Position 54
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Odyssey - The Definitive Collection [Digipak]

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Vangelis

Release Date October 27, 2003
I have four musicians that I look out for Mike Oldfield Vangelis
J.M.J and terry Oldfield

Vangelis comes a quality second and In my view compilations are
the best way to listen to Vangelis .

The reason being that he can make some really good music but in
the full albums that I have bought I have not been totally pleased,
do not get me wrong there is some brilliant music on all the albums
I own of Vangelis but also some dull music as well.

This one has the best from a collection of his work and it shows
his versatility and different styles he has It may even prompt you
to check out some of the albums that the music has been taken from I
have and bought albums because of tracks ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 55
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Lullabies to Violaine Vol.1

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Cocteau Twins

Release Date March 20, 2006
The Cocteau Twins were a complete one-off and this is pure genius. Buy it while it is available....and at this price it has to be the steal of the century. Enjoy

CD-Charts Position 56
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The Silver Tree

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Lisa Gerrard

Release Date April 23, 2007
Once again a soundtrack from Lisa - oh no, wait, this is supposed to be a real solo album. Hmm, could've fooled me.
I've been a Dead Can Dance-fan since they started, and when they split up and Lisa released The Mirror Pool I thought: wow, that's where the talent was all along, especially after hearing Brendan's bleak debut. But alas, you'll find no La Bas or Sanvean here. It's the same ethnic monotony as we've sadly grown accustomed to. The vibrant and melodious nature of DCD and her debut is nowhere to be found here, instead what you get is a loooong droooone of sounds that seem to form a sort of entities you could call songs, sprinkled at random with Lisa's voice.
There are two exceptions: Space Weaver, a Massive Attack-like track where Lisa sings ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 57
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The Virgin Suicides (OST)

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Air

Release Date February 28, 2000
I hadn't really heard any of Air's previous work before I watched 'The Virgin Suicides' but after hearing the haunting soundtrack and the eerie melodies that were so fitting to the film I just had to go out and buy this. It is captivating within itself and is an album that truly makes you think. As a soundtrack it works very well as it is filled with haunting tracks that just make you want to listen again and again.

It will take you back to poignant times in your life and really make you think. I find the tracks so haunting and deep that while listening to them you can really reflect on your emotions and feelings. Although it can sound rather sinister in places it is filled with beautiful tracks which upon listening to reveal their darker themes. A very ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 58
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World of Echo

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Arthur Russell

Release Date January 10, 2005
I bought this purely on a whim - the shop I was in seemed to be very keen on Russell and were selling this for just a fiver, so what was not to like. Fortunately, for once my intuitions were right and this turned out to be a beezer of an album. I was trying to think of the best way to describe it, given that the washes of luminous reverb and echo that cover Russell's voice and cello render it pretty unclassifiable. The closest I can get is to say its like Nick Drake singing over fragments of Lou Reed's Street Hassle. It really is that good. I'm not saying that it will be everybody's cup of tea, but for anyone looking for beauty bound in the most original of forms, this is for them.

CD-Charts Position 59
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Chill Out

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: KLF

Release Date March 08, 1993
The KLF are best remembered for "What Time Is Love?" & their media pranks. This album is just a pure joy to listen to, recorded in a minimalist way. The music is almost background music to Drummond & Cauty's soundscape of rivers, trains, sheep, planes, cars, mad preachers, and everyday sounds that you hear but never takes notice of, but on this album you do. If you can't sleep at night, put this album on in the dark and you begin to imagine you are on a journey around distant lands. The KLF also used samples from Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Acker Bilk, Jesus Loves You (aka Boy George). Some stripped down versions of some KLF classics are here too, although retitled, along with what has to be the most impressive track the KLF ever recorded "Madrugada Eterna". ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 60
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Ibm 1401 - a Users Manual

CD-Charts > Music > Ambient
by: Johann Johannsson

Release Date October 30, 2006
How anyone could fail to fall in love with this album I really don't know, perhaps it may much like Joanna Newsom's Y's end up an album that its so different and so perfect that reviewers will not be able to do anything but wax lyrical of its pure beauty and ingenuity. I have heard nothing like it, at least not within the field into which it falls, a very large field in which everyone has stood still and stopped looking at Joanna. Instead there stands a man with nothing but hope and an old IBM Users Manual.
At its most obvious on the fifth and final track Sun's Gone Dim and the Sky's Turned Black you may hear Sigur Ros, elsewhere you hear nothing but beauty and gratitude, the slow burning soundscapes sweeping along like on the documentaries you used to watch at school, the ... Read More: