Ambient (album)

Ambient
Studio album by Moby
Released August 17, 1993
Genre Ambient techno[1]
Length 51:49
Label Instinct
Producer Moby
Moby chronology
Early Underground
(1993)
Ambient
(1993)
Everything Is Wrong
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[2]
NME6/10[3]
Q[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Select4/5[6]

Ambient is the second studio album by American electronica musician Moby, released in August 1993 by record label Instinct.

It received a mediocre critical reception. Ambient, unlike most other Moby studio albums, has never been re-released in a special-edition or a remastered issue.

Compositions

The album is composed of electronic ambient pieces, similar to Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works releases. Like the Aphex Twin releases, the work is mainly instrumental (although there are samples of the sound of a choir vocalizing on "Tongues", and a woman saying 'bad days' in the background of "Bad Days"). Many of the tracks are beat-driven, except "J Breas" and "Piano and String", which both use pianos and synthesizers. "Bad Days" uses a 'sweeping' synth effect, and "Sound" is a high pitched loop playing and fading out and in. "80" uses synths mimicking an acoustic guitar.

The album has an experimental, moody style. Many of the tracks (including "Bad Days" and "Lean on Me") are dark and unearthly. There are also some more uplifting numbers, like "Heaven", "Tongues" and "Dog", which are more beat driven, dancable numbers. The track "Myopia" uses a bubbling synth-bass style. "House of Blue Leaves" and "My Beautiful Blue Sky" are more experimental beat songs ("House of Blue Leaves" is a simple beat and some keyboards, and "My Beautiful Blue Sky" is a tribal rhythm, synths, and a piano).

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "My Beautiful Blue Sky"   5:19
2. "Heaven"   8:16
3. "Tongues"   5:37
4. "J Breas"   2:47
5. "Myopia"   4:46
6. "House of Blue Leaves"   6:20
7. "Bad Days"   2:27
8. "Piano & String"   1:35
9. "Sound"   1:11
10. "Dog"   7:35
11. "80"   2:05
12. "Lean on Me"   3:51

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Ambient – Moby". AllMusic. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert. "Moby: Ambient". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  3. "Moby: Ambient". NME: 32. 30 October 1993.
  4. "Moby: Ambient". Q (166): 137. July 2000.
  5. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 548–49. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  6. Howe, Rupert (December 1993). "Moby: Ambient". Select (42): 87–88.

External links

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