Ambient

Ambient on vinyl: Brian Eno, soundscapes and film music

In short: Ambient is music that fills a room instead of pushing itself to the front: calm soundscapes, little rhythm, lots of atmosphere. Brian Eno coined the term in 1978 with “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”. The Vinyl Room currently has 280 ambient records, many of them from recent years.

What is ambient?

Brian Eno wanted to make music that you can listen to but also ignore. In the nineties, The Orb and the chill-out rooms of the clubs brought ambient to a younger audience. Today the style ranges from Tim Hecker and Sarah Davachi to pianists such as Hania Rani – and to film music: Angelo Badalamenti’s “Twin Peaks” and Hans Zimmer’s “Interstellar” also sit in this corner with us.

What to look for

New ambient records often come out as double LPs. You’ll also find many still-sealed copies with us. With older records, for example by Brian Eno, label, catalogue number and runout help.

From our stock

First pressings

Still sealed

New in

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FAQ

Who invented ambient? Brian Eno coined the term in 1978 with his album “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”.

What’s the difference between ambient and downtempo? Ambient often does without beats altogether, downtempo has a slow, relaxed rhythm.

Does film music count as ambient? Some does – for example calm, atmospheric soundtracks such as Angelo Badalamenti’s “Twin Peaks”.