Perhaps "ambient" music is one of those somewhat acrid, mildly dangerous and self-destructive "adult" tastes that appeals to very few; cigars and cigarettes, single malt scotch, coffee, lars von trier's films, dark chocolate, garlic, sudoku, etc. Complicated, not sweet, with a faint whiff of poison - the sophisticated delights of bad-for-you intoxication and the contemplation of memento mori; the relentlessness of time and inescapable biological and chemical processes - the passage of ripeness to rot. The approach of the End. What the Japanese call Wabi Sabi - beautiful decay - the acknowledgement, if not bittersweet relish of the melancholic slow slide from youth and beauty to age and wear.
Some call this decadence. But I think it is a more forward-looking aesthetic. It is not merely lapsing into glorification of the present corrupted state of an idealized, semi-fictional past and its beauties. Wabi Sabi and ambient music share an awareness and delectation of intimations of the aesthetic future - they are not simple celebrations of decay or the randomness of chance, but they are informed by those factors, and by keen awareness of the directions and flavors of the past and the meandering, mysterious ways they took to get here, now. I believe Ambient music looks hopefully far into the future - an optimistic and fantastical reality expanding impulse, while simultaneously making richer and broader use of what has gone before than any other genre of music.
Much ambient music incorporates ideas of imperfection, chance and decay by using lo-fidelity "found" sounds from old magnetic media and fractured or random portions of "field recordings" of natural sounds, along with random computer generated sounds and generated waves of sound designed to decay and mesh in upredictable, asymmetrical, never-repeating patterns. The riotousness of chaos made obedient as an element of a more elastic sense of order.
Not many people can appreciate ambient music. Its too demanding. Too much has to brought to it by the listerer. It does not lay down in front of you obviously begging to be petted. You have to struggle some toward it and puzzle it out. You have to be brave and confront chaos and degeneration and extremity. Embrace ideas that are not conducive to life or civilization or safety. Concepts that represent confusion, impersonality, poison and death. Not many people have the nerve to enjoy the intimations of their own demise. I think its easier for us who are ugly men to confront the truth, savor the reality and avoid the (too American (or Western?)) denial of entropy and chaos - its just too starking obvious for middle-aged men to ignore. Conversely, its very difficult for most women to appreciate the aesthetics of imperfection and entropy. No one really wants to hear about old and ugly and worn out - women have been instructed their whole lives in the importance of personal beauty. Our whole culture (in the West) stridently and continuously shouts to us about beauty and strength, youth and perfection, and mocks the virtues of experience and patience, scratches and rust, the evidence of use and time - which are the very foundations of ambient music. Most ambient music is antithetical to our cultural surroundings - bete noire to our bourgeios parents and organization in general! The fact that Ambient music is difficult to dance to and will never lead to a larger audience further proves the point.
Don't blame me that any of this stuff is true! If you detach your political personality and your amazon.com preferences for a second and think about it objectively, you'll see it like a target at the mall. Besides, shooting the messenger is not only ill grace, but very bad luck.
Frankly, I don't always have the patience for ambient music either – sometimes I just don't want to have to enter imaginary, suggestive and fantastical realms where I have to supply a good deal of the content and effort - I think that's true for most people - sometimes I just want to "rock out" like a knucklehead and not worry about anything. But when I need the emotional and intellectual stimulation that ambient music provides, I've got to have it, nothing else will do - its just me and my taste - one of my drugs-of-choice.
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