Thanks to bands like NYC-based SUSS, featuring Bob Holmes, Gary Leib, Pat Irwin, Jonathan Gregg and William Garrett, the term ‘Ambient Country’ is becoming more widely used to describe a flourishing scene of musicians who create ambient, experimental music that draws from Americana, new folk, electronic, psychedelia and more.
Touchstones for this music are wide but by no means new. Brian Eno’s 1983 Apollo soundtrack is regularly referenced, as are Bruce Langhorne’s ‘The Hired Hand’ and Ry Cooder’s ‘Paris, Texas’ soundtracks.
In the playlist below, you can hear music from each of those soundtracks and music from fellow cosmonauts Daniel Bachman, Andrew Tuttle, Bobby Lee, Seawind Battery, Jeffrey Silverstein and Old Saw. Sharing the floor are acoustic soundscapes from Yasmin Williams, Gwenifer Raymond, Buck Curran and Marisa Anderson and lots more.
Cabin Floor Esoterica, a small bedroom cassette label established in 2009 by Jordan Spencer, also inspired some of the music included. These releases came in beautiful little cardboard boxes and are among some of my most treasured albums. They included the likes of Dylan Golden Aycock and Joshua Massad, Rob Noyes and Lake Mary.
These are all instrumental tracks…the playlist is just over 3 hours and 30 minutes long and can be heard on Spotify and Apple Music. Listen, enjoy and buy their music from Independent Record Stores and Bandcamp.