Heavy Wallpaper
Stoner Metal as Ambient Music
Ambient Music
It can be hard to categorize music as ambient. Brian Eno has made a lot of statements on the topic, is credited with coining the term ambient music, and somewhat invented the modern interpretation of the genre. From the liner notes of Brian Eno’s seminal ambient record, Ambient 1: Music for Airports:
“Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to ‘brighten’ the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and levelling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.”
Additionally, Erik Satie attempted to create ambient music which he called “furniture music.”
To define ambient music the “ignorable as it is interesting” part is key for me. Ambient music should act as a sonic wallpaper; something that can occupy the background and not steal your focus, but is engaging and interesting if you give it the proper attention. Another key takeaway from the Eno quote is about stimulating your environment and yourself. Ambient music should not push one clear mood or idea; it allows many interpretations and can have a varying effect dependent on your headspace, setting, etc. One of the most rewarding and beautiful things about music is that everyone can have their own interpretation of a piece or song. I often like not knowing the composer’s or songwriter’s meaning behind a piece of music so that way I can attach my own feeling, and it can remain pure. With more popular styles of music such as electronic pop or indie alternative, I find that once I attach this story and feeling to something it stays that way - my relationship to that piece of music has been set in stone - “this is what this thing means to me.” This doesn’t happen with ambient music; I find that I can return to a particular ambient piece in an entirely different mood and headspace and get an equally rewarding emotional experience from the music. My feelings related to the piece are malleable, due to the open interpretation that ambient music allows. This may be my favorite thing about the style.
“Beatless” vs. “Beated” Ambient
In Marc Weidenbaum’s book on Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II, a part of the 33 1/3 book series, there is some discussion about the label of this record as “beatless.” This pivotal album stands out in Aphex Twin’s catalog as a departure from his (Richard D. James’s) more drum n’ bass focused work. Weidenbaum notes that this analysis is often flawed, as many of the tracks do in fact contain prominent rhythmic elements, and are sometimes solely made up of rhythmic material. The difference here is that this content develops slowly over time, and is somewhat monotonous. As well, the parts are frequently less complex themselves. Everything has a more subdued vibe. After all, this Aphex Twin album served as a sort-of “chill-out room”, an escape from the techno rave next door.
There is a strong case to be made for the presence of a rhythmic ambient / beated ambient sect of the genre that is ambient music. There are a ton of examples of rhythmically based music that should still be considered ambient due to its nature. I have assembled two playlists on Spotify, pinned on the All Codes artist page, as a way to share some of my influences and interests that inform my music making as All Codes. They are: Ambient Selections, and Rhythmic Ambient. The former consists of music that would be classically thought of as ambient, and fits very well into the sonic world of early ambient music, such as the work of Brian Eno. The latter aligns more with Selected Ambient Works Volume II, and features music that has a significant rhythmic backbone, but still a sonic wallpaper experience.
Aphex Twin is a bit in the news lately as he is releasing, for the first time in all formats, an expanded version of Selected Ambient Works Volume II on Warp Records this October. This edition will feature the previously vinyl-only track “#19” (otherwise known as “Stone In Focus”), as well as two additional tracks “Th1 [Evnslower]” and “Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev.”
Stoner Metal, Sludge Metal, Doom Metal as Ambient Music
In the spring of 2024 I spent a decent amount of time in the tattoo chair, getting a new piece from the powerful Gerald Feliciano. During long sessions like these I like to focus on the music that is playing on the studio’s system as a way to get my mind out of the somewhat uncomfortable situation I’m in. Most of the time, Gerald’s music of choice is a style of metal that can be described as stoner, sludge, and/or doom. This style is noted for it’s monotonous jam sections in which the same riff is played for an extremely long time - almost like the jam band style, but metal. Development in this style of music happens slowly; tracks are often fairly long. There is a prevalence for this style to be instrumental. When there are vocals, they usually act not as the focal piece but as another instrument, equal in volume with the guitars or sometimes under-mixed against the whole band.
Sitting there I began to ask myself - “is this music ambient?” The droning, repetitive sections and wall of sound tones (dropped tunings and fuzz pedals are the norm) set up a sonic wallpaper experience similar to classical ambient music. Rhythmic elements and a sense of groove are key to this genre of metal - and rhythmic music can be ambient. Given its namesake, stoner metal is aligned with stoner culture - this is metal’s way to create a “chill-out room” away from its other genres. And I find that I am able to interpret this music many different ways - I have a new experience with this music dependent on what mood I’m in.
Playlist
Here is a playlist I put together of some of my favorite tunes that fit into the style that I will call “ambient stoner metal.” What tracks/artists am I missing from the playlist? Thanks for reading!