Ambient

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Fingerstyle master Adrian Legg (b. 1948) defies categorization. But though his music combines British folk, Celtic, rock, classical, blues, jazz and country sounds, Legg’s warm, soulful playing is the thread that unites the styles. Born in Hackney, London, England, Legg took the first steps of his musical journey playing the oboe as a lad. As many teenage boys are wont to do, however, he eventually became interested in the guitar. His ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
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(Vocal group, 1969–79) An experimental German outfit, Can were significantly influential on both rock and dance music. The band was founded by students of avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen: Holger Czukay (bass) and Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), with Michael Karoli (guitar), Jaki Liebezeit (drums) and, briefly, David Johnson (flute). American singer Malcolm Mooney joined for Can’s debut album Monster Movie (1969), which showcased the band’s lengthy, hypnotic improvisations, underpinned by cyclical, repetitive drumming. Mooney ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocals, b. 1961) Born Eithne Patricia Brennan in County Donegal, into the Clannad musical dynasty, Enya trained as a classical pianist, and remains a major innovator in ambient music. Her first solo endeavour was a 1986 BBC soundtrack, The Celts. Her trademark luxuriant soundscapes and melodic mysticism are present and correct. These elements washed through her follow-up, Watermark (1988) – which produced the UK No. 1 ‘Orinoco Flow’ – and all ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Composer, b. 1948) Frenchman Jarre is best known for his 1977 hit ‘Oxygene’ taken from the album of the same name, which reached No. 2 in the UK. He was one of the first rock musicians to employ synthesizers. A series of instrumental albums in the 1970s and 1980s repeated the pattern, including Equinoxe (1978), Magnetic Fields (1981) and the 1982 Concerts In China live album. His gigs, such as his ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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Alternative-rock guitarist Kevin Shields (b. 1963) was born in Queens, New York. When he was 10, the family relocated to Dublin, where he learned guitar as a teenager with Johnny Ramone as his role model. My Bloody Valentine came together in 1984. The band moved to Holland and then Berlin, where they recorded the mini-album This Is Your Bloody Valentine (1985). They reconvened in London the following year, going on to ...

Source: Rock Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
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For 35 years Mike Oldfield (b. 1953) has created work that melds progressive rock, folk, world music, classical music, electronic music, new age and dance. He is best known for his hit 1973 album Tubular Bells, which provided a theme for the movie The Exorcist, broke new ground as an instrumental concept album, and launched Virgin Records. Oldfield began his career playing acoustic guitar in folk clubs. In 1967 he and ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin
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(Multi-instrumentalist, b. 1953) A prodigiously talented musician, Oldfield played all the instruments on 1973’s Tubular Bells. This symphonic work was a transatlantic best-seller, helped by the use of its main theme in the movie The Exorcist (1973). Hergest Ridge (1974) was a British No. 1 whilst Ommadawn (1975) and Incantations (1978) displayed African and folk influences. Platinum (1979) marked a change of direction to individual songs. Oldfield has since reworked Tubular ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Instrumentals, producer, vocals, b. 1965) New Yorker Richard Melville Hall started his career in punk Vatican Commandos before becoming fascinated by the sound and possibilities of dance music when it emerged during the 1980s. Ambient and techno works won him club reputation with tracks like ‘Go’ and ‘I Feel It’ seeping into the lower branches of UK charts. His abilities continued to develop throughout the 1990s reflected in chart success of ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
172 Words Read More

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1988–present) Nine Inch Nails – Trent Reznor (vocals), Aaron North (guitar), Jeordie White (bass), Alessandro Cortini (keyboards) and Josh Freese (drums) – are the latest line-up of Reznor’s ever-popular band. Somehow walking the thin line between electro and metal, mainstream yet eternally credible, they are one of America’s least deified rock bands, but a five-album, double Grammy-winning career shows they are not totally forgotten. Rap superstar Eminem, on debut ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
171 Words Read More

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1994–present) Formed by Jón Pór (Jónsi) Birgisson (vocals), Georg Hólm (bass) and Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson (drums) in Reykjavik, the Icelanders’ wholly unique sound, perhaps most successfully achieved on third album Ágætis Byrjun (1999), is a lulling, lurching blend of classical music and ambient, of rock with something from far outside the genres’ confines. Orri Páll Dyrason has since joined on drums, while Kjartan ‘Kjarri’ Sveinsson now adds smooth keyboard ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocal/instrumental group, 1970–present) A German electronic outfit founded by Edgar Froese (guitar), whose main lieutenants were Christophe Franke (drums) and Peter Baumann (organ). Operating as a keyboard trio, their experimental 1970s work fitted the progressive zeitgeist. Employing tape effects and synthesizer technology, Tangerine Dream’s output was largely instrumental space rock, with an otherworldly ambience. They achieved an unexpected UK chart success with 1973’s Phaedra, the first commercial album to feature the ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
87 Words Read More

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1980–98) The otherworldly tones of albums such as Treasure (1983) and Victorialand (1986) helped define ambient music. The Cocteaus comprised Robin Guthrie’s layered soundscapes and Liz Fraser’s spectral voice (also used by Massive Attack), plus bassist Will Heggie (replaced by Simon Raymonde). None of their lyrics could be discerned, but the atmospheric ‘Pearly Dewdrops Drop’ (1984) charted, and is still used by TV producers. Heaven Or Las Vegas (1990) ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Electronic group, 1989–present) The main fountainhead of creativity was the highly collaborative Dr. Alex Patterson. The Orb redefined ambient music taking listeners on journeys irrespective of genre-fusing elements of dub and even progressive music into long extended pieces. Singles ‘A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld’ (sampling Minnie Riperton’s ‘Loving You’) and ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ are essential. The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Underworld (1991) ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
90 Words Read More

(Musician, b. 1943) Greece-born Evanghelos Odyssey Papathanassiou played keyboards behind Demis Roussos in Aphrodite’s Child before going solo with various jazzy, prog rock excursions. In the course of these he hooked up with vocalist Jon Anderson from Yes. Their 1980 Top 5 album Short Stories produced the hit ‘I Hear You Now’. In 1981 he released his seminal synth-driven soundtrack to the film Chariots Of Fire, which became a US No. ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
96 Words Read More

(Dance group, 1998–present) The group that initially started life as a remixing duo (Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns) has since flourished into a downtempo collective of sorts, with guest vocalists adding their talents to the group’s three albums and bringing the pair a huge fan base among ‘coffee table’ listeners. Their music is all at once ambient, soulful, and commercial, best evidenced by collaborations and remixes with and for artists including ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
95 Words Read More
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