Whales, Solar Energy and Ambient Music

1994. That's a landmark year for the "modern" ambient genre. Even the nerds over at hyperreal.org saw fit to make a separate listserv for the genre, apart from the IDM and Detroit lists.

Setting aside Eno and all the earlier pre-cursors, one could argue that ambient music of the 90's was an answer/response to the harder edged techno, hardcore, and acid sounds of the decade. When you attended a party back then, the main floor was all techno, acid in the main room, and when you tired of the hours of 4/4, you needed a place to chill and let your ears and mind recover. Music from The Orb, DJs like Mixmaster Morris and labels like Apollo fed the sound and it flourished. There was also the drug aspect - kids who were tweaked out of their minds needed to come down in a more relaxed environment.


Solar Quest's "Save the Whale" is one of the more beautiful and more obscure songs of the genre. George "BenKei" Saunders released the song in 1994 on his "Orgship" album. CD only. Such a crime.

Mitzvah #8:
Solar Quest - Save the Whale