2024 Favorite Ambient Albums Part 1

Another year, another ton of releases to sift through. I could keep adding and subtracting albums for weeks and still not be entirely satisfied with the final list. But here it is - my Favorite Ambient Albums of 2024.

As I was creating this part 1 mix, I kept questioning my choices. And then, when the mix was done and I listened to it, I was like "Wow, this turned out really well." I really like how the mix evolves with the first half being a bit more electronic and noisy and the second half leaning more orchestral.

Here's the list of my favorite ambient albums of 2024, in alphabetical order:

2fel - stranger flow 
Adam Wiltzie - Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal [Kranky]
Akmuo - Dreamwalker [Space of Variants]
Altus - Ultraviolet
Alva Noto - Xerrox, Vol.5 [Noton 2024]
Benoit Pioulard & Offthesky - Sunder [laaps 2024]
Circa Alto - Faint Structures (Whitelabrecs 2024]
Civilistjävel! - Brödföda [Felt 2024]
Dirk Serries - Streams Of Consciousness Compiled [Projekt]
Eli Keszler - LIVE 2 [LuckyMe]
Extraworld - Perihelion [Exosphere]
Hainbach - The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost Soundtrack [Seil]
Heavenchord - Atmospheres & Soundscapes [Cold Tear]
Humble Bee & Offthesky - Here In, Absence [IIKKI]
Innesti - Contemplate
Jogging House - Live at home
Jonas Munk - Mirror Phase [Azure Vista]
Maps and Diagrams - if all will be lost [Quiet Details]
Maps and Diagrams - Islands [Handstitched]
Martin Stürtzer - Lander Modules [Echo Elberfeld]
mastroKristo - Passage [Lost Tribe Sound]
Max Richter - In A Landscape [Decca]
Michael A. Muller - Mirror Music [Deutsche Grammophon]
OdNu + Ümlaut - Abandoned Spaces [Audiobulb]
Pan American & Kramer - Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road
Polaroid Notes - Quiet Rooms [Whitelabrecs]
Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, Saroon - Dive 1- Refraction [Bathysphere Records]
Tewksbury - Floes Volumes I-IV (Tridek]
The Green Kingdom - Horizons [The Slow Music Movement]
Ulla & Ultrafog - It Means A Lot [Motion Ward]
v e n n - XIII
William Ryan Fritch - Adhesion [Lost Tribe Sound]

 

And here are links to each album:

Stranger Flow | 2fel

Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal | Adam Wiltzie

Dreamwalker | Akmuo | Space Of Variants

Ultraviolet | Altus

Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol. 5 | Noton

Sunder | Benoît Pioulard & Offthesky | laaps

Faint Structures | Circa Alto | Whitelabrecs

Brödföda | Civilistjävel!

Streams Of Consciousness Compiled | Dirk Serries | Projekt Records

LIVE 2 | Eli Keszler

Perihelion | Extraworld | Exosphere

The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost Soundtrack | Hainbach

Atmospheres & Soundscapes | Heavenchord | Cold Tear Records

Here In, Absence | The Humble Bee & Offthesky | IIKKI

Contemplate | Innesti

Live at Home | Jogging House

Mirror Phase | Jonas Munk | Azure Vista

if all will be lost | Maps and Diagrams | quiet details

Islands | Maps & Diagrams | Handstitched

Lander Modules | Martin Stürtzer

Passage | mastroKristo | Lost Tribe Sound

In A Landscape | Max Richter | Decca

Mirror Music | Michael A. Muller | Deutsche Grammophon

Abandoned Spaces | OdNu + Ümlaut | Audiobulb

Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road | Pan American & Kramer

Quiet Rooms | Polaroid Notes | Whitelabrecs

Dive 1: Refraction | Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, & Saroon | Bathysphere Records

Floes: Volumes I-IV | Tewksbury

Horizons | The Green Kingdom | The Slow Music Movement Label

VIII | v e n n

It Means A Lot | Ulla & Ultrafog | Motion Ward

Adhesion | William Ryan Fritch | Lost Tribe Sound

 

I hope you enjoy part 1. Part two is coming soon. Followed by a mix of jazz favorites from 2024.

What are some of your favorite ambient albums from the past year?

 

Cheers!

 

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00   Pan American / Kramer - Floating Island (Reverberations of Non-Stop Traffic on Redding Road)
• 04:22   Maps and Diagrams - Hvar (Islands)
• 07:35   Jogging House - Live at Home pt. 1 (Live at Home)
• 13:15   Innesti - Astral Secrets (Contemplate)
• 16:14   Alva Noto - Xerrox Arc (Xerrox, Vol.5)
• 20:53   Hainbach - End of Work (The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost Soundtrack)
• 22:45   Akmuo - Dreamwalker (Dreamwalker)
• 26:50   Sumner James, Robert Chamberlain, Volcano Lazerbeam, & Saroon - Euphotic (Dive 1: Refraction)
• 31:36   Benoît Pioulard & Offthesky - Fed On Lilies (Sunder)
• 35:48   Jonas Munk - Dawn Layer (Mirror Phase)
• 40:40   Polaroid Notes - The Night Returns Without A Sound (Quiet Rooms)
• 45:40   The Humble Bee & Offthesky - Space (Here In, Absence)
• 52:00   William Ryan Fritch - Gravitropic (Adhesion)
• 60:10   Adam Wiltzie - Mexican Helium (Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal)
• 62:44   Max Richter - A Time Mirror(Biophony) (In A Landscape)
• 66:36   mastroKristo - Waves(Federico Mosconi Rework) (Passage)
• 73:40   Dirk Serries - the whispering scale (Streams Of Consciousness Compiled)
• 82:45   Tewksbury - Aperture (Floes Volumes I-IV)
• 94:23   end