7 Years Ago - Rip Dilla

Time to pay tribute to a Hip-Hop Legend. J Dilla, James Dewitt Yancey, passed away 7 years ago on February 10th. He passed away 3 days after releasing the critically acclaimed instrumental hip-hop album Donuts. Whereas This Will Destroy You got me into ambient music, J Dilla revived my love for music in general. How so many simple samples create such beauty is awe inspiring.

Yancey made the album in a hospital bed before he passed away. Artists I would enjoy after listening to J Dilla who have different styles became so much more enjoyable because of the knowledge I believed I gained from J Dilla. Artists such as Killer Mike, POS, El-P, and Atmosphere are among the many that were the next step for my music development J Dilla paved the way for.

It is a shame I cannot find a YouTube full album for Donuts, but this album is worth the purchase. Below are a few of my favourite songs on the album.

I mean we’ve heard the phrase going out on top. J Dilla did.

Download - Donuts

J Dilla - Last.fm - Website - MySpace - Facebook

Late Night Listening

To end the week I thought I'd give you guys a list of some of my favourite late night songs. These are ones I have been listening to recently.

Click Picture for YouTube playlist

Side note: I used to work on Victoria Avenue (down the street a bit), so this view is quite common of a summer night.

Artists: Massive Attack, Kerretta, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Consider the Thief, God is an Astronaut, DJ Shadow, American Dollar, Burial, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus, Deaf Center, Nick Arundel

90s Influence: Massive Attack

Rediscovery is a beautiful thing. Massive Attack's Mezzanine (pronunciation) used to occupy a much smaller part of my defined and appreciated music library than it does now. Once I developed a more ambient and atmospheric aspect to my music listening patterns, Massive Attack went from middle tier to god tier. Most of the albums I will post are vocal free or minimal at best; Massive Attack is an exception. 

The opening act, Angel, is one of my top 5 favourite all-time songs. It is the perfect trip-hop/downtempo song. I think Amy Hansen explains why I believe this. Also, any reference to Snatch is a great reason to listen to Massive Attack. The third track Teardrop is also quite familiar to television fans.

For students this album is incredible for winding down either before or after a big test. I would drive through the town of Niagara Falls at night blasting this album. The album also forced me to focus and essentially drown out irrelevant noises.This album is best at night and the vocals are why. Deep and dark, almost creepy and it is perfect this way.  

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Below is the full album with track listing (and time when song begins on video)

1 - Angel (0:00)
2 - Risingson (6:19)
3 - Teardrop (11:17)
4 - Inertia Creeps (16:47)
5 - Exchange (22:44)
6 - Dissolved Girl (26:58)
7 - Man Next Door (33:04)
8 - Black Milk (39:00)
9 - Mezzanine (45:18)
10 - Group Four (51:17)
11 - (Exchange) (59:29)

Video Credit: John Pap

Download: Mezzanine

Massive Attack - Website - Myspace - Last.fm - Twitter - Facebook 

Emancipator - Dusk to Dawn

Small blog entry here but I thought I would inform you of a release from one of my favourite trip-hop/downtempo artists, Emancipator

Doug Appling released Dusk to Dawn on Tuesday and while it doesn't reach quite what his first release could, the album is still worth a listen.

You can download the album from Loci Records's BandCamp as well as iTunes

Check out the music Video for Minor Cause as well.

Emancipator - Last.fm - Facebook - Twitter - Myspace - Soundcloud - BandCamp

The Go-To Album: Young Mountain by This Will Destroy You

A specific band, song or artist can signify a change in their music taste. In my case it comes at a specific time. Around 2008 a friend of mine introduced me to This Will Destroy You.

I expected something loud and abrasive; instead This Will Destroy You’s Young Mountain is calm and I felt the embrace of the music. The band’s sound creates an ambiance of constant contemplation, an eternal reflection.

But always calm.

As a student I always used This Will Destroy You as my go-to exam-studying band. Specific moments of each song allowed me to retain specific information that when I would play the album on the way to school, I would actually remember much of the educational content. 

Certain riffs and drumming patterns allowed me to easily remember my studying material.  I did use TWDY more as an essay-studying band than a short answer, multiple-choice types. Sometimes the sounds allowed me to explore abstract thoughts, thoughts beneficial for a university exam essay.  The album's finale can work as your essays conclusion, to the point and effective. It was always a game of fitting my conclusion into the last part of the album.

Below I have found and posted This Will Destroy You album Young Mountain.

Track listing

1 - Quiet - 0:04
2 - The World is Our _______ - 4:56
3 - I Believe in Your Victory - 12:04
4 - Grandfather Clock - 18:38
5 - Happiness: We're All in it Together - 21:20
6 - There are some Remedies worse than the disease - 29:53

Video Credit: mikeprdct22

Download Young Mountain

This Will Destroy You - Last.fm -- Facebook -- Tumblr -- Myspace

Blog Framework and Preview

Audio Ambrosia is a blog dedicated to helping music fans learn about new bands I believe are extraordinary at relaxing the mind. This is not the music you find that is only duck sounds on a lake type relaxing music. These are bands from different ambient like genres that have allowed me to become a more relaxed and musically educated individual.  I used many of these bands to calm me during exams and stressful job interviews.  In many cases, these artists forced me to grow up and learn not all music needs to fit into a particular mould.

I will provide specific experiences in which a certain band helped me relax the mind and guide me through four years of university and another educational expedition of post-graduate studies.  Each week I will try to combine an experience with a band hoping either you see the bond I did, or see something different. Time of day and season is important to my listening practices so take that into consideration. To start I will provide you a taste of what is to come with my first entry, the band that started it all for me, This Will Destroy You.

Download Young Mountain

This Will Destroy You - Last.fm -- Facebook -- Tumblr -- Myspace