{"id":348786,"date":"2025-12-18T00:38:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T00:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/ambient-music\/twenty-years-and-two-free-mixes-ambientblog\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T00:38:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T00:38:29","slug":"twenty-years-and-two-free-mixes-ambientblog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=348786","title":{"rendered":"TWENTY YEARS! – (AND TWO FREE MIXES) \u2013 Ambientblog"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

If you check the oldest posts on this blog, you\u2019ll find that they were posted on October, 21, 2005<\/strong>. <\/em>
So hey\u2026 it\u2019s the 20th anniversary<\/strong> of Ambientblog today!!
A good moment to look back on the past 20 years \u2013 \u00e1nd for a fitting celebration gift!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
TL:DR:<\/em><\/strong>
I really enjoyed myself doing this over the last 20 years, and still have no intention to stop.
Also: free celebration gifts<\/a> below!!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n
\n
\"DreamScenes\"DreamScenes<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
The start \u2013 a beginning of a new hobby<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\n

So why are there eight posts on that same date, October 21, 2005? At that time, I also wrote short recommendations (still prefer that word insteds of \u2018reviews\u2019) for a Dutch magazine (Music Mania). But \u2018ambient music\u2019 did not receive much attention there. When I came across the then relatively new \u2018blog phenomenon\u2019, I decided to check out the software (which was Pivotx back then) just for fun. So I guess it was just to try out the blog software. I also decided I\u2019d best try to write in English instead of Dutch: ambient\/electronic music was (and still is) a niche market that would not reach many readers in Holland alone. <\/p>\n

In the first years of its existence \u2013 the blog was then named \u2018Sound Is Audible Time\u2019 \u2013 there weren\u2019t too many posts: around 25 in a year, so one every two weeks. But looking back, it\u2019s still nice to see what was covered then: quite a lot of titles are still very much worth listening to.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Original\"Original<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
A bit more serious<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Things got more serious in 2009. Until then, I was involved in a few Dutch national radio shows involving electronic and experimental music. The infamous Supplement <\/em>program regularly featured my ambient mixes (3 or 4 hours, uninterrupted). Later, there was the NPS Folio <\/em>show. I\u2019m still proud of my contributions to this show, which can still be enjoyed on this Mixcloud<\/a> archive. The other editions were produced by Arno Peeters but aren\u2019t archived.
In 2009, the broadcast organisation decided to end all experimental and electronic shows and focus on Soul and Jazz. That was the end of my radio contributions to NPS\/VPRO.
The last edition was fittingly called The End Of Trying: a compilation of music by Dakota Suite. It is still available to listen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Ambientblog\"Ambientblog<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It was also that time I decided to put more energy into the weblog. I changed the name to Ambientblog<\/em>, and asked Ingmar Hugen <\/em>to design the new logo image. The purple \u2018speaker-flower\u2019 is already 16 years old now and I still have no desire to change it!
From then \u2013 the post count grew to an average of around 85 in a year \u2026 a quiet but relatively steady pace of 3 \u2018recommendations\u2019 every two weeks.<\/p>\n

\n
\"DreamScenes\"DreamScenes<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
AMBIENTBLOG MIXES AND DREAMSCENES<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In addition to the blogposts, I also published the mixes that were previously broadcast on the radio, and continued to create new ones. A characteristic feature of these \u2018ambientblog mixes\u2019 is that they consist of many layered fragments, with hardly any complete tracks. They also often include music from outside the ambient music genre.
These \u2018collages\u2019 are not intended to be \u2018ignorable\u2019 (like in the classic definition of ambient music) or to sleep to, they are created for active listening. I am still very fascinated by the way the fragments work in a different context and in relation to each other. Currently there are 88 of these mixes still downloadable from this site<\/a> (quite some of them also in a surround version<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In 2014, I introduced DreamScenes<\/a><\/em> as a monthly mix series. These mixes are different from the Ambientblog mixes: here, full tracks are featured instead of short fragments, they are n\u00f3t layered (apart from the transitions between the tracks). DreamScenes<\/em>, one could say, is more \u2018radio-friendly\u2019. Since mid-2017, the DreamScenes editions are also broadcast on Concertzender Nederland<\/a><\/em> on every second sunday of the month.<\/p>\n

Also in 2014, the site was converted from Pivotx to WordPress (which was quite a job and would not have succeeded without the help of Edu Hackenitz)<\/em>. The underlying theme and layout have changed a bit over time, but in fact, the basics of this site haven\u2019t really changed much.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Rope\"Rope<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
WHY STILL A WEBLOG?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Currently, it\u2019s a bit of a weird time for weblogs like this. The internet has changed, people have changed, social media came along (along with their devastating impact on society), and the way people enjoy and find their music has changed. I could name a few reasons to quit blogging \u2013 but in fact, that thought has never crossed my mind. I still hope that these recommendations may help people find music that they otherwise would not easily have found. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful for all the music that I receive every week, and sometimes feel guilty that most of that music is NOT published here or featured in DreamScenes. There are many (MANY) albums that I enjoy listening to, but still have to pass. There\u2019s simply too much to cover it all.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Sphaerophon\"Sphaerophon<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
CELEBRATION GIFTS<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In 2015, I celebrated the 10th anniversary with the release of a credit card USB with unique and previously unreleased tracks by many artists who were previously featured on Ambientblog. The digital version of that release, with the special mix \u00e1nd the original tracks, is still available from Bandcamp.
Earlier this year, another credit card release celebrated the fist 10 years (120 editions) of DreamScenes.<\/em> <\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to do something similar again, so I decided to celebrate this 20th anniversary with a few simple gifts:<\/p>\n