Ambient/Relaxation
Radio & Podcasts
Reviews of relaxation and ambient radio stations, podcasts and other online resources.
Ambience for the Masses Broadcast
Officially called the Sleepbot Environmental Broadcast, SEB, the name gives you an idea of just how laid-back this ambient selection is. Ambience for the Masses is also a great source of information on all things ambient.
Pandora Radio [
only]
A wonderful tool for 'exploring your favourite parts of the music universe'. Type in an artist or track and Pandora creates a radio station that plays music of a similar ilk, so if you type in an ambient artist from the list below you get an ambient radio station. Click on one of the artists below (or enter one of your own favourites into the Pandora box, right) to create an ambient station. I've discovered so many great artists through Pandora that I can't recommend it enough, though sadly it's currently only available to US residents.
| Play music like: | Description of station |
|---|---|
| Labradford | Classic ambient |
| Pan-American | More melody than most ambient |
| Brain Eno | Very, very mellow |
| Arvo Part | Minimalist classical, sacred singing |
Epitonic Radio
This is a great resource: lots of music to try, and if you do like a track then just click on the 'download' icon for a free (and legal) mp3. However, you won't find big names here.
The site layout is confusing but click on the genre/radio menu item, then choose 'Ambient' Radio for a random selection of ambient tracks.
Browse the genres or search for more: my own favourites include Suzanne Langille (staggeringly beautiful folk), Pan-American, Spokane, and Sappington. Sadly Epitonic is no longer updated but there's plenty of material still available across all genres, not just ambient.
Last.fm ambient
A radio station of all tracks tagged 'deep ambient'by users, Last.fm's ambient page even features a small radio station featuring free ambient tracks for downloading. As with Pandora, you can enter the name of an artist and it will produce a radio station of similar tracks, though Last.fm doesn't seem to do such a good job, at least with ambient music (this blog rates Pandora best too), - however, it is available to UK users, as well as everyone else).
Magnatune.com
Magnatunes provides really good free ambient radio. It's actually a record label set up for independent artists who get 50 per cent of all sales. The enlightened idea is that you find music you like on the streaming radio (there are 500 ambient tracks) and you can then listen to whole albums of artists you're interested in - and buy the stuff you like, paying $5 to $15 per album, the exact amount is up to you. Magntunes should be encouraged.
Relaxation & ambient Podcasts
