#5: Ambient

Melomania

On this podcast, we strive to listen carefully to music and examine how and why it’s made, but sometimes, music just isn’t meant to be noticed. This is ambient music. Think hold music, Muzak, and even the pop and classic rock they play in grocery stores—the kind of music that people label as “soulless” or “brainwashing.” Even though it seems like just another corporate invention to get people to buy more stuff, there’s actually a whole history of serious composers who saw value in this idea of what Brian Eno called music that’s “as ignorable as it is interesting.” Long story short: there’s a lot more to it than you would think.