Best Ambient of 2017

  It's that time of the year again - end of the year Best Of list time!  It's always a difficult task to pick albums for one of these lists.  But it's also fun because I get to sort through a bunch of music and it's definitely cool to have a look at other lists and discover a ton of things I missed.   There is no way these lists are close to being definitive.  A lot of ambient releases can tend to blur from one into the next and the difference between making the list and not making it can boil down to what mood I was in when I first heard the album.  There's so much excellent music being released on a weekly basis it's impossible to keep up so this list and mix is just a bunch of stuff that I liked this past year.   Here are a few other good year in review lists:   http://www.astrangelyisolatedplace.com/blog/2017/12/5/asip-reflection-on-2017   https://irregularcrates.com/2017/12/12/end-of-2017-a-list-and-mix-by-harry-towell/   http://ambientmusicguide.com/best-of-year/best-albums-of-2017/   https://www.popmatters.com/best-ambient-instrumental-albums-2017-2513144740.html?page=2     My best of list is more of a best instrumental music list than just straight ambient.  The mix is mostly ambient but the list contains jazz, instrumental & ambient.  According to my Spotify data I played a lot of 36 last year so it's appropriate that he's got two albums in the top ten. I guess I'm too lazy to write up comments about all the music except to say that there's a lot of good stuff there. So take some time and hunt down these releases, you won't be disappointed.      BEST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUMS 2017: 1. 36 - Tomorrow’s Explorers 2. Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society 3. Colin Stetson - All This I Do For Glory 4. Bing and Ruth - No Home of the Mind 5. Joseph Shabason - Aytche 6. Ruven Nunez - Altar of Sunlight 7. Benoit Pioulard - Lingnin Poise and Slow Spark, Soft Spoke 8. Chuck Johnson - Balsams 9. 36 - Black Soma 10. Bibio - Phantom Brickworks 11. Dungen - Haxan(versions by Prins Thomas) 12. Vijay Iyer Sextet - Far From Over 13. Penguin Cafe - The Imperfect Sea 14. Arovane & Hior Chronic - Into My Own 15. Christopher Willits - The Art of Listening 16. Vermont - II 17. High Plains - Cinderland 18. Roedelius and Arnold Kaspar - Einfluss 19. Tonepoet - N/E/W/S 20. Halftribe - Daydreams in Low Fidelity 21. Taylor Dupree - Somi 22. Kamasi Washington - Harmony of Difference 23. Loess - Pocosin 24. Hior Chronic - Our of the Dust 25. Tale of Use - Endless 26. Saltland - A Common Truth 27. Quatuor Ebene - Eternal Stories 28. Aware - The Book of Wind 29. Grails - Chalace Hymnal 30. The Prairie Lines - Eyes Down Slowdown     If you have a list of your own feel free to leave it in the comments. Or if you just have a favorite or two that you want to recommend please let us know in the comments.   Here's to a, musically, great 2017 & a better 2018.  Cheers!       T R A C K L I S T : 00:00    36 - Poekhali(Tomorrow's Explorers) 06:33    Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Cloudface(Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society) 10:25    Bing & Ruth - Scrapes(No Home Of The Mind) 15:10    Bibio - Capel Celyn(phantom brickworks) 20:50    Benoit Pioulard Same Time Next Year(Lignin Poise) 25:10    Tonepoet - The Moment You Were Swept From My Memory(N.E.W.S.) 30:00    The Prairie Lines - Calm Landing(eyes down slowdown) 36:00    Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Arnold Kasar - Asco(Einfluss) 40:30    Dungen - Aladdin och lampan(Haxan (versions by Prins Thomas) 47:10    Vermont - Langholmen(Vermont II) 50:35    Island People - Ember(Island People) 55:10    Saltland - To Allow Us All To Breathe(A Common Truth) 59:10    Penguin Cafe - Cantorum(The Imperfect Sea) 1:06:10    High Plains - Ten Sleep(Cinderland) 1:09:05   Arovane & Hior Chronik - The Return(Into My Own) 1:11:35    Chuck Johnson - Labradorite(Balsams) 1:16:30    Ruven Nunez - As Above, So Below(Altar of Sunlight) 1:26:00    Taylor Deupree - Autumn(Somi) 1:31:40    Loess - Striae(Pocosin) 1:37:00    Halftribe - Aphotic(Daydreams in Low Fidelity) 1:40:55    Christopher Willits - Ama(The Art of Listening) 1:44:10    Aware - But God Was Not in the Storm(The Book of Wind) 1:47:10    Justin Walter - 1001(Unseen Forces) 1:51:45    Tale of Us - Distante(Endless) 1:59:13    Hior Chronik - Cosmos(Out Of The Dust) 2:02:37    36 - Black Sun(Black Soma) 2:07:40    end