Richard D. James / Aphex Twin - The Ever-changing Influence

Richard D. James (whose main moniker is Aphex Twin) started out as a relatively unknown artist under the name of AFX, releasing a string of EPs called Analogue Bubblebath in the early 90's. While minimally successful on the known London-based radio station Kiss FM, it wasn't until his ambient work under Aphex Twin that raised eyebrows and acclaim. His debut and one of the most heralded works in ambient Selected Ambient Works 85-92
expanded on what previous artists could not or haven't tried to achieve, as Pat Blashill of The Rolling Stone said in his review:

"Aphex Twin expanded way beyond the ambient music of Brian Eno by fusing lush soundscapes with oceanic beats and bass lines."

What makes Aphex Twin so remarkable is his merging of genres from ambient, techno, acid, jungle, to the broadest category of electronic. Yet, this man still finds ways of converting these ideas and thoughts in compositions that work from the start. His second and truly last ambient outing Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II was a bit of a sidestep in terms of his previous endeavors. Almost organic, the music on the 2-CD release was haunting, rhythmic masterpiece that broke tags that were once associated with ambient and the man himself. His work on the titled birth name album Richard D. James was both expansive in influence and riddled with genres. The opening track 4 focused on an idm structure that had a soothing breakbeat, while adding a techno keyboard step that bordered a ambient atmosphere. Fast-forward to Peek 824545301 and you get something entirely different, a rough, abrasive beat that lasts a quick 3 minutes. His contributions of expanding the said genres, more specifically what ambient music could be associated with.

DJ Homewrecker's Blog: Crash Course For Aphex Twin

Notable Works:
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1993)
Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II (1993) [Blog with download available].
Richard D. James Album (1996)
Come To Daddy EP (1998)
Drukqs (2001)

Tim Hecker - Modern Frontrunner

Once the pulses and static overtake everything, nothing is left for silence, but only drowned noise of electronic in a drone fashion. This is what Tim Hecker does best. His 1998 album Mirages was called "ambient death metal" by his label. Yet, the compositions taking place in his first 3 outings were only skimming the surface of what Hecker was trying to do with his sound. If his debut Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again was his experimental foray into his zones of short electronic/ambient outbursts and Mirages was an ambient death metal piece at its core, then his sophomore effort, Radio Amor is what eventually he would be perceived to be. Radio Amor is his minimalistic, electronically fried droned brother. One of his best works Harmony In Ultraviolet, made in 2007, oozed dissonance and expansive structures that sheathed themselves under minutes of drone, without a hint of silence to back them. His website describes him as such:

His works have been described as “structured ambient”, “tectonic color plates” and “cathedral electronic music”. More to the point, he has focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft which is both physical and emotive.

Hecker doesn't remain to be the first or the last to use this approach, but he is one of the best at it. He has aptly trumped every previous effort with his darkly immersed electronic , where calming rhythm can be an afterthought and only saw the light of day in limited minutes. His latest work An Imaginary Country, which was released last year, pulled back the heavy elements that were so prolific 2 years before. Hecker instead pulls layers away, adding depth, thinning the heavy atmospheres of past.

Tim Hecker Website
Mapsadaiscal Blog Entry of Hecker
Notable Works:
Radio Amor (1998)
Mirages (1998)
Harmony In Ultraviolet (2007)
An Imaginary Country (2009)

Brian Eno - A True Visionary

Why? - His impact on the music industry alone warrants some influence, but his work in the 70's spawned new genres and terms for listeners to grasp.

Eno's work as a musician and a producer can only be compared to like influence of The Beatles. His massive amounts of collaborations between genres is immensely evident, as seen with David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy. Of all the things Brian Eno is doing and has done, his work as an ambient artist is the most striking.

Beginning with his studies at Winchester School of Art, his love of experimentation with the piano during his stay was truly his first step at creating ambient music himself. While other great contributors of the genre like Tangerine Dream or Cluster, not one of them were in a sense a true atmospheric group uses single-tone or single-chord buildups that enveloped atmospheres that were both very rare during the 70's and very successful as Eno was. Of the 4-part series works that he would start after releasing his first 4 albums, the first -Ambient 1: Music For Airports uses ambient within the title to differentiate the past minimalistic style of his music and previous artists, thus an entire genre of music was born. And while this man cannot clearly be the main attribute to the genre itself, his work is one of the main contributors.

Eventually after graduating from school he embarked on a string of albums. Here Come The Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, Another Green World, and Before and After Science. While the his debut and sophomore effort paled in comparison to his latter works because of their pop structures and vocals they remain to be a stepping stone for his known ambient styling, those ambient stylings that would affect future generations of artists like Tim Hecker, Ben Frost, Lustmord, to name a few. Once Eno's work on the Ambient Series was born, an entire genre of music was created for the sheer purpose of mere calmness and minimalism.

Historical Profile
Cagedream (Blog): Brian Eno & Gavin Bryars

Notable Albums:
Another Green World (1975)
Ambient 1: Music For Airports (1978)
Ambient 4: On Land (1982)
The Drop (1997)