20th Century Ambient

Dusty Henry (Writer, USA)

$46.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Bloomsbury Publishing USA
13 November 2025

Music reviews & criticism; Music: styles & genres; Ambient & New Age music

Series: Genre: A 33 1/3 Series

Through text and comics, 20th Century Ambient searches through ambient music’s recent history to unearth how the genre has evolved and the role it plays in our daily lives.

Ambient music is a part of our daily lives, whether we all realize it or not. It’s the undercurrent in some of our favorite songs. It’s the mood-setting background music in our favorite movies and video games. We hear it in the placid music pumped through the speakers in department stores, on critically acclaimed albums from generational talents, and in synthesizer drones from the depths of Soundcloud. It’s present in the peaceful sounds of spa music, new-age chants, and wellness resources like the Calm app that purport ambient’s healing properties. You can find it on those strange, anonymous instrumental nature albums you can buy at Bed Bath & Beyond. It shows up in genres ranging from electronic and rock music to jazz and lo-fi beats. Ambient is everywhere.

20th Century Ambient details a crucial period in which ambient music became a fully realized idea and is secretly one of the most popular genres in the world. Ambient has existed debatably as long as music itself. It wasn’t until the 20th century that it became a defined genre. This book walks through ambient’s ambiguous timeline to uncover not just the genre’s evolution but to understand why it resonates so deeply with the human spirit. From Erik Satie’s classical compositions, hidden histories in blues and dub music, innovations by Brian Eno and Alice Coltrane, all the way through modern artists spearheading ambient in the still early 21st century.

By: Dusty Henry (Writer USA)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 197mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9798765119334
Series: Genre: A 33 1/3 Series
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 13 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1. What is Ambient? 2. Furniture, Plants, and Babies: The Foundations of Modern Ambient Music 3. Eno and His Disciples 4. A New Age: Spirituality in Ambient 5. Experimentalists of the 1980s 6. Japan’s Ambient Boom 7. Electronic Revolution 8. Ambient in the Underground 9. Ambient as Storyteller: Soundtracks and Video Games 10. Return to Nature 11. What Is Ambient? (Reprise) Ten Essential Tracks

Dusty Henry is a writer and editor based out of Seattle, Washington, USA. His work has appeared extensively at KEXP, a non-profit radio station and arts organization, where he oversees the station’s editorial work. He is the co-host of the podcast The Cobain 50 and helped produce, script, and conceptualize the award-winning podcasts 50 Years of Hip Hop and Fresh off the Spaceship: The Story of the Black Constellation. His work has also appeared in Stereogum, NPR Music, and Consequence of Sound, as well as featured at the Pop Conference. He also writes the newsletter Another Thought.