As part of Melbourne Music Week 2014 ambient music duo A Winged Victory For The Sullen will be making their Australia debut performances.

AWVFTS is comprised of Adam Wiltzie, one half of iconic drone du0 Stars Of the Lid, and Sparklehorse and Dustin O’Halloran, the acclaimed post-classical composer and pianist who, among a long list of accolades and impressive musical feats, wrote the score to Sophia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette.

Last month the duo released their incredibly stunning second LP Atomos, a follow up to their Atomos VII EP. The Atomos LP contains music from the original score for Atomos, a dance piece by contemporary choreographer Wayne McGregor and his company Wayne McGregor Random Dance. The music was recorded in Summer 2013, in studios in Brussels, Berlin and Reykjavik.

Accompanied by a string quintet, the duo will be taking the stage at the Melbourne Recital Centre this Saturday the 15th of November to perform music from their past two albums.

Who better to teach us about the huge and fascinating world of ambient than a master himself? Adam was kind enough to give us a five song crash-course guide to ambient and drone music ahead of the show this weekend. For tickets and info, visit the Melbourne Music week site.

Eno – ‘Thursday Afternoon’

“Not much more can be said about this recording, that has not already been regurgitated a thousand times previous.

I am forever listening to this beautiful piece of art, as it does that thing that drones can do if you get it. It gives you this tiny tickle in the back of your pituitary gland. I had the pleasure of meeting “the great bald one” a few years ago in Poland, and he told me he was half Belgian (The country which I reside), and he had some of my records which worked well for him in his art studio. With a woman in each arm, and for the few minutes we shared words he made you feel as if you were the only person worth exchanging ideas with, and I realised then that he truly is the Dalai Lama of the art world.”

Wagner – ‘Das Rheingold (prelude)’

“Basically the most beautiful 4 minutes of drone music ever written for me in E flat. First performance was in 1869, and if I could go back in time it would be to see the premiere.

It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas. A full performance of the cycle takes place over four nights, with a total playing time of about 15 hours, depending on the conductor’s pacing.

The first and shortest opera, Das Rheingold (the bit with the prelude) typically lasts two and a half hours, while the final bit, Götterdämmerung, chugs along for about five hours, excluding intervals. Even if you do not like opera, go see this performance one time before you die, it’s pure bliss.”

Loop – ‘A Gilded Eternity’

“I suppose this is my only rock formation drone name check, but one of the most influential.

I had the luck and pleasure to see this outfit play in 1990 a couple months before they broke up. I went to the show on a recommendation, not knowing what was about to happen to me. The repetition they created has been repeated over and over since their demise, but no one else ever left you floating quite the same.

One of the strangest sensations I have ever felt, and It has never happened to me again in a live setting. Robert Hampson’s mark on the guitar is severely under mentioned. Guys like me, Fennesz, My Bloody Valentine would be working at Burger King if it was not for his influence.”

Spaceman 3 – ‘Dreamweapon’

“Depending on which version you get, I am only referring to the A side or the bit from the live performance with the tremolo guitar or sitar or who knows what? Somebody is definitely rolling joints in the background. The general mood of this piece was a big influence on SOTL, A theme song of sorts for my early days in Austin in 1989.”

Stars of the Lid – ‘The Artificial Pine Arch Song’

“Ok, so I can be a bit fallible at times, but someone sent me some kind of Spotify mix that Beck had made and this song was on it, I suppose it had been years since I heard it, not to blow smoke up me bum, but it was quite a satisfying listen.

This piece was recorded in 1995 on four track cassette tape with just two guitars, and was released as the last track on SOTL’s The Ballasted Orchestra. I suppose I have always felt that minimal music can be dismissed as being amateurish or too easy, but finding a drone that really works is one of the hardest things to accomplish in composition. I am sure I sound a wee bit imperious by saying, sure anyone can make a drone, but so few really know what they are doing.”

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