uncommon ambience

Low frequency ferry! Climb aboard the Islander for ten hours of uninterrupted sounds recorded in the belly of a Steamship Authority ferry on the way to one of the islands. Included are low-frequency hums, waves, non-obtrusive announcements, some hopeful seagulls (more on the gulls below) and drifting notes and sounds. Whether you're studying, working, reading, sleeping, or unwinding after a long day, this immersive ambient soundscape provides the perfect background soundtrack. No talking, no interruptions—just pure ferry relaxation. Ignore the World.

If you want an audio experience that's more true to life check out last year's ferry episode. And like and follow and all that too!
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Vineyarders or Nantucketers might notice the Islander chugging across this week's episode cover. We’re pulling the beloved Steamship Authority ferry out of retirement (I don’t want to look at the photos from the Staten Island ship graveyard, thanks) for a magical journey across Vineyard Sound. The Islander a bathtub-shaped vessel designed specifically for passage between Woods Hole and the islands was taken out of service in 2007. (This week’s episode uses recordings from within the Island Home but shhh we're pretending.)
Also on the cover are a smattering of seagulls chasing the ferry and, thus, a once-easy food source. I won't admit to ever tossing crackers or French fries off the stern to watch birds dive for the morsel before it hit the water. Yet it was common enough that you would see hundreds of birds trailing any ferry with a galley. The birds knew not to chase the "freighters"—at best, the freight ships had a soda machine and one urinal.
"'Ay Chief, don't feed the birds,'" became a more prevalent message in the aughts—or at least that was the first time I remember hearing it. A shiphand was shouting at a dad holding his kid, and the kid had a fat Cheeto outstretched toward a bird hovering in to snatch it from between those small fingers.
We humans love feeding small animals from our hands, amirite? But not people in need—ooph... no, we're not going there on a holiday (imperial holiday). I'm kidding. We're kidding. I'm kicking away the soapbox (turn off commercial news, commercial news lies).
It is a holiday in the States. And, to be serious for a moment, not everyone has a swell time when the sky lights up with merry-colored explosions. If you haven't guessed—we're back at the fireworks holiday. And while a night of fireworks means fun with beer, hot dogs, and brightly colored booms, for others it can trigger negative physical or psychological effects. (Also, I've heard we have some dog listeners, which are also affected by 4TH celebrations. So shout-out to any doggo listeners, enjoy a chill ferry ride.)
This isn't about any lost love of country—not everyone appreciates a blackened sky invaded by rings of light and screamers. One good friend who experienced combat described his neighborhood's personal fireworks displays as "thunderstorms on crack."
So if you're apt to pull your shades and pump up some sounds, may I suggest a long, low-frequency trip in the bowels of a magical ship on the way to paradise.
PS: The Steamship Authority ferries are a fave microphone spot for me. I've used their sounds in many of my otherworldly episodes, including as the foundation for the Starship Enterprise and a Star Destroyer.

Gentle Lapping 3 A.M. Waves! Wade into ten hours of uninterrupted lapping harbor waves, a few chatty birds, distant boat creaks, and sparse human-made noises. Whether you're studying, working, reading, sleeping, or unwinding after a long day, this immersive ambient soundscape provides the perfect background soundtrack. No talking, no interruptions—just pure early morning beach relaxation. Ignore the World.
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Vineyard Haven has been a newer development for me. It's where we stay when we visit. The motel we like has its own beach on the harbor, so it's an easy place to put the kids when we're not on Circuit or in Menemsha. Vineyard Haven was not a favorite place growing up (outside of visiting Brickman’s toy department). When I was a kid, Vineyard Haven meant back to reality—the place that stuffed you into a steamship to deposit you back on the mainland.

I wanted to be in Katama (right fork), it’s where my family had a place. I could bike to the fun beach or hitchhike into Edgartown for work. One of those summers I was a mechanic’s helper at Old Colony Service, basically the shop's "gofer." I ran around cleaning bathrooms, cars, and the showroom, shuttling customers, etc. 

And gawd, I was such a naive doofus back then. One day a Wrangler rolled into a bay with a broken window, and I asked the mechanic, "What happened?"

He gestured to the Jeep. "What do you think happened?"

I peered through the broken window and noticed the radio was missing. "Oh... the driver got mad at his car radio and threw it through out the window."

There was an older gentleman named Doug, in my imagining the shop's Yoda (with some Danny DeVito energy). He was older and knew his ****.

Example: one morning a mechanic was wrestling with an engine that would only produce a "NE-YAYAYAYAYA... CLICK." And the mechanic was getting audibly annoyed and swearing and such. Doug wandered over, fiddled with a few things, and a couple of minutes later the car was coaxed back to life. 

I think the mechanic wanted to get that turnover on his own, but was appreciative of the assist. "Thanks, Doug," he said.

And Doug returned to his station with, "Yap!"

Of all the words he shared with me, "Yap" was the most frequent. I liked him, I thought he was a cool dude. One Friday at closing he dropped a cooler of beers in the middle of the shop. I reached for a beer, and he laughed and pointed me toward the soft drinks. (Some might see that as square-*** parental behavior. I haven't imbibed in 10 years for a reason, so I see the wisdom.)

Anyway, one morning he barked at me, "Kid—put this in the lot," and tossed me the keys. "It's Walter Cronkite's, so don't mess it up."

I sat idling for a few seconds after parking, just taking it all in. Wait until I tell everyone at school (who, no doubt, had no clue who Walter Cronkite was) about this. Mr. Spaceship Earth—I was sitting in his car.

I was 16 or 17 and way too shy to ask for an autograph— but felt like I must. Doug would've frowned on that **** for sure.

So, I took his vehicle registration.

MVY Waves! Surf into ten hours of uninterrupted ocean waves, hints of 808, drifting sounds, wind, and a bird chilling amidst the dunes of Aquinnah. Mellow beats, ocean waves, nature, some distant human machines, and chords. Whether you're studying, working, reading, sleeping, or unwinding after a long day, this immersive ambient soundscape provides the perfect background soundtrack. No talking, no interruptions—just pure beach relaxation and meandering sounds. Ignore the World.
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So the backbone of this episode was recorded on the footpath, about 40 feet from the surf of Gay Head Town Beach (Moshup Beach) on Martha’s Vineyard. It was recorded last week (as of this episode’s release) while vacationing in my favorite place on Earth—with more episodes from MVY on the way (stay tuned).
Anyway, why is it “Gay Head Town Beach” when the town is Aquinnah? Shortest possible answer: the island was taken from the Wampanoag by settlers and, as with the United States mainland, the tribe was pushed further and further westward into a place we incorporated as “Gay Head.” The tribe had nowhere else to go but the sea... (And I know that ellipsis is doing a lot of work.)
So in 1997, by popular vote, residents changed the town name from Gay Head to Aquinnah, or “land under the hill,” which alludes to the clay cliffs and some of the taller elevations on the island. The cliffs really are remarkable—I’ve visited them almost every year of my life—they don’t get old.
But settler colonialism isn’t much of a chill ambient podcast subject, so I’ll save the bitter pills for more historically focussed channels. (Or consider surfing over to the Aquinnah Cultural Center.) 
It’s summer after all (huzzah), so let’s wade into less heady waters. Something got stuck in my craw over vacation that I had to yank out. Have y’all ever pondered how musical artists sound more native in specific formats? (And forgive me if music folks already pondered this, I didn't look bc I don't want to get rid of what I've written so far.)
I’ll stick to what I know—90s-era hip-hop—to demonstrate. And it’s very Vineyard for me, as my obsession with hip-hop bloomed in the summers of the ’90s. So while I was folding T-shirts at Island Breeze or washing cars at Old Colony Service, I was making paychecks disappear at Aboveground Records (and Al’s Package Store, but that’s a different tale).
Cassette is easy: nothing sounds more cassette-native than DJ Shadow, Black Moon, or the Beastie Boys. The griminess of backpack and alternative hip-hop belongs in analog.
And while I'd put Raekwon in the vinyl format camp—he did release “the purple tape.” (which I purchased at the music store in Vineyard Haven—think it’s a paint store now.) Just slip “Glaciers of Ice” onto your turntable and you will understand why. Maybe just buy the purple tape and display it.
Definitely CD for CRU’s Da Dirty 30; a very solid project that plays best uninterrupted—while being able to exit tracks quickly to skip intros that didn’t age well. Also, one of the tracks, “Da Dirty 29,” pretends to be a damaged section of the physical media, complete with medium-specific error sounds. So if you play it on CD, you’ll hear skipping. Basically, it’s much easier to realize that the damaged sounds are an intentional artistic choice on CD.
On the cassette side of "Da Dirty 29" it plays as if the tape is being eaten to mush by grinding gears. Look, find some Gen X ******* and ask them how it felt when their favorite cassette started making a grinding sound. You could even drop a cherry on it with, “think of the film clenched in your teeth while the dentist has that nuke-cannon X-ray machine aimed an inch from your face.”
That was the sound of your favorite cassette dying.

Sink into ten hours of uninterrupted lo-fi ambience featuring mellow beats, ocean waves, drifting melodies, soft textures, and nostalgic vinyl pops. Whether you're studying, working, reading, sleeping, or unwinding after a long day, this immersive ambient soundscape provides the perfect background soundtrack. No talking, no interruptions—just pure lo-fi relaxation and meandering sounds.
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Going to be on vacation, so I have premade and scheduled this post. So as you read this, I am hopefully on a beach staring toward the horizon, thinking of the Spanish Navy captain whose ship was ambushed by pirates and sunk. The captain survived ten days underwater.
The year was 1634, February 13th, a day before Valentine's—but Captain Ortega was from Spain, so they wouldn’t be celebrating Valentine's Day yet. To him, it was just a Wednesday. Captain Ortega, a youthful Santa Claus-looking dude, parked his tall ship behind a barrier reef for the night.
The pirates snuck in on a sloop and blasted Ortega’s ship with cannons. There was a terrific fire that crippled the ship and plunged her into the depths.
Ten days later, Ortega was found sprawled out on a beach, clutching his logbook. He eventually described how he survived the attack and was rescued by brightly colored sea Smurfs called Snorks. They were no bigger than his thumb, he relayed, and he was not believed. The historical record notes that Ortega had delirium.
Fast forward to the 1980s: a man has found Captain Ortega's logbook in a monastery overlooking the sea. The man who found the logbook is also (ostensibly) a sea captain—he's wearing a sea captain's hat like that dude from Captain & Tennille. I guess that makes him... Captain. Another captain...
Anyway, the Captain & Tennille-looking captain from the 1980s believes what he has read in Captain Ortega’s logbook. “There’s something about Captain Ortega’s story that makes me believe it’s true.”
Now I’ve told you the whole story. See it here if you don’t believe me. Do the Snorks exist? Or was Captain Ortega drunk-driving his tall ship?
Also, I watched all the seasons of Snorks, and humans never show up. The Captain & Tennille-looking captain’s story ends in the Season 1 Snorks cartoon intro. We never get a resolution, never see another human again in the show.
Moreover, we're talking 1664, and Captain Ortega is not in Spain. What were you up to, Ortega?

This week we are waiting on a flight in some Mid-Major airport. A nice liminal space to relax or sleep with. 10 hours of airport sounds including muffled announcements, large room air-conditioning, timely takeoffs, airport denizens, and drift.
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We’re waiting for a late-night flight to somewhere awesome, tucked into a dark corner with a view of the runway fading into the milky darkness beyond. Vehicle lights twinkle. The runway blazes with multicolored bulbs. And my favorite person, the waving double-flashlight dude (I always wondered if these folks ever pretended to be Jedis). Planes speed down the runway in the distance, like racing Christmas trees.
In the 90s I had the perfect spot at Atlanta airport near my favorite eatery, Gyro Wrap (you fostered my love of the gyro, thank you Gyro Wrap). I loved watching the nighttime choreography of massive flying machines and service vehicles while awaiting that late connection to Columbia, SC, and back to my military school bunk by midnight.
One trip nearly ended with me joining the Army by accident. A very stern-looking dude from the U.S. Army (reception cadre) double timed over to me as I headed for the Taxi stand of the Columbia Airport. “No gum. The hell are you chewing gum for? Take those headphones off when I’m speaking to you.”
I’m like, “Uhm.”
He starts laying into my posture. I wasn’t standing straight. Gum out right now. Hand outstretched to a line of people in the distance. “Eyes straight. Let’s go.” And I see a line of dudes rigid with fear. “You made all of us late—“
I jumped in, “sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t join the Army. I’m in military school. I have to catch a cab.”
His eyes widened at my interruption, then his expression softened into something much friendlier—even jocular. “Ya—! Ooooh… I was about to put you on the bus.”
He asked how long I had been in military school and I was like, “Six years.”
“Six years? Do they not teach posture? Chest up, shoulders back…” And he clapped me on the back, "See you in a few months."
I wanted to do add a "sorry but I will be attending another military school in a few months." But he was back to his charges telling them the wait would continue.
Speaking of airport nostalgia, this week’s episode cover is a homage to the stellar Catch Me If You Can opening credits. Which is itself a nostalgic, Saul Bass–ish 1960s film opening. I’ve never seen Catch Me If You Can, but the credit sequence was formative in inspiring where I wanted to take my career. I should leave out that my mantra became “I will only work on documentaries or major motion picture credit sequences” (and whatever job I could get at MTV, I’ll mop the TRL studios).
The Catch Me If You Can credit sequence by Kuntzel + Deygas is unassailable. And middling designers (such as myself) will make any excuse to play with others’ wonderful work and call it homage. (See my recent Matrix episode for more).
I mean, it is self-gratification. Can I say that? And leave aside the vulgar common understanding—it would be like my buying a home-run baseball on eBay. Some other person caught the ball, or ripped it from a child’s hands, put it in a box, slapped on some stamps, and shipped it across multiple states. Now I’m holding up that baseball as if I accomplished something.
Then again, it was fun to make.