uncommon ambience

Appledore 2 (Van Damme queued)! This week we have ten hours of uninterrupted small-island ocean vibes from off the coast of northern New England. Distant calm waves, birds, and buoys. 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 island isolation. Ignore the World.
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Special thanks to my twin for capturing this audio. The recording took place on a June afternoon earlier this year. And a note to the kids out there: if you do science stuff, you get to go to cool places. My sister has parlayed her marine ecology career into research trips overseas—to a ton of Europe, Central and South America, and Appledore.
Appledore is a tiny Maine island off the coast of New Hampshire. It’s Maine because the state line follows the Piscataqua River into the ocean and splits the island group between the two states. So New Hampshire has Star Island and White Island. And Maine has Cedar, Appledore, and (grizzly axe murders) Smuttynose.
It’s difficult to separate Smuttynose from its history. So I would suggest getting the history from J. Dennis Robinson’s book Mystery on the Isle of Shoals. It's a Smuttynose historian’s view of the island. (The book begins hundreds of millions of years ago and quickly leads to the events of March 5, 1873.)
The motivation of Robinson's book feels less like, "Here is some history of an island and its terrible events," and more like someone needs to correct the record after a novelist flipped the history to exonerate the axe murderer and blame the woman who survived the attack (in the fictional book—and later film—The Weight of Water).
Interestingly, John Wilkes Booth’s brother, Edwin Booth, has a cameo in Isle of Shoals history. He showed up on Star Island a few years after the Smuttynose murders (and after his brother murdered Lincoln) to stay at the (then) new Oceanic Hotel. Edwin had nothing to do with the Smuttynose murders—but if I wrote The Weight of Water 2, I’d pin the **** on that dude.

Pieces of Gold! Ten hours of uninterrupted sounds featuring "pieces" of the Golden Record, a floating time capsule carrying evidence that Earth existed. Included in this episode are Greetings from Earth (sans Waldheim), Sounds of Earth, Ann Druyan’s brain waves, and space-age drifts and notes. 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 interstellar relaxation. Ignore the World. (And subscribe to uncommon ambience!)
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Ok, so I’m not a St. Patrick’s guy. I lived in Boston and once got talked into doing it “the Boston way”—actually, I’m sure I imposed myself, whatever. “The Boston Way” was billed to me as “Christmas for adults.” So I took the day off with a bunch of other marginally Irish folks and wound up in a line at 9 a.m. That’s the majority of what I remember, as I awoke the next afternoon on a wood-paneled floor, my shoe as a pillow. Apparently I tapped out earlier than everyone else. Some had capped the night at a Chinese restaurant that served tea that wasn’t actually tea—it was just more beer.
All of which is to say, now that I drink NA stuff, I’m no longer wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day. (I still think the Irish are cool.)
It's the same with our most recent holiday. There are things I love about my home on this planet, but I’m not going to make a big deal about them because a holiday insists. I wore a RZA T-shirt to watch the fireworks.
Look, maybe we had an episode last week that didn’t properly revere America... That doesn’t mean we don’t love any Americana. The hot dog, maple syrup, Waffle House, South Carolina hash and rice (obviously writing this while hungry), the #2 pencil, baseball caps, and the Wu-Tang Clan, to name a few.
And one of my favorite pieces of Americana is an obscure record produced by Timothy Ferris (and team). A record that is not on our planet and is only getting farther and farther away: the Golden Records affixed to the Voyager satellites.
(Just ordered a pizza, if anyone is wondering... And I plan to dip that **** in ranch...)
I’ve wanted to do a Golden Record episode for a while. My hope was to loop the beach moments and create a nice intergalactic day at the beach, because summer (HUZZAH). Yet the Sounds of Earth follow a brisk pace of interweaving—I think the beach scene is only 5–10 seconds. (A loop like that could earn me a one-star—Btw, 5 us!)
So I decided to extend the brainwave portion as a base and weave in the entire run length of Greetings from Earth and Sounds of Earth.
I left out the music stuff so as not to get into any terrestrial copyright trouble. I mean, they gave the universe free access...
Shout out to Chuck Berry—I know he was a guitar god, but his voice was one of my favorite attributes. And I think his inclusion as an emissary of our planet (on the Golden Record) is deserved.
And as usual with me there’s a hip-hop origin to this week's episode, which was inspired by the podcast Pieces of Sound Pieces from Stones Throw Records.

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, 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.