uncommon ambience

Rainy night/ car interior—There are two 80s songs that are my absolute nemesis. Songs dealt to me over the radio by guys like Casey Kasem and Rick Dees on our way to or back from church. (How Rick Dees survived the 90s and early aughts onslaught of “nuts” hurled at his name is beyond me). Two songs appear in my head regularly and must be sung aloud to satisfy a tic. “On the Wings of Love,” by Jeff...

Steam Radiator Ambience — I went to military school in South Carolina in the 90s, it was a bit like Harry Potter sans magic and the Forbidden Forest. We did have impossibly large roaches that appeared in our dorms and they would have befriended Hagrid. Like Hogwarts, our school dorms were ancient, built before world wars. No air conditioning, and steam Radiators in every room. The radiators would...

I'm the First Person at Work... Ambience Empty office ambience — I see this episode as like: you're in your crowded workspace and you want everyone to disappear. Look, work isn't usually ever great — but being the first one to the Slack channels or the Powerpoint decks feel a little freeing when no one is looking over your ****** shoulders. Or I think you could use this ambience while...

Pink noise/ rain ambience — Look, this episode has nothing to do with creator of the Batdance . And yes I was hoping for an unearned second glance just by typing out “purple” and “rain” in a title bar. Gawd I do love the Batman album (changes subject) and how it captures the expensive, unhinged feel of Gotham City. The best comic book movie soundtrack. The I’m Breathless “soundtrack” comes close —...

Star Wars/ Empire Strikes Back Ambience. This episode covers a regular day of work on a Star Destroyer. I have to imagine there were some less exciting days for the denizens of the futuristic space Harry Potter franchise, Star Wars.  Empire screws had to dismount from their bunks and get to their boring jobs and hope not to piss off Vader or any other weird space wizards. We’re back at the movies...

Welp, We Got More Snow and School Closures... Ambience Snowfall from interior of car. It wasn't even a long storm... And it was three days ago... but they closed school anyway.

Doodle while the Driven Excel; Standardized Testing… Ambience Writing/ classroom ambience. How do I say, "Enjoy 8 hours of testing ambience?" The thought of testing conjures up traumas of past educational failures. And I'm not talking about having the test slapped on the desktop before me with "F" scratched out in red marker. I'm talking "permanent record" her...

Snowfall; that Closed Schools for a Week… Ambience Snow and snow maintenance trucks ambience — This is the  January 5,6 storm over Northern Virginia . Listen to the gut-punch storm that forced us to spend another week with our children.  Yes, I know that sounds terrible, but we had already been back to work, and these little free-loaders were "bored." Never mind, they were somehow ******...

Mild fan ambience—Okay, so over the holidays, we escaped our beloved children. I picked up a night at my wife's favorite  ⁠local B&B⁠ , which put us far enough away from the bickering stemming from being home for ****** ever from school. They were supposed to return to school tomorrow, but with a giant ****** snowstorm coming, they will probably be home for another week.

*Sleet and Ice ambience—Nature tossed an early morning meatball the day before Christmas. A steady fall of ice covered everything in a faux-white (the New England in me wouldn't grant this "White Christmas" status even if my kids were).  And yet, my holiday mind flipped through the possibilities: "Am I dreaming of a white Christmas podcast?" My prior falling ice episode was well received; let's do...

Intercity bus/ highway ambience—A Christmas Eve decades ago, I found myself braving the Port Authority in Midtown, waiting for a Greyhound to Albany. While loading, I walked fast enough to stay ahead of the folks who might be at the overbooked point. Just that Thanksgiving, I had been dawdling at the end of the line and wound up with a "Sorry, pal. It looks like you're waiting for the next bus." ...

The Jingle Bell box fan is back to make your holidays ****** jolly! This week’s episode is white noise but festive. It’ll make that Christmas dinner prep or tuning out the in-laws merry without a note from Mariah. I have to come clean about something. I regularly use an extremely inexpensive aftershave balm that smells horrible. It smells like what a kid would probably think a man would smell like...

Santa workshop ambience (8 Hours).  Oh boy, it's a Christmas movie episode! Well… we are focusing on a faux Christmas movie commercial that appears in an actual Christmas movie. This episode puts us into a busy Santa's Workshop  (but does not include any terrorists or assault weapons and absolutely no harm to Reindeers) .  Look, at the very beginning of the movie  Scrooged  (1988) , the ca...

Suspiria Taxi Ride to Escherstraße… Ambience Hey! We're back at the movies, and this week's episode is focused on the  strange and surreal taxi ride  in the opening of the 1977 suspense film Suspiria. So we are driving to Escherstraße (Escher Street) in Freiuerg as the rain whips and thunder rolls (the big drum is also included but dialed back). As usual, this is ambience to relax with, so...

Inside the oven, Thanksgiving prep ambience. If you are about to prepare a large dinner in the next few days and need to get your culinary game face on, this episode is for you. Eight hours of kitchen prep as heard from within a gas range (a perfect place for Tom or a roasted eggplant). Let this episode be your auditory affirmation that you have got this Thanksgiving dinner under control. In this...

Spend an evening perched amongst the rocks overlooking the Potomac at Riverfront Park in Shepherdstown, WV.  Just below you are the sounds of Town Run as it rushes to confluence with the famous river that eventually cuts between the District of Columbia and Virginia (about 60 miles to the South and East from here).  Separately, am I the only person that likes to scream while stretching? My family...

Streets is Washing; city storm drain after heavy rain. Why cede the sewers to Pennywise and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (heroes in a half-shell, turtle power)? After a large storm, it can sound pretty great down there — a symphony of spluts and gurgles.  Look, obviously, no one is climbing into a drain with their futon to enjoy the sounds; because, claustrophobia. So, in this episode, we are...

It's Dark and November is Hot; Box Fan Ambience —   November Box fan in the window Ambience. Look, it’s been a long week with temperatures hitting near 90° and my kids came to me pleading, like, “Dad you have to turn the air conditioning back on.” And I was like, “guys, the 7-11 across the street has a ****** wreath on the front door and a special on frosted Santa face sugar cookies.” I shoved...

Small rocky stream ambience — Don't stress-watch cable news, you will probably learn just as much listening to gushing water through Shepherdstown, WV... Which this episode provides (recorded just off of Princes Street ).  Tune out the world.

NASA control room, waiting for signs of Atlantis reentry; ambience. Look, if I learned anything as a kid watching  SpaceCamp , it was that you do not make friends with  cute robots that beep like R2D2  and don’t ever sit in a space shuttle cockpit during an engine test. We have had some sinister ambience homages lately, so I figured it might be a good time to visit outer space—or at least hang out...

Had a request for just the static without all of that creepy ( see last episode ) — so it's just that smooth static without anyone or anything trying to contact the Freeling family. Tune out the world for a moment. Episode cover original photo by Huỳnh Đạt.

Poltergeist  TV static. We’ve got one more Halloween-ish movie ambience before I start putting up all the Christmas lights . So get ready for eight hours of eerie but smooth TV static as we’re visiting the  TV Static scene from  Poltergeist (1982) . And as far as TV static goes, the Poltergeist static is super chill (minus the disembodied voices). Growing up, the static I was used to on our televi...

Have you ever wanted that tense scene of a camera following Danny through the hallways of the Overlook Hotel, but for eight hours? We’re back at the movies this week, and obviously,  we are racing through the hallways  of the Overlook Hotel. Get ready for tricycle-pumping action over carpet and wood flooring as we get tense strings and maybe random voices from the beyond.  As usual, this is ambien...

We're expounding upon the unease and urban landscape that open the director's cut of the Exorcist . Perched above the ominous stairs that lead to doom (or towards the Key Bridge and expensive shops for the rest of us), a light switches off, the bushes rustle in the wind, and then come the cymbals. It's a solid opening that proves the power of ambience — without the added sound, the vis...

Propeller Airplane Flight to Wherever... Ambience Go island hopping in the South Pacific, or fly to Nantucket or some remote Alaskan village. And do it without checking your bags. This week, we are going up in a very chill prop airplane.  Whenever I fly, I'm reminded of a favorite DJ mix from the 90s, Cold Krush Cuts . It included a spoken word segment about getting into ⁠the sky and seeing yo...