Maybe I'm just making assumptions, but I'm guessing it was the likes of Burial's Night Bus, Forgive and In McDonalds that kicked off an interest in ambient music for a lot of the producers I follow and write about here, and of course, that is no bad thing, when it allows the likes of Sangam to flourish.
Check this new piece with fellow ambient lord, Bruised Skies, entitled Street Lamp Mist. You may remember their previous pieces, Subcontinent and the, frankly, stunning Signs, and this piece follows the bleak, cinematic vibe.
It's up for free download. Grab it if you have any common sense.
To some, ambient is a pointless, impenetrable genre that will hold no interest. To me, it's music that's unencumbered by any pre-conceptions of what's expected, away from the world of rigid drum structures that basically define the track and can remove a lot of the organic feel, and I think that allows a hell of a lot of ideas to flourish that might fade away anywhere else.
Something Sangam can probably be considered somewhat of a pioneer of is applying ambient soundscapes to grime vocals. Check out his latest piece, Agrow (Sangam's Highest Heights Bootleg), probably the most out and out ambient edit he's made so far...
Is anybody else doing this with grime at the moment? Yeah, me, sort of, and you can expect something along these lines from Sangam and myself pretty soon. Taking away some of the attitude and well, agro, from the track can completely change the mood and tone of the vocals.
Burial might've given ambient music to a larger, more dance focused audience, but the likes of Sangam and Bruised Skies have taken it and are running as fast as they can with it.