Matt Borghi's Ambient Guitar for Christmas Will Make for a Silent Night

Matt Borghi
Ambient Guitar for Christmas
2018

While there is certainly a raucous, celebratory side to Christmas that is well represented in music, the winter holidays also draw on the quiet of snow covered landscapes and the contemplation of mortality and immortality inherent in the Christmas story and its variants. A number of ambient electronic music artists (Jonn Serrie comes to mind) have looked to create sonic atmospheres appropriate to the season. I have, myself, released compilations of such music on my own ambient music label (my musical life is complicated…). Ambient guitarist Matt Borghi now ads his own contribution to that genre.

Borghi takes a simple approach–building slowly drifting electronic chords and then using his guitar to provide the shimmering melodies of familiar holiday songs. While some secular songs are represented, the emphasis is on carols of the Christian canon which provide the appropriate sense of mystery and reflection that he looks to evoke.

My feeling (and experience) is that these songs work best at a very low volume. They thus provide a subtle, yet familiar, sonic backdrop for reading, contemplating, or sleeping. (I did take a lovely nap one afternoon as the collection played on repeat in the background.)

Listen:

As an ambient musician and label owner AND Christmas music collector, I love this collection of ethereal carols.

This music is the perfect soundtrack to sugarplum dreams as you drift off to sleep Christmas Eve. Matt Borghi strikes the right balance between amorphous shifting chords and the familiar melodies of Christmas past. The subtle, harmonic backgrounds provide just the right atmosphere to carry Borghi’s gentle carols into the ether.

Ambient Guitar for Christmas is available to purchase at Bandcamp.