I'm really getting into "old" new age synth-based space music.
Here's what I have so far:
Jean Michel Jarre - The Essential, cool stuff but a bit poppy
Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe, cool and less poppy than the above mentioned record
Vangelis - Albedo 0.39, a couple good spacey tracks, but fell a little short of my expectations
Vangelis - Spiral, the opening track is one of the coolest sounding things I've ever heard ...then it goes off in a space nerd meets King Arthur direction. Most of the other tracks are fairly weak.
Vangelis - 1492, suppose to be great, giving it the first listen now
Hearts of Space vol. 1, features outstanding tracks like Life in the Gravity Well by Michael Stearns, and Free Flight from Kitaro
Tangerine Dream - Exit, title track is the best, maybe a bit too poppy for the rest.
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra, everything is pretty well done on here
Brian Eno - Apollo, first listen now
Gulan - Space something, don't remember title, first listen now.

My fav spacey track is The Dream Sequencer by Ayreon. I'm not a big Ayreon fan, but that track takes me places, mentally and spiritually.

So, other than that and a new space music band that I've created, you pretty much get my tastes.
I also really dig modern day pink-floydish spaciness, like The Sky Moves Sideways and Prodigal by porcupine tree.

So, with all that in mind, anyone have some good recommendations?

[djskrimp]

Anathema
God Is An Astronaut
Jon Hopkins
Mar
Mt.
Novembre can at times.
Sick Oakes
Tides
ULVER!



Katatonia's new one is pretty damned nice for that feeling. "Night is the New Day"

And this is dreamy...
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Hope that was helpful

Delerium's 'Karma' album.

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youre welcome

These albums are excellent for floating in space, and many are classics of the genre (Electronic that is... "new age" usually = yuck.

Robert Rich: Trances/Drones, Zerkalo, Stalker (collaboration with Lustmord)
Klaus Schulze: Timewind, Moondawn, Mirage
Tangerine Dream: Rubycon, Zeit
Steve Roach: Magnificent Void, Arc of Passion
Between Interval: Secret Observatory

Most of these have few or no beats and virtually no *pop* elements and are best for deep exploration, relaxation, meditation, or getting creeped out with unusual alien sounds. Good for falling asleep.

These albums are excellent for floating in space, and many are classics of the genre (Electronic that is... "new age" usually = yuck.

Robert Rich: Trances/Drones, Zerkalo, Stalker (collaboration with Lustmord)
Klaus Schulze: Timewind, Moondawn, Mirage
Tangerine Dream: Rubycon, Zeit
Steve Roach: Magnificent Void, Arc of Passion
Between Interval: Secret Observatory

Most of these have few or no beats and virtually no *pop* elements and are best for deep exploration, relaxation, meditation, or getting creeped out with unusual alien sounds. Good for falling asleep.

"These albums are excellent for floating in space, and many are classics of the genre (Electronic that is... "new age" usually = yuck."

Yes, this is exactly the type of thing i'm looking for. Thanks for the recommendations. I think I'll check out Zeit and Steve Roach. I know I've heard Roach's name before.

Katatonia's new one is pretty damned nice for that feeling. "Night is the New Day"

Go for a night drive listening to that album. It's damn amazing. A perfect soundtrack.

[Keeker]

I guess it depends what each finds relaxing. I like quite a lot of 'New Age' sounds and a poppy beat doesn't necessarily detract from floating in space either, in fact for me a good background beat often helps with being able to relax. Not a complete list by any means but I've included:-

Vangelis: Many, many tracks but off the top of my head; The theme from Cosmos, Alpha, Spiral, Albedo 0.39, Sword of Orion, Pulstar, Theme from 'Missing,' Blade Runner Love Theme, La Petite Fille De La Mer, Memories of Green.. and so on.
Isao Tomita
Jean Michel Jarre: Oxygene
God is an Astronaut
Ulver
Anathema
Enya and Clannad (several tracks)
The seashore sounds with an electronic background pulse on a relaxation tape I have at home.. no idea who made it but I like it.

Some other really trippy individual tracks:
Eastern Sun & John Kelley: Rapture at Sea
Surreal: You Take My Breath Away (Instrumental DJ Triesto remix)
The Rolling Stones: 2000 Light Years From Home
Roger Taylor: Fun in Space

I recommend anything by Harold Budd.

Oh, and if no one said it yet...Enigma.

Tangerine Dream in the Peter Baumann era - Rubycon, Phaedra, Stratosfear, Ricochet and the excellent live album Encore, anything post Baumann is uniformly dreadful.

There are quite a few modern bands who play straight Berlin School Space electronics with thundering Moog modular systems and whooshing phasers and analogue sequencing and all that good stuff:
Radio Massacre International are awesome and release an album every few months.
Airsculpture are in a very similar vein - their Sandinavian live album Fjord Transit is a great place to start.
Redshift are another great band - and include old skool pioneers Mark Shreeve and Ian Boddy.
Any of Mark Shreeve's early solo work is definitely worth checking as well - my favourite is Assassin - an album-length epic reworking of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 theme.

[Keeker]

I don't care what their music sounds like, anybody with an album called 'Fjord Transit' deserves a round of applause.

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Eluvium does some pretty awesome shit.

really worth checking him out

Ok... Not pure ambient and seems to be pretty far from your taste but still: Darkspace

Eluvium does some pretty awesome shit.

really worth checking him out

Definitely have to agree with you on that one.