New Age of New Age

[johnson]

Windham Hill was a consistently excellent label for as long as Ackerman controlled it. I like all of the artists mentioned thus far and would add that Suzanne Ciani's early works are quite nice.

[Mo Noyz]

Suzanne Ciani's History Of My Heart is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Agreed about Windham Hill as well. Some of Ackerman's material is just as enjoyable as Hedges'.

[resortto]

Deep Magic. the guy behind this also has a label. also, Sundrips.

I think I like this music a lot because it just breathes positivity.

[faster]

Deep Magic. the guy behind this also has a label. also, Sundrips.

I think I like this music a lot because it just breathes positivity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DIETlxquzY

[piege]

Harold Budd's "Pavillion Of Dreams" is a sumptuous and quite new-agey discs. It's one of his earlier ones (1970-something?) , so instead of his usual chorusy piano you get really lush acoustic ensemble music: vibraphone, harp, rhodes, piano, celeste... timbres like that. There's also a lot of ooh-and-ah singing, done well... I highly endorse this release.

Marion Brown plays on the opener too!

[Mo Noyz]

Marion Brown and New Age?

There's a tough reconciliation to make!

[Joda]

Harold Budd's "Pavillion Of Dreams" is a sumptuous and quite new-agey discs. It's one of his earlier ones (1970-something?) , so instead of his usual chorusy piano you get really lush acoustic ensemble music: vibraphone, harp, rhodes, piano, celeste... timbres like that. There's also a lot of ooh-and-ah singing, done well... I highly endorse this release.

Ah yes, I was trying to think of some records of this sort that don't suck and was having some difficulty, but this is an album I can get behind. Admittedly, I can't really deal with the saxophone on the first cut even though I would like to. It is a nice arrangement, but the last three tracks are what really get me.

Another great (and more recent) Harold Budd record is La Bella Vista. The story is that it was recorded at Daniel Lanois' house in LA, on turn-of-the-century 'beautifully' restored Steinway piano, without his knowledge, while playing to a small group of guests (described by Lanois as 'beautiful women' in the liner notes) and arranged into an album from this and another session. All piano, no new age sounds, very nice record. Plus, I've seen some of the women that Lanois rolls with and it's not hard to imagine how this kind of 'beaufitul view' might have been inspirational for ol' Mr. Budd.

[piege]

hey joda! nice to hear that at least another person can feel this record. the second track can be a little much but everything else on there is super lush and lovely. i've never heard "bella vista"... i expected it to be bad, like those robin guthrie collabs (no match for "the moon and the melodies") but maybe i shouldn't be so judgemental.

ecm also has some decent new age records. david darling's "cycles" has its moments. jon hassell's "power spot" is also great, as is most of fellow trumpeteer arve henriksen's solo catalog (hassell's been poaching from henriksen's band, it would seem!) which can get pretty new agey for sure... "chiascuro" is nothing short of beautiful.

[piege]

Marion Brown and New Age?

There's a tough reconciliation to make!

Have you heard "Vision", it gets pretty mellow. Think of Alice Coltrane too. The second side of "Universal Consciousness" is loosely pretty new-agey despite the torrents of sound on the first! Same sorta deal.

[Mo Noyz]

I haven't heard Visions, but I'm going to check it out later.

Just struck me as funny, that's all. I started envisioning a pairing of Ayler and Vangelis!

[piege]

I haven't heard Visions, but I'm going to check it out later.

Just struck me as funny, that's all. I started envisioning a pairing of Ayler and Vangelis!

Vision has a great cover of the eponymous Stevie Wonder song. It's in that vein of post-free-jazz-psychedelic-mellowness that I love.

The Budd album is stellar too... but quite different.

[franz bieberkopf]

interesting blog right here which maybe gets a bit at the kosmischer end of things...
http://circeotones.blogspot.com/

edit:

and while i'm at it, i'm inviting folks to have an opinion about Klaus Schulze... too many records to know where to start... i have heard Irrlicht a few times but i wasn't thoroughly impressed--or it doesn't quite suit the vibration being chased down here... maybe something a bit later on?

[Jesse]

Has anyone posted the link to new new age tapes [burlington, vermont, natch]?
pages of what you might be seeking, at
http://soundcloud.com/nnatapes

[JasonZeh]

Harold Budd's "Pavilion of Dreams" Is essential.

Also, a friend gave me a stack of mp3 cds of Klaus Schultze a couple of years ago and I am too intimidated to go through it. It is just about everything he ever did. Some day I will finish.

[grisha]

re: Schulze.

My favourite Schulze is "Mirage" (and it fits this thread very well), an imo up to that point everything is worth trying, at least (haven't heard "Body Love). X starts off well, but then gets rather overblown and boring. Didn't like "Live" and "Dune". Haven't tried anything after that.

[Dohol]

David Hykes/Harmonic Choir hasn't been mentioned. His stuff often gets lumped in the New Age ghetto, but the best of it is pretty sweet..

Robert Rich and Steve Roach were mentioned earlier, and I like them both...Although Roach occasionally has major lapses in taste..(the digeridoo fer instance)

Rich is the more interesting of the two..(by far)

[franz bieberkopf]

David Hykes/Harmonic Choir hasn't been mentioned. His stuff often gets lumped in the New Age ghetto, but the best of it is pretty sweet..

Actually Grisha did mention it up thread, but second (and third) endorsements are helpful

Robert Rich and Steve Roach were mentioned earlier, and I like them both...Although Roach occasionally has major lapses in taste..(the digeridoo fer instance)

Rich is the more interesting of the two..(by far)

The Roach record i've best connected with so far is Structures from Silence. I think i am trying not to move too far into the 90s myself, but i'd be curious to know which Roach and Rich records work for you. I tried one earlier Rich record, Trances, which was too thin for my taste... where to go next?

[Dohol]

David Hykes/Harmonic Choir hasn't been mentioned. His stuff often gets lumped in the New Age ghetto, but the best of it is pretty sweet..

Actually Grisha did mention it up thread, but second (and third) endorsements are helpful

Robert Rich and Steve Roach were mentioned earlier, and I like them both...Although Roach occasionally has major lapses in taste..(the digeridoo fer instance)

Rich is the more interesting of the two..(by far)

The Roach record i've best connected with so far is Structures from Silence. I think i am trying not to move too far into the 90s myself, but i'd be curious to know which Roach and Rich records work for you. I tried one earlier Rich record, Trances, which was too thin for my taste... where to go next?

My apologies to Grisha for missing his reference..

The Rich recording that sticks in my memory is an early one, Strata.. His late 90's output was tolerable as well.

I have problems with Roach's faux ethnic/tribal stuff and prefer his earlier pure electronics.

[jpeatt]

David Hykes/Harmonic Choir hasn't been mentioned. His stuff often gets lumped in the New Age ghetto, but the best of it is pretty sweet..

Actually Grisha did mention it up thread, but second (and third) endorsements are helpful

Robert Rich and Steve Roach were mentioned earlier, and I like them both...Although Roach occasionally has major lapses in taste..(the digeridoo fer instance)

Rich is the more interesting of the two..(by far)

The Roach record i've best connected with so far is Structures from Silence. I think i am trying not to move too far into the 90s myself, but i'd be curious to know which Roach and Rich records work for you. I tried one earlier Rich record, Trances, which was too thin for my taste... where to go next?

Hearing Solar winds is the best of the David Hykes records, IMO.

I really like Trances & Drones and also the Stalker collab with Lustmord as far as Robert Rich goes, so maybe try that one. Not familiar enough with Roach to make comments beyond agreement that the faux tribal shit is weak. Rapoon do it much better.

Somthing that defineitly hasn't been mentioned yet is Edward Larry Gordon's "Celelstial Vibration" recently reissued through Soul Jazz with a hilarious lack of the term 'new age' in their press material. Seriously awesome - especially the 1st side. Everyone I have played this for has MELTED.

[piege]

David Hykes/Harmonic Choir hasn't been mentioned. His stuff often gets lumped in the New Age ghetto, but the best of it is pretty sweet..

Hearing Solar winds is the best of the David Hykes records, IMO.

True dat! Fantastic record.

I really like Trances & Drones and also the Stalker collab with Lustmord as far as Robert Rich goes,

That's another really beautiful disc. More peaceful than you'd expect.

Somthing that defineitly hasn't been mentioned yet is Edward Larry Gordon's "Celelstial Vibration" recently reissued through Soul Jazz with a hilarious lack of the term 'new age' in their press material. Seriously awesome - especially the 1st side. Everyone I have played this for has MELTED.

Laraaji (his latter-day nom-de-plume) had a really nice disc with Eno. The first bit is a bit too intense to be labelled New-Age but the cascading stuff later on definitely is new-age!

Another good new-agey track is Gavin Bryars' "My First Homage"... a tribute to Bill Evans. Definitely on an early-ambient-Budd tip!