"New Age Music", search and destroy.

Matt Groening came up with the ultimate New Age album title back in the late eighties when in a Life in Hell panel about Binky being a swami for hire it was mentioned that Swami Binkatanda had an album for sale called Spacey Tinkles

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/x.dll?p=amg&sql=F0NUAGE

Robert Bearns & Ron Dexter - The Golden Voyage Vol.2 - A Galactic Exploration Through Celestial Harmonics

except you will never find it, so let me just say that it's a pretty cool record.

http://www.cyndustries.com/synapse/synapse.cfm?pc=43&folder=march1977&pic=17

Will "stonewall" jackson from "ether ship" (!), playing his serge synthesiser to the whales, from greenpeace's ship, in 1977!

Awesome.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos242.htm

See, most of this stuff, I've actually owned, or own (all the edgar froese, klaus schultze, t dream, vangelis, eno, a r temple/tempel, paul horn in the pyramid) but to me, it's all kind of previous to the whole new age thing.

http://italianprog.interfree.it/automat.jpg

Those old Jade Warrior recs are so obscure, even among vertigo collectors, that it amazes me. They're really good, surely one of the few undiscovered little gems of their sort out there.

I tend to differentiate between synthesiser/electronic/space music (as was) of the sort I got into when I was first getting into music, when I'd buy anything w/a picture of a modular synth on the back cover, and a nebula or suchlike on the front, and yer actual "new age". I have NO IDEA why. What got me into asking the qn was I got stuck on hold to-day, and the hold music was tinkly piano music w/added (quite strange-sounding) synthesiser, and based on this suzanne ciani concert I saw at a dutch electronic music concert years ago, I found myself thinking snidey thoughts abt "new age music". Then I realised that I had absolutely no idea what I was on abt. ILE has not let me down, and I thank you all for the great responses!

Anyway, based on the definitions above, my candidate for "search" is kronos by michael stearns, which is a wonderful synthesiser music record.

search: codona. the trio of collin walcott, don cherry and nana vasconcelos, whose albums were simultaneously claimed by new age fans, world music fans and jazz dudes, and were pretty good if memory serves.

*blush* Rah!

Star's End - 25 Significant STAR'S END Albums
http://www.starsend.org/25albums.html

Also, seconding the Deuter recommendation. Codona too, if they count. I guess I don't think of those records that way, but they do walk a fairly fine line.

http://usuarios.lycos.es/audionautas/Paranoias/michaelstearnsmid80s.jpg

I mean, I'd pick up an album of his in the '80's, flip it round, and see that on the back, and I'd have to fucking buy it!!

Take the NPR shows "Echoes" and "Music from the Hearts of Space", there are times those two shows are great and there are times where I cannot turn it off fast enough.

I'll be the first to admit, I can't take the celtic or indian flute music other than as musak, but I tune in as there have been a few times those shows are fantastic. Echoes did a two hour tribute to Florian Fricke of Popol Vuh when he passed away and had an hour with Brian Eno a month or so ago that was great.

"i heard this beautiful recording once of nothing but droning trombones taped in some underground catacombs and i forget the title and it's been bugging me for years"

You might be thinking of one of the recordings by the Deep Listening Band:

http://www.pofinc.org/DLBhome.html

in the early 80's, there wasn't really anything else like Stephen Hill's Hearts of Space program on the air... occasionally too much flute, but frequently it was just solid, bizarre electronic drone. also it was truly independent, he'd play weird cassette submissions you couldn't hear anywhere else.

>Deep Listening Band:

they made a few recordings in the water cistern. the debut album and The Ready Made Boomerang. (My favorite album of theirs is Non Stop Flight mainly for the last 50 minute track.)

Dempster returned to the cistern with 9 other trombonists for Underground Overlays, which is staggeringly gorgeous.

side 2 of L'Apocalypse Des Animaux. rules.

Both of the shows I mentioned are still play some obscure, unsigned artists. I listen to both quite often, usually as I go to bed.

Someone that I heard on "Echoes" that I would like to hear an album is Cliff Martinez. He played drums with Beefheart and was an early member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and now he makes film soundtracks including many for Stephen Soderberg including Solaris, Narc, and Traffic. I've actually not seen these movies, but the music they played was interesting and had some really interesting sounds.

FYI - I got a great album in the mail. Eluvium - An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death (temporaryresidence ltd.)

Its solo piano by a guy named Matthew Cooper. Like Sate, Winston, and Budd all wrapped up in a big sad ball. Really beautiful stuff.

Winston: Fascinating guy to talk to, and he's extremely talkative. Deeply encyclopedic in his musical knowledge when it comes to ragtime and New Orleans piano music, and completely dismissive of the "New Age" tag -- he prefers "folk piano," which is kind of silly (cue Tom Lehrer joke here). I've seen him live twice, and didn't regret it either time -- he spends more time playing interpretations of Randy Newman, Frank Zappa, the Doors, etc., than doing his own stuff. Pretty good guitarist and harmonica player in his own right as well. Easily the humblest platinum-selling artist around, and though he's a bit eccentric, there's nothing terribly New-Agey about the fellow.

At least early on, WH was a fascinating business -- they completely owned its market, and it got record stores to create "Windham Hill" sections, a remarkable accomplishment for any label, let alone a relatively small Bay Area indie. But the market got polluted with lots of Narada knockoff shit, and today Windham Hill drinks its own Kool-Aid, releasing junk like Lullaby that repurposes the mid-'80, Shadowfax-sick back catalog. There's some amusingly angry agitation against the label on its own Web site (www.windham.com), with old fans demanding the re-issues of the (good) old records, which the label or its BMG parent has refused to do.

ok, will keep an eye out.

http :// www.mgmusic. ltd .uk/default.asp

3,000,000 sales over the last 10yrs apparently. that's quite a lot! Who buys it? What's it like?

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Does Jarre count as New Age? I mean, his two first albums were obviously classic at least. And "Magnetic Fields", "Concerts In China", "Zoolook", "Rendez-Vous" and part two of "Oxygene" all have their moments too.

I taped a song off of the radio in 1991 from what I believe was a public radio station. I lost the tape a long time ago, but I keep hoping I'll find this piece of music again.

I'm not sure if it would be qualified as neo-classical or new age, but I'll try to describe it: Pianos. It had to have been multiple pianos. I believe there was also a harp, and possibly synth choir sounds down in the mix. Really fast playing, minor chord arpeggios, but gradual transitions between chord changes. It sounded like rain falling in notes. It was a powerful song, I suppose "uplifting" would be a good way to describe it. It was really blissed out, and very very full sounding. Nothing minimal about this song.

I can't expect anyone to name a song from that description, but does that sound like any artists you might know?

The closest I've heard to the overall sound is Enya and Yanni, but this was more mysterious and edgy than anything I've heard from Yanni, and Enya is unmistakable.

that description's pretty vague but there's a good chance you were listening to an episode of "music from the hearts of space"

good luck:

http://www.hos.com/php/programsByYear.php?copyrightYear=1991

Thanks man. Yeah sorry about the description, but it's been like 10 years since I've heard it.

this is a long shot, but that is the year Ingram Marshall's Gradual Requiem came out and it does sort of fit that description and it's the kind of piece you'd remember for 15 years

http://www.amazon.com/Tropes-Gradual-Requiem-Ingram-Marshall/dp/B000000R26

On some old rym list I wrote that Structures From Silence automatically saves "new age" from being bargain-bin cheese.

And I still think so! Great record.

Wizards has to be one of my favorite reissues of the year...

http://www.jdemmanuel.com/images/Wizards-800.JPG

http://www.jdemmanuel.com/images/Wizards-back-800.JPG

Has anyone heard anything else from J.D. Emmanuel?

Actually I think they've been reissuing it in runs for a few years now, to be fair

This is a highly entertaining primer for anyone who wants to dip into the new age pool. http://www.polyholiday.com/podcast/

This is nice...

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/1818249.jpg

Particularly the Windsurf remix of Hot Beach

can't link images from rateyourmusic

Bugger. Oh well, Interior - Interior (Windham Hill)

Why is Wendy Carlos always filed under new age at the store? This has always puzzled me, though I'm sure it's helped me find records of hers that would have sold otherwise.

Her album "Beauty in the Beast" is so fucking underrated.

Why is Wendy Carlos always filed under new age at the store? This has always puzzled me

Sonic Seasonings = one of the earliest ambient records on a major label, not that her other stuff qualifies. in the 80's a lot of stores simply consolidated their 'electronic music' sections straight over into the suddenly lucrative 'new age' bins, you'd see Conrad Schnitzler or John Cage 'Variations IV' right next to Constance Demby or Don Slepian's 'Sonic Perfume'

I need to re-read this thread, probably, but what about those Steven Halpern records that sound almost like the more meditative Return to Forever pieces? Some of those are pretty cool, if one has a weakness for Fender Rhodes indulgiencia.

One of the reasons that I like that Waxidermy website is b/c they address interesting examples of new age odds and ends that I imagine most people could give a toss about or would condemn in kneejerk fashion.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/donslepian

if you like Structures From Silence & Stearns' Planetary Unfolding, you definitely want Slepian's Sea of Bliss / Sonic Perfume. sometimes it's too light for me, but sometimes it's just perfect.

made on the Alles, the same synth Laurie Spiegel used for her 70's pieces

i just got these on vinyl recently and i've been digging them:

steven halpern - zodiac suite (soundscape II)

steven halpern - spectrum suite (soundscape I)

Yes, I have a nice gatefold copy of Sonic Seasonings with the poster. It's good... though I prefer her soundtrack work and the aforementioned Beauty in the Beast.

Also, love the Tangerine Dream (70s model), and Harold Budd. Some Vangelis and Tomita. I need to comb through here for more good ideas as I am WAY down with good New Age musics.

from that clusterfuck genre thread, my off the cuff new age recommends:

new age: lotsa Eno, early Deuter, Manuel Gottsching, Steve Roach, Gabrielle Roth, Robert Rich, O Yuki Conjugate, Liz Story, Harold Budd, Philip Perkins, Jon Hassell (especially Aka Darbari Java), maybe some Andrew Deutsch or Jliat if you wanna cross over into drone.

some of those may be debatable but I stand by it.

jon hassell has been suggested for at least three of these threads lately, and in each case it seems appropriate. really want to hear 'power spot' and ''aka darbari java'

My favorite new age records:

Graham Lambkin - salmon ron
Rafael Toral - Violence of discovery...
Aphex Twin - stone in focus

what about spectral music, like the Grisey partiels and shit. There's a thread about spectral music?

can't link images from rateyourmusic

Sure you can!

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s1818249.jpg

(click to enlarge)

i just got these on vinyl recently and i've been digging them:

steven halpern - zodiac suite (soundscape II)

steven halpern - spectrum suite (soundscape I)

Yeah, I remember Spectrum Suite being really great and having tracks devoted to balancing each chakra or some such.

I have this record by him called "Christening for Listening: A Soundtrack for Every Body" which includes these priceless liner notes:
...Christening for Listening is unique in that it is original music composed in a style suggested intuitively by the plants' own biorhythms, and is particularly sensitive and applicable to the needs of these serene green neighbors. Our recent research involving GSR polygraphs and Kirlian photography demonstrated that the most consistent, significant degree of postive affective response was found to relate to music that was in harmony with plants' slower tempo of movement." Put less scientifically, the plants dug this music-- and it showed up dramatically in the measurements.

It seems plants dance to the beat of a different drummer-- their own green beat as it were. They are able to respond to the fundamental element of music-- namely, tone-- without getting hung up in analytical interpretations. And in so doing, they participate in a viable "hear-and-now" musical gestalt...

what about spectral music, like the Grisey partiels and shit. There's a thread about spectral music?

there certainly should be -- there's these:
Gérard Grisey
Iancu dumitrscu and Ana Maria Avram: C/D, S/D

that's anything but new age though

Jon Hassell -- Classic Or Dud?
Steve Roach -- the endlessly meditative thread
Harold Budd - search and destroy

ok Iasos

Inter-Dimensional Music Through Iasos from 1975 is mostly flute-heavy drifty modal jazz, with a few 5 or 6 minute all electronic tracks that foreshadow real space music, but I just discovered the followup Angelic Music originally released on cassette in 1978, and I can understand his reputation now, this is distinct from most of the analog synth / space music of the 70's & looks forward to the good aspects of later New Age like Michael Stearns & Steve Roach. It follows on from side 2 of Vangelis' L'Apocalypse Des Animaux, but with two 30 minute long tracks that give you time to go a little deeper. This is exactly what I remember almost any given episode of Music From The Hearts of Space sounding like in the 80's -- back then I was on the fence about the whole genre but it's catching up to me now with a vengeance

http://iasos.com/detalist/angelic/

it's funny sometimes how threads get bumped on ilx and it happens to coincide with what you wanna read about at that moment. I overdosed on tangerine dream just last night and surely some of theirs is new age.

and i heard this beautiful recording once of nothing but droning trombones taped in some underground catacombs and i forget the title and it's been bugging me for years.
― scott seward (scott seward), den 23 mars 2004 18:01 (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
did you ever find out what it was? I badly want to hear this.

it was this, but i still haven't bought a copy. and apparently my memory is of hearing only trombones, but there are other instruments involved as well:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LB2kaFcKL._SS500_.jpg

(actually, looking at this amazon page now, there are solo and group trombone pieces on the dempster album. those are what i heard. though according to someone up top on this thread he made later trombone recordings in his giant cistern, so i can't be 100% positive. i always forget to look for his CDs.)

this also looks cool and i wanna hear it:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4182WVXD1PL._SS500_.jpg

that is _the_ Dempster album. He took ten students into the cistern with 45 seconds of natural acoustic reverb, and had them stand in a circle around the perimeter. then he stood in the center, and played slow notes holding his horn up into the center of the room. whenever he wanted a note sustained, he'd lower the horn until it was pointing at one of his students, and they'd pick up the note and hold it. it's an amazing piece of music.

same cistern as the first two Deep Listening records were recorded. I can't believe more people don't record there, though a more abstract bowed metal improv was done there recently by the group Doublends Vert -- if you like bowed metal albums, you want a copy of that album

xpost In The Great Abbey is just as good, but it's a solo record so it is a little less epic, more about details and contemplation

& by 'that it _the_ Dempster album I was referring to Underground Overlays

you could put the abbey record on the shelf next to:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Z3ER04RZL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

paul horn got inside a lot of stuff. i like his taj mahal record too. he should make a record inside my basement.

haven't heard that one, always read about it. it's just echoey goodness w/ trumpet?

flute. he would sneak his tape recorder into places like the taj mahal and the pyramid and play very lovely and droney flute. sounds amazing.

now I remember seeing that album in the bins, when it had this cover: http://cdbaby.com/cd/paulhorn4

ok this is pretty spaced, this goes on the list

he's definitely one of the pioneers of new age! you know? as well as a well-respected jazz dude. i've never heard the later stuff or his collabs with asian/world musicians. stuff like this:

http://store.canyonrecords.com/media/ccp0/prodsm/7020.jpg

such a hip dude. where is his hipster renaissance!?

http://www.dougpayne.com/horn.jpg

I don't consider Dempster a "New Age" artist at all. His albums are all on New Music (that 80's term for minimalist influenced modern work by academic composers) labels, and all of his collaborators (Pauline Oliveros, Peter Ward, Ellen Fullman etc) all have similar backgrounds.

Speaking of Fullman (and trombones), Fluctuations her 2008 improv collaboration with trombonist Monique Buzzarte, deserved its place on the Wire Rewind main list. Available on emusic, and there's a good 10 minute sample of a piece here: http://www.rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=304

so Underground Overlays is a must-find then. Amazon says something about tibetan cymbals in the mix as well but I'm all up for that.

paul horn also produced one of the mellowest grooviest psychfolk records of all time:

http://www.geocities.com/asdfasedf2/ptarmigan.jpg

ok this is an off handed slow-day-at-the-office list of the forerunner New Age albums, the 70's ones released the decade before the genre name stuck...

Paul Horn - Inside The Taj Mahal
Henry Wolff & Nancy Hennings - Tibetan Bells
Vangelis - L'Apocalypse Des Animaux
Deuter - D / Aum
Popol Vuh - In Den Gärten Pharaos
Gail Laughton - Harps of the Ancient Temples
Eberhard Schoener - Meditation
Wendy Carlos - Sonic Seasonings
Tangerine Dream - Zeit
Eno - Discreet Music / Ambient 1
Peter Michael Hamel - Nada
Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Musick
Ash Ra Tempel - Inventions For Electric Guitar
Iasos - Angelic Music
David Hykes & The Harmonic Choir - Hearing Solar Winds
Kitaro - Silk Road (I still can't do this one myself)
Michael Stearns - Morning Jewel
Environments (especially #2 - Tintinnabulation & #7 - Intonation)

"I don't consider Dempster a "New Age" artist at all."

i brought up the dempster stuff on this thread cuz they used to play him on the new age radio show i used to listen to years ago in philly. they would play all kinds of stuff. krautrock, philip glass, electronic stuff, as well as more standard fare. anything you could smoke to or commune with angels with.

i dig a bunch of those. the cool thing about new age stuff is that i can still find it all fairly cheaply. well, not ash ra tempel records, but most of the other stuff. and i have a bunch of groovy private press records that i will have to digitize someday. and tapes! i still find privately released electronic new age stuff at the thrift store. tons of crystal worship suites and the like.

I dig most of them, some of them more on some days than others. things like Don Slepian's Sea of Bliss & Roach's Structures From Silence & Stearns' Planetary Unfolding definitely have things going for them, but they don't always reward deeper listening, they really are ephemeral mood music pieces

xpost not going to go too much into Ellen Fullman on a New Age thread! she's fantastic though, she needs her own thread. Staggered Stasis & her records with Sean Meehan are my favorites.

some of these really are on their own level, that David Hykes record & the Wendy Carlos are bigger than any label. things like the Stearns and this fucking Angelic Music record, if the 17 year old me had known he would have leapt through the dimensional gate to strangle me to death if he'd known it would come to this, but I am simply a mellow guy now

I like my New Age dished out in brutal chunks, floating an inch above the plate:

3. "THE ANGELS OF COMFORT" (10:59)
The Angels of Comfort are the carriers and distributors of a golden-pink energy called the Comfort Flame - an energy specifically created to bring comfort to all Life, wherever it is needed. This energy was created when humanity began experimenting with free will in a manner wherein they began creating discomfort for themselves. These angels "deliver" this energy wherever they are sent, whenever they are called forth, and wherever they are requested. (Note: This is the "original" version of "The Angels of Comfort", from which the extended half-hour version was made and included in Iasos' "Angelic Music" album.)
Recommended Focus: "I AM a Comfort to all Life."

you know what's really exciting? i have this great record from 1977 called *Cosmic Celebration* which was a live performance of a cosmic mass done in boston and you can not only get a cd of the album now, but a dvd of the mass!!! it's sufi-rific. um, i might actually be the only one excited by this news. and who knows if i will actually shell out for the dvd. it's a VERY new age album. more new age than it is sufi mystikal.

http://www.omegatheater.org/images/cosmiccdinsert.jpg

http://www.omegatheater.org/photoscosmicalbum/Album_Cover.jpg

http://www.omegatheater.org/cosmic-celebration.php

When you come down to it New Age and New Music are mostly marketing labels, and there is of course a lot of sonic crossover.

John Schaefer on WNYC has done a show called "New Sounds" for 26 years now, and his 1987 survey New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music was probably my introduction to just about everything from Steve Reich to Steve Roach.

yeah that New Sounds book was golden. so many comprehensive reviews, and he went far across the genre lines, from the serious stuff to the sufiest, as long as it was interesting music. I inhaled that book whole in the late 80's, and reread it two years ago and thank god he wrote it, not only is it good to have it all under one cover, so many of those things are long out of print or only came out on cassette, that book is a precious document

i'm with you on the mellow. i like stuff like this:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/armstronglaroche4

(they were on philo, the folk label, originally. i have a nice promo copy and every time i think about maybe putting it on ebay or something i play it and i'm reminded how lovely it is!)

We should probably have a thread on modern Masses. There's Arvo Part's De Profundus, David Hyke's album Harmonic Meetings pretty much has the form, Daniel Lentz's "Missa Umbrarum"...there's a Lebanese female Christian chant album entitled Divine Rites credited to Vox...

Though that last album (Vox - Divine Rites) isn't really in mass form. Its rather similar to the Jocelyn Montgomery & David Lynch album of modern Hildegard interpretations, Lux Vivens, only with an oriental cast.

well start the thread, most of what I know about modern choral music is all secular & depraved so it'd be a nice break

the online samples of that 'Cosmic Celebration' record are beautiful! they really pulled it off, seems like

okay, obviously i don't read carefully enough. no need to send them my 40 bucks for this:

"DVD of a slide show of the Cambridge 1983 Production with some slides from others, with an introduction, and two Cable T.V. interviews and a live performance piece from the production: $40, plus shipping"

i was hoping they had the cosmic cameras rolling in 1977 :(

wow thanks for reminding me about stuart dempster. i really dig 'underground overlays', and i agree that calling him 'new age' is a stretch.

i saw him talk with ramon sender, morton subotnick, and don buchla (inventor of the buchla box- he even brought it along!), among others, when the book about the san francisco tape music center came out a few months back. i guess dempster played trumpet tones in the broadway tunnel as a part of sender, ken dewey, and anthony martin's "city scale" piece/installation in 1963. i guess the piece required audience members to be shuttled around town to experience things like said tunnel, a woman in a storefront window singing debussy, a 'book returning' ceremony at city lights, light projections on to the side of a wells fargo, and a lot more as depicted in the super abstract score in the book

I love Iasos' "Inter-Dimensional Music", if that counts.

welcome to the slippery slope, space brother

xpost Tony Martin / Ramon Sender play 'Desert Ambulance' w/ Pauline on Feb 22

I would pay all this money for Unarius Documentaries Soundtrack CD box set

i wonder if they can still be contacted. you could make some sweet compilations of this type of stuff... http://www.globalpeacefoundation.org/Video/GlobalPeaceCenter/GlobalPeaceCenter2.mov

thanks for the heads up about desert ambulance, btw. i will definitely be in attendance

Unarius is absolutely still active, they have a booth every year at the Whole Earth Expo. Video artist / scholar Nate Boyce took Drew & Martin & I on a expedition / homage trip to buy DVDR transfers of their films, and they were good people. The late 70's / early 80's was the heyday for their video production team, they're mostly recycling the effects from their early films, but anyone who's seen those early films agree that they are unconditional classics.

I just bought this for $2 the other day:

http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg_images/203/60185203.jpg

/ recycling the effects from their early films these days... but they still believe

ok I made a seperate thread: UNARIUS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

tell me this guy didn't have somewhat of an impact on the eventual arbitrary coloring scheme of the images coming back from hubble

http://iasos.com/artists/chandler/

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

and his record 'Starscapes' from 1980 is exactly the thing

We'd go through a whole box of Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger in a night.

mark r's link to his "resonant frequency" article from above no longer works. can i still read it somewhere?

wow unarius now have their own youtube channel with pretty much all the vids theyve done http://www.youtube.com/user/unarius33#p/u

akaky: dug around their site and this link should work:

resonant frequency #12

This thread just made me check to see if Musical Starstreams radio program is still extant; it is! http://www.starstreams.com/

Everytime I hear some sort of "spacy tinkles" music on public radio, I always put on my narcoleptic announcer voice and make up artists and titles: "Fromm the CD... Voyage of the Healer... that's Celestial ... Illumination... here on Musical... Starstreams...

http://dublab.com/archive/douglas-mcgowan-the-new-age-mafia-massacre-060209/

I love James Reynlods' soundtrack for the "Mind's Eye" early CIG clips video...I love it soooo much.

http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/020/Music/87/05/6b/mzi.omghtmuw.170x170-75.jpg

ANd by CIG I mean CGI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgMAJnK5Bgk&feature=related

WINDHAM HILL RECORDS I GOT TODAY

WDW Tomorrowland for most of the '80s & '90s was drenched in New Age + Contempo Jazz.

The songs in that list I've grown to LOVE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFqryp2BUtw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUp8zlMBaU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P0gK7iBcls

Oh man I got the Mind's Eye soundtrack in the mail today. This means today is magic.

FREAK FLUTE

http://yfrog.com/1arqgj

http://yfrog.com/1arqgj

http://yingyangs.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-favourite-innovative-communication.html

^ very funny.

scott is so relentlessly blood diamonds on this thread

essential:

http://waxidermy.com/images/DSC029111.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jBqIcYebz3o/TNJJHDwLBlI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/qFVe7K5ESwA/s1600/Peaceful+Solutions+bk.jpg

also essential:

http://images.wax.fm/sam_mcclellan_music_of_five_elements-JSG7007-1302195131.jpeg

http://images.wax.fm/sam_mcclellan_music_of_five_elements-JSG7007-1302195166.jpeg

http://images.wax.fm/sam_mcclellan_music_of_five_elements-JSG7007-1302195158.jpeg

he is wrong about this statement, because i have a copy

search:
Robert Bearns & Ron Dexter - The Golden Voyage Vol.2 - A Galactic Exploration Through Celestial Harmonics

except you will never find it, so let me just say that it's a pretty cool record.
― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, March 23, 2004 4:20 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think i left one of those somewhere recently. fort bragg?

what does this guy know about RAER records? i mean, he doesn't even have long hair anymore

he doesnt?

My good friend is Paul Horn's granddaughter. Once he re-connected with his family, she suddenly is hanging out with Donovan and Paul McCartney, Horn's good friends after they all hung out in India years ago from what I understand.

weird, super receptor posted a link to

http://soundcloud.com/darylgroetsch

on the rolling psych/drone thread and it instantly made me remember 'hearts of space'—which is still going! and i guess mentioned on ilm in this very thread.

he is wrong about this statement, because i have a copy

Way wrong! I've seen multiple copies and I own Vol. 1-4.

maybe i just didn't know anyone else who owned that album in 2004? i dunno. i don't get out much. my hair is getting longer too.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NCgF5LdP5Co/Tg0O4uO2ZYI/AAAAAAAAACM/mo-kSVykA0o/s1600/sewardboys.jpg

Oh wow. I'd totally trust your taste in music again. Your daughters are pretty cute.

rufus gets that every day from old people. oh what a lovely little girl...

im playing that peaceful solutions record right now thanks scott:)

i like that sam mcclellan record.

http://crystalvibrations.blogspot.com/

ian, you need this album. really good. i love the evolution of JMT.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m10DHwY8TtQ/TVjhrgfO8tI/AAAAAAAACqI/KuFP3_4aK8Q/s1600/John%2BMichael%2BTalbot%2B-%2BThe%2BNew%2BEarth.jpg

is it... christian?

well yeah all his post mason profitt stuff is.

Search, search, search the new Hatchback record Zeus & Apollo... This is SO SWAGGERIFIC. I can't stop playing it. Like, I'll be out doing something fun but will actually be looking forward to getting back home to put this on the turntable and soak in it.

bought that bearns/dexter LP yesterday!

why do so many new agey albums have such terrible typography?

also, scott, that photo is adorable!

wish they hadn't used the AC for art, but here's a piece that just ran in the LA Times on "The New Age of New Age" with quotes from Blues Control, Oneohtrix Point Never, Greg Davis, Yoga Records, and Laraaji:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-ca-new-age-20110703,0,2953740.story

greg davis is awesome but http://allmusic.com/album/mutually-arising-r1611627/review is 'serene' like the universe catching on fire is serene

I bought a near mint copy of Alex Degrassi's Turning: Turning Back yesterday based on a hunch, the cover, and the song titles and it's really good! It was $1.99.

How could this not be good?!

http://www.technodisco.net/img/tracks/a/alex-de-grassi/1769572-alex-de-grassi-turning-turning-back.jpg

I bought another Alex Degrassi record (Southern Exposure) and surprise, it's good! Anyone who likes the American fingerpicking style or the Numero Guitar Soli comp should look in the New Age section more often. (Try not to look at his fingernails)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP42t4IDAYI

OMG

http://www.hos.com/#ambicon2013

Just spotted this... http://blog.lightintheattic.net/?p=13771

V/A – I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age Music In American 1950-1990
LITA 107 (2xCD | 3xLP Box Set)
Available: October 29, 2013
PRE-ORDER NOW!

Forget everything you know, or think you know about new age because our latest release, I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age Music In American 1950-1990, drives deep into the untouched realm of private press new age and reveals the truth about this misunderstood genre. I Am The Center - the first major anthology to survey the golden age of new age music.

For new age, at its best, is a reverberation of psychedelic music, and great by any standard. This is analog, handmade music communicating soul and spirit, often done on limited means and without commercial potential, self-published and self-distributed. Before it became big business and devolved into the spaced out elevator music we know and loathe today, this was the real thing.

From mathematical musical algorithms to airport murder mysteries to Henry Mancini and Bugs Bunny, the connections to mainstream culture run in curious directions. (Did you know, for instance, that a track from the first modern private press new age album is featured on the Blade Runner soundtrack? It’s called “Pompeii, 76 A.D.”, and we’ve got it here.)

I Am The Center is a knowing, but never cynical overview that invites listeners at last to the mainspring of a misunderstood genre’s greatest lights. Many of the biggest names are present — Iasos, inter-dimentional channeler of “paradise music”; Laraaji, discovered by Brian Eno playing for spare change in Washington Square Park; and the recently famous JD Emmanuel, icon to a new generation of drone, ambient, noise musicians. Call it what you will — before it was anything else, it was new age.

Lovingly conceived and lavishly presented, I Am The Center features stunning paintings by the legendary visual artist Gilbert Williams, and liner notes by producer Douglas Mcgowan, who weaves the words and images of the wizards and sorceresses of new age into a prismatic portrait of music that can finally be recognized for what it is: great American folk art.

2xCD housed in deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket with 44-page book
3xLP housed in slip case w/ 3 tip-on jackets, 20-page book, and download card
Both formats with notes by Douglas McGowan featuring interviews with artists and includes rare archive photos.
Artwork by Gilbert Williams and Janaia Donaldson.
2 unreleased tracks, 7 others previously only on cassette
Vinyl cut by John Golden. Pressed at RTI.
Remastered from original sources at 24 bit/ 96 kHz

1. Gurdjieff / de Hartmann - "The Struggle of The Magicians Part Three"
2. Gail Laughton - "Pompeii 76 A.D."
3. Nesta Kerin Crain - "Gongs in the Rain"
4. Wilburn Burchette - "Witch's Will"
5. Iasos - "Formentera Sunset Clouds"
6. Steven Halpern - "Seventh Chakra Keynote B (Violet)"
7. Joel Andrews - "Seraphic Borealis"
8. Constance Demby - "Om Mani Padme Hum"
9. Daniel Emmanuel - "Arabian Fantasy"
10. Don Slepian - "Awakening (excerpt)"
11. Laraaji - "Unicorns in Paradise (excerpt)"
12. Peter Davison - "Glide V"
13. Joanna Brouk - "Lifting Off"
14. Michael Stearns - "As the Earth Kissed the Moon (excerpt)"
15. Aeoliah - "Tien Fu: Heaven's Gate (excerpt)"
16. Daniel Kobialka - "Blue Spirals"
17. Larkin - "Two Souls Dance"
18. Judith Tripp - "Li Sun"
19. Mark Banning - "Lunar Eclipse (excerpt)"
20. Alice Damon - "Waterfall Winds"

have heard less than half of these! definitely excited about this.

I did end up going to the tim story / michael stearns night of ambicon 2013 and was glad I did

this is epic

how do i hear more of wilburn burchette?

This might be comp of the year in terms of overall presentation/tie-in with current underground trends/sheer quality of content over such a long running time. It's really addictive, all I've been playing since the beautiful vinyl landed last week.

yeah it's been in daily rotation since i got it

so good

Comp looks interesting, I only know iasos, halpern and laaraji from those...

Bought the vinyl box yesterday. Nice packaging and filled with great music. Worth the $35.

love this comp. I was worried it just wouldn't work; it can be a challenge to make a compilation of immersive ambient music that still flows well, especially when so many of the pieces are so iconoclastic / strange. but this is just great. even in the cases of the artists I'd heard of, they pick tracks that are obscure but still very representative (best example -- I love Don Slepian's process music work with the Alles synthesizer more than his live keyboard & flute music, so 'Sea Of Bliss' is a hallmark new age record for me, but I did not know about his other all-Alles cassette only album 'Open Spaces' -- http://www.discogs.com/Don-Slepian-Open-Spaces/release/556677)

the weekly music from the hearts of space show changed tack pretty dramatically in the late 80's as new age evolved, this compilation captures just how truly weird that show sounded to me in the early to mid-80's when I occasionally caught it on KPFA on sunday nights while trying desperately to do all the homework I'd put off all weekend. captures it a lot better than the HoS CD compilations & syndicated shows that came out later.

i would wholeheartedly add these to the search pile

http://images.junostatic.com/full/CS508535-01A-BIG.jpg

http://www.ebreggae.com/i595/M119219W595.jpg

One thing I really enjoyed was Mark Pilkington's New Age documentary "Crystal Voyagers" that was hosted on the Wire website:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Just watching some of that again and I had forgotten how beautiful the Gurdjieff movements are. Must sit and watch Meetings With Remarkable Men one day.

Picked up the LITA comp today. Very, very good.

came out on friday in vinyl, just listening to it today...

great mix of tracks....Works well for a comp that spans 40 years.

that laraaji album is spectacular in every way & the liner notes are great

does the LITA vinyl come w/ a download code?

yes

xpost yes the laraaji comp is tremendous

it has the full version of this bad boy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwJtCY_R-5E

http://www.self-titledmag.com/2013/09/26/all-saints-launch-reissues-series-with-laraaji-compilation-rare-albums/

http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/FKR068-web.jpg

^ just come out on Finders Keepers, sounds p good

http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/emerald_web_in_studio.jpg

ohhhh sweet

I like to think that the poster above their heads actually just says "WEB"

it actually says NO LOVE DEEP WEB

that keyboard - has that actually got a strap on it or is it just the cable going over his shoulder? be a shame if it's just the latter tbh

FYI cause this thread was bumped yesterday I checked the LITA website, which said that the vinyl of I Am The Light had sold out. So I went and bought it, fabulous stuff. My dad & stepmom were right in the middle of that early 80's cassette-and-new-age-bookstore scene, it is a blast from the past.

Bought this on CD, immediately wished I'd bought it on vinyl. Great comp.

Only (very minor) complaint: the track-by-track liner notes are good (not great - serious dearth of info re: what instruments were used, etc) but was surprised by the lack of overarching introductory material; the booklet just sorta dives right into the profiles. I guess I'm used to comps like Nigeria Special and stuff, which frame the music in historical context, but I realize, of course, that's much easier to do when you're dealing with a mere decade of highlife and juju produced by a single region.

Guess what I'm saying is I'd v happily read a book about this stuff.

me too, the profiles were pretty interesting! now that you mention it a bit more gear talk would have been nice.

Psyched for the emerald web reissue!
This album is pretty cool: http://waxidermy.com/pauline-anna-strom-trans-millenia-consort/

bought the 'i am the center' comp on vinyl, would have paid twice as much for how good it is. really intrigued by constance demby, her cut on the comp is incredible. as is everything else, tbh. been a steven halpern head for some time already.

Constance Demby is all over the place. 'Novus Magnificat' was her breakthrough album and it is good enough but there are albums where she goes much further out. 'Sacred Space Music' and 'Sunborne' are worth checking out if you like her track on the comp.

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=664186
http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=664125

They are kind of on the same page as the Alice Coltrane / Turiya cassettes. With more phasing & space echo.

http://www.discogs.com/Alice-Coltrane-Turiyasangitananda-Divine-Songs/master/606598

Where are you guys finding this on vinyl for $35? Lowest I've found is $45. As I said, I'm regretting buying this on CD (even though the idea of flipping a record six times seems to defeat some of the wall-gazing appeal of this set a bit)

i found it at mount analog in l.a. for $35. i think you can mail order from their site, if it's still available.

yeah I got it for $35 at House of Records in Eugene, they are pals with the label fwiw.

Nah, Light in the Attic is sold out. May just have to pull the trigger at $45...

http://climbmountanalog.com/products-page/main-2/va-i-am-the-center-private-issue-new-age-music-in-america-1950-1990-box/

constance demby cut is amazing. also really like wilburn burchette.

thanks, al!

Mentioned on the Grimes thread, but Claire Hamill's Voices (1986) is well worth checking out as a precursor of Grimes and Julianna Barwick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tdeqk3zdPI

^^^ excellent record and oddly cocteaus-esque in places

this thread has my name on it. i love the LITA comp and i love claire hamill!

the more I think about it the weirder it is that the Wilburn Burchette track is on this, it seems very incongruous to me in both sound and ideology. on the other hand, if LITA is gonna reissue his 3 LPs, I am all for it.

the guy kinda freaks me out tbh, I feel like he may have transcended this reality

I like the Wilburn Burchette comp track better than either of the two albums I have by him (though I will admit I haven't listened to those albums in years)

wonder if he still lives in spring valley california

i hadn't heard michael stearns before this, his track is beeeyutiful

Several 'chillwave' acts and artists like Chairlift, Grimes and Julianna Barwick sound too close to Enya for it to be accidental.

I love Michael Stearns. 'Ancient Leaves', 'Morning/Jewel' & 'Planetary Unfolding' are pretty definitive space music records, came out very earl, incredibly influential. 'Lyra Sound Constellation' is a collaboration with instrument builder George Landry, if you like bowed metal drones that lean towards heartier cosmic dissonances then you definitely want to hear that one: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=512399

& of course best known for the soundtracks to 'Chronos' & 'Baraka' and 'Samara'.

The Wilburn Burchette track had me running to the internet to hear more, but had no luck. Mutant Sounds had three of his records, links all dead. RIP Mutant Sounds.

Had the tattered mp3's of Geoffrey Chandler's 'Starscapes' on again last night. That would have been a good candidate for inclusion on this compilation, it really needs a reissue.

xp after the last five years very few people would be embarrassed about having Enya for an influence

I wasn't saying they should feel embarrassed, I actually like their music. Just asking if they could apply as 'new age' artists since I would choose some tracks from there.

Otherwise, another vote for Ash Ra Tempel.

On the nu-flamenco new-age side of things Ottmar Liebert, Johannes Linstead and Armik actually wrote some very popular songs (at least in latinamerica and the mediterranean) which are well worth a listen. Liebert's Barcelona Nights and Santa Fe are practically 'stairway to heaven' for guitarists over here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTrhxVwz0_g

how about some destroys?

i'l throw out andreas vollenweider ...

my best friend used to love vollenweider. I've never dared to listen to him.

vollenweider is great, but maybe not as "new age music" per se

vollenweider is not great, beardo revaluation be damned

so saccharine, so not transcendent.

http://www.discogs.com/Andreas-Vollenweider-The-Trilogy/master/82258

^^ this was my dip into vollenweider and i didn't enjoy it

am i looking in the wrong place?

I had a friend who LOVED Vollenweider in the 80s but back then I was the kind of dickhead who couldn't get past the dude's hair

now I'll even listen to Kitaro, I straight do not give a fuck, new age for life

if you're looking for balearic windham hill-style pop-classical harp jams from the 1980s he's kinda the only game in town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwgUNwA6vz0

too cheesy to be new age, but definitely more palatable than your metheny-types

LOL aero my best friend who loved vollenweider in the 80s is a mutual friend of yours and mine but I don't think you knew him til later...

yeah that trilogy thing has pretty much all of the good stuff but i could not imagine listening to even one of those albums in one sitting. it sounds great in the context of an early-era cafe del mar mixtape, it fits perfectly with that whole vibe in small doses

the only person I know of who I know loves A.W. is a woman so idk who this friend is! mysteries!

I am now floating along on the Quintessential Kitaro collection on Spotify...ahhh....whole room feels like a massage studio

too cheesy to be new age

i'm inclined to say destroy kitaro but i actually love his work with the far east family band

he has a bunch of proggy looking late 70s things that look like they might be good

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1786734

I am making a huuuge spotify playlist for this thread called Sternherzen, will link it when ready

xpost aero he draws comics and his last name rhymes with Sklart. Pls tease him abt andreas sometime.

ha oh word

gahh i love those first two vollenweider albums.

tell me what there is to love about them, maybe i will give it another shot

I actually really like his harp sound, so if that just puts you off, I can understand. I also like the lush atmospbere, the plainness of the synths, the melodies.

cheesy, yeah. "New age of earth"/klaus schulze/TD/most 'kosmiche' is pretty cheesy too, imo, but i have wack taste in general.

i agree with psychgwple that a little goes a long way, however. 1 lp (or side) at a time is enough.

i love love love ash ra / td / schulze/

Those don't sound cheesy to me though. Wonder if I could narrow down what I mean when I say cheesy?

Maybe an analog vs digital thing? Also the attempt to replicate an "atmosphere", or "setting" (like, a cave) is sillier than just some abstract cosmic riffing. Don't get me wrong, i love it all (not klaus so much, though).

Anybody know about the Palace Of Lights label? http://www.discogs.com/label/Palace+Of+Lights
I have a K. Leimur album that is pretty cool. A couple tracks are like minimal soft focus proto-ambient house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUxV6_ewLR0

Ok i haven't listened to it in awhile, i misremembered there being a fat 4x4 kick here. Still dope, though.

^ feeling this, also feeling the claire hamill from above. k. leimer has like 9 albums on spotify

I haven't heard much Emerald Web but I absolutely love their song "Refraction" on Dream Chimney's excellent "New Visions" mix. It is basically instrumental synth pop, though, and I imagine most of their stuff is less beat driven.

i checked out claire hamill's voices and it is gooooorgeous. tracks like 'tides' are definitely proto-grimes etc.

if ashra are suitable material for this kind of thread then i've also been digging correlations lately, 'oasis' has the most blissful vibes of anything ever.

Yeah, "oasis" is wonderful.

picked up the emerald web yesterday, wasn't feeling it so much. not really "weird" enough i guess.

sadly i'm not really feeling this one yet, either

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0192/7084/products/laraaji_two_sides_1024x1024.jpg?v=1383003823

the second disc turns out to be the entirety of this bargain bin trip-hop "classic", will teach me to look more closely at track listings

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/39184833/The+Way+Out+Is+the+Way+In+audio_activelaraajithe_way_out.jpg

I listen to this comp p much every day now

Biggest revelation to me on the LITA comp so far is Aeoliah, which is currently touching many of my Popol Vuh buttons

man I started reading that daughter's remembrance of her mom (the "Waterfall" track) out loud to my wife the other night and totally choked up, that is some deep & beautiful imagery there.

Aeoliah is one of the early standouts for me as well. love the picture too, the guy looks like an awesomely manic nutjob (in the best possible way).

aeoliah looks like if george michael were the leader of a suicide cult, writing hymns to himself on his zither and boffing teenage girls.

due to this thread, i have dug this out of the archive ..

http://www.discogs.com/Charly-McLion-The-Nature-Of-The-Universe/release/41604

i think the cover says it all really.

gorgeous stuff for a hangover session.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_uQ679Lm3rs/TfQtLWTy4TI/AAAAAAAAFbY/lKL-39Javsc/s1600/Henry%2BWolff%2B%2526%2BNancy%2BHennings%2B%25E2%2580%2593%2BTibetan%2BBells%2BII%2B-.jpg

Part of me felt hennings/wolff were missing from IATC. The four records in that series are great. (The one with Mickey Hart is ok too, I should listen to it again, and the last of the four where they get more into electronic processing threw me at first but i love it now). Their sound is a lot more intense and sharp than a lot of the other stuff on the compilation (active meditation music as opposed to restful) so it might have been difficult to find a spot for them that didn't wreck the flow.

xp title looks like "tibetan bullshit"

isn't the thing abt Hennings/Wolf that Antilles (that's the one I have) doesn't qualify as "private press"? it's outside the remit of the comp.

I misremembered the first one as being indie, but even that one was Island, so you're absolutely right.

ok starting to better understand the emerald web reissue. it's kind of all over the place, but i like it. i really like the incongruous chillwave-y track ("ars nova") and i like songs like "dragons gate" that do the stiff and chilly john carpenter electro thing. and the exotica tracks are good too. still getting into the second half.

I didn't see any mentions of the VERY VERY EXCELLENT Iasos comp Numero put out anywhere on this thread; it's not as good as that unbelievable LITA genre comp but it's pretty goddamn choice

http://open.spotify.com/album/4teQ1kGvpBu2cxPc4xo9Kh

oh yeah, iasos is fantastic. youtube has a 1979 documentary he did where he's a total sausalito space-hippie talking about third eyes and multidimensionality and stuff.

this japanese import is worth a go if you can find it

http://www.emrecords.net/records/00065.html

& if you can't it's on spotify...

Only (very minor) complaint: the track-by-track liner notes are good (not great - serious dearth of info re: what instruments were used, etc) but was surprised by the lack of overarching introductory material; the booklet just sorta dives right into the profiles. I guess I'm used to comps like Nigeria Special and stuff, which frame the music in historical context, but I realize, of course, that's much easier to do when you're dealing with a mere decade of highlife and juju produced by a single region.

Guess what I'm saying is I'd v happily read a book about this stuff.

― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Wednesday, November 20, 2013 7:23 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

me too, the profiles were pretty interesting! now that you mention it a bit more gear talk would have been nice.

― sleeve, Wednesday, November 20, 2013 7:24 AM (2 weeks ago)

So finally got IATC the other day and gave it a listen today -- truly lovely for all reasons described, etc. I mentioned it on Twitter and tagged Douglas McGowan, the compiler/liner note writer aka the guy behind Yoga Records, and mentioned how I enjoyed that the liner notes weren't exhaustive/specific a la Numero's approach but more impressionistic. His response:

The concept was that the notes are for people 100 years from now, which changes what you write about rather a lot.

I actually like that! Given he links just about all the artists via their own webpages it's not like he doesn't give you further spots to investigate.

Ha! Well, now that I know it's conceptual, I don't mind as much. Seriously though, I'm not sure I've played a single compilation this much since, err, DGC Rarities. Aside from maybe one or two tracks, this thing is perfect for pretty much every mood. Maybe I'm just getting mellow?

Bought the Laraaji comps, haven't listened yet. The 'bargain basement trip hop' thing the late great mentions upthread is a little scary.

last track on the second disc = all time greatest music ever

http://i.imgur.com/v8UuA5c.jpg

Another precious find from Andy Votel’s impeccable Dead-Cert imprint, Kat Epple & Bob Stohl made music for Carl Sagan, composed sound pieces for Planetariums and scored nature documentaries in the early 80’s. Most of their recordings were only ever released on private edition tape, with this selection hand-picked by Andy Votel, remastered and cut by Matt Colton and available on vinyl for the first time ever. Operating in Florida from 1978 until Bob’s untimely passing in 1989 at the age of 34, the husband/wife duo were among the first to blend synthesisers and acoustic instrumentation in a home studio equipped with a variety of early synths and instruments. As lovers and collaborators, the couple created a rich and vivid parallel dimension of new age music borne from the ‘70s prog scene and probably best referred to as “Space Music”. Throughout their unfortunately curtailed career the couple earned a noble crust creating music and mood-pieces for nature programmes, most notably for the legendary Sagan, under the Emerald Web aegis (expect to hear more of this on Finders Keepers later on this year) while continuing to issue numerous tapes to friends and fellow musicians. Following contact with Kat Epple - who still plays concerts at venues ranging from MoMA to Ground Zero - Dead-Cert were made privy to Kat and Bob’s private tapes, drawing for five pieces ranging from brooding deep space scapes to shimmering, gaseous sonics and impressionistic sound murals streaked with progressive traits and an alien, yet pastoral nature. Recorded using an Arp 2600, Mini Moog, EML Synkey, Roland RS202 String Ensemble and Electro-Harmonix Vocoder, plus a range of woodwind (both Kat and Bob were trained flautists, making colourful use of Bill Bernardi’s innovative Lyricon I, a hybrid flute/synthesiser) with some guitar assists here and there by friend and co-composer, Barry Cleveland. Their music is rich and unapolagetically tethered to the Space-Age iconography of their age, the result being a warm and often highly unusual hybrid of Kosmische and Prog signatures, quite distinct from the more austere variants more recently associated with the era.

flute synth!

http://www.dominicsmusic.com/photosdm/5178.jpg

nature documentaries! does anyone know the names of these documentaries or if they're available?

fantastic news ... but no CD reissue? ;_;

omg link to buy please

Finders Keepers put it out, right? It was discussed upthread unless I am missing something

not finders keepers, dead-cert

and it came out last June and appears to now be oop. Dammit. Why would something like this be limited to a mere 700 copies? Nevermind, I know why.

daryl groetsch has gotta be my fave of the newer artists working in this mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voDyboR8Ejc

^^

Seems to have quite an extensive back catalogue.

Which one(s) do you recommend checking out first?

aaah, sorry. just getting to this!

forest, mountain, valley is a personal favorite, extremely beautiful:
https://pulseemitter.bandcamp.com/album/forest-mountain-valley

the meditative music series is also quite good, particularly #3 & 4. I don't meditate but often put them on while sleeping or if I'm just a little anxious or overwhelmed. they really are relaxing.

and speaking of which, the planetary scale synth hypnosis compilation is also very well curated and includes excerpts from the meditative music albums, amongst many other things.

alan i've been going through hiroshi yoshimura's discography since you recommended him, he's so wonderful

oh, awesome!

yeah, he's great. have you heard anything past flora 1987? haven't been able to track anything down myself. particularly curious about koto vortex 1

no, flora is the latest one i've found so far.

ah well

Holy smokes, this Jordan de la Sierra record is the greatest thing:

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/jordan-de-la-sierra-gymnosphere-song-of-the-rose

looooooong cosmically-inclined reverb-heavy piano pieces that are positively satie-esque in their simple beauty

― (曇り) (clouds), Sunday, December 7, 2014 10:21 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh, awesome!

yeah, he's great. have you heard anything past flora 1987? haven't been able to track anything down myself. particularly curious about koto vortex 1

― (⊙_⊙?) (Alan N), Sunday, December 7, 2014 10:36 PM (3 weeks ago)

hey I missed this post, Alan I have Koto Vortex II and it is beautiful/amazing, PM me if you want a rip or something

:D

had a heavy new age phase about 6 months ago. really want to get as much of the good '70s/'80s stuff as possible – any recommendations for best way to go about completing that?

http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/03/hear-extracts-from-a-long-lost-12-hour-private-soundtrack-by-vangelis/

These new clips from Vangelis, quick ticket to transcendence

ambient/new age gorgeousness from last year that i enjoyed :

http://phaeleh.bandcamp.com/

I love the Vangelis Tegos Tapes

I found that Jordan De La Sierra box set in the early 90's and was a little let down by it at the time -- the cover had me expecting a lost 'harp of new albion' or 'well-tuned piano' but it sounded more just heavy chorus processing than legit just intonation. But my copy was also a bad pressing, this sounds so good on CD, and the liner notes spelling out the context with mid-70's Mills college & him showing up at an early episode of Stephen Hill's Hearts of Space and asking to play the piano in Studio B, and Bob Orban helping them mix the reverb live at Grace Cathedral all help sell it for me as a legend

hey whoever emailed me w/the username of "mister brevis" (clouds?), you need to include an email address in yr message

oh haha! oops. yhm.

mister brevis do u know mister l'homme arme and mister pangae lingua?

nickb otm re: jordan de la sierra

Yeah it's something, I went in with slightly lowered expectations but it's quite breathtaking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlTdeFY9lMw

This surprised me, but early Deuter made some pretty cool stuff

http://www.thesirenssound.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jocelyn-Pook-Untold-Things.jpg

had this hidden away in the archive for years and each time I remember it and play it just knocks me sideways.

the mix of unexpected instrumentation, and treated vocals layers, make this a very different and unique listen.

love it.

album : Jocelyn Pook - Untold Things

Environments (especially #2 - Tintinnabulation)

― Milton Parker, Thursday, January 8, 2009 3:56 PM (6 years ago)

YES. i never expected to see a reference to this anywhere, but it is very, very good. picked it up for just a few dollars the other day, on a whim, knowing nothing about it, fulling expecting it to be more of a novelty record than anything. side one (with the bells) is just the best. i'll be forever on the lookout for all the others in the series - 11 in all, with one environment per side, right?

i know i bumped the Vangelis thread earlier, but i'm adding reaction to the Voices album here as it's far more appropriate.

to start, the stina nordenstam vocal track ('ask the mountains' : the most new age-y name for a track ever ?) is absolutely gorgeous.
at first i thought it sampled ZOOLOOK in its use of very short digital vocal samples, but then as the track progresses it's clear that the samples are of stina. the result is perfect ear candy.

i was a little worried when i saw that paul young provided vocals for one of the tracks, 'losing sleep',
but the sonics are so massive and warm and his presence is so embedded within the big fat synths that it matters not.

oh, and the opening track featuring a vocal choir, Athens opera company, is just insanely brilliant.

yes, the album features lots of the digital presets that the genre is known for, but mixed in with bladerunner-esque synth lines, it all works rather well.

summary : well worth the coin i had to hand over for it.

next up : seen celestial vibrations cd reissue going cheap, so rather tempted to go back and pick that up now !

i looooooove the environments series! i have two. the one with the heartbeat is super intense.

ok, what is this "environments" series, as the only one i know is the FSOL series.

same thing ?

i suspect not.

http://www.discogs.com/label/423531-Environments

I love those as well, I have around half a dozen and always pick them up when I see them

cheers sleeve !
basically, i am never going to see those in my local HMV, or charity shop.
was beginning to think i had missed out on something i could have joined in with.
summary : as you were.

they have the coolest covers!!

ha! Irv Teibel has now been retroactively credited as the author. His name never appears anywhere in the packaging, but Syntonic Research Inc. was essentially a one man operation. I've had some conversations with the guy who's recently inherited the library / organization; they're looking for a good label to handle a complete box reissue. For a series that sold in the millions and that was so ridiculously influential, it is a little silly how under the radar they all fly now

I have the CD issue of 'Tintinabulation'; they mastered it at the 16.666 rpm speed, lasts an hour, good move. 'Intonation' also sounds good slow. I have a set of the vinyl but I don't have some of the later cassettes, man do I want to hear 'Alpine Blizzard', what in hell does that even sound like

think i prefer the FSOL Environment sleeves ;-)

not that i have any of the FSOL series either ..

xp

Hah those "Environments" records have been popping up in conversations a lot these days. I really like the one that is recorded on a wooden sailboat/ship. Good stuff.

some of the first ones went platinum once they were picked up by Atlantic; completely pioneering. fantastic, obsessively detailed liner notes. they won't stay obscure for long.

the guy manning the library says there were tons of unreleased, even crazier concepts for albums; can't wait

ooh! that's good news

ok, another archive find today ..

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/2e/df/c7/2edfc732a87f4f131b56f6fd415c612b.jpg

ambient or new age ?

given that this is a rising high release, I guess its regarded as part of the ambient/house era.

not that it matters, as its bloody wonderful.

however, with its rich synthetic sonics, tribal drums, and widescreen soundscapes,this steve roach/elmar Schulte release has to be part of the new age genre :

http://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/20/13/0617026201320_600.jpg

alternative cover that I have :

http://www.kompaktkiste.de/cd/_abc/_s/sr9341.jpg

bottom line : despite the excess of FAX material, I wish I had more of this kind of stuff.

Holy smokes, this Jordan de la Sierra record is the greatest thing:

http://www.numerogroup.com/products/jordan-de-la-sierra-gymnosphere-song-of-the-rose

― Ottbot jr (NickB), Friday, January 2, 2015 12:45 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is AMAZING

i love the first three tracks on that jordan de la sierra album but the last one makes me very uneasy and uncomfortable, i love extremes of repetition as much as the next guy hanging out in the new age music thread but it makes me feel like the universe has frozen.

(hm i need a better explanation than that, cuz now i want to hear more music that makes me feel like the universe has frozen.)

aahhhh for me the last track is total bliss

Hey, reviving this in light of Britt Brown's recent piece in The Wire about the Valley of the Sun label. I felt lame for having never heard of it, but I just read this whole thread, and no mention of these guys anywhere, so maybe I'm not alone! Interested in diving in, and wrote down some of the cassette titles Brown seems to recommend in the piece, but there really aren't many of these on Discogs or anything, and the ones that are are going for big bucks (relatively speaking). I'm not necessarily against spending $30 on a cassette, but it'd better be one of the good ones. Anyone know this stuff? What's good? What's lame? Brown seems to suggest that things go awry after Robert Slap takes over, but the descriptions of his work for the label sound like they could also be cool.

"journey to the edge of the universe" by upper astral is the only one with more than a few ratings on rym. no reviews, but i'm giving it a listen and if you're into super-ambient berlin school stuff it should be up your alley.

Aerobic Exercise Music With Subliminal Suggestions
http://altered-states.net/music/new18.gif
Six long aerobic exercise compositions - 5 with driving beat, 1 for stretching or cool-down. Suggestions: Every day, your body becomes firmer. You will attain and maintain your ideal weight. You feel better when you exercise. You love to exercise. Your stretching ability is increasing. Contains many more suggestions.

"journey to the edge of the universe" by upper astral is the only one with more than a few ratings on rym. no reviews, but i'm giving it a listen and if you're into super-ambient berlin school stuff it should be up your alley.

― the event dynamics of power asynchrony (rushomancy), Saturday, July 9, 2016 8:23 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thanks! Yeah, this is one Brown's piece recommends. I'll track this down today.

I've heard a lot of Valley of the Sun releases via slsk and Upper Astral is indeed the best of the lot. Just checked discogs and had a laugh to see a collection of 7 UA tapes offered for $1800!

Yeah, I saw that! Wish someone would reissue this stuff, though the Wire piece mentions some sort of legal battle between Sutphen and his ex wife. What a shame. All the Upper Astral stuff I've heard so far is terrific, though I don't know which are the duo albums and which were done by either Naegele or Storrs alone. Lots to explore here. Going well with my recent Calvino binge.

If you're not fussy about format and just want to listen, you could just jump over to http://hiddenvalleyofthesunpublishing.blogspot.com

nice, thx for sharing

http://pitchfork.com/features/cover-story/reader/natural-selection/

^^ about irv teibel

Not a lot of discussion about this latest LITA comp, a sort of European companion to the I Am The Center box:

www.discogs.com/Various-The-Microcosm-Visionary-Music-Of-Continental-Europe-1970-1986/master/1106146

I'm digging most of it so far. Exactly half of these names were already familiar to me, but of those, I'm not sure I've heard any of the actual tracks included here. Still digging in, but my first impression is that it flows better than I Am The Center (could just be the sequencing), though it may lack the immediate 'highs' (Wilburn Burchette, Joanna Brouk, etc) of that comp.

The weird thing about compilations of this kinda stuff is that it frees the individual tunes from their original context, which maybe misses the point a little? That said, this has been sounding great to me today.

I got this on CD, btw, because flipping 3 sides of vinyl is a pain in the butt and I'm not sure vinyl is really the best format for this kind of music.

I thought the point of these collections was to compile rare tracks and/or artists who haven't yet been critically reappraised? What's the point of including folks like Vangelis or Popol Vuh, who are well-known and liked and whose albums can be acquired easily and cheaply?

Also, considering that New Age is one of the few genres where a lot of women have been producing and recording music autonomously for decades, these compilations are surprisinly male-heavy. Where's Lucia Hwong, Alquimia, Therese Schroeder, Meg Bowles, Suzanne Ciani, Deborah Martin, etc? At least the first one had Constance Demby on it.

suspect that for every person who sees eg Vangelis on something like this and turns their nose up at the obviousness of it all, there's someone else for whom it's the hook to investigate further

LITA is more a label for curious dabblers rather than srs heads I'd say

not sure I agree with that. I don't see a lot of curious dabblers shelling out $50+ for a box set because they're mildly curious about ambient music beyond Eno

tbh I was a bit put off at first by the inclusion of some of the "big" names on here, too; I'm pretty sure I own everything Popol Vuh and Ash Ra Tempel have released, for one thing. But there's a lot on here I'd never heard, and the whole thing flows rather nicely, like a playlist where you occasionally recognize the song playing but not the ones surrounding it.

xp the complaint about the maleness is valid enough, but I Am The Center is what introduced me to the music of Joanna Brouk, for which I am very thankful. Probably one of my favorite discoveries of 2013

i get not wanting to include more well-known artists on a comp like this, but I also think it's useful/interesting to hear those "big" names in the company of obscurities. i'm probably a curious dabbler in this kind of thing anyway. love to dabble.

and while i'm here, let me highly recommend this series of amazing mixes (some of which falls into the "new age" category, some of which may not) that a friend of mine put together over the last few years: http://loveallday.com/category/gown-control/
so good!

xp relatively speaking, so am I! I leave it to experts to compile stuff like this because I no more want to needle drop on a thousand shitty new age LPs looking for hidden gems than I do scour bins looking for demotik Greek 78s or researching unlabeled dub plates.

These comps looks great, Tyler, thanks!

yr welcome -- the piano one in particular is AMAZING. but they're all good -- this guy Michael has indeed needle dropped on a thousand shitty new age LPs (and listened to even more tapes) looking for hidden gems. he is great at finding them.

and the whole thing flows rather nicely, like a playlist where you occasionally recognize the song playing but not the ones surrounding it.

sold

I wonder if anyone can ID the first track here or have a stab at who it might be by. Or indeed any others in the first 17 minutes (before the two Kraftwerk tracks), or the one at 29 minutes after No Man...

https://www.mixcloud.com/distantdrums/offshore-state-circus-outer-bongolia-solid-steel-kiss-100fm-6-2-1994/

And the echoey acoustic guitar + wave sounds & flute + harmonium tracks after that, before the Robert Leiner etc. You get the idea.

Gown Control mixes are amazing (I am through Volume 3 and Sunpath are blowing my mind. Thinking about picking up the two tape set. Loved the Planetary Pleasure track on the first one, downloaded the whole tape and found it a little different (more Christian hippy dippy amateur harmony vocals over Joseph Byrd style experiments than I was expecting) but pretty charming none-the-less.

been listening to those sunpath cassettes on Apple Music ("yasimin and the snowflake dragon" and "sunpath 2") and yes they are marvelous

Sunpath! Where has this been hiding?! Beautiful stuff.

It's weird to me that there isn't a book about this scene--its origins, politics, most famous practitioners--by now. Surely someone is working on one? If one exists, can anyone point me in that direction? A few years ago I had a book from the eighties that was sort of "who's who" of new age, and it was enlightening enough (if dated), but was more a 'guide' in the Trouser Press sense, with an alphabetical listing of artists and short, paragraph-sized spotlights on particular high points of the respective discographies.

This Sunpath stuff, I just want to reiterate, is great, btw. Almost in a too-good-to-be-true way, like it could be a hoax or something. Any way it could be a hoax or something? Kinda weird that the only link on Discogs is to this 2016 "reissue"

There's an interview out there with the guy who made it: https://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2016/05/sunpath

Well, yeah, but that could just be someone's dad or something in that photo! It wouldn't take a great amount of effort to just have someone pose as this guy in phone interviews and then provide a picture of some rando guy who looks the part.

Let me be clear: I am in no way suggesting this is a hoax, only that it would be funny / neat if it was, and would not diminish my enjoyment of it whatsoever. You have to admit, though, the fact that Google turns up no info at all on this guy before 2016 is somewhat suspect, given that even the most obscure shit (even obscuro new age tapes - see the many blogs) has at least some web presence.

"Sonic Seasonings" (1972) by Wendy Carlos must be one of the earliest ambient/new age albums in existence?

sunpath interview is awesome

i'm really digging the sunpath, thanks. esp. the song "gá te", particularly the passage from about 18:00 to 19:30. wow.

i realize it's silly to isolate a brief section from a 30 minute song, but it enters into a true magic zone there

the fact that Google turns up no info at all on this guy before 2016 is somewhat suspect

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZOsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=%22Jeff+Berry%22+sunpath&source=bl&ots=lR6-kW8oxb&sig=PI-Qk9SV1XRSTW4ykYAktxVGDr4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj036-Zg8HSAhXEg1QKHZrZAuA4ChDoAQg7MAY#v=onepage&q=%22Jeff%20Berry%22%20sunpath&f=false

Whelp I guess that answers that. I find the fake lost recordings phenomenon/marketing to be a little interesting as I'm not sure if most cases the music wouldn't be just as warmly received without it (Unknown Krautrock and Stefano Loprato spring to mind).

I agree. There was a metal band a few years ago called Velvet Cacoon who (iirc) were exposed as some sort of phonies, but the records they made are still great imo. See also: Marvin Pontiac

xp Yeah, good sleuthing! Still, crazy that that's what you turned up. It's crazy that something in this day and age can remain so (almost) completely off the grid.

Wasn't the Jurgen Muller 'lost' album from a few years ago famously a hoax?

Absolutely.

Lovely mix:

https://soundcloud.com/heavybreathingarchive/the-entrance-to-creation-sacred-gems

When I click show all messages in this thread, Chrome blocks the page and warns that www.technodisco.net is an attack site. I'm guessing there's a message with some embedded dodgy code/links? All I wanted were some blissed-out Aquarian vibes...

I put a note in to Mod Request

nice stuff on that mix

http://iasos.com/artists/chandler/
https://www.discogs.com/artist/561784-Geoffrey-Chandler

Word on FB from mutual friends that Geoffrey Chandler has passed. Only one album in his discography but that one helped define the entire genre. We need a cleaned up remaster of it very very badly.

idk about the first track but otherwise SEARCH: Remote Dreaming by The Ghostwriters, from 1986. absolute bliss. basically sounds like the album title + the cover illustration

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zfQ-_EIeWc0/VezZ6hojGnI/AAAAAAAACrw/TMdAO1NlpfI/s640/R-3802176-1352461788-6287.jpeg.jpg

CALM ENERGY CHROME

Mu-Psych Music!

i lived long enough to see this dollar bin record get a fancy new vinyl reissue that will probably cost you about 25 bucks with shipping:

https://www.discogs.com/Jon-Hassell-Dream-Theory-In-Malaya-Fourth-World-Volume-Two/master/33904

also came here to say that this album is awesome and should cost you about five bucks now so don't wait for the 30 dollar reissue in ten years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=275&v=oHgek1ufoJI

when the hell what that a dollar bin album, the early 90s???

what=was

well, yeah. i'm old. i just meant nobody really wanted it until internet era.

ha yeah it's kinda quaint reading the beginning of this thread. "who the hell listens to this stuff? why?"

It’s totally not worth a search but just want to mention that in my city every adult seemed to have only 3 new age artists in their collection and they were always the same: Enya, Spyrogyra and Secret Garden. Era was also huge but that was in the new age revival attempt in the late 90’s. Were “Ameno” and “Misere Mani” as huge in the US or Europe? I know they were also huge in France. Here in Mexico they would play in the hits radio every single day. And both Era 1 and Era 2 were selling like hot bread and would be featured in the top 10 of every fucking music store you entered.

“Misere Mani” is actually a guilty pleasure of mine... I feel it would be an awesome song with better production it makes pop with gregorian chants work better than they should.

spyro gyra are a jazz group, yo!

or like, when jazz-funk started to stink. some of their early stuff is nice, though

Oh you’re right! Tbh I’ve never listened to them I just related them to new age because they were popular around the same time and the same audience as new age consumers.

Re: Ghostwriters, I've been wondering what you can say about Charles Cohen these days. He made some really fantastic synthesiser music. One of those tracks is on the A Retrospective compilation.

new age fans might be into the other spirogyra though. especially first wave new age fans who went from art/prog rock to new age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkSFlJubQU8

the few obits i've seen for him have definitely been somewhat awkward xp

Xpost is fuzak kind of a suburb of new age? I think it is

ha yeah it's kinda quaint reading the beginning of this thread. "who the hell listens to this stuff? why?"

― brimstead

see also grateful dead thread

UK-centric ILX had some weird blind spots, see also Tom Petty

there was definitely a different more specific ethos going on

not that i'm disparaging this thread! i actually think the early posts in this thread is some of ilm'n at its finest

Pauline Anna Strom compilation on RVNG is fantastic

Björn J:Son Lindh - Transea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xRV0RoBSNE

i'm ticked that peter davison's "glide" (which is a good record) has all sorts of hipster newage cred (though the rest of his extensive discography is completely unknown) while douglas adams' "light rain" languishes in unheard obscurity

Traces from 1985 is nice

(davison album)

I’d be surprised if that one had hip cred because it’s really ummmm 80s Folgers commercial-ish? Idk how exactly to describe it, just a really warm unpretentious un-cosmic vibe.

I’d be surprised if that one had hip cred because it’s really ummmm 80s Folgers commercial-ish? Idk how exactly to describe it, just a really warm unpretentious un-cosmic vibe.

― brimstead

you say "folgers commercial", i think "incest"

William Aura ‘Half Moon Bay’ is a stellar Saturday morning listen

I've been listening to this a lot:

https://soundcloud.com/soundsofthedawn/sounds-of-the-dawn-nts-radio-december-7th-2019

Has anyone heard anything else by Klaus Wiese? He seems to have released a lot of albums.

This is fabulous - perfect for Sunday evening.

I'm on my second listen though this. Terrific stuff. Who is this guy!? I'd never heard of him before this but his discography is massive.

I've listened through a couple of times, too. Fantastic. Looks like Wiese was in Popol Vuh for a bit. Well, a year. Playing tambura, the massive hippie.

"Popol Vuh" - check
"tambura" - check

OK I gotta hear this

I guess David Hykes fits in here? I can't stop listening to Hearing Solar Winds and, especially, Harmonic Meetings - both so enveloping and expansive. This year has been a cunt in so many respects but I'll remember it for being the year I re-learned how to sit still and listen.

This album is very quiet and subdued, but it is absolutely not New Age music:

https://wejazzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/superposition

And yet, it's nominated for a New Age Grammy. Bizarre.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx8hTWyUrIs96PFEUecbRnXLzfOiuBh7c

I have a small collection of new age tapes that I found in a trash pile in Mt. Shasta, CA, which is a New Age destination. Anyway, I find myself putting this one on a lot: https://waterfallmusic.bandcamp.com/album/zen-waterfall-for-bamboo-flute-and-piano

Description: Improvisations for Bamboo Flute (Shakuhachi) performed by Eliot Joshu and Paul Lloyd Warner (Piano) Recorded in 1977 in Kula, Maui, Hawaii

Pauline Anna Strom has passed:

pauline anna strom, 1946 - 2020 ~
a companion across time, our trans millenia consort
heartbroken to say goodbye to paula so suddenly
at least now at one with a world beyond ours to which she was connectedhttps://t.co/bQPzHHJydJ pic.twitter.com/iLnwDA25ol

— RVNG Intl. (@rvngintl) December 14, 2020

Damn. RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05hJWn4c--A

I have been really enjoying the new Clarissa Connelly album, it has very strong Enya energy.

I'm no expert on New Age but I've been known to enjoy "The Mummers Dance" and "Tubular Bells" from time to time.

oh hell yeah

Morning Trip & Yoga Records are proud to finally reveal one of the ultimate lost masterworks of new age music: Alice Damon’s Windsong!

Gently propelled by Damon's haunting breath-of-life vocal winds reminiscent of Joan La Barbara underscored by field recordings and Damon's fretless bass sound calling to mind mid-70 Joni Mitchell, Windsong is traveling music, for the roads or for the skies. Instantly moving, it conjures vistas both romantically familiar and cosmically mysterious — waterfalls and wind, the voice of the earth, as heard through heavenly prisms.

couldn't find a Joanna Brouk thread so posting here since she is mentioned upthread, this is highly riyl The Space Between:

https://vantzou-harrison-bennett.bandcamp.com/album/christina-vantzou-michael-harrison-and-john-also-bennett

This is lovely. Thanks for the heads up.

Don't know where to ask this question, so I'm putting it here:

I guess this is new age-ish, but is there a more specific name for this kind of music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF7W2Y0X4_s

It's usually made by a guitarist, with all other instruments (keys, bass, drums) being programmed. There was a ton of it around in the 1990s.

It's a little too "active" to be ambient or new age music, and while it hits a number of smooth jazz notes I'm not sure it's that either. (This is a 1999 solo album from Nektar's guitarist, and I'm pretty sure he never got played on smooth jazz formats.) It's too formulaic to be of much interest to a prog fan. It sounds like it should be the soundtrack to an Imax film.

https://iasos.com/detalist/rol-dvd/#glimpse

I'm into https://vimeo.com/178121678

Sad news about Wilburn Burchette, as featured on I Am the Center and so forth:

https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2023/07/10/brothers-ages-84-and-76-found-dead-in-blossom-valley-home-near-lakeside-identified/

Worth a deeper listen:

https://masterwilburnburchette.bandcamp.com/music

listening now in fact, thank you and RIP

Douglas Mcgowan with a remembrance:

https://numerogroup.com/blogs/stories/master-wilburn-burchette-1939-2023

Also Bill Perrine, who just published a book on 1970s San Diego experimentalism and included Burchette as part of it, is asking for anyone who might be able to help in preservation of his material to contact him at bill at billingsgate dot org

oh unbelievable. i love his music so much. i had no idea he was 1) still alive and 2) so close by!

his music means a lot to me, so it’s frustrating how hard it is to get in physical form. i particularly like the one with the giant flaming eye ball floating in space like a flaming eye ball nebula. i feel like it speaks directly to my innermost self

i am waiting for the new bill perrine book to show up at the brick and mortar, instead of mail order from massachusetts or whatever. very excited for this one!!