NEW AGE MUSIC

[eric_schafer]

A much-maligned genre, almost guaranteed to generate a sneer at a mere mention of the term.

A damn-near toxic heaping-helping of straight-up schlock.

A descriptor that encompasses boundaries that are dangerously woozy. You could get your teeth punched in by that ambient music afficianado if you dare refer to their favorite as "New Age".

Pan flute duets with whale song? You bet.

Cosmic crystals pulsating oscillations to heal the earth and summon alien visitors? With de rigeur guitar noodling on the top.

Nature sounds the likes of which could never be found in nature? But of course.

And yet. And yet.

Something about the best of these works has been capturing my consciousness for decades now, for reasons I find very difficult to articulate. Somehow they change my . . . consciousness . . . and the way I experience reality, even if only for a little while.

In North America we've been fortunate to have long-term nationally-syndicated radio shows like Hearts of Space and Echoes to make contact with some of the finer examples of ambient, atmospheric, space, and yes even straight up New Age music.

Here are some of the favorites I've been enjoying recently, courtesy of the excellent Sounds of the Dawn, a radio show on NTS and YouTube channel that's been doing yeoman's work at resurrecting and making available many cassette-only releases available to the masses:

• Don Campbell, Crystal Rainbows
• David Naegele, Temple in the Forest
• Frank Lentz, Unstroken
• Klaus Wiese, Cosmic Glue

And some all time favorites. Do they count as New Age? I'm sure they do to some. I just know that I love them:

• Mychael Danna & Tim Clement, North of Niagara
• Harold Budd, "Bismillahi 'Rrahmani 'Rrahim"
• Harold Budd, "A Stream With Bright Fish"
• Iasos, "The Angels of Comfort"

What is your favorite (ill-defined) New Age music? Do you consider it a guilty pleasure?

[Orbited insanitarium]

That first post is full to the brim of stuff I'd like to check out.
I love this kind of music, swirling pieces of synth lines and nature soundscapes, ethereal and peaceful.

A few pieces come to mind when I think of the term, but this encapsulates it all. One of my favorite albums of all time, like psychedelic spiritual space travelling.

Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Musick (1979)

1. Garden of Paradise


2. Four Ever Rainbow


You haven given me tons of stuff to check out, thanks to this topic.

[bleak.]

[Sky and Trails]

A much-maligned genre, almost guaranteed to generate a sneer at a mere mention of the term.

A damn-near toxic heaping-helping of straight-up schlock.

A descriptor that encompasses boundaries that are dangerously woozy. You could get your teeth punched in by that ambient music afficianado if you dare refer to their favorite as "New Age".

Pan flute duets with whale song? You bet.

Cosmic crystals pulsating oscillations to heal the earth and summon alien visitors? With de rigeur guitar noodling on the top.

Nature sounds the likes of which could never be found in nature? But of course.

And yet. And yet.

Something about the best of these works has been capturing my consciousness for decades now, for reasons I find very difficult to articulate. Somehow they change my . . . consciousness . . . and the way I experience reality, even if only for a little while.

In North America we've been fortunate to have long-term nationally-syndicated radio shows like Hearts of Space and Echoes to make contact with some of the finer examples of ambient, atmospheric, space, and yes even straight up New Age music.

Here are some of the favorites I've been enjoying recently, courtesy of the excellent Sounds of the Dawn, a radio show on NTS and YouTube channel that's been doing yeoman's work at resurrecting and making available many cassette-only releases available to the masses:

• Don Campbell, Crystal Rainbows
• David Naegele, Temple in the Forest
• Frank Lentz, Unstroken
• Klaus Wiese, Cosmic Glue

And some all time favorites. Do they count as New Age? I'm sure they do to some. I just know that I love them:

• Mychael Danna & Tim Clement, North of Niagara
• Harold Budd, "Bismillahi 'Rrahmani 'Rrahim"
• Harold Budd, "A Stream With Bright Fish"
• Iasos, "The Angels of Comfort"

What is your favorite (ill-defined) New Age music? Do you consider it a guilty pleasure?

Oh my God, another Hearts of Space fan!!!!!!!!
Do you listen to Deep Space One, Drone Zone, or Space Station Soma on SomaFM?

I did some work for a net label back in the day, ran by Vir Unis and someone else (can't recall his name) and they had an AWESOME weekly radio show of this kind of music.

Thanks for this post!

[eric_schafer]

Orbited insanitarium: Yes! I discovered Rainbow Dome Music not long ago and it's an amazing album. Funny enough I was introduced to Steve Hillage back in the 90s when he remixed Ottmar Liebert's song "Lush" and later found some of his work with Gong on an ambient complilation I picked up. Rainbow Dome Music makes me sort of angry that I didn't follow-up on his stuff sooner!

[eric_schafer]

bleak.: Thanks for the recommendations! I see you share my appreciation for Iasos, who is still out there making fantastic music. I receive his newsletter every so often and it is just as trippy as you would expect!

Imagine my gobsmacked joy when I stumbled across a flawless vinyl first pressing of Inter-Dimensional Music in the thrift store. Maybe my crowning achievement as a crate-digger

[eric_schafer]

Sky and Trails: Your enthusiasm is palpable! I'm glad to hear there are so many outlets for the kind of music that (very loosely sometimes) falls into this genre. No, I'm not familiar with any of the shows you mentioned, I'll have to go looking. Thanks for the recommendations!

A couple more all-time favorites that I can't believe I left off the list:

• Brian Eno, Thursday Afternoon. Many people have at least a passing familiarity with Ambient 1: Music for Airports, but I find this Eno ambient work absolutely sublime. Put it on in a quiet house late in the afternoon and let it infuse you.
• Kevin Braheny, Lullaby for The Hearts of Space and especially the track "After I Said Goodnight". This has been a favorite since the very first time I heard it on a "Hearts of Space" compilation CD, but my mind was *blown* when I found out this recording is a live performance! It sounds like a field recording from some alien planet, one you're trepidatious about setting foot on...

[Samplehunter]

Must be known by a lot here, but I'm only familiar with Enigma's first three albums, The Songs of Distant Earth-era Mike Oldfield, Era's eponymous first album (which was successful in France) and a little bit of Enya.

[Orbited insanitarium]

Orbited insanitarium: Yes! I discovered Rainbow Dome Music not long ago and it's an amazing album. Funny enough I was introduced to Steve Hillage back in the 90s when he remixed Ottmar Liebert's song "Lush" and later found some of his work with Gong on an ambient complilation I picked up. Rainbow Dome Music makes me sort of angry that I didn't follow-up on his stuff sooner!

His music truly is wonderous, although rainbow dome musick was a collaboration between him and Miquette Giraudy, it still is the best hillage album for me (aside from the sounds he did with system7.)

I was first introduced to his music through this track by The Orb, Garden of Paradise is sampled in it.
I had a read through the liner notes of my CD and saw both Steve and Miquette credited.
It's like an continuation to hillage's track, just nestled away on the Peel Sessions compilation.

The Orb - Back Side of the Moon (Tranquility Lunar Orbit)

[eric_schafer]

Samplehunter: I'm not really familiar with Enigma (though I know their most popular tracks) or Era. Of course I know Tubular Bells and I know Mike Oldfield didn't stop making music after that, but I'm not familiar with any of it. Thanks for letting me know about them! As for Enya, I like so much of her stuff, but these are the ones I really appreciate for their spacey or ambient qualities:

• Enya, "Aldebaran"
• Enya, "Dan y Dŵr"
• Enya, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
• (and since I'm a sucker for a great outro ) Enya, "Smaointe"

[bleak.]

So nice to see Thursday Afternoon by Brian Eno posted. It truly is a wonderful and gently immersive experience.

So many wonderful recommendations already!

I've just had a little browse through my collection and found a few more of my favourites.

[Samplehunter]

Samplehunter: I'm not really familiar with Enigma (though I know their most popular tracks) or Era. Of course I know Tubular Bells and I know Mike Oldfield didn't stop making music after that, but I'm not familiar with any of it. Thanks for letting me know about them!

It seems that Enigma's albums are made to be listened in their entirety, like a kind of full experience, there are transitions and stuff between songs, but if I had to pick tracks beside the famous ones (which I enjoy):











Regarding Mike Oldfield, it's the same thing, a lot of his albums are designed to be listened in their entirety, but regarding TSoDE:







(Note Magellan's and Lament for Atlantis' similar melody )





And it reminds me that he did a Celtic-oriented album which has some kind of new age vibes:

[Samplehunter]

Oh, I forgot about Era.

Well, these are their most famous songs:





There are some other that I found enjoyable, like these:





But overall, it's not so great.

The second album was even worse, I just kinda dig this one:



I didn"t took time to see the rest because it doesn't seem so worthy.

[Josh]

I've got three Steven Halpern and two Steve Roach albums in my library. Can't say I listen to them much.

[eric_schafer]

Josh: I know what you mean. I have the CDs for Steve Roach's Magnificent Void and Robert Rich and Brian Lustmord's Stalker but I rarely play them. Is it because they're in CD format? Are they too abstract or unaccessible? Are they just not good? Not sure. I just know I don't respond to them.

[eric_schafer]

bleak.: What fantastic recommendations! I have Budd and Guthrie's Bordeaux and "Flowered Knife Shadows" by Harold Budd and the Cocteau Twins. This sounds wonderful. And that I Am The Center compilation is the bomb, I need to pull it out more often.

Do you know Susumu Yokota's Sakura?

[eric_schafer]

Found another gem, courtesy of Sounds of the Dawn (of course). Matthew Barlow's Sound Meditations:



They released this one on their label, so if you love it as much as I do you can buy it on Bandcamp.