Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 22:19:10 -0700 From: ".mark." (vonminde@RINTINTIN.COLORADO.EDU) Subject: Re: harold budd On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, monica wrote: > I was wondering if anyone on here likes harold budd....I have a few of his > things, like Moon and the Melodies and Glyph (with Hector Zazou). But I am > interested in possibly picking up some of his other stuff. I am looking > for any info or comments that you may have, before I rush off and buy > something....thanks! sometimes it takes something as wonderful as haroldbudd's music to break my silence.... anyway, i believe everyone should buy as much harold budd as possible, but if that is not possible: you MUST go pick up these two cds: The Pearl (w/brian eno) Lovely Thunder (includes a version of 'memory gongs' from TM&TM) these albums will please anyone who enjoys budd's intrumental pieces on TM&TM. 'The White Arcades' also nicely fits with these, but it has two tracks on it that break my personal newage barrier (thus it is brilliant, but slightly flawed to me). other things of interest: budd|garcia|lenzt-'Music for Three Pianos': all acoustic piano pieces. beautiful, sparse, fabulous. usually sells for EP price too! highly recommended. budd w/zeitgeist-'She is a Phantom': ensemble pieces and poetry readings. i actually really love this for what it is, but it's no 'Pearl' 'The Serpent (In Quicksilver)/Abandoned Cities': a combination of two of budd's shorter works....if only it were longer..... 'The Pavillion of Dreams': this is early ensemble pieces. you have to be a big budd fan for this.... there are a few other, but this gives you an idea of what's out there and how fab it is.... .mark....morningrise is mine at last! (cheap too!). chamber music. Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 20:52:24 -0800 From: Jens Alfke (jens@MOOSEYARD.COM) Subject: Re: harold budd We have some major Harold Budd fans here. Here are my two cents: Generally agreed [I think] is that his Eno collaborations "The Plateaux Of Mirror" and "The Pearl", as well as his solo "Lovely Thunder", are beyond excellent. Definitive ambient music that is tranquil but not treacly*. Listening to "The Pearl" at sunset in an empty house with the warm red light fading from the room is about as transcendent and spooky an experience as you can have without the use of chemicals or bothersome religious disciplines. The first two are almost all electric piano (but tastefully done) with subtle Enossification treatments. "Lovely Thunder" has some of that but also more synthy sounds. The track "Flowered Knife Shadows" on "Lovely Thunder" is a slightly different mix of "Memory Gongs" from "The Moon and the Melodies". That track on TM&TM is the most Budd-like of them all, so if you like that one you will certainly enjoy "Lovely Thunder". There is controversy over "The White Arcades", which came out a few years after "Lovely Thunder". Some, like me, contend that it flops right over into the treacle* well and oozes there like your typical newage product. Others find it the equal of the aforementioned classics. My hint is that if you're allergic to schmaltz, for safety's sake avoid it unless you can manage to listen to it cheap or free. The only other thing of his I have is "The Serpent in Quicksilver / Abandoned Cities", a rerelease of two early albums. The first I'm not much taken by, but "Abandoned Cities" and "Dark Star" are very nice droney stuff with some ominous guitar fuzz. * I'll nip another UK-vocabulary Q&A in the bud by revealing that "treacle" is what the Brits call molasses. Only it might be a bit different than our USofA molasses. __________ __________________ Jens Alfke jens@mooseyard.com Ask not for whom the refrigerator hums: It hums for thee. _______________________ www.inow.com/~jens/Jens Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 12:09:32 +0400 From: Dmitri Bender (db@TWIST.MARK-ITT.RU) Subject: Re: harold budd Being another avid Harold Budd fan, I'd suggest you to get hold of already mentioned albums: Eno & Budd's "Plateaux of Mirror" and "The Pearl". Also, rarely mentioned "Pavillion of Dreams" is also very good for newcomers methinks; and dare I say that even "By the dawn early lights" would fit in there, too - I still think that Budd's poems are nicely written and he's got just a fine voice; assuming you liked "Glyph" you'd rather love "BtDEL", as well as "She's a phantom". "Lovely Thunder" and "White Arcades" are more synths oriented (I agree that WA sometimes sounds a bit too newagey...altough I still like it enough to listen to occasionally). Hell, I can see I placed here almost entire catalog...let's wait for e's comments :) Dmitri Bender......... db@mark-itt.ru ................................. .............."Nothing is beautiful from every point of view"....Horace Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 04:12:07 -0800 From: einexile the meek (einexile@NETCOM.COM) Subject: Re: harold budd (plus some eno) On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, monica wrote: > I was wondering if anyone on here likes harold budd....I have a few of his > things, like Moon and the Melodies and Glyph (with Hector Zazou). But I am > interested in possibly picking up some of his other stuff. I am looking > for any info or comments that you may have, before I rush off and buy > something....thanks! Depends on which of those records you can stand; personally I can't see any merit in Glyph whatsoever, so if YMMV you may want to reverse this entire message and take the exact opposite of my advice. :) Anyway, as I said, Glyph eats it, and you will also want to avoid anything the man has released in the last few years: Through the Hill (with Andy Partridge! bahahaha!!), Aqua which is kind of this stupid "live" record he did. Harold Budd is kind of the Moby of the Eno camp; he plays a tape and bangs on the piano with one finger. It may sound like I don't like him; really, I am just mad at him for his recent showing. She Is a Phantom, from a couple of years back, is very good if weird and a little depressing. It is entirely acoustic and performed by a small subbacultcha sort of ensemble. Very haunting stuff and totally unlike his other work. Well, except for some of By the Dawn's Early Light. There is some similarity, but while Phantom has the claustrophobic atmosphere of a party with too many people, Early Light has a sort of outdoor country feel, ringing with history. Guitar and lots of viola; beautiful, but repetitive--and, like Phantom and later works, it is full of his poetry. Now, I kind of like the poems; they work on this and on Phantom while they are very irritating on Glyph, largely because of the reading, I think. That track where he starts shouting...and Through the Hill is just a completely worthless album so no comment there. Point being if you don't mind the poetry readings Early Light is a good use of them, and in Phantom they are essential. Before these, there was no poetry, and Budd was a better composer. The Moon and the Melodies comes from the same period as Lovely Thunder, which is his best album, and in fact Memory Gongs minus the guitar noise is on there as a Budd-only composition, and is indicative of the rest of the album. (Although most of it is more downbeat and slow. And better, if you can believe that.) The White Arcades, which came between Lovely Thunder and Early Light, is arguably better than Thunder but for a few tracks which can be irritating. Sometimes not, though, and sometimes it is my favorite Budd work. It is colder and bleaker than Thunder, which is indeed quite cold and quite bleak (although neither is minimalist, really; both are very lush and full). It is very peaceful and nice sleep music, and not as plodding as Thunder can occasionally strike me. Going back to the early days, there is a self titled album which is out of print and if you find a copy I will trade you the left side of my brain for it. Then comes The Pavilion of Dreams, circa 1978, which is acoustic and has harps and vibraphones and whatnot and lots of seventh chords and has a syrupy feel. I can't listen to it, but I haven't got a problem with it. 1981 saw The Serpent (In Quicksilver) which is very short and very, very depressing. It combines elements present on Early Light with the minimalist feel of his early work. It is as depressing as anything Eno ever did in he late seventies. Music for Airports? Music for Films? Forget it; this one is much worse. It's a great record, though. Usually, because it is so short, it is included on one disc with his 1984 album Abandoned Cities. This contains two long drone pieces. One builds up with drama and the other glides along at about the same level, but both, which very minimal, develop nicely and have a lot to say and are lovely music for sleeping or driving. (If you are the sort of person who can drive to the same music you sleep to without falling asleep at the wheel.) Another note here: I am in the market for a copy of either album ALONE on a cd, not bundled with the other, and will trade the bundled version for them if anyone sees them for sale. On that note, there is also a track with Eugene Bowen on a comp called Cold Blue, from 1986. I have never heard this and am looking for it. The same goes for Music for Films III. What I have heard are two songs off the Sub Rosa 1987 comp, and imho they are not worth buying the CD for. They are some of his least interesting pieces. This leaves the two collaborations with Brian Eno, which I think are some of his best work. The first was Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror. This is heavy on the piano but has a lot of atmosphere courtesy of Eno. However, it is very light and airy, and may strike you as syrupy. I reacted to it in that way for a long time, then came to appreciate it once I noticed that it is actually very sinister despite this element. The second of these collaborations was The Pearl, which I sometimes consider Budd's best album overall. It is absolutely heart wrenchingly gorgeous; while it is basically in the same style as Plateaux, it is more full, heavier with atmospherics, and MUCH darker. And in its second half it becomes darker still. Add to this the fact that it is very melodic and you have an album that is as beautiful as Sleeps with the Fishes or anything of that caliber. I recommend buying this first if you are going to make a blind purchase. This or Lovely Thunder. While I am at it, I have to plug Brian Eno's album The Shutov Assembly, of which I just got a cassette for $3 :) and with which I am now madly in love. It is however a little difficult. I was going to say The Pearl is the best album released in 1984, but this wouldn't be true. Eno's solo work Ambient 4: On Land is better than anything we are discussing here, if perhaps a little difficult to get into. I forgot to mention Budd did an album called Music for Three Pianos with a couple other people whose names escape me. It is fairly minimal (and could probably actually be played on one piano) but is quite good for him in that period (1992 or thereabouts) and has no poetry or any of that. I enjoy it, but it's not a great piece of work or anything. So let me make you and the rest of these heathens a shopping list... 1. The Pearl 2. Lovely Thunder 3. Sleeps with the Fishes 4. On Land 5. The White Arcades 6. Music for Films 7. Hybrid Hybrid is the first Michael Brook album, which I have recently rediscovered and decided is wonderful, unlike the man's silly alternarokk album for 4AD. Totally different, very ambient, very pretty. I hope this is some help to you. e