Few musicians can rightfully be called Masters, but Harold Budd is definitely a master of his craft. For nearly three decades, he has produced some of the gentlest, prettiest piano music of the Twentieth Century. He is a master of ambient piano; his melodies are simple, yet they say so much in saying nothing. His compositional style is so basic and so minimalist, you might mistakenly think you could do what he does. You can't. I have been infatuated with his music for two decades, and in that time, he has yet to produce a bad record. The simple charm of his work will only make you want more.

A Song for Lost Blossoms, his latest work, continues a trend he's developed over the past few years: collaboration. This time, he's enlisted the assistance of Clive Wright, a fellow minimalist, and the record they created is a labor of love. When you've loved a musician's work as long as I've loved Budd's, it becomes difficult to find the exact words to describe his music--you simply take what they do for granted, and you simply want to say, "Here, it's Harold Budd, you know what you're getting," and that's true here. Unlike Budd's recent collaboration with Eraldo Bernocci (Music for 'fragments from the inside'), or his notable collaboration with Robin Guthrie, Wright's collaborative element isn't obvious; instead, Wright helps to accentuate Budd's melodies. When you collaborate, sometimes it's good not to stand out; sometimes it's best to simply accentuate the best elements of the greater talent.

Of course, the music on A Song for Lost Blossoms is utterly mind-bendingly beautiful. The album starts with one of Budd's biggest singular pieces to date, the epic 32-minute "Pensive Aphrodite." I have Budd records that are almost as long as this one, and by the time the song finishes, I feel reinvigorated. Hell, the rest of the record is just a little bit longer than this one song, and, really, it could stand apart as a singular record. The melodies are deep, the compositions lush--everything you expect from the Harold Budd name. Two of the songs, "Forever Hold My Breath" and "At This Moment," are live recordings; it proves that Budd is simply no studio composer.

I like the trend of Budd-as-collaborator. There are a ton of people I'd love to hear him work with. A collaboration with Marc Byrd of Hammock? Ulrich Schnauss? William Basinski? A new Andy Partridge record? Stars of the Lid? All of these collaborations would produce beautiful aural fruits, and I'd freak out like a teenager if he were to record with any of them, but for now I'm extremely satisfied with A Song for Lost Blossoms, this year's best Harold Budd record, and one of those "best of 2008" records to boot!

Listen To: "At This Moment"

A Song For Lost Blossoms is available now on Darla Records

Labels: Clive Wright, Darla Records, Harold Budd, Reviews b

posted by joseph kyle @ 8:07 AM 0 comments

Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie Before the Day Breaks/After the Night Falls

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

If you are a connoisseur of ambient music, then you understand why a collaboration between Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie is one worth drooling over. Between them, they are responsible for not only some of the most beautiful music of the past twenty-five years, but they're also responsible for entire genres of music--beautiful, thought-provoking, relaxing music. They've collaborated in the past; 1986's Cocteau Twins collaboration The Moon & The Melodies is one of the most beautiful collections of music, and easily the Twins' high point. After that collaboration, Guthrie appeared on Budd's The White Arcades, an album I consider Budd's masterpiece. Budd and Guthrie collaborated a decade later on the soundtrack to Mysterious Skin, but that was not an in-person collaboration. Last year's collaboration yielded two beautiful albums' worth of material, released as sister albums After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks.

When I heard of their collaboration last year, I couldn't wait. It excited me greatly! And I'm happy to report that the results do not disappoint. Musically speaking, the material found on these two albums recall The White Arcades; Budd's piano and keyboard work amalgamates wonderfully with Guthrie's gentle, distinctive guitar style. It would have proven understandable that both take turns sharing the lead, but theirs is a rarity: two innovators who can compose music that sounds like their individual work, yet sounds like a true collaboration. Theirs is a world of gentle atmospherics, bound together by ethereal strums of a guitar and the star-like twinkle of a piano.

In the compilation process, Budd and Guthrie decided to link the two albums thematically, by song titles. So, for instance, After's second song, "Avenue of Shapes" is mirrored with Before's "A Formless Path." Some might find it charming; others might find it annoyingly artsy. It doesn't distract from the music, nor does it have anything to do with the music, really. Besides, does music this beautiful even need something as utterly arbitrary as a song title? I think not. After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks are sparkling crown jewels in the crowns of these men's already storied careers.

I don't think I need to say that they're also two of the best records of 2007, do I?

Now, if we could only get Mr. Budd and Andy Partridge back together...

Listen To: "A Formless Path"
Listen To: "Avenue of Shapes"

After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks are both available now on Darla Records

Labels: Ambient, bo07, Darla Records, Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie

posted by joseph kyle @ 7:00 PM 1 comments

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