10/19/2024
Landmark ambient album from 1978. I tend to avoid most twinkly synth-based ambient music made today, largely because it sounds like someone holding down a button on a preset modelled on the sound of these earlier records. But it's worth noting that Budd's music here is largely acoustic, with a line-up including key members of the British minimalist movement like Gavin Bryars (glockenspiel, voice), Michael Nyman (marimba, voice), and of course Brian Eno (production, voice), as well as saxophonist Marion Brown (operating here at the opposite end of the spectrum from his earlier appearances with free jazz legends like John Coltrane and Archie Shepp). It might border on soporific at times, but it's an unabashedly beautiful listen if you surrender to its melodic charms.
The Pavilion Of Dreams
1978
