This 1987 release was inspired by the landscapes of the American Southwest. Both Roach and Braheny enjoy the freedom and wildness of the California wilderness, especially the Mohave Desert. This inspired the music on CD, which has become a classic ambient space album. Western Spaces opens with a Roach track, “The Breathing Stone”. This track… Read More Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny – Western Spaces
Fatboy Slim delivers the big-beat techno sounds that he is famous for. This Funk Soul Brother may be a middle-aged white guy named Norman Cook, but on this release, he proves that he can lay down the beats with the best of them. Cook’s pop approach to techno has made him one of the leading… Read More Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
This 1984 release is a classic of lighter new age electronica. The music on Deep Breakfast is relentlessly catchy, with soothing sounds and attractive melodies. Deep Breakfast was a hit when it was released on stations that played new age music. The music makes extensive use of Yamaha DX7, a synthesizer that is great at… Read More Ray Lynch – Deep Breakfast
Brian Eno‘s first collaboration with minimalist composer Harold Budd, Ambient 2: Plateau of Mirror, was a groundbreaking classic of ambient music. Budd and Eno created beautiful soundscapes, haunted by melancholy piano themes. Their second CD, The Pearl, is even more beautiful.
Neroli oil comes from the white blossoms of the bitter orange tree, and is an expensive pale yellow oil used in fragrances. Neroli is also the name of a 1991 ambient work by Brian Eno that is as exotic and ethereal as the fragrance. Neroli oil is known to have therapeutic effects, including as being… Read More Brian Eno – Neroli
This classic new age release was originally released in 1984, but it sounds as fresh today as it did when it was then. Braheny used state-of-the-art instruments of the time with rare artistry and inspiration. There are two pieces on the CD, “The Way Home”, and “Perelandra”. Both are new age/space music pieces with a… Read More Kevin Braheny – The Way Home
The latest CD from Paul Van Dyk puts the emphasis on vocal trance. The result is a mixed bag, because Van Dyk delivers the goods on several tracks, but there are others that sound like filler. The album emphasis pop song forms within a trance context. The result is cuts that are well-crafted, but that… Read More Paul Van Dyk – Reflections
In the early eighties, Vangelis helped redefine the world of soundtrack music with his scores to films like Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner. Chariots of Fire won him an Oscar, but his music for Blade Runner is even better.… Read More Vangelis – Blade Runner
The First Seven Days is one of the great early works of popular electronic music. Released nearly 30 years ago, the music is a set of seven rock-fusion tone poems inspired by the idea of the seven days of creation. It was a head-trip when it was released, and the remastered CD re-release makes it sound… Read More Jan Hammer – The First Seven Days
Conquest of Paradise is a sumptious combination of orchestral electronica, folk melodies, choral vocals and renaissance influences. Vangelis is the Tchaikovsky of electronic music; he’s a fountain of beautiful melodies and an innovative orchestrator, but occasionally more concerned with style over substance. Like Tchaikovsky, Vangelis’ best known work is programmatic. On 1492: Conquest of Paradise,… Read More Vangelis – 1492 Conquest of Paradise
