Friday, February 3, 2012

The gamelan

Indonesian gamelan

I recently discovered the gamelan. It is the name given to an Indonesian musical ensemble composed of gongs, xylopohones and drums. I love the strange sound of this music.


Album: Original Degung
Track: Sorban Palid

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) — 3 Details


Detail: The Haywain Triptych (1502)


Detail: The Garden of Earthly Delights (1504)


Detail: The Temptation of St-Anthony (1506)

Harold Budd/Brian Eno – Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980)




The first post I did on this blog was about the album Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno. So I decided to continue in this direction and give my readers an overview of the four albums of the Ambient Series:
Brian EnoAmbient 1: Music for Airports (1978)
• Brian Eno/Harold BuddAmbient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980)
• LaraajiAmbient 3: Day of Radiance (1980)
• Brian EnoAmbient 4: On Land (1982)

In 1978, Brian Eno discovered the music of the pianist Harold Budd while working with him on the production of the album The Pavillon of Dreams. The music of Budd is mostly improvised atmospheric piano pieces. Not surprisingly, Brian Eno found some similarities with the piano improvisation of Budd and his album Music for Airports

Both musicians started collaborating together in the creation of this album, which is mostly improvised by the pianist (with some sound effects and manipulations by Eno). The most obvious difference between the first Ambient album and the second is the sound. While Ambient 1 has a synth sound that is more pronounced, Ambient 2 has a more acoustic piano sound (that ages better in my opinion). The album is relaxing to listen to and it is ideal music for meditation or relaxation.

This is the album that started Harold Budd's carreer and many collaborations with Brian Eno (The PearlHarold Budd/Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois). He now has a prolific carreer and many solo albums in the same minimalist piano style.