Harold Budd — Jane 12-21
Ξ Práce s Enem změnila Buddovi život. “Dlužím Brianovi všechno,” říká, “ale hlavní byl ten postoj. Mít absolutní odvahu jít jakémkoli směrem. Jednou jsem četl esej malíře Roberta Motherwella a on poukázal na pravdu, která je tak zřejmá a jednoduchá, že jsem ji nejprve přehlédl: «Umění bez rizika není umění.» Souhlasím s tím hluboce. Udělejte si z toho leták, nebo nadpis článku. A v případě neúspěchu nenechte se rozdrtit, je to jen porucha. Koho to vůbec zajímá?”
© BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM — NOVEMBER 24: Harold Budd portrait session backstage at AE Harris Building on November 24, 2011 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Steve Thorne/Redferns) 2011 Steve Thorne
Ξ Vyrůstal v Mojavské poušti a tam byl inspirován v raném věku bzučícími tóny způsobenými větrem přes telefonní dráty.
Ξ “A studio gives you the freedom to do everything, and to me everything is a tyranny.”
Ξ Since the late '70s, it has become a habit for recording artists to take longer and longer to write and record their music. Peter Gabriel, most famously, may take several years to record an album. At the other end of the spectrum, there are still a few bands and artists who will write and record an album in a matter of weeks.
Ξ And then there's Harold Budd. The American ex-minimalist, ex-college lecturer, experimental ambient composer, solo artist and bon viveur may have taken eight years to release Luxa, his first solo studio album since The White Arcades (1988), but the speed and working methods with which he created his new album beggar belief. Luxa is a full 62 minutes and 32 seconds long, contains 16 pieces, and the music on it was written, played, recorded and mixed in just 11 days. On top of this, Budd still had time, according to engineer Michael Coleman (who recorded the album at his Orangewood Studios in Mesa, Arizona — see 'Engineering for Harold Budd' box), to "come into the studio some mornings, decide that he didn't feel inspired at all, and call it a day". At other times, Budd would spend hours trawling through synth sounds, trying to find a sound he liked, yet all Coleman would hear, in response to every sound that Budd tried, was: "Hate it... hate it... hate it... hate it... hate it... hate it..." But, adds Coleman: "When he's 'on', he's really on and it's fascinating to watch him work. He's a really nice guy, very laid back, very easy-going, yet when he's inspired he just explodes.
Born: May 24, 1936, Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles, California
Genres: Ambient, drone, contemporary classical
Occupations: Musician, composer, poet, professor
Album release: September 9, 2014
Record Label: Darla Records (DRL 281)
Duration: 1-11 (59:18) 12-21 (38:25)
Tracks:
01 Jane 12 6:33
02 Jane 13 5:19
03 Jane 14 3:04
04 Jane 15 2:47
05 Jane 16 (For Pale Saints) 3:24
06 Jane 17 2:26
07 Jane 18 2:46
08 Jane 19 4:51
09 Jane 20 4:28
10 Jane 21 2:47
Credits:
Ξ Harold Budd Primary Artist
Ξ Brad Ellis Engineer
Ξ Martin Lewsley Design
Ξ Jane Maru Cover Art
<•> Jane 12-21 is the companion to Jane 1-11. Minimal, modern classical piano and avant-garde electronics by the master.
<•> "It's simple. I broke out and broke back to my earlier days: A triangle of risk, improvisation and joy — as I say, very simple. My rules to myself were: No plan, no notes, no ideas, no microphones; except for Jane 1 I stuck to it. My other rule — the most important one — was: At least one piece per day, finished, mixed and not to be revisited again. Jane 7, 8, 9 were done in one day... Brad Ellis was my guide through this: An untiring day, ready to go again... To quote a letter to me from Mark Tobey: ... "It fell off the edge of my brush."" — Harold Budd
<•> File under: Avant-garde, Electronic.
<•> Recommended if you like: The Plateaux of Mirror, The Pearl, Lovely Thunder, The White Arcades.
<•> Who is Jane? Check out Jane Maru, Artist.
<•> Cover art by Jane Maru.
Notes: Jane 1-11 is at least among Harold's very best work and may be his all-time best. Start to finish, this is Harold at his most inspired and most tapped in to his unique gift. There is no other Harold Budd record on which he so strongly expresses his singular avant sensibility. (Darla)
REVIEW
<•> Harold Budd is not complacent and I am thankful that rumors of his retirement actually turned out to be false (he briefly tired of writing and recording). He is (at 77) producing some of the most interesting work of his long and varied career. In a way, he is like Frank Lloyd Wright was at about the same age when Wright was hitting his stride with highly original and innovative works like the Kaufmann House (best known as Fallingwater) — always exploring and seeking new edges. Many might connect Budd’s work almost exclusively with solo piano pieces or his first collaboration with Brian Eno, Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, but his discography is remarkably varied, and including his joint releases, he has contributed to or been the solo artist on over forty albums since 1971.
<•> The music alone on this album is divine, and even better there will be a DVD later this year including video collaborations with artist Jane Maru (who also produced the beautiful artwork for this album). Earlier this year a version of the furtive and at times skittering Jane 9 was quietly released on youtube — it’s just a hint of what to expect from this album.
<•> This is a work of contrasts; some tracks tease the senses (like the unexpected and at times shrill Jane 1 or sharp-edged Jane 5 or the visceral and ghostly Jane 7) and then the pleasurable counter-effects are later intensified as the music ebbs and flows (as in Jane 2, Jane 3, Jane 4 and the sublime Jane 8). Moods and spaces change, first grounded and up-close and then transform into expansive and liberating flights. Budd is also exploring new sounds, instrumentation and treatments on this album (percussion [like chimes], electric piano, droning electronics, celeste and harp). <•> I won’t say why, but Jane 6 evokes some very pleasant childhood memories. Jane 8 reminds me a bit of Anthony Phillips’ recent work Watching While You Sleep — deeply moving and one of those tracks I don’t want to end. The expansive Jane 10 is almost a reverse overture, recapitulating variations of sounds and themes from the previous tracks, as if reliving the experiences. To me, Jane 11 is the reappearance of the spirit of Jane 8 — that which I didn’t want to end earlier, returned. How did Budd know that this is what I wanted?
<•> Harold Budd has an uncanny gift for expressing so much with so little, a poet who just happens to use music instead of words.
Fortaken: http://wajobu.com/
Label: http://darla.com/index.php
Website: http://www.haroldbudd.com/
MySpace: http://www.haroldbudd.com/
INTERVIEW
Tim Jonze
The Guardian, Tuesday 25 February 2014 18.59 GMT
:: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/25/harold-budd-ambient-composer-interview
<•> “I always try to get started on something that doesn't bring up any problems; then you can move on to the more problematic works and you and the engineer will have faith that you'll find successful solutions.”
STUDIO ALBUMS:
<•> The Oak of the Golden Dreams / Coeur D'Orr (1970), Advance Recordings
<•> "The Pavilion of Dreams"' (1978), E.G. Records — (Produced by Brian Eno)
<•> "Ambient 2/The Plateaux of Mirror" (1980) — (with Brian Eno)
<•> "The Serpent (In Quicksilver)" (1981)
<•> "The Pearl" (1984), E.G. Records — (with Brian Eno)
<•> Abandoned Cities (1984), Cantil
<•> Lovely Thunder (1986), E.G. Records — (Produced by Michael Hoenig)
<•> The White Arcades (1988), Opal — (Produced by Brian Eno)
<•> Agua (1989), Opal — Recorded Live at the Lanzarote Music Festival, Harold Budd
<•> By the Dawn's Early Light (1991), Opal — (with Bill Nelson)
<•> Music for Three Pianos, (1992) All Saints Records — (with Ruben Garcia and Daniel Lentz)
<•> She is a Phantom (1994), New Albion — (with Zeitgeist)
<•> Through the Hill (1994), All Saints Records — (with Andy Partridge)
<•> Luxa (1996), All Saints Records
<•> Walk into My Voice: American Beat Poetry (1996) (with Daniel Lentz & Jessica Karraker)
<•> "Fenceless Night: Selections for Cinema 1980–1998", (1998), (compilation, promotional only) [Polygram]
<•> The Room (2000), Atlantic Records
<•> Three White Roses & A Budd (2002), Twentythree — (with Bill Nelson & Fila Brazilla)
<•> Jah Wobble's Solaris — Live in Concert (2002), [30 Hertz Records] — (with Jah Wobble, Graham Haynes, Jaki Liebezeit & Bill Laswell)
<•> La Bella Vista (2003), Shout Factory
<•> Translucence/Drift Music (2003), Demon — (with John Foxx)
<•> Avalon Sutra / As Long as I Can Hold My Breath (2004), Samadhi Sound, 2CD digipak — (Produced by Harold Budd)
<•> Mysterious Skin — Music from the Film" (2005) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> Music for 'Fragments from the Inside (2005), [Sub Rosa] — (with Eraldo Bernocchi)
<•> "Perhaps" (2007), Samadhi Sound
<•> "Bourgeois Magnetic — EP" (2007)
<•> "After The Night Falls" (2007) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> "Before The Day Breaks" (2007) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> "A Song For Lost Blossoms" (2008) — (with Clive Wright)
<•> "Candylion" (2009)
<•> Little Windows (2010), Darla — (with Clive Wright)
<•> Nighthawks/Translucence and Drift Music (2011), 37-track, 3CD digipak — (with by John Foxx)
<•> "Bordeaux" (2011) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> "Winter Garden(2011) — (with Robin Guthrie & Eraldo Bernocchi)
<•> In The Mist (2011), Darla Records
<•> Bandits of Stature (2012), Darla Records, P Toyon Music (BMI), Distributed in the US by Caroline Records, inc.
<•> Jane 1–11 (2013), Darla Records
<•> "Wind in Lonely Fences 1970 — 2011" (2013), All Saints Records — 18-track, 2CD digipak — (with Cocteau Twins and Robin Guthrie, John Foxx, & Brian Eno)
<•> "Buddbox" (2013), All Saints Records — Anthology box set containing 7 hard-to-find and critically acclaimed albums.
<•> Jane 12–21 (2014), Darla Records
____________________________________________________________
Ξ Práce s Enem změnila Buddovi život. “Dlužím Brianovi všechno,” říká, “ale hlavní byl ten postoj. Mít absolutní odvahu jít jakémkoli směrem. Jednou jsem četl esej malíře Roberta Motherwella a on poukázal na pravdu, která je tak zřejmá a jednoduchá, že jsem ji nejprve přehlédl: «Umění bez rizika není umění.» Souhlasím s tím hluboce. Udělejte si z toho leták, nebo nadpis článku. A v případě neúspěchu nenechte se rozdrtit, je to jen porucha. Koho to vůbec zajímá?”
Ξ Vyrůstal v Mojavské poušti a tam byl inspirován v raném věku bzučícími tóny způsobenými větrem přes telefonní dráty.
Ξ “A studio gives you the freedom to do everything, and to me everything is a tyranny.”
Ξ Since the late '70s, it has become a habit for recording artists to take longer and longer to write and record their music. Peter Gabriel, most famously, may take several years to record an album. At the other end of the spectrum, there are still a few bands and artists who will write and record an album in a matter of weeks.
Ξ And then there's Harold Budd. The American ex-minimalist, ex-college lecturer, experimental ambient composer, solo artist and bon viveur may have taken eight years to release Luxa, his first solo studio album since The White Arcades (1988), but the speed and working methods with which he created his new album beggar belief. Luxa is a full 62 minutes and 32 seconds long, contains 16 pieces, and the music on it was written, played, recorded and mixed in just 11 days. On top of this, Budd still had time, according to engineer Michael Coleman (who recorded the album at his Orangewood Studios in Mesa, Arizona — see 'Engineering for Harold Budd' box), to "come into the studio some mornings, decide that he didn't feel inspired at all, and call it a day". At other times, Budd would spend hours trawling through synth sounds, trying to find a sound he liked, yet all Coleman would hear, in response to every sound that Budd tried, was: "Hate it... hate it... hate it... hate it... hate it... hate it..." But, adds Coleman: "When he's 'on', he's really on and it's fascinating to watch him work. He's a really nice guy, very laid back, very easy-going, yet when he's inspired he just explodes.
Born: May 24, 1936, Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles, California
Genres: Ambient, drone, contemporary classical
Occupations: Musician, composer, poet, professor
Album release: September 9, 2014
Record Label: Darla Records (DRL 281)
Duration: 1-11 (59:18) 12-21 (38:25)
Tracks:
01 Jane 12 6:33
02 Jane 13 5:19
03 Jane 14 3:04
04 Jane 15 2:47
05 Jane 16 (For Pale Saints) 3:24
06 Jane 17 2:26
07 Jane 18 2:46
08 Jane 19 4:51
09 Jane 20 4:28
10 Jane 21 2:47
Credits:
Ξ Harold Budd Primary Artist
Ξ Brad Ellis Engineer
Ξ Martin Lewsley Design
Ξ Jane Maru Cover Art
<•> Jane 12-21 is the companion to Jane 1-11. Minimal, modern classical piano and avant-garde electronics by the master.
<•> "It's simple. I broke out and broke back to my earlier days: A triangle of risk, improvisation and joy — as I say, very simple. My rules to myself were: No plan, no notes, no ideas, no microphones; except for Jane 1 I stuck to it. My other rule — the most important one — was: At least one piece per day, finished, mixed and not to be revisited again. Jane 7, 8, 9 were done in one day... Brad Ellis was my guide through this: An untiring day, ready to go again... To quote a letter to me from Mark Tobey: ... "It fell off the edge of my brush."" — Harold Budd
<•> File under: Avant-garde, Electronic.
<•> Recommended if you like: The Plateaux of Mirror, The Pearl, Lovely Thunder, The White Arcades.
<•> Who is Jane? Check out Jane Maru, Artist.
<•> Cover art by Jane Maru.
Notes: Jane 1-11 is at least among Harold's very best work and may be his all-time best. Start to finish, this is Harold at his most inspired and most tapped in to his unique gift. There is no other Harold Budd record on which he so strongly expresses his singular avant sensibility. (Darla)
REVIEW
<•> Harold Budd is not complacent and I am thankful that rumors of his retirement actually turned out to be false (he briefly tired of writing and recording). He is (at 77) producing some of the most interesting work of his long and varied career. In a way, he is like Frank Lloyd Wright was at about the same age when Wright was hitting his stride with highly original and innovative works like the Kaufmann House (best known as Fallingwater) — always exploring and seeking new edges. Many might connect Budd’s work almost exclusively with solo piano pieces or his first collaboration with Brian Eno, Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, but his discography is remarkably varied, and including his joint releases, he has contributed to or been the solo artist on over forty albums since 1971.
<•> The music alone on this album is divine, and even better there will be a DVD later this year including video collaborations with artist Jane Maru (who also produced the beautiful artwork for this album). Earlier this year a version of the furtive and at times skittering Jane 9 was quietly released on youtube — it’s just a hint of what to expect from this album.
<•> This is a work of contrasts; some tracks tease the senses (like the unexpected and at times shrill Jane 1 or sharp-edged Jane 5 or the visceral and ghostly Jane 7) and then the pleasurable counter-effects are later intensified as the music ebbs and flows (as in Jane 2, Jane 3, Jane 4 and the sublime Jane 8). Moods and spaces change, first grounded and up-close and then transform into expansive and liberating flights. Budd is also exploring new sounds, instrumentation and treatments on this album (percussion [like chimes], electric piano, droning electronics, celeste and harp). <•> I won’t say why, but Jane 6 evokes some very pleasant childhood memories. Jane 8 reminds me a bit of Anthony Phillips’ recent work Watching While You Sleep — deeply moving and one of those tracks I don’t want to end. The expansive Jane 10 is almost a reverse overture, recapitulating variations of sounds and themes from the previous tracks, as if reliving the experiences. To me, Jane 11 is the reappearance of the spirit of Jane 8 — that which I didn’t want to end earlier, returned. How did Budd know that this is what I wanted?
<•> Harold Budd has an uncanny gift for expressing so much with so little, a poet who just happens to use music instead of words.
Fortaken: http://wajobu.com/
Label: http://darla.com/index.php
Website: http://www.haroldbudd.com/
MySpace: http://www.haroldbudd.com/
INTERVIEW
Tim Jonze
The Guardian, Tuesday 25 February 2014 18.59 GMT
:: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/25/harold-budd-ambient-composer-interview
<•> “I always try to get started on something that doesn't bring up any problems; then you can move on to the more problematic works and you and the engineer will have faith that you'll find successful solutions.”
STUDIO ALBUMS:
<•> The Oak of the Golden Dreams / Coeur D'Orr (1970), Advance Recordings
<•> "The Pavilion of Dreams"' (1978), E.G. Records — (Produced by Brian Eno)
<•> "Ambient 2/The Plateaux of Mirror" (1980) — (with Brian Eno)
<•> "The Serpent (In Quicksilver)" (1981)
<•> "The Pearl" (1984), E.G. Records — (with Brian Eno)
<•> Abandoned Cities (1984), Cantil
<•> Lovely Thunder (1986), E.G. Records — (Produced by Michael Hoenig)
<•> The White Arcades (1988), Opal — (Produced by Brian Eno)
<•> Agua (1989), Opal — Recorded Live at the Lanzarote Music Festival, Harold Budd
<•> By the Dawn's Early Light (1991), Opal — (with Bill Nelson)
<•> Music for Three Pianos, (1992) All Saints Records — (with Ruben Garcia and Daniel Lentz)
<•> She is a Phantom (1994), New Albion — (with Zeitgeist)
<•> Through the Hill (1994), All Saints Records — (with Andy Partridge)
<•> Luxa (1996), All Saints Records
<•> Walk into My Voice: American Beat Poetry (1996) (with Daniel Lentz & Jessica Karraker)
<•> "Fenceless Night: Selections for Cinema 1980–1998", (1998), (compilation, promotional only) [Polygram]
<•> The Room (2000), Atlantic Records
<•> Three White Roses & A Budd (2002), Twentythree — (with Bill Nelson & Fila Brazilla)
<•> Jah Wobble's Solaris — Live in Concert (2002), [30 Hertz Records] — (with Jah Wobble, Graham Haynes, Jaki Liebezeit & Bill Laswell)
<•> La Bella Vista (2003), Shout Factory
<•> Translucence/Drift Music (2003), Demon — (with John Foxx)
<•> Avalon Sutra / As Long as I Can Hold My Breath (2004), Samadhi Sound, 2CD digipak — (Produced by Harold Budd)
<•> Mysterious Skin — Music from the Film" (2005) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> Music for 'Fragments from the Inside (2005), [Sub Rosa] — (with Eraldo Bernocchi)
<•> "Perhaps" (2007), Samadhi Sound
<•> "Bourgeois Magnetic — EP" (2007)
<•> "After The Night Falls" (2007) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> "Before The Day Breaks" (2007) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> "A Song For Lost Blossoms" (2008) — (with Clive Wright)
<•> "Candylion" (2009)
<•> Little Windows (2010), Darla — (with Clive Wright)
<•> Nighthawks/Translucence and Drift Music (2011), 37-track, 3CD digipak — (with by John Foxx)
<•> "Bordeaux" (2011) — (with Robin Guthrie)
<•> "Winter Garden(2011) — (with Robin Guthrie & Eraldo Bernocchi)
<•> In The Mist (2011), Darla Records
<•> Bandits of Stature (2012), Darla Records, P Toyon Music (BMI), Distributed in the US by Caroline Records, inc.
<•> Jane 1–11 (2013), Darla Records
<•> "Wind in Lonely Fences 1970 — 2011" (2013), All Saints Records — 18-track, 2CD digipak — (with Cocteau Twins and Robin Guthrie, John Foxx, & Brian Eno)
<•> "Buddbox" (2013), All Saints Records — Anthology box set containing 7 hard-to-find and critically acclaimed albums.
<•> Jane 12–21 (2014), Darla Records
____________________________________________________________