Best "new age" album ever?
Mar 8, 2006 at 6:47 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 30

fewtch

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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004LMKX/

I am in love with this CD (Chris Spheeris, "Dancing with the Muse") -- for those into this genre of music at all, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. I've listened to it dozens or hundreds of times and never get sick of it. IMO recording/mastering quality, on a scale of 1 to 10, is a 10.

P.S. this is really more world fusion of the "Buddha Bar" type than straight up new age, only much better IMO than Buddha Bar.

I think this is one of the best instrumental albums of all time. Listening with better audio gear, it just utterly sweeps you away into its world.
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 8:17 AM Post #2 of 30
Strong review-going to have to look into it.
I love the Buddha Bar series...
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 12:47 AM Post #4 of 30
"New Age" is certainly a very general classification. I, for instance, do not consider Enigma to be New Age. I consider "Watermark" - Enya; "Cristofori's Dream" - David Lanz; "Secret Luminescence" - Lucia Hwong; and "Mask And The Mirror" - Loreena McKennitt to be among the best in what I have always considered to be New Age. I definitely have to check out "Dancing with the Muse" by Chris Spheeris. Thanks for the review...
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 1:18 AM Post #5 of 30
What the hell, I just purchased a used copy. Fewtch, if you haven't tried this already, check out Guitarisma 2. It'sa collection of acoustic guitar tracks, some really great material on their for a collection.
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 1:53 AM Post #6 of 30
Any from Andreas Vollenweider is pretty good for me....
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 4:52 AM Post #8 of 30
New Age of Earth by Ashra (formerly Ash Ra Tempel) may not be the best, but may be the first new age album, FYI.
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Mar 9, 2006 at 6:58 AM Post #9 of 30
How about my avatar?
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Mar 9, 2006 at 7:21 AM Post #10 of 30
For my tastes, it would probably be a guitar-centric album on Windham Hill. "Aerial Boundaries" by Michael Hedges would be a good choice.

Are the Brian Eno and Harold Budd albums considered new age? I really like "The Pearl."

I strongly dislike the monikers "new age" and "lifestyle music," but there are some gems in that section of the CD store.

Bryan
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 12:25 PM Post #11 of 30
To me the apogee of new age music has to be found in the Hearts of Space label -- innovative music perfectly recorded. Precisely which album is the best will depend on taste. My shortlist will include

Abridged -- Tim Story
North of Niagara -- Mychael Danna and Tim Clement
Eire -- Isle of the Saints -- John Doan
Song of the Irish Whistle -- Joannie Madden
Nomad -- Paul Sauvanet

And that's not counting the excellent ambient music from their Fathom subsidary.
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 11:01 PM Post #12 of 30
Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller
Any from Andreas Vollenweider is pretty good for me....


I would second the post quoted above. Andreas Vollenweider is great. I especially like "Down To The Moon." "Aerial Boundaries" by Michael Hedges is also very good music...
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 11:59 PM Post #13 of 30
Quote:

Originally Posted by FalconP
To me the apogee of new age music has to be found in the Hearts of Space label -- innovative music perfectly recorded. Precisely which album is the best will depend on taste. My shortlist will include

Abridged -- Tim Story
North of Niagara -- Mychael Danna and Tim Clement
Eire -- Isle of the Saints -- John Doan
Song of the Irish Whistle -- Joannie Madden
Nomad -- Paul Sauvanet

And that's not counting the excellent ambient music from their Fathom subsidary.



Very true, but how could you leave off arguably one of the most important new age releases ever, which also happens to be on Hearts of Space?

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I tend to really like the Robert Rich releases on Hearts of Space as well, especially Seven Veils from the late 90s. I've often mentioned it around here. Incredible recording. That earlier one with Steve Roach is aces too.

And a bit of a tangent, but how about those older recordings by Jon Hassell and Eno? Fourth World V1 is incredible. Hard to call it new age since it was way back in 1980, and it has that ethno-electronic-ambience that has become so influential for the last couple decades. Haven't heard fewtch's fave though.
 
Mar 10, 2006 at 7:02 AM Post #15 of 30
If you guys like the Buddha Bar series, you really should look into Fuzon.
As an Indian, I should hate all Pakistani things, but I just love the Pakistani music culture. The Indian music industry just has too many shoot-your-brains-out remixes. Bleh! (I don't blame the producers though, there are just too many male teenagers straightening their hair)

Edit: You could hear the songs of the album here. The quality is pretty bad (its an online radio after all) but you could get an idea of what it sounds like. It is a fusion between Hindustani Classical and Pop-Rock. The singer is a classically trained vocalist.

Songs recommended:
Mora Saiyaan (2nd last song)
Aankhon ke saagar (1st song)
Jhoom Jhoom (6th song)
 

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