Harold Budd RIP

[Quiet Visitor]

Harold Budd, who released Avalon Sutra on David's Samadhisound, died this week.
Budd also worked on the Marco Polo-albums by Alesini & Andreoni, which also features some performances by David and his former Japan-colleagues Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri.

My favorite album of Budd is The Pearl, which he did with Brian Eno.

[Tin Bird]

RIP
By the Dawn's Early Light is wonderful.

[missouriman]

Very nice tribute written by Bill Nelson

https://www.billnelson.com/post/for-harold


David Sylvian also said some nice things about him too on his Twitter.

[Trebor]

RIP
By the Dawn's Early Light is wonderful.

I completely agree. It's definitely in my top five favourite Harold Budd albums.

Although, for me, his golden period was 1978-2004, his passing was very much a shock. I was really hoping he could have at least released one more stellar solo album beforehand (everything from Mysterious Skin onwards left me nonplussed, with possibly the exception of half of In the Mist).

RIP

[Blemished]

Very sad to hear of his passing. Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror is a record I've spent so many hours with. Just magical.

[Nicrobliz]

The news of his death shocked me but, from how frail he had recently been looking, I already knew the end was near. If it wasn't for the incompetence of the hospital where he was admitted, he could have enjoyed a few more years.

Musically, he should have called it a day after 2005, as everything he released after that point was just a shadow of his former glory (thus diluting his impressive discography). But that's just my personal opinion.

The Pavilion of Dreams is out of this world, by the Dawn's Early Light (with all the vocal tracks omitted) holds a special place in my heart, and the acoustic Music for 3 Pianos and La Bella Vista are beautiful examples of Budd at his purest.

RIP

[javier]

Musically, he should have called it a day after 2005, as everything he released after that point was just a shadow of his former glory (thus diluting his impressive discography). But that's just my personal opinion.

I thought Avalon Sutra would have been an almost impeccable swansong. His releases after that as you say didn't break new ground or leave a strong impression.

So many of his albums have been my favourites at different times, but the two that I tend to always go back to are Avalon Sutra and Music for Fragments from the Inside (with Eraldo Bernocchi).

[Nicrobliz]

Musically, he should have called it a day after 2005, as everything he released after that point was just a shadow of his former glory (thus diluting his impressive discography). But that's just my personal opinion.

I thought Avalon Sutra would have been an almost impeccable swansong. His releases after that as you say didn't break new ground or leave a strong impression.

So many of his albums have been my favourites at different times, but the two that I tend to always go back to are Avalon Sutra and Music for Fragments from the Inside (with Eraldo Bernocchi).

Personally, I think the only relatively decent post-2005 release that's worth exploring is 2011's In the Mist. It's flawed but it does have its moments.

Apart from The Oak of the Golden Dreams [he wasn't quite there yet], Abandoned Cities [I can't stand drone music], Glyph [an ill-matched and unsuccessful collaboration] and Walk Into My Voice [I'm not interested in beat poetry], everything Budd released before 2006 is well worth investigating. During this period, his run of releases was richly rewarding.

[Quiet Visitor]

Recently I bought the HBO-series I Know This Much Is True, based on the novel of Wally Lamb. I read that book some 20 years ago and was very impressed. The series is also one that comes in hard; well played, but very sad at times.
Well, to my surprise I saw in the credits at the beginning of the first episode Harold Budd was responsible for the soundtrack. It has a lot of the trademarks I knew from his music (although I must admit I haven't got a lot of his work).

The music is available as double-LP and download:
https://haroldbudd.bandcamp.com/album/i ... hbo-series
https://www.amazon.com/Harold-Budd-Know ... 8&qid=&sr=

[Nicrobliz]

Recently I bought the HBO-series I Know This Much Is True, based on the novel of Wally Lamb. I read that book some 20 years ago and was very impressed. The series is also one that comes in hard; well played, but very sad at times.
Well, to my surprise I saw in the credits at the beginning of the first episode Harold Budd was responsible for the soundtrack. It has a lot of the trademarks I knew from his music (although I must admit I haven't got a lot of his work).

The music is available as double-LP and download:
https://haroldbudd.bandcamp.com/album/i ... hbo-series
https://www.amazon.com/Harold-Budd-Know ... 8&qid=&sr=

The problem with that 18 track soundtrack is almost half of the tracks are taken from previous Harold Budd studio albums. Of the remaining new tracks, most of them are either nothing exceptional or just Budd-by-numbers.

For those who are discerning and own most of Budd's discography, like myself, that soundtrack is a pretty redundant affair. And there's no way I'm going to own any album solely for a couple of good tracks that I don't have elsewhere.

[Quiet Visitor]

Well, to look at it more positive: through the use of his music in a big HBO-production many people might hear of Harold Budd for the first time. And it's a common thing to use existing tracks together new music for series like this. Some of the tracks from Max Richter used for The Leftovers was already know for his fans, but he sure has gained some new ones too.

[Nicrobliz]

Well, to look at it more positive: through the use of his music in a big HBO-production many people might hear of Harold Budd for the first time. And it's a common thing to use existing tracks together new music for series like this. Some of the tracks from Max Richter used for The Leftovers was already know for his fans, but he sure has gained some new ones too.

Oh, most definitely.

Sadly, for discerning long-term fans, such as myself, the soundtrack has very little to offer. However, if I was a completist, that would be a very different matter.