* MODERN - PETER GABRIEL * THE SOFT BOYS * U2 * ALICIA KEYS * 1 GIANT LEAP * PRIMAL SCREAM * OASIS * CORNELIUS * JEFF BECK * SHERYL CROW * VANILLA SKY * LENNY KRAVITZ * HIS NAME IS ALIVE * PIANO MAGIC * NEW ORDER * RADIOHEAD * GREGORY PAUL *
* ARCHIVE 1 - SANTANA / BILL LASWELL * BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD * GRATEFUL DEAD * LOVE * SIMON & GARFUNKEL * BOB DYLAN * BLIND FAITH * FOCUS * NEU! * WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND * JEFFERSON AIRPLANE * FAIRPORT CONVENTION * INCREDIBLE STRING BAND * BOB MARLEY * CARAVAN * SOFT MACHINE * DONOVAN * DAVID BOWIE * DAVID SYLVIAN * THE THE * JOHN MARTYN * MICHAEL O’SHEA * HUMAN LEAGUE *
* ARCHIVE 2 - PETER GABRIEL *ACID DROPS * PRINCE * THE PRETTY THINGS * TRAFFIC *KRISTOFFERSON * ALMOST FAMOUS ST * PUNK * THE WATERBOYS * SYD BARRETT * WISHBONE ASH * YES * JIMI HENDRIX * GIL EVANS * MILES DAVIS * DURUTTI COLUMN * GIL- SCOTT HERON * TERRY OLDFIELD * XTC * DAVID AXELROD * TIM BUCKLEY * EMERSON LAKE & PALMER / THE NICE * JOHN PHILLIPS * CABARET VOLTAIRE * DEAD CAN DANCE * JAN GARBAREK * KEITH JARRETT * THE WICKER MAN ST *
* CLASSICAL - ALBENIZ *DE FALLA * YEHUDI MENUHIN * RESPIGHI * LIGETI * PHILIP GLASS * MICHAEL NYMAN * RAVI SHANKAR * ANNE DUDLEY * ALFRED HITCHCOCK / BERNARD HERRMANN * JERRY GOLDSMITH * KRONOS QUARTET * ESA-PEKKA SALONEN * KEITH EMERSON * MEDIEVAL BABES * SHAKTI * STOCKHAUSEN * JOHN ADAMS *UNKNOWN PUBLIC * GEORGE WINSTON * JOHN TAVENER * MAHLER * DEBUSSY / RAVEL *
* AMBIENT ELECTRONICA - AMORPHOUS ANDROGYNOUS * DAFT PUNK * AIR LIQUIDE * AIR * NATACHA ATLAS * THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS * CAFE DEL MAR * D J SHADOW * THE ORB * KINDAI - TEK(I) *BRIAN ENO * MOBY * THIEVERY CORPORATION * COLOURBOX * BUGGE WESSELTOFT * TRICKY * TALVIN SINGH * DETROIT ESCALATOR COMPANY * PETE NAMLOOK * PAUL OAKENFOLD * THE BLUE BAR *
RECEPTION
Since the publication of The Ambient Century (see ambientcentury.com) I have been impressed by the amount of on-line activity around the book. Not alone have I had to host a discussion at feedmag.com but also be assailed with hundreds of emails and reviews on the web at various sites. The plethora of material at amazon.com is just mind-boggling and I thank all of you , particularly the Americans, who have supported and still support the book. I hope the 2003 Edition with brand new cover lives up to all your expectations.
I admit it has taken me a long time to come down from the experience, hence the long lead time between the last Altair5 and this one. In the interim we've had an unprecedented increase in the number of boxed sets, compilations, re-issues and books released in the music arena. One of the best is by a former colleague of mine on Sound On Sound magazine, Paul Tingen who spent a long time in the States researching the electric period of Miles Davis's career. His book Miles Beyond : The Electric Explorations Of Miles Davis 1967 - 1991 (Billboard)(see www.miles-beyond.com) is a mind-boggling compendium of new information, interviews, recording sessions and philosophy which begs for repeated readings. (After seeing a burning set of Jazz Funk at the Jazz Cafe from Lonnie Liston Smith I learned here that he used to play with Miles!) Not only does Tingen analyse albums like E.S.P.,In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, On The Corner, Live-Evil, Big Fun, Dark Magus, Black Beauty, Get Up With It, Agartha, Pangaea, Circle In The Round and Panthalassa but he delves deep into various philosophies from Zen to 'holons' to bring us deeper into Davis's world of music, women, violence, racism and drugs. Hats off to him for his efforts. You can read my detailed analysis of Miles Beyond at www.bloomsburymagazine.com Also there’s a terrific book on Radiohead titled Karma Police - The Stories Behind Every Radiohead Song (Carlton) written by an old colleague and musicologist, James Doheny.
God, the quantity of great recordings this issue is in mountainous propertions. Fantastic boxed sets from Buffalo Springfield, Dead Can Dance, The Grateful Dead, Simon & Garfunkel, The Nice and Cabaret Voltaire. Great compilations from Tim Buckley, ELP, Syd Barrett, David Bowie , Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett as well as sterling re-issues of Love, Bob Dylan, Wishbone Ash, Fairport Convention, The Pop Artex, NEU!, Focus, Caravan, XTC , Ravi Shankar and the long lost Wicker Man soundtrack. There are great new albums from Peter Gabriel, The Soft Boys, Sheryl Crow, Oasis, New Order, Air, Laurie Anderson and Tricky but the best comes from Bill Laswell whose re-mix of Santana's early 1970s work with John McLaughlin and Alice Coltrane Divine Light is simply breathtaking. Happy reading.
Mark Prendergast, Autumn 2001 - Autumn 2002