harold budd: avalon sutra

Remastered from the original DAT master by Harold Budd's right hand man in the studio for 30 years, award winning Sound Engineer Bradford Ellis, this new edition of Avalon Sutra sounds better than the original release, which we discovered was flattened in mastering. You can now hear the original recording's full depth and dynamic range. There were some micro snats on the DAT. All which could be seen on the waveform were corrected. At the time of release in 2004 Avalon Sutra was reported to be California-born American minimalist composer and pianist Harold Budd’s last recorded work. Avalon Sutra (released as a 2 disc set) is a suite of short, heartbreaking ambient pieces, featuring Budd’s delicate piano improvisations, lush string arrangements and warm electronic drones. The second disc (As Long As I Can Hold My Breath) features a startling coda by LA based electronic composer Akira Rabelais, sending Budd’s arrangements into Feldmanesque eternities of sound. Best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno, contributing his stunning piano work to key recordings such as 1980’s Ambient 2: Plateau of Mirror, Budd has produced a series of remarkable minimalist compositions and recordings, including Pavilion of Dreams, The Pearl and The Room, which have earned him worldwide respect. On Avalon Sutra, Budd created brief, snapshot like compositions, made all the more fragile and impermanent by his glistening piano work, Avalon Sutra has a bittersweet, autumnal quality – the composer’s trademark “loveliness” deepened and perturbed by the brevity of these pieces. If “ambient” music characteristically works to sustain a mood of intimacy, warmth, meditative ecstasy, such moods, which are certainly present in Budd’s work, are never allowed to last too long on Avalon Sutra. There’s a cumulative sadness and beauty to the way that these mood pieces linger briefly, stop and transform into something new. Budd’s gorgeous, angular string arrangements amplify this feeling. Avalon Sutra was expected to bring to a conclusion 30 years of sustained musical activity. Asked why, Budd said only that he felt that he had said what he has to say. With characteristic humility, he concluded, “I don’t mind disappearing!” Fortunately, Budd was soon inspired to record again and has since been in the most prolific phase of his remarkable 40 year career.