Gimme Some Of That Old New Age Music Dept. - Bernard Xolotl

Monsieur Xolotl, yesterday

Too much of the music that falls into the ambient/New Age dump bin sounds indistinguishable from the rest. You rarely hear incompetent, badly-played music in this genre, but even more rarely hear something with its own character and identity. Jettisoning songs involves sacrificing memorability in the hope of creating a sustained (and relaxing) mood.

It's not that difficult to record something that'll sound perfect as background music in a health spa, or sooth you off to sleep. To create a mood that both remains essentially the same and incorporates developmental changes that repay attention is harder. Terry Riley - a major influence on. and friend of, Xolotl - managed it effortlessly.

You'll hear Riley's influence, and it's a good thing. Xolotl is no copyist, and his palette is colored by German experimentalism, French Romantic classical,  ethnic music, Pink Floyd, and maybe some Moondog. It's not minimalist, not drone. It's layered and detailed and sometimes busy to the point of exhilaration. He also brings in collaborators for instrumental colour, never relying on synth patches, sequencing, loops, or effects. It's proper music, if you'll forgive the contentious term. "All notes played by hand", as he says, and it's this very human warmth of touch, an organic feel, that sets him apart.

Bernard (such a shame his given name doesn't begin with an A) has had a long career and produced mucho artworks across various media, and I wish I'd discovered him decades ago. As an introduction, here's a couple of early 'eighties cassettes he recorded at his home studio; Journey To An Oracle, and Return Of The Golden Mean - generic New Age titles for music that's anything but.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

Added in comments, a link to another early one, with Cyrille Verdeaux, out of French progue band Clearlight. It's just plain larvely, is what it is.

 

 

 

 

This post nurtured to fruition thru th' patronage of The International Development Association, part of the World Bank Group. My thanks to Knuckles O'Brady for "the suitcase."