An A-Z of New Age artists

[Ruby]

Alpha Wave Movement, aka Gregory T Kyryluk who hails from who knows where! A distant star?? A well regarded progressive electronic artist, Wiki classifies the project as “ambient, new-age, electronica, space rock, dub”. His Architexture Of Silence gets a big thumbs up from various luminaries so I’m giving it a spin. Seems to me he’s a builder, so the title is apt. It’s as though the vague, random blips, bleeps and hums that are all swirling around suddenly start making sense. Hmmmm – not easily dismissible, IMHO. On the other hand – I may have to admit to being a philistine; while not anathema, this particular album might be too slow of a burn for me! Trying another one which is a bit more sonically appealing to these ears – Bislama – Alpha Wave Movement & Jim Cole (who does throat/overtone singing).

[Ruby]

A little off the beaten track - all this spacey stuff calls up what is the only original piece of music I've ever come across by Ed Starink (synthesizer covers guy). The title is his wife's name spelled backwards, by all accounts - Nicolet. Stays with me for some reason!  

[Ruby]

If I didn't know better, I would have hazarded a guess that Amethystium would be a metal outfit. But no. Discogs has them as downtempo, new age & ambient. Meh. Nothing distinctive, IMHO. Largely electronic with some instruments here and there and occasional vocals, which are not front and foremost. A disservice to the fiddle and cello players I think - the boring basslines. Hailing from Norway - the brainchild of Øystein Ramfjord and featuring guest musicians across the five releases.  

Let's see - mmmmm - how about "Saudade", which to digress is a word I like, and which is not dissimilar in meaning to yet another new word I have learned "Hiraeth". Hiraeth is an impossible to directly translate Welsh word (as is the Portuguese saudade) that describes the feeling of missing something that's irretrievably lost - a combination of nostalgia, homesickness and longing. To sum it up briefly!

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
the images associated with the clips you post are fantastic Ruby

[Ruby]

^I expect that's due to the nature of the new age beastie! 

[Ruby]

Now where was I?? Still on the A’s! Next up – Ancient Future. This is an ensemble that seems to morph in and out of what I would call jazz fusion in varying degrees as it moves along. From their website …. https://www.ancient-future.com/ ...

"Over the years, Ancient Future has expanded its musical vision through collaborations with noted masters of various world music traditions who are now an integral part of what is today more than just a band. Ancient Future has grown to become a large chamber ensemble of more than thirty performers from around the world with over a dozen smaller ensembles within it, enabling Ancient Future to realize its core mission of creating world fusion music.

Through cross cultural exchange and collaboration, Ancient Future has created a rich musical world of tradition and innovation. In addition to their original music based on world traditions, the many ensemble variations also perform traditional music from the cultures of the individual master musicians who perform with the band. This provides an educational experience for the audience that excites people about world traditions and then shows how those traditions can make contemporary culture richer."

I listened to World Without Walls, some of which was appealing to me, some not so much. Not enough for me to want to revisit soon. I don’t know what it is – maybe just not enough of a thread holding it all together – a bit all over the place. I like some of the more unusual sounds, just that the ‘whole’ didn’t gel for me. I dunno … best of the bunch IMHO …

[Ruby]

Darol Anger is a familiar name - not to mention rather unusual, so memorable. He's a violinist and I have previously listened to an album he made with Mike Marshall called Chiaroscuro. According to Wiki, his fields are progressive bluegrass, chamber jazz, new age and folk. I'd stop and listen to his stuff if it wandered my way. He was associated with Windham Hill at one point. 

[Ruby]

David Arkenstone has released 81 solo albums plus a fair few soundtracks. I suppose his stuff typifies what one might imagine new age music to sound like – in fact some of those 81 albums are titled Spa – Bliss, Spa – Reflection, Spa – Touch, for example. It’s pretty formulaic if you ask me. How on earth can anyone find 80+ albums in them?? Crazy. Anyway – there it is! I don’t think it can be true, or possible, that all his music is insubstantial or tinkly winkly, so I tried – I listened to his most recent album, Winterlude, which was suitably brittle and frosty but I found it a bit boring after a while so went back to hear 1991’s In the Wake of the Wind which was more appealing. He’s a factory. What can I say! The thing with him is that I don't think I'd hear something and be able to identify it as being David Arkenstone - if that makes sense. I'm sure he's the royalty of the genre, along with Diane, below, however, probably not much my thing but then again, there are bound to be exceptions, surely - in 81 releases! 

[Ruby]

And then there’s Diane Arkenstone who used to be married to the David above! She’s a trained opera singer and multi-instrumentalist, and for her, this is a vocation. Not quite as prolific as her ex, and of a very similar oeuvre although there are differences. They still collaborate from time to time.

She believes wholeheartedly in the healing power of music and the voice, and this is the reason; she was born with a complete AV block in her heart, underwent more than 30 surgeries over the years, from early childhood, and has had pacemakers implanted at varying times - she was told she’d never be able to survive without one and then in 2022, her doctors pronounced that her heart had somehow fully healed.

From as young as 3 years old, she sought solace in music and singing and she is convinced that the vibrations of her guitar and voice are what have led to her complete recovery (albeit quite far down the line). The music she makes tends to include chanting and vocalization rather than regular singing.

She recently released a new album – Aquaria II: Ascencion – so I listened to that … not really my thing – again, everything starts sounding the same and I don’t like the bass on this album. “Water Touches Air” -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZzuyOpeD80 

Diane also styles herself ‘Enaid’ (horrors) and Ah*Nee*Ma (with David) which is an iteration of all the above but with a native American flavour – the flute, primarily. I ran out of steam though, so maybe one day I will check that out more – this was all I could get to and it was pretty basic IMHO. Anyway – what do I know? Having never composed a single thing in my life! It's indefinable and elusive, not to mention personal - that quality that makes someone's sound attractive, or not.  

[Ruby]

Armik is a 'new flamenco' guitarist of Iranian/Armenian extract. I can't - sorry - and I have a fondness for Spanish guitar! Very intolerant of me, I know - he might be proficient and all but suffice to say he's also the Kenny G equivalent, IMHO. Fortunately for him, millions disagree!! Nuff said. Random pick ...