Harold Budd - The Serpent (In Quicksilver) / Abandoned Cities (1989)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Harold Budd - Lovely Thunder (1986)
Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd - The Moon and Melodies (1986)
Harold Budd - The White Arcades (1988)
Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After the Night Falls (2007)

Issued in 1989, this record collects two of Budd's early albums: The Serpent (In Quicksilver),  originally recorded in '81 (on a 4-track, no less) and Abandoned Cities, which consists of two long pieces composed in '84 for an art installation. The Serpent is very much in line with the piano-driven, synth-saturated ambient music for which he'd eventually become known, while Abandoned Cities offers an enticing glimpse at a darker, more experimental approach at which he proved quite proficient.

Track listing:
1. Afar
2. Wanderer
3. Rub with Ashes
4. Children on the Hill
5. Widows Charm
6. The Serpent (In Quicksilver)
7. Dark Star
8. Abandoned Cities

Totems of the red-sleeved warrior