Morgan Fisher - Flower Music (1998)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Lol Coxhill & Morgan Fisher - Slow Music (1980)

Beautiful, shimmering ambient sounds for sunny days. Real ones know that this type of stuff + black metal used to be this blog's bread and butter.

Years ago, a couple of old friends of mine dated for a few months, and when he met her dad, they shook hands then stood around not saying anything until her dad looked up at the sky and said, thoughtfully, "those... sure are some... slow moving clouds." Still makes me laugh. (This is a reference to the last song on this album.)

Track listing:

1. The Breathing Earth

2. The Beauty of Clay

3. Kalimba Petals

4. Waterglide

5. Photosynthesis

6. As the Sap Rises

7. Slow Moving Clouds

The distances we covered

You should also listen to:

Bearns & Dexter - The Golden Voyage Volume 1 (1980)

Rudy Adrian - The Healing Lake (2000)

Tom Kazas - Deliquescence (1989)

Lovely, often quite emotive new age sounds from down under. Synths and programmed rhythms intermixed with longing, ethereal guitars. Something about this record really taps into my big ol' well of grief, but so does pretty much everything these days.

Track listing:

1. Eyes of a Bird

2. Someday That Is Saturday

3. Heavenly Transport

4. Blankets of Ice

5. Vision of Serenity

6. On Endless Nights

7. Unseen Passage

8. Mediterranean Move

9. Journey of the Whales

Turn your head 'cross the sea

Waves of sorrow, wait for me

And with my eyes, I see your face

Drifting slowly in this space

And now it seems there's no time to fill

All these hours standing still

Also listen to:

Fumio Miyashita - Earth (1983)

Barry Cleveland - Voluntary Dreaming (1990)

Steve Khan • Rob Mounsey - Local Color (1987)

Great collaboration between guitarist Steve Khan, who I discovered years ago when I bought his album Arrows based solely on its artwork, and keyboardist/synth-guy Rob Mounsey, who I don't think I've listened to outside of this record. Khan's jazz background certainly shines through, but the dated synths and drum sequencers make Local Color feel predominantly like a new age record.

Track listing:

1. Tafiya

2. The Blue Rose

3. I See a Long Journey

4. Gondolas

5. Intruder

6. The Hunt

7. Mahana

Keep on loving while your love is strong

Keep on loving 'til your love is gone away

Also listen to:

Mark Isham - Vapor Drawings (1983)

Barry Cleveland - Voluntary Dreaming (1990)

Jon Bernoff and Marcus Allen - Breathe (1980)

Beautiful, weightless ambient compositions for piano, Rhodes piano, and vibraphone. I'm visiting with my family for Christmas, as always, so I'm not sure that you'll be hearing much from me for at least another week or so, but I'm listening to this while winding down and thought I'd share it with you real quick.

Track listing:

1. Medieval Mist

2. Interlude

3. One Earth

4. Dance on the Wind

5. Travelin' On

6. Space Rendezvous

7. Breathe

Someday comes forever

You should also listen to:

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Aeoliah - Inner Sanctum (1981)

Joel Andrews - The Violet Flame (1977)

Two extended spiritual meditations for solo harp. Mr. Andrews is also a new age author and "music healer" who purports to psychically communicate with celestial beings whose wisdom he spontaneously translates into music, which is fun. Found this LP, along with another Andrews record, in a box of easy listening LPs at my old job, and probably paid around 50 cents for it. Man, I miss working at a record store.

Upon enchanted ground

Other LPs I found through similar circumstances:

Nik Pascal - Magnetic Web (1973)

William Hoskins - Galactic Fantasy - Eastern Reflections (1979)

Cyrille Verdeaux and Bernard Xolotl - Prophecy (1981)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Bernard Xolotl - Return of the Golden Mean (1980)

Excellent collaborative album between new age great Bernard Xolotl and Cyrille Verdeaux, who's best known as the central member of Clearlight. Crystalline guitar-synths, regular ol' synths, and a bit of cello, all intertwined in a beautiful, shimmering expanse of sound. This was supposed to be my lazy, relaxing Sunday post but it was pre-empted due to the news about Mimi Parker.

Track listing:

1. Star Gulls

2. Future Seas

3. Drifting Tides

4. Indian Loop

5. Prophecy

Distant, alone, beneath the platinum stars

You should also hear:

Barry Cleveland - Mythos (1984)

Karl Schaffner & Lothar Grimm - Birds of Passage (1984)

Barry Cleveland - Voluntary Dreaming (1990)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Barry Cleveland - Mythos (1984)

Barry Cleveland with Bob Stohl and Kate Epple - Stones of Precious Water (1986)

Insomnia strikes again. Wake up at 4 AM, give up on getting back to sleep a little after 5 as the first hint of daylight comes creeping in. Come downstairs, put headphones on, put this album on. Lush layers of keyboard, guitar (acoustic, electric, 12-string, pedal steel), cimbalom, and gently buoyant percussion fill my ears. My sweet older cat comes and sits next to me, purring. Good boy. My dumb younger cat comes tearing around the corner like a maniac because he has just knocked my copy of Desertshore off the shelf and it was terrifying for him. It also looks like he managed to close the curtains somehow? I'm gonna go make some coffee.

Track listing:

1. Voluntary Dreaming

2. Ritual Sticks

3. Visual Purple

4. The Inward Spiral

5. Cleopatra's Needle

6. Hawk Dreaming

7. The Angel & the Abyss

The things I'll give to you

Also listen to:

Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach - The Leaving Time (1988)

Mark Isham - Tibet (1989)

Aeoliah - Inner Sanctum (1981)

First album by prolific new age composer/crystal healer/all-around woo woo man Aeoliah. Peaceful clouds of synth, piano, harp, flute, and angelic vocals.

Track listing:

1. Heart Flame

2. Fly into Light

3. Twin Flames Rising

4. Universal Consciousness

5. Fallen Mask [bonus]

Celestial sanctity

More new age nirvana:

Karl Schaffner & Lothar Grimm - Birds of Passage (1984)

Herb Ernst - Dreamflight (1986)

Clifford White - Spring Fantasy (1987)

Magical new age from London artist Clifford White. Gentle, playful pieces full of whimsy and wonder, built on simple, repeated synth figures.

Track listing:

1. First Born

2. April Showers

3. Daddy Long Legs

4. Anemone

5. Evensong

6. Into the Blue

7. Dandelions

8. The Rainbow Makers

9. Spring Fantasy

10. Merlins Cave

11. Ballet of the Ripple Skaters

SCIENTIST: Let's name this spider Long Legs, for its long legs

SCIENTIST 2: Hmm not kinky enough

Also listen to:

Peter Seiler - Flying Frames (1986)

Paul Speer - Collection 983: Spectral Voyages (1987)

Rob Essers - Raincolors (1994)

Related:

Ron Boots, Eric van der Heijden & Friends - By Popular Demand (1993)

Synth time! Rob Essers is from Holland, and in the 90s, he had a big ol' pile of synths, and he used them to make a pair of nerdy-ass Berlin-school records, then he spontaneously combusted, I think.

Track listing:

1. The Ability to Dream

2. A Walk Through...

3. Truceless

4. Sparkles

5. Square One

6. Luscious Feelings

7. Monochromatic

8. Colors of Rain

9. Loosing Chains

10. Electrons

11. The Trivial Round of Life

Some velcro and an order of fries

More like this:

Mario Schönwälder - The Eye of the Chameleon (1989)

Redshift - Down Time (1999)

Hex - Digital Love (1993)

Lulling, minimal ambient pieces performed on at times endearingly 90s-sounding synths.  Great album with a fucking atrocious cover. If only it was a nature scene, or just, like, an abstract blur instead of that swirly-font, pot-leaf-emblazoned photoshop nightmare. From the golden age of Ninja Tune.

Track listing:

1. Dear

2. Deep

3. Shiny

4. Felt

5. Dust

6. Sleep

7. Thred

8. Surf

9. Chants: Aum • Om Numo • Om Aim • Sitaram

Could it be your face I see on my computer screen?

If you like this, try:

Michel Genest - Crystal Fantasy (1984)

Dan Hartman - New Green Clear Blue (1989)

Fumio Miyashita - Earth (1983)

Hypnotic, psychedelic new age sounds from Japanese new age pioneer Fumio Miyashita (of Far Out/Far East Family Band.) With its simple, pulsing rhythms, watery bass lines and fuzzy, space-out guitar leads, Earth often sounds closer to krautrock, or even Floydian space rock, than to new age. Note: this rip of the CD reissue was missing "Wave from East", so as you will surely hear, that track is sourced from a vinyl rip.

Track listing:

1. Creation

2. Dawn

3. Good Morning

4. Sun Beams

5. Earth Motion

6. Wave from East

7. Love from Motion

8. Touch

9. Dusk

10. Arion's Theme

11. Light for You [bonus]

Parallel world

Similar sounds:

Ariel Kalma - Interfrequence (1975)

Double Fantasy - Universal Avenue (1987)

Mark Dwane - The Monuments of Mars (1988)

Thanks to everyone for the killer workout music recommendations, keep 'em coming! (They don't have to be tough-guy stuff, if that's not what floats your boat.) But since it's been getting so intense around here, let's cool off with some synth-tastic new age. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth, and become the alien.

Track listing:

1. Eternity

2. Pyramids of Mars

3. Metamorophosis

4. Solstice Ritual

5. Cydonia

6. Water Age

7. Pyramids of Mars (Reprise)

8. The Martian Sphinx

9. Another Eternity

I took a walk in space

Boy, I really felt blue

Also give these a listen:

Patrick Gleeson - Rainbow Delta (1982)

Gert Emmens - Wanderer of Time (2003)

Steve Kindler - Automatic Writing (1985)

Glimmering new age bliss from American violinist/composer/multi-instrumentalist Steve Kindler. Synths, layered violins, guitars, autoharp, and various forms of percussion form a warm, bright sound that occasionally approaches fusion.

Track listing:

1. Invocation

2. Back Country

3. Something from the Heart

4. For You...

5. Dawn in Varanasi

6. Sometime Ago

7. Automatic Writing

8. Song of the Seabird

Caught up in the rapture

Similar listening:

Latitude - Latitude (1986)

Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach - The Leaving Time (1988)

Wavestar - Moonwind (1987)

Synth-based sounds for drifting through an infinite expanse of glittering stars and planets. Like many of us, anxiety has played a major role in my life over the past year, and it's been the kind of pervasive, omnipresent anxiety that can't be staved off by ambient music. In fact, ambient music has been so at-odds with how I've been feeling, it's made my anxiety worse a few times. Kinda like how if you're feeling really lonely, listening to funk can feel like listening to a great party that someone else threw and didn't invite you. SO I take it as a great sign that I've been listening to more and more of it over the past few months.

Track listing:

1. Voyager

2. Edge of Morning

3. Cabala

4. Troll Valley

5. Moonwind

6. Chase the Evening

7. For the Whales [bonus]

Intergalactic planetary

Similar vibes:

Mark Shreeve - Ursa Major (1980)

Waveshape - Zyklus (1995)

Latitude - Latitude (1986)

Debut LP from this new age duo. Synth voices of every kind, programmed drums, and 'real' guitar courtesy of legit virtuoso Ben Verdery.

Track listing:

1. At a Heart's Glance

2. Wing and a Prayer

3. A Boy's Fortune

4. Spring Training

5. Open Water

6. Private Island

7. Rock Pool Dreams

8. Cloud Dancing

Ozone

More like this:

Al Gromer Khan - Divan I Khas (Visions of a Mogul Prince) (1984)

Peter Seiler - Flying Frames (1986)

Gaussian Curve - The Distance (2017)

One of the great modern ambient records. Simple, programmed beats coast through a shimmering expanse of rich, chiming guitars and synths. At times, there's a slo-mo smoothness that suggests 80s soft rock played at 33 instead of 45; elsewhere, it's more of a tasteful take on classic new age. Speaking of classic new age, some of you nerds might be interested to learn that Gigi Masin is involved.

Track listing:

1. Breathe

2. The Distance

3. Dancing Rain

4. Suspended Motion

5. Ceremony

6. T.O.R.

7. Four for You

8. Another Place

The sea of sands

If you like this, try:

Richard Burmer - Bhakti Point (1987)

Walls - Walls (2010)

Hiroshi Yoshimura - Soundscape 1: Surround (1986)

Complete aural tranquility courtesy of ambient great Hiroshi Yoshimura. My views regarding the last presidential election are well-documented and unchanged, so no real need to rehash them. But everyone, especially my fellow Americans -- even the ones who embrace a kind of cruelty and willful ignorance that I still can't fully comprehend -- could probably benefit from some beautiful ambient music and, like, a few long, deep breaths.

Track listing:

1. Time After Time

2. Surround

3. Something Blue

4. Time Forest

5. Water Planet

6. Green Shower

From sky to sky

You'd also feel better if you listened to:

Michael Stearns - M'Ocean (1984)

Kenichiro Isoda (磯田健一郎) - クラムボンの瞑想 (1990)

Joan Bibiloni - Silencio Roto (1987)

Solo album by Spanish guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Joan Bibiloni. Soothing, nocturnal sounds that fall somewhere between new age and fusion.

If you're one of the weirdly large number of people who have commented recently requesting that I re-up something in FLAC format, or start posting FLACs from here on out: I'm not doing that, for a number of reasons that I won't go into here unless you force me to. Just enjoy the damn music -- or don't -- and if you like it so much, go buy it on Discogs or something.

Track listing:

1. Silencio Roto (Cabecera)

2. Silencio Roto (Tema)

3. Sobrevivir

4. Bajo el azul

5. Contacto azul

6. Easy Walk

7. Nacimientos

8. Caminos del aire

9. Migas

10. Silencio Roto (Versión)

11. Vuelo lento

12. El salto del martín

13. Amanecer azul

14. Mamá

15. Agua profunda

16. Persecución

17. Vuela la hormiga

18. Nacimientos II

19. Walts for Lyle & Pat

20. Alas de seda

21. Refugio

22. Rueda firme

23. Ocasos

Footprints

You'd also enjoy:

Mark Isham - Vapor Drawings (1983)

Jarosław Śmietana - Talking Guitar (1984)

Mark Isham - Vapor Drawings (1983)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Mark Isham - Castalia (1988)
Mark Isham - Tibet (1989)
Mark Isham - Mark Isham (1990)

Easily my favorite Mark Isham record, not to mention one of my all-time favorite new age records. Synths, trumpet, and more meld together into a single warm, shimmering ocean of sound.

Track listing:
1. Many Chinas
2. Sympathy and Acknowledgment
3. On the Threshold of Liberty
4. When Things Dream
5. Raffles in Rio
6. Something Nice for My Dog
7. Men Before the Mirror
8. Mr. Moto's Penguin (Who'd Be an Eskimo's Wife)
9. In the Blue Distance

I demand a better future

Similar sounds:

Harold Budd -
The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Rainer Brüninghaus -
Continuum (1983)