The Arcanum

The Arcanum will act as a repository for my musical musings, mainly reviews, but may include other random related thoughts as relates to Prog. Will probably include some side quests off that though.

For those of you new to The Arcanum, or don't know my musical tastes, it tends towards the raw, unrefined, and underground side of things. Psych, RIO/Avant, Prog Electronic, Prog Folk are favorite subs, as well as the regional subs, Krautrock, Indo-Prog/Raga Rock, Zeuhl etc. However not averse to any genre (except maybe Neo Prog). If Genesis, Marillion, IQ etc.., proper, clean sounding Prog is what you seek here you will be disappointed. If it's Guru Guru, Current 93, Tangerine Dream, Amon Duul, Captain Beefheart, Acid Mothers Temple etc.. then you will probably find something to enjoy here.

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As a random little aside; it's been a literal decade since I've written a review on the site, and about 5-6 years since I've interacted on this site in any real, meaningful way. So uh, hello to all you people that remember me and to those who don't. I hope you find enjoyment in these ramblings.

Gutter prog FTW!

EDIT: And a third person has downloaded Zodiac Mountain from me. Your review must've caused a minor wave in the underground!

The Arcanum review No.2

 

Harold Budd – Abandoned Cities

 

(this is a rewrite of an old and terribly written review from 2011)

While pianist Harold Budd is probably best known to the general music fan for his collaborations with Brian Eno (Ambient 2 and The Pearl), his catalog is deep. Various solo albums in the realms of piano driven Ambient and Classical, along with a slew of collaborations and work done for various films, tv series, and art installations, which is what Abandoned Cities seems to have been originally created for, “ABHASA: Image-Bearing Light by Lita Albuquerque, Harold Budd, and Robert Kramer”, but I cannot find much of anything online about this installation.

 

On Abandoned Cities, Budd turns in two slow moving side long tracks of hypnotic, etheric, brooding, and ultimately bleak and depressive Dark Ambient, before that was even a genre proper. The A side, Dark Star, slowly sweeps along on a bed of mournful, layered, undulating synth drones, some darker and brooding, others a bit lighter and melancholic. It’s like weaving your way through a dead, rubble strewn city. This is aided by some occasional guitar textures, slow and dour, almost abrasive, but not noisy. The B side, Abandoned Cities, takes things even slower, more minimal and more melancholic, but not quite as dark, like looking at the sun through grey clouds. If side A was a more intimate, personal look at the city, side B is a bird’s eye view of everything, slowly drifting and wafting above the streets and buildings rooves, it’s all depressive and introspective, but at arm’s length. The bed of layered synth work is still present here, but instead of guitar we have somber, quiet, and extremely minimal piano work as our aid. Neither track really goes anywhere, but that’s the point, simply wanting to show this place in your mind’s eye for a while.

The album title “Abandoned Cities” could not have been a more perfect choice for this incredible release, same with the artwork, a B&W photo of the upper façade of a building, a teaser for all that is inside. One of the coolest musical experiences I’ve had comes with this album. Two of my hobbies, that are intertwined with each other, photography and urban exploration, lead me to a great deal of abandoned and interesting places. One of those places was the now demolished Saint Nicholas coal breaker nestled in the hills of Pennsylvania. A towering 6-7 story or higher hulking, industrial behemoth left to rot. Me and my pals had entered and were having a blast exploring and photographing the place. As often happens we tend to separate and wander around on our own. I decided to put the camera and tripod aside for a bit, put some earbuds in and just take a walk around listening to this album. It was an absolutely incredible experience to walk around this grey ironclad, rust flaked site, among old control panels and crunchy, sketchy catwalks. It sounds utterly insane to say but that was one of the most peaceful experiences I’ve had, either with music or exploring.

I really sucked at photography back in 2011, so I don't have many pictures that are worth sharing from the Saint Nicholas coal breaker, but here's a couple (all the pictures above are from different unrelated places, they just kinda fit the mood).

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr