Harold Budd

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Harold Budd (born May 24, 1936) is an American ambient/avant-garde composer. Born in Los Angeles, California, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires.

His career as a composer began in 1962. In the following years he gained a notable reputation in the local avant-garde community. In 1966 he graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in musical composition.

As his career progressed, his compositions became increasingly minimal. Among his more experimental works were two drone pieces, “Coeur d’Orr” and “The Oak of the Golden Dreams”. “The Oak of the Golden Dreams” was based on the Balinese “Slendro” scale. After composing a long-form gong solo titled “Lirio”, he felt he had reached the limits of his experiments in minimalism and the avant-garde. He retired temporally from composition in 1970 and began a teaching career at the California Institute of the Arts.

Two years later, while still retaining his teaching career, he resurfaced as a composer. Spanning from 1972-1975 he created four individual works under the collective title The Pavilion of Dreams. The style of these works was an unusual blend of popular jazz and the avant-garde. In 1976 he resigned from the institute and began recording his new compositions, produced by British ambient pioneer Brian Eno. Two years later Harold Budd’s debut album The Pavilion of Dreams was released.

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ambient, minimal, atmospheric, minimalism, electronica
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blwbllashes wrote:
yesterday evening

@kgullholmen bella vista

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zzzoneDOTnet wrote:
Sunday evening

Harold Budd is one of the best ambient and/or minimal composers. http://zzzone.net

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kgullholmen wrote:
Friday morning

can anybody recommend me an album please? I have and love Avalon Sutra and The Pearl (and the Plateaux of Mirrors). I didn't like White Arcades ... at all. so, are there any more albums in the vein of The Pearl and Plateaux?

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gertietheduck wrote:
last week

Yes, and it was released by Eno's Obscure label...

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SixShooterSam wrote:
last week

Did Brian Eno help produce The Pavilion of Dreams or am I thinking that up? I dunno.

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apollinaris wrote:
11 days ago

1.000.000 scrobbles! yu-hoo! ;)

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patman2769 wrote:
20 days ago

Avalon Sutra makes me think of Japan. Not the David Sylvian band, that is—I mean the country. Like, a Japanese countryside or something. Is this weird?

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mankymusic wrote:
last month

for your listening pleasure http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~oss403/mankymusic/downloads.html

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Pewp wrote:
September 2009

Avalon Sutra is one of the best albums I've heard in a long time.

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xkaradactyl wrote:
August 2009

Boy About 10......... <3

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OCVfan wrote:
July 2009

givea listen to my favourite-band! www.myspace.com/ourceasingvoice

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bcullimore wrote:
July 2009

"La Bella Vista" is such a fantastic album. So damn beautiful.

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stwoor_suri wrote:
June 2009

thanks a lot! you're my hero :)

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qdes wrote:
June 2009

It's the first song on Translucence, an album by John Foxx & Harold Budd.

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stwoor_suri wrote:
May 2009

hey, does anyone have the song "Subtext"? written by Harold Budd and John Foxx, it is in "Inside I'm dancing" (2004) soundtrack, but i can't find it in net. please help me, it's a great song!

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chadhilton wrote:
May 2009

great feel

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noplacer wrote:
May 2009

Happy birhday, Harold!

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dercho-music wrote:
May 2009

GREAT !

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Drenkar wrote:
May 2009

I have listened to Harold Budd for many years. I still have old cassette tapes of his music I can't part with. Fortunately, I have a nice shelf stereo in my work room that includes a cassette deck -- that was an essential for me. I am so pleased to find so much Harold Budd and other similar space and ambiant music here.

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Loktionoff wrote:
April 2009

Прекрасный, великий, загадочный и завораживающий. Музыка, которая окунает в прошлое, музыка, которая приглашает помечтать о будущем, музыка, с которой даже настоящее становится светлее, нежнее, утонченней и живее. Эта музыка однажды подталкнула меня на поступок, помогла изменить ход событий в моей жизни. Гарольд Бад это вселенная!!!

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