Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror

Harold Budd

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B0002PZVHA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,898 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #20 in	Music > Jazz > Avant Garde & Free Jazz
  #25 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Ambient
  #35 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Experimental Music

Track Listings

1. First Light

2. Steal Away

3. Plateaux of Mirror

4. Above Chiangmai

5. Arc of Doves

6. Not Yet Remembered

7. Chill Air

8. Among Fields of Crystal

9. Wind in Lonely Fences

10. Failing Light

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars if you have anxiety, forget meds, buy Brian Eno, June 27, 2005

By	Mount_Olympus "pegasusblue" (above the delicatessan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Rarely do I ever give an item on my reviews 5 stars. This review may not even be read as this album is a lost treasure. I just have to say, I don't know what it is that this album does to me. It puts me into some very, very calm zoned out mode. I can't explain it, maybe this is how people feel after serious meditation and yoga. Just so relaxing and mellow. Honestly, my stress and worry are put aside when I put this CD in. I just can't put into words the mood/zone it puts me in, almost a spiritual feeling. Odd that music can do that huh? Especially these 3 songs on this CD make me feel like I just popped a valium: Not Yet Remembered, First Light, Failing Light.
When I need to balance out my thoughts, return to my inner peace. I play this CD. WHich has to be my all time favorite CD. It even makes my mean cat sit down and stretch out and close his eyes (honest). Picture yourself on a fall day, it is dreary and overcast, there is a breeze, leaves blowing past you, and you are sitting on the edge of water, like a river or lake, and feel this incredible sense of well being ..If you check it out, just remember it is ambience and instrumental.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gray moods., June 14, 2005

By	Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

By 1980, Brian Eno had found his own voice and had his technique firmly in grasp. Having spent the better part of the '70s developing looping mechanisms and then laying the groundwork for ambient music with historic recordings such as "No Pussyfooting" (a collaboration with Robert Fripp), "Discreet Music", and "Music For Airports" and fusing these ideas with David Bowie's paranoid idiom (on Bowie's Berlin trilogy, amongst the most powerful music Bowie has ever done), Eno was at the height of his powers. It is into this regard that "The Plateaux of Mirror" was recorded. A collaboration with minimalist composer and pianist Harold Budd, this record is quite different from the rest.

What Budd provides is a stronger sense of evocative composition than Eno does-- this frees Eno to focus on technical details and technique. The result: a melancholy sort of record filled with moody interludes and tracks. Its far more theme-driven and less loop-driven than Eno's previous or contemporary work. This lends itself well to listeners who aren't really overly enamored with the idea of loop-based music. The work is particularly superb on the melancholy "First Light", the dark "Not Yet Remembered", and the noisy and mysterious "Wind in Lonely Places".

If there's a fault with this record, its that it has a bit of a sameness to it that prevents it from really shining, but its some beautiful music, and a great entry point into the catalogs of either Eno or the lesser known (but often equally brilliant) Budd.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, calm and beautiful, July 27, 2005

By	Clare Alison Durina "Prabhupadanuga" (Detroit MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My dad first turned me onto Brian Eno. I bought "Here Come the Warm Jets" and loved it. After that I decided to start acquiring more of his discography. I was quite suprised when I bought this cd and stumbled into his ambient phase. Well, let me tell you, it was quite different from his past forays of loud guitars, electronic treatments, and quirky neurotic vocals that I had been accustomed to. Yet, the change in direction was in no way lacking from the quality that I had herd on his past records. It was just a different genre.

I can't really describe ambient music so I will simply use Brian Eno's own words "background music that is herd over the tinkling of forks and knives". It's definitely intersting but you have to be in a peaceful state to appreciate it. I have often found the best way to enjoy this cd is to put in on in a dark room and lay down. When you are calm you can appreciate the slow crawling pianos, soft noises, and slow building crescendos and waves of sound.

This may not exactly be your cup of tea, but if you are into trying something different I say give it a shot. I did and I really enjoyed it. Of his ambient pieces this is probably my favorite with "The Pearl" as a close runner up.