Yeah, I like Budd as well. I know him best from his collaborations, though.

Harold Budd & Cocteau Twins interlude

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a0O799H4So

 

Just when I think it couldn't get any more interesting you guys bring up Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd. I didn't think people still listened to great music. Gentlemen if I was in your vicinity we'd be hanging out right now.
I don't know if it's nostalgia but a part of me feels we will never get back to these amazing moments in musical history. I long for the 4AD days of times past...

SAiNT if you don't know Cocteau Twins I seriously recommend that you check them out. They were a very influential and talented Scottish band and I think you would like them based on your listening interests. Their earlier stuff is darker but very ethereal while their newer stuff is more pop oriented yet still very atmospheric. Some people find it a little hard to get into them being that they were so different than their contemporaries but trust me it's a worthy endeavor. A truly unique and creative band that influenced well...everyone.

 

I love Harold Budd (with or without Cocteau Twins) not to mention Jon Hassell.(for me the best)
Masters (including some Sylvian(not all )+ Robert Fripp)or minimalists as Terry Riley.
Daniel Lanois as producer of the wall of blackness(silence) through sounds

 

Yes, dark luminosity and space. That is a key ingredient.

 

OK, more Cocteaus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCuvTKM04Jk

 

Me too.

You're absolutely correct concerning your comment on how everything is digital. I watch old movies and listen to old music and I can't help but think that those flaws and inconsistencies in the medium were what gave it it's charm. When film was more grainy and imperfect it was also more visceral and real somehow. Same with audio and you can really tell when you hear some remastered albums as they are missing something from the original. I guess It had some kind of inexplicable atmosphere that has been lost to us in these times. It was perfect in all it's imperfections.

Concerning the Cocteau Twins I think you will really like them. Some people find it hard to get into them but they are an amazing band and I love their guitar tone and their use of effects. Such an atmospheric and ethereal infusion. Old albums are perfect for dark and brooding days and their new stuff is more positive and moving. In my personal opinion all their albums are great.

Craig Armstrong is amazing. I love his work. *yes*

 

Here's some songs I really like by Cocteau Twins (I've included album titles in each post for you SAiNT) Even if you already got the albums now I would still check out some of the videos I posted because they are really cool particularly the fan-made ones from their older material:

This is from the album Four-Calendar Cafe (1993):

What a great title for a song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yna3wMFi_W4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yapze5PaFs

 

These next two are from the album Garlands (1982):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgCoHlIkHcU

Sounds like someone read T.S. Eliot's poem of the same name. You should also check it out because it's phenomenal: T.S. Eliot - The Hollow Men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dslKCvcbM38

 

These are from the album Heaven Or Las Vegas (1990):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WybSSagVvoU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j65v7OqlW6I

 

These two are from the albums Milk & Kisses (1996) and the Love's Easy Tears EP (1986) respectively:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC8Yhoo3PTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgv08gsexfc

 

The final two are from the album Treasure (1984). I highly recommend starting with this album as it is one of my favorites. I would post more but they have so many great songs and albums so I figured I'd include a good mix of their old and new stuff. This way you can get a better feel for their sound through the years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hPaVdy-IWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_ICl20EJjY

Feridan I have to apologize for hijacking your thread. I simply couldn't help myself.

 

No particular reason for posting this, other than that the Harold Budd track you posted reminded me of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLxDRePUwEY

 

The 80s were really the Fin de siecle in different clothing. The looming apocalypse gave everything its keen edge. Beautiful weird plants sprouted from the poisoned Northern wasteland.

Subconsciously we probably expected to die. Either through nuclear war, or nuclear error. And it did nearly happen (thank you Stanislav Petrov). That's where that appealing shadow comes from. That veiled mystery at the heart of a lot of the better music from the 80s. That dark rather French-tinged romanticism, and all manner of occult endeavors. And then Chernobyl in '86, how fitting.

 

And it was all set to the visceral grit of the available technology at the time. This is where Industrial really found itself and proceeded in utilizing all the tension of the times to get people to think about what was going on in world and the deplorable state of the human condition. Without this catalyst who knows if it would have ever come to pass? I guess almost any conflict can be turned into an opportunity with the right mind.

 

It all started out so innocently with a few posts about Brian Eno, but then it rapidly evolved into one giant thread of 80s indoctrination.....

Chameleons - Up the Down Escalator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fZPRZm7yUQ

Kitchens of Distinction - Quick as Rainbows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfLjpLhdDBE

 

Echo & The Bunnymen - Killing Moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX1PwkgwsG0

Inspiral Carpets - Butterfly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz60idFUboQ

 

Ride - Like a Daydream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mppg4Jo1Hr4

Swervedriver - Son of Mustang Ford (this one's the demo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXk2vq6msP0

 

Chills - Pink Frost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjW3MT8D9RY

House of Love - Destroy the Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3_Np6PUsg