Product Description Darla is proud to offer a pair of companion piece CDs by two Masters, Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd. After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks are not ambient. Both are instrumental, absolutely beautiful and as emotionally charged as any previous work from either artist. The pair of albums complement one another, each track with it's twin on the companion piece, the two conceived as experiments in the dualities of music and emotion. As with all classic recordings from the Masters the listener desires repeated listening to absorb their full sonic implications. This is soulful music that allows one to find that place within where peace and perspective are achieved. It moves effortlessly to erase the chatter of modern life and inspire meditation on things important. It may help the listener better see their way forward. Robin's trademark guitar sound and Harold's signature piano sound first came together when Harold collaborated with Cocteau Twins on the Moon and the Melodies LP (4AD), 1986. The record was as strikingly beautiful as it was popular. In fact, it was the romantic recording of the decade. Here again Guthrie and Budd's signature sounds are absolutely made for each other - in heaven. .com It's been more than 20 years since pianist Harold Budd's first full collaboration with guitarist Robin Guthrie's former group, the Cocteau Twins, on The Moon and the Melodies. Primed by their atmospheric collaboration on the score to Mysterious Skin, they pick up where they left off, sans the voice of Elizabeth Fraser, on a pair of matched CDs, After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks. Guthrie lays down his signature deep-echo guitar arpeggios and shimmering electric glissandos while Budd drops piano notes, each placed with the elegance and thought of a Zen garden. The latter, whose 2005 retirement appears to have been greatly exaggerated, has lately been stripping away the electronics and making an introspective solo piano music, often born from melodic fragments and languid improvisations. It's nice to hear them framed by Guthrie in an electric gossamer where melodies flutter like tattered cobwebs in the echoing wind. So it's not surprising that some tracks have a tendency to vaporize. Songs with a bit of grounding like "Seven Thousand Sunny Years," with its spare rhythm track and refracting guitars, tend to hold up a little better, while "My Monochrome Vision" just wanders into the drone zone. Of the two albums, After the Night Falls is more structured and formed, although Budd and Guthrie do wait until the last track of Before the Day Breaks to unleash a welcome slice of contrasting aggression with "Turn on the Moon." Totaling 81 minutes between them, I'm not sure why the albums couldn't have been condensed into a single disc, making a tighter, less diffuse statement. Yet both have more than enough moments of sublime melancholy and deep ruminations to provide a soundtrack for that long lonesome film in your mind. --John Diliberto
A**S
Five Stars
I got into Robin Guthrie and him combined with other artist and he seems to shine through.
K**E
Three Stars
I prefer the many other Harold Budd cd more.
D**A
Five Stars
The best sound wave, as usual.
M**E
Like a cross between Budd's work with Eno and Frippertronics
John Diliberto (in Amazon's review) is right...this could have, and probably should have, been a single CD in combination with Before The Day Breaks . Aside from that one minor complaint, the two CDs form a musical tapestry that is reminiscent of Budd's two Eno collaborations, Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror and The Pearl , with Guthrie's guitar expanding the sound into the realm of Eno's collaborations with Robert Fripp, (No Pussyfooting) and Evening Star ...with the big exception being that Guthrie eschews Fripp's reliance on loops and drones in favor of more traditional playing. If you're a fan of the four CDs I just named, you will love both of these...it's that simple. At times, a compelling melody will break free of the ambient spiral and pull you in, but for the most part, it's not music for "active listening" or driving around on a hot summer day with the top down on your convertible. It's ambient music, and it's among the best that's out there.
G**N
Unbelievable work
Ethereal, beautiful, sojourn and inspired. The tracks on Before The Day Breaks and After The Night Falls both have a timeless quality to them. Guthrie does his own effect work and the shimmering, blissful resonant reverb tails drift one into the subtle world of sonambulism. Frequency Hypnagogic. In my collection at least, if these two works had to be ranked, both albums would top all other 'ambient' recordings, simply for the fact that the genre is one in which it becomes difficult to find anything purely musical and within many contexts, lends itself more to pure atmospherics and less musicality. Not so with the work of Guthrie and Budd. This is where these two surpass the status quo of most other 'ambient' artists, as when working together, something new is arises that patternes a somewhat traditional song structure, yet drifts in tandem via effect work that amalgamates melancholic, heartfelt intonations in a very emotional and musical way. Furthermore, they stray from the traditional clutches of cliche by juxtaposing melodious, melancholy compositions with promising and optimistic resonance that never seems to become overly tedious, trite or contrived.IMHO, there will come a time when these two artists could easily be compared with the likes of Erik Satie and Claude Debussy in that they conjure up images of impressionistic works and minimalism, but with some form of added 'je ne sais quoi' that makes it incomparable. In keeping with Dubussy and Satie, Budd and Guthrie are far too underappreciated by the their contemporaries, perhaps a little too ahead of their time, but through the passing therof, they could very well be treading new territory into neo 'classical' without the pomposity associated with such music. It would be a travesty should they not very well be recognized for the true musical genius (through simplicity) that their work has given us.There are not enough stars in the Amazon rating box to descibe what this music is, because nothing out there except what these two have done before themselves, sounds like it. It is in a genre, all of its own.
M**.
Perfect Ambient music you will indulge in
I barely became aware of the release of this album in early 2008 (it came out in mid-2007). Yet, since I found out about it, it's become a fixture in my iTunes playlist. The ethereal sound of Harold Budd (one of the early creators of Ambient music along with Brian Eno) blends in impeccably with the guitar work of Robin Guthrie (of Cocteau Twins fame) to yield an album that you will indulge in time and again.Along with the companion Before The Day Breaks , this is an album you will find yourself listening in times of trouble and in times of joy equally, non-intrusive music that you can work to and write to as much as you can mellow to.
W**Y
West of Sundown by Budd & Guthrie
Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie, a pair of legendary names in the ambient music world, created a two-album theme of music and emotions with Before The Day Breaks and After The Night Falls. Creating a kind of minimalist sound with these albums, the pair have created relaxing ambient music demonstrating that sometimes less is more, and better. Both are excellent for unwinding after work, for quiet times and perhaps even catching your breath at work. This is a definite recommendation for those who want their music a little calmer & quieter.
B**S
bliss
I have been a long time fan of the cocteau twins for quite some time. I was also introduced to harold budd when the twins collaberated with him on The moon and the melodies. As far as iam concerned, robin and harold are the perfect duo. Their music weaves together like beautiful tapestry. This is ambient music at its best. After the night falls is the best out of the two disc, but both of them are a must for any fan of both the artist.
A**R
Five Stars
Excellent
C**R
More beauty from these masters of the form...
this is pretty much what you would expect from two masters of the ambient and ethereal. Budd's distinctive and minimalist melodic piano resonates through layers of synths and treated guitars. It's very well executed and sounds better with each listening. Hard to fault really.
M**L
ambient
ambient great!
S**X
Schöne Klangfarben als Wellness-Empfehlung
"After the Night Falls" bietet Klangfarben, die nach meiner Empfindung wunderschön zur Jahreszeit des Herbstes passen. Warme Synthesizer-Klänge gepaart mit verhallten Gitarrensounds ergeben dieses malerische Klanggebilde. Den Anspruch auf rein musikalischer Ebene darf man allerdings nicht zu hoch ansetzen. Hier geht es eben lediglich um Soundmalereien, und das ist mir aber dann doch oft musikalisch zu flach, etwas mehr Reibung und Spannung hätte dem Album gut getan. So geht es hier mehr in die Richtung einer etwas banaleren Chill-Out-Produktion. Diese Musik könnte folglich in einem Wellness-Hotel laufen, für Musiker ist hier die Herausforderung zu gering. Es ist sicher auch Können, Klangfarben richtig ein- und umzusetzen, aber selbst auch hier vermisse ich den Spannungsbogen. Im Endeffekt steht und fällt jeder Track mit dahin geworfenen einfachen Harmonien, die einzig und allein von Effekten wie Hall und Sustain leben. Der letzte Track "Turn off the Sun" mit einem Drum-Beat unterstreicht meinen Eindruck der etwas einfachen und kitschigen Produktion, hier könnte sogar Ricky King von einst seine Finger im Spiel gehabt haben.Wenn ich Vergleich ziehe zu Patrick O`Hearn, Biosphere oder Bohren & der Club of Gore, dann ziehe ich diese Musiker und Produzenten alle mal vor, da mehr Klasse geboten wird.
A**R
Two masters of ambience at work here!
Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd make night and daybreak most enjoyable in a poetic and charming way.This recording is a brilliant match for their other work, Before the Day Breaks.Two masters of ambience at work here!
