An
album cover seldom sets the scene as well as this one does; this is the musical
backdrop to pure pastoral ecstasy.
You find yourself
immersed in a rural terrain, the vast landscape stretching as far as your eyes
can see. Looking around, you realise that the daybreak is upon you. You stand
up and hear the faint tinkling of a piano as the sun rises over the hilltops.
The first light reaches you and you embrace the warmth, keeping yourself safe
from the cool morning breeze. You watch as the world grows brighter,
characterised by the background humming of a synthesiser as the piano becomes
more prominent. The sun is in full view; the breeze stops and life begins to
emerge from its shell.
The sound of running
water is heard as you walk through the trees and you find yourself at the edge
of a lake. The water reflects a radiant glare, shining toward the skies like a
mirror to the sun. Water-filtered ambience fills the air. You are unable to
face the glow and turn away, but can hear the sounds of birds arriving to take
their morning drink. You walk away back into the shade of the trees. Eventually
you come to a clear, open area filled with nothing but soft grass. You sweep
the ground with your hand and feel the spongy earth beneath you. Looking up,
you see that the sky is a brilliant shade of blue, empty but for an arc of
doves that is silhouetted on the horizon. The sun now sits at its peak, the
heat emanating an enveloping warm tone and the birds singing a resonant chiming
that drifts towards you through the heavens.
You close your eyes and
consider the memory you are creating, not yet remembered. By the time you open
them again, the sky is growing darker and your day is coming to an end. You head
back through the trees, the chill air following you as clouds begin to appear
overhead. The clearing on the other side reveals a path alongside a few open
fields. The clouds are now dark and the sun is almost completely hidden from
view. A light rain begins to fall and the water settles on the grass of the meadows
beside you, from a distance looking like tiny crystals shining in the last rays
of sunlight making their way through the clouds.
The path finally leads
to a fence. A series of bells hang on the wires, ringing in the afternoon breeze.
The clouds have now blown over, revealing a brilliant red and orange skyline. The
wind is growing in intensity and the trees are swaying from side to side. You
climb through the fence, cautious not to get hooked on any sharp knots of wire
and walk over the hill on the other side. As your eyes grow accustomed to the dimness
of the grey evening, you realise that you are back where you started, the open land
stretching for miles in every direction. You see the trees you first went
through that morning and become aware of the fact that you have gone full
circle. But as the last light begins to fade away and the stars begin to show,
you decide you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. You sit down and listen to
the piano play the final notes of your day as you close your eyes and drift off
into a state of peaceful bliss.
Rating: 7/10
(Originally posted on sputnikmusic.com: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/46083/Harold-Budd-and-Brian-Eno-Ambient-2---The-Plateaux-of-Mirror/ )
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