Laraaji anyone??

Laraaji did a "sound-therapy" session at my wife's gym last night. I'm pretty certain I was the only person there who knew who he was. Everyone laid down on mats and listened to him perform...though I sat and watched him.

If you have no idea who Laraaji is it's understandable. I learned of him through the album he did with brian eno in '80. The music he's done ever since has always been very atmospheric, sound-scapes, droning electronic loop effects... always quite good if you can get behind this kind of thing.

I had no idea he did the sound-therapy thing, although I knew his music was popular with New Age enthusiasts. I have little interest in healing crystals, herbal teas and flowing robes myself....but I'm glad I saw him. He performed in the room where they usually hold Zumba classes.

I went up and spoke to him afterword and he signed my album graciously...he was really just a nice, decent guy. Watch for him at a gym near you?!?

I tend to stay as far away as I can from anyone who embraces the "new age" tag, so I'm not familiar with his music - only his rep. But he seems to be undergoing a renaissance right now. He recently played in Austin with a fast-rising local electronc group called Dallas Acid in support of a collaborative album. A colleague of mine at the paper whose musical tastes skew far, far away from this sort of thing went to the show and raved about it.

I'm with you on avoiding the "New Age" philosophy....and I think I may have been the only person there for the artist rather than the 'healing experience'. But I've always seen Laraaji as being in the Eno/fripp/Harold budd ambient camp.

I don't think he cared what you labeled his music... he's on a different playing field altogether.

Funny how in our minds (mine, anyway) it's somehow "okay" to appreciate ambient music, but New Age music is seen as lesser. Yet I'm not sure I can delineate the differences for you. If it gets played in a ginger candle-scented gift shoppe, it's "New Age"?!?

It's a game of inches out there.....!



Post Edited (01-28-19 11:12)

Well, I'm openly admit I'm a HUGE fan of Suzanne Ciani's music - I still have a ton of her tapes from years ago, long before all her stuff was reissued. (I wish she was still obscure - it sucks everyone knows who she is now.)

Accordingly, I really like what I've heard of Laraaji - though it has all been reissued, IIRC, since I don't recall hearing any of it the first time around.

I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of "new age" artists - the vast majority of them, at least the ones who do work full-time, do corporate work and house concerts. I know at least a half-dozen who are still touring on the strength of AGT appearances from 3-4 seasons ago (not the already-auditioned AGT for this upcoming season).

Keep in mind that the woo-woo stuff on late-nite talk radio staples like "Coast to Coast AM" (when it stays in little-green-men territory as Art Bell intended) is absolutely my cup of tea - so, yeah, I like what I've heard of Laaraji.

Will definitely look for more info on this tour. Thanks.

Warp Records signed him a few years ago but rejected the album he turned in and dropped him. He released it independently and has put out a few DIY releases. Soul Jazz reissued his 1978 debut album CELESTIAL VIBRATION, recorded entirely on a zither and released under his real name Edward Larry Gordon. I haven't heard much beyond it and the album Eno released, AMBIENT 3: DAY OF RADIANCE, but I like his music.

I prefer '80s New Age to the current muzak-with-a-beat that fills Spotify's many "chill out" playlists and the endless "low-fi hip-hop radio" streams on YouTube.