harold budd

The White Arcades

Review by Ted Mills of AllMusic

"On the short-lived moment when Warner Bros. was distributing Opal records, this Harold Budd album probably reached more people than his previous work combined. One can hope so, at least. This album shows Budd at his most stylistically pure: nine pieces that rarely shift from their piano and synth instrumentation, all treated with much echo and coloration. Budd is after beauty, not menace, but with the mystery that follows it. From the pulse of "Coyote" to the grand thunder and rolling clouds of "Balthus Bemused By Color," this is a solid album, one for thinking, studying, or whatever one does when the ambient comes."

Credits

• Design [Cover], Artwork By – Dave Coppenhall, Russell Mills

• Engineer – Keith Mitchell (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 9), Lincoln Fong (tracks: 7), Robin Guthrie (tracks: 2, 4)

• Mastered By – Jack Adams (2)

• Photography By – David Buckland

• Written-By, Performer, Producer – Harold Budd

Notes

Recorded June-December 1987 at 
Palladium, Edinburgh (tracks 1 to 6, 8, 9) 
Cocteau Twins Studio, London (tracks 2, 4) 
The Wilderness, Suffolk (track 7) 

Mastered at Tape 1, London. 

'Algebra of Darkness' from 'Composite Text' by William S. Burroughs - permission for use from the author is gratefully acknowledged. 

1988