Archive for the ‘New Age Music as a Genre’ Category

I am always amazed when I look in the news archive from the 1980s and see just how prominent the new age music genre was at that time  (for instance see this article from 1987; Critics pan it, public buys it). Many artists had incredible success and a large number of dedicated labels were funded. It truly was the golden age of New Age music.

Today I have been looking for articles from the 1990s – and wow, the golden age was not meant to last. In 1992 Billboard published an article that was featured in the Anchorage Daily News. It reads:

A new age appears on the horizon for new age record labels, as a number of imprints depart from their traditional instrumental marketplace for forays into rockabilly, R&B, rock’n’roll and other genres.

Executives from such labels as Music West, Private Music, and Windham Hill Production, in particular, have taken roster diversity to heart, citing economic necessity and label maturation as key reasons for the apparent trend.

In other words; the labels had become wealthy in the late 1980s, but their market was shrinking and they had to adapt or die. We all know what happened… To quote mr. Sam Sutherland of Windham Hill Productions; “New Age was a classic boom-to-bust story”.

Read the article here.

Now this article entitled New Age Music hits the big time from United Press International from February 1987 is a treasure chest for all new age music fans – but beware, you might get a little melancholic too. It is a statement about the sudden and massive popularity of new age music in the mid/late 1980s. Quote:

Critics pan New Age Music as compositionally inferior. Store owners don’t know where to display its album. People buy it.

Oh, do they buy it.

Today? Well… The problem is not the new age music genre. It is the whole business that’s compositionally inferior.

Here on .nu we do our best to give you, the fan, a complete presentation of our beloved music genre. In order to understand the music of today and be able to look ahead, you also need to know history. New Age Music did not spring out of thin air – it was, is and will be a part of the international music scene. Last week we listened to the very first new age album – Tony Scott’s Music for Zen Meditation – and this week we bring you another piece of music history. It is not an album, it is the segment about new age music in Piero Scaruffi’s 800 hundred page long History of Rock Music (2003).

In this book, the perhaps most interesting period of New Age Music is presented; the time between 1976-1989, when the genre went from obscurity to widespread popularity.

Piero Scaruffi writes:

New-age music was, first and foremost, a synthesis. It was a synthesis of cultures (high and low), moods (upbeat, ecstatic, melancholy, spiritual), genres (folk, electronic, jazz, classical, psychedelic), formats (song, symphony, suite, jam) and lifestyles (western and eastern). Since each of these components had existed for decades (if not centuries), new-age music pre-existed itself.

And more:

Whatever vehicle they chose, new-age musicians shared the simple, unassuming, laid-back quality of their music with the music meant “not to listen to” (as Brian Eno put it): easy-listening orchestras (Richard Clayderman), lounge music (Burt Bacharach), and supermarket muzak (the RCA Victor series of “Moods in Music”). Despite the wildly different ideological underpinnings, these genres converged towards the same concept of music for relaxation, which became the fundamental dogma of new-age music.

The complete segment about new age music can be read on Piero Scaruffi homepage.

An excellent read!

How did it all began? What was the very first New Age Music album? Well, there is a wide consensus that New Age Music began in experimental jazz, with influences from early Electronic and avant-garde music of the late 50s/early 60s. In all of this there is one album that is being mentioned over and over again (for instance on Hearts of Space and more recently on Wikipedia’s New Age Music article) and that is jazz clarinetist Tony Scott’s Music for Zen Meditation, released in February 1964. It is a wonderful and relaxing album that any new age music fan ought to check out.

Tony Scott (1921-2007) worked with such artists as Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, and made a name for himself as a respected jazz soloist too. But it was his interests in Far East cultures that gave him an introduction to traditional oriental instruments and meditation. This resulted in a jam session like no other  – creating a totally new and different sound.  

Listening to Music for Zen Meditation today it is easy to pinpoint the more jazzy aspects of the release – but back then, the unknown sounds of New Age Music was all people could hear. It was clearly not a Jazz album.

While the flute and trumpet hit some of the jazz blue notes, the combination with other instruments (like the harp) create something new.

Music for Zen Meditation is – as the title implies – one of those albums instantly takes your mind on a journey to a relaxing, beautiful place – a sphere of your own. It is great background music too. But use with caution: there is a strong dose of melancholia here

And if people ask; are you listening to one of those cheap, uninspired meditation albums – you proudly say; no, this is a classical Jazz album from 1964!   

Sample the album on Amazon or iTunes. See the Wikipedia article about it here - and Tony Scott’s homepage.

A frequent discussion in new age music is “how many sub-genres are there” – and, more interestingly, “what are they all called”? Well, there is one page that has what just might be the complete list – or, something not very far from a complete list.

The list with almost 70 different sub-genres is to be found on German new age music store Silenzio. The different genres are presented in German, but if you don’t understand the genre name – click the name and you will probably get its meaning by the selection of albums

Who said new age music was boring?

Time after time, New Age music is chosen to provide the chemistry to accomplish the director’s objective in bringing out the full emotion and depth of a character’s identity.

Our segment on movie music and scores takes a look at the popular Science Fiction thriller Blade Runner.  This movie directed by Ridley Scott & produced by Michael Deeley, remains a classic film with a long list of popular actors including Harrison Ford, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos.

Over the years New Age music has been the appropriate choice for many great movies, and we expect this to continue well into the future.  Perhaps more of the talented artists we currently interview and write about will be the next artists to perform some great movie moments for the film industry.

With many soundtrack scores to his credit, Vangelis provides the entire music score for this Science Fiction thriller.  For those who have already seen Blade Runner, do you remember when Roy the ” replicant ” human asks the age old question of how long do I have to live, and how much time do I have left to his ” creator “ Dr. Tyrell  ?  We soon discover the answer to that question, only to find out Rachael is an exception for the how long do I have to live question.  Deckard then must decide in the following movie scene whether to ” retire ” Rachael, or to fall in love with her.  Rachael’s character happily endures in both the storyline and in the timeless New Age music score provided by Vangelis Papathanassiou. 

The YouTube song video below from the motion picture Blade Runner, features this exact pivotal moment during the movie storyline, along with the song Love Theme by Vangelis. 

This song is also on rotation at our Stars Radio if you want to tune in.

The question “What is new age music” is often asked – though it is hard to give a precise answer. But the next time anyone asks me this question I will give them the link to the below video with Suzanne Doucet, filmed in France by Torben Thoger, who also composed the accompanying music. New age music is a very diverse genre, but Suzanne gives in my opinion something close to the definitive answer to the above question. This is simply a very good overview. Enjoy!

Marcome has written a wonderful post about the term new age music.

She writes:

I often feel the new age label repulses people. It seems to mean, massage, yoga, meditation music, esoteric, new age era but not in a good sense. As if new age music was only meant to make you fall asleep!

It surely is a relaxing music at times but can’t it also be a good companion in the encounter of our true nature? A mean to connect with our inner world while dancing, walking, hiking?

I think this is spot on. It illustrates both the strong and weak aspects of new age music. The discussion about the new age music term is without a doubt the most important in our genre. It is in this discussion the lines between jazz, pop, dance, classical, new age ect. ect. are drawn.

Read the whole blog post here. It is very good!

I don’t think I am far off the mark when I say that new age music as a genre has an incredible growth potential. In this stressed out world there is a high demand for effective relaxation techniques, and here our genre has a lot to offer.  And it is important to remember that everyone who owns an Enya album is a possible new age music buyer.

When we look at lists on Amazon’s Listmania, it is easy to find playlists where an indie new age music title would fit perfectly! Like on the list to the right.

The hard part is to get music published by indie labels out to people who usually buy music released major label artists. These big labels still have control over the market. But there are ways for indie labels to sell music to a broader audience.

• They can for instance use social networks like Facebook and Myspace actively in their promoting, slowly but steadily building a fan base.
• Another way is to use the web radio medium and lead audience to online services like iTunes. On our New Age Stars radio, we try to play one major and one indie song after another; this gives great PR to the indie song, showing that they are just as good (if not better) than the major.
• And it is of course to link indie new age music to products and services, everything from yoga to massage, from crystals to theme holidays.

This is the dawn of a new age. Prepare to be amazed.