Luxa

Luxa was Harold Budd's first solo album since 1991's By the Dawn's Early Light. The time between solo album was spent recording and collaborating with the likes of Zeitgeist, Andy Partridge, and Hector Zazou. This album also marked a break for Budd from writing for ensembles, as he had throughout the 1990s. One notable difference between this keyboard-focused album and the last one like it (1988's acclaimed The White Arcades) are the brighter tones Budd displays on each instrumental. While tracks such as "Mandan" and "Agnes Martin" are decidedly moodier, many others have a warm, languid feel, possibly due to the influence of the desert around Mesa, Arizona, where this album was recorded. Luxa may be not be as inventive as other Budd works, and there are a few familiar fragments floating about, but it still maintains a hypnotic hold on the listener while inspiring cinematic images in the mind's eye. The veteran composer's mastery of space and silence still places him far above the legions of New Age imitators who use minimalism as a crutch rather than as a true means of expression. --Bryan Reesman