THE PAVILION OF DREAMS

One of my favorite albums of all-time, Brian Eno's collaboration with his friend Harold Budd starts here, with these university compositions Harold had made for friends at school. Every song here is a jewel, spanning a spectrum from jazz to classical with New Age and experimental overtones throughout. I am especially drawn in by the harp, saxophone (which I usually dislike) and, of course, the choral and solo female voices. A perennial favorite that I've been playing since the 70s, the album never strays far from my playlists--especially in my massage work--and I never fail to find elements and nuances that I thoroughly enjoy with each and every listen. Also, each and every song stands on its own as a masterpiece, while the album as a whole (short as it is coming in at under 36 minutes), also qualifies as such. Beautiful stuff--perhaps Harold's best compositions ever. (Major seventh chords rule!)