Not sure how to feel about the fact that the second Random Review Week album is yet another ambientish collab, but alas, fate has decided and I'm not complaining.
Released in 1980, “The Plateaux of Mirror” is the second in Brian Eno's influential four-part “Ambient” series. Where “Music for Airports,” the first and most famous installment, was largely an Eno solo effort, he takes a back seat here and leaves the center stage to American composer and pianist Harold Budd whose simple but pretty keyboard melodies dominate for the most part. At that time, Eno was in a kind of transitional phase, shifting from his previous identity as a performer to his new one as a producer and curator. And it shows in his contributions to this album. He subtly processes Budd's electric and acoustic piano playing through various reverb and delay units and adds some atmospheric, sampled touches, such as quacking ducks on the title track. In fact it's not a million miles removed from what he did on Roxy Music's “Sea Breezes” in 1972.
I admit I'm not familiar with any of Harold Budd's other recorded output, but the pieces on “The Plateaux” give me a strong Erik Satie vibe, maybe with a bit of Arvo Pärt (minus the religion stuff) thrown in. The mood is warm and melancholy throughout, occasionally slipping into the sentimental. The individual tracks sort of start to blur together, which I suppose is the intended effect. Like so much Ambient music, it often borders on New Age without ever fully embracing it. A pleasant album and the perfect soundtrack to lying on your couch reading a book on a rainy afternoon.
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