I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age Music In America 1950-1990

Throw out the images of a mustached Greek guy playing keyboard to a long forgotten tv sta Linda Evans...Im speaking of Yanni and immerse yourself in the music genre that was steadfast DIY and truly about pioneering a transcendent spirit of creativity. Devoid of self centered popular-ism and drenched with eastern mysticism, whether you believe in crystals in Buddha thats irrelevant the music is what IS relevant here.Yes, I mean this compilation is your aural gateway to that vista of music minimalism intended to bring on reflection and self conscious awareness.A truly well put together 2 cd compilation from the outer packaging to the chock full of research notes about the artists and their contributions to the world of music. Much of what you get here are aural tone-poems, jams if you will but all from free thinking musicians bent on moving music away from the constraints of scholarly indoctrination.You get some really unique music here from Gail Laughton the harpist who recorded a pioneering solo harp record to Iasos and Larkin. The latter a mix of gentle synthesized electronic atmospheres woven around beautiful acoustic flutes.There's a copious amount of music here and some of it is mythologically impossible to find elsewhere a justified reason to won this compilation.I've been listening to this genre new age or whatever its called today for many years. There was so much instrumental music that was filler out there in the late 1970s/80s and all designed to cash in on the genre these musicians pioneered.I am hoping more of these exquisite compilations are pulled form the ether and presented in this form. I am quite convinced theres much more to explore in this particular genre but this is an amazing beginning!

This double-CD collection was profiled in the Sunday NY Times on December 1, 2013; on that basis I bought it and have listened to the 20 tracks several times already. I've always liked New Age music but felt that it had gotten too syrupy over the years, so this album was a refreshing look back at the origins of New Age long before it was called that. A nice wrinkle in this is that most of these songs were released on private labels, or none at all, since the commercial recording industry wasn't ready for this type of music - and frame of mind and spirit - at that point. Some of the tracks have fascinating origins, well explained in the accompanying detailed booklet. You can also sense the foundation of what would become standard New Age musical elements in certain other tracks. Lovely listen (if you like New Age) and very interesting besides.

This is a collector's collection. Almost every track is among that particular artist's best stuff. Comprehensive and authoritative. This was a real find.

A bizarre concept for an album which sounds completely uninviting. Not just new age music ... but new age music no one else wanted to put out apart from the makers! Well hold your prejudice. This is choc full of brilliant ambient tracks that are the perfect way to unwind after hours of big city life. The sort of album you'll still be playing in 10 years time....

I've listened to what I call Enlightened Music since the mid 90s, but never really heard any attempt at compiling a historical retrospective, until I saw this album. 2 CDs worth of some real finds, from a broad range of artists, over 40 years.

This is so beautyful! I use it for meditation and also for listening and background while writing. This is so much more than "easy listening", it has many very sophisticated musical pieces. I use many meditation cds in my work, and they are sometimes too sweet and angelic, so this was such a nice surprise! I highly recommend it!

If you loved Public Radio's Music From The Hearts Of Space, you will love this collection. It's like the best of the show's music sounding better than you have ever heard it. Definitely background music, but in a good way!

Awesome 😎👍

A really beautiful collection of music that seems to illustrate a real sense of honesty and gentility towards the listener and the music itself. I've been listening to mostly modern ambient music for a long time and this album has brought a good few names to my attention and has re-ignited my passion for those names I already knew. The album really shows a sensitivity towards the subject of New Age music (which has such a stereotype attached to it nowadays) that makes you remember/realise the raw beauty of some of these early works; a sense of grandeur exploration and experimentation comes through from the pieces, and of course it has it's effects on you.Contradicting a previous reviewers comments about the sleeve design (albeit it is cheesy and retains the New Age stereotype aesthetic), I personally really like it. It has been a while since I have bought a CD that someone has obviously cared a lot about, the booklet is well produced and very interesting and the whole package is rather nicely designed. I imagine the Vinyl edition is lovely to hold.Anyhow, I would highly recommend this one, for journeys, for introspection, for meditation, for sleep......But most importantly, because there are some damn fine pieces of music collected here, that should be noticed and listened to with intent, once again.

Try to circumscribe the cheesy "New Age" ascription of the sub-title as it does no justice to the extraordinary music in this collection. Only gripe is the poor sleeve design, and the brown and beige booklet. Why didn't Light in the Attic employ a serious graphic designer to work with Gilbert Williams?

This was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed these electronic recordings which sometimes sound not a million miles from German Cosmische music of the late 60's early seventies (in places). Recommended .

Interesting. The 'New Age' in the title may be a little off putting but view this more as the eccentric birthplace of Harmonium, Kraftwerk, Warp Records and contemporary acts such as Tim Hecker and Kranky artists. Superb and beautifully packaged.

This is beautifully conceived compilation of American New Age music by Light in the Attic Records. It's a world away from the mass produced and marketed New Age music of the eighties and nineties. This is pure and authentic ambient music made by artists who lived and breathed the New Age lifestyle long before most people even knew such a lifestyle existed.Although there are a few better known artists from the genre represented here, much of the music is taken from privately recorded and pressed vinyl and cassettes and, taken as a whole, it just washes over the listener and has a genuine calming and relaxing effect. There's an array of instruments used, with many of the earliest tracks featuring harp, piano and woodwind, progressing to electronic instrumentation with extended synth and bass notes that have a drone like quality to them. There are occasional sound effects (birds singing, waterfalls, etc) but they're authentic and not just used as a gimmick.The CDs are housed in a gatefold cardboard sleeve with a superb booklet featuring notes on all of the artists and archive photos. The combined playing time of both discs is 132 minutes. Given the quality of some of the sources of many of the tracks, the sound is excellent. Recommended to anyone with an interest in ambient sounds.