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Uncut OCTOBER 2015 - by Louis Pattison

LARAAJI: ALL IN ONE PEACE

Collected cassette works from the New York new age luminary

The man who calls himself Laraaji Nadabrahmananda remains best known for the 1980 LP, Ambient 3: Day Of Radiance, produced by Brian Eno shortly after the ambient polymath came across the African-American mystic busking on his zither in New York's Washington Square Park. With Eno's patronage,Laraaji became a noted musician in avant-garde circles, collaborating with the likes of Bill Laswell and Roger Eno. But he's also been a prolific home-recorder, selling a formidable catalogue of cassettes through new age shops or meditation groups. All In One Peace collects three early works, 1978's Lotus Collage, 1981's Unicorns In Paradise and '83's Connecting With The Inner Healer Through Music - over three hours of music. Perhaps surprisingly, given much new age music is characterised as insipid, large tracts are excellent. Lotus Collage finds a pre-Eno Laraaji honing his style, running electric zither and hammer percussion through effects pedals. Unicorns In Paradise feels more elevated still, its flowing improvs underpinned by deep, languid electric keyboard lines.The final cassette commences with several instrumental synth pieces,but the title track is a gorgeous thirty-minute piece in which Laraaji, voice treated with a pinch of echo, guides the listener into a deep, cosmic meditation.

EXTRAS: Comes as three boxed cassettes, plus digital download.