My top five influential artists
Andrew Heath talks about his top five influential artists... well, sort of!
When you’ve been listening to music as long as I have, the range of artists that you enjoy listening to is huge. I think there’s an important distinction to be drawn between an artist who directly influences the music you create and ones that you might listen to whilst driving the car for instance. So here, I’ve concentrated on music that has had a bearing on my musical output, that directs my soul.
1. Harold Budd
If you are familiar with my work then this first artist should come as no surprise. I can’t remember when I first heard the work of Harold Budd or indeed what album it was. To me they present as a seamless wave of beautifully understated sound. If I had to pick a favourite it might be ‘By the Dawn’s Early Light’. His piano work on this album is sublime, just so gentle and refrained. He seems to know exactly the right way to articulate a feeling or gesture into a musical space and it leaves you with the sense that you’ve just heard something that could ever be bettered.
His treated piano and electric piano in albums like ‘The Pearl’ and another favourite, ‘The Plateaux of Mirror’ are like ghostly shimmers, ripples in the ionosphere. Beautifully treated, he obviously had a good working relationship with Eno. Luxa is also a highlight and it still has, in my mind, one the best sounding pianos ever put down onto tape.
Sadly I never got to see Budd perform but hold onto his music as the antidote to all life’s crashing chaos.
2. Sawako
The Japanese experimental ‘Signal Alchemist’ as she called herself. Again, an amazing artist who is no longer with us. I was introduced to her work by my good friend and fellow artist, Peter Maynard and although she wasn’t prolific what is there represents a pathway to another world. I’m not entirely sure what instrument she played if any - maybe sound itself was her metier. On the (very few) videos of her performing, she only has a laptop and so I guess it’s the manipulation of sound that she pursued.
If I had to pick one album it might be ‘Bitter Sweat’, although I think it’s more interesting for Sawako to highlight particular pieces. I do love ‘Looped Labyrinth, Decayed Voice’ and ‘Wind Shower Particle’ from that album and ‘Cloud No Crowd’ from ‘Hum’.
There is something intensely intimate about her music. As though sometimes it’s being performed on the pillow beside you as you fall asleep.
3. Hans-Joachim Roedelius
Often referred to as The Godfather of Ambient Music, Joachim’s work remains a profound influence over me. I first heard his work on an Eno compilation and it was the perfectly unpolished sound of ‘Little Flower Somewhere’ that struck a chord with me. I’ve always thought that Joachim had a dual output - his piano led work and his electronic persona as one half of Cluster with Moebius. Both paths are marked by a sound signature of slightly DIY and I should return to that word, unpolished as I think that best describes why I like his music.
4. Brian Eno
Well he had to be in here really. Although I’ll be honest I don’t really listen to his output past albums like Thursday Afternoon. Discreet Music is often aired in the evening in my house. What I like about Eno is that during this time period, he wasn’t afraid to let a composition run on. Far beyond the point that many of us would have worried their listeners would have skipped to the next track. And it’s this ability that I really admire - this belief in the work.
5. Finally…
(I’m going to cheat here). As a great deal of what I listen to these days and that has a very real influence on me - that I intertwine with the previous, more established artists are the artists that I know and (in some cases) worked with. Artists like James Osland, who runs Elm Records and creates the most exquisite, quiet work. Dutch ambient guitarist, Anne Chris Bakker who I meet when I invited him to an experimental music event I was curating - we have since become very close friends. Chris’s work is sublime and just flows and breathes. He works with minimal equipment and will edit work for ages until he’s happy with it. Using mainly guitar and treatments he creates music that will envelop you and wrap you in warm sound.
There are many others of course but I will single out Peter Maynard for a mention. Peter is both a sound and a visual artist (my wife and I are lucky to own several of his artworks). I got to know Peter after he moved to Stroud where I live and he passed me several of his home produced CDs. I remember perfectly the moment I listened to his work for the first time, sitting in my garden in the sunshine. It was a revelation to me - this was the music I had been hearing in my head but had singularly failed to capture. Working with minimal equipment (there’s a theme running through all these), namely a field recorder, found instruments and some old software he crafted music that evolved, drifted and coalesced into a beautiful soundscape. We have become firm friends and spend much of our time going on walks gathering field recordings. I’m thrilled to be able to finally release his work to the wider audience it deserves.
