Avalon Sutra

Ambient · 2005 · 15 tracks

Avalon Sutra

A hauntingly beautiful farewell of minimalist piano and ghostly string arrangements. Cold, crystalline, and deeply still, it captures the sound of disappearing.

January 5, 2005 · Darla Records

Avalon Sutra is the sound of a master painter putting down his brush for the last time. It is an album of immense space and terrifyingly beautiful stillness. The piano doesn't so much play melodies as it drops pebbles into a deep, dark well of reverb, watching the ripples expand until they touch the edges of the room. It feels like a winter landscape at dusk: blue, cold, and perfectly silent.

Tracklist · 15 Tracks

01

Arabesque 3

2:40

02

It’s Steeper Near the Roses (For David Sylvian)

1:02

03

L’enfant perdu

2:15

04

Chrysalis Nu (To Barney’s Memory)

2:00

05

Three Faces West (Billy Al Bengston’s)

2:50

06

Arabesque 2

3:02

07

Little Heart

7:41

08

How Vacantly You Stare at Me

4:01

09

A Walk in the Park With Nancy (In Memory)

5:55

10

Rue Casimir Delavigne (For Daniel Lentz)

5:29

11

Arabesque 1

1:56

12

Porcelain Ginger

2:01

13

Faraon

1:23

14

As Long as I Can Hold My Breath

3:48

15

As Long as I Can Hold My Breath (By Night)

69:28

Moments Worth Listening For

The moment in Arabesque 3 where the piano melody dissolves into a wash of Akira Rabelais's granular textures.

The way the strings on As Long as I Can Hold My Breath sustain until they become indistinguishable from a synthesizer.

The stark, isolated piano strike that opens the album, setting a pace of profound patience.

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