The Room

Harold Budd returns with his first solo album in four years and it's a timely reminder of how potent this pianist's ambient orchestrations remain. Although Budd himself would never use the term "ambient," he'll be forever tarred with that brush, having released The Plateaux of Mirror, one of Brian Eno's Ambient Music series in the 1970s. Budd's brand of ambience is full of ambiguity, hidden shadows, and dark corners. Based on themes from his last great album, 1988's The White Arcades, each piece on The Room is a miniature in mood. Dark organ drones underscore the time-stepping piano theme of "The Room of Ancillary Dreams." Another organ drone, along with cascading synthesizer bell swirls and the plucked, vibelike tones of a Fender Rhodes, establish an eerie desolation on "The Room of Stairs." Budd doesn't make happy music, but it has the poignant beauty of the last leaves of autumn. --John Diliberto