Visionary new age music for nourishing and rejuvenating body, mind and spirit
Visionary new age music for nourishing and rejuvenating body, mind and spirit
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Liquid Mind III: Balance by Liquid Mind CDs and digital downloads available for purchase at:
The third in Liquid Mind’s elegant series of slow stress-relief music albums transports the listener to a place of inner peace and deep calm. Like the other Liquid Mind albums, Liquid Mind III: Balance is serene and lush, electronic and elegant, and floats the listener along in a gentle healing stream of sound.
| 1. Lullaby for Grownups 5:20 |
| 2. Laguna Indigo 18:27 |
| 3. Timeless and Tender 11:50 |
| 4. Dream Messenger 13:45 |
| 5. Balance 6:41 |
As a general rule, I believe that meditation or contemplative prayer are best practiced in silence — which means no TV blaring in the background, no MP3 player churning out sound, no computer or stereo making noise within earshot. Even using a so-called white noise machine is, to me, at best a necessary evil: perhaps required to mask the normal distracting sounds of children playing or whatever else might be happening in an adjacent room or apartment: but far less desirable than the pure absence (or near absence) of aural stimulation that only silence embodies.
So with that in mind, perhaps it is a bit ironic that in this post I am going to praise an album of ambient music called Meditation. But I am not recommending this album for use while you are meditating. Rather, this is perfect music for the other 15 or so hours that you are awake each day. This most recent offering from the ambient music maestro Chuck Wild (who records under the name “Liquid Mind”) is one of the loveliest recordings of deeply introspective, truly relaxing, and — most important of all — serenely beautiful music that I’ve come across in quite a while.
But first, a disclaimer: I’ve been a fan of Liquid Mind for over a decade now. I first encountered Chuck Wild’s unique ability to create truly expansive and profoundly peaceful music when I was working for a music distributor. In my position there as a new age music buyer, I listened to ambient music all day long — and yes, much of it lives up to its stereotype of being bland, boring, and self-indulgent. If the stereotypes point to how forgettable most new age music is, they also indicate how difficult it is for musicians to create truly good, artistic, and distinctive ambient recordings. Over the years I’ve collected maybe a handful of ambient albums that bear repeated listening: Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, Laraaji’s Day of Radiance, or Bruce & Brian Becvar’s The Magic of Healing Music. These are all albums that live up to Eno’s definition of creative ambient music: music that is “able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular.”
Liquid Mind’s music belongs on any select list of must-have ambient albums — and while I think the newest album is arguably the best, the entire Liquid Mind catalogue is worth exploring. Among the previous Liquid Mind albums, I particularly love Unity, and Spirit — in fact, the track “Through My Eyes” from Liquid Mind VI: Spirit was used in several videos featuring me.
But today I want to focus on Liquid Mind X: Meditation. Comprising six tracks with a combined length of just over an hour, this musical suite can be the perfect soundtrack for massage, reading, quiet conversation, or mealtime. But I think what separates out truly creative ambient music from run-of-the-mill new age recordings is that it makes an authentic musical statement, far more than just functioning as a kind of soothing soundtrack for busy lives. This is certainly the case for Liquid Mind X: Meditation. This album speaks of spaciousness, openness, and letting go. The first track, “In Fields of Peace,” creates a soundscape of unhurried presence, with a gradual unfolding of atmospheric chords, its cadence slower than the rhythm of deep, relaxed breathing. This leads into the title track, beginning with a sonic texture reminiscent of Tibetan chanting before opening into a calm melody that evokes the openness of a mind lulled into silence by a deep contemplative experience. “In the Silence of My Soul” and “When Time Slows” continue this sonic journey. The third track evokes a sense of transcendence, while the fourth simply seems to deepen the overall sense of unhurried presence. “Soft Focus,” perhaps the most subtly dynamic of the six tracks, reminds me of the whispering cognitive activity that lurks at the heart of even the most deeply relaxing meditative experience. The album closes with “The Joy of Quiet,” a coda to the suite that echoes the opening track with a slightly more invigorating melody: the meditation is ending, leaving one refreshed and ready to engage with the hustle and bustle of life.
Writing about ambient music is probably the next hardest thing to actually creating it well, and so I am conscious that my words really do not begin to capture the sense of wide-open loveliness that this music embodies. So I’d encourage you to check it out for yourself.
Chuck Wild's Liquid Mind projects are designed to create zones for relaxation and meditation. As stated in the liner notes of Liquid Mind III: Balance, “...From contemplation, I learn patience, from patience I learn balance, in balance I find harmony....” This gentle melody is a seamless string of deep atmospheres. Wild's symphonic synth creates deep pockets of calm and gentle resting places. While his soundscapes have a definite pace, there is no overt rhythm and there are no beats. This is a sound world for contemplation and healing. This is a valuable CD for listeners seeking inner peace and inner calm. It will appeal to fans of James Johnson, Brannan Lane, Numina, and Kip Mazuy.
Liquid Mind III: Balance is a magnificently conceived and produced album that has received wide acclaim for it's perpetrator Chuck Wild and his pursuit of ambient/new age astonishment.
The album has been happily received with healing practitioners and relaxation communities who see the albums rich potential in delivering lush, soothing, and spiritually uplifting positive music. A superb example of this delivery is in the opening track 'Lullaby for grown-ups' — a very cleverly composed piece that really does it's job on rattled nervous systems as well as upon the senses of the discerning audiophiles.
Liquid Mind's Real Music label have stated that "The production values on this elegant album reflect the fact that Wild has worked with many world-class artists, both as writer, synthesist, arranger, and producer. Chuck is known for his work as synthesist & keyboard player in the 80's group Missing Persons, as studio sound designer & arranger for Michael Jackson and many others, as a songwriter (over 60 songs recorded for TV, film & albums since 1988, including You're My One and Only, #1 hit in Europe for Jennifer Rush), and composer Max Headroom (Emmy-winning series)." This experience of Chuck Wild's shows tenfold in the care and considerations he's naturally applied to the sounds he's chosen for this third album of his.
If I were to suggest running out and buying this album immediately, it would be on the condition that you make absolutely sure you're not going to be distracted in any way throughout your initial listening. The artist deserves our full attention and the music.. well the music is pure magic!
Singling out one of Chuck Wild’s recordings as essential seems an exercise in futility, but Balance may represent Wild at his pinnacle. The first track “Lullaby for Grownups” may be one of the beautiful songs ever recorded in the New Age music genre. The album as a whole is a sonic featherbed — a soft, sensitive caress to ease the listener’s mind. If you have any customers who have never sampled the relaxation and healing qualities of this master electronic artist, Balance is the ideal place for them to start.