LARAAJI レコード& CD

Review: Since the release of Laraaji's fine career retrospective, Celestial Music 1978-2011, in 2013, there's been renewed interest in the work of the autoharp-playing ambient spirtualist. It's perhaps surprising, then, that it has taken this long for someone to reissue his Vision Songs Volume 1, the former Brian Eno collaborator's first self-released cassette album. In many ways, it's atypical of his work, featuring as it does "devotional and inspirational songs", rather than new age instrumentals. It was recorded in 1984 and sees the one-time actor combining lo-fi Casio synthesizer chords and melodies with his own soulful, life-affirming lyrics and copious amounts of tape delay. It remains a fine work, with the constant warmth of original tape his offering a reminder of the set's decidedly lo-fi roots.