Various Artists | I Am the Center: Private Issue New Age Music in America, 1950-1990 (Comp.) | Album

I Am the Center: Private Issue New Age Music in America, 1950-1990—curated by archival label Light in the Attic—is a beautifully sequenced but occasionally over-indulgent rescue mission for a deeply misunderstood genre. Stripping away the commercial, mass-produced elevator music that "New Age" became associated with in the late '80s, this compilation frames the movement's early days as radical, handmade American folk art. It is an essential listen for ambient music fans, even if its two-hour runtime occasionally tests the limits of "mellow".

Artist Website: discogs/Various-I-Am-The-Center

Related Artists: Gurdjieff, Thomas de Hartmann, Nesta Kerin Crain, Gail Laughton, Wilburn Burchette, Iasos, Steven Halpern, Joel Andrews, Constance Demby, JD Emmanuel, Don Slepian, Laraaji, Peter Davison, Joanna Brouk, Michael Stearns, Aeoliah, Daniel Kobialka, Larkin, Judith Tripp, Mark Banning, Alice Damon