Surbahar

Music For Installations’ is a collection of new, rare and previously unreleased music, all of which was recorded by Brian Eno for use in his installations covering the period from 1986 until the present (and beyond). Over this time, he has emerged as the leading exponent of “generative” music worldwide and is recognised as one of the foremost audio-visual installation artists of his time. Eno’s visual experiments with light and video have proved to be the fertile ground from which so much of his other work has grown and they cover an even longer span of time than his recordings, paralleling his musical output in recent decades. These highly-acclaimed works have been exhibited all over the globe - from the Venice Biennale and the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg to Beijing’s Ritan Park and the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Designed by Brian and long-time collaborator Nick Robertson, this beautifully presented, 6CD, limited edition and numbered super deluxe box set comes with a 64-page Plexiglass cover book featuring rare and unseen exhibition photographs and a new essay written by Eno.

If it's Indian classical music you're looking for, you'll want to look elsewhere. However, unlike the many Western dilettantes who have picked up the sitar over the years, Al Gromer Khan doesn't just approach the instrument as an exotic novelty or a facile way to hint at spiritual depth. On the unfortunately titled Sitar Secrets he creates original compositions that refer to classical forms without being bound by them, and that convey a sense of contemplative wonder without pretending to any goal more transcendent than that. The opening track bears the wry (one hopes) title "I Got Vilayat Khan's Blessing" and features what is either a very convincing synthesized vocal track or an uncredited female singer who breathily accompanies his gently meandering sitar and sparse hand percussion.