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December 2025
Compact Disc
It’s impossible to overstate how the ambient and “art rock” oeuvre of David Bowie, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp influenced a generation; add the painterly minimalism of Harold Budd, whose own place in the firmament shimmers with gems like Avalon Sutra and, with Eno, the epic Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, and we have all the ingredients for the exploratory wonders that permeate the aptly titled ART DECADE (after Bowie’s haunting meditation from 1977’s Low). The album is a wide-ranging collaboration that unites composer, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Evan Ziporyn with Toronto’s renowned ContaQt ensemble, led by percussionist Jerry Pergolesi. Featuring all-new interpretations of these classics from the early ’70s psych-prog output of King Crimson, Bowie’s “Berlin trilogy,” and Eno’s Ambient 1-4 series, Art Decade is more than just a tribute album. “Our goal is not to ‘elevate’ or legitimize this music,” Ziporyn and Pergolesi reveal in the album’s liner notes. “Its towering artistic achievement and profound influence on an entire generation is self-evident. Instead, by revisiting and inhabiting these groundbreaking works, we hope to ensure they remain a vibrant, celebrated part of the musical repertoire, retaining their punkish sense of gleeful adventure as they continue to subvert expectations and venture into uncharted territory.” And none other than Robert Fripp himself has voiced his approval. “‘Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part Two’ is a triumph,” he says. “‘Red’ also, with the strings ripping away and conveying the spirit of the piece — they stomp things along and convey a wonderful manic quality...By the end, all is good. The world may or may not be in a better place, but it feels like it is.”