Badarou, Wally: Colors Of Silence (Vinyl LP)

Synth pioneer and musical polymath, Wally Badarou is a genius. But you know that already. A vinyl version of his majestic Colors Of Silence has been craved by the Balearic cognoscenti ever since its low-key 2001 release. Indeed, when they first started work on Be With, they asked some pals with exquisite taste what their dream release would be. They asked Balearic legend Moonboots and, without hesitation, he said Colors Of Silence by Wally Badarou. They didn't know Wally had made this album. And most still don't. But that's about to change.

Colors Of Silence is ostensibly a new age album. As ever though, Wally's sophisticated synth textures and expressive keyboard runs are so full of character, so full of life, that this work of art transcends any easy genre categorisation. It's simply stunning, throughout. It sounds like A.r.t. Wilson or Suzanne Kraft, with traces of CFCF and Jonny Nash. But it was made a good decade earlier than the work of these modern giants. Sometimes, it doesn't seem far from some Larry Heard albums.

1. Dance In The Dust
2. Amber Whispers  
   
3. Where We Are 
   
4. The Lights Of Kinshasa
5. Pictures Of You
6. Serendipity For Two
7. Smiles By The Millions
8. Higher Still
9. Oriental
10. Days To Wonder
11. Dawn Of Europa
12. Crystal Falls
13. Purple Lines