Masterpieces of Instrumental Electronic Music: My top-ten list (2010)

Kaz Dziamka

I have always been fascinated by music, certain types of music, that is. I have little interest in jazz and almost none in country music, for example. Otherwise my music tastes are quite cosmopolitan. I am likely to be blown away as easily by Pyotr Tchaikovsky as by Amon Amarth, a melodic death metal band from Sweden: I love to listen to “Swan Lake,” but I also love to listen to “Across the Rainbow Bridge.”

Without music I would probably not be able to live sanely. Like Kurt Vonnegut, I think there is something magical, something supra-rational, something ultimately mysterious about music. If I ever believed in a god, it would have to be a god of music, music being the only evidence that there might be somewhere a being, who although indifferent to our fate, is benevolent enough to give us the consolation of a heavenly melody.

For years now, over three decades in fact, I have been collecting gems of music. I have collected hundreds, and I listen to them obsessively, compulsively. My music collection has given me endless hours of satisfaction. I listen to my selections every day, and I take them with me whenever and wherever I go.

In search of these gems of music, I often have my radio on 24/7 to monitor the music market. Or I spend hours listening to sample recordings online on Amazon.com, for example. Much of what is played by radio stations in the US is trashy, commercialized music. But once in a long while, after digging in a mountain of dirt and garbage, I find a gem—I guess the only way to find gems. I then record it, as well as write down the artist’s name and the title, if those are available. If not, I try to track down the artist somehow. Usually I eventually identify most musicians or bands. In a few cases, I have regrettably never been able to determine who the artist is.

Below I am offering ten gems that I consider masterpieces of the kind of instrumental music usually called New Age, which is not a good name. Perhaps “electronic instrumental music” would be a better label. But the label doesn’t matter; the music does. The list is strictly mine; I make no claim to be a music expert and I don’t mind if experts should disagree. But I do care that you like this music and that it will give you at least some of the pleasure it has given me.

Here is my selection of the ten best electronic instrumental masterpieces. (I included the list in my 2010 book, Adventures in Freedom.