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The Stranger JUNE 29, 2015 - by Dave Segal

GOOD HEAVENS! GLITTERBEAT TO REISSUE LARAAJI'S 1980 CLASSIC AMBIENT 3: DAY OF RADIANCE

If there's a heaven, this album is surely soundtracking it.

Glitterbeat Records - the great label run by former Seattleite/Walkabouts member Chris Eckman - will reissue new age legend Laraaji's Day Of Radiance on CD and LP on October 9.

As Glitterbeat did with the 2014 rerelease of Jon Hassell/Brian Eno's Fourth World Volume 1: Possible Musics, the label will include liner notes by former Seattle author/musician Pat Thomas, who wrote Listen, Whitey! The Sights And Sounds Of Black Power, 1965-1975. Thomas says that the reissue will feature deluxe packaging, remastering, and an interview he conducted with Laraaji (AKA Larry Edward Gordon) about the making of Day Of Radiance.

Part of Eno's influential Ambient series, Day Of Radiance is considered one of the pinnacles of the oft-scorned new age genre. Laraaji created it largely on an electrified, open-tuned zither and hammered dulcimer, which produces a glistening, cascading stream of cleansing, healing tones. Day Of Radiance is an ultimate sonic expression of peace and beauty, a balm - temporary, alas - for the world's torrent of turmoil.

Thomas says, "I wasn't prepared for what an interview with Laraaji would be like - he's an enigma to me, but I found him to be candid and forthcoming. His music is very serious, but he's actually quite a funny guy - in fact, he was doing stand-up comedy in Greenwich Village in the 1960s alongside Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, and Woody Allen. Who knew?!"