artist: Aeoliah country of origin: Germany/USA style(s): New age, ambient, ethno-ambient essential releases: Inner Sanctum (1981, Helios/Oreade) The Light Of Tao (1982, Helios/Oreade) Majesty (1984, Helios/Oreadde) Angel Love (1985, Helios/Oreade)

Walk into any new age bookshop and you'll see rows of CD's with covers like this. If the angelic artwork and pretentious cover notes on Aeoliah's albums are anything to go by, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another new age troubadour with hand on a keyboard and his head in the clouds.

And yet...these albums from early in his career offer some truly superb ambient music: floating, delicate, melodic drone pieces with a subtle emotional power. Aeoliah plays synthesiser, piano, zither and other assorted instruments with support from respected names from the 80's Californian scene like Don Robertson and the flautist Larkin.

His debut album Inner Sanctum positively glows with a soft, enveloping light from layers of synthesier and organ, often overlayed with Larkin's flute or Don Robertson's lovely tinkling piano improvisations. “Mahariva” from The Light Of Tao is stunning, an unusual and awe-inspiring combination of church organ and Indian sitar. A couple of other tracks from the same album recall the drifting piano and electronics of Harold Budd, though with a quality more luminous than eerie. Majesty is the composer's take on Christian choral music.

Unlike much other music of a new age bent - including most of Aeoliah's output since Angel Love - these albums put the music itself on at least an equal footing with any "healing" or "relaxation" agenda. If only more new age music did the same.

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