artist: Ray Lynch country of origin: USA style(s): Ambient pop, synth pop, contemporary classical essential releases: Deep Breakfast (1986, Ray Lynch Productions)

Lynch’s 2nd album Deep Breakfast was one of the most surprising "new age" chart success stories of the 1980’s. It remains among the biggest selling contemporary instrumental albums ever released by an American composer. Inspired by his classical background and a particular interest in Renaissance music Lynch deftly combines synthesisers, piano, lute, violins and cellos to create some very lyrical tunes, along with a number of bouncy, whimsical cuts that sound rather silly by comparison. The album's sleek, crisp sound and Lynch's reverence for melody shows the influence of both Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre. "Your Feeling Shoulders" is astonishingly powerful, a combination of strings and contemporary electronics with a grand orchestral sweep. If this is new age music, it's new age with brains.

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