Lost in the Translation
| Lost in the Translation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 8, 1994 | |||
| Studio | Greenpoint (Brooklyn) | |||
| Genre | Ambient | |||
| Length | 121:33 | |||
| Label | Axiom | |||
| Producer | Bill Laswell | |||
| Bill Laswell chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Down Beat | [2] |
Lost in the Translation is an album by American composer Bill Laswell, issued under the moniker Axiom Ambient. It was released on November 8, 1994, by Axiom.[3]
Overview
[edit]In The Ambient Century (2000), Mark Prendergast describes Lost in the Translation as "an overlapping and intertwining collage of eight symphonic Ambient movements containing some of the most impressive music from the Axiom catalogue", noting that the Orb and Tetsu Inoue are both represented.[4] Rick Anderson of AllMusic describes it as the zenith of Laswell's musical interest in "cybermysticism".[1] Trouser Press named it one of three "star-packed repertory extravaganzas devoted to specific genre indulgence" in Laswell's catalogue, noting that it uses non-ambient musicians to "enter that realm."[5]
The track "Peace in Essaouria", writes Prendergast, "was mixed for the late Eddie Hazel and Sonny Sharrock and featured the playing of both guitarists in a sublime dedication to Jimi Hendrix's 1967 ballad 'Little Wing'. The track concluded with the saxophonist Pharoah Sanders playing a haunting ballad for Sharrock in the coastal Moroccan town of Essaouria."[4]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Eternal Drift" (Below the Boundaries of the Inner Station/Eternal Thaemlitz Curse/ Light of Darkness/Construct Over Destiny/Sacred Drift) | Laswell, Skopelitis, Thaemlitz | 15:53 |
| 2. | "Peace" (My Soul to Keep/Who Does She Hope to Be?/Peace in Essaouria) | Hazel, Sanders, Sharrock | 17:11 |
| 3. | "Aum" (Soul Searcher/Praying Mantra (Second Attention)/Tarab Scan/Ritual in Transfigured Time) | Caroline, Lakshminarayana, Rao, Shankar, Skopelitis, Wobble | 17:37 |
| 4. | "Cosmic Trigger" (Through the Flames/Cosmic Slop/Animal Behavior) | Buckethead, Collins, Laswell, Worrell | 16:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dharmapala" (Along a Ghostly Path/Before Dark/Knox Om Pax) | Hellborg, Wahab | 14:35 |
| 2. | "Flash of Panic" (Pipes of Pan/Up Above the World/Under Black Skies/Out of the Ether) | Attar, Baker, Laswell, Skopelitis | 15:17 |
| 3. | "Holy Mountain" (Assassin's Dream/Blues in the East/Alamut Transmission) | Laswell, Sola | 16:41 |
| 4. | "Ruins" (Bubble Wrap mix) | Inoue, Laswell | 8:00 |
Personnel
[edit]Adapted from the Lost in the Translation liner notes.[6] Musicians
- Tetsu Inoue – effects ("Ruins")
- Bill Laswell – effects, producer
- The Orb – effects ("Aum")
- Terre Thaemlitz – effects ("Eternal Drift")
Technical
- Layng Martine – assistant engineer
- Robert Musso – engineering
- Shinro Ohtake – cover art
Release history
[edit]| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1994 | Axiom | CD, LP | 314-524 053 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Anderson, Rick. "Axiom Ambient: Lost in the Translation". Allmusic. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ columnist (September 1995). "Axiom Ambient - Lost in the Translation". Down Beat: 48.
- ^ Robbins, Ira (2007). "Bill Laswell". Trouser Press. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ a b Prendergast, Mark (2003). "House, Techno and Twenty-First-Century Ambient". The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby – The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age. New York, NY: Bloomsbury. p. 427. ISBN 1-58234-323-3.
- ^ Robbins, Ira. "Bill Laswell". Trouser Press. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
- ^ Lost in the Translation (booklet). Axiom Ambient. New York City, New York: Axiom. 1994.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
External links
[edit]- Axiom Ambient - Lost in the Translation at Discogs (list of releases)
- Lost in the Translation at Bandcamp
