I'm not sure how many ambient music fans are here, but I was quite saddened to hear about the death of Barry Craig, better known by the pseudonym "A Produce", on September 4, 2011 at the far too young age of 59. I've only been a fan of his since 2007, when I first heard 2 of his tracks on Lynn Augstein's "Borealis" DVD. His contributions were "Sea of Breath" and "Native Pulse", and when I heard the latter, I had to find out who this was! I eventually collected his entire discography. His music is along a similar vein to Robert Rich and Steve Roach, of whom I am also big fans of, but he definitely had his own style - when you heard his music, you'd know it was his. A lot of it had more melody than the minimalistic ambient, but he was quite capable of minimalistic, as well, again with his own style. Some of his tracks included the addition of electric guitars. My personal favorite CDs of his include "Reflect Like a Mirror, Respond Like an Echo", "Inscape and Landscape", "Smile on the Void", and "Altara". His last actual new release was in 2001, and this past decade, he only released a couple compilations (including the 3 disc "Black Sands") and reissues of a couple of his earlier CDs with bonus tracks, but finally, this year he released a new CD, a collaboration with fellow ambient artist Loren Nerell. I got it on September 6, unaware he had died 2 days prior. This last new CD, "Intangible", is very good, a fitting but all too soon ending. My top 5 favorite ambient artists are Steve Roach, Robert Rich, David Parsons, A Produce, and Patrick O'Hearn. I always said about a lot of A Produce's music that it would be playing on Heaven's soundtrack - now, it would seem that it really is. He will be missed.
A Produce album discography:
The Clearing (1988)
Reflect Like a Mirror, Respond Like an Echo (1992)
A Smooth Surface EP (1994, reissued in 2004 with bonus tracks)
Land of a Thousand Trances (1994, reissued in 2007 with a bonus CD)
White Sands (1995, anthology from 1988-1994)
Inscape & Landscape (1996)
Altara (w/ Mike Griffin) (1999)
Smile on the Void (2001)
Early Sessions 1991-1993 (w/ Ruben Garcia) (2003)
Black Sands (2005, 3 disc anthology from 1988-2001)
Intangible (w/ Loren Nerell) (2011)
