Lloyd Barde is a master in his field. I have known him for almost 15 years and have always been amazed at his ability to process and interpret all the great music that comes his way. His literary skills in describing the genre of music that he makes available is unsurpassed. He has taken the time to understand the exact type of music that best motivates me including the music downloaded on my ipod for serious inline skating and observing the universe through my high powered binoculars. I have not been disappointed in the choice of music that he sends me. His technical skills are highly refined and his people skills are even better which has made him a great friend. Stated simply; This world is a better, much better place with Lloyd Barde in it. I am blessed to call him my friend. -- Paul Carmody

If the rating had 10 stars, LLoyd would get all TEN !!!!!! I have known him for over 25 years and his expertise on ambient, space music, and similar categories is second to NONE. He will be more than happy to suggest and find the music you seek. Always speedy service and low prices. As always thanks LLoyd. -- Johnny Autrey

Thank you so much for all the incredible music and the inspiration that it has brought into our life. It is a “Gift” truly! -- Ralf Niemzik (Canada)

I've been ordering from Lloyd for 15 years and in my book he is the undisputed king of ambient retailers, as so much great music has been discovered via his help over the years. -- Chris Knowlton

I've rarely met somebody so passionate about this music, for so long. He's truly a music fanatic and super cool guy. -- B. L.

Lloyd was an incredible supporter of the various genres of electronic music (also world and folk) as well as being a knowledgeable and friendly guy. I will fondly remember the many visits that I made to the Backroads warehouse for the sidewalk sales when I lived in Sacramento. Since living in Canada I managed to drop in when visiting California last summer. Lloyd was helpful as always and I drove away with a box full of wonderful music. -- Kirk W.

Every time I visited the US in recent years, I came back with a big box of CDs from Lloyd. His export surcharge were high to buy in pairs to satisfy postal custom limits, so I would compile a long list of CDs unavailable in the UK. Lloyd was always very helpful and knowledgeable. In recent times, I've missed Lloyd's newsletter. It introduced me to lots of eclectic music, not just ambient and electronic. Lloyd's enthusiasm for the music shone through. -- Malcolm Currie UK customer

"Lloyd of Backroads Music in California ? All the great new age music came from there...". -- M. R.

The music that you through Backroads introduced me to has played such an important role in my path that I cannot imagine what I would have done without it. I've learned over the years to read your reviews extremely carefully, trusting your judgement implicitly, and have made all of my buying decisions based on your personal assessment and recommendations. With a comparatively few exceptions, I've found your assessments in the genres that are most important to me ("meditation" music especially, plus a couple of others) have been unerringly accurate in terms of quality and personal taste. Your ability to sort the wheat from the chaff in identifying true quality and integrity in the music (the true inner essence, the depth of spirit and expression -- even if very quiet and subtle) is without parallel.

Would such a "new music digest" from you be as valuable to me as a subscription to The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist or other "must have" publications I have to subscribe to? You bet! It doesn't have to be by mail, either; an e-subscription would do just fine.
Thanks again for making such a big difference. Keep on keeping it on. -- David Wickenden

I have known Lloyd Barde since the early nineties when I stumbled upon a colored catalog that was going out then. The catalog had impressed me for its broad and varied content, the colorful illustrations of albums’ cover art and the eloquently written reviews of the music.

I had then already been looking for a single source for getting my “New Age Music”. I wanted to avoid going to each separate label’s catalog and trying to contact them asking for info on their releases. That had been extremely time consuming and tedious for all the years past, before meeting the owner of Backroads!

Looking back now at all the years between today and that first day when I made the realization that Backroads existed, I cannot figure out how I would have been able to get the music I now own without Lloyd’s help!

I have been placing orders for CD’s from Backroads for almost 17 years now! And in these 17 years, New Age Music has also evolved and expanded, and I now have music in several genres such as “Ambient Atmospheric”, “New Age Instrumental”, “Electronic”, “Chant”, “Space Music”, “Ethnic”, “Native American”, “Ambient Dub” etc. It would truly have been impossible to gather all this variety by doing the research alone and chasing each recording independently!!

Lloyd has been my one stop shopping! He has accumulated in his warehouse and his catalog almost everything that is out circulating on a global basis in relation to all these genres. Over the years, I have discovered there was nothing he could not locate for me, very often specially requested items too!

Most importantly, his personal familiarity with the music itself, the issuing label, the style etc, has made it possible for me to select those items that are in line with my taste and musical inclination. I wanted to be adventurous and try new things, but without ending up with something less than satisfactory or not in agreement with my personal taste. Lloyd’s music reviews and personal advice has helped me find what I wanted from a myriad of styles and labels, without taking much risk!

I wish and hope that Lloyd can continue to have this role for many more years to come. His beautifully written & descriptive reviews, his catalog and regular emails of new items which are a constant updater on the international music scene on all fronts of interest has proved to be most essential to music lovers of these genres. Without that, one would be bound to feel lost.

I cherish my long standing relationship and friendship with Lloyd, a man with acute musical sensibilities and an aptitude to discern and appreciate the beautiful and emotionally stirring elements of truly evocative music.

-- Aris Pierides , Cypress