22/05/2016

Brugada - Sweet Billy Pilgrim

Track list:

1. Brugada

Running time: 5 minutes
Released: 2012
It appears this was actually a track from another album (Crown and Treaty), but I think I have it listed on its own because it was promotional gubbins; I certainly never bought Crown and Treaty. Whilst I was suckered into the hype around Twice Born Men, which included a Mercury nod and an appearance in an episode of The IT Crowd, that didn't turn into sustained interest and I therefore surmise this must have been a freebie. 

It starts with a nice trembling sound, but the fragile vocal is affected and adds nothing. The sound is better in the chorus where the singing is stronger. The strain in the voice in the verses doesn't come across as an emotional one (though as this song is reportedly about a sibling's untimely demise that wouldn't be out of place). I find that, when they release themselves, they can pick out a nice tune, and I shall maintain this for the chorus which soars and swirls in a pleasant fashion, but I shall not be looking up any more.

Broken Beats - Pogo

Track list:

1. Gitch
2. White Dresses
3. Symphony #69
4. Hate from Love
5. Get Out...
6. Come In...
7. SlowMo Rain
8. Drunk in the Mat-Mobile

Running time: 22 minutes
Released: 2008
Random insert time. This is apparently a 2013 album according to Amazon, iTunes etc. but I could have sworn that I have had these tracks for much longer than that, lying around unappreciated after I grabbed them when they were offered for free on LastFM. Going back to that source, and via there Wikipedia, it seems it was a 2008 release and that the creator is an Australian. My only inkling is that this is some kind of electronica, and I can only assume that I picked it up because I noticed it as free - even if it no longer is. No idea what I will make of it.

It is almost impossible to read that first track name and not insert an "l"; glitch being an actual word. It has a rather cheesy tune behind, not over, some programmed beats. Here the melody is clearly background to the rhythms by virtue of the amplitude of the recordings. It is thoroughly inoffensive stuff, though the little vocal sample is a bit blah, and it sets a tone that is continued by the second track. Some old-timey style sounds in a distant sample and percussive structure layered on top. I find White Dresses less engaging, like a poor man's Public Service Broadcasting; there are vocal snippets that feel like they should be used PSB style, but there is a lot less innovation or interest in the music crafted around them.

I don't think the PSB comparison is fair, though. Those guys built tracks around their samples. Here the old material is being sampled in and sprinkled for interest. It's not as good, but it is not setting out to do the same thing, either. Symphony #69 is longer at 4 minutes (the first two were short pieces) and it really shouldn't be. There is not enough happening in the tune to justify the extra run-time and I find myself wishing it closed before it concludes. It is replaced by a darker sound, a more interesting sound initially - but one that gets stale even before its sub 2-minute time is up. For my taste there is not quite enough happening in these tunes; the structures are alright but there aren't the elements in place around that to lift the pieces to a level where I feel I really want to listen to them. I feel like I have heard the whole track after the first 10 seconds. I feel...

I feel... uninspired. This gives me the impression of early experiments; a young artist playing about, finding a style, hitting on some reasonable patterns and then perhaps not having the nous or experience to build upon that and deliver something that reaches beyond the bland. I hope he learned and improved, because there's something to it in places. Come In... is a step in the right direction, softer, subtler. It sounds more engaging than the 4 tracks before it, but I can't shake the feeling it is just resetting to the same baseline Gitch was working from.

The last two tracks lose me completely though, just offering nothing to get engaged with. The final track in particular is a mess; I guess that is intentional given the name, but frankly I can only suppose that you need to be drunk or stoned or high or something to find it other than awful. So, yes... weird freely downloaded music is weird I guess. Nothing here to be excited about, but two tracks that weren't entirely forgettable to maintain.

14/05/2016

Broadside - Bellowhead

Track list:

1. Byker Hill
2. The Old Dun Cow
3. Roll the Woodpile Down
4. 10,000 Miles Away
5. Betsy Baker
6. Black Beetle Pies
7. Thousands or More
8. The Dockside Rant / Sailing With the Tide
9. The Wife of Usher's Well
10. What's the Life of a Man (Any More Than a Leaf?)
11. Lillibulero
12. Go My Way

Running time: 46 minutes
Released: 2012
Bellowhead are no more. By now they have played their last gig, which is sad - but then all things must end, and better they went out whilst still darn good than living on to drop in quality. Anyhow - I said a while back that it would be a few folk-packed weeks, well the infrequency of my posting put paid to that. However I do still have to get through a couple of Bellowhead albums before I can move on to C after what seems like being stuck on the Bs forever; almost 18 months now!

Broadside never received much play from me as an album before, but spawned their biggest single, one of my favourites, and probably the worst thing Bellowhead ever did, all in one. It starts with Byker Hill, which - my only other referenced for Byker being the Grove of BBC childrens TV of the early 90s - I guess must have been from the North East. Ooh. The talk of colliers fits, at least. This has an anthemic feel to it, the whole band joining in on the chorus, and a consistent pace thumping it forward. It is let down as a song by the sheer reliance on repetition, but the sense of place and purpose in the piece redeem it.

The Old Dun Cow makes good use of bassy brass to set the tone - fitting more with a gangster film than its actual subject. There is an urgency in the vocal here, breathy and quick in places, which gives the song character and contrasts with the structure from those deep horns. The break out into saxophone solo was unexpected, and didn't add much really. Crowd favourite next; I like Roll the Woodpile Down - any tune where Paul Sartin pulls the Oboe out has an appeal - but I have never quite understood why this is every other Bellowhead fan's #1 tune. Its nice and radio-friendly, which explained why it did so well, it's short and snappy, but with that it is also very formulaic. I find it doesn't quite have the really sweet melody of a Betsy Baker or the jaunt of a Haul Away. I guess I am just being a bit curmudgeonly here; it's a fine tune, just not a personal fave.

I heard a number of these tracks twice yesterday; not thinking about this project I was re-listening to the first disc of the Farewell Tour live album in the car to and from both work and gaming in the evening. Whilst I normally try to avoid that kind of action, I don't really mind. Save one or two tracks, even if I am not being openly positive here, my general take on Bellowhead is one of a comfortable familiarity. Their best work turns that into losing myself but mostly its just relaxing. I have to forgive Betsy Baker for being from Swindon - I first saw them play it live there in the steam railway museum - because the oboe melody is probably my favourite tune in all their work. It's not my favourite Bellowhead track (I think I would have to say that's Across the Line from Burlesque), but it is right up there... despite most of what I said about Roll the Woodpile Down applying equally here - the repetition certainly applies to the melody, yet I give it a pass because it is so light, fanciful and lyrical.

Black Beetle Pies is awful by comparison. An experiment with discordance. It is actually far more palatable on record than live. Here the recording de-emphasizes the more cacophonous elements, allowing me to appreciate their intent without the roundly negative responses I always felt hearing this in concert. We pass on to a track that probably encapsulates the standard Bellowhead song in terms of the basic structure, tune, melody and style, but which lacks the true character of the band. Thousands or More is just... flat, missing something. Tunes... the other side of the band and, probably, my natural bias in terms of enjoyment. I don't think The Dockside Rant is a short and approachable pair but not a set that ring any bells for me. Nice enough, and with enough character to be enjoyable, but not their finest.

There is a darker tone to The Wife of Usher's Well - chanting over a taut and insistent string striking, a more expansive chorus, but still with contrasting voices building that feeling of tension and disquiet. I actually really like this for the sense of drama it creates, a good reset after the tune set. Hearing What's the Life of a Man I cannot but think of Tom Waits. Whilst this is a traditional number, here it is rendered in true Waitsian style... oompah, rapid chanting, tempo shifts, vocal gruffness. Very vaudeville. It is another song that relies overmuch on a repeated chorus, but the tone of the track and the energy of it carries the day here (I found the live recording went on a little too long when driving yesterday, but I don't notice that now).

Time has flown by and we're into the last couple of tracks. Lillibulero was a live staple, but to be honest it has always been an underwhelming number for me. I am maddeningly inconsistent and fickle on this, but I find the repetition of the title in this track a bit of a sore point compared with the repetition of other elements in other tracks. Go My Way is unfamiliar to me, never a live track, but I like its overall tone and it works as a closer... right up until the point it drops out suddenly and then, after a moment of silence we get a fiddle melody which shifts the nature of the track. Thankfully this builds up with the percussion and horns coming into it and there is another, fitting, crescendo before the track, and the album conclude.

After sitting through Broadside, I can see why I never really listened to it much. By now I was already used to seeing them live; I had established favourites; there are noticeable weaker tracks. However there are also some nice highs and it forms part of a catalogue that I am glad to have in full.

10/05/2016

Are You Serious - Andrew Bird

Track list:

1. Capsized
2. Roma Fade
3. Truth Lies Low
4. Puma
5. Chemical Switches
6. Left Handed Kisses
7. Are You Serious
8. Saints Preservus
9. The New Saint Jude
10. Valleys of the Young
11. Bellevue
12. Shoulder Mountain
13. Pulaski

Running time: 49 minutes
Released: 2016
What is it with my 2016 purchases all falling in to A and B? This is another that shunts overdue posts further down the list. It is the third Andrew Bird album to appear on these pages and this is my first listen to any of the tracks. I skipped one in a shuffle an evening or two ago because I was primed to do this, and because Bird didn't fit my mood at the time - I can be picky like that. However now it is his game in town. I have the "deluxe" edition with 2 bonus tracks.

One of the first things I note in the booklet as I open the physical package is a thank you to Fiona Apple, who guests on one of these tracks... very interesting! But enough of the physicalities (deluxe is overselling it), and on to the listen. It catches me off guard with a rocky opening, electrified, nice cadence. Strong start. There is a funkiness to the rhythm, the roll of the piece, that I really like, and although it becomes clear that the song lyrics are less than inspired the vocal style and the overall feel of the track keep it interesting. 

Roma Fade is more immediately recognisible as an Andrew Bird track - his distinctive staccato violin picking and whistling combination opening the track. There is a liveliness in the tempo here too, and some low-fi guitar work in the background, but here the initial star is Bird's voice. It becomes a bit lost in the other sounds as the track progresses, which is a shame but a sign of a growing and varied supporting cast of instruments rather than his performance tailing off. The track ends rather suddenly and we are pitched in to Truth Lies Low, which ... well, I can't find words to describe the odd effect here. It works, rather, but its a sort of low background hum plus voice. The dominant sounds are really hard to articulate. As the song builds it becomes a little more appreciable - the violin part coming in to give some top end. I find I like it a lot, though it touches on some sounds that make me think of cheesy lounge music or incomplete demo recordings in different places.

Andrew Bird isn't the first name that comes to mind when thinking about my favourite artists, but at the same time, his name on something makes it an instant buy from me by now. He is varied, which is one of the things I really like. The three songs so far have all felt very different in tone, and that continues to be the case with Puma, too. This is a man comfortable with several styles, rhythms and arrangements. In general this album seems to share a harder low-end sound than some others. The guitar work forming much of the structure a bit of a darker, tougher sound than the top end and influencing the overall sound of the songs more, without swamping the fiddling. It takes a while for the whistling to be broken out in full, but it is there on the intro to Chemical Switches, albeit in a slow, subdued fashion, subservient to the twang on the guitar. This track is really stripped back, acoustic only. Its the best yet - a really nice, clear melody and the right kind of feel for a Tuesday evening alone after (for the second day running) evening plans got cancelled. The song ends meekly, dropping out a little, but that's the only bad point.

Now we get a duet with Apple, whose first couple of albums are amongst my all time favourites. I am not sure that I would recognise her voice here if I didn't know it was her though... it is lower, older (no surprise some 20 years on from Tidal). Her voice here is lower than his in places, in tone if not in pitch. I find, though that the song is a little disappointing - not much to it, and I missed too many of the lyrics (that old problem) to get a sense of the point. The deficit in arrangement is shown up by what came before and what comes after.

I zoned out for a little bit, brought back around by a neat change of tempo mid-track in Saints Preservus (why the concatenation?). The pace injected is suddenly lost again and the piece turns almost classical, before the momentum is picked up again. Nicely done, and another sign of Bird's comfort across a range of performing styles. 

I am trying to find more to say but I keep falling back on one cliché or another or something I have already said. Not my finest, clearest thinking tonight I am afraid. I would be lying if I said I was as engaged by this point as I was at the commencement of the album, but at the same time I am sort-of sinking into it, losing track of my thoughts because the space Bird creates is comfortable and pleasant. I am into the bonus tracks now. There is a bit of a hint of The Leisure Society about Shoulder Mountain, which is no bad thing at all, more present in the verse than the chorus. I really like this number. Pulaski rounds us out with an Asian-ish sound to the opening, though this is quickly lost for the vocal sections it returns for an instrumental insert later and makes for an interesting tune.

Overall I think this is a pretty strong album without ever really being stellar. It felt a bit like slipping into comfortable clothes after a day dressed up for work - relaxing, reassuring and taking a weight off. Like its creator, I doubt it will ever be consciously thought of as a favourite, but it hits a large number of notes that I really appreciate. Very glad I picked it up.

08/05/2016

Broadchurch O.S.T - Ólafur Arnalds

Track list:

1. Main Theme
2. Danny
3. The Journey
4. So Close
5. Suspects
6. What Did They Ask You?
7. She's Your Mother
8. Excavating The Past
9. The Meeting
10. Broken
11. I'm Not The Guilty One
12. So Far
13. Beth's Theme

Running time: 52 minutes
Released: 2015
From a videogame soundtrack to a TV show one. This was meant to be next cab on the rank a long while back, but a raft of purchases that all fell before it alphabetically, and a low output rate of late, have delayed it several weeks.

I hear Broadchurch - season 1 anyway - was good TV. I wouldn't know as I didn't catch any of it and have never felt like going back to do so. However when I saw that the soundtrack music had been composed by Ólafur Arnalds I picked it up despite my unfamiliarity with the series. I like Arnalds' style. I expect this to be a little bitty without knowledge of the visuals it was to accompany but hope that it will be stirringly good stuff all the same.

The Main Theme starts darkly, distantly. A low rumbling sound may be approximating waves. Then a spooky, isolated but simple melody arrives and takes centre stage. I think the addition of the strings, giving depth to the bleakness, raises the theme another level as the percussion picks up a pace. This is the kind of atmospheric that I wanted to feel from The Banner Saga soundtrack last time out... a different atmosphere, of course - English mystery vs. Nordic fantasy - but a complete theme. I suppose as such it speaks to the fundamentally different nature of soundtracking the two media. TV (and film) tend to get longer themes that may not be used in their entirety but are composed as such. Videogames get made-to-measure pieces that fit exactly to a specific use, and likely made to loop in case the player takes too long.

I guess that Danny was the kid that died/went missing/provoked the central mystery of the show. I could guess that from the name alone, but the tune that bears the name also suggests this quite strongly. There is an inorganic edge to the sound here that typifies Arnalds' playing with less traditional elements, but the composition is very classic soundtrack in tone. I am left suspecting that the show was about loneliness, key people being driven apart by events and their responses to them, because there is something in the music here that breeds a sense of isolation, of being cut off. When the more modern, almost Vangelis-style futuristic, sounds appear in The Journey I think it was better before they did, but at the same time they are not entirely out of place. The composer is walking a fine line there, his inclination to modernise competing a little against the sense of place the tune was composed to evoke. This is a long theme though, and the latter stages of it have a tension and conflict to them. It reminds me a little in places of several different composers or musicians in passing, in snippets too short for me to identify and name them all.

I have often said I don't like crime fiction... police TV shows. It's one of the reasons I steered clear of Broadchurch when it aired (well, that and ITV). But that is a lie; I have lapped up Line of Duty (a soundtrack I want to get, if only for the main theme) on the BBC over three series and 4 years, for example. I think what I dislike is "villain of the week" shows, one and done crimes (always murder, because drama). Serialise it, give room for the characters to shine and suffer and suddenly it becomes a backdrop like any other subject. I think I probably should go back and watch this one, because I suspect it does what I would want it to.

So close is a song, with vocals. Was not expecting that. I find I don't think much of it, either... it rather flows past me without making an impression. Suspects is a dark, tense affair to follow it, but one that opens out into a nice melody and pacing structure (albeit of a form so generic to TV scores that it hurts). There is definitely something very common about the form this composition takes, right down to the sudden end to the piece. It works, because it is incredibly evocative. It also doesn't work absent the visual media because it's a trope that is so over-used. I know, I should name other instances to back that up, and no, I can't off the top of my head. All I can say is that I am sure I have heard the same conceits used a hundred times on TV and film, and that I think that as a composition Suspects suffers without recourse to the visuals.

A couple of terse, tense numbers pass by, erasing the memory of the overused trope by drowning me in the murky uncertainties. I don't know if this is biased by enjoying this disc more, but here the shorter pieces feel more rounded and complete, more tonally consistent and more like a tune in their own right than even the longer numbers on The Banner Saga soundtrack managed to. I really don't like disparaging that soundtrack so much, because I don't think that in context it was bad at all, so let me say instead that Arnalds clearly knows how to craft accompaniments that can stand alone. I think perhaps with TV we are all so familiar with the tropes and mores that it is easier to play upon them and for us to identify and relate to them without the specific context that the composer is working to, but certainly this is much more accessible. So much so that I feel like I have heard much of it before simply because it trades on those familiarities. I can't really blame the composer for drifting into sounds that could come from a hundred different shows. Really so much of our TV explores the same themes, so why wouldn't the music for the show follow suit? The soundtrack's job is to support and enhance the visuals and there is probably a reason the sort of dark-light shifts, driving strings, and wide lens feel have become staples in the first place.

I feel like I am tarring this undeservedly, so let me say that I am enjoying this quite a lot. It is making me think of things beyond the scope of the single album though, and I find it much easier to connect these sounds to soundtracks aplenty by other musicians than I do to reference Arnalds' other work. Just because something is familiar - or popular, come to that - does not mean it lacks artistic merit. Rather than seeing a slight on the present, see a nod to the masses.

I really like the strings on Broken. There's a lovely light touch to this piece which, whilst carrying a sad tune and quite clearly not accompanying an upbeat moment, gives a sense of relief... exactly the sort of thing I was crying out for in yesterday's listen. You would expect a tune with the title "I'm Not the Guilty One" to be difficult listening, and it is. I don't find it as overtly accusatory as the title itself, but it is not a pleasant tune, edginess abundant. One element that is used a lot in soundtracking it seems is the repeated note as pacing mechanism. A single sound hit over and over to give structure and tempo, the strength of the sound dictating  the urgency of the piece. So Far uses this, and it makes me think again of Vangelis though I can't bring a particular piece or even album to reference.

On to the last. Beth's Theme starts as a lonely, light piano. It feels like a classic resolution, a sober end. Gods, when he does this I love Ólafur Arnalds... so much emotion in such a simple package. I can feel myself getting goosebumps on what has been the warmest day of the year to date - simply amazing. I can only imagine how powerful this could be with a conclusive scene to sit alongside. It ends rather meekly, but such tender tunes rarely blow out hot. I find myself thinking I really should see what the fuss was about on some form where I can avoid any ads.

07/05/2016

The Banner Saga 2: Official Soundtrack - Austin Wintory

Track list:

1. An Oath, Until The End
2. The World is Breaking
3. Faces to the Wind  
4. Minds like Streams and Streams like Minds
5. A Path through the Skies
6. Under the Black Banner
7. Only Snow can Shield the Sun
8. Blades Yearn for Courageous Blood
9. Promises of Sanctuary
10. The Endlessly Grasping Bogs
11. Descended from Fire
12. Dragons in the Mud
13. Deep into the Rocks
14. Even the Trees can Smell your Blood
15. To the Skies
16. Children of the Fallen
17. Broken Shells
18. From the Shouting Rocks, his Eyes finally Opened
19. Paths Part
20. The Twilight Flight
21. With Eyes to the Endless Sun
22. Walls like Mountains
23. More Stars Tonight than Last Night
24. Threads Unweave
25. Our Steps, To the Night

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2016
A videogame soundtrack now. On those occasions I buy games on Steam, I find I am often splurging on the music too. This particular purchase was a no-brainer because the game it accompanies has a wonderful atmosphere that I am confident this will support. The Banner Saga is a series of epic Norse narrative, part wonderful story with dramatic and difficult choices, part crappy tactics battle engine. No matter how much I despise the latter, the qualities of the former made the first game one of the most moving things I had played to that point. The sequel is equally compelling and the art and aesthetic of the world they have created is so gorgeous. I tend not to overly notice the music in play because I am drawn to the text, the decisions. Now I get to listen to it in isolation, after finishing my playthrough earlier this afternoon.

The first track is short and sad, a mournful horn over stately drums definitely lays out the tone. There is tension and threat layered into this piece all the same though... this is not a static world. In fact, it is breaking - as we are told by the title of track two. This actually has a vocal of sorts leading it in, but it quickly fades away to give a very quiet background tune. Clearly a case of music written to support something, because there are no strong themes to follow in the first couple of minutes. It develops a percussion-led rumble in the last third, but the most interesting line is the tight string part that adds melody, a strained tune, but one that I would like to have heard more of.

Not to give any spoilers away, but I found the sequel to disappoint in the final throws. It opened brilliantly and was properly epic, but I found myself disliking the progression of decisions as it tapered to a close in addition to hating the core tactical aspect. The reason for that hatred is a system that wants you to keep enemies alive, but badly hurt; it's counter-intuitive and feels too much like work to learn it. I find the disappointment resulting from what I felt was a weak closing of the game - compared to the first part, which ended on a very dramatic note - bleeding through into my appreciation of the score. That said the drama of A Path Through the Skies is captured really well. I think I did really poorly at this particular section of the game - choices made with the best intentions likely causing a worse outcome than I might have otherwise had. It was, though, my favourite passage of play in the whole 9 hour episode.  The horns... oh, the horns. I am a sucker for long, lonely notes and here we get that aplenty.

This soundtrack is stately in pace - which befits companionship for a game played through decisions or turns where you have all the time in the world to make your choices. However I find that slow, marching pace which makes it so brilliantly apt for the in play experience, is distancing me from it at I listen and I have already disabused myself of the notion of buying the soundtrack to part 1 for that reason. It's not a fault in the composition, but in the consumption; I just find that devoid the context of the scenes these tunes were meant to overlay, many of them offer little to the listener. They drip atmosphere and theme, knowing what they are meant to accompany, but those qualities have reduced impact in a "sit down and listen" scenario, at least for me. I might suggest this to a friend of mine though, as he is running an RPG campaign with very, very similar themes to those found in The Banner Saga.

There are a few musical themes recurring across these tracks, little snippets of tune that appear and reappear over different numbers. I like this - it makes the work feel tied together, it helps to build a context for the listener. This is also achieved through the tone, as you would expect, but its the little snatches of melody that emerge from behind the dramatic structures of drums and horns that offer me the most interest.

Some of these tunes are properly tense! Dragons in the Mud is a nerve-wracking piece that proffers doom. I find myself unable to place most of these tracks relative to the imagery from my playthrough, but this one must have been a particularly dramatic moment. A few of the tracks make use of chanting voices which lends them an eeriness to add to the dramatic crucible. This feature is often used as an introduction rather than as a feature running through a track. Essentially it provides a sort of scene framing, but I find that it focuses my ear then drops out and leaves me without the right sense of things... from a purely aural point of view, I would like the voices to persist a little longer, though I can certainly understand why that may not have worked with the original context of the tunes. Just as I type that, Children of the Fallen plays, which does have a vocal throughout. I have no idea what is being sung, but the tones of the voices involved are wonderfully rich.

Broken Shells harks back to other tracks, similar tunes arising in the top end, but overshadowed by environmental type effects in the piece... like nature is ruling man. This soundtrack is not an easy listen by any stretch. There is barely a light moment in any of the pieces, as befits the tragic edge to the tale it supports. The moments where the drums drop away and we are left with tunes that are identifiable melodies though... there is some nice work there. Those melodies are hardly joyful, but they are familiar, touchstones and breathers amidst the inevitable progression of the threat. In truth though, as a standalone work The Banner Saga 2 soundtrack suffers for this lack of lighter moments. It has less intense moments and these are welcome, but the overwhelmingly morose themes make enjoying the craft that went into this work difficult for me.

Two tracks to go. Threads Unweave is long by videogame soundtrack standards at over 6 minutes. It doesn't appear to use this length to give us a more considered and complete piece though as I find it to be made up of distinct shorter segments. I was, perhaps naïvely, expecting this to be a more "theme" like piece, but I don't get that feeling at all and find that it disappoints as a result. The last track delivers on this score though and I think shines a little light on what I wanted this soundtrack to be... music inspired by, and speaking to, the tone of the game, building on the atmosphere and setting. Soundtracking is not that though; had the soundtrack been what I realise now - too late - I was wanting then it almost certainly wouldn't have worked in its primary role.