All Melody - Nils Frahm

Track list:

1. The Whole Universe Wants to Be Touched
2. Sunson
3. A Place
4. My Friend the Forest
5. Human Range
6. Forever Changeless
7. All Melody
8. #2
9. Momentum
10. Fundamental Values
11. Kaleidoscope
12. Harm Hymn

Running time: 73 minutes
Released: 2018

So another insert here, as I decided I did want to follow up on investigating Nils Frahm after the collaboration with Ólafur Arnalds. The first disc sold me, even though I was disappointed by the second.

The first, short, intro tune starts with ~10 seconds of silence. In a sub-2 minute track that's a significant chunk of time. I can see how and why silence might be used in structuring pieces, but I do wonder about tacking it on to the start or end of the track. In a live performance it might set tone and expectation, but on record? Not so sure.

This is a long disc and I have got up early on a Sunday to make time for it. I failed to find the right energy to do it last night (wash out all round, alas) and am trying to set that right. Soon I have to go off to do a huge shop (for two separate households) and then play dutiful son for a while. Yesterday was cleaning mold from windows that hadn't seen a cleanse in too long. Life's full of fun, eh?

It takes a little while to kick in, but Sunson has the pulsing staccato electronics that endeared the first disc of the Frahm/Arnalds collaboration to me. These kind of rhythms and patterns appeal to me a lot, I wonder why? A constant reference point, perhaps, or a subconscious connection to the heartbeat? I don't think "pulse" is a bad term for it at all. Over the top of this there are wandering pipes. I am reminded a little of Vangelis of all people. There is a little bit of a throwback vibe here. Then, about two thirds of the way through the track just stops. This is better use of silence, a reset, reformulate. The theme that comes back after the break is immediately relevant to what went before but framed very differently, so the quick enforced quiet between the two presentations allows for that relationship without the change being jarring or lost.

I find this hard to place. There's more going on in the pieces than perhaps I expected there would be so it's less immediately relaxing than I anticipated. Finding the words to describe where it would sit is tough. 

Vangelis probably is my best touchstone or reference point, despite this being less synth heavy, because of the variety. There are similarities in the structuring of the tracks and themes moreso than the actual sounds. Even the use of space, such as in the nice keyboard melody on My Friend the Forest, has echoes of the Greek. Actually here I feel there are actual melodic reflections of Vangelis tracks too, albeit with a more stripped down sound. The next track then veers off in a different direction, with taught trumpets that remind me of Scandinavian jazz, but with a slow tempo that, in combination, is really quite disturbing and hard to listen to.

By contrast, when Frahm brings out the keyboard, he has a nice, light touch, surprisingly so.

Is the title meant to be ironic? All Melody starts with anything but. Sure, a tune emerges from the electronics as it moves forward but it is not immediately melodic. My point of reference here dives to Ben Prunty's soundtrack for sci-fi roguelike FTL, a frustrating little game scored perfectly to enhance its tension.  Here the track builds a similar sense of edginess, the sound rounds out over time and the crescendo this involves is effective at subtly ratcheting up that dial further too. The track evolves as it goes, whilst always maintaining that tense aspect. 

You know, I totally missed a change of track there. The electronic rhythm seemed to continue right through with no break, and when you're talking two back-to-back 9 minute tunes...I am liking this mid section of the album though. Pulse, tempo, and tension. Ambient or electronica can be waffly and vague, purposeless. These three elements give it form and structure, give something to get your teeth into, something to lose yourself in, rather than simply losing track of the tune. 

I am losing track of this though... my mind has checked out, seeking refuge in nothingness as an antidote to the day ahead. I look forward to the day when I don't feel put upon, but I don't know if my mind will ever let me get there. We're almost through the album now, Kaleidoscope and its messy approximation of wind chimes and devotional singing is a but jarring. The low vocals on their own are nicely curated but the sounds layered over them are less appealing. It seemed as though the track got better in the latter stages of its 8 minute timeframe but to be honest I think I blocked out the bits that were less immediately accessible to me and concentrated on the part that I enjoyed

Overall this has been a strange listen for a number of reasons. The music itself is certainly one, but the timing (starting before 9am on a Sunday) is probably the key one, along with cutting away between tracks to get things done. It's not ideal, but then neither is finding a 73 minute block to dedicate when life continues on. I need my space and time, but for my own wellbeing I need to find a way to continue things like this, too... if I am not, it means my energy levels are down and I'm probably in a rut. 

The final track ends with silence, more than 10 seconds worth, but still a noticeable mirror to how it began. Overall I think there are some wonderful moments in this disc but it struggles to maintain the peak quality throughout.

Bastion Original Soundtrack - Darren Korb

Track list:

1. Get Used to It
2. A Proper Story
3. In Case of Trouble
4. Bynn the Breaker
5. The Sole Regret
6. Twisted Streets
7. Terminal March
8. Percy's Escape
9. Faith of Jevel
10. Mine, Windbag, Mine
11. Slinger's Song
12. Build That Wall (Zia's Theme)
13. Spike in a Rail
14. What's Left Undone
15. Brusher Patrol
16. The Mancer's Dilemma
17. Mother, I'm Here (Zulf's Theme)
18. Pale Watchers
19. The Bottom Feeders
20. From Wharf to Wilds
21. Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme)
22. The Pantheon (Ain't Gonna Catch You)

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2011

This slots in here as a recent purchase, and the first example of a growing trend: soundtracks for videogames. I have picked up a fair few in recent months/years as it becomes more common for them to be offered as part of the purchase on digital platforms. Bastion I bought just days ago in a Steam sale; I got the soundtrack edition because a) I had heard it was highly rated and b) I already had and loved the soundtrack to Transistor, a game from the same studio carrying music by the same artist, so I have good hopes for this. I have been playing Bastion recently too and the music has made more of an impression than the gameplay, but in a context where I was not really concentrating on it. I wonder what attention might reveal?

This is one of two inserts, new purchases that come in the mid-Folds period (the other being the new Mountain Goats record, Beat the Champ which will follow once I am back home). 22 songs in an hour speaks to short tracks, but some are very short whilst others are more usual track lengths.

It starts with the intro - spoken word over a structure. The start of A Proper Story is jarring as a transition but the track sets the tone of the game's music. Fairly jaunty, evocative of a western-style brush/scrub badlands atmosphere. Strong guitars, steel stringed perhaps, such is their jangle. In Case of Trouble is, I think, the main theme really - the one that was with me a lot of the way through the game (I finished the first run through this morning). Either that or my tune recognition is garbage. The percussion is fairly tense which befits the soundtrack to what is - exploration and story aside - a fairly typical fight-em-all style procession. That edge is present in the consistent banging and pulses in the following track too - this has a darker, rougher edge to it, more immediate danger less promised trouble. Electric wails come in as a top end, then synth strings carry the ominous sound into a lighter and more melodic phase before the oppression overtakes all again.

Even though I was only just playing the game, I can't recall the context of each track, but I can hear the narrator's voice over each piece as it plays. The opening of The Sole Regret absolutely sells regret as the theme (although that could be biased by seeing the title). It then morphs into a more sitar-inspired piece, less oppressive as much of it simply creates a central space which lines then rise to fill in an effective and pleasing manner. There is a hint of a voice at one point (no words mind) and I am looking forward to the voice-as-instrument tracks to come (there must be at least one) as that was one of my favourite things about Transistor's music. Before then it has all gone more cyberpunk in tone, which feels slightly off - images of 90s videogame music arise in my mind as one of the treble themes is reminiscent of Street Fighter 2 music to me... thankfully its not a dominant sound.

I was not overly sold on the game, I have to say. Played it through, finished it with one of the two endings, but in no rush to go back to it. Too repetitive and really too designed for play with a console controller for me to want to replay on a laptop keyboard. Some cheap tricks too like hiding the ground and/or your character sprite; not a fan of that. The tension has ratcheted up again for Terminal March - rolling percussion is ever-present and the melody does nothing to take the edge off. Where it breaks in to the cacophony it actually serves to increase the sense of discomfort and unease, as if something bad is waiting just ahead, or following just behind. Apt. It isn't that much of a march though, if I am being picky - there's nothing regimented enough for that. Then, suddenly we're being chased. There is no other way to describe Percy's Escape, as it gives me a distinct impression of someone on my heels, footing not sound, but plunging on the only option. Funny - I don't recognise this track at all; not sure how the music is organised or coded in game so it is possible (however unlikely) that certain tracks did not appear in my play through.

Darker, but less immediately threatening now. Kinda like the idea of heading home after a nice holiday as I will be doing tomorrow. Mine, Windbag, Mine has the clanging of pick on rock in the background of a lushly layered piece. Strings and more strings over the clangy percussion, then an opening an electro-break followed by a sparser sound, double bass threatening us still. I am trying to think what I would liken this too, where I have heard a similar approach to percussion before but I am coming up blanks.

The badlands overtures return now; maybe Slinger's Song was the theme I heard most. Certainly it is more immediately identifiable with the section I started with this morning - jungle-type terrain, swampy in nature - watch out for that 'gator, don't swim in the bayou. I like the bluesy overtones here, they groove nicely, better without the visuals actually where it could simply apply to the stereotypical deep south.

Ah, there is the voice; humming and singing. The song not so much, but the hum I like, along with the maudlin tone. This has to be the same singer as on Transistor or my ears are deteriorating day by day. The song reminds me of Anaïs Mitchell - its about building walls and really rather bland, but nicely intoned even if the lyrics are terribad. The tone has left the Eastern themes of sitar (I guess meant to be associated with one of the cultures in the gameworld) and strangled notes aside and is squarely back in that southern/western badlands vibe now and I think this is the stronger suit, mixing tension with some interestingly modified tones, driving pacey beats with lines that could be played for relaxation in another context.

Occasionally lighter pieces drift in, like the Mancer's Dilemma, harp-like strains lead this, and whilst there is still a solid background rumble that contains the promise of threat, here it doesn't dominate like it has on most of the tracks thus far. It is a nice change-up, being more effective for that than the song that follows. Different singer this time, less enchanting but almost as effectively crafted to build the emotion. Unfortunately this effect is spoilt by the abrupt shift into the next track right as the final word is uttered - a second or two of quiet for the transition would have been more effective for me. What we drop into is more generic soundtrack music, tension conveyed but without the interesting themes that prior tracks had. Don't misunderstand, I think that Pale Watchers is a pretty decent track but... it lacks the character of something like Brusher Patrol or Slinger's Song where the decisions to use those steely guitar sounds really paid off and helped to craft memorable, enjoyable tunes that stand up well away from the game.

Into the run-in now, and Bottom Feeders has some character back, but alas its very definitely videogame character, not transcendent of the medium. There is a tinny, electronic edge to proceedings for much of the piece which means it is hard to see it as anything but an accompaniment to some gameplay that I am not currently engaged in. It must be from towards the end of the game - the bits I did today - because it is also spacey and reminiscent of some of the FTL soundtrack by Ben Prunty in places. In all honesty this track is probably my least favourite. We get a breather for the first 30 seconds of From Wharf to Wilds before synthetic horns blast in and the percussive edge is restored. It is a short piece though and it is not long before an end theme kicks in. One of the most annoying things about the game was unskippable credits at the end, so I have listened to this piece in full just a couple of hours ago. I did not notice that it was a duet then though, so I clearly wasn't paying much attention! When both voices are active the song is much better - singing different lines at the same time produces a nice haunting effect and brings out the best in Korb's composition.

Final track is a gravelly voiced song; reminds me of Mark Lanegan - just to tag another artist on this post for no apparent reason - but I guess it's actually the guy who voiced the narrator through the game. I rather like the effect and the bluesy guitar that accompanies it. Pretty good closing track this, ending on a really positive note.

Ordinarily I would cull some tracks at this point, for some I felt were rather weak when stripped of their original context. However soundtracks are soundtracks and sometimes best left intact. Re-use is a consideration here, and with that in mind I will be keeping all of it. My gut says Transistor was a better soundtrack, but this surely is not bad at all.

Another Empty Galaxy - Deepspace

Track list:

1. Another Empty Galaxy

Running time: 59 minutes
Released: 2008

So this is one long ambient track. I do not have a clue what got me to look at Deepspace and then grab all the freely available tunes on LastFM and I suspect that by the end of this project I may regret having picked them up. Pick them up I did, though, so now I have to find an hour to listen to this. If you are curious, the track can be found and downloaded here.

No big bang to start, but its a galaxy not a universe. This post could go a number of ways. I could get really into the spacey ambiance and go wild with descriptors. I could detest it and write a diatribe about the hour I am committing. I could simply zone out and make a really short entry. Its that latter I am betting on; not certain of my staying power for this. That said, I am in the right kind of mood for ambient relaxation - just come off the back of a Bloodbowl game where I won but lost 2 players to death, had to pay £160 to get some connectors replaced and repaired in my car, and had a busy day catching up on 7 days worth of missed email - and found that my tomorrow afternoon is a wall-to-wall teleconference. And to top it off, I missed (or rather could not pay adequate attention to) Only Connect. Bah, intellectual nourishment denied!

So I am in need of something soothing, and on that score at least I think I am on to a winner with this piece. Five minutes in, and the track is wide open. There is nothing really musical here a lot of the time, background hums, waves and sounds; layered to provide a sense of space and wonder. I am feeling the space, less so the wonder. There is certainly something to this composition as, now at 12 minutes, I am not bored yet. I am also not really paying full attention - I think that is virtually impossible without the shut down of other senses. I am half tempted to turn out the lights and lie back on the couch - how I imagine this track is best enjoyed - but if I did that I would likely fall asleep, wake up in the middle of the night with a crook neck and fail to have an entry (so need to listen again).

The sounds are generally soothing. There is no drone - the longer notes are a more pleasant tone, and the resonance from them softens their impact rather than amplifying it, though on occasion it sounds like the note is about to lose tune. The waves and pulses of other sounds are generally soft, too and there are refreshingly few sparkles (you know, those electronic "star drop" sounds that one associates with the ambient cliché. There is no harmonic metals of the Vangelis kind, but flatter, emptier sounds that suit the vastness of space better. Deepspace gets the distance right - even when there are some bolder sounds, the tone of the background lends volume and everything feels further away, as if it is constantly receding (which it is, of course).

The track is approaching half way; my head is going slightly. Tiredness creeping in, eyes drooping. The track is having a positively reinforcing effect on that natural reaction to the end of a busy day. I have to admit to a little boredom, but I am resenting the time a lot less than I thought I might, and I can certainly see how listening to this in a more appropriate (and less live-logged) format could be mind blowing. There have been a few more falling stars, but they remain rare. The oscillating bass is the most consistent feature, a thrum to underlay all else, but around it things are in flux, the sounds that make for a tune, to provide the part that a melody might in more traditional music, are many and varied and I find it hard to describe any of them sufficiently. Bold one minute, soft the next. Clear now, then muted, or echoey or both. More stereotypical space creeps in more over the length of the tune - you would expect it to in a 60 minute marathon just to keep the change ups coming - but this is easily forgiveable as it is not overdone.

20 minutes to go now. It continues to provide a soothing aural skyscape, the bassy hum has lightened, ad there are more optimistic top end sounds arising. Ah, now that is interesting. There is a notable tonal shift at or about the 45 minute mark which makes me wonder if the piece is, consciously or subconsciously, divided up into movements even if it is presented as a single megalithic track. I cannot say I noticed the others (if they are there) but I happened to be checking how long was left as the clock went 45 and then the sounds shifted on me. Probably just coincidence, but who knows, eh? More chimes and musical stars in this latest segment - it almost sounds like a fruit machine in places (but for the bass).

I have mostly enjoyed it, though I would admit my concentration has been all over the place. I feel that grabbing it was a good decision, and keeping it is worthwhile, even if the chances that I will ever make the time to listen whilst shutting down my eyes are slim. I could well see it being used as background music for a sci-fi game at some point (playing in a Trek game at the moment so it could happen). Switch between this for exploration, and Ben Prunty's FTL Soundtrack for moments of conflict. Could work really well. That said, I am not a great believer in the use of music for roleplaying sessions - I find having to talk (or more accurately listen) over the music more of a burden to my enjoyment than any sense of atmosphere generated by a soundtrack. This could work though, because it is empty enough. I am into the final stretch, and I wonder if it is because I know that, or whether I can genuinely hear denouement in the soundscape, as if it is drawing in, contracting to a close. It is a tough call, but there is definitely a darkness creeping in, a bit more of an edge than there has been throughout. I find myself wondering how it will actually end - that must be a big decision in a composition like this. The answer seems to be by devolving into the hum, having that become all, then adding an echo before fading out. It is quite an anti-climactic end in truth.

Another Empty Galaxy is awe-inspiring in some ways, and definitely worth investigating if you like spacey or ambient tracks. If you have a good pair of headphones, a large couch and blackout curtains then building yourself a makeshift sensory deprivation chamber and indulging is a worthwhile thing to try, I would reckon. I am certainly amazed by how little I got bored by it, even as my mind started wandering and refused to pay full attention. In a piece this long, that speaks to a good variety; I have got bored a lot quicker to shorter tracks with more going on. So I end with two thumbs up for this, even if I am unlikely to ever give it this much attention again.

30 Days - Various Artists

Track List:

1. KKFS - First Day, Some Lake
2. Kilowatts - Glob Story
3. Ruairi Lazers - Blown Subs
4. Rochie - The White Grass Bending
5. Bogsnarth - Acid Casualty
6. Antenne - Blue Light
7. Spark - The World Has Spoken And Blow
8. dgoHn - roasted
9. Darren McClure - Dec_19
10. Aligning Minds - sEkrAT
11. Cube - Rampant Zoo Sex Orgy
12. Atomly - Medianoche
13. the Square Root of Evil - Frolic
14. Peekay Tayloh - Vast Minority
15. sawe - Brain Cloud
16. Domotic - Ma Stereo
17. Sunny D. Levine - Got Something For Ya
18. Secret Mommy - Bowls
19. Venetian Snares - Peeing_yelloq
20. Zephyr Nova - Patterns and Parallels
21. Nedavine - Nihongo De
22. Svenedikt - The Attack Of The Jellyfish
23. The Flashbulb - Smoking Blue Midi
24. Santosh - I Am Not Mad
25. Lee Hutzulak - Drops
26. Polichinelle - Dans My Poitrine
27. Orangebox - Our Lines
28. Sky Barstow - Can We Leave This Place
29. Peter Fuhry - No Is A Wonderful Word
30. Alice Rose - A Poem In Slow Motion

Running Time: 82 Minutes
Released: 2006

So hot on the heels of one odd free music project comes another from the same label which predates it. 30 songs in 30 days by 30 artists. 27 of which are free on LastFM here. As with 52 Weeks - Fall I have not heard of the majority of artists here, though obviously Orangebox and Sky Barstow were in the prior listen, and Venetian Snares ring a bell for some reason.

In finding the release date for this work, I stumbled on http://freemusicarchive.org/  which could be dangerous. I am not sure I really want to go digging through for reasons of time and wonder. It did at least let me recover the three tracks LastFM did not make available from this album, though.

I suspect this 82 minutes will feel like a shift... only one way to find out.

It starts simply enough with a piece that is incredibly repetitive in nature and could be a soundtrack for a skit or sketch in some kind of black and white film. It is not something I want to hear again. Like 52 Weeks - Fall the artists have shaped their tracks to produce seamless transitions, and track 2 has pretty much the same underlying rhythm as track 1. It breaks down into a more interesting electronic mashup but again, is not a keeper. Whilst I quite like the overlay, the beat pattern does my head in.

There is more of a break before Blown Subs starts and this is more tolerable, even tuneful in places. I think the beats have a bit to much weight to them, but this is actually a reasonable ambient track with airs of the FTL soundtrack by Ben Prunty which will be coming later. It gives way to The White Grass Bending in a nice switch that gives me hope I might actually salvage a few keepers from the 30. Two are gone already and this one is probably going to join them after devolving from a promising start. The beats get less interesting, and the overlay is too weak to hold interest.

Acid Casualty picks things up again though... from a keys-based start to interesting patterns that remind me of that track from Dark Side of the Moon (the name of which escapes me now). This is never music I would listen to a lot, but I am hearing merit for occasional play. The first vocals enter with Antenne's Blue Light - quite light and sparse over a spacious backing, this tune grows on me as it goes. Already I am keeping as many as from the last effort, and so far it's a 50% hit rate. Hurrah!

Downhill again now though... good job I can keep half an eye on the BBC's Transfer Deadline Day coverage whilst doing this, to keep myself amused by the outrage and entitlement of their audience pieces if nothing else. I am not engaged as a fan of any team involved, which allows me to snigger and harbour scornful thoughts about the correspondents. That said, there were some great team formation graphics produced earlier in the day after ManUtd signed Falcao. I particularly liked this one (who knows how long it'll be here).

Man Utd 2014/15?

That aside, a couple more uninteresting tracks have slid by. One quite unpleasant, one OK but dull. That gives way to ambient so ambient it is barely there; not my cup of tea at all and that 50% hit rate is back down to 33%. How close to the minimum 10% will it get?

I am not well disposed to sEkrAt before it begins. The leet-speak capitalisation annoys me much more than the crappy alternative spelling for secret. When the tune starts it is more of the same, so-so, nothing electronic ambient that cannot decide what it wants to be, jumping from one tempo and sound combination to another at whim. Still - it is not called "Rampant Zoo Sex Orgy", and you have to wonder about anyone who names a tune thus. It is worryingly a much more enjoyable tune to listen to, and even their vocal sampling seems to work reasonably. Not quite a keeper though.

I somehow managed to close my typing window with the palm of my hand, whilst typing. Thankfully the regular saves mean no wasted effort. I hate this trackpad.

I do not want to sound too harsh here; these tunes were all pulled together in a day each, so it would be wrong to expect too much. A number of them are disappointing in that way that leaves me thinking they could have actually been something if they had had ample time and effort applied. It is a neat idea - especially since the artists are from all over the world and so many may not even have had a day to get done and pass on (the supposed format of the working).

As I go through and tag all the tracks I got from LastFM as "last fm download" I am embarrassed for whomever left the other tags I see, a direct result of too many numbers substituting for letters. In that time a few more dull tracks have blown by, taking me to half way. Unless there is something good soon, my patience will be severely tried!

Even without exploring more of the free music archive I have more "odd" stuff like this to come. I am certain that OLO Worms fall into this category, for instance... I do not believe I have listed to Yard Is Open at all since picking it up on the strength of the delightful I Shot Shrieff (I only just realised it is not "sheriff") from Bare Foot.

More guff has passed, whilst I fiddle with graphic placement and fail to find a decent location and margin. I should have written more up top, but I have not got anything more to add. I really want out of this listen now but there is still half an hour and 9 tracks to go. I thought for a moment that The Attack of the Jellyfish was going to be good. It started well then fell apart before pulling itself together again. Unfortunately the falling apart overrides the rest in my appreciation. Smoking Blue Midi also starts reasonably, but does not grow and so gets thrown out... oh wait. There is a little development there and actually I think this may be a 4th keeper. The transition to I Am Not Mad is cool and that song continues the upturn. It really helps that they are short works though... not leaving time to really get too bored providing there is a little change-up in there somewhere.

The listen practically stops for a track, there is so little going on. Like a background noise recording but with no attention paid to turn it into anything. Colour me unimpressed. Still, down to 5 to go; it will all be over soon.

Word to the wise, do not search for "poitrine" at work. I could not place the word (my French is very rusty) so the internet told me it is "chest" or "breast". Guess which it had images of? I do not feel bad for not recognising the word now. The track of which it forms part of the title is dull, dreary. It gives way to the Orangebox track I grabbed after hearing their effort for 52 Weeks, but I am immediately disappointed. There is much less of interest in this tune, and it will be purged with the rest.

Seriously flagging now waiting for the end and a chance to scrub out my brain before going to bed. I am vaguely hopeful for the last track because of the title, but I do not really expect that hope to be well founded. It is certainly nicer than most of the disc, and the hope was not a million miles from the mark. There is more music here. A keeper to end with.

Glad this journey into the wonders of free music has ended though. 52 Weeks was short enough to endure, but almost an hour and a half for a total of 6 tunes worth holding on to is a rough trade. 20% return in terms of tracks. Still, it could be worse. For a long stretch it looked like 10%

The other 80%? Purge them with fire (or, y'know, just hit delete).