Wednesday 30 October 2019

Spooky Electric

Was planning to post this a little earlier, and have more tracks in it too but it's been very busy as of late. What's that saying about mice and men? Anyway, figured I'd best get it out there seeing as we're getting close and also I'm pretty sure it's the 31st already over in the states. So please enjoy my carefully curated list of vaguely Halloween-y tunes. There's no real order to them beyond the first 4 or so, so feel free to shuffle!



It's a real mixed bag of upbeat and downbeat too, the most recent additions being what precious little of Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill soundtracks there are on spotify. Hopefully there's some stuff in there that you dig, and if you'd like to follow the playlist I plan on adding to it a little more over the next couple days. I found it much harder than in previous years, but then again my library has grown considerably since then. Regardless, enjoy and I will see you all again soon!

-Claude Van Foxbat

Sunday 13 October 2019

A Return To Listening To...

Miwa Ogasawara - Ausgang (2007)


It's been a few since I did one of these. Probably a little rusty but there can't be much to go wrong. Starting off with a recent addition to my library that will not stop haunting me. And I mean that quite literally, I know I say it for a bunch of stuff in my collection but I could quite happily live in that melancholic intro for ever and ever (I even sampled it on my latest EP in the post below!). SiLC as a band existed only very briefly towards the turn of the millennium, though from what I gather from a bit of reading this was intentional, you can definitely hear that not-quite-pop feel that was so prevalent at the time but even with some slightly dated sounds, SiLC have been a very interesting addition to my listening. To be honest I'm just amazed I could find this on streaming.



The Flashbulb has come more into the fold for me recently too, I think the mistake I made last time was going all in on the IDM front and gathering as much stuff as I could that fit the admittedly broad definitions o the style. Since dialling it back I've a newfound appreciation for it and some other artist's work to boot. Love As A Dark Hallway is a much more easily digestible listen than my previous recommended Flashbulb release, Soundtrack To A Vacant Life, but its by no means less of a quality induction into his works. Keeping with that slightly haunting theme (fitting given it's October and all) we have Virtuous Cassette; which begins with some sounds straight out of Aphex Twin's Rhubarb. That is, before the beat abruptly slides into position around 40 seconds in, making the whole thing more in line with Wisp's rework of Rhubarb. That is not a complaint; I absolutely adore the smooth sounds throughout this LP and the beats, while contrasting, never feel out of place.



I mentioned on the podcast that I love to cosy, almost-DIY electronics of Hajime Hyakkoku's soundtracks and that has not changed. I've been purposefully metering them out in order to get the most mileage out o them but I have since listened to them all. This example in particular reminds me especially of Mitsuto Suzuki's solo albums in terms of sound, I think I mentioned those on a podcast or post previously too, they are hard to find but full of gorgeous pieces like this. As we head to the tail end of this year I expect to pulling more and more of these into rotation to give myself a little bit of audio warmth.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Saturday 5 October 2019

Self Promotion

I never did get around to posting my ambient EP after I finished it. So here we are. After a four year hiatus I dusted off some half finished things on my HDD, made some new ones and actually got around to putting all of my audio releases on a bandcamp page for all to enjoy (all my releases are pay what you want and always will be, so feel free to pick them up for free if you'd like). I'm going to actually quote the release page now:

"Started as a quick follow up and a return to me making music, it's been an often delayed project interspersed with moments of great productivity. It's finished now though.

A much more sample-oriented than my previous works, partially because of the huge influx of new music I acquired between the last release and this one. I think this EP also more closely resembles my original inspirations for creating ambient, that being Rifts-era Oneohtrix Point Never. I hope you enjoy."


I'm currently trying to make more audio things right now too actually, granted this will probably bite me in the back as this EP did but if I keep mentioning it I'll remember to work on it!, embedding the player below:

And finally before I forget, a list of samples used for those interested in spotting them. Some more obvious than others, and as mentioned above each track has a sample in it, happy hunting!
Track 1 contains a sample of "Prototype J" by Akira Takemoto

Track 2 contains a sample of 'Aya's Diary' by Naoshi Mizuta

Track 3 contains samples of 'Tears Stained Eyes' by Konami Kukeiha Club and 'boundaries and limitations [sunday driver]' by Echochamber

Track 4 Contains a sample of "In Heaven" by SiLC

Track 5 Contains a sample of "Can You See" by R·O·N


-Claude Van Foxbat