The Third Dimension

Funasaka Yoshisuke - Blue and White space - 366 (1974)
I've spent today as the title suggests learning a whole new branch of software of the 3D variety. I've dabbled in it a touch in the past but have never really needed to go to this level, I'm pretty techy and I know a bunch of similar software already so it can't be that hard can it? (Spoiler: it is). But what it has given me is the chance to try out some stuff that I have waiting on the 'to pickup' list. Started off this morning with the previously casette only Pier & Loft from Hiroshi Yoshimura, another gorgeous bit of ambient very much in the same style as Surround and his other 80's work that I've mentioned previously, though it does get a little new age at times. It makes for great software music but not so much for posting as it's a bit of a rarity unlike some of Yoshimura's other work.

So instead a seection of stuff that I put on once that album had run its course, starting with more from The Flashbulb. I was tempted to put one of the more ambient offerings he has under his real name, but opted for another more recent album instead (which is still from 2012 if you want an idea of how far behind I am with the Flashbulb discography). I'm fairly certain I've heard Arrival To An Empty Room before, might have even been at the time it came out but I can't say for definite. It doesn't take long for it to tap into the sound that I loved on previous releases like Soundtrack To A Vacant Life - it's the most 'IDM' that later Flashbulb works get, the beats are glitchy but not too harsh and have this real bounce to them. But that's not the main focus of this one as it doesn't stick around for long, instead leaving for an extended break around the 1:10 mark for some decidedly cinematic strings. This break continues until around 2:40 or so, before the beats come cascading back in spectacular fashion but then they're gone again by the 3:25 mark for a blissfully sedate outro of warm pads and field recordings, and some lonesome piano in the latter quarter. A spectacular example of why I'll always recommend The Flashbulb to anyone looking for that more melodic experimental sound.



On a similar note I did some digging after my last mention of Dirty Owl and promptly put a couple of Alexander Ananyev's releases under the Sleepy Town Manufacture alias on my list. Again a much more traditional 'IDM' affair than the Dirty Owl works, but doesn't go quite as hard as you might expect from that description, though the thudding intro is quite heady. Seen Er instead opting for sparkling arpeggios and warm electronics making an almost aquatic feel very befitting of the album's title, with only the glitchy and bit crushed burbles in the background that give it away. It's quite nice in that regard, as you can probably tell from my last few posts about the genre I am very much into this kind of style now compared to my craving of the next snare rush and other associated beat tampering when I initially got into the scene. Perhaps not as boundary pushing as The Flashbulb tune above but still a nice little piece regardless, a touch generic perhaps but it has been a great accompaniment to me zipping around low poly shapes. There's not a lot of STM's stuff on bandcamp sadly, this version of Plankton comes with some bonus tracks to make up for that a little though.



And finally rounding out with more from Echochamber with their final release. Finding Echochamber's I'm Real, I'm Here on Bandcamp was really the beginning of me beginning to branch out into the indie sphere on the site and got me to just start using it more in general - which only increased with the introduction of bandcamp Fridays. An absolute bargain at $3, it was an album that I found myself being super into at the time with it's high tech feel and the mixture of pulsing dub style techno, lo-fi hip hop and even dipping into downtempo and full on ambient across the tracklist. Their final offering is all in on the lo-fi hip hop sound, and I am guilty of putting it off because frankly it's a style that you can burn yourself out on very easily (also because I forgot to put in on my wishlist for a long time!), and if I'm totally honest the dubby techno bits were my favourites from I'm Real...

But if finally getting around to it has taught me anything it's that maybe I need to go back and listen to that album again, because right from the opening track here I'm back into it. I almost held off using the 'lo-fi' qualifier here because while it is a really apt description of the sound, I think that what the Echochamber crew do with it here is pretty far removed from what you might conjure in your mind with that label. There's no jazzy sample here that's been cut up and re-structured - instead: some reversed-sounding pads, a vinyl crackle and a trap-inspired beat all wrapped up with some really bright sounding synth noodling. A real blinder of an opening track, and a celebration of all that Echochamber was.



And that'll be all for now. Here's hoping my success on both the software and listening front continues, at this rate I might actually see a reduction in my wishlist! I've gotten around to republishing a couple of old posts this week too - all in all it's been pretty productive, I'll be sure to swing back around with any new finds I make in the meantime but until then - Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

The Summer of Soundtracks

It's no secret especially recently that I have a boatload of soundtracks in my collection. There was a time when I was a little shy about it, you know the memes out there about people who only listen to soundtracks and all that, but a while ago I decided to embrace it and just enjoy what I enjoy (see also: my unabashed love for Trance and Eurobeat). But even besides that, I feel like there is a ton of value to be had in them, I've discovered tons of artists from OSTs that I otherwise wouldn't have - and much like how I feel about compilations they're a great way to inject a load of variety into your listening real quickly.

Jimmy Ernst - Night Subway (1948)
So that's the crux of today's post really, just a bunch of cuts from soundtracks for things I'm into recently. We start with Heaven Will Be Mine, a VN that grabbed my attention with it's blurb on the store: 'HEAVEN WILL BE MINE is a visual novel about making terrible life decisions in the midst of a hot-blooded battle between giant robots. Select one of three terribly behaved girls to fight and/or make out with each other in their struggle for the fate of space.' Which certainly makes an impression if nothing else. I've posted my favourite from the OST before here (Terrafomer), but there's plenty of other tracks that stand out here - lots of claustrophobic beats and menacing basslines that will rattle your teeth, to lift a quote from the bandcamp page 'Like being vaporized in a solid beam of light. Like weeping out a blastwave.'.

It's a far cry from the synthwave noodling I had in mind when looking over the art design for both the VN and the OST cover (though there is one that comes close to your more conventional synthwave tune in the final track Joyride), effortlessly flitting between aggression and contemplative ambient with lots of little touches along the way that make it not an all-out aural assault - the way the pounding beat of Electrotoxin (No Mercy) relents, then stutters and stumbles in the breakdown at around 2:10 before slipping back into the groove for one. I've chosen Oxygen Ocean this time as I feel like it strikes a nice balance between the two, not too intense but still carrying that darker sound that defines the rest of the OST - and reminds me a whole bunch of the delicate techy minimal that Monolake employed on Cinemascope.



Going a bit 180 next with a bit from 2064: Read Only Memories. The OST isn't quite what you'd expect from the little plot brief given about it: 'A cyberpunk thriller that explores the social challenges of tomorrow through classic adventure gaming. A journalist-turned-detective teams up with Turing, the world’s first sapient machine, to unmask a conspiracy that will shake the foundations of Neo-San Francisco'. On paper I would maybe expect something like the OST for Snatcher, which as some folks have pointed out in recent years is pretty close to Synthwave in part - no doubt helped by the MSX sound chip. And while the OST for 2064 does take a fair bit of inspiration from soundtracks like that, it's a whole lot lighter than you'd maybe expect, think the more laid back tracks of Mitch Murder and you're most of the way there. It's a little at odds with the actual content of the game at times as it gets pretty serious, but I can't deny that it works brilliantly with the visuals. 2Mello is a real flexible composer and you can very easily enjoy tracks like this completely separate from the content, which is something I always really enjoy in the soundtrack world.



Rounding things out with something even more mellow: else Heart.Break(), with it's beautifully succinct summary: 'A game about friendship, love and technology in a place where bits have replaced atoms.'. It's a pretty techy piece actually, what that description doesn't tell you is that it's a programming puzzle game which makes it extra unique too. It has an incredible look courtesy of art by Niklas Åkerblad, who also does plenty o the soundtrack under his El Huervo alias as well. A frantic mix of Chiptune, downtempo and general chill vibes, if you liked the few El Huervo tracks on the Hotline Miami OSTs you're in for a real treat here - some of them even show up on this OST too, either as-is or alternate mixes.

Not a lot of these tunes are made for the soundtrack (The one I've chosen for example is from the album World's End which came out around the time of the Game) but I don't think that's too much of a negative, if anything it really lends itself to the game's overall feel and makes the whole thing sound more like a mixtape a friend made for you rather than a traditional 'soundtrack'. That's an idea I'm really into and have even experimented with a little in running some tabletop stuff and some pie in the sky ideas I had/have about a Visual Novel of my own. No pun intended, this one was a real breath of fresh air, as much as I love El Huervo's signature lo-fi hip hop twinned with chiptuney synths (a style that gets more than it's fair share of the spotlight on this OST), Air is a beautiful contrast. The lo-fi is still there, but the build up with that sparse piano is lovely, before building to an almost vaprowave style drop at around 1:50 or so but it doesn't stay around for long before the tempo is brought down again.



And that'll be all this time. I could do a whole bunch of these if only more OSTs I really like were on Bandcamp, but I'm happy with these selections today, and I hope that you are too! I'll be back soon enough with another selection of something but in the meantime: as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Hazy Days

Kazimir Malevich - Супрематизм. Живописные объемы в движении (1915)
A bit of a diversion today as we start off with something not quite electronic in the usual sense of what I normally post. We're hopping on the soundtrack train again for a little bit of British Sea Power's Disco Elysium OST. It's a fantastic soundtrack, while it might not fit here in full it has its moments that I think make it worth putting here. Whirling-In-Rags, 8am gives me the same feeling that The Knife's Vegetarian Restaurant did all those years ago - it's certainly cut from the same cloth in terms of sound, though Whirling has a little bit more of a sedate Jangle-Pop streak to it, both have that tinge of melancholy too that is just lovely too. I've been looping this one every morning as of late, makes for really good settling in to work mode music.



On that same note I've put Au Revoir Simone's Move In Spectrums back in rotation after a while, and its funny how your perception of albums can be coloured with time. See, I remember Spectrums being full of lovely synthpop stuff with some lyrics that demand to be sung along to - that's not an incorrect assessment by any stretch, and those poppier tracks are still my favourites from the album but it means I'd forgotten about tracks like this. We Both Know, a rare almost full instrumental from the album eschews the poppier structure for something a little more... well, lots of things really: a bit of dream pop, a dash of shoegaze and perhaps a touch of a more chillwave vibe too. I can tell why this one fell by the wayside in comparison to some of the other tracks on there, but something about it just struck a different chord when it came on recently - it's wonderful.



My current foray into the world of melodic IDM continues with Bochum Welt - yet another name I'd earmarked from the few appearances on Rephlex way back when. April is an album of contrasts, nestled up amongst these absolutely gorgeous flowing electronics are some decidedly more harsh and rigid flurries of beats, nothing approaching Venetian Snares levels of beat butchery but still. In that sense the album is IDM in a nutshell, and I must admit I have more love for the melodic pieces here than the others. Bochum Welt has a real great sound on these more melodic tracks - Garden (NYC Mix) is a great example, its muted beats and delicate electronics make for a pleasant, almost ambient experience. I think the closest reference point is once again some of The Flashbulb's work, especially between Garden and the one I've chosen to post here, DR2D, which is lush throughout and is just simply a joy to listen to. Opening with those almost aquatic and N64-esque sounds before really coming into its own around the one minute mark.



And that will do us for this time, I had a couple more things lined up but I'll hang onto them as potentials for next time, haven't managed to pin down something to do as a Retro Review yet you see. Would have ideally looked up something tomorrow but it's looking pretty busy so I thought I'd knock this one out real quick to tide over until the weekend, a little variety grab bag if you will. And as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Bringing it in

Charles Sheeler - Windows (1952)

A quick and slightly eclectic selection of stuff to see in this week - One that's been on the cards for a while and potential retro review candidate is more from Ladytron. Ever since they cropped up on Bandcamp about a year ago with their then-new single and album I had crossed all my digits that their full discography might make its way over there, and I am happy to say that I have not been disappointed. Most of it is there, aside from the respective singles from each album but even then most of the stuff from them worth hearing has been compiled into the 'Remixed & Rare' companion albums for each one. I've gone with a track from Witching Hour this time - home to some of the 'Tron's most iconic tunes though decidedly less electronic than 604 and Light & Magic before it, maybe it's the nostalgia talking but International Dateline and a few others on here are absolutely soaked in that mid 00's feel with their slight indie incline.



Another surprise find this time, I first found this track on a now out of print compilation from Toytronic called Everything Is Green on one of my semi-regular treks into the world of IDM. It's a lovely little comp that has a nice amount of variety on it, as the title of the compilation might suggest it's more on the more lush and melodic side of the IDM world that I've been very into at the minute. I first thought this one was a one off oblique Autechre / Board Of Canada reference (Boc Scadet being quite close to Basscadet, one of Autechre's early works) but turns out they are an established artist with a few releases under their belt. I still reckon it's a combo reference though, but that's conjecture on my part.

Anyway, the tune itself stood out to me because much like the naming scheme it sounds an awful lot like the stuff Autechre were making on Warp in their early days, which instantly appealed to me as that is some of my favourite stuff they've done (along with all the other artists at the time making similar). It's perhaps not quite as all in on the lush electronics as some of the tracks from Everything Is Green, but even so the techier elements aren't nearly as abrasive as some other examples I could pull up. It's that kind of bleepy electronic I can (and have) listened to all day, if the rest of the EP is like this I will almost certainly be adding it to my collection sometime soon.



And finally another visit to ThorHighHeels. If I'm honest I'm not ready yet to get more from them - between the two Umurangi Generation soundtracks I picked up a little while ago along with the Positive Yellow album as well, I have more than enough to get stuck into as-is. Still, I went for a cursory look, THH often uses his own tunes in their videos and some of them are seriously catchy so I try and find a few here and there to earmark for later. I adore Positive Yellow for wearing its inspirations on its sleeve - the whole thing is a blend of 90's rave, house, breakbeat, techno and hints of UK Garage here and there but doesn't come out feeling like a trite re-tread that overly panders.

That's a trend that continues on their other releases, albeit not as pronounced as on Yellow - bits of it can still be heard on the first track of In The Rough, especially when the 808 cowbells get their moment in the spotlight but the whole thing plays out like a more conventional indie electronic tune in the style of Monk and company I posted not too long ago. That's not a complaint though, more of an observation! THH still has a great ear for sounds and this track shows that off in spades, it's full of great little touches and I can't help but smile my way through that breakdown at around 1:15. I highly recommend checking them out, even if the ironic text and eye-searing neon of the album art turns you away a bit.



And that'll do it for this time, I'm back at work now for a little while but it shouldn't slow things down too much - though having said that I am going to look through the archives and see if anything catches my eye for another Retro Review so that could take longer than expected if I end up doing another long album like Moby's 18. I'll try and make another quick one if it does come to that though! Either way stay tuned and as always: Stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF