Between Buildings and Trees

Between Buildings and Trees

Andrew Thomas

Kompakt

http://www.kompakt.fm/artists/andrew_thomas

(373 words)

This week I'm listening to Between Buildings and Trees by Andrew Thomas from the Kompakt record label. Thomas is a New Zealand based artist who has composed music for film and theater.

I enjoyed listening to this album. Ambient/chill-out music can be very hit or miss for me chiefly because it is difficult to strike a balance between sonic experimentation and listenability. Thomas has managed to excel in both of these areas and create something that is more than the sum of its parts.

The overall sound of the album can be described as floaty, ethereal and dreamlike. Very easy on the ears. Thomas constructs mood and fluidity with swirling synth pads mixed with acoustic sounds. What at first can sound like swirling for swirlings sake reveals careful programming and composition upon a closer listen. In this way, Thomas has managed to keep his tracks interesting. Many ambient albums suffer from overly long droning and a feeling of not getting anywhere.

To be fair, I've listened to enjoyable ambient songs that do seem to drone on and on forever. That is what they were created to do and they do it well. Where Between Buildings and Trees stands out is in its accessibility. None of the tracks are over 7 minutes in length. Which can be a welcome change from 20 minute epic drone tracks. Also, the use of synthetic as well as acoustic textures prevents songs from having too much of an "electronic music" sound which can cause fatigue outside of a club situation.

The song Moth in Mouth provides an example of Thomas' mastery of mood setting. The background consists of enveloped, gated white noise and gentle synth pads punctuated by the rumble of deep piano hits. Eventually, a sinister orchestra can be heard almost like evil thoughts creeping into one's mind.

This is an album I would recommend to my friends that don't like "music without words". I would suggest that they listen to it while relaxing, reading or even a long drive. Anything that doesn't require much movement and allows time to focus on the ears and let the mind wander.

A Sufi and a Killer

A Sufi and a Killer

Gonjasufi

http://www.sufisays.com/

(385 words)

This week I'm listening to A Sufi and a Killer. The lyrics and vocals were done by Gonjasufi while Gaslamp Killer took care of the production duties.

Hoo boy, where to start...I didn't enjoy this album. It was difficult to listen to. The problem for me was the vocals. In fact, the fall of many albums for me is often the vocals. It's especially bad since I might like the song very much, but then the vocals come in. It's like someone pouring bleach on your pancakes. They ruin something perfectly fine with an unnecessary extra.

Most of the tracks are fairly laid back and experimental. They also might fall under the downtempo category. As I understand, this might qualify as "post Hip-hop". The Gaslamp likes to throw around ethnic samples as well as retro beats. Which are normally just fine, recommended even. But they sound terrible when smeared with the Gonjasufi's godawful "singing".

To be fair, his style of singing would fit with the type of music. It's laid back, in a lazy sort of way. But I often find that there's no melody in his vocals. Which can also be fine. Often vocals can be used to provide rhythm or can just add to a song with their tone. But the only way I can describe the way he sings as tremulous croaking. It just doesn't do it for me. Also, the processing they ran his vocals through enhanced the annoyance. They seem to have gone for a "lo-fi" sound. They ran his voice through a bandpass filter and added some further grit to make it sound like it's coming through an old speaker. That's normally a perfectly fine technique. However on the tracks it's used in A Sufi and a Killer, I simply find it makes the irritating vocals even more difficult to get past.

It's a real shame. Gaslamp's beats and textures are carefully laid out and contain detail that could keep my attention. Perhaps I'm just being mean, but I really couldn't get past Gonjasufi's singing. It's just not for me. For an album where I should have been nodding my head to the beat, I found myself shaking it instead.

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January 2011 chart:

Click Box - Blue box [m_nus]

Click Box - Step Session [m_nus]

Johnny D - Tramodyssee [Oslo]

JPLS - Green01 (Skoozbot's Twilite Remix) [m_nus]

Dead Seal - Above Lies (Limacon Remix) [Auralism Records]

David K - Minihouse [Tsuba]

David K - Fugu [Freak N Chic]

Reese Turns, Jason Dunlap - BC (Rex Sepulveda Remix) [Hej Records]

Marc Antona - Red Faces [Highgrade Records]

Tom Ellis, Leif - Let's Forget the Past (Samim Remix) [True to Form Recordings]