Hi again David
I tried to split this off into a seperate topic, which I think it really should be, but I couldn’t work out how to do it, so…
I felt a bit ashamed of such a short appreciation of what is clearly a large work, with a lot of effort gone into it. It deserves more of a reply than that. So I came back and gave the whole thing a more thorough listen through, and have given each of the pieces some feedback, based on the numbering of them on Soundcloud.
This is all to be understood as my highly subjective opinion of course and I hope I’m not being too “brutally honest” or dismissive, if you feel that just let me know… I have no idea of your background or whatever standard you would like to be held to (noob, accomplished musician, …) but anyways, disclaimers aside, on with the show…
No. 1: Nice relaxing generative ambient, with a lovely atmosphere. Not a big fan of the slight disharmonies but otherwise it’s very pleasant without setting the world on fire.
No. 2: Really nice atmosphere and I love the use of reverb. The piece has a lovely cadence and development which would lend itself to further development. Again, not a big fan of the disharmonies thrown in, I actually think it would be better without.
No. 3: Lovely atmospheric piece at a slightly higher pace, which I like. Very true to the first Eno ambient albums. Very nice composition. It would suit some of the “tingly voices” if they were more bright and not so filtered. Would bring a lovely sparkle into it. My favorite until now.
No. 4: Oohh, that’s really nice how it starts. Haunting sad sounds. Lovely sounds and atmosphere in this one. Love the pacing and it’s very cohesive. It’s like it deserves a bit more energy - it wants to lift itself from the ground but is bound by a heavyness. It’s almost like you’re flirting with something but afraid of letting it loose. I would have loved to hear that lift, but very nice one nevertheless.
No. 5: Nice sounds and atmosphere again, but it’s not my favorite of the album. Love that voice coming in at 2 minutes though. It’s like this piece doesn’t quite know where it wants to go, or what it wants to be. But many nice elements in it. Seems a bit unfinished compared to the rest.
No. 6: Contains many nice sounds but I don’t really know what to make of it. Seems quite wondering about. Like a proof of concept for some of the elements of the other pieces. Doesn’t really have the feel of a composition. Probably the weakest so far. But still pleasant to listen to, don’t get me wrong.
No. 7: I quite like the lullaby-like beginning of this piece. After that it becomes sort of meandering and I lost interest a bit. Has nice elements but fails to really capture me. Not great to be honest and I think it’s the weakest so far.
No. 8: Love the beginning and the way it sets up the whole piece. Really nice. Has a lovely atmosphere and many really nice elements and voices. After the beginning it’s like it looses steam and I would have loved it to continue a bit more boldly, and lift itself up more. It’s almost like the beginning promised something that it’s afraid to deliver, which is a bit of a shame. But it’s a pleasant piece nevertheless and sounds really nice.
No. 9: Great beginning which sounds very promising. Again, not a big fan of the occasional disharmonies. It does loose steam a bit though and is more sad than I think it needs to be. I think this piece would have been better had it been much shorter. But it is very pleasing to listen to, and sounds really nice, and has many nice elements in it.
No. 10: So this piece sticks out because of the percussive elements and that’s kind of refreshing. The elements are quite nice but it does become rather repetitive lacking some development. I think there’s an attempt at some polyrhythmic development but it’s not really followed through much. This one would have been better if shorter as well, maybe even down to a 1-2 minute interlude. But the sound elements and the atmosphere is nice.
No. 11: Lovely droney beginning, I like that. And finally… here some lovely sparkly voices I’ve been missing in the other pieces, yay! It really suits it. The didgeridoo-like attempted voice is a nice intention but not totally successful, and it sounds like your computer got slightly overloaded during this piece. And the piece gets more bold as well, and stronger in it’s expression which I really like. It has something that many of the other pieces seem to be missing. It’s almost like it’s from another album or phase of composing. It becomes a bit meandering but the stronger expression hugely pulls it up. Sound-wise it’s a bit less polished than the others, but it’s expression and follow-through seems better than the others. This one and no. 3 are tied for my favorites of this album.
Overall the whole album is certainly a very nice accomplishment and much effort has clearly gone into it. It’s very pleasant and listenable and parts of it very enjoyable. Lots of lovely ambience and great sounding elements. It’s a bit uneven here and there, and I find in many places the tone of it to be too dull. It would suit many of the pieces with some more sparkle, life and brightness in the sound. Bottom line - well done, it’s a nice piece of work, not perfect but nice!
