#it could only be conveyed by a piece of ambient music created specifically for the purpose of explaing to YOU an individual

[bedforddanes75]

me when i dont even know actually what is the context for this

[independentartistbuzz]

Indie 5-0: 5 Questions with Jason Vitelli

With three literate singer-songwriter releases to his credit, it might seem paradoxical that Brooklyn-based Jason Vitelli’s newest project presents his music without lyrics. But as he notes, 1. Ambient Corridors is an inaugural instrumental collection that signifies a return to his roots. ​1. Ambient Corridors, the first of what Jason Vitelli envisions as a sequence of instrumental releases, serves as a counterpoint to his singer-songwriter projects. We had the honor to speak with Jason right here... 1. Ambient Corridors" represents a shift in your music from singer-songwriter releases to instrumental compositions. What inspired this transition, and how does creating instrumental music provide you with a unique avenue for self-expression?

I've always composed instrumental music for my singer-songwriter albums, which I find runs parallel to my lyrical self-expression. Over the years, I had composed enough pieces to be able to package them as albums categorized by sensory characteristics. The name "Ambient Corridors," for example, forges a clear sonic path from start to finish. I also feel to have reached the appropriate time to refocus from being lyrically driven. Especially with so many viewpoints floating around the ether, I find instrumentals can provide catharsis to listeners who are looking for an escape from societal constructs.

2. You've mentioned that instrumental music allows for a broader range of listener interpretation compared to lyrical songs. How do you see this aspect enhancing the connection between your music and the audience, and what kind of emotional landscapes do you hope to convey through "1. Ambient Corridors"?

A broader interpretation is possible because music provided without a narrative is definitively abstract. Therefore, a listener can bring their own imagination to the experience. I believe this aspect can appeal to a global audience, as the music can reach beyond the limitations of language comprehension. The music in and of itself becomes universally accessible. I also know I have successfully connected to an audience when each listener's impression becomes a unique emotive fingerprint, as opposed to the music imposing one upon them. Each person can bring their distinct humanity into the aural landscape and therefore, everyone's experience can be special.

3. Many of the tracks on this project were refined from earlier work, showcasing your growth and exploration as a composer. Could you share more about the process of revisiting and reworking these compositions, and how they have evolved over time?

Back in the early 2000's, I had worked as a composer on various video projects. Many of the compositions were considered "wild," as they weren't synced to a particular scene. The director would instead review them for underscoring approaches, from which I could then build out music cues. Once I decided to revisit this material, I needed to recover the tracking from obsolete software, which was a painstaking process. Most folks do not realize the effects of "digital rot". As data ages, the apps that support them may no longer be updated and in certain instances, the data can only be accessed on older machines. Once I was able to import the sessions into my current workstation, I analyzed the audio and if the need arose, re-recorded and re-orchestrated parts to bring the mix up to release quality. I also fleshed out certain sections which I felt could use further musical development.

4. Your titles for the tracks on "1. Ambient Corridors" often have sensory and visual elements, inspired by synesthesia. How does this sensory overlap influence your creative process, and can you provide an example of how it shaped a specific track on the album?

People do not realize that our senses normally overlap. For example, the taste of food or drink is often bland when one's nose is clogged. This phenomenon occurs because our sensory experience is governed by a combination of taste and smell. Folks who have synesthesia experience a much greater overlap amongst the senses. Bearers often see sound and hear sight. A famous 20th century French composer, Oliver Messiaen, had this condition and used it as a device in his orchestration. Billy Joel is also a known synesthete! Although I don't have synesthesia, I am often inspired by multiple senses while creating music. I find this element especially apparent in the track "Chukchi Sea". The piece was originally conceived from images of a sub-arctic "bluish" landscape. When I finished writing it, I found the melodies brought me back to my mind's eye. They could even cool me down on a hot day!

5. As you embark on this new phase of your musical journey, what can listeners expect from future instrumental releases, and how do you anticipate your music evolving as you continue to explore this genre?

To delineate the series, the instrumental albums will continue to display numbers in front of their name. With that concept in place, I plan to release a neoclassical collection for number "2" and a synthwave collection for number "3". I will also be writing additional instrumentals for a musical I am developing with my wife. We are finding the process of finding context for my existing songs within a narrative very enjoyable. I look forward to sharing with you all the videos of those scenes fairly soon.

Follow Jason Here:

https://jasonvitelli.com/  https://www.instagram.com/jasonvitellimusic/

[shikantazaart]

Shikantaza Creativity Interview III - SPARTALIEN

At Shikantaza we are not content to just create art. We want to understand art. We want to understand the people who make art. Into the act of creation. Who are the people behind the art work? What motivates them? Where do they find their inspiration?

No two people think and act alike, so it is even less likely to find two artists who think and act alike. Yet, there will be crossovers, shared thoughts and shared experiences. Where do we adjoin and where do we diverge?

Our series of interviews with artists and creators aims to answer these questions.

In interview number three we speak to multimedia experimenter SPARTALIEN. You can find his creations here https://spartalien.com/visual as well as a collection of his work in the Shikantaza gallery.

1 - Starting with the most important question - Who is Memoria?

Memoria is Latin and means, when translated, memory / remembrance.

I named the merchandise for the album "2358" Memoria instead of Memory, because the main track titles are also translated into Latin.

I see my merchandise as small memories/artefacts. Not only because they are very rare, but because I can never go back to that time.

“Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things” - Cicero

2 - You work across different mediums. Do you have any preference for a specific form? When did you first find the format that was “you”?

I became really infected with the digital virus around in the late 90s when I built my first computer. A year or two later I started taking photos and manipulating them digitally. I also had a few printed, which allowed me to bring the digital into the real world. Then I discovered IRC and started learning a little bit of TCL. Since I had fun coding, I decided to learn the basics of web development because I needed a website to show my pictures to other people. In general, I was fascinated by the flow of information on the Internet. That distance is no longer a real hurdle when it comes to data transmission.

I've always loved music as a listener and small collector. I was then and still am one of those people who never go out of the house for long periods of time without a Walkman. Music production came into play when a couple of friends set up a small studio where they produced Techno/Psy. When I was there for the first time, I knew immediately that I wanted to try it too. A few old tracks from back then are still available on my website.

From then on, many of my projects have developed in the direction of music.  The input for a program was often music metadata or it was a website that was about music in some way or another. But since I was still at the very beginning of my learning process, I kept discarding practically everything in order to improve it or to learn new things. Around 2001, I started a web radio with friends, which was online for several years. The music was mainly Downtempo, Trip-Hop, IDM and Ambient. Promos from unknown artists from around the world were also broadcasted.

The atmosphere, the feeling I got from this time - how the music finds me and not the other way around, how it can change people's thoughts - has never left me since then.

3 - Do you feel that each medium allows you to express yourself differently from the others? How do you choose which medium you work in any given moment?

Yes. But I think you can convey the same feelings with any medium. The question is how direct it is. For example, pain can be expressed with fire but also with a chair in an empty room. At the end of the day, in my opinion, it's not about the artist's intention but about the perception of the viewer and his or her subsequent thoughts and actions. For example, imagine you make a dark ambient track that you experience as sad and heavy, but someone else tells you that it helped to relax and develop thoughts.

In addition to all of this, each medium also has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to technical implementation. So, sometimes the choice can also purely depend on skill or resources.

We all have ideas and often out ambitions outweigh our resources. Sometimes we need more resources, but more often than not we need to chip away at our ideas until our ambitions and resources align.

4 - Do you seek different sources of inspiration for your music than you would for your visual creations?

It's everything in the world around me that inspires me. Everything I perceive and feel, so to speak. Most of the time I don't have a melody or a picture in my head. It is more of a feeling and then I look for the right tone or shape for it, so to speak.

5 - How closely are your creations connected to each other?

Very close one could say - through my thoughts that I have wrapped in it. I always had a bit of a problem putting my thoughts into words. I tend to stray through various topics when I talk about something. With music and visuals, it feels lighter and more natural to get to the point. The "message" doesn't always get through, but being able to do so is liberating and invaluable to me.

6 - If you were to direct people to a specific piece of work that you feel really nails what you are aiming for with your creations, which would it be?

This is a hard question. Maybe I would ask you to sit down and listen to the album "FLOATING HIGH" in one sitting. Since it felt like coming home to me while making it. The music is less intrusive and not as precise in its message as the previous releases. Like its cover art, where the clouds could be seen as opening or closing. I wanted to create tracks that leave more room for thought while still telling a story.

7 - You have “X minutes of peace” on your site. Why is this needed? Was this made for you or for others?

For others but also for myself. For me it is self-reflection that allows me to understand myself better. But since I have problems with "just switching off my head", the moments in which I just sit quietly and let the recording device do its work are very valuable. In moments like these I can really switch off and think about something very carefully. Asking questions even though I feel like I don't have an answer. Or simply enjoying the precious fresh air and sounds of nature.

Unfortunately, too many people don't have time for that kind of peace. Too much pressure is on them. They either get this or that, or they can't survive. It's so sad how the system works. I simply think that if everyone would have more inner-peace, the world would be a better place. But then again, what do I know living under a rock between mountains?

The videos should allow us to find peace for a few minutes, no matter where we are. So that new and hopefully useful thoughts can develop.

The series  Let It All Go is actually the same thing, just with music.

For the really dark hours there is BRAIN I/O. From time to time I prefer to embrace the pressure. Difficult to describe. The concept is basically: don't think, just feel and record it. It's about things that I personally want to leave behind or at least want to learn to accept (not necessarily being okay with) them if I can't change them.

Peace is an issue for me. When I briefly find it only points the way to the next act. This is fantastic but self defeating. Why can’t we just stay in peace?

8 - When inspiration has left the building where do you look to find it?

I'm not really actively looking for inspiration. Somehow it doesn't work that way for me. So variety is important to me. That is why I usually have several side projects going on in the areas that I do not much publicize. Much of it never leaves my hard drive and is mainly intended to free my mind and get on to new ideas in the process. Coding, graphics, drawing, etc. But the music production is and remains the main focus.

9 - These are the questions I am asking all the interviewees. Why do you create? What is it that pushes you to keep creating?

The inner child is just too strong. I've been living for a while and I know exactly nothing. It kind of feels like that. So many things that you can create with the computer alone. I'm stuck in that loop where you just love to create things and learn - and use the new knowledge to create new things. Things!

10 - What would most assist you to create more works? Is there an ultimate goal for your creations?

More time and resources for sure. but most important to me is the feeling that my loved ones are safe. When I have to worry about their future because the system is going the way it is, it feels like a pile of stones in my head.

The creative / social goal of my art is relatively simple and based on my own experience. Art has helped me tremendously when I felt lost - or when I was just "bored". Taking time to really listen to or look at something can be very liberating.

My short-term financial goal is to generate a more or less regular income through art. But since I never released anything commercially before 2016, this world is still new to me.

My dream goal is to hear my music in film and games and to generate an income that supports my family.

Nonetheless, I think goals are here to create an initial path, not necessarily motivation.

I do not know of a single soul who has not been lost. Some never find their way back. Some don’t need to find their way back, they are happier in the place they found.

11 - If you were to offer a creator any advice what would it be?

Based on my own experience in no particular order:

Stay curious and open minded for different viewpoints.

Tutorials can limit your creativity. Sure, learn the basics, but explore as much as you can on your own and never be afraid to fail. It's a process, not a game.

On projects that take longer than a day to complete, set yourself a deadline when you want to have it completed. Not important if it takes longer, but in general that helps to stay more focused.

Very few things are easy when you start.

Limitations are not necessarily bad.

Don't wait for motivation to create. It will kick in usually a few minutes after you've started. Therefore keep your tools ready and organized so you can start creating at any time.

You can always turn off the internet.

Be open for constructive criticism.

Especially for the digital crowd, backup your stuff!

(All images and works by SPARTALIEN)

[echelonlab-blog]

Echelon Author Interview -- Lolainblue

Echelon Author Interview

Your URL: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lolainblue

Your name: Missie (Blue is my nickname)

Link to your Masterlist: https://lolainblue.tumblr.com/post/174506158608/masterlist-20

What was your first experience with 30 Seconds to Mars? A friend had bought their first album and brought it over while hanging out. We listened to a few songs, I immediately fell in love. She asked me “Guess who the lead singer is? It's Jordan Catallano!” I was so stunned. 

Your Favorite Mars song? I could never pick one. There is one for whatever mood I am in. I love Attack, a lot of the old stuff, Buddha for Mary... They have changed so much over the years but I still love all their sounds.

Has anything ever happened to you solely because of being a 30STM fan? There are people that I met only because of Mars, and friends I have made in the fandom I wouldn't have otherwise.

What is your favorite thing about the fandom? Your least favorite? I think this is a very welcoming, supportive, and open fandom for the most part. It does have certain cliques, which is all right, everyone has their things they're into, but it would be nice if they got along a little better.

Is there any advice you would give to someone who is new to the fandom? Don't get too caught up in rumors. There are some people who are crazy obsessive and love to trash talk. It's a strange combo.

How long have you been writing? Since I was in elementary school.

Why did you start writing? (Either in general or for Mars specifically) I went through a catastrophic health event a few years ago. I found myself stuck at home and mostly bed bound, looking at a slow recovery. I started reading more, and also reading more fanfiction. I restarted my Tumblr account and came across some Mars writers. @thepromiseofanend and @fyeahproudglambert were actually among some of the first writers I read here and very much inspired me to keep writing for the fandom.

Do you write for other fandoms? If so, which ones? I have written for other fandoms in the past but right now the only one I am writing for is Mars.

Do you share everything you write? If not, is there a reason why? No. Not everything I write is Mars related, and some of the pieces I am working on only sporadically and I will share when I have more of them written.

Have you written things that aren't fanfic? If so, could you tell us about those works? I have written plays and screenplays, short stories.. I write a lot I am currently working on a paranormal novel that is original fiction.

Of all your works, which is your favorite and why? I think Fangs and Fairytales is probably my favorite, I love horror and vampires and the paranormal, and it's fun to play with an alternate timeline like that.

Is there one that was particularly difficult to write? Why? There is one I am working on currently that is not yet published that I draw from some difficult personal experiences and struggles. I am not entirely sure I will share it when I am done.

What is the ideal writing environment for you? At your desk? Quiet? Music? I work on my laptop and I prefer to have silence. I can't stand having the television or music on when I am writing. The location doesn't matter much but the silence does. If I can't get silence I will put on headphones with ambient sounds, like thunderstorms. When I was writing the first part of Thunderbirds, I had a site that had cafe sounds that I listened to a lot.

What type of fanfic are you most comfortable writing (drama, fluff, angst, drabbles, series, etc.) I absolutely love to write angst. I torture my characters mercilessly. I also tend towards long pieces.

What is your favorite fanfic trope? Enemies to Friends, Ooops there's only one bed, Mutual Pining

Is there any trope or subject that you won't write? There are certain kinks that I don't care for, and extreme stuff is off the table. Don't make me name them all.

Are there any special tools that you use when creating or writing your story? I use either Open Office for short pieces or Scrivener for longer more structured stories. Grammarly is a lifesaver.

Do you write your story in order or do you jump around and then string it together at the end? Mostly in order. I am a very linear thinker.

Do you outline, or do a great deal of prep work or do you 'fly by the seat of your pants'? I have a general outline and a plan for each story. Some are more detailed than others.

How do you usually get your inspiration? Dreams, music, other stories, movies... I get so many ideas, it's the execution that's an issue more than inspiration.

Do you have ideas on the drawing board or in progress currently that you haven't shared yet? Yes. I have two series that I am working on. One I had originally planned to be ready in a few weeks but due to illness I am behind.

If you have an unpublished work in progress, please pick two to three sentences and share them without context.

Jared assured me however that he was fully prepared, gripping me ever tighter as he pressed me into the upholstered bench seating, no sign of shyness in regards to the driver who was currently ferrying us through damp and intimate back streets. The evening's earlier rain had broken and everything was left looking freshly glazed, colors amplified in reflection. It would have been a lovely drive through the Latin Quarter if he had paused from his advances long enough to look out the window.

Do you like requests? Would you like more or less of them? I love requests but I don't always have time. I have several series I am actively working on for myself, several things in the lab, another collaboration as well as original work. But one of my favorite oneshots (Overtime) came from an anon request. You can always ask. I may not be able to fill it but you can always ask.

Is there an upcoming project from you that you are excited about? Why, and what can you share about it? I am excited about all my writing. There is one piece that won't be coming for a while but it's a new Shannon series with a rather different romantic interest.

The best piece of writing advice you've ever received? Eliminate your inner audience. Whenever we write we have a tendency to think of the people who might be reading it and how they will react. It can limit us from being true and fearless with what we are producing. Write for the characters, focus on the story, and don't mentally allow other people to look over your shoulder. Especially when writing smut.

The worst piece of writing advice you've ever received? For overcoming writer's block: Just sit down and write. If I could do that Karen, I wouldn't be complaining about writer's block.

What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting to write fanfic? Don't worry if you don't get a lot of attention to start. Don't worry if your stories aren't as good as others. Just keep writing and try to make each piece a little better than the last one. Compete against yourself. Your writing will grow and develop as you continue to work and as it does you will find your audience.

Three (stories, series, scenes, etc) written by others that you really like or that inspire you? Only three? I think Save Me by @spillinginkwithlove was probably the thing that truly drew me in. Closer to the Edge (@thepromiseofanend) has my OTP of Mia/Jared. @darklydelicousdesires has my favorite piece of Shannon smut, Double Measures

Are any of your characters closer to being “you” than others? Any reason in particular?  All of my characters have tiny pieces of me in them, whether it's a taste in food or future aspiration. In a lot of ways, I think I'm more Jane than anything, a lot of Jane and Roger’s childhood memories come from my own experience growing up in small towns in Illinois and Indiana -- but there are characters in two pieces I am working on that draw deeply from a lot of my life experiences.

Are any of your characters based on someone you know? Roger (from Thunderbirds) is actually very strongly based on an old boyfriend of mine.

Are any of your plots based on something that happened to you? The upcoming pieces Bodies, Rest and Motion and Mirror Ball both draw strongly on my own personal experiences, although the characters are unique as are the circumstances. The stories aren't autobiographical in any way, I have just drawn on things that I have been through and know to create something that conveys those experiences.

Favorite font for writing? Segoe UI ( In 14pt because I'm blind)

Do you consider yourself a reader outside of fanfic?  Yes. I love to read.

Your favorite book? I don't know about any one book, but I love Brandon Mull, Tad Williams, and Charlaine Harris. Also Poppy Z Brite, Terry Pratchett, so much science fiction and horror.....

Your favorite things to do when you're not writing? I love to cook, watch movies, binge Netflix, hang out with my dogs, play video games and just be with my family.

Two truths and a lie? I owned and ran my own catering company, I lived briefly in Italy, I was the drummer for a punk band

Something surprising about you? My original career ambition (and the college program I started in) was for experimental high energy (particle) physics. I still love science. I am a huge nerd.

Favorite food to enjoy while watching Netflix? Popcorn, of course.

Favorite way to spend a Saturday night? The activity doesn't matter to me as much as the company. I just want to be surrounded by good people. I love a good meal and a card or board game with friends and family. (I love tabletop games and have a small collection. Gloom and Betrayal at House on the Hill are two of my favorites.)

Blankets Tucked or Untucked? Untucked!

Do you have any pets? Would you like to tell us about them? I have two rescued pit bulls that are big love bugs (Twilight and Lokii) and two cats, Coyote and Mayhem. Lokii is the only one that is technically mine (Twilight is my son's dog, and the cats are just household pets) and Lokii never leaves my side. He is very protective and watches over me when I am feeling ill. He is also very goofy and loves to play

Are there any particular battles or struggles in your life you'd like to tell us about? I've been through a lot. I have somehow managed to pick myself up and keep going each time I've been knocked down. You have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what. There's really no other choice. Just keep going. There's always something good ahead.

Anything you'd like to add? I am horrible at initiation and maintaining friendships. It's mostly an anxiety issue, I feel like I'm annoying people, I think they don't want to talk to me, that they simply tolerate me... I know there are lots of you that can relate to that. Chances are really good that I'd like to talk to you, even if I seem stand-offish or seem to have withdrawn. Please don't ever take it personally. And if we've never talked, well feel free to say hi, or ask me a question. I love to chat, I really do, I'm just bad about keeping things going until I get used to people. I take ridiculously long to get used to people. I guess what I'm saying is I'm a big mess and I have social issues but if you're into that, come chat with me.

[zacharyleishmanfilmstudent]

(Film 203) Negotiated Project – Music Videos: Lecture Notes and Thoughts:

The purpose of this session, our first online session for that matter, was to begin to explore the concept, as well as the history concerning the entertainment medium of music videos as a means of familiarising ourselves with the medium should we wish to produce a music video for our project.

Music videos themselves are artistic videos attached to the release of a new single or album from a recording artists as a means to make further visual expressions of the themes discussed in the song, or produce a more effective means of advertisement for the new music made. The music video remains a very important cultural form, given its versatility to explore multiple genres of not just video but also music itself and still possesses a large cultural attachment for the love placed onto classic videos and the analysis that can be done on contemporary ones.

The fact that music videos have now ultimately changed their purpose is what has made them more frequently analysed. As a means of further expressing the themes of the music via visual storytelling such as animation, narrative storytelling or dance the music video has become an extension of the song itself where as in the past the video aspect would have been a product created to further sell the song, given attachment to a video meant it could be more frequently featured on television.

This presence on television is where the popularity of music videos began with the frequent production of new videos meaning that entire tv channels and networks could be established with the sole purpose of broadcasting new music videos. As such with a growing frequency there became the advent of different styles and genres featured within the videos, rather than just live showings of the singer performing or dancing, there may be a narrative seen shown through the likes of animation or live action footage to explore the themes the artist is interested in. This could also be at the request of a director with several prominent directors such as Jonathan Glazer and David Fincher both getting their start in making music videos.

The music video in itself represents the cultural bridge between live performance, recordings for home playback, band branding and promotion. Whilst starting in the 1920s they were defined over several prominent eras of music video, this includes the MTV generation of the 1980s where public affinity to the form was established, the 90s where they became completely mainstream and as expected and popular as the actual song itself, (sometimes even more so), concluding with the medium now being trapped in a YouTube environment with pretty much all music videos debuting and finding popularity on the internet.

The reason for almost all artists attempting to make a new video is due to not only how popular they can be but for their universal accessibility. Any band can access the video form and can do so quite cheaply at that, the quality isn’t always the biggest factor for success, be it a big studio production or a small video made in someone’s garage, the quality of the song is usually still the defining factor that results in success.

After learning the specifics and different forms of music video we were given two tasks for this session. The first was to add to a class-built list of music video examples using particular videos we possess an affinity for or find quite different or engaging.

The video I chose to feature was a short edit named Crisis made by artist Lucien Hughes in which he has created his own original music videos by layering his own self-created ambient vapor wave music onto old clips of the Simpsons. Adding a range of animated layered effects to make the animation feel aged and nostalgic and reversing and flipping certain scenes to add to sombre tone of the created music, he has successfully created his own piece of original media, easily enjoyed through nostalgic or new eyes.

The video itself can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8er83V2OJ1o

Secondly, we were tasked with developing a music video of our own, or at the very least the means by which we might create one, be it a storyboard, mood board or a small script. Due to the lack of ability to shoot a film given the health state of the world and the need to self-isolate, as such I am producing a mood board for a concept music video I might hypothetically create.

Above is a mood board for a theoretical music video concept I might create where in which a character is in a suspended state of animation in a void state where in which no sense of life can be seen save for a smattering of colours and animated visual effects surrounding the suspended floating body. Set to the beat of Free Fonix’s ‘Make a monster of You’ the floating character will begin a slow descent via gravity throughout the void with the beat of the music dictating the rhythm of the changing colours.

The piece itself would be an abstract music video, conveying not a specific narrative or meaning but being more a visually engaging and arresting piece of media, designed to maintain attention and amaze, rather than narratively enrich.

[inner-islands]

in CONVERSATION with STAG HARE (Willow Skye-Biggs)

Stag Hare has been the musical and visual project of Willow Skye-Biggs over the last 10 years. She just released her final album as Stag Hare, “Starlights Gloom”, in May on Inner Islands. I, Sean of Inner Islands, have been talking with her over the last month through email about “Starlights Gloom”, the history of Stag Hare, and future projects.

What were you inspired by (both musically and otherwise) when you started the Stag Hare project and what are you feeling inspired by now, at the close of the project?

Well, in some ways things are similar in terms of inspiration - mainly non musical - which is kind of interesting considering how long it’s been. But in other ways I'm really in a different place now. As far as what I am listening to now vs then, almost no cross over in terms of actual playtime. In other ways I think that the sound in my head I attempt to translate into music, or the feelings I want to convey are in some ways the same deep down but quite different in the way they manifest is all. 

When I was starting Stag Hare I was on a tail end of a lot of noise/freak folk obsession and listening to a lot more song based music, i.e. songs with a folk structure and lots of lyrics and such.  And then also any "new age" music I could find, especially contemporary underground stuff.  I definitely listened to a lot of Valet and White Rainbow and Lucky Dragons, which I think informed that sound more than anything else, but it was more in just giving me the confidence to do what I wanted with music when I wasn't hearing a lot of anything else that was in a similar approach. I also just have always listened to a wide variety of music to try to always have context for what I'm doing in a larger picture - which sometimes can be overwhelming - but in hind sight a lot of my favorite music now I was not really fully aware of at that point in time. Midway through the project I would get really into Grateful Dead and then later shift into all the house and techno I am listening to now. I also was an avid Arthur Magazine reader and that sort of filled in the gaps for this vibe I was interested in. My biggest inspiration in some ways has always been movies though and I was just discovering a lot of foreign classics in that time period.

Lately I have been listening pretty heavily to lots of house and techno, deephouse, techhouse, deep tech, minimal tech, progressive house etc. And that I would say is a pretty major paradigm shift for my general approach to music as of now. Where I was more inspired by a psychedelic living room then, I'm more interested in the secular dance temple as a platform now.

In a lot of ways I feel like it’s all been this process of waking up out of a deep deep dream and getting closer to waking reality. A lot of what I wanted to do with music and where I imagined it being played and who was listening to it seemed like something I just imagined and was just some fantasy and after years of trying to find it for awhile I decided it probably didn't exist.  Now I'm just still aiming for the same things but I've found that there actually are lots and lots of places where people come together to experience sound in the way that I've always imagined, (so it wasn't a fantasy, I was just looking in the wrong places and making some general assumptions) and so that world is definitely inspiring me a lot right now as I feel like I am sort of finding a new voice.

My deeper goals with music are still the same just different ways to translate it and attempt to reach more people in a meaningful way.  I'm not going to overly define those goals though, I think people who know know.

I'm still obsessed with the forest and land in general, but also letting a few more people into that world now, and expanding territories so right now I'm working in a mindset of forest green to black swamp zones.

I guess I could say I feel like Stag Hare was more about bringing myself into a deeper place and stillness and centeredness, and calm a lot of anxiety, and right now I'm interested in movement and empowerment. Expanding the headspace sound into a full body sound.

Do you feel like the pieces on Starlights Gloom are closer to those aims of movement and empowerment?

I feel like Starlight Gloom is maybe about as far as it is going to be explored with Stag Hare..... but also, that's kind of still its own thing, so I'm not sure whether I think so or not?? Maybe some tones of that yes, but overall maybe not....

Do you feel like it was significant at all to pull fragments from previous Stag Hare work to create Starlights Gloom, as it's meant to be the final album? Like a summation of sorts. Or was that simply just a method to create some new work?

Well, honestly at the time I started working with that method I wasn't conceiving it to be the final stag hare album specifically, although I suppose it kind of did feel like that. It wasn't particularly conscious though, no. It does seem like it works out well though. At the time I was just thinking about music made out of samples and realizing I had more than enough material to do that while just sampling my own material... And also just not feeling inspired to record any new sounds but wanting to put tracks together, basically.

At what point did you realize that the guitar drone was going to be a staple in every Stag Hare piece?

The whole project basically started out of the concept of using guitar as a minimal sound generating device rather than as an instrument to "play" notes or melodies on. At the time I wasn't very experienced at the guitar on general and was just fascinated by that idea and mainly by the feeling I'd get getting lost in the sound I was coming up with running my guitar through a digitech digidelay pedal. After that it just slowly shaped out that anytime I tried to create a track that wasn't built around that drone centerpiece is didn't feel like a stag hare song. And eventually it just solidified into the general concept that the whole project was just one long guitar drone with various ways to decorate on and around it.

Do you think you'll return to drone-based work at all post-Stag Hare? I know it's a long life... but do you have a sense from your current vantage point?

Oh I fully expect to make more drone/ambient based music for sure. Not sure about using the guitar in quite that same way anytime soon, but certainly not closed to that. I just know I don't want to use that as much or rely on that consistent element. I'm really not sure exactly what this will all sound like but regardless that type of music will always be really close to my heart and meaningful to me and I still am not satisfied with everything I've done in that particular medium yet I don't think.

Speaking of mediums, after doing Tastes Like Mandy do you think you'll want to get into more installation work?

Absolutely yes. I completely loved that process and have always been very interested in more visual mediums, and specifically the interaction between visual and sound as in Tastes Like Mandy. I have plans to do related installations in the future, as well as standalone sculptural work and am also starting the process for my first short film/video project hopefully taking off this fall! I keep meaning to make music take a backseat to focus on other projects but somehow I keep getting sucked into music again! This is literally what I've been doing for the last ten years, music was always just something for me to work on "right now" while preparing for other projects but apparently "right now" is still now..... haha

Was the Imago video your first video work to get released? How do you feel about that piece at this point?

I believe that was my first official video release? And still the only thing I've released that's involved as much work as that did as well. I was really happy with how it turned out, and still think it was a good exercise for me in translating ideas visually.... I was always on the fence about doing too many videos for stag hare though, so I still have mixed feelings about that. Honestly, non creatively speaking, it's kind of not something I enjoy watching at this point as it was made during a pretty painful time in my life and has a lot of heavy reminders in that regard.... But, I suppose that's what happens when you continue to make art throughout life and inevitabley will have those kinds of moments.

How and when do you listen to music? What do you focus on (or not focus on)?

It seems like I have different levels of music listening. I listen while I'm doing things, like driving, cooking, reading, and then I have focused listening when I am only listening to music, usually with headphones but not always. I've lately been in my car a lot so listening to a lot of music in that environment, which I like because it is a sort of enclosed little space and you can get really engulfed in the sound while still keeping pretty much to yourself. My favorite way to listen lately would be at an all night event of some sort, with well tuned high quality speakers with decent low end playing good sounds for hours on end. It feels very satisfying and therapeutic right now to be able to really feel the sound physically and be surrounded by the music. 

Regardless, if there's music on I have to be listening to it and am automatically dissecting it in some way or another. Sometimes at a restaurant I have trouble hearing what people are saying because I can't not focus on the music. In a way it's rather obnoxious. But I seem to be just wired that way or something. So when I am not specifically interested in listening to music (generally a specific type of music depending on my mood) I don't want to listen to anything at all. I'd rather listen to no music than music I don't want to listen to. But, that said, if someone else is choosing music, I usually love that. It’s easier for me to relax and passively listen that way - although I will still be analyzing. It feels like someone doing the dishes for me or something.

When you make music do you try to acknowledge the different levels of listening that you find in your own listening habits and dialogue with those? Do you try to imagine other people's listening habits?

Oh yes, this is something I think about quite a lot. I like to be as intentional as possible with what type of music I'm making and what type of listening state and system people will be listening on. But, I've found it's not always useful to try to imagine what other people are going to do or not do, so I tend to just use myself as a reference point, beyond determining the intended function of a track. If it's an intimate headphone album or something designed for live speaker systems, or what. Inevitably a lot of music will be heard on laptop speakers, phone speakers, and shitty apple earbuds as well which is something I also keep in mind. I like to have a track translate hopefully to different systems and still put across the essence of a track, although I will say sometimes you can't do that. I want to be able to be more specific and nuanced with my mixes sometimes, and combined with doing a lot of work that is not melody based or doesn't have a lot of focal elements going on in the mid range zone that comes thru laptop speakers sometimes it’s just a loss.

Is your newer (unreleased) work more focused on bigger sound systems where that nuance can really be felt? And how are your new productions going, in a more general sense? What can we look forward to from you and your work?

For the most part yes, I am finding myself splitting tracks into headphone/home listening and live sound systems with the latter being my primary focus at the moment. Particularly there is a certain environment I'm interested in producing for, not really a club, and not really a "main stage" kind of vibe but something like what I experienced playing at the Lunar Transit festival here in Utah this Summer. A space where things can balance between music to sit on piles of pillows to, or music to dance to essentially. I've been testing out new things out when I dj to see what’s working and what isn't, for the most part I'm pretty happy with how things are developing. I have a lot of different things I want to express and put out there, so it's mostly a matter of organizing all of that and working on being more specific as well as finding the right context where what I'm doing will sit well. I'm planning a series of digital releases to come out by the end of the year, mostly singles and working up to some EP's. After that we will see.... I have a tentative plan to do a full album intended more for home listening and probably fitting closer to the Stag Hare sound within the year, but I feel like I need to get some other stuff out there first. From there I really have no idea what shape things will take, my goal is to just try to stay in touch with the creative energy and follow that where it goes...

[kraaks-avant-guardian]

Manuel Göttsching

An essay on E2-E4, an opening move in chess or a highly influencial record in contemporary music.

Manuel Göttsching is pretty much a living legend. The man behind krautrock pioneers Ashra Temple (with Klaus Schulze) and Ashra, is basically one of the founders of Kosmische Musik, post-Eno ambient and electronic music. With his 1984 solo masterpiece ‘E2 - E4’ he created a 58 minute trip through icy synths, metallic percussion en spacey guitar solo’s. Göttsching geniusly combined the minimalism of composers like Terry Riley and Steve Reich with an irresistible groove. Thus the German musician - along with colleagues Kraftwerk - unknowingly inspired an avalanche of imitators on the other side of the Atlantic who would pioneer genres like house and techno.

— Niels Latomme

Let me tell you something about the millennium old game of chess. Some people find chess incredibly dull, others are addicted to it. The game fights a war between two minds, equipped with the same weapons, and the same limited amount of moves. It’s a war ruled by restrictions, and it is incredible poetic; or, depending on which side you’re on, it’s a game for nerds, boring, slow and abstract. No matter which angle you look into it, although it’s an extremely dry game, it earned its place in the history of mankind. It even provoked a complete mythology, as it was a huge shock for mankind when a chess champion got beaten a computer. Not to speak about books like The Chess Novel, by Stephan Zweig, or the records by Wu-Tang Clan.

Some people feel the same about the record E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching, recorded in 1981, but released in 1984 — in some ways a pivotal year. I was talking to Spencer Clark and he finds the record incredibly dull, and values Ashra’s output way more than this piece. But other people think it’s one of the best records ever made. This record, not unlike the game of chess, earned its place in musical history, being considered as the first house or techno record. (A side remark: Göttsching admitted that he not really likes dance music.)

The record is loosely inspired by chess. But, it has more resemblances to chess than the cover and the title. Let’s start with the title: “E2-E4” is an opening move in chess, it’s called the King’s Pawn Game. Wikipedia says:

White opens with the most popular of the twenty possible opening moves. Although effective in winning for White (54.25%), it is not quite as successful as the four next most common openings for White: 1.d4 (55.95%), 1.Nf3 (55.8%), 1.c4 (56.3%), and 1.g3 (55.8%).[2]

Since nearly all openings beginning 1.e4 have names of their own, the term “King’s Pawn Game”, unlike Queen’s Pawn Game, is rarely used to describe the opening of the game. Advancing the king’s pawn two squares is highly useful because it occupies a center square, attacks the center square d5, and allows the development of White’s king’s bishop and queen. 

Chess legend Bobby Fischer said that the King’s Pawn Game is “Best by test”, and proclaimed that “With 1.e4! I win”.[3] King’s Pawn Games are further classified by whether Black responds with 1…e5 or not. Openings beginning with 1.e4 e5 are called Double King’s Pawn Games (or Openings), Symmetrical King’s Pawn Games (or Openings), or Open Games – these terms are equivalent. Openings where Black responds to 1.e4 with a move other than 1…e5 are called Asymmetrical King’s Pawn Games or Semi-Open Games.

The title of the record might be misleading. The code is just one of the 18 possible opening moves, and is not as defining as such. Depending on the players, each game goes its own path. If you think deeper about cause-consequences, each opening has its consequences for the rest of the game, and I think you can apply this to the E2-E4 piece too.

Chess is a rigid game, a closed circuit with very defined rules. Each piece has its own movement, weaknesses and strengths. The board has only 64 places and the goal is very simple: you have to conquer the other party’s king. Paradoxally, its very rigid set of rules and limitation creates a field in which endless possibilities appear. It’s a field in that enhances imagination, psychology and poetry. You start a game, and by intuition you move pieces. You can learn about the best opening moves, and how to respond to the other’s moves, and eventually threats and attacks, but you can never rationalize the game completely. A game develops by having unconscious preference for certain pieces and their moves. Some people even claim that you can be read through the moves you make on the board.

E2-E4 is like the game of chess, meticulously composed. It’s a truly teutonic musical composition, more dehumanized than kraftwerk ever will be. If you listen closely, the piece is made out of 8 layered sources. The sources — synths, delay’s, drumcomputers — are synced together, by a very influential invention called MIDI. It allowed the composer to prepare a set of limitations and defined rules, and let every source slowly fade in and out. During each part Göttsching tweaks and triggers the sounds, so that a slowly shifting structure appears. It’s not unlike minimalist avant-garde music, in which the base structure is founded on a few basic notes or structures that are repeated with a very limited amount of variations. The context creates this extraordinary effect in which the slightest change of the parameters —could be the note, the cadense, the rhythm, or the filter and the frequencies — has a maximum of consequences in the sound; the minimum of changes even defines the nature of the piece per se. The revolutionary aspect is that he applied minimalist idea’s to new technology, and showed the way for Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Jeff Mills and likes how to let people dance themselves towards transcendental salvation.

Although the record suggests a defined start and end, and even though it has 8 defined parts (again 8; 8 x 8 = 64, the same amount of squares on the board of chess) with names that suggest a specific mood, there is more to it. On a deeper level, you can consider E2-E4 as just one possible output. Göttsching could have started with other filters or other tunings and drumrhythms. As if every game of chess is one possible outcome of the very rigid system beyond it.

The emotional and the psychological plays a very big role in equally chess and E2-E4. As I pointed about above: the game of chess thrives upon rationalized rules and limitations. The concrete output is influenced by the players consciousness and even more, as we are not the rational creatures we want to be, but driven by forces that are the result of thousands of years evolution, by our subconsciousness. Every minor change creates a maximum of consequences. This defines the way we perceive the composition. He himself meant it as a abstract, minimalist piece. But history taught us that the record influenced a stream of dancers and techno musicians. You can either listen to it, or dance to it. But the complexity of sounds, created by a minimum of sources, let’s you drift away in it’s sheer beauty and emotional warmth. The record does not contain emotions, but I’m sure it conveys a lot of emotion.

One last thing I’d like to point out as a striking parallel in between the game of chess and the record. On minute 32.00, or just 2 minutes far in the part that is called Promise, somewhere in the beginning of the B-side if you’re used to listen it on vinyl, suddenly a guitar kicks in. Göttsching is a master guitarplayer. His work with Ashra Temple, and even more the album Inventions for electric guitar exemplify this. Moment 32.00 is a flipping point in the record. It suddenly changes the complete mood of the album. Depending on your mood, it could make the timeless sounding synthesizer structures sound like a cheesy, kitch, outdated lounge track. Is it the guitar shredder Göttsching coming in, as a persona, pointing out that electronic music is minor to real instruments? Or couldn’t he just resist to show off his guitar skills?

It could be also another equivalent to a game of chess. Every game of chess has a flipping point. The point of no return to which everything before was building upto. The point that makes clear who is losing and who is winning. Mostly the gameevolves pretty quickly after that point, one of the parties will lose his or her important pieces and the game falls apart till it reaches the hunting phase. Even then the game can be equally dull or exciting, depending on how you look to it, or on your personal subconsciousness. If the Guitar Part is consciously conceived as the point of no return in the Göttsching record, I think he truly understands the game of chess, and its merits. He could have kept on building up towards the so-called ‘drop’, the point in which the beats falls away on clubfloors, to pimp up the dancers. But he didn’t…he choose to use his master guitar skills to change to mood, as one of the possible outcomes of the rigid game. To point out the endless possibilities and to prove that a rigid structure can be the portal to deepened aesthetic beauty.

[x0401x]

GOUACHE Members interview

Jin’s solo interview || Sidu’s interview || Original (full translation under the cut)

“Kagerou Daze -in a day’s-” is a bodily sensation-type 4D short movie, which was released in the second theater system of the national-wide TOHO Cinemas on November 4th in MX4D™. The movie’s opening theme song, “RED”, made by the creator of “Kagerou Project”, Jin-san – who is not only its lyricist and composer, but also the light novel and manga script’s writer –, together with his new-formed band (GOUACHE), received great repercussion in the entire Mora site immediately after its publishing. Other than that, Jin-san has his other band and works as support musician as well, and has been much talked about for recruiting such experienced members.

In this interview, to celebrate the movie’s presentation to the public and the huge popularity of “RED”, we have successfully gathered comments from the GOUACHE members! These news will consist of each member’s official talks about the band and its songs, from the thoughts they’ve put into the compositions to the possible future developments. It’s a must-read for the fans as it’s packed with detailed answers! Please enjoy it without skipping any words or sentences!

GOUACHE Members

MARiA (Vocals) Born on 1/31/1992 in Ibaraki Prefecture. Had her major debut in 2014 and works as GARNiDELiA’s vocalist. Is an artwork producer, in charge of songwriting, and also dances during live performaces. Is a model for several fashion brands as well, and has been earning the support of young women from her generation.

Jin (Guitar/Vocals) Born on 10/20/1990 in Hokkaidou’s Rishiri Island. Is a music composer, light novel writer and scenario writer. Specializes in creating untramelled works that do not get caught up in stereotyped concepts.

Gushimiyagi Hideyuki (Guitar/Vocals) Born on 1/31/1990 in Okinawa Prefecture. Started working as a guitarist, then created his own band, Creature Falls Umbrella, in 2014, and became its vocal-guitarist and composer as well.

Shirakami Mashirou (Bass/Vocals) Born on 5/5/1988 in Okayama Prefecture. Besides being solo artist and singer, he’s also a bassist, composer, arranger and recording engineer, working as a producer of anything related to music.

Ibuki Fumihiro (Drums/Choir) Born on 8/27/1990 in Hokkaidou’s Ohibiro town. Is a Jazz drums course graduate from Senzoku Gakuen Music College. Is the leader of the band O.P.P.A.I. and works as support artist for many other bands. Actively takes part in numberous national and international performances, no matter their genre.

GOUACHE’s official Twitter account: GOUACHE_JP (T/N: Please follow them, guys. They don’t have even 3k followers yet. The account is bilingual, so you can get information from it even if you don’t speak Japanese. Their English is a little awkward but it’s easy to understand. Also, they’re considering releasing their songs overseas, so the more non-Japanese followers they get, the greater the chances of that happening.)

Q&A

──I believe that while “RED”, the opening theme of “Kagerou Daze -in a day’s-”, is about “a sight that adults can’t understand and only reflects in the eyes of children”, it also deals with more universal themes. Were there any feelings you had wanted to deliver to people other than the current “KagePro” fans?

Jin: I was the one in charge of the lyrics of “RED”, and just as you said, it’s a piece aiming to deliver a worldview that reverberates within the “child-like heart” of the biggest amount of people possible. A “child-like heart” is what I personally consider one of my most valuable themes, so since I was using it, as expected, I ended up needing quite some time for the composition.

To express the scenery of a bygone summer’s day through words is a very specific task, and for that, I received advice mostly from the member Mashiro-san, and thus it became the way it is. That’s why these lyrics that are about a sight I saw in the past have, of course, been sprinkled with memories from a summer that Mashiro-san himself has lived. I think that lyrics like these being born is also something that reflects the band’s taste, so I’d wish everyone enjoyed this part of them too.

The majority of the GOUACHE members write songs, so I believe we will be releasing compositions from several polished viewpoints from now on. Please look forward to it.

──I was wondering if the song “RED” wouldn’t be the equivalent to a business card for the band GOUACHE. Are the things GOUACHE wants to convey contained in this song? I’d also like to ask what the theme of GOUACHE and what the message you actually want to deliver are.

Gushimiyagi: “RED” was the opening theme of the “KagePro” movie, so Jin was the one to take the lead in the making of the composition. But rather than a business card, it wound up as a work with the concept of what would happen if GOUACHE made a piece that leans towards “KagePro”. Therefore, I think the interpretation that the song “RED” is a piece that equals to a business card for GOUACHE just because it's our starting song would have only been valid if we were to make it through our upcoming activities. I’d be happy if people could feel GOUACHE’s theme and the things we want to transmit through the works that will be born from them.

──“RED” also had a simultaneous release with a high resolution sound generator version. Any concerns regarding the HighRes? Is there any piece that you want to listen to in HighRes or that you already listened to in HighRes and thought “this is amazing”?

(T/N: A sound generator is a device that generates sound waves by reproducing multiple basic waveforms. The finest ones can even detect the increase or decrease of air pressure in the room during recordings, so fluctuations in the atmosphere might interfere with the results.)

Ibuki: We still don’t have equipments that support HighRes for home recording, but we have been able to compare the three types of HighRes equipment through analyzing one piece from a CD lent to us by a musician otaku Senpai. I’ve always had doubts as to whether or not human ears could process sounds that can’t be recorded into CDs, so I was extremely shocked when, even while listening to it blindfolded, I could clearly tell the change in atmosphere. When I checked the sound mixes from our usual studio recordings in the control room, it sounded similar to the time I brought the sound generator to my home, which has a different speaker. The CD gives the impression that the sound leaps into surface, and the HighRes gives the impression that what leaps in is one particularly lengthy soundwave. I usually enjoy listening to music with an analog during home recordings since I can feel its depth more than with a CD, but I get concerned about the noise. “RED” is, more than anything, a song made by people obsessed with creating sounds, so please do try it out in HighRes. We want you to listen to an aspect of it that you absolutely can’t hear on YouTube.

──It’s said that the HighRes can reproduce even the “atmosphere” of the recording studio. Your usual tweets cause us to assume that you might have an obsession with the recording equipments and environment, but keeping in mind the viewpoint of those from the sidelines, we’d like you to tell us if any of you have ever thought something along the lines of, “I want people to listen to a sound generator from this angle”.

Shirakami: This time, I played the drums for recording with the image of an American rock band in mind. Their sound gives me the impression of a low center of gravity, gradually-increasing highs and clear vocals. It’s a sound that has long been a personal favorite of mine, and together with these members, engineers and directors, I attempted challeging it through all kinds of trial and error while making this song.

In order to increase the impact of the zone that embeds the unique notes of the guitar and, especially, the bass, taking advantage of the interval in-between the Japanese rock band-like guitar sounds, the individuality of the bass comes to light from the middle part onwards with a low gravity center kick. My position of making the drums take on a moderate, not-too-wet intensity was chosen by one of the engineers. The bass was recorded in a dead room, while the guitar was recorded in a semi-live room.

(T/N: In this context:

“Wet” is jargon that refers to a very thick, deep sound with little to no sustain.

A “dead room” is basically a room designed to be acoustically “dead” ─ as in not produce echoes and be free of ambient noise.

A “live room” is the opposite, designed to be highly reverberant, while a “semi-live room” is a toned-down version of it.)

The playback environment also influences it, but I feel it becomes easier to notice the change of high-end in the HighRes. I think the subtle breaths of the vocals, the tale’s nuance, the reverberation of the cymbals and snares, the mood of the guitar amplifier and the contrast of the opposing tight-kick bass are conveyed more clearly in it.

Regarding the recording equiment, we usually leave them in the care of an engineer that we normally count on, so I don’t know for sure, but the drums were selected from the cymbals to the head of the kick, and several guitar amplifiers and distortion effectors were tested. I’d be happy if people could feel the difference of the main guitar’s sound, the bass’s effective arrangements, and the players’ wills, which don’t depend on the studio.

(T/N: High-end is a class of consumer home audio equipment marketed on the basis of high price or quality, and distortion effectors are devices made to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments.)

──Lastly, I’d like to ask about your expectations for the future.

MARiA: “The five of us, overflowing with individuality, want to make interesting and fun things together first and foremost!” is what I thought when forming the band. I think it’d be great if GOUACHE could deliver various worldviews through its melodies, tunes and lyrics! I believe we’ll announce new songs like crazy in the near future and, of course, we want to do a live with all our might, so please look forward to it!!!

──Members of GOUACHE, thank you very much!

[happymetalgirl]

Wayfarer - World’s Blood

This came out way back in May, but I have been determined to catch more of the things coming through the crack this year, and you’re not getting away from me, Wayfarer. You will let me say good things about your new album, and you will like it, but probably not hear about it if we’re being real here. Who cares?

Wayfarer! Denver, Colorado! Releasing their third LP after switching over from Prosthetic Records to Profound Lore. World’s Blood! American black metal! Very American, and not in the way that cynics and decriers of Deafheaven’s brand of black metal probably immediately think of whenever the phrase “American black metal” pops up lately.

Integrating a subtle American folk influence, not nearly as theatrically as Panopticon, Wayfarer create the naturalistic atmospheric black metal that Wolves in the Throne Room have spearheaded, while adding a few calculated dashes of guitar twang and folky melody to provide an anchor in the American soil that holds the vast black metal ambiance over a specific environment.

The band open the album with the shortest track, “Animal Crown”, under five minutes. In those five minutes, Wayfarer set a meditative tone for the album while building a solid composition on blackened ambient guitar sections and spacious performances and production. Excellent start to the album. The second track, “On Horseback They Carried Thunder”, is much longer: thirteen and a half minutes, and although the song takes its time, it takes it well. The song works together ethereal, cathartic guitar leads, shoegaze-y guitar-driven sections, echo-y drums, and even death metal-inspired growls into a massive, captivating journey of sounds that both would impress both Wolves in the Throne Room and Deafheaven, for another fantastic song.

The album’s third track, “The Crows Ahead Cry War”, is a builder as well, making its way from a tom-focused drum pattern in the beginning to more fully unleashed blackgaze later on. My only complaint here is that the guitar work is not quite as varied from the previous track, and the song doesn’t really provide a tangible connection to the Western/Midwestern aesthetic the album is grounded in until the truly, deeply melancholic, ambient guitar section at the end, which could very well have ended the album on a note of somber, sorrowful meditation if the band wanted it to.

On the next song, another ten-minute epic, “The Dreaming Plain”, the band go cathartically shoegaze-y, not changing up the script too much, but still weaving together the wealth of ideas they bring to the table in such a powerful fashion. It is here, though that the band could have used something like the interludes on Sunbather to break up the homogeneity of the three massive tracks in the middle. The closing track, “A Nation of Immigrants” ends the album on a folksy, ambient acoustic semi-chant that wraps the album up nicely in a thoughtful fashion. It honestly could have made for the kind of Sunbather-like interlude I mentioned somewhere in the middle of the album. But it does work well as a bit of a cool down song.

I haven’t done this before, but I made a little custom track listing that I think provides a different, and more dynamic flow to the album. This is obviously my manipulation of the album and its pieces, which can be easily dismissed as untrue to the artists’ decision to order the songs the way they did. I’m not saying this order is better, it’s just one I have been liking to listen to the whole album in.

1.      Animal Crown

2.      The Dreaming Plain

3.      On Horseback They Carried Thunder

4.      A Nation of Immigrants

5.      The Crows Ahead Cry War

I do like “Animal Crown” as an opener, but I felt like “The Dreaming Plain” would add its own slow build to immediately juxtapose it. I also like the conclusiveness “The Crows Ahead Cry War” brings just after the calm of “A Nation of Immigrants”, and I thought the album’s biggest building block worked well in the center of it all, and with a transition song to follow it. Again, this is just an order I like too, and it’s very possible the band played around with the order of the songs and maybe even had something like this at one point, but of course they decided upon the order I addressed the tracks previously, and I assessed the album based on the flow that order conveys.

Wayfarer have made a strong contribution to a relatively quiet year for American black metal, and although it’s not really a groundbreaking album for blackgaze, it does showcase how strong the genre can be at its best, the bold emotional heights it can reach when approached with a enough musical ideas. Overall, the songs on here were all very good, if not fantastic, and I think this is one of my favorite black metal releases of the year.