'Adrift' (1969-2001) - An Abstract Narrative in Sound [31:18]

soundslike1981

Well-known member
Various - 'Adrift' (1969-2001) [31:18]
http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2W1TA1VOVMRLN3LG0CWG1UY88G

(This mix is highly segued, edited and mixed, sometimes overlapping up to three tracks simultaneously, and is thus presented as a single file 31:18 in length.)

John Cale - "Wall" (Version) (1970)
Faust - "Das Meer" (1971)
Rachel's - "With More Air than Words/All is Calm" (1996)
Yen Marine - "Violence" (2001)
This Heat - "Water" (1979)
Harmonia - "Trace" (1976)
Mnemonists - Nailed (1983)
Neu! - "Leb Wohl" (1975)
Holger Czukay - "Boat-Woman-Song" (Excerpt) (1969)
Brian Eno - "Fullness of Wind" (1975)


Most of the mixes I make are either themed along genre/historical lines; or a particular aesthetic threaded across pop genres; or occasionally made up of things I just really want my friends to hear. This mix, by contrast, is what I'll call an "abstract narrative": it is mixed in a highly specific way to give the sense of emotional ebb and flow one usually associates with a narrative, but without a specific plot in mind.

I culled pieces that tend to be somewhat abstract (a few focused almost entirely on texture) and sequenced them roughly to form the "story" I wanted. I then mixed them almost as I would individual tracks (i.e. keyboard, violin, guitar) in a multi-track recording of my own. This means that sometimes entire tracks overlap, sometimes more than two at a time, creating new "songs" out of the originals. This creates elements of tension, but I never pit two elements that are sonically or emotionally at odds. In fact, I often found that serendipitously in my sequencing, I'd placed pieces next to one another which shared the same dominant notes, or which harmonised rather well. I guess it's not unlike a proper DJ who beatmatches, except that I'm more texturematching or emotionmatching. Hopefully, the result is a single piece without apparent beginnings or ends to any particular component.

The mix is relatively short (31 minutes) because I wanted to make the narrative--told only with sound--as succinct and coherent as possible. I want the feeling of where the journey began to still echo in memory as things draw to a close, so that a bigger picture accumulates than what is "seen" at any given moment. I think the mix plays larger than its minutes and seconds, in a good way. I recommend that you listen to this mix in the dark, with headphones if possible, while doing as little else as possible. The sounds can be subtle at times, and therefore probably wouldn't seem to amount to much if approached casually, with attention dropping in and out, like a good pop-song mix can sustain.

I'd really be curious for feedback about this mix, which isn't something I normally look for. I stumbled into this particular group of tracks, culling them down from a much larger and less focused mix I was attempting to make over the last few weeks. Though I've heard these tracks many times, in bringing them together I was actually surprised by the results of juxtaposition--the mix led me, rather than the usual other way around.

The story I hear is at times a really spooky, sometimes almost disturbing, other times heartbreakingly sad, but culminating in a tone of hope through fear. Maybe nobody else takes anything like a mix that "seriously"--I usually don't. But if you hear anything other than some weird music in this mix--I'd be keen to know what you find.
 
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jenks

thread death
listened to it last night

agree on the sense of an unfolding abaout the piece - can see myself listening to this a lot, particularly late at night.

thanks
 

bruno

est malade
thank you soundslike! it pulled me out of whatever i was doing with little effort last night, a testament to the success of your selection (at least until a bit after the racket 10 minutes in, at which point i fell asleep.. i will give the rest a listen tonight). anyway, in a sea of carbon copy mixes this is a very unique fish, and i commend you for it.
 

labrat

hot on the heels of love
listened to it 'bout 5 times over the weekend .... very nice "flow"
only niggle is it could have been longer (don't think any sense would have been lost)*
as with many good mixes it refreshes some farmiliar trax with new contexts/jucstopositions.








*NOT a critisism it's great
 

labrat

hot on the heels of love
I'm still listening this at least once a week - superb
thanx again Mr. soundslike1981
 

polystyle

Well-known member
You are spoiling us SoundsLike !

This was quite nice ,
and i will have to listen again in the mode you suggest.
Emotion matching indeed
Cheers
 

soundslike1981

Well-known member
polystyle desu said:
You are spoiling us SoundsLike !

This was quite nice ,
and i will have to listen again in the mode you suggest.
Emotion matching indeed
Cheers


Thanks, all. Next mix is definitely going to have to be light and happy, and probably not layered : )

But this is a mode I can return to regularly. I love the serendipitous finds--the technically unknown-by-me fact that two tracks share notes ore are in the same key; the way the ending of my track (the pitch shifted violin/rain thing) and the beginning of the This Heat track (the little bells) seemed to rise and fall together; in the other mix, the way the shimmering electronic noise from the Cluster track matched the shimmering of the overlapping marimbas in the Reich track. It's just a lot of fun---nerdy, nerdy fun.
 

perplexis

Please No Morris Dancing
Woo

Thanks very much for this!
Really enjoyed the textures and flavours! (is this food or music??).

I was kind of sad it wasn't longer- I can see myself (and friends) enjoying this kind of thing on a long Sunday morning-after ;)
 

tsg20

New member
Is there any chance of this (and your other mix) being uploaded again somewhere? It looks very interesting.
 

soundslike1981

Well-known member
tsg20 said:
Is there any chance of this (and your other mix) being uploaded again somewhere? It looks very interesting.


I'm not sure what happened to my friend's server space. I'll try to mooch some from someone else. . . Thanks for the interest.
 

soundslike1981

Well-known member
tsg20 said:
Is there any chance of this (and your other mix) being uploaded again somewhere? It looks very interesting.


My friend's space seems to be back up, if you'd like to grab them you should be able.
 
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