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.
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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