ojdo – Reviews of Creative Commons music, self-made photos and wallpapers

Scott Altham – [2012] Scott Altham Anthology

Collector-curated compilation of 4 years of electronic music from Scott Altham’s ccMixter profile.

This review is special in that I am the curator of this grandiosely named Anthology. I stumbled upon Scott’s ccMixter profile, where he publishes single tracks, whereas I am a stubborn collector of proper releases. So what to do? His using a Creative Commons license allowed me to create a collection of my favourite tracks from his profiles, uploading it to the Internet Archive. I felt bad about reviewing then, but 7 years later I think I owe it to the artist to publicize his work. It is a bit weird to select my favourites among a pre-selected collection, so I let my usual restriction slip and hit you with not 2, not 3, but whopping 4 tracks:

Knoxband – [2009] Equinox

Extremely shoe-gazy, ambient progressive or even post rock. Percussion only starts for the finale. Amazement during the intro.

Knoxband is the ambient post rock project by artist Vru Patel, whose albums always incorporate airy, vast, even stellar soundscapes. While this review highlights the start of this musical journey, give the appropriately named Solstice a try to see where his sound landed three years later. But first, have the appetizers:

How to use TeX comments to save yourself from always re-configuring TeXstudio

This posts documents an easy to miss feature supported by several LaTeX IDEs, TeXstudio in my case. They allow to cut short some otherwise tedious steps when switching between documents, by embedding a part of this variability into comments within the source files. This increases the portability of a document between TeX installations, increasing the chance that a simple Open and Compile of the source document succeeds on the first try, without first having to read the error log…

Fla Vector – [2013] RED

Industrial synth-wave dubstep from Belarus. Fans of The Prodigy please step closer. And start dancing.

Except for The Prodigy, it took me some tracks to recall the other association my memory was hesitant to draw, but then it clicked: the first instalments of the Command & Conquer realtime strategy games back in the 90’s had a similar, uncompromising metallic sound. Thoroughly danceable and yet highly cinematic, this would make for great party backdrop on a thematic dance night.

Klangwald – [2012] Tolerance & Courage EP

Calm and deliberate electronica backdrop. Not fighting for your attention, earning it just the more for it.

Not much has been written online about this nice & short EP. All tracks feature their own catchy main theme, which then develops into about five minutes of slightly derivative pleasant background music. There are no excited guitar solos, dramatic bass drops or seductive vocals. Just plain, good, honest electronica straight from the producer.

Everlasting Dream – [2011] Echoes From the Future

Cinematic downtempo electronica. Could be a sci-fi soundtrack, just lacks a movie.

Movie soundtracks fall into a nice niche between classical and ambient music. This album adds a bit of electronic finesse to this formula. If you want to add a bit of cinematic splash to your musical diet, give this album a try. Emotional string sections meet orchestral and electronic beets. The occasional clicky-bleep sounds add to a slightly futuristic vibe.

Various Artists – [2006] The Silent Ballet, Volume II: Acquiescence and Oblivion

Essential post rock compilation series. Spans a huge range from almost classical to jazzy territory.

This compilation more than most rewards front-to-back listening. Much care has gone in arranging the tracks “in order”. Thus it hurts me more than usual to only rip two tracks out of context. So if you can find pleasure in those, the 9 other track in between warrant their long duration (over 6 minutes on average).

Various Artists – [2019] Fusion Compilation 12

Versatile trip hop compilation. From ethnic ambient to catchy pop rock, all genres may apply.

Over 5 years after my review on Fusion Compilation 8, I return to this netlabel with their most recent instalment to the series. Comparing both compilations back to back highlights how professional the free music scene has become during the course of the decade: all ten tracks have major-label grade production, crisp recording and tight arrangements. Which tracks am I gonna highlight?

Professor Kliq – [2011] Athene’s Theory of Everything OST

Cinematic electronica with little percussion, but lots of atmosphere.

While I cannot recommend you to watch the movie this album is the original score to, I very much endorse its soundtrack. To paraphrase, the “documentary” is either a very crude joke or a blunt hoax by an internet celebrity. But under the ludicrous voice track, there is an ambient electronic masterpiece by Professor Kliq.

Brk – [2015] IIIIII

Ice-cold dub techno, the gin tonic of music. Edgy synths, minimal harmonies, and subdued percussion.

Dub techno is not for every day. It has a distinct lack of mood, neither happy nor sad. Then there’s the minimal harmonies, the long-form stretches of monotonous monotony. So what’s to like? Actually, I don’t really know. But on certain days, the meditative nature, the lack of a clear mood, and the analytical sound just work.