The Sonic Music Review

Monday, 8 August 2011

Nim: The Swimmer

The most exciting thing being a music blogger is to wake up in the morning to links to new and exciting music. Such is the case regarding the electronic artist Nim who contacted The Sonic Music Review with a portfolio of music submissions available for streaming and downloading via their Soundcloud page here. Nim describe their music as "mostly electronic [...] It can go from french house to big beat, as long it has a good vibe." What is clear from their music is the talent garnered through their 4 years of production experience.

Nim - The Swimmer © by N!M

The track featured here is 'The Swimmer,' so selected being the most appropriate for The Sonic Music Review, although readers are encouraged to listen to the additional tracks by the artist available here.

'The Swimmer' begins with a somewhat dark and brooding introduction, with a curious interplay between two synthetic bass riffs, the contrasting characteristics (application of reverb, spectral content and timbral envelope) of which creating a very clever opening to the piece. Instrumentation is soon embellished with the addition of French House-stle drums before one of the sparsely-used vocal excerpts declares "Gotta get on down,"at which point the various instrumental elements reconcile into well defined grooves.

As the track progresses, arrangement devices such as dropping the percussive timbres one single element foreshadowing the introduction of new sectional material helps keep the music 'fresh,' although clearer melodic material could add to this effect. Through the various sections of the piece, small new details are also added to maintain the listener's interest. Throughout the track, the various musical elements are woven well between one another creating a piece that flows well, with the bass riffs seen in the introduction which continue throughout adding to the continuity of the track.

Nim In Action

As the piece draws to a close, various vocal cuts are interspersed with other sound effects, the musical textures subsequently thinning, ending on a short loop of material derived from the music which precedes it. For any alternative electro house listeners, this piece is certainly worth a listen, it's been a great pleasure to have been introduced to this very interesting artist and their own inimitable style.

If you are an independent artist and would like to submit your music for submission to The Sonic Music Review, please get in touch.

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Kilo: Baker Street To Ibiza

Having recently joined Twitter [@SubsonicWinter], the progressive house artist Kilo was quick to ‘follow’ The Sonic Music Review. Having investigated the DJ/producer’s Soundcloud page, we are pleased to feature ‘Bakerstreet To Ibiza,’ one of the most original cover versions to be featured on this blog, the track itself being an instrumental cover of Gerry Rafferty’s anthemic ‘Baker Street.’

Baker Street To Ibiza by Kilo

The track in question is not uncommon in being a cover of ‘Baker Street,’ with big names such as the Foo Fighters producing cover versions, but the Trance-influenced House setting seen in Kilo’s mix is far unlike any other cover of the song. While the premise of covering such an iconic song seems absurd at first, upon hearing Kilo’s interpretation of the lead theme on a euphoric trance lead synth, it seems meant to be.

Kilo notes on their website, available here, that Deadmau5 proved both highly influential and inspirational, the track ‘I Remember’ motivating the producer to the feat of producing over 50 original works within 6 months. The Deadmau5 influence upon Kilo’s work is most evident through the clever drum programming and timbrally therein as well. The syncopation of the main melody works particularly well against the strong 4/4 beat laid out by the various percussive elements.

As is typical within the genre, the arrangement runs at quite a lengthy 7:19 but by virtue of well considered arranging by the artist, the track maintains a listener’s attention despite the limited musical material afforded by the original track. The tempo runs at a steady 125bpm which could, and in likelihood would, be increased when played to a live audience by a DJ, but the track would be right at home at the dancefloor, unsurprising given the extensive DJ experience Kilo notes in their bio.

This highly original work is well worth a listen for any fans of house or trance music and is downloadable for free via the artist's Soundcloud page. Readers are also encouraged to listen to the other work by this talented artist which is hosted on the official Kilo website here.

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Sunday, 7 August 2011

Tangerine Dream: Autumn In Hiroshima

Autumn In Hiroshima is the third instalment in Tangerine Dream’s Five Atomic Seasons series. This 2008 release rejoins the musical narrative following the dropping of the first nuclear bomb in Hiroshima at the finale of the last album, ‘Summer In Nagasaki,’ reviewed here. For those unfamiliar with the Five Atomic Series, a brief introduction is provided at the beginning of the ‘Springtime In Nagasaki’ review here. Unlike the preceding instalments in the Five Atomic Seasons, this album features a larger number of tracks, dominated by 8 ‘teachings’ set to music.

Tangerine Dream: Autumn In Hiroshima

This album opens with the seminal track ‘Trauma,’ one of the finest examples of electronic music of our time. As such, ‘Trauma’ has received a separate review here in order to cover the track in sufficient detail. The following track ‘Reset’ maintains the soundworld of trauma in a more ambient musical context which also gradually suggests partial optimism as the track progresses. This Ambient style of writing continues through ‘Awareness (1st Teaching),’ which makes extended use of western classical church-like vocal harmonies.

Moving on to the later track ‘Oracular World (4th Teaching),’ the ambient style of writing has been replaced with a more typical example of Tangerine Dream writing, supported by a steady, yet unintrusive, beat throughout. The later ‘Touching Truth’ in fact references the band’s earlier output during their so-called Blue Years. The way in which a large number go the tracks on this album transition smoothly between one another proves worth note as this in itself speaks volumes about the band’s production values. Seemingly paramount to this release is a sense of flow. This is particularly well achieved with reference to the music’s emotional subtext, smoothly segueing with the music to form a narrative of emotions and moods expressed by the music to echo the narrative to this programmatic work.

In each of the releases in Tangerine Dream’s Five Atomic Seasons series, the penultimate and final tracks typically prove to be particularly interesting, providing an indication for the music which follows in the following instalment. When attention is paid to the final two tracks, ‘Omniscience (8th Teaching)’ and ‘Nothing And All’ respectively, a heavily sequence-led track is juxtaposed with an ambient successor, indicatory of uncertain times ahead, although the smoother ambient nature of writing induces a sense of calm in stark contrast to the beginning of the release here featured.

As ‘Nothing And All’ reaches its inevitable conclusion, the listener is plunged into silence once more in preparation for the following chapter in the series, ‘Winter In Hiroshima.’

View Tracklisting

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Tangerine Dream: Trauma

Given that several features in The Sonic Music Review make particular mention of ‘Trauma,’ the opening track of Tangerine Dream’s 2009 album ‘Autumn In Hiroshima,’ it seemed pertinent to give this track a dedicated reviewed in order to fully cover the musical details contained therein. In this reviewer’s opinion, ‘Trauma’ represents some of the finest writing by the band throughout their independent years, incorporating advanced timbal construction, use and consequence of thematic material and noteworthy production, an element often neglected when considering contemporary electronic music.

When constructing opinions of this piece, a keen listener would be well advised to listen to the material in Tangerine Dream’s Five Atomic Seasons series which precedes this, such as the ‘Summer In Nagasaki’ album or ‘11:02 Am,’ the concluding track of the aforementioned album. As the introductory section in ‘Trauma’ exhibits a development of the musical character seen in preceding material from the series.

The track begins with an extended introduction of processed bell timbres, breathy resonances and glistening sonic reflections. As the piece opens, a steady sequence reminiscent of a music box is introduced alongside melodic material which borrows timbrally from ‘Persistence Of Memory Part Four’ in the first album of the Five Atomic Seasons, ‘Springtime In Nagasaki.’

Following the extended introduction, which lasts more than two minutes comes the A section, in which large amounts of musical material is introduced. Interestingly, the melodic material of this section does not announce itself through typical musical conventions - the introduction concludes with a mighty burst of synthetic brass-like timbres but the initial exposition of melodic material begins gradually within the functioning harmony rather than as discrete musical elements.

The B section sees an accomplished change of character to a far darker and urgent style of writing, employing various bass pedals and ostinatos alongside new percussion elements hitherto unseen. The piece sees a well contoured progression between B and C sections, ultimately returning back again before revisiting some of the earliest musical material of the track. Along with the production, the writing and in particular the sense of ‘flow’ throughout this piece makes it truly remarkable, one of the bands most accomplished contemporary work.

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