Catching The Waves

BBC via CTW

EDIT: I, er, forgot to include links to the videos. Mistake now remedied. *Blush*

Good lord, there's no sound to this video. Has CTW gone stark raving mad? Have the BBC's editorial standards finally fallen through the floor?

[/60s Batman]

Fear not, my media munchkins. The BBC has released this video as part of their efforts to film a major new series, Digital Revolution, that will analyse the impact of the internet on an unsuspecting world. I've made a chump of myself on the DigRev website numerous times through self-contradiction and concentrated blathering, and you're more than welcome to do the same.

Yes, yes, you cry - but what about the video? Well, the video (actually a "rush" or unedited film) was released under the BBC's special Digital Revolution Licence, which is similar to a Creative Commons licence, but with a less catchy acronym. The Beeb want you to download it, chop it up, remix it, mash it, generally have your wicked way with it, embed it on your website (should you so choose) and then return it, rosy of cheek and slightly flustered, to the Digital Revolution website, all in the spirit of openness and sharing that makes the internet such a *cough* kind, gentle, unassuming and forgiving place. DigRev's Dan Biddle tells me that you can also download a higher quality .mov file without the BBC logo, if you don't want your opus to be sullied by any mention of the planet's finest broadcasting organisation.* Please note: the download or embed link is immediately underneath the video on the BBC website.

Watch the film and you'll see some stunning images of a design classic that moves beautifully, shows serious stamina, asks searching questions and would be just the ticket for a period drama. Aleks Krotoski isn't too shabby, either.

But there's more you can mangle. How about 12 minutes of the fluffy Stephen Fry, untouched by editorial hand or sartorial taste, burbling on about the benefits and dangers of the internet? The video & download info is here.

Or the fragrant Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, chatting about citizen media, editorial hierarchies and political activism? Go on, you know you want to. Video & download link here.

I hope you have fun playing with these rushes (and all the others). Please think about joining in the debate at Digital Revolution and helping to refine what might become the geeky equivalent to David Attenborough's Life on Earth.

*Thanks for agreeing to get Tomorrow's World back on our screens, Dan. Lunch with the Director General was most pleasant. ;)

Comfort Blanket

I don't know about you, but the arrival of autumn gives CTW the chance to drink hot chocolate, kick clouds of fiery leaves into the air and don a snug duffel coat made of free ambient-ish electronica.

Hailing from Spokane in Washington state, USA, Joseph Snodgrass, otherwise known (and who can blame him?)* as The Lights Galaxia, is an ambient/electronic musician who has capered onto the CC front lawn with Global, a collection of four tracks that's more comforting than a mug of liquid caramel topped with marshmallows. Carl Sagan's ghost has helped fluff the pillows and smooth out the sounds. No, really.

We begin with Forever Arriving - any jokes about my review schedule will see your Internet Membership revoked - wherein the ambient voices and clattering of everyday life underpin drifting piano and synth chords that refuse to resolve until the final moments. By the end, there's nothing left to listen to but people in the street, time having come to a standstill. You won't be raving/head-banging/having it large/enjoying your banker's bonus to this record.

After that, it's - TA-DAH! - my recommended track, which is an adult lullaby that should appeal to fans of (Danish music astronaut) Trentemøller and (Oxfordshire studio rats) Radiohead. In While She Sleeps (Morning Edit), you'll hear gossamer-thin, intimate synths meld with other fluffy, pulsing synths, the flapping of butterfly wings, and pixies drumming on acorn shells. In other words, it's a very clever collection of layered pads combined with lightly percussive synths and just plain percussion that's panned across the stereo spectrum so as not to clog up the mix. How to describe it further? It's like bunnies kissing.

The Lights Galaxia - While She Sleeps (Morning Edit)

Tokyo Metro takes two full minutes of chewy, crackly, ambient strap-hanging to get underway under the power of a brooding, surprisingly funky bassline and reverberating guitar accompaniment; it ends with an ambient tail that's long enough to return the mood of the track back to the original platform. Good stuff. The soundscape reminds me of DJ Side's low-passed, reverberating Bittersweet Love EP - which is more good stuff.

The final stop on the global tour (Mr S, you can have that dreadful pun free of charge for your promotional T-shirts) is The Last Lights In The City. The central motif is the oh-so-soulful epiano blues/jazz chords that swap so slowly that there's time for separate notes of each chord to pan from one ear to the other and back again. The steady diet is leavened with more Trentemøller-ish synth murmurings. If you're in doubt: it's gorgeous. You'll have to listen to it in the shower because if you hear it whilst having a bath you will undergo a short coma and wake up with your big toe stuck up a tap.

Global is intended to be a preview of a full concept album about the increasing urbanisation of the Earth, The Cities Global, to be released in 2010; I suggest that it wets the whistle most effectively. Please keep an eye out for the album, or at least let Joseph know you enjoyed it.

The Lights Galaxia - Global EP (Zipped album - individual files are here.)

Luxus-Artica Records International (1st release!)

Hang on. Sit down. I'm not finished. As luck would have it, just as my dinosaur-like cerebral cortex was deciding to write about Global, I discovered that one of my favourite music blogs had already written about it. Hurrah, said I, for I'd been looking for an excuse to mention this music bolthole for ages:

Travis Noble's Hiddenplace Music is a calm, soothing blog that, unlike the mongrel Catching The Waves, specialises in reviewing ambient and downtempo music. Reasons to drop by: interesting, high-quality selections; authoritative, judicious reviews; a "blog news box" that collates CC releases, thus providing the curious visitor with hours of exploratory fun, and a restrained blog design courtesy of Travis's secret identity as a graphic designer. Oh, and there are six mixes of netlabel music to explore. I must mention the excellent Solipsistic Nation podcast that Travis put together in January, highlighting his pick of the best netlabel releases of 2008. I've listened to it quite a few times over the last year; its blend of chat and dreamy ambient music is so beguiling. Yes, 2008. Yes, I am that out of date. You should see my haircut.

Hiddenplace Music (gets a spot in *gasp* CTW's General Netlabel Sites category)

*I'm so naughty. Sorry, Joseph.

Street Busking

We weturn to the wonderful, wassailing world of Josh Woodward to weveal that he has a bwand new album, Bweadcwumbs Breadcrumbs, for you. (This is a cause for celebration, as I hope my previous review of his work will make clear.) The convention at such moments is to recommend the new album in the hope that you will download it, unwrap it, fall in love with it and then explore the artist's back catalogue. However, being a perverse sort of blog, CTW has decided to buck the trend and recommend an older album by Josh in the hope that you'll enjoy it, etc., etc., and then explore his new album. Contrary to my usual behaviour, I do have two good reasons for this apparently deviant thought process.

Firstly, Josh has just changed the Creative Commons licensing on all his music to Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, meaning that anyone can use his music for any purpose as long he is attributed. As he says:

"You're welcome to use my music, free of charge for your projects. This includes movies, ads, podcasts, YouTube videos, karaoke, background music for your grandma's 90th birthday celebration, anything. There's no problem using them for commercial purposes. You can use them as is - instrumental or regular, or you can hack them apart to use in your songs or projects.

What's the catch? Just one: you need to provide attribution. A simple mention of my name and the song title in the credits, with a bonus if you give my website URL. If for some reason this isn't practical, it's possible to arrange a paid license for my music through Jamendo."

Such largesse means that the Woodward back catalogue is now accessible to all and sundry to do with what they will. I hope this generous decision provides Josh with the oxygen of publicity and the H₂O of cash.

Secondly, Josh has remixed his 2005 album Crawford Street, something that pleases me greatly because such a superb collection of songs deserved a livelier recording. Before I wibble on about how Crawford Street is an avenue of delights, try this for size - it's suitable for anyone who finds zoos to be depressing places:

Josh Woodward - Twelve Monkeys

That's the thing about Woodward; not only does he write memorable melodies, he pens lyrics that stay with you. Here's some of the topics you'll come across in this collection: small and big-town prejudices (Can't Take Our Love Away); first loves and living/losing the American Dream (Thanks For Coming); an actor hates the violent B-movie he's making (Shower Scene); overhearing a "domestic" next door and falling in love with the battered woman (Hey Ruth) and religious fundamentalism (The Spirit World). All that may sound worthy and dull, but the winning lyrics, sparkling guitar work and butter-smooth vocals ensure that you'll soon be swaying with pleasure, like a cobra facing a snake charmer. Personally, I think Thanks For Coming should come with a free chaise longue and a bottle of Anjou/Thunderbird/Buckfast Cider.

A quick confession: in recommending free CC albums, I try to avoid over-egging the pudding. Just because a record is free, it doesn't follow that it's any good; I prefer to let the music speak for itself. Either you'll like it or you won't.

*takes anti-hyperbole pill, fails to wait two paragraphs before operating heavy machinery*

But I think Crawford Street (and other albums like the previously reviewed Dirty Wings and The Simple Life) place Josh Woodward firmly in a long line of modern American troubadours that include Dylan, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Leonard Cohen. His music should be better known.

Another name to drop: Bruce Springsteen. If The Boss had written Big Disco Ball, a sentimental and romantic encounter amongst urban decay, he'd be blinded by his audience's lighters/camera-phones. Find somewhere quiet and let this steal a few minutes of your life:

Josh Woodward - Big Disco Ball

*still waiting for pill to work*

Visit Woodward HQ and you'll find Crawford Street's songs and lyrics, seven other albums, photos, videos and a polite request for donations and sales. If the sounds find favour with you, please think about rewarding J. Woodward Esq. for his endeavours or at least send him an email with the subject line, "I thought you were a dirty, good-for-nothing hippie but now I've put your name on my organ donor card as a recipient". Or similar. Go on, you can do it.

*pill kicks in*

I'm not sure about the Autotuned vocals and eurotrash synths on Waiting Takes Time, the last track on CS. Hey, even Homer nods...off in front of the TV. Ah, a classical allusion and modern satire in one sentence. Anyone got an anti-ego pill? Edit: someone not unadjacent to JW says that Waiting Takes Time is a parody of Cher's infamous Believe. D'oh!

Before I forget, here's the cover of Breadcrumbs because I'm not stingy and because some of you need visual prompts. ;)

Josh Woodward website, Crawford Street and Breadcrumbs

Manchester United Nil

I like to be on the cutting-edge of the forefront of the avant-garde of the zeitgeist, which is why I'm reviewing Obscure II, an album that has been freely available on the net for just two whole ...years. Sigh. I am the antithesis of trendiness.

Right, drag yourself away from the advert for moisturising handcream that is the album cover and take note: Obscure II is the soundtrack to the depiction of dark corridors, nasty creatures and artistic blood-spatter patterns that are to be found in the 2007 survival-horror computer game of the same name. You're now surmising that you're set fair for death metal, guttural vocals and maybe even a hairy frontman exploding a hot water bottle through sheer lungpower. Well, no. There's not even an exploding codpiece, because metal this ain't. Or rock.

The reason? Obscure II, otherwise known as Obscure: The Aftermath, is the work of Olivier Derivière, a Frenchman who has studied composition and orchestration at the Nice National Conservatoire, jazz and film scoring at Berklee College of Music, and who  went on to spend a year working with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and some hick called John Williams. So expect to hear some decent orchestration. However, Monsieur D. also created the soundtrack for last year's Alone In The Dark, another (though much more popular) grim wade through ghouls and gore. So expect to hear some decent electronica. Indeed, the electronica elements (drums/guitar/synths) are meant to represent the "corruption" of the traditional instruments and vocals that form the meat of the composition.

I find that most cinema and game soundtracks sound necessarily disjointed given the piecemeal demands of the format. Ideas aren't given time to develop or suffer from compression due to the exigiencies of drama. Outcast II doesn't avoid that fate but it does contain some exquisite singing from the Childrens' choir of the Paris Opera (Latin text galore), forthright back-up from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and enough melodic depth to keep the listener happy. It's strange that I find cantatas, masses and requiems from the classical repertoire to be satisfying, even though they too are, by their very nature, programmatic, or to use the technical term, "bitty". Perhaps I'm just a fuddy-duddy. But I'll have to get used to it, for it seems that game and cinema soundtracks have now mostly replaced liturgical rituals as a source of employment for composers. For Kyrie and Dies Irae, read Training and Boss Fight.

Enough verbiage. There are no mp3s for me to link to (grrr), but Monsieur D. has kindly supplied a media player that will drive me to tears while I install it. You're at liberty to play whatever you like, but I'll recommend two tracks you could try first:

• Infested People - This is two minutes of the Boston Quartet (members of the Boston S.O.) going at it hammer and tongs. It starts off as if Shostakovich had written a 16th string quartet, goes along at a fair clip, morphs into some Philip Glass/John Adams at the 01:34 mark and ends far too quickly. I'd love to see the score released or, better still, the movement worked up into something more substantial. It's an entertaining piece of modern classical music. There's a sentence you don't see every day.
• Corruption with Rage and Melancholy - With such a terrible title, this had to be the opening track and main theme of Obscure II. It's a goodly stew of strings, ethereal vocals, electronic growls, and acoustic/electronic percussion. The voice and violin solo near the end is especially affecting. If you like this track, you should like the album.

Obscure II won the Milthon award for best soundtrack at the 2007 Paris Game Festival, and I can see why. I'd never have heard the album (which is not Creative Commons-licensed) if Olivier Derivière had not made it available to download for free, and now he has a new fan who is considering buying Alone In The Dark, all his subsequent compositions, and any Derivière-shaped soap figurines that might appear in time for Christmas.*

I apologise for cobbling together an album cover from Obscure II's game packaging but there were no suitable images to go with the zipped album file. By the way, remember that guff about composers turning away from religious formats in order to earn a living? Monsieur Derivière is currently composing an opera and a... mass. Honestly, I can't win.

Olivier Derivière - Obscure II soundtrack (zipped file only, scroll to third album on page)

Olivier Derivière - blog and flashy website

*This is, of course, in jest. I don't wash.

Four Seasons In One Play

A description of this very modern EP requires a word that was fashionable 40 years ago: mellow. Humeka's Temperate Climate, out on Argentinean netlabel Miniatura, might well be a collection of minimal and thus lead the listener to expect nightclub exertions, but in fact it's more suitable for relaxing and cooling down. In fact, were one being extremely pretentious, m'darlings, one might describe it as "high chill". (All rights reserved. Any unlicensed use of this term is liable to prosecution and the enforced middle parting of your hair.)

The kernel of the album is Humeka's four tracks, each representing one of the four seasons. It starts with Summer Ends, whose low-passed synth and gentle crackles and pops should alert you that this is indeed temperate minimal, as in mild-mannered and restrained. It's like supper jazz for electronica fans. Innumerable snippets of sound are scattered across all four of Humeka's tracks and panned through the full 180 degree aural field, though I'm sure that some sneak round the back of the head, too.

The first minute or so of Fall Arises toys with experimental electronica before easing into an 80s-type bass line and very modern clicks 'n' cuts. You'll hear an interesting bridge of rhythmical ambient before the track meanders back to relatively down-tempo electronica. A Late Spring is a fairly anaemic six minutes of dance that needs more variety to sustain my interest.

However, Sol Sistere, Humeka's last track of his four, has a bit more fibre to it. Check out the insistent sing-song background synths and a barely discernible pad for that lovely intellectual depth that minimal fans - well, the ones that are prone to self-deception - insist exists in their outwardly plain and simple snare/kick art form. (My blushes.) Its marvellously warm yet coldly digital synth riff, subdued percussion and scrambled background vocals will aid the contemplation of life's conundrums, namely: will our first contact with one of the countless civilisations residing amongst the universe's 100 billion galaxies be benign or bellicose, and does a cure for hangovers exist outside of the fantasy world of P.G. Wodehouse?

Humeka - Sol Sistere

Cuddly, isn't it? It's got that indefinable "something" that grabs the ear and won't let go.

But Temperate Climate doesn't stop there. Humeka (a Frenchman – there goes the neighbourhood) has recruited some minimal netlabel gangsters founders to add mixes, namely Christian Walt, co-founder of Interdisco; Tilman (Klamauk), choenyi (Stereo-Type, Random Access, Kreislauf, Miniatura); Sven Laux (everything, but especially Tisch, Insectorama, Tropic, Meerestief, MV, Archipel, Miniatura, Mischievous); Grifin (Silicate) and our old friend Keinzweiter (spontanMusik), who got subpoenaed with a CTW review a few months ago. You have my permission to explore those links and see how deep the netlabel rabbithole goes.

These capocannonieri have indulged themselves, meaning that the mixes are fine examples of minimal-techno but completely oblivious to CTW's world-famous dictum re. overlong dance tracks. It falls to me to convert the First Law of Dance Music into algebraic form, where y = dance track and x = bliss.

y - 0.333r = x

Despite this, there's enough good stuff here to get you through the working week. There are no less than three mixes of Summer Ends: Christian Walt adds a subtle bass that pulses very nicely under Roll-Royce glitches; Tilman's mix features some nicely treated acoustic percussion, and Keinzweiter just can't help adding some funky global warming and his trademark dusty vibe to Humeka's calm essay. All three up the tempo and aggression, though nothing that shakes the leaves from the trees.

The choenyi Orangophilic remix of Fall Arises drops the minimal tag and threatens to be a boring house-ish workout, but redeems itself by shoving pops, burps and clanging percussion at your ears, which will flex and warp to the hypnotic, driving rhythm. Sven Laux's reworking of A Late Spring improves on the original; the swelling synths remind me strongly of the terrific Cactus Y Volcanes by Alta Infidelidad. A funky bassline that's a cross between a clavier and a slap bass injects some adrenalin into Grifin's mix of Sol Sister, but it's one of those mixes that renders the original unrecognisable and replaces it with a serviceable dance track...which, on reflection, is growing on me.

Nearly every synthesiser on this album sounds low-passed, if not muffled, providing a subdued bed of sound for the minimalist percussion that dominate the higher frequencies.* It's the most well-mannered album I've heard in a while, only grabbing your interest when you decide to give it. All in all, Temperate Climate is one of the many jewels on display in the Creative Commons shop window. I suggest you throw a brick through that window, but first make sure you wrap a “Thank you, Humeka and his cronies” email around it.

Humeka - Temperate Climate EP

Humeka on MySpace

Miniatura Records

*I have my thumbs in my waistcoat pockets and am projecting confidence in my opinions. We both know I'm bluffing.