Entry 1422 - Modest by Default - ص​​​ا​​​خ​​​ب

Style: vaporwave, barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: shades of music that pierce through the subtle darkness to shine meek tendrils of light into the places that need it the most

Thoughts: It's funny how perceptions of genres change over time. When I first got back into barber beats I was buying up just about anything and everything I could that was available. I got some good albums and some duds. Mostly the duds have been cleared out from the collection at this point. I'm much more selective now on what I allow into my hallowed stacks. The music needs to strike me in different ways that a simple "oh that's cool." I've got enough of those albums now... I need music that genuinely moves me at this point. That's where Modest by Default comes in.

There's music in the world that settles in the darker recesses, there's music that aims to channel nothing but the light... and then there is music like ص​​​ا​​​خ​​​ب which falls somewhere in between these two extremes. The music constructed by Modest is largely light hearted and on the gentler end of the spectrum... but there's this subtle sadness and sorrow that casts a dark undertone to the entire album. 

ص​​​ا​​​خ​​​ب is the kind of album that is best taken in when attention can be provided exclusively to it. As much as most barber beats provides an excellent backing track to every day activities, ص​​​ا​​​خ​​​ب requires a bit more from the listener. These ten (mostly) instrumentals have a deep sense of nuance and purpose to them that a casual listen does not allow for the album to fully reveal all it's secrets. Even now, having listened to this album for what seems like a dozen times, I am still uncovering subtle details buried deep within this albums textures. 

What is it then that makes ص​​​ا​​​خ​​​ب different? Why can I lose myself in this album above most other ones in the barber beats genre? To be honest I am not entirely sure I've formulated an answer for that. Maybe it's the way that the music is layered upon itself, and utilizes every instrument to the absolute maximum. Maybe it's the subtle yet potent use of reverb on most of the tracks, it gives them a depth that is not often seen. Maybe it's the intentional use of silence between notes to allow the instruments to speak their musicality completely before the next note interrupts. Maybe it's the varied percussive instruments that know when to both engage and when to abstain their presence. It could be all of these things, it could be none, it could be the combination. I'm not sure, nor do I really know if I truly care as for the reasons.

ص​​​ا​​​خ​​​ب is in the running for one of my top barber beats albums. The music here feels casual on a cursory listen, but the more time I spend with this album the more I find that it affects me on a deeper level. The music is more than simple instruments and beats... it's light in the darkness, it's shadows in the sun, it's darkness and hope, it's all these things yet none of them. It is its own entity, and that I believe is what draws me to study this album the way that I have.

Entry 1421 - October Tide - Rain Without End

Style: Doom/death

Primary Emotions/Themes: What would have happened if Katatonia had stayed extreme metal? 

Thoughts: Discouraged Ones was a defining moment for Katatonia. It set them on a path that would define the rest of their career, further and further away from their extreme metal roots. It was with that album that they finally turned the corner, dropped the growls and to a large extent the metal and decided that forge a new path. But what if they never strayed? What if they went further down the extreme path? Well that's the question that October Tide asked.

Rain Without End is a special album in October Tide's discography. Not only do we have the one mainstay of the project, Fredrick Norrman, we have the one and only Jonas Renkse on drums and vocals. This is essentially Ktatonia without Anders (which is another level of irony considering Anders just left Katatonia). 

So outside of the obvious Katatonia comparisons, what is Rain Without End all about? Well to put is simply, it's melodic/doom death that evolves the style of Brave Murder Day further. Instead of repeating the same thing over the course of long form songs, these songs are shorter and involve more riffs. That said, they still have the main backbeat on the drums giving them that same hypnotic sway that the songs off the previous album had. 

Where the band further evolves is through the use of melody. These songs incorporate more intricate and frankly more memorable moments through the use of both delayed guitars, well thought out leads, and various other instruments such as sparse keyboards and acoustic guitars. The real treat here though are the vocals. 

This is perhaps the last full album that I ever heard Jonas growl on. He's got a deep and longing harsh voice that he uses throughout the entirety of Rain Without End. It's exactly what I wanted from him, and this would be the last moment in time that I would ever get it. Outside of a few moment in an Ayreon album Jonas would never use harsh vocals again to my knowledge. This is the true reason why this album means so much to me.

October Tide would go on to have a long and storied career with Fredrick taking over the project after he left Katatonia. The albums after Jonas' departure are of various quality, but it's here at the very beginning where I got what I truly wanted from the band: the extreme continuation of one of the finest bands in the 1990's.

Entry 1420 - Haircuts for Men - к​​​о​​​г​​​д​​​а з​​​л​​​о г​​​о​​​с​​​п​​​о​​​д​​​с​​​т​​​в​​​у​​​е​​​т

Style: vaporwave, chilled, barber beats before barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: The original, the OG, the creator of barber beats

Thoughts: There is nothing like sitting down and enjoying a nice adult beverage on a weekend night knowing that you got nothing going on the next day. The sense that your responsibilities are completely met and that there is nothing - nothing - that is preventing you from enjoying yourself... that is a thing of beauty. That is the exact moment that Haircuts for Men (HFM) was made for. 

This my friends is one of the origonal albums, one of the novel creations in vaporwave that got me interested in the style. No one, and I mean NO one was doing this when HFM was starting his thing. For years, he was the only one doing this stuff, the only one that managed to create this hyper chill atmosphere in the vaporwave sphere. When everyone else was slowing down 70's and 80's music and adding boring beats to it, HFM was pulling together some of the chilliest music ever created. 

For those who don't know Haircuts for Men's music is what would later become known as barber beats: super chill plunderphonics that relies heavily on a deep groovy bassline and lounge/smooth jazz styled instrumentals over top. These instruments repeat in sync with the beat to create hypnotic grooves that compel my body to move. Even now listening to this thing my head won't stop bobbing to the intense groove that HFM has created.

Music like this is best listened to with a good sound system. There is a LOT to be gained from a strong solid bass response on the speakers. With the right stuff you can get your entire house to shake and your whole body gets wrapped up in the same vibration - it's amazing. Highly highly recommended.

I never thought I would see HFM music on vinyl ever again. There has been some controversy with the individual in the past and that largely meant that their label cut ties with them. Now half a decade later here we are, with one of his best albums on vinyl... who would have ever thunk it? Maybe small miracles can still happen.

Entry 1419 - Count Vornok - Towards the Black Vaults of Angorn

Style: Atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Like listening to black metal under water or in slow motion

Thoughts: Well this certainly is an interesting album. Interesting good? Interesting bad? I haven't really figured that part out yet. 

Count Vornok was a black metal/dungeon synth band that had a distinct beginning and end from the moment the project was conceived. The first album (which I have not heard) was to be the introduction, followed by this opus. The trilogy was closed out by a dungeon synth EP. That is the entire scope of the Count, and I respect the hell out of bands that have a distinct arc predetermined when they start making music. 

Now then, where does that leave us with Towards the Black Vaults of Angorn? The first order of buisness is the guitar tone. This has to be the only black metal album I've ever heard that uses this kind of tone. It's deep... exceptionally deep. It feels like it was processed under water or in slow motion, it's really unlike anything else I've ever heard within black metal. 

Along side the guitars we have melodic keyboards that mostly play a backing role but will sometimes offer a melody. They add to the music's somewhat distant and somewhat mysterious feel. Now that I think about it, the production is seemingly another take on the obscure productions of the second wave bands. It's difficult to make out the individual aspects outside of the vocals and drums, in some strange way it mimics the raw production of the early black metal artists of the late 80's and early 90's. 

In many ways I'm used to the standard black metal production qualities, I've cracked the code so to speak. Raw music hardly feels raw anymore, and I can for the most part follow along with all the different instruments. Count Vornok is different though, this is obscure in a different way. The guitars and the keys are blended together in new ways that I haven't heard before, and to be honest I'm here for it. Maybe this interesting good after all.

Entry 1418 - Oblique Occasions - Punishment

Style: vaporwave, barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: 

Thoughts: Ahhhh yes, barber beats. At the risk of sounding redundant this genre is about the only part of vaporwave that I truly enjoy anymore... and even that is wearing a bit thin. I think I have nearly all of the entries into this genre that I need. It all tends to blend together after a while.

Oblique Occasions is one of the bigger names in the genre, and this is for good reason. The music that they create - or construct, whatever you want to call it - is highly representative of the genre as a whole. Not overtly creative, but very pleasant on the ears. 

The thing that Oblique does better than most is finding the correct groove to the music and sticking with it. These tracks all have a huge bottom end. When the bass goes it will rumble the very foundations of my house, vibrate the very core of my brain and make me giggle with glee. And that's what is going to be what draws me back to this album over and over. 

On top of these delicious grooves you get the typical flavors of barber beats: jazz trumpets and saxophones, Hammond organs making a nice chord, a deeply groovy bass guitar, and some other random trinkets sprinkled in for good measure. It's enough to make my body sway, even if I'm not consciously aware of what's happening.

Punishment is probably one of the poorer names I could have come up with for this album, as the music isn't punishing on my ears in the slightest. This is groovy, sexy music that works perfectly as background music or something to keep the silence at bay. It's not going to win any awards for creativity, but I highly doubt that was the intention in the first place.

Entry 1417 - Bersarin Quartett - II

Style: Dark ambient, modern classical

Primary Emotions/Themes: Darkness comes in many shades, some are grey... others are more insidious in their tones and nature

Thoughts: I have been looking for a decently priced copy of this album for years. I found this project randomly on Spotify well over a decade ago and I have been borderline obsessed with his music ever since. There are very few projects/bands that sound like this... very few indeed.

I was initially attracted to the music because of it's surface level similarity to Ulver's Svidd Neger - an album that remains one of my favorites in Ulver's discography and in the dark ambient genre as a whole. The music paints bleak and dismal images with the use of both electronics and modern orchestral arrangements. That doesn't even begin to describe the impact that the music has on me though.

II is more than just a collection of notes or soundscapes. It's more than an orchestra playing minimalist arrangements. It's more than the silence, it's more than the climactic swells... it's far more than the sum of all it's parts. 

The music that's contained in II is potent. It stays with me when I listen to it, it reverberates in my brain after I'm done listening to it. The album r e q u i r e s my attention when I listen, it grabs me by the ears and does. not. let. go. until it is finished playing. Even then it compels me to queue the record right back up so I can listen again.

There is so much depth here. Even with a full orchestra at his disposal, everything is only used when absolutely needed. The subtle use of strings and even horns is what lays the basis for these multi textured soundscapes. They contain long notes that evolve into either subtle melodies or overt ones as time passes. Sometimes these melodies swell into massive moments, but most of the time the album is content to stay in its subtle sway. 

Again though, these individual elements are only half the story. The way that the music is contracted brings out emotions that I rarely feel in music. A subtle darkness, an insidious creeping evil that works its way in with the music. When listening to II or really any other album by Bersarin Quartett I find myself contemplating the darker aspects of life, and it's all from his ability to channel these emotions and themes that so few can.

I spent years looking for this album on vinyl. It was one of the few albums that I KNEW was missing from my collection. It finally got a repress and I ordered it immediately. Then I waited... and waited... and waited. It was initially supposed to ship in February of the year I bought it, and I didn't have it in my hands until nearly Christmas. It's a long time to wait, but looking back I would do that all over again because of the quality of the music that is in these grooves. 

Entry 1416 - Leila Abdul-Rauf - Phantasiai

Style: dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: There is an evil in the darkness, one that no one has ever seen, we've only ever seen its effect, and heard it's sounds

Thoughts: Eerie and creepy are word that are arguably overused when it comes to describing dark ambient music. They can be cop outs or generic throw ins instead of digging a little bit deeper to find a more appropriate word for the emotions that the music is emulating. Sometimes though, they are exactly what is needed to describe the music coming out of my speakers... just like Phantasiai is currently.

Phantasiai is eerie. It channels a deep sense of the unknown; we see only glimpses and reflections of the true state of things. Leila has done this expertly here. The album is as much about the notes that are played as well as all of the different elements that are left out. Why is that horn playing such a disjointed melody? Why did it stop mid note? What on earth is going on in the background? What kind of instruments are those? So many unknowns, yet so few answers are ever provided. Eerie. 

Phantasiai is creepy. The music grates on me like it's intentionally pulling at the strings in my primal brain. It's inducing a flight or fight mechanism by putting me in unfamiliar situations. It pushes me into uncomfortable places by pushing music into my ears that is foreign and morbid. Creepy.

Leila Abdul-Raul has created not only a fantastic album, but a fantastic experience. One that encourages the listener to dig into the music, one that tries to get the very most out of the engagement with the listener. Not only does it reach deep into the more instict driven parts of the human mind, it entices us by hiding parts of the music from us... obscuring its true nature through the way it's presented and produced. Phantasai is quite simply harrowing.

Entry 1415 - Timeshare'94 - HORIZONS 地​平​線

Style: vaporwave, barber beats

Primary Emotions/Themes: It's a vibe man

Thoughts: The last time I heard Timeshare'94 it was when I was listening to Couples Resort a while back (Entry 1354). Times have changed since that released and so has Timeshare. They have evolved from classic vaporwave into the now flourishing barber beats genre. This is a pretty crowded field so I was curious if their new style measured up.

Needless to say this record is now in my collection, so that should say something about the quality of the music on here. As expected this music is smooth as butter, that's been microwaved and then sculpted into a fine rendition of a Renaissance statue. 

Horizons is all about the beats. There's no moment on the album that is not beat driven, and man do they ever groove. They form the foundation for everything that the album has to offer: silky smooth sample arrangement, heavily reverbed vocals and effects, and dreamy atmospheres. The album flows like a bubbling brook on a spring morning with the sun coming over the horizon illuminating the morning dew. 

I actually have an unintentional history with this album now. When I was looking at getting my second turntable this was the first record that I played on it. The record kept skipping on side B all the time with no apparent reason. It worked fine on my primary table, but on my office one it was a mess. It ended up leading me down a rabbit hole that spanned three turntables before I landed on my current one. Quite an adventure that was catalyzed from one skipping song. Just goes to show you never know what kind of memories are linked to specific albums.

Entry 1414 - Fåntratt - Ångerstupa

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: wandering through a forest or seafaring, who knows what wonders await us

Thoughts: What an absolutely fascinating album. The other album I have from Fåntratt sounded like a one take record and press it dungeon synth album. It was sloppy and was the epitome of DIY... at least that's how it sounded.

Ångerstupa stounds nothing like it's predecessor. In fact I would have a hard time believing this was from the same project if I didn't know any better. The songs on Ångerstupa are clean, well crafted and sound very well put together. They come in two distinct sets. 

The first is on side A which runs at 33 rpm. These songs are quiet, and for the most part lay low. The melodies are subtle and don't call much attention to themselves. It's like a gentle rain is falling in the forest, not too heavy that it's an inconvenience yet not so light as to go unnoticed. The perfect balance of being in the background yet giving the listener subtle nudges of its existence every so often.

The second side runs at 45 rpm and is much more active in it's engagement with the listener. More overt melodies and other various elements such as vocals, percussion and field recordings make this the livelier side of Ångerstupa. 

Fåntratt have stepped up their game significantly with this album. The way that the album is crafted, laid out, and arranged is far superior to what I have heard from them in the past. The album is perfect for vinyl, with the two sides having distinct sounds and even RPM requirements for the turntable. An album to enjoy during the dark of night or traversing through the woods.... or traversing through the woods in the dark of night. Whatever suits your fancy.

Entry 1413 - Legend of Zelda - Wind Waker

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: The music fully embraces the sea and all of its wonders and perils

Thoughts: This entry is a bit of an end of an era. This entry marks the last record that I had in my collection at the point where I started this blog. I added some along the way but at one point I said "I'm finishing what I have first" before moving into anything new. This is the last record on that list... this is a big moment for me. It's fitting that it's such a wonderful soundtrack.

Wind Waker is a game that took me by suprise when it launched. I wasn't sure what to do with the graphics, but I found that the gameplay was fun so I stuck it out. I know several people that stopped playing the game completely because of the cell shading. Looking back now with how revered this game is it seems crazy that anyone would do that. 

As with any Zelda game, the music is excellent. This again marks a huge upgrade in the sound quality and composition for the series, finally getting into fully uncompressed samples and instruments. 

The main theme of Wind Waker is water and of course wind. The music reflects that. There is a natural sway to much of the music that resembles being in the water. It's a subtle touch that brings the soundtrack closer together. 

Like any good soundtrack listening to it will make you recall playing the game and hopefully bring back fond memories. That is exactly what Wind Waker does for me. This isn't my favorite Zelda game by a long shot, but it is one that I enjoyed well enough to complete. That in itself should be more than enough for me to have this record set in my collection.

And with that my original collection comes to a close. We now enter a new and exciting chapter of this blog where things are less structured and I can write about whatever strikes my fancy. I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time.

Entry 1412 - Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: If OOT was the ray of hope, this is the darkness that comes from the shadow cast from that light

Thoughts: Zelda is such an interesting series, every now and then you'll get an entry that completely defies all expectations and changes the formula completely. That is what Majora's Mask is.

Much like the change in style the music has also changed to accommodate the darker tone of the game. Many of the same themes that we've all come to know and love are still here, but often they sound tainted... the music is a bit off. 

This is all intentional of course, Majora's Mask is a dark game and the music reflects that. Things that we took for granted before are now no longer the case. We're not looking for the master sword or even Zelda.. were looking for a way to not die every three days. Quite the change.

For the longest time this was my most wished for soundtrack to be put to vinyl, when it was added to my collection I felt like there were very few video game releases left that I needed. After having this for several years now I still feel the same way. My collection is one step closer to complete for having this record in it.

Entry 1411 - Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: perhaps one of the most beloved game soundtracks ever created

Thoughts: Anyone who has ever played video games for more than a few years will know about Ocarina of Time. This isn't just one of the most popular games ever, this is perhaps one of the most influential and important games to be created as well.

For the purposes of this blog were going to focus on the music. This is essentially the continuation of Link to the Past in musical form. There are similar melodies, there are many of the same songs but everything is bigger and better. The N64 soundchip was that much better than that of the SNES, so we have more instruments, more arrangements, more of everything.

This is the kind of record set you want to put on during a Friday night and enjoy reliving memories as each of the songs comes on. Hyrule Field? Lets remember riding Epona across it endless amounts of times. Death Mountain? Remember the dangers of lava and trying to repair the giant's knife? Song of Storms? Man, is there a more iconic song in this soundtrack? 

This isn't the perfect Zelda soundtrack, but it's gosh darn close to it. This has everything that a Zelda fan would want... the definitive experience. Essential video game music. 

Entry 1410 - Ys VIII - Lacrimosa of Dana

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: the joy of exploring an undiscovered island only to have a huge twist at the mid way point

Thoughts: I absolutely adore this game. It was some of the most fun I ever had playing my Switch. The sense of exploration and adventure mixed with the free flowing combat was something I hadn't really seen in a game in a very long time. Then there was the music.

The way that the music goes in this game is exactly in line with what I would have expected given the gameplay. It's wide open and encourages the player to move forward. It's upbeat and almost had a progressive rock feel to it. The guitar duels with the keyboards for the lead melodies, mix this with upbeat drums and you got a winning recipe. 

It's not all fun and games though. There are some very somber moments of the game, and the music matches. Really though the album knows what it needs to be when it needs it. The danger with a soundtrack like this is that it is overly long for one sitting. Not so with Ys' VIII. For me at least, this is an easy listen from start to finish, and the music works as well on it's own as it does in the game. 

I need to play the newer Ys games, this one left such a strong mark on me that I want to see if the newer games can repeat it. Even if they can't though I still have the fond memories I built while exploring the mountains in Lacrimosa of Dana.

Entry 1409 - Swallow the Sun - Songs from the North - Part III

Style: Funeral doom metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: the heaviest and most desperate the band has ever been, soul crushingly heavy.

Thoughts: For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If part 2 was the lightest the band had ever been then this by the simple nature of physics will be the heaviest.

To my knoledge the band has never created funeral doom before. If this is indeed their first attempt, then they have done exceptionally well. This music is dismal, completely devoid of hope and the only true escape is death. All of the complaints I had of Mikko's voice on Part 1 are gone. His deep growl fits perfectly here, and he has a high scream that I have not heard him use much before this either.

The music itself is as slow as you would expect from funeral doom. The melodies are played wither by keyboards or one of the guitars, and whoever is taking the lead knows exactly what to do at any given moment. The band's sense of atmosphere is also on point. There are several moments when everything stops and all that can be heard is a singular funeral bell. Haunting.

This is one hell of a way to end out this trilogy of an album. The album as a whole is a massive undertaking to do in one sitting. I'm glad they split it up into three smaller chapters in case I wanted to focus on just one at a time. If you only ever get one Swallow the Sun album, this is the one to get.

Entry 1408 - Swallow the Sun - Songs from the North - Part II

Style: Acoustic

Primary Emotions/Themes: This part drops all of the metal and focuses on the bands lighter acoustic side

Thoughts: This may be my favorite thing the band has ever done. For one moment they dropped all metal, all pretense of being heavy and simply allowed the melodies flow and let the music speak to my soul. Not that their metal is bad, it's quite good... it's just that this is better.

I can't get over how wonderful this music is. The melodies from the guitar and voice are the closest he band has ever come to being truly comforting. It's... god I wish I had words for this. This part defies me talking about it, just go listen to it and be ready to be swept away by the music. Best thing these guys have ever done.

Entry 1407 - Swallow the Sun - Songs from the North - Part 1

Style: melodic doom death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The first part of Swallow the Sun's magnum opus, melodic doom death in their normal style

Thoughts: Swallow the Sun has been around for a long time. For many years they played a genre defining version of Finnish melodic doom death. They were good at it, very good at it... then the quality started to slip a little bit around Emerald Forest. It was almost as if the band heard my concerns, because the follow up is easily the best album in their entire discography.

Songs from the North is a three part monster album. There are three parts, and this is the first. Part 1 shows where the band came from. This is their quintessential style: a mix of light and dark, of heavy and soft, violence and peace. The album starts out with soft guitars that soon give away to a massive riff and deep bellowing growls. 

Slow sullen music is exactly what is in store here and the band is in high form as they deliver these eight songs. There are a couple of missteps however, mostly with the growls. Mikko's voice isn't what it once was. Those deep earth shattering growls from Hope and Ghosts of Loss are gone. Instead we have a bit of a broken and forced growl in it's place, not terrible but not up to the standard the band set previously.  The clean vocals though are as good as they have ever been, maybe even better than before and are a clear highlight of this part as well as what is coming in the next part of the album. 

Songs from the North starts off with likely the weakest part of the trilogy, and considering how good this entry is were in for one hell of an album. Buckle up, it only gets better from here.

Entry 1406 - Stardew Valley - Part 4 - Fall

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: the final season is here, we prepare for the winter by the bounty of the harvest

Thoughts: Life is a cycle. As all things come all things must go. The summer yields to autumn and with it the preparedness for winter arrives. The harvest that spent all of spring and summer growing is now ready, we must ensure that it is properly taken care of before winter arrives.

The music in the fall record may very well be my favorite in all of Stardew Valley. There is an acceptance in this music, like something is coming... winter is coming. It recognizes that things must be done, but not in a hurried fashion... more like we are now transitioning to the hardest part of the year but we can still enjoy the beauty of the fall.

The melodies here are somewhere in between the bountiful melodies of summer and the cold yet cozy melodies of winter. They urge action, but not with a huge amount of urgency - there is time to enjoy what we have.

Fall is my favorite time of year so it's only fitting that the music here is my favorite as well. There is a ton of music in this boxed set, and each record has it's place. If any of them are going to get more routine play I believe it will be the fall and winter records as I find those the most enjoyable. Regardless of their play frequency going through this boxed set has been a fun reminder of what it's like to go through the year. A new routine may  be forming where at the solstice or equinox the corresponding record gets played to bring in the new season.

Entry 1405 - Stardew Valley - Part 3 - Summer

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: summer is here and with it the festivals and all the joy of companionship. 

Thoughts: The music in Stardew Valley is something else. I don't know if there is another game that has it's music so much in tune with the change of seasons and how that affects the environment within the game.

As one could probably surmise, the music in the summer record is active and full of warmth. The whole town is bustling with activity and this music is here to capture all of that adventure and joy in audio form. The songs have bright and airy synths, the melodies are full of life... it truly captures the spirit of summer in a small town.

Stardew Valley continues to impress me with the depth that the music shows on every record. I don't think that this is something I will seek out very often, but when the change of seasons comes this is about as good of music as you can get to celebrate the occasion.

Entry 1404 - Stardew Valley - Part 2 - Spring

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: The world is coming to life, the bees are out, the flowers are blooming, and the cows need tending

Thoughts: Winter is finally over, it's time to get out into the fields and start preparing for the new year! In this second record for Stardew Valley the songs of Spring are contained. New life is popping up on every corner and the simple sounds of nature coming to life are captured within these songs.

The music retains the cozy feel of winter, however the music here is more active. The melodies contain more notes and quite a few more songs have accelerated tempo's compared to the winter tracks. The whole thing makes me want to get up and start preparing a meal, or cleaning the house, or getting the fridge stocked... or doing something productive. That's what spring is all about.

This is the half way point in Stardew Valley, and while musically I prefer the winter album, the spring one fits just as well thematically as the colder one of the two. I'm looking forward to hearing what the next few albums have in store.

Entry 1403 - Stardew Valley - Part 1 - Winter

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: The freezing cold and slow pace of winter is exemplified in these tracks

Thoughts: I was never really able to get into Stardew Valley that much. The whole Harvest Moon thing is not my typical kind of game. Regardless I picked up the boxed set years ago and hardly ever listened to the music. I need to fix that so today these records are hitting the turntable.

Each record revolves around one of the four seasons, with the first being winter. Every song on this record feels like it belongs in winter. I can see the snow flakes falling down when the piano plays. I can feel the frost on my face as the synths slowly progress their melodies.

The whole record embraces the cold yet cozy feel of winter. The songs are all slow, never having a hectic pace. It's the middle of winter, it's cold, there's nothing better to do than to sit in your house by a fire and read. Nothing. We just wait it out till spring.

Entry 1402 - Shenmue II

Style: Video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: the continuation of Ryo's journey in musical form

Thoughts: Shenmue was/is always supposed to be multiple games. Game one was chapter 1 and this game spans multiple other chapters. I think at this point we can assume that the game's scope is too ambitious for how well it sold. Shenmue III was a miracle that was arguably squandered since it did not conclude the story.

Shenmue II however was made before all of this junk happened. It was back in the glory of the Dreamcast days and none of the 18 years in between games was even on peoples minds yet. But what about the music? How could it possibly live up to the epic that was the first game?

Well in many ways it does not. It incorporates much of the same music that the first game has, but includes quite a bit more of traditional video game music into the fold. The score is has a more epic scope than the original game as we are progressing the story at an accelerated pace at this point. 

Is this soundtrack as good as the first entry? Absolutely not. Is it still good? Absolutely. The music continues the score in a direction fitting of the story and by the end of it we actually know what Shenmue means. 

The game and music feel like a relic of a long lost time, a game that could only have been made when it was. This and the first game's records feel like we are looking back in time. A time when games were less grandiose than they are today. A period where games like these could be made, a time where someone like Yu Suzuki could create a game that is so unique and get the full backing of Sega. Those times are long gone, and we may never see a game like this ever again.

Entry 1401 - Shenmue

Style: video game music, traditional Chinese

Primary Emotions/Themes: A boy seeking revenge for his fallen father but the responsibilities of life get in the way of enacting vengeance 

Thoughts: Shenmue was a game that blew me away when I was younger. The mechanics of the game were unlike anything I had ever seen before, and when I heard the music (what little there was) it nearly brought me to tears. I had mp3's downloaded of the soundtrack for years on my iPod and never thought I would get a physical copy of the soundtrack. Well I was wrong and now this fabled story's music is on my turntable.

The thing that is so moving about Shenmue's music is how simple it is. It never tried to do more than it should, and by keeping it simplistic the music hits all the harder. Be it the Chinese violin playing the main theme, or the piano playing some of the more minor melodies of the soundtrack, everything works and works exceptionally well.

What initially drew me to this soundtrack was the erhu or the Chinese violin. The way that those strings sing the sorrow of what Ryo felt when his father fell before his eyes and the profoundness of the music when he finds the phenix mirror. There is no other instrument that could have portrayed this better.

Shenmue is a flawed game. The quick time events were wonky and overdone. The training was annoying, but oddly fun. The day to day activities were simple yet somehow it all worked. The ending of the game though was more than disappointing. I wish that it had continued. Seeing as Shenmue III also had an open ended ending I don't know if we'll ever get the conclusion to this epic. Regardless we still have the incredible music to fall back on. That is enough for me... it truly is.

Entry 1400 - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Style: video game music, modern classical, traditional Japanese

Primary Emotions/Themes: A dramatic suite of classical music that prominently features traditional Japanese instrumentation 

Thoughts: Video games sure are something else aren't they? The only qualification for something to be video game music is for it to be featured in a video game. This can mean anything from 8 bit chip tunes to full orchestral scores. It's one of the most diverse genres out there.

The music in Sekiro pushes the bombastic boundaries of what we consider video game music. The entirety of these four disks is orchestral, and we even get a smattering of traditional Japanese instruments scattered throughout as well. 

The score itself balances two opposing forces well: the still of the night with Wolf sneaking around, and the climactic battles that take place all over the game. The way that they are laid out here has the soundtrack exploring the calmer side first and slowly working in the climactic battles as the album continues. 

By the final disk we have massive battle after massive battle and their aftermaths. Truly the pacing on this record set is impeccable. There's rising action leading into the dramatic climax and then finally the release at the end. Expertly arranged.

This is not a record set I listen to that often. In fact this may be only the second or third time I've listened to it. I've often thought about if I need it in my collection, but whenever I do put it on I'm reminded of how well done the music is and I find myself wanting to listen to it again in the future. So whenever that moment comes to future me, I hope you enjoy it as much then as I am now.

Entry 1399 - Paysage d'Hiver - Im Wald

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: finally the debut album from this legendary project

Thoughts: So we finally get the first official full length of Paysage d'Hiver, and its two hours long. I don't get excited about new releases very often, but god damn I was excited for this one when it was announced. It had been years since anything from the project came out and I was eager for new material.

The first thing I noticed was that the production was impeccable, especially for Paysage. I can hear all of the instruments clearer than ever before, the bass is also much more defined, especially with the drums. It's odd to hear things so clearly, but also it's nice to not have to dedicate a massive amount of concentration to get through the layers upon layers of fuzz to enjoy the music.

Outside of the obvious production changes, not much has changed from Das Tor. The songs are long, roughly around ten minutes each with some small interludes. The songs are highly atmospheric and many channel the same ambient/dungeon synth feel that the early works did. It even has the trademark winter sample at the beginning of the album, the same one that has been in nearly every single Paysage release since the beginning of time.

Im Wald is an epic undertaking in both execution and listening. The tracks go on for what seems like forever, they draw me into a cold wintery landscape even if it's the middle of summer. The music is cold and yet more welcoming than other entries into the huge discography that Wintherr has created. 

In reality we all know that this is not a debut album, this is more an extension of everything that has led up to this. This is a grand statement to the state of Paysage in 2020, and triumphantly declares that the project has returned full force. 

Entry 1398 - Nier - Automata

Style: video game music, vocal, orchestral

Primary Emotions/Themes: a continuation of some of the finest music on the planet

Thoughts: Keiichi Okabe is possibly my favorite composer in video games. Between Automata and Replicant and Drakengard... there's just no comparison. He's one of the single best composers that has ever been in this field. Certainly one of the most distinct ones.

Automata has the same approach to music as Replicant does. It's so sorrowful in every single note, every word spoken, every melody written, every single detail that it moves me on a fundamental level. I can't listen to Neir's music standing up, it compels me to sit down and take it in. No, it demands that I sit down and take it in.

I spoke to the deep effects that these game's music have on me in the previous entry, so I won't repeat that here. Just know that this is the direct continuation of the music found in Replicant and is every bit as moving as that soundtrack is. Absolutely essential listening.