So, I'm seriously going through the piles these days, listening to albums that I whiffed on when they came out, and if they are at all interesting, ripping them to my rapidly swelling external hard drive. (And if not, disassembling them for recycling, also oddly satisfying.) It's kind of fun, and it makes me realize that however much music I listen to, I'm missing a lot more, some of it pretty incredible.
Case in point: Max Richter's Infra, which came out on Fat Cat last summer. Originally written as a score for a Ballet, the album contains 13 pieces, eight of them "Infra"s and five of them "Journey"s. All are rather sparely instrumented, mostly piano and strings, with some electronic buzz and hum, all quietly, minimally beautiful. I knew next to nothing about Richter, only that he had arranged Vashti Bunyan's Lookaftering and that he was highly regarded in certain classical-into-electronic circles that, sadly, are outside my knowledge base. (And you wonder why i never attempted to review it?) Still it's worth checking out, perfect thinking and dreaming music that takes you away so gently that you hardly even notice your leaving.
This is kind of a home-made, non-video for "Infra 3"
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3 comments:
I haven't listened to it in a bit, but I reviewed this one for PM:
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/128520-max-richter-infra/
It's good! But like you, I had to grapple a bit with a lack of context (how much do you need to explain to readers?).
You did a nice job with that, Ian. I would highly recommend that anyone who wants to go beyond my superficial description of this record (which deserves better) click through and read Ian's review. I'm listening to it again right now, and it's still very, very beautiful.
Thanks! Given how frustrating trying to write was all year, it's nice to think at least some of it turned out well.
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