 | Tracklist:
1. Push Push
2. Daypusher
3. Think Again
4. Poly6
5. Knuckle
6. Gold Canyon
7. Mitglieder
8. Slow Ghost
9. Don't Point Your Paw At Me
10. Sailing Through The Bardo
11. Seventeen Days
12. The Cabin
13. The Dead
Release Date: 2009 | |
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2 of 2 thought this review was well written
Sebastian Borg aka Stockfinster is not interested in selling millions of records or in reaching a wider audience. Thanks to haphazard circumstances, he shyly decided to release for free his first album, All Becomes Music, back in 2005. For all intent and purposes, the release went unnoticed, but that does not matter for someone with such modest aspirations. All Becomes Music was downtempo electronic music, intimate and warm, ideal for listening in a cloudy and sad afternoon. The music was intelligent and elegant, but felt designed primarily for solace. It was a heartfelt and beautiful effort. Now, one of the advantages of having no strings attached is that you can take all the time needed to do things without having to please anyone. Thus, Borg took four years to carefully compose and produce the follow-up, and in 2009 Dead Line was finished. Yes, he released it also for free.
Dead Line is by far a much more ambitious work than All Becomes Music. Starting with the quality of the recording itself, --available in a lossless version, instead of merely lossy mp3s-- the variety and depth is impressive. If the first one seemed to take place in the comfortableness of home, the new album follows Stockfinster in a long, liberating journey. Along the way, Borg takes snapshots that take the form of diverse soundscapes, offering a wide array of sounds and moods that can surely be overwhelming and hard to process even after several listens. He does not seem to follow any pattern or particular inclination other what his creativity suggests him for a given piece. He will guide you slowly through a droning and contemplative ambient piece, and then switch to a rhythmic track.This could give the impression of a disjointed work, but in reality what happens is no different than taking a real journey. You cannot choose what to experience, reality simply assaults you: take it or leave it. The erratic nature of the music only adds to its spontaneous feel, yet it has a cohesiveness of its own which is revealed the more you listen to it.
Dead Line is an unconventional and difficult work, not because it aims at experimentation or the abstract, but because it is perhaps too self-absorbed, freely creating soundscapes and playing with layers of sound in complete abandon. almost oblivious to time and the listener himself. Despite being a very long album, it softly draws you in, making feel you take part in the small world that unfolds around your ears. Still, what truly makes the record so enchanting are not its intricacies, but its honesty and warmth. This is a very human and fragile album, in which a sense of solitude is always present underneath all the details and complexities. The use of occasional vocal samples paired with often sad melodies just accentuate the sensation there is pain looking for relief, but the constant change in sound gives the album a brighter, almost detached tone. In Dead Line we see an artist using electronic media to express his inner self, not just presenting a cold artistic conception. If the music seems impenetrable and obscure at first, it does not take too long before the album opens and reveals its beauty. Let us hope Sebastian Borg will continue to find the inspiration to create music like this, creative and meaningful; music that requires patience but that will ultimately speak to you.
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Album Rating: 4
You can sample or grab it for free here (make sure you copy the entire link): http://www.sutemos.net/en/player;gid,27
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sounds interesting, good review
Digging: Janus - Nox Aeris
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Strange name, but sounds very tempting. I'll be getting this now
| | | Album Rating: 4
It is always nice to see music of this quality given for free, especially when so many *established* artists put out such mediocre output. I mean, this guy is not even asking for donations! Anywayyysss, hope you will enjoy this. It might help you with your essays and articles
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Ha, I have to write an analysis of this weird hungarian film and then do a piece on Chernobyl.
This is too distracting for me to do that, and I mean that in the most positive way
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Need to dl this asap to enhance my hipster-o-meter.
| | | Album Rating: 4
"Ha, I have to write an analysis of this weird hungarian film and then do a piece on Chernobyl.
Sounds like complete fun. Good luck with that!
"Need to dl this asap to enhance my hipster-o-meter
Yes, having this, even if you do not listen to it, makes you look a little more cooler. Guaranteed ;-)
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You don't actually have to listen to the album, so long as lastfm adds it to your artist pages. Thats hipster
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