E.S Posthumus - Makara

Genres: New age, symphonic, orchestral
Unofficial E.S Posthumus Myspace 

Tracklist:
1. "Kalki" - (3:05)
2. "Varna" - (4:17)
3. "Unstoppable - (3:04)
4. "Durga" - (3:41)
5. "Manju" - (4:18)
6. "Kuvera" - (4:05)
7. "Ushas" - (3:55)
8. "Lavanya" - (3:57)
9. "Vishnu" - (3:38)
10. "Indra" - (4:18)
11. "Arise" - (4:12)
12. "Saint Matthew Passion" - (3:38)
13: "Krosah - (4:50)
14. "Anumati" - (3:39)
15. "Moonlight Sonata" - (5:30)


Today's been a busy day, so there will only be one short update today. Bringing you some orchestral music, very similar to what you see in films. E.S Posthumus (Experimental Sounds "All Things Past") is a music group formed by the 2 brothers Helmutz and Franz who worked on together for almost 10 years. Creating 3 albums, and another few singles. Their music has featured on several different occasions such as a song feautring as the MLB Tonight Theme.

I personally like every of their albums, and there really is no specific reason why I choose Makara. All 3 of them are solid releases. And I could easily recommend all 3 of them. If you're an avid fan of film music in general, E.S Posthumus is very much similar in their style and could be worth giving a go.


Since I already mentioned the MLB song, here it is. It is quite representative of their music in general so its a good way to understand what they sound like.

Unfortunately one of the two members Franz died last year, and so it is unlikely there will ever be anymore releases by E.S Posthumus anymore. With exception of maybe one or two songs. May he rest in peace, and thanks for the music that he and his brother created.

She - Orion

Genres:  Chiptune, 8-bit, Electronic, j-pop(some extent)

She Official Website

She Myspace

Tracklist:

1. "Escape" - (1:14)

2. "Atomic" - (3:24)

3. "Moonlight" - (3:26)

4. "Computer Music" - (3:15)

5. "Ride" - (3:59)

6. "Home" - (3:49)

7. "Just Your Eyes" - (3:08)

8. "See You Again" - (1:42)

9. "Generic Eric" - (3:08)

10. "Elemental Nights - (3:15)

11. "Orion" - (5:16)

She is a male (yeah.) chiptune artist, who's managed to get quite an impressive list of releases during his career. Although only his last 2 albums, Orion and Coloris (Coloris was actually previous free as well before him signing to a record company)has been released under a record company. Thus the rest of his releases are available for free, and most of them are very much worth having a look at. So I'd recommend, that might actually be a better starting point. Regardless I still consider Orion and Coloris to be his best releases.

If you're a fan of good old 8-bit music or just some good electronic music. Then She is a pretty good artist to follow. If you're new to the genre itself, it is also an excellent starting point. So have a listen.

Did I mention that most of his albums are free, yeah I think I did! (unfortunately not this one so it feels weird recommending this one.) But yeah once again a reminder, you can download the majority of his works here for free.

Or you can visit his myspace to listen to his works as well.

Eluvium - Copia

Genres: Ambient, Modern Classical, Instrumental, Piano
Eluvium Myspace 

Tracklist:
1. "Amreik" - (3:18)
2. "Indoor Swimming At The Space Station" - (10:29) 
3. "Seeing you off the Edges" - (5:03)
4  "Prelude for Time Feelers" - (5:48)
5. "Requiem On Frankfort Ave." - (2:41)
6. "Radio Ballet" - (3:12)
7. "(Intermission)" - (0:50)
8. "After Nature" - (1:51)
9. "Reciting The Airships" - (4:35)
10. "Ostinato" - (6:08)
11. "Hymn #1" - (1:32)
12. "Repose in Blue" - (9:18)

Eluvium (Matthew Cooper) has been an active artist since 2003 and has since then released an impressive 6 full length albums and 5 singles/EPs. Most of his works are primarily 100% instrumental with the exception of the album Similes (2010) which he sings himself on some of the tracks (which is also worth checking out.).

Out of all his releases the album Copia still stands out as my definite favorite, and one of my most listened to albums in the recent years. The reason for this is that it stands out from some of his other releases. While most of his works are to be considered ambient, it feels more right to call Copia a modern classical/ambient album in my opinion.  Simply a lot of the tracks feels more on the modern classical side rather than the ambient side.

What I like about Copia is that it really builds upon his earlier releases, and mashes it into a perfect combination. Releases such as "Talk Amongst Trees" is heavily ambient. While "An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death" consists of almost only the piano. Copia manages to build upon that bringing a mixture of both, which gives off a very good sound.

Copia is simply a quality release from start to end. The album is clearly best suited for relaxing moments, when you simply want to slip back into the couch and just enjoy some good music. Rainy days anyone?

5 Centimeters Per Second (Original Movie Soundtrack)

Genres: Piano, minimalistic

Tracklist: 

1: "Ōkashō (桜花抄)"- (4:51)
2. "Omoide ha Tooku no Hibi" (想い出は遠くの日々) - (1:14)
3. "Shousou" (焦燥) - (1:09)
4. "Yuki no Eki" (雪の駅) - (2:19)
5. "Kiss" (Ｋｉｓｓ) - (3:13)
6. "Kanae no Kimochi" (力ナエの気持ち) - (1:47)
7. "Yume" (夢) - (1:40)
8. "Sora to Umi no Shi" (空と海の詩) - (2:00)
9. "Todokanai Kimochi" (届かない気持ち) - (1:41)
10. "End Theme " - (2:52)
11. "One more time, One more chance PIANO ver. (Bonus Track)" - (5:00)

I've been thinking since I started this blog, what kinda music do I actually want to post? Good question, and my answer is simple. Anything I enjoy, and its as simple as that. Many of these recommendations might not exactly make sense cause they are so different, going from post-rock, to games and now to anime soundtracks.  I could of course have decided on dividing it up to 2 blog, one focusing on movie/games and anime soundtracks and one more on post-rock/ambient/ and so on. I've decided I do not want to do this though. So if you see there's something weird coming up every now and then, you can just ignore it.

Anyways I started playing the piano about 1.5 year ago, and I'm still quite a beginner at it to say the least. Many pianists has inspired me to learn playing it, and one of them is TENMON, who has created soundtracks to many anime and movies. This week I started learning a few pieces from Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second. It got me into thinking, why not post something about it here?

Earlier I've covered game soundtracks, and this one is actually from an animated movie. 5 Centimeters per second consists of three episodic stories, all telling a story how someone deals about distance. You might have guessed yeah its a romance/drama movie, but its good. Take a look at the trailer, and listen to the music as well.

To the music itself it is very minimalistic. Tenmon doesn't really use much instruments and mainly relies on the piano. Other than that there are usually mostly some string instruments, a guitar here and there and hardly any drums. Once you get a listen to his works its easy to recognize when you're listening to something he has created because of his distinct style.

I'd say if you enjoy some good relaxing piano music, chances are you'd enjoy the soundtrack of 5 Centimeters per Second. The movie itself is worth a watch as well, very nice visuals and music adds to the value.

Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde

Genres: Atmospheric Black Metal, Shoegaze, Post-rock
Alcest Myspace 

Tracklist:

1.	"Printemps Émeraude" - (07:19)
2.	Souvenirs d'un autre monde - (06:08)
3.	Les Iris - (07:41)
4.	Ciel Errant - (07:12)
5.	Sur l'autre rive je t'attendrai - (06:50)
6.	Tir Nan Og - (6:10)

The French band that first started as a solo project, has now released  3 full length albums, one split album together with Les Discrets, an EP and a demo. Out of all these releases Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde so far stands out as the most impressive work up to date.

The one problem with Alcest is that it is hard to explain exactly what type of music they play. There are some elements of Black Metal in it, but hardly anyone would agree that this would fit their description. At the same time, there are some moments that have more shoegaze and post-rock. Its a bit of an odd combination, but it works, and it works really well.

Instead of making a big wall of text trying to explain what makes Alcest such a great band. Ill just say its often better to just take a listen. For a good place to start, Ciel Errant and Printemps emeraude are some songs easy to get into. (Last one can be listened to at Myspace)

Ólafur Arnalds - .....and they have escaped the weight of darkness

 

Genres: Ambient, Post-rock, Classical, Neo-classical
Olafur Arnalds Myspace 

Tracklist

1. Þú Ert Sólin - (3:25)
2. Þú Ert Jörðin - (4:34)
3. Tunglið - (4:27)
4. Loftið Verður Skyndilega Kalt - (5:48)
5. Kjurrt - (4:44)
6. Gleypa Okkur - (5:48)
7. Hægt, Kemur Ljósið - (5:33)
8. Undan Hulu - (5:08)
9. Þau Hafa Sloppið Undan þunga Myrkursins - (4:01)

I sometimes start thinking, what makes it possible for Iceland to produce so many quality artists and bands while having such a low population? I certainly do not have an answer for that, maybe it is so cold during the winter months that all they can do is to make beautiful music. Sigur Ros, Mum, Bjork should be some familiar names, and adding to that collection you also have Ólafur Arnalds. For many Ólafur Arnalds probably isn't a very familiar name for most people. Up to now, he's released 2 albums and 3 EPs, the one I'm recommending now is the latest one relased in 2010.

His musical style could best be described as a mixture of ambient, post-rock, classical and neo-classical. The best advice I could give is to just give it a listen. He's certainly one to look out for as he's only 24 years old, and I will also feature another one of his albums on this blog at a later point.

As I'm at loss for words, so I will end this post with an official video of my favorite song of the album, enjoy.

Flower (Original Soundtrack)

 

Genres: Easy Listening, Ambient, Instrumental

Composer: Vincent Diamante 

1. "Life as a Flower" - (5:42)
2. "Splash of Color" - (9:15)
3. "Sailing on the Wind" - (7:30)
4. "Nighttime Excursion" - (5:35)
5. "Solitary Wasteland" - (11:39
6. "Purifcation of the City" - (12:20)
7. "Peaceful Repose" - (9:23)
8. "Lazy Daydream" - (3:06)

Some say videogames cannot be art. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I do not think the team behind the videogame Flower will be able to agree with this statement. It is a very beautiful game where yo take the role as the wind, creating life to flowers over different levels. It is incredibly relaxing, and visually appealing to the eye. Ill let you judge for yourself, here's a video of the game itself (note song in trailer is not on the soundtrack or in the game):

Of course, what is important here is the soundtrack itself. The soundtrack to Flower is simply a joy to the ear. Each song represents one level of the game, which each level has a distinct theme, and each song portrays it to perfection. And this is where I think Vincent Diamante has done a superb job, each song while not only great in itself, it is also perfect for the mood. What is also worth noting, this isn't typical video game music. In other video game soundtracks you can easily recognize, yeah this is most likely from a video game. If I hadn't played Flower before I don't think I'd have guessed it was from a video game. As a standalone soundtrack, it is a great listen. If you add it to the atmosphere of the game, it is an almost unbeatable combination.

If you enjoy relaxing music, this is the album for you. Even if you despise video games, I still would easily recommend this to anyone who likes this type of music. Give it a try!