"TLM presents..." Vol.2: To Be Discontinued
[TLM030]
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a VA compilation that didn't want to be "a VA compilation":
This release is, to a large extent, the result of an open call (May-August 2022) that invited musicians & sound artists to submit tracks for a collaborative album without specifying genre(s), a theme or other criteria. The final selection features artists from or based in 4 continents (NYC & Texas in the US | New Zealand | Israel | Italy, Spain, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Romania & Greece), of different ages & backgrounds and each with their own set of tools and modus operandi. The idea was to create an album whose character would be defined by the (best) submissions received and that has a flow which allows for it to be listened to as a whole. All that based on the notion that a collage can have many of the qualities of a preconceived work - and, sometimes, even avoid some of its shortcomings. Whether this experiment was a success or not isn't that important and, in any case, is not up to us to say... .......................................................................................................... Digital album. 48'24", 9 tracks. .......................................................................................................... project curation, track selection, cover artwork and audio mastering by moody alien. ..................................................................................................... released on December 2, 2022. ℗ & © Thirsty Leaves Music ...................................................................................................... |
REVIEWS.
"Thirsty Leaves Music’s new compilation makes for invigorating listening. Although most tracks incline towards ambient electronica, there’s enough rhythmic grit to distinguish them from soundscapes that refuse to provide a foreground.
[...]
Artists from around Europe and beyond responded to a call for submissions that specified “no genre, theme, or other criteria”. But when it came to selecting tracks and sequencing them, moody alien counterposed this randomness with a clear sense of how he wanted the album to be experienced.
[...]
If neural networks were tasked with making decisions about which tracks to include on a compilation like this and how to arrange them, they would need to be carefully trained. Even then, it would be hard for the finished product to feel coherent or have that hard-to-define quality that moody alien calls “flow”.
As the AI-crafted music and art that is all the rage right now demonstrates, awkward juxtapositions may produce exciting montage effects but are unlikely to make a record that improves when it is heard as a whole, from start to finish, however aleatory its provenance.
For that, you need the native aesthetic impulses that distinguish human beings as a species, even if they only manifest themselves in small ways, like the patterns in a woven garment."
Charlie Bertsch for The Battleground
. . .
"Thirsty Leaves Music’s new compilation makes for invigorating listening. Although most tracks incline towards ambient electronica, there’s enough rhythmic grit to distinguish them from soundscapes that refuse to provide a foreground.
[...]
Artists from around Europe and beyond responded to a call for submissions that specified “no genre, theme, or other criteria”. But when it came to selecting tracks and sequencing them, moody alien counterposed this randomness with a clear sense of how he wanted the album to be experienced.
[...]
If neural networks were tasked with making decisions about which tracks to include on a compilation like this and how to arrange them, they would need to be carefully trained. Even then, it would be hard for the finished product to feel coherent or have that hard-to-define quality that moody alien calls “flow”.
As the AI-crafted music and art that is all the rage right now demonstrates, awkward juxtapositions may produce exciting montage effects but are unlikely to make a record that improves when it is heard as a whole, from start to finish, however aleatory its provenance.
For that, you need the native aesthetic impulses that distinguish human beings as a species, even if they only manifest themselves in small ways, like the patterns in a woven garment."
Charlie Bertsch for The Battleground
. . .