Ryan Dannar's Album Reviews
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I don't normally listen to videogame soundtracks -- but when I played Heart Machine's 2016 indie hit "Hyper Light Drifter," one of the many things which impressed me about that excellent game was the score. Ambient but evocative, electronic but warm, restless but melodic, Disasterpeace's music for the game perfectly complemented the game's story of a doomed adventure through a beautiful but dangerous alien landscape. It is moody and vulnerable; it wanders through desolate landscapes and thickets; it travels without a beat, until a beat is found; sometimes, drums suggest battle approaching, and the music swells to a terrifying din; it buzzes, it scrapes, it chatters, and recedes.
Disasterpeace is apparently one guy, a composer by the name of Richard Vreeland. Vreeland's work here is exceptional. This music might have been written for a videogame, but it's so strong -- it has such a distinct and compelling ambience -- that it really stands well on its own. That said, this collection doesn't play like a collection of distinct songs so much as one continuous fabric of inter-related themes.
There are, to be sure, tracks which stand alone. I might recommend "The Midnight Wood," because of the way it feels like a self-contained composition. Here, Vreeland builds interest around a contemplative and ever-so-slightly askew synth-arpeggio. The soft but persistent beat creates an understated tension, and the slightly unexpected shifts in the arpeggio invite closer listening. Patiently, Vreeland introduces other elements, as well as variations to the primary motif -- new textures, new timbres -- until the piece has gathered a depth which suggests deep introspection underscored by melancholy. It's a very nice piece, and only one of many many favorites in this collection.
Since discovering this album, I've found that I like putting it on in the background when I'm at work; it works very well as ambient music. But I've also created a playlist of some of the calmer pieces on this album (of which there are many), and I like listening to that as I drift off to sleep. It's excellent music to daydream (or night-dream) to.
Disasterpeace is apparently one guy, a composer by the name of Richard Vreeland. Vreeland's work here is exceptional. This music might have been written for a videogame, but it's so strong -- it has such a distinct and compelling ambience -- that it really stands well on its own. That said, this collection doesn't play like a collection of distinct songs so much as one continuous fabric of inter-related themes.
There are, to be sure, tracks which stand alone. I might recommend "The Midnight Wood," because of the way it feels like a self-contained composition. Here, Vreeland builds interest around a contemplative and ever-so-slightly askew synth-arpeggio. The soft but persistent beat creates an understated tension, and the slightly unexpected shifts in the arpeggio invite closer listening. Patiently, Vreeland introduces other elements, as well as variations to the primary motif -- new textures, new timbres -- until the piece has gathered a depth which suggests deep introspection underscored by melancholy. It's a very nice piece, and only one of many many favorites in this collection.
Since discovering this album, I've found that I like putting it on in the background when I'm at work; it works very well as ambient music. But I've also created a playlist of some of the calmer pieces on this album (of which there are many), and I like listening to that as I drift off to sleep. It's excellent music to daydream (or night-dream) to.
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It might be hard to argue that this album is highest-tier KG -- but for all its diversity, this album provides a very solid and coherent listen. It's interesting how, even on a record like this, where KG is presenting bits and bobs from all over the map (rather than focusing on a smaller selection of sounds), the end-result still all feels like the work of the same band. The production certainly helps, as everything here is given the same level of studio-polish.
It's true that some people might prefer the overall consistency of an album like Nonagon Infinity to the deliberate hodgepodge presented here. But personally, I think there's a strong argument to be made for this sort of hodgepodge. It has its own appeal. To be frank, some of KG's more "consistent" albums can start to feel a little monochromatic after a handful of tracks. The diversity presented here keeps things fresh throughout.
And after the pandemic, on an album whose title, in part, seems to be celebrating a sense of "togetherness," it only seems right that KG should present such a disparate assembly of tracks. There is a pleasing conceptual quality in this.
It's true that some people might prefer the overall consistency of an album like Nonagon Infinity to the deliberate hodgepodge presented here. But personally, I think there's a strong argument to be made for this sort of hodgepodge. It has its own appeal. To be frank, some of KG's more "consistent" albums can start to feel a little monochromatic after a handful of tracks. The diversity presented here keeps things fresh throughout.
And after the pandemic, on an album whose title, in part, seems to be celebrating a sense of "togetherness," it only seems right that KG should present such a disparate assembly of tracks. There is a pleasing conceptual quality in this.
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