A Study In Inaccuracy (The Afterbirth Of The Cool)

If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you've no doubt read that among my occasional pastimes (particularly during winter months) is the compiling of found sounds and aural excerpts from disparate audio sources for the creation of ambient soundscapes. Assembling them offers a few hours of enjoyment during cold, wet nights, and is a great stress reliever. Upon completion, the results supply a soft atmospheric backdrop while pursuing other interests, and still remain an effective stress reducer. This is my most recent attempt.

'A Study in Inaccuracy (The Afterbirth of the Cool)' came about as a result of the remains of 'digital dust' leftover from the sound collage I constructed for TR-i (The Rundgren-index): The Experimental Recordings. Not knowing what to do with those fragments, and hoping that I could somehow use them in a future project, I added them to my growing collection of source material. In doing so, I played back the first few minutes to assure that my paste had taken, liked what I heard, and found the beginnings of a new venture. That venture is presented here in the result of 'Study.' Not an extension of the Rundgren project, this was rather borne of it, though it does begin with one last Todd experiment. From there however, it becomes a kaleidoscope of sound, music and reverberation that traverses the ridiculous to the sublime. At nearly 2 1/2 hours running time, 'A Study in Inaccuracy' is not strictly an 'ambient' recording, hence the title. As is my modus operandi, I generally allow my mood and intuition guide my creative decisions. The end product does not necessarily need to make sense intellectually, as long as it serves to convey a tone that satisfies me, and hopefully you as a listener. The resulting 'soundscape' (and I use that qualifier in the broadest sense) practically shaped itself, although as it took form, I began to discern the unconscious actions that I added to its ultimate direction. While it does contain the 'chill' factor that ambient mixes are frequently built around, it also contains 15 full length songs culled primarily from English practitioner's of the rock/jazz/free jazz variety. That thread of exclusively British contributors was a remarkably unconscious directive on my part, if you're wont to believe it. Admittedly, the musicians whose work is included herein did explore a heavier, darker side of the rock/jazz genre, and their inclusion helps add a late night atmosphere to the proceedings (the hours in which I worked on this), therefore I can understand why I unwittingly gravitated towards them. Among those contributors are Soft Machine, Rip Rig & Panic, The Keith Tippetts Group, Nucleus, Pigbag and Manfred Mann's Chapter Three. The brand of jazz these groups produced begged for a more clever tag it seemed, hence the subtitle
' The Afterbirth of the Cool. ' The remaining music in the piece comes from two non-Brits, Eberhard Weber, German bassist and the aforementioned Rundgren, from Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It's the inclusion of these 15 songs that take 'Study' out of the realm of precise 'ambient' composition, as the fixed tunes within steer the listener back into conscious engagement, which is in contrast to the objective of a purely atmospheric veil. In reality then, the final product is more of a 'sound collage,' weaving traditional composition into a textural backdrop. Convoluted you say? Yes. Unclear on the concept? Perhaps. Am I thinking too much? Probably. Does it still work? Yeah, I believe so. In essence, what emerged from my mood, intuition and audio editor ends up conceivably working in one of three ways: 1) a soundscape 2) an ambient sound collage incorporating some British rock/jazz, or 3) simply a mix of good tunes with some ambient bridges linking them together. It's your choice. After all, it is called 'A Study in Inaccuracy' and despite being of my own creation, I consciously set out to construct only one of the above, but will answer to any of the three.

'A Study in Inaccuracy' is presented in two parts, both as elongated tracks demarcated by 'chapters' that simply signal a shift in mood. The order of the musical selections are as follows, and the first person who can correctly identify the performer and name of the 8th mystery piece in Part Two will win a prize (description and method of delivery to be determined at a later date).

Part One

1) ATOCF, Pt. 3/TR-i
2) Brian The Snail/Pigbag
3) Traveling Lady/Manfred Mann's Chapter Three
4) The Blue Blue Third/Rip, Rig & Panic
5) Thoughts Of Geoff/The Keith Tippetts Group
6) Dozo Don/Pigbag
7) Slightly All The Time/Soft Machine
8) Quiet Departures/Eberhard Weber


Part Two

1) Five After Dawn/The Keith Tippetts Group
2) Time/Manfred Mann's Chapter Three
3) To The If In Life/Rip, Rig & Panic
4) Speaking For Myself Personally, In My Own Opinion, I Think...
Persephone's Jive/Nucleus
5) A Study In Inaccuracy/Manfred Mann's Chapter Three
6) Out-Bloody-Rageous/Soft Machine
7) Visible Thoughts/Eberhard Weber
8)

To download Part One, click here. Part Two is available here.

The unusual and intriguing photograph utilized for 'A Study in Inaccuracy (The Afterbirth of the Cool)' comes courtesy of the equally mysterious, Palla, a Japanese photographer and installation artist whose work I recently discovered. His photo, '969,' I thought captured the spirit of this post. Palla's website can be found at Pallalink (appropriately) and I encourage you to explore his very compelling work. Should you leave a comment for him, please tell him that you learned of his work here.