[rayword45]

Day 440: All Melody by Nils Frahm (Album Choice: Traviud)

I'm not entirely sure what minimalism exactly is, but I think I like it. A lot of the genres I like are clearly minimalistic as fuck, and I've definitely talked about how much I hate clutter before. Well, except the good clutter. This is study music.

Well, so far I'm not sure what makes this more minimalistic than any other ambient release. This definitely seems less minimalistic by definition of the word than, say, Thomas Koner's works or Earth 2: I'm Not Typing Out The Title Edition. I can count strings, plodding drum machines, choral samples, feedback, synths, pianos (of many variety), and some other instruments I don't know the name of as prominent soundmakers here within the first few tracks alone (maybe it doesn't change though?). Regardless, semantics aren't important, what's important is the music!

And anyways, reading the genre description for minimalism, I guess it makes sense it's technically less minimalistic than drone.

If there's one thing that seems to universally irk me, it's the amount of downtime between most of these tracks, which can exceed, like, 15 seconds. Yes I get the genre, but still, it's killing my flow right now and some more seamless transitions wouldn't kill this album, at least in my view. Also, the choral samples are a little much, particularly in A Place,Human Range, Kaleidescope and Momentum. I actually like the album more when it feels closer to some good old-school techno, albeit with a more emotional edge, like the title track, #2, Sunson and the second half of Momentum. Too many parts of this album feel like they're trying to go for an "epic" vibe but I simply don't buy it, and the more jazz-or-sad piano parts are pretty enough but don't grab as much as the bouncy synth-based cuts. There's also a slight tribal, jungle-esque vibe to some of these tracks, which is subtle enough to be inconsequential to the quality of the track.

On the more positive side of things, this managed to not outstay its welcome at a staggering 74 minutes, which isn't that long today but you guys know my attention span sucks and I have a low tolerance for filler (I'm incredibly loath to review Culture 2 as of right now). The down moments never seemed like they weren't trying and just adding space, just that what they did try didn't work for me this time around, which I can respect much more. Truthfully, I might cut some tracks here and there out, but I'm just as likely to give this a full listen again. And what's good is good and it makes up most of the album, I hope I articulated that well enough.

Here's to hoping for a real "instrumental" version at some point... Haha yeah there's no way that's happening.

Best Track: All Melody (I always get so uncomfortable when the first, last or title track is the best one)
Rating: 7/10