Artist: Nortbound
Title: Landscapes of Late
Release Date: 2006 Sept 10
Genre: Jazz / Pop
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Label: Monotonik
I tend to buy very, very little music that is commercially released these days. Why? Over the past several years, I have found the abuse of the recording companies on their customers to be extremely offensive. If I have a choice in the matter, I prefer to download music directly from the artists themselves.
Not only is the release that I am recommending directly from the artist, but it is also a free download. It was released on the Monotonik netlabel in 2006, and I found it a couple of years ago. This has become one of the recordings that I frequently listen to. It’s become a staple in my “music to write by” collection because of the evocative soundscapes the duo of Northbound have created.
What separates this recording from so many of the electronic experiments, or techno dance music that is available from the netlabels is the freshness of the sound. Northbound has taken the time to do something that most artists on the netlabels haven’t: they have taught themselves how to play all of the instruments that they wanted to use in the recording. They taught themselves minimally enough to create samples to use on each of the tracks, and then looped and layered the sounds into sonic portraits that have fresh and unique qualities that expand beyond your speakers and envelope the ears and mind in ways that only true acoustic instruments can.
But don’t just listen to my words, listen to the track below, and check out the release page.
Northbound: Landscapes of Late
Free
