Category: Music

The cool part about my “job” is that I get to do what I want, and that means that sometimes I get to review some very original music, stuff you won’t find in the Top dance charts or on the radio, but you might hear in the background of an epic film, or in a cafe by the beach. Today I got an opportunity to review Fetal Pulse’s album Space, which features some awesome original work. If you’re into quality, deep, spacial electronic vibes, read on.

Fetal Pulse is a new experimental/ambient/downtempo electronic project by Canadian indie music producer Pedro Costa. Pedro’s previous production endeavors include some licensing music for MTV, the UFC, and the Oxygen channel, as well as a Top 10 chart placement on the Polish Alternative Rock charts in 2009.

Space is a 12-track LP which releases on Bandcamp on October 22nd, 2013.

The album kicks off with a hard-driving progressive-house style track, Blast Off, with rolling arpeggios, heavenly pads and and a strong percussive presence. Immediately I noticed some unintended-but-interesting similarities between this track and my own track, Sputnik. Albeit better mixed, and better structured, Blast Off features some similar distant space themes. The track is a strong opening for an album packed with delayed fx, intertwinging melodies and spacy vibes – all tied together by a clear common theme.

Hyper Jump takes a step into the unknown with bouncy synth sounds and a relaxing atmosphere while Deep Space takes a leap into the calm, ethereal zones of what lies behind the dark side of the moon.

Touch The Stars adds some uplifting presence to the overall moody LP, with nicely panned percussive elements and a light melody.

The chills of the spacial void took over once Habitable World warmed up and the ghostly vocal oohs cascaded off my ear drums, leaving me in a supremely relaxed disposition. Flowing pads, the plucking of a distant guitar and vocals which shift from the background to the fore, seamlessly accent this excellent track. In my opinion the grandest and most ambitious track on the album, it’s executed flawlessly. An absolutely brilliant production, start to finish.

Interstellar Club is an interesting departure from the rest of the tracks with a funky bassline, and playful melodies. It’s complimented nicely by the technotrancy Zero Gravity Dance Party, which really heats things up with timely transitions,  pumping bass and alternating melodic leads.

Last but certainly not least, Re-entry is an atmospheric outro with a nice mix of melodic and fx elements, tying the album together in one short, sweet goodbye.

Overall I found the album an enjoyable, and relaxing, listening experience. Whether for music licensing, ambiance aficionados or the casual listener, everyone can find something to like about this charming indie release. While admittedly a bit raw in parts, the album – much like space itself – attempts to capture every piece and facet of sound and combine them into an auditory journey while making no excuses, which is does well. I suggest you check out this eclectic and original album, and see for yourself. In the meantime, I’ll be kicking back with Habitable World on repeat.

Cover image by: Sweetie187
www.flickr.com/photos/58782395@N03/

In a big way, the Grand Theft Auto series – since GTA III – has been a lot about music, to me. A lot of my best memories are tied to playing the game and listening to the radio. Whether it was flying through the streets on the Infernus (sp?) jamming to Rise FM in GTA III (“Time has no meaning anymore!”) with trance and dance music, or driving through the country on a tractor in San Andreas while learning to appreciate classic Country music, or the wild synthy sounds of 80’s pop blaring in my Cheetah – music was always a huge part of what I enjoyed about the series.

It wasn’t even that the games had music I liked, which they did to some extent, but rather the music was clearly chosen very carefully, for each channel on the radio. To me, San Andreas had one of the best varieties of music available; from country, to rock, to rap to electronic, all the bases were covered. While I didn’t feel that the music in GTA IV was quite to my taste, it was still pretty relevant to the game – even featuring an Eastern European channel, for the atmosphere. So, why is it that the music in GTA V sounds so… I don’t know… generic?

Did Rockstar Games lose a brilliant music director? Did they lack time to carefully pick out some amazing tunes for one of their more ambitious titles? Was is cheaper to just pay a major label or two a blanket fee to use their songs?

I suppose any of the above might be true, or maybe music isn’t meant to be a focus point in this game? It seems like even the trailer for GTA V didn’t feature any wildly iconic, theme-setting song with which to associate the game. Is it Rockstar’s way of telling us that, perhaps, music is playing a smaller role in our modern society, producing less legendary sound and more uniform, cookie-cutter formula-driven fare – or is this a stretch?

Indeed, it feels like Rockstar didn’t try to go for that underground, indie sound which could be found so easily, even by spending a few hours on Soundcloud – at probably a much lower cost than licensing music from a major label. This time around, GTA wasn’t a place I found new artists I want to check out, or that new catchy song – in a genre I normally might brush off. I feel like I have been exposed to less new, fresh music content by GTA V than ever before in a GTA series. Judging by some of the discussions I’ve had with my peers, and comments I’ve read on reddit, it seems I am not the only one. Perhaps Rockstar can add the option to send in original music via the Rockstar Social Club, for consideration to be added to the radio as an update or free DLC?

In any case, GTA V, in my rather humble opinion already seems like the pinnacle of accomplishment in the series, through an amazing storyline, smooth-as-silk gameplay – Rockstar definitely crossed the t’s and dotten the i’s in this installment in the Grand Theft Auto series.  Maybe it’s not about the music in this one, maybe the music took a step back to let the rest of the game really shine… which is does – brilliantly.