I assembled this a couple of months ago, near the end of the college semester, as background accompaniment for the mountain of papers and exams that I was then grading. It also works as an expressive playlist for greeting and fulfilling emotions of cosmic melancholy and infinite solitude, with a couple of palate-cleansing musical moments in a different direction. (Perhaps the fact that I originally made this as a soundtrack for grading student work says something about the emotions that I tend to attach to that particular endeavor.)
As with the previous playlist that I shared here (“Soundtrack for a Dark Enlightenment,” which duplicates a handful of the items on this new playlist), I have carefully arranged the order of things to provide effective transitions in mood and meaning from one piece of music to the next.
CONTENTS:
- “Untold Stories” by David Darling
- “Engravings II” by Ira Stein and Russel Walder
- “Abraham’s Theme” by Vangelis, from the soundtrack to Chariots of Fire
- “Escape (Piano Theme”) by Philip Glass, from the soundtrack to The Hours
- “Drowning in a Feeling” by Alexander Daf, featuring Maria Grigoryeva
- “Farewell No. 1” by Shigeru Umebayashi, from the soundtrack to House of Flying Daggers
- “The Great God Pan Is Dead” by Jóhann Jóhannsson
- “Blood for Dracula” by Claudio Gizzi, from the soundtrack to Blood for Dracula, a.k.a. Andy Warhol’s Dracula
- “The Last Man” by Clint Mansell, from the soundtrack to The Fountain
- “Into the Twilight” by Bill Douglas
- “How We Left Fordlandia” by Jóhann Jóhannsson
- “Stones Start Spinning” by David Darling
- “Mille Regretz” by Jordi Savall
- “Opium” by Dead Can Dance
- “Orphée’s Bedroom” by Philip Glass, Movement II from The Orphée Suite for Piano
- “Bibo No Aozora” by Ruichi Sakamoto
- “Death Is Disease” by Clint Mansell, from the soundtrack to The Fountain
- “Sun and Water” by Danny Heines
- “Knocking on Forbidden Doors” by Enigma
- “Back to the Rivers of Belief” by Enigma
- “How Fortunate the Man with None” by Dead Can Dance
Hi, Matt. Thanks very much for the music. Since 75% of my income derives from editing and ghostwriting, I work 80 to 100-hour weeks (20 hours of that devoted to my own fictive works). Music is a huge presence in my life, and I need as much ambient-type material as can be found. You’ve provided excellent listening! I’ve been relying on a lot of Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) side projects, especially his Bass Communion (Dronework; Pacific Codex; Ghosts on Magnetic Tape), and another group called Arctica for darker, ambient drone. Plus progressive keepers like King Crimson, and German electronica such as Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. Thanks again, Matt.
Your list contains much that’s unfamiliar to me as well as much that’s familiar, William. King Crimson, Schulze, and Tangerine Dream have all been a part of my musical cosmos for years. In one of the tracks on my Daemonyx album, titled “Road to Olduvai,” the Tangerine Dream influence stands out clearly. I didn’t recognize it consciously when I was composing the music, but later, when people pointed it out to me, I realized that one prominent aspect of that one distinctly recalls some of the analog synth sounds on TD’s Stratosfear album — which I listened to endlessly in college.
Another Great list. Thanks Matt.
I’m glad you like it, Derick.