Patterns & Light

Kodomo: Patterns & Light

Experimental electronica, ambient techno. This is the third album by Brooklyn-based artist Chris Child, whom you may know as the composer of the sound tracks for the video games Amplitude and Frequency. So says Wikipedia. I haven’t played either of those games, so I can’t confirm.

This music reminds me of light: bending, distorting light, passing through a prism. Notes quiver in place as Chris pulls them up and down. The music is filled with quick pauses, stutter stops. No lyrics here…occasionally he’ll make use of the human voice, but only as part of the greater sonic landscape. The landscape is rhythmically unbalanced, which is cool. This is incredibly precise stuff: every fluctuation of every note has been attended to. I found it kind of exhausting.

Recommended tracks: 2, 6. I also admired 1 and 3, but I wouldn’t play either of those tracks by themselves, only paired with other tracks. No FCCs because no lyrics.

1) “Overture” (1:47): Big chords and some weird, compelling harmonies. A smooth, ethereal track with some staticky fuzz at the end. Probably shouldn’t be played by itself—possibly let it transition to Track 2?
2) “Impromptu” (5:13): Piano flows through a repetitive little riff as the bass makes some funky noise. Smooth piano, crunchy bass. Great variety of sounds on this track. As soon as you think you have it figured it out, a new sound gets thrown into the mix.
3) “Time Lapse 1 (Interlude)” (0:43): Piano pounds out a little melody over a bleak, distorted soundscape. Transition track, not to be played by itself.
4) “Red Giant” (4:55): Ethereal, spacey piano at the beginning. A really frenetic track: fast, repetitive, otherworldly. Precise. Unearthly vocal harmonies appear at about 2:45. Exhausting music with a beautiful fade.
5) “Mind Like a Diamond” (6:16): Again, we have a crunchy bass and a smooth anchoring piano. This is the longer album cut of a shorter, more popular “single” version of the song.
6) “Orange Ocean” (3:05): Wood block sounds over an ambient landscape, with light bass. Very laid-back, syncopated stuff. A person walking off-balance. Odd track, but I liked it. You may not.
7) “Blue Shifter” (3:56): Bonus points for the xylophone on this track. More crunchy bass.
8) “Infinity Divided” (4:21): Atmospheric vocals weave in and out of each other, creating some unexpected harmonies. Very fast, tight drums. There’s a nice moment around 2:20 where vocals are left exposed.
9) “Time Lapse 2 (Interlude)” (1:31): Sound alternates quickly between left and right speaker. Then a larger chord drops in. Probably shouldn’t be played by itself, but consider following it up with some other track.
10) “Holographic” (5:38): Bass is a big deal here. Lighter, synthier instruments bounce along the top.
11) “Endless Waves” (2:07): A synthy track layered with patterns. Not as exhausting as some of the other tracks, as the bass is more subdued, and the sound is richer. Still, with a thirty-second fade, it feels like a transition track. I wouldn’t play it by itself. Extremely soft fade-out.
12) “Losing Your Way” (Bonus Track) (3:51): Voice and guitar alternate playing the same melody. Warning: it ends extremely suddenly several seconds before it should.

--Mr. Tumnus