Puzzlebox

I spent a lot of time with this release, mostly leaving it on while I was trying to do work. But I never ended up getting anything done. I’ve heard that classical and ambient music are supposedly the best to do homework to, but this three-song album was just too interesting and I found myself constantly nodding away from my homework and zoning out to these smoky mystical expanses. You definitely want to dim the lights in studio A when you play this one. It was apparently produced by an army veteran from Colorado who is currently studying music composition. He’s been working on material for 20 years, but remains elusive—this is one of his only releases that I’ve been able to track down. FCC CLEAN RIYL: Quiet Evenings, Christopher Merritt, Derek Rogers, ThrouRoof, Andreas Brandal

*1. (4:34) Ringing, electronic bleeps, and gently fluttering tape manipulations. Plus plenty of backwards-looped samples which actually sound cool (and not just like he's dicking around on Audacity.) Complete with the kind of eerie atmosphere that alien transmissions wished they had—they’re probably not this cool in reality.
*2. (9:32)Gentle drone—starts off a bit grainy, but later mellows out into a some nice fluty melodies with cool skittering electronics.
3. (13:42) Slow-evolving ambient piece. Cool and serene, but definitely too edgy to be sold in Yoga stores.