Showing posts with label Tim Shiel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Shiel. Show all posts

Friday 26 October 2018

Tim Shiel "Glowing Pains: Music From The Gardens Between" (2018)


I have fond memories of discovering Duet, back in the earliest of days spent writing these music blogs. Australian composer Tim Shiel's latest Glowing Pains, an indie game soundtrack, brings about a familiar realm of soothing ambience, ambiguous cloudy places that shape mood and induce relaxation with the powers of the subtle and inconsequential sound. Its forty one minutes play with an apprehension towards pace yet faintly drifting us through the passing seasons with its iterations.

This timeless place of simplicity lingers in limbo between childish innocence and frozen stillness as quirky murmuring instruments, long yawning airy synths and indifferent melodies bring about the distinct vision some artists reach. His hallmarks of winding backwards samples and the chirping of birds are infrequent as Tim homes in on the lungs of instruments as they breathe in and out of focus at a crawling pace.

A feeling of duality marks these songs as a stillness holds within it a pale life life. Time has slowed down as we gaze upon a moment in time immortalized by a lack of motion. Snow falls like it may never reach a surface, winds blow with no gust at all and the echos never bounce back. For whatever vision a song may conjure, it feels like an eternal moment of reflection. Never sad, upbeat, esoteric or even truly ambiguous, everything feels earnest and without exaggeration, letting an unenthusiastic beauty resonate.

Throughout the record a significant vocal inclusion makes itself known with a fair helping of featured vocalists who enter their soft and breathy human presences into otherwise devoid soundscapes. It works wonderfully until the last song where the two don't quite vibrate together. Through these drifting atmospheres the occasional bass guitar line strolls up and past the limelight, emerging like an occasional guest. It was a meager detail I enjoyed. Fine record.

Rating: 7/10

Friday 17 March 2017

Tim Shiel "Induction" (2017)


Back with another set of soothing, calm electronic ambience songs, Australian producer Tim Shiel brings us a short, simplistic and gentle journey through eight tracks that clock in at just under thirty minutes. Opening with the records theme we encounter one of two moments where shuffling, indifferent percussion shakes itself along a path with a glitched out persona, very much like his previous works "Duet". Sound design oddities and ambiguous noises intersect the slow and steady lead melodies to give off a strangely comforting dystopian vibe. In "Undone 2" the beat comes back with a stronger presence, a steady kick clap arrangement creates a more straight forward song with a rich and deep ambience almost ready to engulf the beat.

Aside this duo, six tracks of gleaming cloud like ambience radiate with organic contractions of dense synths that slowly coming in and out of focus as they surround each other in a state of serene tranquil. These seemingly minimal and short compositions provide depth with tiny micro details buried under the wall of soothing sound, lone notes and abstract voice can be heard with great attention. On "Gernika" these ambiguous noises rise to the surface for an indulging cross roads between the style displayed on the percussive tracks and the deep resonating ambience.

On some songs Tim steers these the compositions towards greatness, the mood shifts and something emerges from one setting that can transform the music. Due to the short nature of these songs that level of progression never amounts to a second phase. With exception the essentially two part nature of "Undone 1" and "Undone 2" makes a rewarding experience of this transformation as the song climaxes in its journey through a darkening mood. With no short comings or failings "Induction" feels like an inspired, thought out project that meets its intention. I could of only asked for more, twenty eight minutes leaves me wishing it had gone further!

Favorite Tracks: Undone 1, Undone 2, Third
Rating 7/10

Friday 26 September 2014

Tim Shiel "Duet" (2013)


Tim Shiel is a musician and radio DJ who's music I picked up for free on bandcamp after a recommendation from a commenter here on the blog! Electronic can be such a broad term for music, as can Ambient, this is a Ambient Electronic project with a similar feel to C418, however despite some similarities Tim yields his own memorable vibes and soundscapes that i am continuing to enjoy.

Duets is an absorbing listen, a record that can sit in both the back and foreground of your mind, its gentle and relaxing, yet intricate with a sense of detail. The melodic leads are poised in a balance between being the focus, and being part of the atmosphere. The rhythm section his is nicely arranged with many variations and details, sometimes making effective use of wobbles and harsher sounds that splice between the gently crafted rhythms.

This album has an array of passionately engineered sounds and beats composed together with care. As a whole it comes a little short with a couple of the tracks falling behind the mark set by the more memorable tracks on the record. In its best moments its an indulging listen, but at other times its a bit tame. I look forward to hearing more from Tim in the future.

Favorite Tracks: Theme From Duet, Nay, Exchange, Arete II
Rating: 6/10