James Elkington – Me Neither (2023)        


Review:
Library music — also known as stock or production music — can be used license-free in film, television, or theater without having to pay for an originally-composed score. Catalogs of library music usually range in styles, giving creators in the visual arts options to support the intended mood of a piece. Me Neither, the new album by James Elkington, has the appearance of library music as it is made up of a series of 29 brief instrumental pieces, the shortest of which is 36 seconds long. Elkington is known for his solo work, being a member of Brokeback, and supporting artists such as Jeff Tweedy and Richard Thompson. The new album is a departure from Elkington’s previous singer-songwriter material as most of the tracks feature a theme played on the acoustic guitar, while others are ambient soundscapes with found sounds such as sirens and avian chirping. Elkington writes in the album’s press materials that didn’t set out to make library music for Me Neither: “I’d improvise and record the first thing that came into my head, quickly record something else on top of that, try to add some random elements, edit it and mix it, then stop before it had the chance to get stale.” Elkington’s embrace of a first-thought-best-thought approach while still maintaining an editorial eye reveals the true nature of the project. Me Neither should be viewed as a series of musical miniatures that maintain the arc of a traditional album. It’s a captivating listen as the torrent of Elkington’s pure musical expression is astounding. Whether Me Neither will have the functionality of traditional library music remains to be seen, but the volume of so many little musical constructions calls for close listening so as not to miss the next moment of beauty. — aquariumdrunkard.com


   


Track List:
01 - No-Shows
02 - Burial at See
03 - A Message for the Janesville Kings
04 - A Round, a Bout
05 - Look Spectral!
06 - The 100 Faced-Magma
07 - A Breathable Liquid
08 - The Permeable Realm
09 - Section 2
10 - Double Orchid
11 - Part the Thin Painter from His Work
12 - Every Second Morning
13 - Section 3
14 - Me Neither
15 - Contact Twig Estrangement
16 - New Red Masterpiece
17 - Cup Cape
18 - The Bird Renamed
19 - Psycasts in Love
20 - Where for Do I Run
21 - The Home Counties
22 - Today's Dictation
23 - Untidled
24 - Sleep Baguettes Sleep
25 - Infintu B
26 - Tree Breather
27 - The Incredible Waist of Time
28 - Nor Yet Door But the One
29 - The Winner Takes It All


Media Report:
Genre: alternative folk
Origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA  
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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