Often the best part of art films is the moody instrumental soundtrack. Thanks to Epic45, you can now get your moody instrumental soundtrack without having to sit through the art film.
Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars have mastered many genres by showing allegiance to none; rather, they rely on sound songwriting to make even their most adventurous work feel just right. This cut off their eighth LP, Radical Connector, is a case in point: a breathy vocal pop track sliced ‘n’ diced in a vocoder-stutter-funk stylee without once losing sight its memorable tune.
Daedelus
Cacophonic intro track to Daedelus’ hip-hop record, Rethinking the Weather, layers a psychotic amount of voices over noodles of acoustic guitar, clattered beats, and flute loops. It’s but a small, imperfect glimpse into Daedelus’ expanding, eclectic universe.
Headset
Allen Avanessian (Plug Research) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service, Figurine) hit the lab with a hard drive full of devolved beats and glitch-and-paste collages, then invite a who’s who of electronic and hip-hop innovators to muse over the sparse foundation. The result ranges from head-nodding to chin-stroking; this track, featuring verbal gymnast Subtitle flowing over what sounds like a dying music box, exemplifies the latter.
Fridge
UK post-rock trio, not unlike Tortoise, prone to toy with electronic and sometimes jazzy improvisations. Although Fridge can sometimes resort to experimentation for experimentation’s sake, these tracks are a fine sampling of their more accessible work. FYI: Fridge has spawned two solo projects, Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) and Adem (Adem Ilhan).
Greg Davis
Reluctant beats rinsed in rippling, melancholic guitars — perfect for after hours listening (assuming you’re driving home after getting dumped).
Blockhead
Another Ninja Tune victory: scratchy electronic that sounds like how the movie 28 Days Later felt. This track seems to feature a bit of Strongbad right towards the end as well.
Salvatore
Is it live or is it Memorex? (Wow, that reference seems really dated…) A band or someone hiding behind a curtain of computers? Either way it’s as if robots recorded My Bloody Valentine music in the Mojave desert. But robots like the Tin Man, who had heart.
n.ln
A prolific chap, Nyles Lannon (Film School, n.Lannon), a double major (how far can a I push the collegiate allusions?), hard at work in his computer science courses (I can run them into the ground I tell you).
Havergal
Prairie drawl and bug zapper glitches = campfire music for the computer age.