This album is a journey through a day and its events, as seen through the eyes of the girl standing in the rain. The songs are points on that journey - dots that you connect in your mind with whatever narrative, trajectory or squiggly line feels right to you. As this is a concept album with a narrative arc, the sound clips can't really do it justice but they give you a rough idea of the sound. Musically, it's extremely homogeneous by my standards and I had to resist a number of tantalising temptations, ditching several VERY experimental tracks at the last minute. In terms of style, there is no attempt to reach any qualitative merit whatsoever (which is just as well since previous experience indicates that the latter acts as a prohibitive deterrent). It's simply soundtrack music for an imaginary movie.

This is an album designed to lose yourself in, and listen to it over and over again, so it was quite important to me, quite apart from the music being sufficiently interesting, to keep your attention, that from a sound engineering perspective, its dynamic range would be as high as humanly possible. By way of a two-word synopsis: it is.

This album is born of my (selective) quest for dynamic range in audio engineering. It's special in that regard since it's the first album where I set out to create an album with extreme dynamic range before starting the recording sessions. The album is officially a DR14 album, and even more strikingly, this is my first album without any dynamic compression whatsoever. This means that every note on every instrument resonates exactly as it would naturally. What amazed me on the first listen is that the acoustic guitar melody part in Covering Cold Feet With Warm Sheets sounds so crisp that hearing it strike the few notes it does is an entirely different experience from the way it would sound in a dynamically compressed mix. So it was great fun to lean into every note knowing that the smallest subtleties in playing would come across.

The piano part was also a special experience. A good chunk of the piano parts I write, in terms of level of difficulty, is pitched well towards the upper limit of feasibility (for me), so I'm quite grateful when in a compressed mix, I can peel away a lesser layer of difficulty by not having to pay quite so much attention to the relative volume of each key stroke. On this album, however, the differences in volume of different key strokes are utterly exposed, which has the effect of (a) sorely reminding me of how rubbish my piano playing is, and (b) sounding quite pristine in those rare moments when I get the keys to balance exactly right.

So there. I hope you like it.

1. The Following takes place between 7am and 701am
2. The sound that fills the room when you close your eyes
3. Not angry just disappointed On second thoughts angry
4. Not pretty
5. Invisible and inaudible
6. Contemplating the unthinkable
7. Walking slowly nowhere in particular
8. The moment the girl in the blue dress stood alone in the rain
9. The path continues and takes an unexpected turn
10. The man who juggles jugs of water
11. Twisting endlessly like a double helix
12. Is it true
13. Yes and this could be a lot faster if you just fly
14. Walking past the chapel
15. The shadowy silhouette of a bird cage seen through the living room window
16. More than you can understand
17. Covering cold feet with warm sheets
18. The End

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 5/25/2011
Jasmine Brunch lives in London England

Tagged as: New Age, Neoclassical, Instrumental New Age, Jazz, Contemporary Piano, Electric Guitar

1. Intimland Part 3 - Penetration by Angelight: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
2. Looking for a Way Out by Paolo Pavan: Urban funky jazz piano, in a sober and straightforward style
3. Silent Knowledge - The World Stop by Angelight: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
4. Up by Paolo Pavan: Urban funky jazz piano, in a sober and straightforward style
5. Tantrabeats 2 - The Space of the Soul by Angelight: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
6. Velvet Face by Paolo Pavan: Urban funky jazz piano, in a sober and straightforward style
7. Fall Submissions by AntiGuru: IDM in the style of early Warp
8. Les Baricades Misterieuses by Hanneke van Proosdij: vibrant harpsichord-music
9. Green by Arphaus: aficionado of deep house, IDM and ABBA
10. Harpsichord suites of Chambonnieres by Hanneke van Proosdij: vibrant harpsichord-music
11. Harper's Brew by Aryeh Frankfurter: Timeless and enchanting folk music for the soul
12. The Cure for Chaos Theory by Psycliq: an electric heart with an organic soul
13. Cruel Waters by Ash Ganley: masterfully nuanced AAA rock
14. Public Service Announcement by The Proper Authorities: pulse-pounding, booty-shaking rock
15. Soyes Loyal by Asteria: late-medieval vocal and instrumental music
16. Public Service Announcement (Instrumental) by The Proper Authorities: pulse-pounding, booty-shaking rock
17. Universe Acceptable by Ash Ganley: masterfully nuanced AAA rock
18. Determination by Quantum Milkshake: A surreal, soundtrack-inspired, dance band
19. Finding Sanctuary by Anthony Salvo: solo and layered violin music on the theme of relational and spiritual intimacy
20. Back Home by The Ranchhands: Fiddle driven modern country music

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