An empty bliss beyond this world, & others - The Caretaker (#10, 2011)

You can probably get a pretty good idea about most of this from the recent Caretaker/Leyland Kirby overview post. Earlier on, I covered the return of The Caretaker, since this was the first year under that guise in awhile. Most all of this 2011 stuff arrived via his annual digital subscription, which I don't believe was repeated for 2012. This is still mostly early-20th ballroom edits (of Caretaker fame), with some surprise electronics (from the Kirby EP's).

Let's start again with The Caretaker...



"Libet's delay" from An empty bliss beyond this world (2011)

Full album: Bandcamp / YouTube

The first thing that jumps out at me (as on "All you are going to want to do is get back there") is the vinyl snap, crackles & pops - they do not feel organic. Not sure if accurate or intentional, but it sounds like a different sound-field. Like they are looped separately and added in, or that a different effects-set is applied to them. Depending on the magnitude of the effect, it can become a little distracting. You might also notice the jump-cut out, which occurs through the album.

Tape flutter or maybe mechanical noise likewise creeps in - for example, "Moments of sufficient lucidity." Quite a few brief clips here too, under the two-minute mark, including "I feel as if I might be vanishing" and "Bedded deep in long term memory." As always, the full-album length is the correct approach, as the dreamy, time-transporting effect works best when allowed to accumulate and envelope the listener.

And then the Leyland Kirby LP was more compositional, more piano, and with longer tracks... like so:



"My dream contained a Star" from Eager to tear apart the stars (2011)

Full album: Bandcamp

The only really bite-sized one is "To Reject the World," based on a more ominous drone. They're all a little different, like the lullaby-march of "They are all dead, there are no skip at all." Weirdly, none of the subscription-only bonus tracks are out there now.... (I guess that's the point of exclusivity), but they kinda split the difference between the drifty album and the 3 more noisy Intrigue & Stuff EP's.



"Video 2000" by Leyland Kirby, from Intrigue & Stuff, Vol. 1 (2011)

This is what kicked off the series, and surprised me and (I would assume) many others. A little bit back to V/VM's glitchy finger-in-the-eye of the dancefloor? Whew.

I still don't know exactly what prompted these noise-bump EP's, and why they're under the Leyland Kirby tag. Seems pretty separate from that previous stuff, but maybe he's consolidating identities & styles back down together. One more from Vol. 1: "Ruined Visions."



"Eventually, it eats your lungs" by Leyland Kirby, from Intrigue & Stuff, Vol. 2 (2011)

Was originally going to start with the one short track, stereo-shifter "Speeded up slow motion." But that's too cool with the video! Third track brings another epic: the 20-minute "Complex Expedition."



"The watcher and the watched" from Intrigue & Stuff, Vol. 3

Hahahahaha! I made that video almost a year ago... Enjoy!!

If you're reading this in the distant future, check around the cyber-cloud for "Lie low, pick your moment" - a true return to his V/Vm roots.



"Remember Us" by Leyland Kirby, from Intrigue & Stuff, Vol. 3 bonus tracks (2011)

But it looks like me and Leyland are the only ones making videos for Vol. 3 & bonus tracks.

Genre - Modern Classical / Ambient Hauntology / Electro
Official - brainwashed.com/vvm/
Location - Berlin (still, I think) via UK

Review - Tiny Mix Tapes
Download - LK Bandcamp, CT Bandcamp
Purchase - Forced Exposure