MP3 N.R. Hills - Schadenfreude

Dark, atmospheric, textural music from a composer that has always ploughed his unique furrow in a hellish field all of his own.

9 MP3 Songs in this album (48:03) !
Related styles: Electronic: Experimental, Avant Garde: Sound Sculpture, Mood: Weird

People who are interested in King Crimson Tangerine Dream Vangelis should consider this download.


Details:
AUDION
Very soundtrack-like this new N. R. Hills, it reminds me a lot of film scores to horror films by the likes of Claudio Simonetti or Simon Boswell, with a little of that Bill Nelson dramatic edge as heard on his early soundtracks. Digital orchestras, strings and electronic effects play melody against dissonance, all in a loosely classical/rock hybrid, with the key being dramatic use of rhythms and themes....

E-MIX
... a great wodge of dark ambient instrumental music for synthesizers, samplers and rhythm boxes.
N. R.s favourite technique is to take an analog-sounding sequence, overdrive it just a little, layer a quirky, wobbling lead over the top, and soak the result in ambience to give it all a mysterious, distant feeling. Certainly on 'Cold Lisa' what sounds like a load of old Korg analog gear is very prominent, while on 'Living In a World Of Anti-Justice' there are modulated acoustic and voice samples and lots of high feedback pitch-shifted percussive sounds.
The title track (meaning 'cold blooded', a charge often aimed by Germans at the English) is a crazy Webernesque piano solo over a rumbling dark ambient background, while 'Music For Electric Sheep', the longest track at 11.01 is ponderous Eastern and orchestral, although not obviously anything to do with 'Blade Runner' (the electric sheep do make a personal appearance though.)
Actually,the album is quite varied, some of it reminiscent of Steve Roach/Vidna Obmana styles and some of Heldon (on 'Quark Revision', with its Fripp-like guitar and multiple drums particularly.)
A good bet for dark ambient/experimental fans.

THE ORIGINAL SIN
.... You easily could compare this CD with the works from artists like Kitaro, Jean-Michel Jarre or David Van Tieghem. Sometimes the music isn't the happiest of all... on the final track N. R. Hills composes a sort of deathmarch around the mad cow disease (brilliantly titled 'The Laughing Death - The Saddest Of Smiles').... Coil couldn't have made it any better!

BIZARRE
.... The music seems to owe a lot more to progressive/ambient artists from the 70s from Tangerine Dream to Eno and Yes.
Looping rhythms that mesmerise and put me in mind of Philip Glass, along with analog synths that punctuate the proceedings.
Not so minimal as most ambient artists, as there is always something happening, evolving pieces that open up like flowers.