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Library Tapes - Hostluft

Rating

RIYL

Arvo Part
Eluvium
Set Fire To Flames
Max Richter
Sylvain Chauveau

Tracklist

1. Mörker Genom Tomrum
2. Skiss Av Träd
3. Noslipós
4. Repor
5. Dis/Dagg/Dimma
6. Mellan Ljud Och Text
7. Skiss Av Lov
8. Pjotr
9. Ensamhet
10. Distans

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Prior to writing this review I was under the impression that Library Tapes were a Swedish duo, but as I browsed through the internet, it seems as if either a member has left the group or that Library Tapes has always been one man, David Wenngren, all along. If my recollection holds firmly, the former is correct. Nevertheless, it’s needless to say that Library Tapes is an interesting band that makes interesting music.

You can pretty much think of Library Tapes’ music as consisting of two parts: fuzzy lo-fi field recordings and minimalist compositions of a lonely piano. More often than not, a person’s first impression of Library Tapes will be “the piano pieces are beautiful, but what’s this fuzz beneath it?” Naturally, we attach ourselves to the most sonically appealing aspect of a band’s music first, which in this case is obviously the piano, but to think the fuzz beneath is not as important would be erroneous. The piano pieces are wonderful in their own right, but it’s the fuzz beneath that gives life to the compositions. The clicking and clacking drowned in fuzz in the background makes you wonder “what’s going on?”

At times it seems like someone is flipping through a book or a rodent is crawling along a wooden floor, other times it sounds like rain is pouring against the windowsill. One piece even sounds like it was recorded in a subway station thus making you feel like you’re in the station watching Library Tapes perform as the trains zoom by. If anything, Library Tapes should include more field recording on their next work. It would be lovely to hear voices in the background, moving objects, cars, airplanes, fountains, birds, typewriters, anything to give the work more life and take you on a journey, transplanting you in the work itself and having you imagine yourself as being a part of the whole picture. Though, I suppose the desolateness of Hostluft was an intended aesthetic. The life on Hostluft is barren and cold, even if it is the least depressing Library Tapes album to date. But really, it’s this that makes Hostluft pretty good instead of great. Something is missing. Either the work isn’t lively enough or it isn’t lifeless enough. I don’t know which.

With all this being said, it is doubtful that you will appreciate the ambience of this record if you are not devoting your attention to it and listening through headphones. If you just put this album on in the background while you do something else, it will be completely forgettable. You won’t take anything from the record other than a few enjoyable piano pieces, which would be a shame.

All in all, this is another nice addition to Library Tapes’s catalogue. However, David Wenngren is capable of doing much more than just making another nice album. In less than three years, he’s released three albums under the Library Tapes moniker. Maybe the records are being rushed, but I hope that’s not the case because I can foresee a heartbreaking work of staggering genius in the Library Tapes future.

--Armand Babian