The Caretaker - Everywhere at the end of time - Stage Five

  On 9/21/2018 at 12:14 AM, dr lopez said:

usual people with the usual correct opinions arent ever in the caretaker threads... but i'm still curious. whats the music like? i hate the way he looks and the pretentious names (like way worse than SOTL and that's saying something) I even think the caretaker name is bad. but this series seems interesting i guess. someone sell me on this please?

 

have you considered listening to the music

how dare you suggest such a thing

  On 9/21/2018 at 12:14 AM, dr lopez said:

usual people with the usual correct opinions arent ever in the caretaker threads... but i'm still curious. whats the music like? i hate the way he looks and the pretentious names (like way worse than SOTL and that's saying something) I even think the caretaker name is bad. but this series seems interesting i guess. someone sell me on this please?

 

have you checked any of his stuff out or are you just asking about this particular project?

 

in general i've gone back and forth with him over the years and i must admit there have been times where caretaker has definitely come across to me as ridiculous or pretentious. i remember when an empty bliss came out i had this moment where i was completely unconvinced by the whole thing and i was like wtf this is just like an entire track that's just a slowed down loop from a 78 with a little delay and like a 10 paragraph essay explaining why it's actually good. 

 

however, before falling out of the spell his record "persistent repetition of phrases" made a huge impact on me and i listened to it over and over again when it first came out. when i put it on now it honestly makes my stomach turn and my throat swell up and it's hard to hear this music in which so many of my emotions seem captured in this kind of fragile sonic space. 

 

when this particular project came out i just thought it would be more of the same - and it is in a way - but if you are in the right space for it this shit really fucking works. stretching it out over so many hours makes a lot of sense and this will prob be the final testament of the caretaker project if i'd have to guess. 

 

i'm completely rambling! but d-lo what i will say is if you haven't checked out his shit i'd recommend "persistent repetition of phrases" as a good intro to his style. if you find it appealing you might have the constitution for the other records but if you don't like it i'd guess you would totally hate everything else too. 

 

i can totally see how this would come off as a pretentious project and there have been times when i've felt sour about it. but i've stuck with it over the years and imo there's no denying that this music can really flood your space with this tangible sense of melancholy, a sense even of brutal despair but at the same time with a really soft, almost comforting touch. for me it's definitely not every day music or even background music. it's more for the unique moment when you'd like to sit and just let things flow in your heart and head. i guess now i'm sounding pretty pretentious myself. basically it's just slowed down ballroom music.

thats a cool post

 

  On 9/21/2018 at 10:28 PM, Alcofribas said:

 

  On 9/21/2018 at 12:14 AM, dr lopez said:

usual people with the usual correct opinions arent ever in the caretaker threads... but i'm still curious. whats the music like? i hate the way he looks and the pretentious names (like way worse than SOTL and that's saying something) I even think the caretaker name is bad. but this series seems interesting i guess. someone sell me on this please?

when this particular project came out i just thought it would be more of the same - and it is in a way - but if you are in the right space for it this shit really fucking works. stretching it out over so many hours makes a lot of sense and this will prob be the final testament of the caretaker project if i'd have to guess.

 

not only stretching it over hours, but over the curse of three years! the first three stages got burned into memory long ago and then these later stages come along and just break those memories into pieces, I just really enjoy it personally

yeah that’s a good point re: the overall span of time in which it’s being released

Edited September 21, 2018 by Alcofribas

  On 9/21/2018 at 10:28 PM, Alcofribas said:

 

  On 9/21/2018 at 12:14 AM, dr lopez said:

usual people with the usual correct opinions arent ever in the caretaker threads... but i'm still curious. whats the music like? i hate the way he looks and the pretentious names (like way worse than SOTL and that's saying something) I even think the caretaker name is bad. but this series seems interesting i guess. someone sell me on this please?

 

have you checked any of his stuff out or are you just asking about this particular project?

 

in general i've gone back and forth with him over the years and i must admit there have been times where caretaker has definitely come across to me as ridiculous or pretentious. i remember when an empty bliss came out i had this moment where i was completely unconvinced by the whole thing and i was like wtf this is just like an entire track that's just a slowed down loop from a 78 with a little delay and like a 10 paragraph essay explaining why it's actually good. 

 

however, before falling out of the spell his record "persistent repetition of phrases" made a huge impact on me and i listened to it over and over again when it first came out. when i put it on now it honestly makes my stomach turn and my throat swell up and it's hard to hear this music in which so many of my emotions seem captured in this kind of fragile sonic space. 

 

when this particular project came out i just thought it would be more of the same - and it is in a way - but if you are in the right space for it this shit really fucking works. stretching it out over so many hours makes a lot of sense and this will prob be the final testament of the caretaker project if i'd have to guess. 

 

i'm completely rambling! but d-lo what i will say is if you haven't checked out his shit i'd recommend "persistent repetition of phrases" as a good intro to his style. if you find it appealing you might have the constitution for the other records but if you don't like it i'd guess you would totally hate everything else too. 

 

i can totally see how this would come off as a pretentious project and there have been times when i've felt sour about it. but i've stuck with it over the years and imo there's no denying that this music can really flood your space with this tangible sense of melancholy, a sense even of brutal despair but at the same time with a really soft, almost comforting touch. for me it's definitely not every day music or even background music. it's more for the unique moment when you'd like to sit and just let things flow in your heart and head. i guess now i'm sounding pretty pretentious myself. basically it's just slowed down ballroom music.

 

this is the content i crave

Well, I've enjoyed it from the very beginning. It's a mixture of beauty, terror, nostalgia and isolation. A slow arc of descent into oblivion. As others have noted, it's not for everyone and only works if you're in that mood. Nobody else is really doing this sort of thing. I for one applaud Kirby for this project. It's a brave series of works that rivals that of Basinski's Disintegration Loops.

 

Sure, 'Everywhere At The End Of Time' is uncomfortable and thought-provoking but isn't that what art is supposed to do?

Edited September 21, 2018 by fumi

yes, it is. I will try. Totally makes sense about being the in right head-space. some of my favorite music is like that. well-tuned piano? a balls-to-the-wall incredible, challenging work of art. do i need to listen to it every day? do i want to listen to it every day? absolutely not. but i still rate it as some of the best ever.

 

but this does bring up an issue i have with music that's "not for every day" like this. I'm worried it just won't stack up to other "not for every day" stuff. Why would I listen to this when I could go for a late autechre, or la monte young or music in 12 parts or stimmung or sun ship or a late mahler symphony etc. the list goes on. (or just SAW II again) something that totally alters your headspace and makes you feel things that even your usual Friday night EWF greatest hits doesn't make you feel. I'm just worried this won't be *up there* and then I would never listen to it again -- even if I casually enjoyed it. 

 

anyway, thanks for the responses to my dumb queries. I'll report back after giving this a go. 

i know no other music that puts me in the same headspace as the caretaker, so thats a reason i suppose.

anyway, back on topic.. what do you guys think of this stage? I'll have to listen to it more to make up my mind but this or stage 4 definetly are aoty material for me.. never experienced anything like this in music b4

  On 9/21/2018 at 11:47 PM, dr lopez said:

yes, it is. I will try. Totally makes sense about being the in right head-space. some of my favorite music is like that. well-tuned piano? a balls-to-the-wall incredible, challenging work of art. do i need to listen to it every day? do i want to listen to it every day? absolutely not. but i still rate it as some of the best ever.

 

but this does bring up an issue i have with music that's "not for every day" like this. I'm worried it just won't stack up to other "not for every day" stuff. Why would I listen to this when I could go for a late autechre, or la monte young or music in 12 parts or stimmung or sun ship or a late mahler symphony etc. the list goes on. (or just SAW II again) something that totally alters your headspace and makes you feel things that even your usual Friday night EWF greatest hits doesn't make you feel. I'm just worried this won't be *up there* and then I would never listen to it again -- even if I casually enjoyed it.

 

anyway, thanks for the responses to my dumb queries. I'll report back after giving this a go.

I really relate to this honestly. while I like “everywhere...” it’s def not “up there” with those other records you mentioned (which are also up there for me).

 

still worth having in your arsenal tho imho

Hate what, shit Robert who ? Please only ever refer to my hairdo, as do i, as being the poor man's David Coverdale.

I'd also like to add that If I was pretentious personally as charged I'd be knocked spark out in my local bar in Krakow by the regulars, I've seen it happen.

 

Stage 6 masters came in today, it's been work this series. Big thanks if you've been supporting it and are still listening this far in.

  On 9/22/2018 at 12:15 AM, MIXL2 said:

anyway, back on topic.. what do you guys think of this stage? I'll have to listen to it more to make up my mind but this or stage 4 definetly are aoty material for me.. never experienced anything like this in music b4

 

 

I definitely like this as much as stage 4. Some of the sounds on this are so other-worldly. God knows where he got them from. Just fantastic stuff.

Thanks for the xanax kirb

  On 9/22/2018 at 12:31 AM, vvmtest said:

Hate what, shit Robert who ? Please only ever refer to my hairdo, as do i, as being the poor man's David Coverdale.

I'd also like to add that If I was pretentious personally as charged I'd be knocked spark out in my local bar in Krakow by the regulars, I've seen it happen.

 

Stage 6 masters came in today, it's been work this series. Big thanks if you've been supporting it and are still listening this far in.

<3

  On 9/21/2018 at 11:47 PM, dr lopez said:

yes, it is. I will try. Totally makes sense about being the in right head-space. some of my favorite music is like that. well-tuned piano? a balls-to-the-wall incredible, challenging work of art. do i need to listen to it every day? do i want to listen to it every day? absolutely not. but i still rate it as some of the best ever.

 

but this does bring up an issue i have with music that's "not for every day" like this. I'm worried it just won't stack up to other "not for every day" stuff. Why would I listen to this when I could go for a late autechre, or la monte young or music in 12 parts or stimmung or sun ship or a late mahler symphony etc. the list goes on. (or just SAW II again) something that totally alters your headspace and makes you feel things that even your usual Friday night EWF greatest hits doesn't make you feel. I'm just worried this won't be *up there* and then I would never listen to it again -- even if I casually enjoyed it. 

 

anyway, thanks for the responses to my dumb queries. I'll report back after giving this a go. 

 

Saw II soundtrack?

  On 9/22/2018 at 12:31 AM, vvmtest said:

Hate what, shit Robert who ? Please only ever refer to my hairdo, as do i, as being the poor man's David Coverdale.

I'd also like to add that If I was pretentious personally as charged I'd be knocked spark out in my local bar in Krakow by the regulars, I've seen it happen.

 

Stage 6 masters came in today, it's been work this series. Big thanks if you've been supporting it and are still listening this far in.

I think there’s a lot of shit out there in the electronic music world that’s so much bark, little bite. just like a big “theoretical” apparatus that’s basically just pr charged with terminology from postmodernism. to the extent that genuine artistic endeavors employ this kind of thing they run the risk of being (mid)perceived as bullshit, basically. talk about memory, nostalgia, ephemeral, decay, whatever always makes me skeptical. there’s just a lot of average shit packaged that way.

 

I know you check out this thread so I just wanted to point out that my comments about the project seeming pretentious have more to do with my attempts to situate it in my mind I’m a world full of bombast and ad copy or whatever. I didn’t mean to suggest you are actually a pretentious guy - you seem p cool to me.

 

in any case I’m glad stuff like this gets attention and is discussed on here so that the forum isn’t just a bunch of dudes masturbating to aphex twin.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Alcofribas

  On 9/22/2018 at 3:34 AM, Alcofribas said:

 

  On 9/22/2018 at 12:31 AM, vvmtest said:

Hate what, shit Robert who ? Please only ever refer to my hairdo, as do i, as being the poor man's David Coverdale.

I'd also like to add that If I was pretentious personally as charged I'd be knocked spark out in my local bar in Krakow by the regulars, I've seen it happen.

 

Stage 6 masters came in today, it's been work this series. Big thanks if you've been supporting it and are still listening this far in.

I think there’s a lot of shit out there in the electronic music world that’s so much bark, little bite. just like a big “theoretical” apparatus that’s basically just pr charged with terminology from postmodernism. to the extent that genuine artistic endeavors employ this kind of thing they run the risk of being (mid)perceived as bullshit, basically. talk about memory, nostalgia, ephemeral, decay, whatever always makes me skeptical. there’s just a lot of average shit packaged that way.

 

I know you check out this thread so I just wanted to point out that my comments about the project seeming pretentious have more to do with my attempts to situate it in my mind I’m a world full of bombast and ad copy or whatever. I didn’t mean to suggest you are actually a pretentious guy - you seem p cool to me.

 

in any case I’m glad stuff like this gets attention and is discussed on here so that the forum isn’t just a bunch of dudes masturbating to aphex twin.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ww8uEcbS-k

lol

Finding this series really compelling. Have to be in right space to listen to it, but it's fascinating, moving (and now getting a bit eerie!). Sound-wise it really works for me, but I value the engagement with a challenging topic valuable as well (when I choose to reflect on that). 

Oh my... Stage 5...

 

I confess to having found Stage 4 a little impenetrable, and consequently haven’t returned to it much so far.

 

This, on the other hand, is terrifying, bewildering and beautiful in equal measure, and gives more context to the previous Stage. I get now why the change between Stages 3 and 4 was so sudden. Not only do many mental illnesses strike with similar abruptness, but there’s clearly a wealth of stuff to explore here without even a modicum of repetition.

Edited September 23, 2018 by Jamesqdot

Gave the whole album a single listening in one go. Gosh it's something else.

 

Synapse retrogenesis is gorgeous though. Insane album, can't wait to hear what stage 6's isolation (I'm guessing) will be like.

after a couple of weeks listening to this it's quickly becoming my favorite stage in this series.. aoty, best thing i've heard in forever, cheers

 

I really like this project. The only problem I have with it is that I think the transistion into dementia should be more gradually. Part 3 still seems kinda calm and peaceful, while part 4 starts with a full blown noisy chaos.   

I think i've read that the transition can be quite sudden. But I get what you say. Doesn't bother me though.