Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, August 3 2011
Just to show how hit-and-miss this random selection can be, here we have a very obscure track from an even more obscure album (so obscure it appears now to be deleted!) from a relatively obscure-to-most artist. Gandalf is the name taken by Austrian composer and musician Heinz Strobl, who has released over the course of almost three decades a total of over thirty albums, all of which are instrumental and of the “new-age” bent, like Michael Nyman or Eddie Hardin. I guess you could call him the Austrian Vangelis, though Gandalf tends to go for less electronic and more organic music, and takes his inspiration from nature and the world around him.
Admittedly, his music can be hard (read, boring) to listen to for a full album, but some of it is really quite lovely. The Random Track of the Day today comes from an album he recorded called “Labyrinth”, and though it says it's a soundtrack from the film, I must assume it's not
the Labyrinth --- you remember the one, with David Bowie and the goblins? --- as that movie was out in 1986, already has a soundtrack (courtesy of the Thin White Duke), and this one was released in 1990, four years later.
Anyway, whatever film it refers to, this is Gandalf and a track called “Facing the demons”. Have a listen, see what you think.
Facing the demons --- Gandalf --- from the “Labyrinth” film soundtrack on Seagull
(Not surprisingly, I couldn't find a video for this on YT, so I had to throw something together myself and upload it. Don't expect much...)
First of all, don't ramp up your volume, thinking there's nothing there, as the track fades in very slowly and quietly and takes a little time to get going. If you're really impatient, you can start hearing clear music at about the 1:20 point.
Yeah, it sort of sounds like someone tightening a ratchet in the background, doesn't it? Nice keyboard work as ever though, gentle and dreamy, as most of Gandalf's work is. Some proper keyboards coming in on the 3:18 mark, as the track gets a little more distinct, then what sounds like guitar and strings. Kind of gets going just a little then fades out again.
Well, that's Gandalf for you: an acquired taste, certainly. A track like that one though is probably hardly likely to whet your appetite for more, but hey, that's where the chips fall. I don't pick 'em, I only post 'em.
Hopefully something a bit more mainstream or interesting tomorrow...