 | By: Raymond Scott Label: Basta Released: 30 Dec 1997 RRP: Average Rating:  |
And now for the other good news: This is a fantastic recording, & an important one for music lovers & musicologists. Having been recording in 1962/3, this sounds extraordinarily sophisticated (in a mellow, analogue "soothing" way). It sounds as if it could have been made today, & put out on Warp Records. The melodic blips & rhythyms are echoed in Radiohead's recent releases and, as the liner notes point out, this work pre-dates Brian Eno's Discreet Music by a decade.
Raymond Scott himself was a nutty genius who made it his life's work to experiment with sounds & instruments. While I appreciate a lot of his stuff - notably the outlandish cartoon music he made for Warner Brothers cartoons of the 30s, as chronicled on Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights - I wouldn't necessarily listen to it over & over again. But the music found on Soothing Sounds.. is not only innovative; more importantly, it is extremely listenable and, well, 'soothing'.
Just one note of caution. Not alll parents enjoy Eno or Aphex Twin. And so some parents might not actuallly get a kick out of this whole album. But the album is worth the first track alone - & I defy you to try it with your baby & not be impressed by the results. This is experimental stuff for both you & your little one.
Like any re-release, the music is open to completely different interpretation from the modernistic sixties. It is much more likely to appeal to adults with curiosity for the cover art, the dated sounds, or just for academic interest.What possibly seemed cheap & plasticky music on its release has now mellowed into a charming collection of melodies that show up contempory childrens music for being too overstated.
The historic perspective is made alll the more interesting by the fact that Raymond Scott was an intensely private man in search of his dream of directly realising the composer's sounds without interference from other musicians' interpretations. So in a way, when we listen to this CD we are observing the sounds inside Mr Scott's head. Those comments about his rooms of electronic equipment being his "play rooms" were not far wrong!
Well worth a listen & a trip back in time.
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