Chilled out grooves.
With a few cheeky aliases and a good few years DJing behind him, Tom Middleton is perhaps not a name you'll be completely familiar with but is an artist that you should be aware of. Collaborations with Aphex Twin
'Prana' is an excellent chilled number that hints at a darker undertone with the addition of strings making it a close relative to that brand of electro-bands who had a menacing image. The problem with they bands was that they never really had the talent to back it up over an album or a career but in the right hands, a dark and atmospheric opener can work wonders for an album. You'll be unsurprised to hear that 'Lifetracks' never quite gets as dark as this again but it pushed on from here and turns in a credible, and consistent, performance.
The mood turns and becomes lighter and although the pace doesn't really up, it's a laid-back and cool album to sink into and given the right push, could become one of the favourite instrumental albums that come our way from time to time. Like Air with 'Moon Safari' or St. Germaine, 'Lifetracks' has the ability to appeal to many different types of music fans and should find itself at home anywhere.
These are the type of albums that are quite often found by chance or when hunting for something else, which is known as serendipity. Which, funnily enough, is track number four on the album and is probably the most closely related to Air and the chilled out vibe.
Of course, when viewing credible and consistence as key points of the record, its unlikely that theres going to be much to shock or excite or confound the listener. Theres nothing coming out of left-field and theres certainly no bigger beat moments to up the tempo but that aside, everything it does, it does well. The drum loop on 'Yearning' expands and drives the song on whilst the following track, 'St. Ives Bay' has some seductive piano as its main focus, highlighting the contrasting nature of the songs. From track to track there is a change musically but as an album, it blends together well and at times, its hard to tell where one song ends and another begins, which is perfect for the laid-back record its aiming to be.
Its not an album to have on before you hit the clubs, its certainly not a mood enhancer but a few hours later when you hit the homeward trail, 'Lifetracks' could well be the type of album to enhance the after-party or chill-out vibe of the evening. Its all about pacing yourself after all.