Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks

Max Richter is prolific to a fault. In recent years he has been releasing records faster than anybody could possibly keep up with, particularly film scores and soundtracks. I've forced myself to stop buying so many of his records because I don't feel like I've really even spent enough time with some of the ones I bought years ago, let alone any new ones. Not all of them have been money well spent (more on that another time), but I still seem to keep thinking about buying more. But it wasn't always like that. Not all that long ago he released standalone albums that weren't held together by a narrative or very obvious theme; The Blue Notebooks is one such album.

Compared to his more recent, non-soundtrack releases, The Blue Notebooks feels like an anomaly, but it's the lack of over-bearing theme that makes it so enjoyable. The songs play like just songs that happen to have been written at a similar time and in a similar way; it's something you'd think nothing of from a rock or pop album, but when you think about it alongside Sleep or Voices or Woolf Works or Vivaldi Recomposed it feels a world apart. Without the weight of a theme, it feels light, which is saying something for the album that spawned On the Nature of Daylight, a song that would carve a life outside of Max's career. It's an incredible song, and worthy of all the praise it gets (and the presence of two versions on this album, and countless other slight variations and re-recordings). Shadow Journal shouldn't be overlooked though, as it probably does a better job of representing what Max's early output sounded like - minimal, electronic but with a cutting and memorable violin. Organum is lovely and The Trees is the other highlight - more soaring violins and melancholy pianos. The build up breaks before it has a chance to explode in a Godspeed or Mogwai or EITS manner, which reminds me more of Low, a band who've often pushed songs to that same point just before they explode/implode. I'm sure there's a wealth of classical influences that a more learned person would be able to reel off here, but I'll have to stick with my rock references.

I bought this copy one Saturday afternoon in Truck Store, along with the second Talons album (a post-rock band with two violinists, so two albums with more in common than you'd assume on paper). I'd often stroll down there on a Saturday afternoon and around that time they always had a cracking box of records labelled "post-rock / neo-classical / noise" and some of the best (non-Jason Molina) records I bought in that shop came from there. It was my fifth Richter album in four years, having been introduced to him on Infra. This is the 2015 reissue, so ten years after the original release and not long after Max's huge increase in recorded output. But I didn't know all of that, I just thought it was another nice neo-classical record to play. Whilst the vinyl is 180 grams, there's a huge amount of crackling on my copy during the first recording of On the Nature of Daylight, but it's far from the only version I have of that song, so I'm not too worried.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 12
Cost: £21 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 15/08/15
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download

Max Richter - Nosedive

I've been trying to stop buying so many of Max Richter's soundtracks, not because they're not nice - they almost always are - but more because he releases them at such a pace I can't keep up (not just in effort, but also financially). However, this one was an immediate purchase.

Max Richter provided the soundtrack to the first episode of the third season of Black Mirror, a show I'd been watching from the start (having been a fan of Charlie Brooker's work for many years). The third series saw the show move from Channel 4 to Netflix, and with that came a huge increase in production values, and that first episode, Nosedive, was possibly the peak of that - Bryce Dallas Howard as the lead and Max Richter providing the soundtrack. If anything, I think the effect of all that gloss was a huge part of the plot - the shiny, perfect, Instagram-styled existence at the start had to be so, such that the fall the story brought felt even more dramatic. It was a great episode, and the soundtrack definitely added to that. I remember hoping it'd get pressed on vinyl, because I really enjoyed the pieces as the time.

In fact, I think it remains the only Max Richter soundtrack I own where I've actually seen the film it was written for, although that should be seen as more a reflection of how much television I get the time to watch these days (very little), which was another reason to buy it. As with a lot of soundtracks, there are few things you could call "songs" - over the 25-minutes, there's the 7-minute opener On Reflection which sets the scene at the start perfectly, the 4-minute The Journey, Not the Destination relying on some fast-paced electronics to soundtrack the demise, and the 5-minute The Consolation of Philosophy echoing the opener in a reflective way. The other four pieces are around the 2-minute mark and, whilst vital to feel of the episode, not very exciting as an album. But those three main pieces are all excellent, and not only do they provide a great example of what Max Richter does so well (merge classical music with electronics in very emotive ways), they also soundtrack the story arc brilliantly. If the three ran consecutively as one song, you could draw easy parallels between the structure of the song to early-Mogwai or Godspeed songs; I think that's the appeal of Max Richter's music to me - it's basically post-rock but played on entirely different instruments.

A strange note to end on, but I was very surprised when Max Richter's soundtrack to Nosedive wasn't the musical highlight of the series, however I'll save that for another time.

Format: 12", picture sleeve

Tracks: 7

Cost: £17 new

Bought: Bear Tree Records website

When: 09/04/18

Colour: Black

Etching: None

mp3s: Download code

Max Richter - The Congress OST

I have a number of Max Richter's soundtracks on vinyl, but The Congress is one of my favourites. It might be in part because it was the first I heard, but could also be because it came with mp3s, so actually got a fair amount of play. I've not seen the film, The Congress, nor do I have any idea what it's about. I really should check it out. The artwork certainly looks interesting.

The soundtrack is mostly quite a gentle affair, but does get going at times, which makes me more curious about the film itself (although clearly not curious enough to seek it out and watch it at any point in the last five years). It also makes it much more listenable as an album than a lot of soundtracks. The inclusion of two sung covers feels like it should ruin that flow a bit, but actually they fit in perfectly - Dylan's Forever Young never sounded so sparse as against Robin Wright's clear vocals and the distorted drums and Leonard Cohen's If It Be Your Will a nice closer. I was familiar with the first, but I've never spent much time listening to Leonard Cohen (except that time at Glastonbury when he was on before The Verve and seemed to play for literally years). There are also a couple of classical pieces included - one by Schubert and another by Chopin. Whilst I know nothing about classical music, I do at least recognise those names. Do people call it a cover when it's a classical piece?

Anyway, it's a nice little record. I remember it had been out a while before I found this copy - I remember thinking "I should probably get a copy of that". When I did find it I felt quite lucky to get the chance to buy it, since it was limited to 500 copies, although I might have over-estimated the popularity; Max Richter has done about a billion soundtracks and even I've stopped buying them. The sleeve still has the hype sticker Rough Trade applied to it on the front (because I've never got round to removing it) and it's on a nice, heavy white vinyl.

Format: 12", picture sleeve, insert
Tracks: 15
Cost: £25 new
Bought: Specialist Subject Records
When: 25/10/14
Colour: White
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Various Artists - Behind the Counter with Max Richter

I've fallen into something of trap - I buy Max Richter records without really considering if I really need to. His output is prolific and it is impossible to keep up. His albums themselves are consistently excellent and I'll keep up with them for sure. His soundtrack work is, however, probably where I need to hold back. By the nature of the work, they vary in how exciting they are and I should probably take the film/series into consideration before buying them. But there was a period in which I was trying to keep on top of what he was releasing, and this record came out in that time. It was the first step in the realisation that I should take a more considered approach to his output, solidified by a couple of soundtracks that did little for me. I think I'm now out of the trap, but time will tell.

This record is, undoubtably, a strange one. The first in series that I'm not sure has continued, Max picked a bunch of songs for a compilation. In theory, they were all from records in Rough Trade, but I've never paid enough attention to their classical section to know if it's as deep as this record suggests that it is. The majority of the songs here are what I (a layperson) would call classical, with a spattering of post-rock and electronica thrown in. Based on Max Richter's style of music, this feels like it's probably pretty representative of his record collection.

It's important to remember that I know next to nothing about classical music. Are the classical songs here that Max has picked "good" classical songs? I don't know. If I showed this to my in-laws (big classical music fans) would they find it to be an interesting mix, or look down their noses at it (is it the equivalent of them showing me a Now That's What I Call Music comp and asking my opinion)? Again, I don't know. I suspect Max has reasonable taste in classical music, but there are probably countless sub-genres that I know nothing about. Strip away the classical songs, and you've certainly got a perfectly reasonable ATP line-up, so I can only imagine the classical songs are equally highly-respected. Maybe I will ask my in-laws next time they're here.

Anyway, there were a few reasons I bought this album. One was that it had a Max Richter song that I wasn't familiar with (Mercy); secondly, it came with a bonus 7" of more unreleased Max Richter songs; thirdly, based on the songs I knew, I figured there'd be some interesting discoveries; and finally, I was just buying too many Max Richter records. On the first point, Mercy is an excellent song - powerful violins over a sombre piano. It grabs your attention the best possible way. On the second point, The Young Mariner is a really nice piano-led piece with gently swelling strings but Whale Window Hotel / Farewell Threshold Laudanum is disappointingly unremarkable. These two songs aren't included on the cd or in the download, sadly.

As for discovering music I didn't really know about, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Rachel's were both winners. I'd heard of Rachel's some years ago when one of them played at All Tomorrow's Parties, but never listened to any. Last Things Last is haunting and brilliant and I really need to spend more time with them as a band. As for the songs I know, I like that he picked a Mogwai song from their excellent Atomic soundtrack and Low are a welcome inclusion to literally anything. I love Godspeed as much as the next person, but dedicating an entire side of vinyl to Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls feels a bit lazy (or perhaps a sign of fatigue after curating five sides on vinyl). I imagine most people buying this record are like me - noobs to classical music, and knowledgable of post-rock, etc - but I do like the idea that somewhere there's a classical music fan hearing GYBE for the first time on this album and being blown away by it.

In terms of the classical music itself, I don't feel I'm any more knowledgable or into it than I was before I played this record. Starry Sky Cycle by Urmas Sisask is pretty nice, and the sleeve notes tell me that must be a fairly modern piece. Kronos Quartet provide an interesting and very maximal piece, but they're an easy one for people like me after their work on the incredible soundtrack to Requiem For a Dream with Clint Mansell. I think the biggest realisation is that what I enjoy about "neo-classical" music isn't so much the "classical" part as much as the "neo" part - it's the way it straddles post-rock and electronica that excites me, the fact it's usual classical instruments and ideas to get there is only a part of it. (As a separate side note, I feel that the genre name "neo-classical" is probably going to age as badly as "nu-metal" did). There's a strange vocal harmony piece on the first side of vinyl which really isn't my thing.

As well as three LPs and a 7", there's a download for two continuous mixes (following the tracklisting of the double cd version and featuring a much edited version of the Godspeed song) and a bonus cd of ten songs from the compilation, mostly featuring the newer songs/artists. Every now and again, I play one of these on my computer at work, but all of them feel a bit too sprawling and I never play more than one of the three hours they cover. Overall, it's a fairly lavish release for something that is ultimately the sort of cd you might get free as a sampler or on a magazine. It's nice, but I don't think it was the best way to spend the £31 I spent on it. I couldn't put a number on how much value I've gotten from it, but it's certainly less than £31; the remainder can be chalked up the cost of trying to keep up a collection of an artist who is releasing more records than I can try to remain on top of. I've learnt my lesson now though.

Format: triple 12", 7", cd, gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 45
Cost: £31 new
Bought: Rough Trade website
When: 08/06/17
Colour: Transparent green (LPs) and black (7")
Etching: none
mp3s: download code

Max Richter - Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works

I have fond memories attached to this album - not long after it was released, Max Richter played it live for the first time at Blenheim Palace, a place that had become our "garden" (we had a tiny garden, but were a short distance from Blenheim with annual passes, so we'd go there whenever we wanted to be in a nice, spacious garden). I love going to shows in strange places, and have been thoroughly impressed by Max Richter on a number of occasions. As well as premiering Three Worlds, he played his Vivaldi Recomposed piece and On the Nature of Daylight, a song from The Blue Notebooks that had been experiencing some increased attention from it being on the soundtrack to a movie (although I forget which one). It was shaping up to be a nice night.

I dragged my wife along, knowing she'd probably not hate it, but also knowing that since it was seated she might actually enjoy it. At this point she was about halfway through the pregnancy of our first child, who was just beginning to kick. During the concert, our little foetus got quite into the music and really started going for it; it was nice to see her reacting to it. We've played it a few times to her since she's been born, but the reactions are more subdued these days. The sun was shining and the Blenheim concert was lovely - it was a great evening. We were letting out our spare room on Airbnb at the time and our guests were also at the concert, having planned a trip around the UK from Canada mostly around the concert. It was nice to chat with them about it the morning afterwards too.

I'd bought Three Worlds when it came a few months earlier, but didn't really know what to expect. I had a bunch of Max Richter albums at the time, but they were beginning to fall into two camps (and have continued to do so): very strongly themed albums (Recomposed, Sleep, this one) or his relentless soundtrack work - albums as collections of songs seemed to be a thing of the past, Infra possibly being a turning point. Similarly to that album, this one is based around a series of ballets, this time based on Virginia Woolf writings, of which I know nothing.

The three sections of the album are fundamentally very distinct from each other - Mrs Dalloway being a handful of shorter related pieces at the start, The Waves comprising one piece (Tuesday) at the end, and two sides of very electronic music in the middle for Orlando. Spreading the Orlando suite across two different LPs seems strange, when perhaps it would have been easier to pair Mrs Dalloway and The Waves, but maybe that would have hammered the separation home too hard - one LP being the more traditional classical music, the other the out-there electronic stuff. Even with the running order as it is, it's hard not to make that distinction.

On the night at Blenheim, the second movement felt far more out of place than it does on the record - the electronic section clearly not landing so well with the Blenheim audience as it might have in a less fancy venue (it's funny to consider The Barbican a "less fancy" venue, but that is where my mind goes to, being the first place I saw him play Recomposed). People were clearly struggling with that part more than the others. Virginia Woolf's suicide note at the start of Tuesday is a little hard to take too.

It's a good album, but has somehow never found it's way into being a Max Richter album I turn to very often, probably because of the slightly jarring middle section. The strange thing is, before that show at Blenheim I hadn't even really clocked that the middle was so heavy on the electronics, which is a worrying sign that I probably hadn't really listened to it all that well in the two months between.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 16
Cost: £27 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 07/04/16
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Max Richter - Recomposed: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

This, on the surface, might seem like an odd record in my collection, but in the same way Max Richter isn't your average classical composer, nor is his re-imagination of Vivaldi's Four Seasons your average classical album. Needless to say, I know very little about classical music - my parents grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and therefore, so did I (my wife on the other hand has been around classical music since the day she was born, and is routinely embarrassed by my lack of knowledge) - but I know of Vivaldi and his Four Seasons; I think that is one of the basic bits of knowledge that everyone gets for free.

I was introduced to Max Richter's work by Infra, an album I have a huge amount of time for. I bought a copy after seeing him play it live at Cadogan Hall in London in 2010 and loved it. I bought a few more albums as and when I found them, discovering a new genre along the way ("neo-classical", my local record shop likes to call it). I heard he was releasing an album of a "re-imagination" of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (a world apart from Dirty Projectors' re-imagination of Black Flag's Damaged, in case anyone was curious if the comparison made sense). In 2012 he played said album in the Barbican and I got tickets to go with Matt (who partly got me into Infra) and Rich, who loves anything in the Barbican. We had pretty decent tickets on the first row of the balcony (the night before we'd watched Efterklang from the front row, as Rich was a massive fan and bought eight tickets straight away - I also saw Max Richter play a brief set in the Apple Store immediately before that show, which was great).

I'd made a note to listen to a more traditional performance of Four Seasons ahead of time, but obviously forgot. Like the noob I was (and am), I recognised bits of Summer and Winter - the ones everyone knows (if you're curious about which bit you know, you definitely know Winter I). That evening in the Barbican, with Daniel Hope frantically playing the violin, it sounded incredible, as it does on the record. I still haven't listened to a traditional recording for Four Seasons, so this is the version I know and love. I couldn't possibly comment on the "Recomposed" nature of it - even if I had listened to other recordings, I wouldn't have the technical ability to say what was different (I'm usually bluffing when I talk about parts of punk songs, let alone anything that doesn't go verse-chorus-verse). It's safe to say that anything electronic wasn't there on the original.

Two years later, I found this copy in Truck Store, not long after we moved to Oxford. I was very pleased to add it to my collection, but also that Truck stocked such music. I've since bought a good number of Max Richter's countless releases there. The pressing is lovely - 180 gram vinyl which sounds brilliantly both quietly and turned up loud; the sleeve is die cut so the four coloured bands of the picture sleeves change as you pull them out (like seasons...). I'm not sure why it took me two years to buy a copy, but it's likely that I just never found it anyway before that point.

The second disc is all additional material, which on paper might not appeal to most classical fans, but demonstrates Max's modern take on the genre - Side C is "electronic soundscapes" - the electronic moments from the album in a concise format - and Side D is remixes, which mark the biggest departure in style - the Robot Koch remix of Summer 3 features a sample of someone saying "yeah" a few times and the Fear of Tigers remix of Autumn 3 suddenly breaks from a fairly tame remix into something more akin to a dance song sampling a few bars of violin. Not my thing exactly, but it's nice to hear what people can do when they're remixing something so traditional.

Also in the pictures is the program distributed around the Barbican that night, which I kept in with another of his records until I got round to buying this. I was lucky enough to see him play it again in Blenheim Palace, which is just around the corner from where I live. The seats we had that night weren't so good, but it was a lovely way to spend a summer evening.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 22
Cost: £23 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 07/06/14
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Max Richter - From Sleep

There are a lot of things that can be said about Max Richter's Sleep project, but the single most important one for me is its ability to calm me down regardless of what's going on. Over the past year, whenever I've felt stressed and unable to think sensibly, I've put on one of the cds of Sleep or this LP, From Sleep, and I've instantly felt better. Within seconds my mind is no longer racing and a few minutes later I am considerably calmer than I was before I pressed play. The effect that music can have on your moods and state of mind is truly remarkable, and the speed at which Sleep calms me down is really quite something.

I heard about Sleep when it was first announced and thought it sounded very cool. A friend who's also a Max Richter fan thought it sounded pretentious, but I can see that I'm the sort of person who is likely to enjoy something like this. For those who don't know, Sleep is an 8-hour long composition designed to be listened to whilst you sleep. I like the idea - the notes mention how sleep is something to be respected and enjoyed, which is increasingly difficult. To accompany Sleep, he also released From Sleep, an hour long album featuring movements from the full piece. From Sleep is the version of the album you listen during the day to enjoy the music, in theory.

Being the terrible person I am, I've still not actually tried sleeping whilst listening to Sleep - I don't have a Blu-ray player to play the continuous 8-hour version, and getting up to change the cd every hour won't make for a good night's sleep! I didn't get the album until a physical version came out, and got the full cd boxset before eventually getting this double-LP too. I can vividly remember the first time I pressed play on the first disc and the first few minutes of Dream 1 being so brilliantly slow that I couldn't help but relax. I felt myself drop down in my chair and it was like a wave of calmness flowing over me; it was really beautiful. I didn't know what to expect, but I definitely didn't expect that. Over the next few days I worked through the remaining discs and that sense of calmness continued.

I now treat Sleep much like a painkiller - it's not to be over-used but there are times when you truly need it and that's when I listen to it. I pick one of the discs or the LP at random (there are no highs and no lows - that's partly the idea I guess) and focus on the music. I had a very annoying day at work recently, so as soon as I sat down on the train home I played Sleep and felt so much better. After 10 minutes or so of feeling far more relaxed, I got my laptop out and figured out the solution to the problem that had been evading me all afternoon. By the time I got home I was a much happier person.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 7
Cost: £23 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 23/02/16
Colour: Clear
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Max Richter - Memoryhouse

A couple of years ago, I wrote about Max Richter's brilliant Infra on this blog. At the time it stood alone in my record collection; two sides of incredible neo-classical music surrounded by countless punk, post-rock and metal albums. However it represented the beginning of a journey of musical discovery I'm still on. Digging through the other albums Max Richter has released, finding the section in my record shop called "Neo-classical, experimental, noise and other" and converting friends has been very rewarding indeed.

One of the highlights is Memoryhouse, an album I'm very glad has recently been reissued on a lovely double white vinyl. Late in 2011 I found the cd of Memoryhouse in a second-hand shop in Soho and was pretty excited to hear it. I had no idea if it would be anything like Infra or whether I'd enjoy it at all, but my fears were unnecessary. I don't know if it's fair to call it an "album of songs" (any themes are less evident than they are on Infra) but it certainly works well in that sense; most of the songs stand well alone with a handful of notable highlights along the way. Listening to it as an album, some of the songs become more incidental and add to the overall flow. At 18 tracks, it's not a quick listen, but if I put it on my headphones at work it makes for a very enjoyable hour.

The highlights I mentioned before are spread pretty evenly throughout the record - the opener Europe, After the Rain, Sarajevo with its piercing vocals and violins, the more electronic Untitled (Figures) and the haunting Arbentia. However, the two most exciting songs for me are November and Last Days which are both hugely tense and overwhelming pieces of music. Those two songs sit perfectly between the worlds of classical music and post-rock, which is quite something.

The reissue was expensive but definitely worth it. The vinyl is particularly noisy but the crackles and pops really do add something here. Whilst electronic instruments are used and it's a very modern classical album, it already sounds timeless and all that surface noise adds to the idea that this LP could have been knocking for 60 years. I'm not sure why it's quite so noisy (it's only had one careful owner - me) but I like it.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 18
Cost: £25 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 26/07/14
Colour: White
Etching: None
mp3s: Download

Max Richter - Infra

Anyone who's read this blog even once will know what sort of music I generally listen to. The one thing almost all of my records have in common is a guitar of some sort; there's often vocals (rarely sung, sometimes shouted) and usually drums (ideally hard-hit and heavy). Most of my new discoveries come from what I find in the racks at Banquet Records, or what I see on-stage at All Tomorrow's Parties. This record, sitting somewhere between classical and electronica, may then look a little out of place amongst the rest of my vinyl (despite being on the same label as Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad), but it's so incredible I'm very glad it's here.

I was recommended Infra independently my a good friend and by my girlfriend at the time (although I have no idea how either of them first heard of it). They both knew what sort of music I was into but figured I'd enjoy it anyway, and they were both right. After the second recommendation I gave it a listen and was amazed. I really know nothing at all about classical music (and I imagine a lot of it is incredible if you give it enough time) so I have no idea how this stands up against some of the greats, but it's a truly awesome piece of music. Moving and overwhelming violins are sat next to modern electronic beeps and noises, and who knew the two would be such good friends. Roughly half of the album is the eight movements of Infra and the other half Journey, although not always playing in order. I've never sat down and listened just to the pieces from one or the other, as they work fantastically as they are. For me the highlights are Infra 3 and Infra 5, both songs that demand your full attention, but at the same time are hypnotic.

I had the pleasure of Max Richter perform Infra at Cadogan Hall a few months after hearing the record, which was a great experience. Alongside the music was an animated backdrop that was used in the original ballet, and also for the album cover. The only downside was that I'd just returned from holiday and was a bit jet-lagged. The seats were so comfy and the music was so lovely, that I did fall asleep a little (although I stress that I mean that to be a compliment to the music!) However, I've just booked tickets to see him again in the Barbican in October, for which I will be well-rested. There's a performance of Infra, along with Vivaldi Recomposed, which sounds intriguing. I may brush up on my Vivaldi beforehand.

Given my usual musical tastes, I can't really say what it is about this record that makes me love it so much, other than the music itself. I think I like it for the same reasons I like bands like Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed and The Dirty Three. Sometimes it's nice to broaden your horizons and try other types of music.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 13
Cost: £12.50 new
Bought: Fat Cat Records website
When: 13/01/11
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download