Saltillo - Ganglion (2006)

In this post I would like to present an album of a very talented man - Menton J. Matthews III, better known as Saltillo. Apart from being a music producer, he is an illustrator, comic book artist and plays such instruments as: cello, viola, violin, guitar, drums, piano, bass. “Ganglion”, his first album, was released in 2006. What’s so special about it?

Well, it’s a mix of heavy electronic beats, classical instruments, and cool vocal samples that  meets perfectly, creating great music. The album starts with “A Necessary End” which is my favorite track. Nice piano chords, delicate female voice and quotes from Julius Caesar create such an unique atmosphere that it really makes you think about “the end”. The second track “Giving In” is as good as the first, but it creates less heavy feeling thanks to the vocals.

All tracks are really, really great and I recommend listening to them in a row. Maybe it’s not the most cheerful album you will ever hear, but it will evoke some important (at least for me) emotions.

And so it began.

In my first „musical” post I’d like to present an album of a Swedish duo – Carbon Based Lifeforms called "Hydroponic Garden” released in 2003. It’s kind of a special album for me, because it got me into electronic music in general.

At the time (2006 I think) I was listening only to drum and bass, if we are talking about electronic stuff that is. One day, my friend, who also liked to dedicate his free time listening to music, started talking about a track that he had discovered by accident on youtube. It was the third track of this album – MOS 6581. Then he showed it to me and, like him, I was blown away by it. We listened to it a couple of times saying “Do you hear that?! That’s awesome!” (well, I’m sure we used different words, but you get the idea).

Few days before writing this post I’ve listened to this album again to refresh my memory and I must admit that, after a couple of years, it is still great. I was listening to it at the train station and in the train and it was a nice travel. The delicate sounds of the tracks provoked a sensation of being a witness of this “theatrum mundi” instead of the normal perspective of participation in it, of being an actor playing his role. Such calmness, change of a viewpoint and temporary transcendence of the ego is a sign of great art, isn’t it?

CBL site

Hydroponic Garden (2003)