Ears | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 1, 2016 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 38:45 | |||
Label | Western Vinyl | |||
Producer | Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith | |||
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith chronology | ||||
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Ears (typeset as EARS) is a 2016 album by American composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, released on the independent label Western Vinyl. The album pairs Smith's use of analog synthesizer with organic instrumentation and vocals. It received acclaim from music critics, and was included on year-end lists by Pitchfork , NPR Music, and Resident Advisor . [1]
In addition to Smith's Buchla analog synthesizers, the music on Ears features her vocals, a woodwind quintet, mbira, and field recordings. [2] It is the first of her recordings to blend synthesizer with traditional instrumentation. [3] Smith was influenced by visuals, including the works of Moebius and Hayao Miyazaki (specifically the 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ), [4] which she claims "inspired environments that I wanted to create with sound." [2] She added that "I was trying to figure out the visual of this natural world I wanted to create [...] And both Moebius and Miyazaki have that natural world where it feels like there's chaos and balance at the same time." [3]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 82/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Clash | 8/10 [6] |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10 [7] |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Vinyl District | A- [4] |
The album received an aggregate score of 82/100 from 9 critics according to Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". [1] AllMusic called the album "imaginative and alive", stating that Smith "allows the oscillating electronic tones to ebb and flow like waves, and they have fluid, natural rhythms rather than quantized beat structures." [5] Pitchfork stated that "in her hands, acoustic instruments sound like electronic ones, synthetic sounds reference nature, and human voices sound like the creation of machines," resulting in "a pleasingly alien mood that also feels oddly familiar." [7] Uncut called the album "a modern new-age gem". [8]
Ears featured heavily in 2016 end-of-year lists. It was listed at #29 on Pitchfork's 50 Best Albums of 2016, [9] #14 on Resident Advisor's 20 Best Albums, [10] #30 on NPR Music's Best 50 Albums of 2016, [11] and chosen as Norman Records' Album of the Year 2016. [12] The track "Existence in the Unfurling" was placed at #70 on Pitchfork's 100 Best Songs of 2016, [12] while Ears was mentioned in Pitchfork's 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2016 [13] (along with Kaitlyn's collaboration with Suzanne Ciani, Sunergy). Crack Magazine also cited Ears and Sunergy at #10 and #94, respectively, on their Top 100 Albums of the Year 2016. [14]
All tracks composed by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "First Flight" | 4:38 |
2. | "Wetlands" | 3:35 |
3. | "Envelop" | 4:56 |
4. | "When I Try, I'm Full" | 3:56 |
5. | "Rare Things Grow" | 3:45 |
6. | "Arthropoda" | 3:37 |
7. | "Stratus" | 3:04 |
8. | "Existence in the Unfurling" | 11:08 |
Total length: | 38:39 |
Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
Cluster were a German musical duo consisting of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius, formed in 1971 and associated with West Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scenes. Born from the earlier Berlin-based group Kluster, they relocated in 1971 into the countryside village of Forst, Lower Saxony, where they built a studio and collaborated with musicians such as Conny Plank, Brian Eno, and Michael Rother; with the latter, they formed the influential side-project Harmonia. After first disbanding in 1981, Cluster reunited several times: from 1989 to 1997, and from 2007 to 2010.
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Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is an American composer, performer and producer, originally from the Pacific Northwest and currently based in Los Angeles. Her work prominently employs Buchla modular synthesizers. She received acclaim for her albums Ears (2016) and The Kid (2017). She has collaborated with Suzanne Ciani and Emile Mosseri.
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