[Editor’s Note: You may remember contributor Robert Halvarsson’s name from our writeup of Sucae Sounds’ Looking Back while Stepping Up EP. We’re pleased to have him provide us with some of his favorite holiday music from the demoscene. With the holiday season in full swing, we hope you enjoy!]
There are few demoscene artists that I associate so intimately with one specific season. There are even fewer that to my knowledge manage to capture the essence of those cold days of winter. As I look outside my window I see snow. Not much, but at least some. To celebrate the snow I have the perfect soundtrack for those long outdoor walks that otherwise can be quite dull.
Read about Bad Loop’s holiday-enhancing music after the jump.
Bad Loop is a Finnish electronica composer who have released his music for free on his own site as well as netlabels Kavhi and One. I originally started listening to Bad Loop a couple of years ago. Namely his Lumme EP released on Kavhi. I rediscovered him last month when I went outdoors to embrace the first snows of Sweden, and the music is still every bit as magical and otherwordly as the first time I heard it.
When I let Lumme fill my somewhat broken headphones, I come to think about how beautiful nature really is when snow covers the streets in the city where I live. I notice things about my surrounding I usually don’t see. I notice myself somewhat childishly wonder at the sight of my own breath. The world simply gets a bit of that magical quality that I sometimes forget to notice.
My favorite track from the Lumme EP is the aptly titled song “Lumme.” The bassline is straightforward and the lead synth takes listeners into a world of their own. On the Luo EP, you can hear a progression of both sound and ideas. The track “Mmin” carries a more intricate synthesized bassline, while the percussion carries sparks of IDM and some beautiful harmonies. When the lead synth hits, I am already two feet off the ground.
Sweden unfortunately rarely get those blistering cold winters that foreigners associate with our country. It’s a damn shame since everything gets so much brighter outside with some snow in the mix. I think the next time I head out on a long walk I will prepare my mp3-player for a one-hour live mix of Bad Loop together with Rescue recorded at the Sundance Music Festival in Tallinn from 2005.
I suggest you give it a try, too.
Tags: Bad Loop, Downloads, Electronic, Finland, Kahvi Collective, One Netlabel, Winter
Really digging this stuff. I was expecting some sort of cheery holiday winter stuff, but instead it’s rather minimalistic and dreary. Good winter music, but not so much holiday music!