Brume and Oblier Et Mourir - A Year To Live

Whenever two artists combine for an album, I usually expect good things from them. I mean, after all, you have two separate artists of different talents complimenting one another on the same album. And I have recently stumbled upon an album split by two artists that is pretty damned good, and that would be the one I shall be talking to you about today.

A Year To Live is the split album I was just mentioning being under the control of Brume (From France} and Oublier Et Mourir (From Germany). Brume, the solo project of Christian Renou, has been around since 1985, which is a damn long time to be committed to working with the same sounds. There was a break in his musical career from '00 to '07, but he was back to where he started soon after. Then we come to Oublier Et Mourir, which is the side project of Anemone Tube, used for less harsh sounds and more dark ambient sounds. And these two artists came together and decided to work with one another.

Now, the first four songs on this album belong to the German, and each one is a very quelling. They are all dark ambient songs, but each one is deeply enriched with moving sounds and noises that makes you fall right into them. I absolutely adored Ocean of Melodious Songs (Tsangyang Gyatso). It differed from the other pieces by offering both piano work and then electronic flutters of music. It's a soothing treat to listen to, and is awesome.

Now, on Brume's half, the quality dips a bit. Each song transitions into the next, and is split into parts. The first track is called The Simple Way (Part 1) and then continues into four more parts. Each one of the tracks displays a sense of drone within it set to samples of movies, with the occasional acoustic sounds. It necessarily doesn't play out bad, but, in comparison to the first half, this one just does not hit the same mark, and leaves a little more to be wanted.

So, what it boils down to is two solid artists doing what they do best. While I may not have enjoyed the second half as much as the first, it was still solid and I would listen to it again. This is a pretty good release, and they even have it available in LP format, which is decent for the collector. So, check this release out if you're into ambient and experimental projects; you are not to be disappointed with it.

Oct 25 2013