An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
An empty bliss beyond this World is an electronic music album from The Caretaker, a project of musician James Kirby, better known for his other project, V/Vm. Pitchfork placed the album at number 22 on its list of the "Top 50 albums of 2011"[4] while Uncut placed it at number 47 on its list.[5]
"[An empty bliss beyond this World] was inspired by a 2010 study suggesting that Alzheimer's patients have an easier time remembering information when it's placed in the context of music. What makes it unique isn't that Kirby resuscitates old but vaguely familiar source material; it's how he edits it. Several of the tracks here take pretty, anodyne phrases and loop them mindlessly; several stop in what feels like mid-thought; several reach back and then jump forward. They never feel filled-in from start to finish, and they tend to linger on moments that feel especially comforting or conclusive: the last flourishes of a song, maybe, the pat on the shoulder, the part when we're assured everything is drawing to a close. Kirby isn't just making nostalgic music, he's making music that mimics the fragmented and inconclusive ways our memories work."[6]
Track listing
| 1. |
"All you're going to want to do is get back there" |
3:46 |
| 2. |
"Moments of sufficient lucidity" |
3:47 |
| 3. |
"The great hidden sea of the unconscious" |
3:02 |
| 4. |
"Libet's delay" |
3:26 |
| 5. |
"I feel as if I might be vanishing" |
1:55 |
| 6. |
"An empty bliss beyond this World" |
4:19 |
| 7. |
"Bedded deep in long term memory" |
1:48 |
| 8. |
"A relationship with the sublime" |
3:36 |
| 9. |
"Mental caverns without Sunshine" |
3:13 |
| 10. |
"Pared back to the minimal" |
1:45 |
| 11. |
"Mental caverns without Sunshine" |
1:35 |
| 12. |
"An empty bliss beyond this World" |
3:48 |
| 13. |
"Tiny gradiations of loss" |
2:52 |
| 14. |
"Camaraderie at arms length" |
4:45 |
| 15. |
"The sublime is disappointingly elusive" |
1:44 |
Total length: |
45:21 |
References
[1]