Spaceline

Still in space...

1. Suzanne Ciani - Eighth Wave
2. Brian Bennett - Voyage
3. 101 Strings - Flameout
4. Alain Goraguer - Ten et Tiwa
5. Bernard Fevre - Space Team
6. Fiddy/Burdson - Robotory
7. Trevor Bastow - Tomorrow's City
8. Tony Hymas - Final Inspection
9. Frank McDonald & Terry Devine-King - Fathoms
10. Brian Bennett - Shuttlecraft
11. Visit Venus - First Man On The Moog
12. Rick Baker - Shorelines
13. Decerf - Surrounding Seas
14. Martin Pilar Group - From Another World
15. Francis Monkman - Getting Ready
16. McDonald/Devine-King - Second Ordeal
17. Vandroogenbroeck/Monsen - Spaceline
18. Klaus Weiss - Surfing Romance
19. Jon Brooks - Pineapple Castle
20. Nicolas Peyrac - Rite
21. James Asher - Research Specimens
22. Francis Monkman - Man and Superman
23. Brian Bennett - A New World

A sort of part 2 to "Spaceport."  One of my earliest experiences with library music was Future Sound Of London.  They sampled "Shining Ice" (which is on the Spaceport mix) on a track on their album Lifeforms - and when I say sampled, I mean they basically just took that track and added to it.  It was my favorite track, and in an interview they mentioned picking up library records and sampling them. There was that phrase again, "library music."  I had heard of library music before - from The Prisoner, I believe, and seeing it mentioned on some BBC stuff.  Years later I'd get my hands on one, and it was an 80s library LP.  I wish I still had it so I could say where it came from; I want to say it was part of the University of Florida's library collection because I know I got it in Gainesville, Florida.  So I have always had an affinity for the 80s library that it seems like a lot of aficionados sort of shun - for the most part, it seems like the library music love stops at the early 80s, if not, for some, the late 70s.  I get it.  That's not a complaint - I don't think I would be very interested in listening to library music from the 90s, for example.  And I have noticed - from hearing samples, listening to other people's mixes, and seeing the prices go up - that some love is being generated for 80s library.  I'm glad I snagged some of the Chappell AV stuff when I could!  (The AV series was absolutely derided at one point and I heard more than one person call it "the worst" - but there are some absolutely amazing and gorgeous things among that series.)  Bruton's 80s output is also pretty damned good.  Library music is often hit or miss.  By its nature, perhaps, to some extent.  I will say that, for a kid who was into punk (and glitchy electronic music, which seemed pretty "punk" to me in a way), it's kind of funny that one of the biggest musical loves of my adult life has turned out to be library music.  Music that has "sold out" before it was even made!  (I wasn't ever really someone who necessarily gave a damn if an indie band signed to a label - they've got to keep the lights on.)  It's interesting that a type of music that is made to be put on a shelf and pulled and used for commercial endeavors - whether they be actual commercials, documentaries, or, in many cases, porn (a LOT of library music was used for porn) - is also often the most adventurous and experimental and beautiful.  Anyways.  I'll try to leave some space between mixes after this one, but I have enjoyed these, and I've certainly got plenty more spacey, "futuristic" library music up my sleeve.

And just for fun - usually when I make a mix, I scribble out a tracklist for myself.  Here's the one for this mix - not especially interesting, but here it is anyway.