Soothing Sounds for (My) Baby

Three weeks ago today, my soundworld changed forever. There was a lot of electronic beeping and human panting for many hours, and a not small amount of institutional chatter and directives, and then suddenly silence, into which arrived this incredible scream, a scream of life. This was late in the evening of August 31, 2010, when my wife gave birth to our daughter, who turns a momentous three weeks old this evening.

A group of electronic musicians has put together an incredible (and free to download) compilation of music intended as appropriate for the mix of quietude and gurgling playfulness that one might associate with a baby’s first experiences of life. The project’s production unfolded entirely unbeknownst to me, until the day before its release, when Erik Schoster, who makes music as He Can Jog, wrote to inform me of what he and his musician buddies had been up to.

The album is titled Soothing Sounds for Baby, after the collections by famed inventor-musician Raymond Scott. However this Soothing Sounds collection includes a subhead and a brief introduction that make me blush to reproduce here:

Soothing Sounds for Baby A LuvSound Sampler for Marc Weidenbaum You probably know that Marc Weidenbaum is the man behind the excellent and long-running Disquiet blog on ambient music (and beyond!) but you may have missed a recent tweet declaring his new fatherhood – true to form, it was couched in a reference to an ambient festival he’d planed to attend. This seemed like a good enough excuse to take a moment and pay respect to someone who has tirelessly supported this little corner of the musical world we love so much. So, Marc: thanks for everything! Here are some sounds for you and baby (and you, dear reader) presented with warmth from a gaggle of LuvSound alumni.

Here, by the way, is the tweet in question:

Looks like I will miss the On Land & SFEMF festivals in San Francisco these next weeks. Good excuse: my first child was born Tuesday night.

11:11 AM Sep 2nd  via web  from Ashbury Heights, San Francisco

 
As the fellows who handle the raymondscott.blogspot.com reminded me, I listed Scott’s Soothing Sounds for Baby among the “16 Albums That Changed My Life” when I made the list in February 2009. Let’s just say that the ideas of life and of life changing are even clearer to me now.

You can flip back and forth through the playlist (up above) using the small arrows, or select an individual track down below — as well as click through to learn more about each contributing artist. The collection is housed at the luvsound.org netlabel.
 

Track 1. (Duration: 02:55.) "Lullaby" by Fredo Viola
[MP3. More info: fredoviola.com]

[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/01-Fredo_Viola-Lullaby.mp3|titles="Lullaby"|artists=Fredo Viola]
Track 2. (Duration: 08:22.) "Two Sleep States in a Quiet Environment" by Autistici
[MP3. More info: autistici.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/02-Autistici-Two_Sleep_States_In_A_Quiet_Environment.mp3|titles="Two Sleep States in a Quiet Environment"|artists=Autistici]
Track 3. (Duration: 06:16.) "Saigon" by Nomad Palace
[MP3. More info: autistici.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/03-Nomad_Palace-Saigon.mp3|titles="Saigon"|artists=Nomad Palace]
Track 4. (Duration: 03:53.) "Twenty Seconds" by Hey Exit
[MP3. More info: autistici.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/04-Hey_Exit-Twenty_Seconds.mp3|titles="Twenty Seconds"|artists=Hey Exit]
Track 5. (Duration: 04:26.) "Bubbaly" by the Oo-Ray
[MP3. More info: 15people.net]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/05-The_OoRay-Bubbaly.mp3|titles="Bubbaly"|artists=The Oo-Ray]
Track 6. (Duration: 03:27.) "Printemps" by Nils Quak
[MP3. More info: nhlsqaik.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/06-Nils_Quak-Printemps.mp3|titles="Printemps"|artists=Nils Quak]
Track 7. (Duration: 04:04.) "Au Clair De La Lune (Re-Edit)" by Stephane Leonard
[MP3. More info: nhlsqaik.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/07-Stephane_Leonard-Au_Clair_De_La_Lune_ReEdit.mp3|titles="Au Clair De La Lune (Re-Edit)"|artists=Stephane Leonard]
Track 8. (Duration: 05:04.) "Holophrase" by Talkingmakesnosense
[MP3. More info: talkingmakesnosense.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/08-talkingmakesnosense-Holophrase.mp3|titles="Holophrase"|artists=Talkingmakesnosense]
Track 9. (Duration: 03:20.) "Tuba Cloud" by Benjamin Klein
[MP3. More info: tubaproject.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/09-Benjamin_Klein-Tuba_Cloud.mp3|titles="Tuba Cloud"|artists=Benjamin Klein]
Track 10. (Duration: 02:54.) "Shhh! [Before Peyton]" by He Can Jog
[MP3. More info: hecanjog.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/10-He_Can_Jog-Shhh_Before_Peyton.mp3|titles="Shhh! (Before Peyton)"|artists=He Can Jog]
Track 11. (Duration: 18:55.) "Peyton" by Brian Green
[MP3. More info: seeyouinsleep.com]
[audio:http://luvsound.org/mint/pepper/tillkruess/downloads/tracker.php?remote&url=http://luvsound.org/files/luv025/11-Brian_Green-Peyton.mp3|titles="Peyton"|artists=Brian Green]