This is the first time I’m hearing Boduf Songs (aka Mat Sweet). From what I can gather Selected Instrumental Works is a stylistic departure from his prior works, which lean more toward a sombre singer-songwriter feeling. His latest album retains a certain melancholy, but does so without vocals (OK… there’s a little singing on here, but it’s distant and operatic) and an instrumentation that leans more in the direction of ambient electronica.
Per Bandcamp:
This is solitary music, made to be listened to in low light and long shadows. A record of lingering tones, unresolved feelings, and suspended time. Even amid melancholy and mortality, there is a quiet reach toward warmth and connection, a trace of hope that lingers after the echoes fade.
I really like that description. As I sit here enjoying the A side, “Das Liebetodesdrang Pts. 1-7”, I find myself becoming calmer, my jaw unclenching after yet another in a series of workdays that make up a series of work weeks in a series of work years… the tension melting away with the calmness of the compositions. Normally music doesn’t relax me; ambient will slow me down a bit, but there’s something about Selected Instrumental Works that loosens up all the tightness and knots in my body. It’s reminiscent of that feeling of stepping out of a hot tub after a long soak, that loose-limbed sensation that is both tiring and energetic. The B side, “Et Sic In Infinitum Pt. 1-7”, brings piano more prominently into the mix, giving these songs a different shape, almost anchoring them with that familiar sound. Later the piano gives way to more organic sounds, losing the concept of notes and the soundscape undulating like slow, warm waves that envelop you.
You can stream and purchase a digital copy of Selected Instrumental Works on the Boduf Songs Bandcamp page HERE. A limited edition of 50 cassettes was also released on the Bluesanct label, but as of this post it’s showing as sold out. However, you can check back in at their Bandcamp HERE in case it gets reissued in the future.