Songs From Before

Max Richter | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 28, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fat Cat
• ASIN: B000HDR9B8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,816 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #66 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Electronic

Editorial Reviews

Deluxe 180gm vinyl LP pressing of this 2006 Max Richter album, Punctuated by Robert Wyatt's distinctive, understated readings of Haruki Murakami's, 'Songs From Before' utilizes piano, cello, violin and viola, with Max playing piano, mixing and producing. The music evokes forgotten memories or lost histories, a series of bittersweet articulations that seem suspended somewhere between a dreamy sense of awe and melancholia. Fat Cat. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another nice neo classical release from Richter, December 8, 2006

By 

somethingexcellent (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Songs From Before (Audio CD)

A couple years back, Max Richter came out of the blue with his The Blue Notebooks album and pretty much knocked me for a loop. A splendid mixture of modern classical and electronic music (plus some spoken word bits from Tilda Swinton), the release easily made my year-end list and was good enough that it made me seek out his more elusive debut album to get a little more background on his artistry. As it turns out, Richter is more than just an accomplished solo artist, having worked with everyone from the Future Sound Of London to Roni Size and even Vashti Bunyan on production and collaboration.

Songs From Before is his latest full length album and it sounds like a very logical sequel to The Blue Notebooks. In fact, it has so much in common with that release that it feels more like the second chapter in a larger over-arching saga, than a large step forward into new territory. The lush string arrangements are back, along with some spoken word bits that filter in (Robert Wyatt reading short passages from Haruki Murakami this time out). If there's any difference, it's that more overt electronics play less of a roll in this recording, although Richter does incorporate more lo-fi electronic touches through the use of shortwave radio noises.

The simply titled "Song" opens the album on a strong note, as some repetitive organ melodies mix with some subtle strings while distant percussion sends deep reverberations through the mix. "Flowers For Yula" opens with some disembodied radio chatter and a few passages from Wyatt before slow swells of strings rise up from the crackling depths and crest without ever getting very loud. "Harmonium" may very well be the most haunting track on the entire release, again starting with a couple evocative sentences from Wyatt before some deep, filtered swirls of what may very well be the title instrument are offset with sparkling bells and chimes. It's a gorgeous track that works wonders at high volumes.

The latter two-thirds of the album is a bit more spotty, and after listening to the release a bunch of times, I still have a hard time pin-pointing why. There are a lot of shorter tracks (like "Ionosphere" and "Lullaby") that add nothing to the release, while a familiar melodic theme is used in "Autumn Music 1," "Autumn Music 2," and the album closer of "From The Rue Vilin." Considering Songs From Before is only about thirty-seven minutes long, it's probably safe to say that the effort suffers a bit from being really good on the front end and then not offering up as much in variety from there out. Richter is still a heck of a composer, and the twelve-track release is always pretty at the very least, but unfortunately it seems like a slight step backwards considering his previous album.

(from almost cool music reviews)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Picks up where The Blue Notebooks left off, March 8, 2007

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Songs From Before (Audio CD)

In "Songs from Before" Max Richter picks up right where he left off with "The Blue Notebooks". His sound is still like a blend of Craig Armstrong and Philip Glass at times, specially in the piano-centric pieces such as "Fragment", "Autumn Music 1 and 2" and the closing track. But Richter continues to have a unique and sophisticated sound that conveys a sense of depth and melancholy.

His electronic treatment of classical sounds and overall ambient feel is very interesting. The only parts that I could live without (and the ones that make it loose a star) are those where Robert Wyatt reads passages ("Flowers...", "Time Passing", "Lullaby" and "Verses"). It's not quite that his reading kills them: it's just that Wyatt's voice doesn't seem to add much to them, and distracts the listener away from an otherwise exceptional instrumental album.