Reintroducing Intimacy in Computer Music With Folktrionics

The Books — The Way Out

(30 Apr 2023, commissioned by Shawn Zod’s magazine)

The Way Out

I’ve been listening to The Way Out again and again and every time I find something new to obsess over. Sometimes it’s the americana indie pop type songs, like Free Translator and All You Need Is A Wall. Sometimes it’s just some beautiful ASMR cinematic soundscapes like IDKT. But then of course it all started with the irresistible yet irritable chaos on A Cold Freezin’ Night. I’ve just never heard anything like it, but even otherwise, in the most overdone basic genres, The Books use a subtlety, intention and complexity in the timbre of all the sounds they decide to use. On All You Need Is A Wall, there are those electronically manipulated violins that seem to weep, and I really have no clue how they made those dampened stereo layered vocals sound like that but good god is it just beautiful, in the chorus a swelling pad accompanies, no, almost drowns out, her voice. I think the issue people have with a lot of electronic music is that it feels somewhat soulless, but The Books warp and shape sound to enhance intimacy.

And still electronics aren’t the only trick up their sleeve. Free Translator starts with what sounds like a simple motif, a simple guitar riff, but by adding on top of it, with most notably a seemingly unpredictable sliding bass, they make it more melodically complex, adding 6ths and 7ths giving the chords a dreamy wandering effect. It almost masks the main attraction of the track, the duo’s insistence on their unconventional approaches and their unwavering personality, the premise of the song itself — Free Translator. They ran Bob Dylan’s Subterrean Homesick Blues through a translation site multiple times until they had a big load of gibberish, and then picked out their favourites. The result is a quirky meaningless mess, and it’s just so fun.

Speaking of fun, my initial exposure to The Books started with A Cold Freezin’ Night. For this one, they bought a load of secondhand tape toys marketed towards children that still had old recordings on them. They used the inherent psychopathic nature of children to create unnerving and hilarious hooks. “Alright that’s tha attitood! Ow ow ah ow!” has been stuck in my head since the very first day I listened to it, you’d be surprised how catchy it all is. Maybe it’s the woody percussion sounds I find so satisfying, or the pop-like structure that makes the mess just predictable enough to stay looping in my head. It really hits the spot.

John Zorn’s Naked City

Despite all the variation between the songs, the base of every song is the same witty love for sound collage, the sound of randomly flipping through TV channels late at night. The same sound avant jazz pioneer John Zorn first described being the main source of his inspiration before the birth of electronic music. Arranged meticulously, with care and personality, it’s maximalist post-ironic YouTube poop of guided meditation clips — an acquired taste for those new to experimental music and what I call “folktronics,” but for the explorers, it’s practically begging to be heard!