The Baltika Years
by Ben Zimmerman
- Type: Album
- Released: June 9, 2015
- Label: Software
- Country: United States
- Length: 1:17:19
- Community rating: 3.55/5 from 5 ratings
Album Notes & Community Reviews
'The Baltika Years' is an archival collection of experimental electronic music composed by Ben Zimmerman between 1992 and 2002, primarily using a primitive Tandy Deskmate computer. The album's distinctive lo-fi sound is a direct result of the hardware's limitations, creating a collage of raw breakbeats, minimalist synth passages, and chopped vocal samples that range from ambient soundscapes to gritty, proto-industrial rhythms. These varied compositions act as a musical diary, documenting a decade of solitary creation and showcasing a unique blend of human expression with severe technological constraints.
Genres
Descriptors: lo-fi, rhythmic, sampling, lobit, downtempo
Tracklist
- Phyllis (21:46)
- For Mimi, Pt. 1 (1:50)
- For Mimi, Pt. 2 (0:25)
- For Mimi, Pt. 3 (1:57)
- For Mimi, Pt. 4 (2:37)
- For Mimi, Pt. 5 (2:09)
- The Scream (0:48)
- Housed! (1:45)
- Tropical Den (0:11)
- 99th Street (0:57)
- The Space Jack Hummer (5:20)
- Grumble Grumble (0:32)
- Reverse Me (1:10)
- 75000multicolouredorgasmaticballoons (0:40)
- Crystal Lake (1:55)
- Redecorated Proto-Computations (3:36)
- Da Chopp (2:15)
- Yellow Daffodil (Burning) Against a Grey Sidewalk (1:39)
- Chants (1:39)
- Reso (1:18)
- Mazer (0:20)
- Life Without Liz (3:36)
- One-Liter Plastic Bottle (0:30)
- F-Trip (1:07)
- Now I Am Numb (0:21)
- Pausebreak, Pt. 1 (3:43)
- Pausebreak, Pt. 2 (2:03)
- Pausebreak, Pt. 3 (3:45)
- Pausebreak, Pt. 4 (2:24)
- Pausebreak, Pt. 5 (2:05)
- Pausebreak, Pt. 6 (2:56)
Credits
- Ben Zimmerman - primary artist, composer, programming, keyboards, harp, cello, percussion, sounds, voices, electronics, samples
- Daniel Lopatin - curator
- Bobby Houlihan - design