017 - BROKEN_CANYON - Paradise 1116

 

During our musical journeys there are some instances where we hear something and it sticks with us.  Be that a song, album, or musical style… something about it just resonates with you and it becomes interwoven into your musical fabric.  I had one such experience around the turn of the millennium while playing a video game.  Little did I know it at the time, but while playing Silent Hill 2 my taste in music would be forever shifted.

The soundtrack to that particular game had such a strong sound and singular focus that it entranced me.  The semi lo-fi,hazy production gave the guitar oriented and ambient tracks a quality to them that became synonymous with that and all other games in the series.  I would eventually seek out every soundtrack to these games that I could.  Even if the game itself was not great, I knew that Akira Yamaoka’s music would still be high quality.

A few years later I discovered dream music, and I found myself thinking how good of a pairing it would be with Yamaoka’s style.  The ambient tracks in particular evoked a certain vibe of being lost and not knowing exactly what is going on around you - as if being covered by a dense, all encompassing fog.  I searched for an artist that would marry these two sounds.  I found a few that would tease the Silent Hill sound on a track or two but never fully embrace it.  It was not until I heard Broken_Canyon, particularly on Paradise 1116, that I knew my search was over.

Broken_Canyon has taken an ambient approach to dream music on her album.  There are no beats or structure to these songs to speak of, and that works strongly in their favor.  Rather than individual tracks this album is best seen as a collection of chapters to a complete book, movements to an entire piece. The music tells the listener a story over its short run time and it’s best taken in from start to finish with no interruptions.

What truly differentiates the album though is the production and how it embraces the principles set by Yamaoka many years prior.  Broken_Canyon described how she arrived at this sound by “...mucking around with FL Studio and just trying to make things that were cool.  At the time I wasn’t a very skilled producer. The lo-fi sound is pretty authentic, it wasn’t a conscious decision.”

It's this lo-fi sound that truly brings the album to life.  It gives the compositions a sense of mystery and going into the unknown.  We are on a journey, but we don’t know our destination nor are we able to determine what direction we are going.  “I read in an interview with Yamaoka where I think he said he prioritized vibe and atmosphere over melody.  I really love how he uses such simple chord progressions (something like iv-i) and still am inspired by that kind of minimalism.”  

Broken_Canyon’s words describe perfectly the sound that is present in her music.  Simple melodies and chord progressions are present but more thought is put into how the music feels rather than technical proficiencies or production values.  In fact, I believe that the album’s feel would be ruined if it was done more professionally.  

The narrative on Paradise 1116 is not explicitly stated.  As if we are looking through a dirty window into a deep fog, we are given brief glimpses into the mind and heart of the protagonist.  Quarter Past Midnight is steeped in sorrow, portrayed by simple piano chords.  Start Again gives the album the briefest moments of clarity and direction.  There is even the slightest bit of hope on パルス only to be extinguished by the final tones of 無名.  The journey’s conclusion is not a joyful one as it is gut wrenching in its hopelessness and fatalism.

Broken_Canyon has captured something on this album that I did not think was possible.  She has fully embraced the sound found within the early Silent Hill games and morphed it into her own creation.  While the album is short, it wields a powerful narrative - one that needs to be told.  

Author’s Note

Broken_Canyon was very forthcoming with her answers in the interview.  I would strongly encourage people to read that alongside the review.  It deepened my appreciation for this album immensely and I hope it will do the same for you.

Equipment Used

I used a 2011 MacBook Pro with a pirated copy of FL Studio 11, and a pirated copy of the Predator VST. I think there might also be some Valhalla Shimmer reverb in there but I’m not sure. Many of the tracks were made during lunch at high school. I had literally no friends at the time so I would just sit down in the hallway with headphones and work on music.

Acknowledgments

Thank you again to Broken_Canyon for taking the time to talk about her album and being so open about both her life and her music.  As always, thank you to Blissmonkey for editing and promotion.