Library Catalog Music Series, Vol. 7: Music for Paradise Armor

When a broken finger hampered his ability to fret a guitar properly, Richard Swift returned to project B., an electronic endeavor titled Instruments of Science & Technology. Swift's second release under this moniker is a part of Asthmatic Kitty's Library Catalog Music series, and like the other volumes (which include contributions by Roberto Carlos Lange and James McAlister) it is comprised of meditative background instrumentals. Following format, Volume 7: Music for a Paradise Armor is a throwback to the spaced-out electronica and analog synthesizer sounds of the `70s. It's an unintrusive type of soundtrack that never demands attention, but washes by in a quick rush. Recorded using entirely analog equipment and tape machines (with some Mac Book assistance) the songs are filled with thumping ping-pong beats and synthesized textures that bear a resemblance to the deceptively complex soundscapes of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk, or the Moog-style blips of circuit wizards Bruce Haack and Hot Butter. Comparatively, this outing is a little more ambient and sparse than the Music from the Films of R/Swift was, with an otherworldly German flavor. It's also other-timely; evoking a time when video games were played with paddles, presumably in a room with shag carpeting. ~ Jason Lymangrover