CHRISTIAN MIRANDE “My Friend Went to Heaven on the Frankford El” C28 (Anathema Archive)

Oh, behold the passing from one plane to the next – the clues are there, and I am a sleuth undeterred. The first clue, an easy one: My Friend Went to Heaven on the Frankford El says it all right there in the title. The second clue, have you cracked it? “How to administer Naloxone for an opioid overdose.” Then a link. I dread the thinking of it, but might Christian Mirande have lost just such a friend in just such a way? Might this collection of avant-garde pieces be an ode to that friend?

It would not surprise me in the least. Mirande crafts field recordings into experimental compositions, the sonics (movement, static, the subconscious, voice, instrumentation) mimicking life on various levels. Is it a reminder to recognize the minutiae one comes into contact with throughout one’s day, the minutiae that one does not give thought to? Is it a reminder to be deliberate in our interactions, with the world, with others? Is it a facsimile of the devotion we give to trivial things while cracks form in the façades of the forgotten but important details?

The Frankford El still runs, and we slap in earbuds for our journey, and we turn inward. Mirande allows us to turn even further inward if we give this one a chance.

https://christianmirande.bandcamp.com/

https://anathemarchive.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

CHRISTIAN MIRANDE “Property Line / Plunge Pool” (Unifactor)

Life hack: When traveling, be accompanied by music. Sure, that’s an idiot life hack, as anyone with even a little bit of street smarts knows that music is the best traveling companion. Who needs other human beings, dialogue, conversation, company? Not me. Just give me the open road and a stereo system and I’m good to go for hours and hours.

While you might think a good Weezer jam or the latest Drake joint would get my car a-thumpin’, you’d be absolutely dead wrong. Give me Christian Mirande’s “Property Line / Plunge Pool” any day of the week, because not only does it provide the sonic complement to, let’s face it, any motion at all, it also provides the mood, the surrounding ambiance. As these carefully crafted soundscapes unfold, the sense of travel, of movement – the interlocking functions and patterns that cause mass movement from one place to another – trickle, then rush, to overwhelm with stimuli.

Life hack 2: If you’re in a car, I suggest cranking this pretty high to get the full nuanced effect. Or you could do this:

Life hack 3: “Headphones Recommended,” like it says in the parenthetical addendum to “Into the Bin.” I’d pay attention to that one if I were you.

Christian Mirande

Unifactor Tapes

--Ryan Masteller