(100) Days of Soundtrack: #18 – Jeff Greinke – Weather From Another Planet

At one point in my life, I chose to hunt down a whole bunch of atmospheric, instrumental, ambient work. This was mostly a mistake, yielding tracks that felt more like I was listening to trains arriving, or the faint hum of electricity, as opposed to musical compositions. The memorable standout was Jeff Greinke. His compositions had movement, and while there was still no shortage of atmosphere, you could rightly call his songs compositions. Today, I needed something low impact, so I figured I’d finally give the album I’d sampled then a full spin.

Weather From Another Planet sounds like just that. These feel like soundtracks to old 60s sci-fi films. There’s a bit of suspense around every turn. The notes draw out long, like the barren expanse of a desert planet. Tracks like “Dark Glass” especially have a that vibe, evoking danger and fanfare all at once. The plinking chimes throughout tracks like “Visitor” evoke the rain in a strange world, while “Spin” would feel at home backing a desert sojourn, its backbeat providing the feeling of being in transit. Everything feels exploratory in slightly different ways. These are compositions to celebrate the tense anticipation of the new, with a specific dialing up on the “tense” part.

The interesting thing is that these tracks build that tension simply by continuing. Nothing changes so much as the same unsettling nature continues until it feels like it’s too much. There are moments, especially in “Big Stride” and “Climb,” where the “music” part drops out and there is only ambiance, and the effect is powerful used in doses as opposed to as the payoff itself. There’s a feeling of isolation throughout the album that colors even the sunniest spots. And somehow, under all this, is something primal… a subtle pulse underneath expansive notes. It is surprising that music like this can have even a subtle excitement in it.

In general I would suggest that this sort of music is best explored one song at a time, but it’s also music which is meant to be a full-album affair. There are no singles here, and while each track is distinctive enough to open up to the listener given enough time, these are tracks that are not for remembering so much as for feeling in the moment. I wouldn’t call it relaxing… I believe I listened closer to Weather From Another Planet than I did to some earlier albums of “proper” songs… but it’s worth letting it wash over you. This is music for authors, in some way. It’s music that conjures scenes and images and stories, because there are no words to leave biases, no firm structures to distract the mind from exploration. Find out what it’s telling you.

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