The first track, “Warmth of Stagnation,” the title tune, is a simple song with a slow arpeggio that repeats itself with subtle changes in rhythmic patterns and chords. The floating, shimmering synths give the listener the ambiguous impression of melting rhythms and harmonies.
After a while, the arpeggio pattern begins to expand and contract, and the chords begin to show subtle but definite changes. In such a situation, only the top note of the arpeggio continues to resonate at a constant pitch, standing tall as if it were holding together the ever-changing chords that keep shifting in a groaning manner. It is interesting that the top note is sometimes loud, sometimes whispery, and sometimes subdued, as if it is giving some consideration to the repeated arpeggio.
As the title suggests, there is no dramatic transformation. Instead, the track evokes a sense of calm as if suspended in a gentle stasis. However, just as personal and introspective fluctuations and transformations occur even in the midst of the unchanging routine, from the latter half to the end of the piece, a different undulation begins to emerge in the colors of the chords and the arpeggio rhythms.
One of the peaks of this small, introspective narrative is the chromatic descent of the top note, first seen in the arpeggio at 4:42. The top note, which had previously been in dubious harmony with the chords of the arpeggio, echoes a bitter pitch here for a moment, then drops a semitone as if it hates (or is ashamed of) the pitch. The arpeggio then breaks into a descending pattern, ceasing to maintain its previous shape and heading toward a quiet demise.
Was the top note of the arpeggio, which has been present since the beginning of the piece, really the protagonist trapped in this stagnation?
As an artist who is conscious of composing a narrative musical time, the composer brings his own sense of composition to the minimal and repetitive ambient music, inviting the listener to a highly concentrated musical experience. In this respect, the song is an impressive model case of the artist’s musical concept expressed through simple musical materials.
The coupling track, “Radio and the Moon,” is similar to the previous track in its single-tone synth sound, but its music has a dark sentimentality like that of an old music box, giving the track a very different feel. The melody and accompaniment are clearly present, and at first glance the music seems easy to understand; however, the melody is not clearly repeated throughout the piece, and the melody line, which is neither a variation nor an improvisation, wanders through time.
What is also characteristic here is the high density of the composed musical time. Because only a single tone color is used throughout, the techniques of temporal structuring—and their effects—can be felt even more vividly in this two-minute piece. It would be an overstatement to say that the music gives the listener the impression of having finished reading a short story, and at the same time it gives the listener a robust sense of construction and condensation, as well as a fluffy impression of the music.
Both pieces are played with a single synth tone, avoiding dramatic sonic effects, which makes it easier to grasp the compositional characteristics of the music. From this point of view, the lineup is suitable as a gateway to understanding the author’s sense of narrative composition.