There’s probably no point in analysing the parts that make up the whole of ‘Steingarten’ – the whole is what’s important here. So what is that whole? Nearly three quarters of an hour of instrumental ‘sound design’. Minimalist sound design, at that. But is it any good? Well, as far as minimalist sound design goes, this is pretty good. Aside from the beats, hums and bleeps nagging insistently around one’s head, like sparrows tapping against a window, the other, more organic noises bring early Cocteaus to mind.

The accompanying handout states that this music is ‘certainly not made as the ideal, unobtrusive soundtrack for modern glass-and-concrete hotel bars.’ Maybe, but I can just imagine listening to this album playing in the background as I sit in the bar of a designer hotel in, say, Utrecht, as I sip on a Cosmopolitan. Equally, however, I can imagine listening to this on my ipod whilst sitting on the tube on my way to throw endless pints of Stella down my throat prior to indulging in some good old-fashioned yobbery.

A more eloquent writer than I may speculate on the fact that it’s the spaces in between the sounds that make this music special and individual, and also as to whether so-called ‘background’ music could – or indeed, should – be judged in the same way as conventional songs. I, meanwhile, would say it sounds pretty good, but could do with some singing on it.

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