One of the beautiful things about the internet is that it has granted more freedom and accessibility to musicians. The music listener can now search for bands ranging from the popular to the obscure by way of search engines and a modicum of patience. Even with this great swell of recorded music, only a small portion of this output consists of successful innovators. True innovators deserve our support, much like a brilliant visual artist deserves a benefactor. Not due to any form (or sense of) entitlement, but because outstanding achievement in the arts is enriching and adds value to our lives through our reaction to its expression.

I have spoken about the wonderfully original Rabbit Rabbit Radio before (Article Here), whose founders (Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi) also compromised part of the noteworthy Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Recently the duo, along with Jeremy Flower, have taken to KickStarter to raise money for their new multimedia piece, “Black Inscription.” Their proven songwriting should be enough for the avid fan of exploratory endeavors to lend their ears to, and if reputation is not enough to go by, the trio of composers have granted the listener a taste of their new music with some live samples found within their KickStarter video. The music found within should stoke excitement for an experience that is multi-layered instrumentally, and should evoke a range of emotions within the listener, while also stimulating thought by way of the subject matter.

Through the posts that can be read on Rabbit Rabbit Radio and Carla Kihlstedt’s facebook pages, as well as the composers’ KickStarter page, It can clearly be seen that these individuals have carefully constructed both the music and lyrics for this record. The theme itself is centered upon “arguably the world's best free diver [2]” Natalia Molchanova, who tragically “disappeared during a dive off the coast of Spain in August, 2015 [3].” Kihlstedt’s post about Molchanova can be found here. Through her words, the reader can truly feel Khilstedt’s connection with her subject matter, who firmly stands (and rightly so) as an inspiration to the composer herself. The ocean environment that is depicted within the piece, and surrounds our hero as she journeys into this alien world, has its literary concept guided by experts at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution [4]. This fact clearly shows the devotion of the composers’ to their subject matter and that devotion is an excellent foundation on which to build an album. An album that has the potential to be both extraordinary and rewarding for the artists and listener.

Citations

1. Artwork from the upcoming "Black Inscription" album titled "Blue Abyss," by Lisa Carroll.

2. https://www.facebook.com/carlakihlstedt/photos/a.308643315866355.76323.143799452350743/1600360493361291/?type=3&theater

3. https://www.facebook.com/carlakihlstedt/photos/a.308643315866355.76323.143799452350743/1600360493361291/?type=3&theater

4. The sentence “guided by experts at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutution” was derived from the following sentence on Black Inscription’s Kickstarer page (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackinscription/black-inscription-a-multi-media-song-cycle-about-o/description), direct quote as follows: “Written with guidance from experts at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute…”