[Music Review] New Music from Jason Vitelli and Michael Young

Artist: Jason Vitelli, Michael Young - Aspect Radio
Buy Vitelli's music at Bandcamp: 1.Ambient Corridors
Buy Aspect Radio's music at iTunes: Aspect Radio
Reviewer: M.L. Gneier - TNT-Audio USA
Reviewed: June, 2024

I started out writing music reviews. I readily admit that those reviews were mostly tools to help me gain a little street cred, just enough to give equipment companies the confidence they needed to loan me gear to review. It worked, by the way. Thing is, that since I was 13 I've been buying music constantly so I'm always looking for new or old music that I've missed. It's my true and everlasting passion. It turns out that gear comes and goes but music is forever.

First it was vinyl then it was CDs and now it's streaming. I struggled with the issue of ownership for a while. This was hammered home especially hard when I searched my iTunes library for some music I knew I had purchased years earlier. The recording was Brendan Campbell's Burgers and Murders. One day it was seemingly safe in my iTunes library and the next it was gone. It took me a while to figure it out. It seems that iTunes relationship with Campbell or his label or both had gone sour so their deal went up in smoke. Fortunately, Campbell's music had been previously downloaded and burned to a CD so I didn't lose the purchase completely. But the cautionary lesson was learned. Music should be forever but a streaming purchase sometimes isn't.

Still, I have to live in today or not at all so I've come to accept streaming and even enjoy it, kind of. Understand that my beef is not with digital music but only with its occasionally transitory nature. Streaming and I are cool especially when it brings the music like the two tracks of Aspect Radio's new release. Old Friend starts out with a warm, inviting vibe. But after a few bars the listener is brought into the song's sustained and gentle longing. The soft groove of the track sustains through repeating elements of the lyrics. It's only a shade over three and a half minutes but it's easy to imagine and wish for an extended version. Hauntology brings a wholly different soundscape so I asked the man behind Aspect Radio, Michael Young, to tell me a little about how it was created. "Hauntology started with the lead arpeggiated guitar pattern drenched in delay. For the guitar sound, I wanted something old and weathered as the song is about the dangers of living too much in the past. For 80% of the delay-based effects I use, I rely on Valhalla DSP Plug-Ins as their plug-ins masterfully blend vintage and modern “hi-fi” sounds."

It is a coincident that the principals behind both of these projects, Michael Young of Aspect Radio and Jason Vitelli, the creator of 1. Ambient Corridors were willing to share so much of their particular visions and a look at some of the techniques they use to create their works. I find the mix of technologies to be fascinating. Jason Vitelli discloses that for monitoring he uses a Metric Halo ULN-2 DAC with JBL 2800 bookshelf speakers. That is what I call blending old with older. On the input side he uses a Zoom H1 mic and for direct instrument inputs a Behringer FCA202 ADC. I mention those two pieces because one (the Behringer) is old and inexpensive and the Zoom H1 is new and inexpensive. The key word here being inexpensive. On the other side of the coin are Michael Young's Messanovic ribbon mics that were modified by Deni Messanovic himself and use hand-wound transformers. So here we have new and far from cheap, with hand-wound transformers. Think of how happy Roger Modjeski would be.

I mention some of the tools and techniques that Vitelli and Young use neither to endorse nor criticize but rather to bring attention to the diversity of paths a truly creative musician can take on his way to committing his work to the collection of ones and zeros that will eventually be converted to music you can actually hear and enjoy. I also want to point out that some very modest and occasionally old studio gear can still sound very, very good. This summer or fall you'll be able to read about the world's greatest (I'm kidding, right?) balanced passive preamp; the Mackie Big Knob. Stay tuned.

On to Vitelli's 1. Ambient Corridors. When I asked Jason Vitelli about the work's origin he said, "I've written these tracks intermittently over a number of years, some originating from prior film projects and others composed as standalone pieces. I built the arrangements using a combination of acoustic and synthetic elements, the percentage of each depending on my writing approach." The resulting music sometimes feels like a film score, particularly in tracks like Incessant, but on other tracks like The ICU and Irrational Quash slide into a kind of elemental electronica. I think the most enjoyable tracks are the also among the more traditional. Here I'm thinking of The Veil and Lost and Found, originally written for a chamber group, that features a cellist playing in unison over a sampled cello to provide more lifelike phrasing to the melodic lines.

Vitelli had this to say about production, "Though I did not initially intend the album to be an audiophile-level production, my desire for high sound quality naturally led me in that direction. I made the choice to not utilize any compression in the mixing phase. Barry Diament, a formidable engineer in the field, provided the mastering as well as an exceptional 2nd pair of ears for the mix. Although it's not a true stereo recording, I'm hoping the dynamics provide a nice dimension to the listening experience."

It's been wonderful to take a break from gear reviews to listen to and write about both of these works of actual music. They are a bit off the beaten path, which is a good thing, and both records are enjoyable in an enduring way so I encourage you to check them out. Finally, I would like to thank Michael Young and Jason Vitelli for being so generous as to answer my questions about their inspirations and way they make their records.

DISCLAIMER. TNT-Audio is neither a shop, nor a HiFi company or a repair laboratory for HiFi components. We don't sell anything. It is a 100% independent magazine that neither accepts advertising from companies nor requires readers to register or pay for subscriptions. If you wish, you can support our independent reviews via a PayPal donation. After publication of reviews, the authors do not retain samples other than on long-term loan for further evaluation or comparison with later-received gear. Hence, all contents are written free of any “editorial” or “advertising” influence, and all reviews in this publication, positive or negative, reflect the independent opinions of their respective authors. TNT-Audio will publish all manufacturer responses, subject to the reviewer's right to reply in turn.

New Music from Jason Vitelli and Michael Young

“1. Ambient Corridors” and “Old Friend”