BCB 100 Songs - Atmosphere

[jimboo]

Peel chose new dawn fades on announcing his death . While that is my go to JD track, Atmosphere is still stunning to my ears, despite the countless times I have heard it . Sitting alone in the dark knowing, I will get shivers down the spine when that glorious shimmering sound crisp as a frosty morning escape from the speakers. Immediately, you knew from the first play and the opening moments this was going to be special. Your foot may tap because of the sound of the drum and bass but the vocal and synths concentrate the mind and demand your attention. One of those rare tracks that as you hear it you are taken back to that strange melancholic mood that teenage years alone induce. It doesn't wallow in self pity , it isn't a dirge. It is the resignation that the mind could not be tamed and that , for some , nothing will ever suffice.

It is as beautiful and desolate as its cover.

[copehead]

Nice write up, Copey. You should do more of this and less of the political bollocks!

.

The money from the political bollocks allows me to craft more esoteric stuff like this for the cognoscenti, it's a trade off, quid pro quo.

[pcqgod]

Nice. "Atmosphere" is one of my favorite single tracks. My first listen was a similar experience.

[fange]

Wonderful tune and lovely write-up Copey.

[The Write Profile]

Fantastic opening post Copey, gave me a real sense of who you were at the time of the song and why it meant so much to you. As an aside, "Atmosphere" topped the New Zealand charts not long after its initial release, further indication of the song's ability to hold pull in strange places.

I think there's a stateliness and sense of humanity to the song that means it resonates and is even quite universal. Certainly, there's something in the way that the direct, unadorned lyrics find their perfect match in Curtis's powerful voice. There's a whole world of pain in the line "people like you find it easy" and the way that it beckons the final, almost twinkling melody. It's all of a piece, really.

[copehead]

Fantastic opening post Copey, gave me a real sense of who you were at the time of the song and why it meant so much to you. As an aside, "Atmosphere" topped the New Zealand charts not long after its initial release, further indication of the song's ability to hold pull in strange places.

I think there's a stateliness and sense of humanity to the song that means it resonates and is even quite universal. Certainly, there's something in the way that the direct, unadorned lyrics find their perfect match in Curtis's powerful voice. There's a whole world of pain in the line "people like you find it easy" and the way that it beckons the final, almost twinkling melody. It's all of a piece, really.

It is a nice song but, as you say, it is the vocal performance that makes it resonate down the years.

People scoff when Curtis turns up in polls of great singers and obviously he isn't technically anything special but there is something about his voice that connects with people and affects them.

Do you think that is us projecting his tragic life back on to his vocal performance? If he was still alive and in his 60s guesting with Freebass do you think we would be so affected?

I think there is something about his voice regardless; the way he goes from forlorn to angry on this song is quite mesmerizing; that must be it, he can communicate emotion through his voice very powerfully in a way perhaps few others can and perhaps most others don't even bother trying. He emotionally inhabits the lyrics and we feel that.

[Belle Lettre]

Blimey!

I think he's been reading Dante's Inferno or something.

I do know what he means though, I get a similar thing from it.

Me too. It's heavenly.
Great post from Copey.