''To Feel Embraced'' is a 2020 studio album by American
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
group
Sparkle Division
Sparkle Division is an American electronic music group composed of composers William Basinski, Preston Wendel, and Gary Thomas Wright.
The album is a concept album centred around two naïve female interns attending a fictional party at a Hollywo ...
.
Reception
Editors at
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Paul Simpson writing that "the album's sound is a
Brainfeeder
Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, ...
-like mélange of cosmic jazz, crumpled hip-hop beats, and atmospheric textures, flowing from brassy lounge cut-ups to blunted psychedelic funk" and the music "is celebratory rather than mournful, channeling the positive, creative energy of these spirits and honoring the fleeting miracle of life".
Luke Cartledge of ''
Loud and Quiet
''Loud and Quiet'' is a British bi-monthly music magazine that focuses on new music from underground indie, alternative, electronic and hip hop artists.
History and profile
The magazine was founded in January 2005 by Stuart Stubbs as a home-print ...
'' scored this album 10 out of 10, writing "the unobtrusive conventions of 21st century ambient music, and particularly the more vaporwave-adjacent strands of the contemporary classical canon, are upended, their glazed inertia replaced by a maximalist approach to you relax, a good time out of you rather than allowing some more abstract euphoria to do the heavy lifting".
Writing for ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'', Madison Bloom rated ''To Feel Embraced'' a 7.6 out of 10, stating that it "is not a project that promotes stasis in any way shape or form" and it is "an album of serious artists making music that is more concerned with immediate joy and emotional exploration than decay or deep space".
Track listing
#"You Go Girl!" – 1:24
#"You Ain't Takin' My Man" – 4:14
#"For Gato" – 3:06
#"Oh Henry!" – 4:20
#"To the Stars Major Tom" – 2:46
#"Oh No You Did Not!" – 4:04
#"To Feel" – 6:07
#"To Feel Embraced" – 3:08
#"Slappin' Yo Face" – 1:26
#"Mmmmkayy I'm Goin' Out Now and I Don't Want Any Trouble from You!" – 3:24
#"Queenie Got Her Blues" – 1:06
#"Sparkle On Sad Sister Mother Queen" – 1:46
#"No Exit" – 4:31
Personnel
Sparkle Division
*
William Basinski
William James Basinski (born June 25, 1958) is an American avant-garde composer based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist.
Basinski is best known for his four-volume album '' The Dis ...
–
art direction
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...
,
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
,
executive production
*
Preston Wendel
Preston or Prestons may refer to:
Places Australia
*Preston, Victoria
**City of Preston (Victoria)
**Electoral district of Preston
**Preston railway station, Melbourne
* Preston, Queensland, Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley regions
*Preston, Queens ...
–
mixing, production, art direction
Additional personnel
*Molly Kaplan – art direction, design, layout
*Bo Kondren –
mastering
*Nolan Thies –
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
See also
*
2020 in American music
The following is a list of events and releases that happened in 2020 in music in the United States.
Events January
*10 – Selena Gomez released her first studio album in nearly five years, '' Rare''.
**Echosmith released their first studio ...
*
List of 2020 albums
The following is a list of albums, Extended play, EPs, and mixtapes released in 2020. These albums are (1) original, i.e. excluding reissues, remasters, and Compilation album, compilations of previously released recordings, and (2) WP:MUS, not ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2020 albums
Sparkle Division albums
Temporary Residence Limited albums