The digital age proves again and again that it can be a great catalyst for creative ways to deal with a given source material. The DVD audio commentary, which was supposed to be the actual focus of this series, is one of those ways. But how about a commentary for a music album? Gavin Castleton has done just that, and it’s pretty awesome.*
Castleton’s 2009 album Home is a concept album, on which he autobiographically works through the beginnings of a failed six year relationship and then introduces – a zombie attack, from which he is eventually saved by – beetles. As crazy as that sounds, it actually makes for a great art pop album with lots of hooks over intricate rhythmic arrangements.
On his home page, Castleton has now included the possibility to listen to the album in full – with audio commentary. In the commentary, he not only explains what musical influences went into which part of the album and why. He also gives some more background on the events of the story and how he tried to reflect them in the music. One rarely gets a chance to have an artist talk the listener through a piece of music like that. It is well worth listening to for everyone who likes to investigate creative processes while they are unfolding in front of his eyes, or ears in this case.
* He is probably not the first, but the first one that I took note of.
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