Comin’ up on the home stretch now. Genesis Frog, a solo album by Alexander Rosetti, is up next.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Marina.
A solid, subdued introduction. Starts off with a light touch, establishing the recurring theme with a single clarinet. It sets up the next passage superbly.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Marina.
This track serves as a pretty strong anchor for the album. It really establishes the main theme well (especially near the end, love those booming timpani). The little passage that starts around 0:45 has a great lullaby quality to it.
By Alexander Rosetti. Includes “Sarabande” by Erik “Jit” Scheele
Track art by Rikuru.
Continues the thoughts established in the first two tracks on the album, with a little more variation in pace. Lots of slow, reverent strings. The symphonic turn on Sarabande in the second half is fantastic.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Rikuru.
I really like the oboe intro that establishes the main melody. It’s a passage dominated by the woodwinds, with a slow rise in pace and energy throughout. Except for that violin solo right around the halfway mark, which is splendid.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Marina.
It’s only a short segment of a song, and I felt that a cross-fandom picture would describe it better than words.
By Alexander Rosetti. Includes “Atomyk Ebonpyre” by Toby “Radiation” Fox.
Track art by Marina.
I never thought I’d say this, but the crocodile nakking is both hilarious and well done. You can almost feel the tension in the room as the consorts slowly realize that some coolkid jacked their economy and stole all their boonbucks. Confusion turns to panic. Shenanigans ensue. It is the perfect crime.
The rest of the song is a terribly catchy romp, with the ridiculous energy of Orpheus in the Underworld.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Rikuru.
This song’s a great example of the album’s ‘voice’, so to speak. There’s a very operatic back and forth between the various groups of instruments, and it’s a technique that shows up several times throughout the album.
Apart from that, this song blows past my ability to name the individual woodwinds (I had to cheat and look at the liner notes: it ranges from flute on the high side to contrabassoon on the low, with just about everything in between). The strings add a really catchy melody, especially near the end.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Rikuru.
Like Pink Shells, this one starts off slow-paced. It’s very similar to that song, up until the bagpipes kick in around 1:45. One of my favorite stand-alone melodies in the album.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Marina (poor Jade).
Kind of a leisurely, Baroque chase scene, off and on. My favorite part’s the variations on the main ‘Pondsquatter’ theme near the end (especially that march bit).
By Alexander Rosetti. Includes “Black” by Toby “Radiation” Fox.
Track art by Rikuru.
Most of the album gives off a very positive vibe: this track’s a little more brooding, a little more dramatic. Even apart from the staccato, chanted march cover of Black, there’s a great sense of tension throughout. The hook from Prospitian Folklore gets turned on its head when it’s done in electric guitar instead of an orchestra.
By Alexander Rosetti
Track art by Marina and Rikuru.
If you get a chance and you own the album, have a read through in the liner notes PDF that comes with it. Alexander Rosetti describes the setting he’s trying to accomplish, the story he’s trying to tell, with every song. This one follows the destruction in Bilious, and all that’s left is a sole clarinet melody, caught in the wind of a vast emptiness. Crushed but not yet destroyed, like a fern emerging from the ashes of a forest fire.
RATING: 9 / 13 – “Shucks, buster, sign me up!”
Sit back, relax, and dim the lights. The symphony’s in town.
Like Sburb, this is less a collection of tracks and more a single hour-long concerto. But this album has a much greater scope. It’s ambitious, and the sound is superb. No danger of falling into that ‘uncanny valley’ of sampled instrumentation here – you may as well be sitting in the back of a hushed auditorium. It’s an absolutely professional production.
And I can’t help but like some of the specific choices Mr. Rosetti made in his compositions. He really tends to lay on the woodwinds. As a lapsed saxophone player, I can appreciate that.
With a strong main overture, the album is downright operatic in construction. Between the music, the cover art (which is fantastic and really coherent with the album), and the liner notes, the roots of a story are told. All of these details serve well to reinforce the idea of a stage production.
I don’t consider myself a really deep fan of classical music (though I do listen from time to time, especially 19th century era romantic composers like Rossini and Tchaikovsky). Over the course of a few months, I listened to this album many times, and I found myself liking it better and better with each play.