Julian Brink: Utility Music

by Matt DeMerritt, Joe Auckland, Nick Revel

Overview

Composer Julian Brink, originally from South Africa, came to Los Angeles and married his original post-minimalist style to the film soundtrack medium, with several intriguing results. Utility Music is his first album of music independent of films. The title is a translation of the German Gebrauchsmusik, which also carries a connotation of music for use in a given situation; here, that situation was the COVID-19 pandemic, and the musicians involved were recorded in their own spaces in various parts of the world. The music was reworked from an abandoned film score, and it still carries overtones of film music in the short, evocative titles ("Eastwood No. 4," "Baptism in the Field") given to some of the tracks. Brink's procedure in adapting the music to its current format is intriguing and shaped the final product. He boiled the music down to a core of piano, harp, and string trio and then modified that, either adding other improvising instruments or subtracting from it. The end result is an attractive group of short pieces with more variety than most others of their ilk, yet retaining the basic focus of the style. One hopes to hear more non-film-related music from this composer. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	10/28/2022
Label:	SONO LUMINUS
UPC:	0053479702722

Tracks

1. Utility Music~Colombo / Green Fingers
2. Utility Music~Miniatures
3. Utility Music~Simple Trio
4. Utility Music~Eventually Lapse
5. Utility Music~Albatross
6. Utility Music~At Night
7. Utility Music~Eastwood No. 4
8. Utility Music~Simple Trio II
9. Utility Music~Aura for M
10. Utility Music~Baptism in the Field
11. Utility Music~Pattern Shells

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Joe Auckland   Primary Artist,Trumpet
Nick Revel   Primary Artist,Viola
Matt DeMerritt   Primary Artist,Woodwind
Max Gaertner   Percussion,Vibraphone
Meredith Moore   French Horn
Tyler Neidermayer   Clarinet
Dan-Iulian Drutac   Violin
Julian Brink   Various Instruments
Hanna Rabe   Harp
Juliane Gralle   Brass
Joe Zeitlin   Cello
Gabe Noel   Bass

Technical Credits

Dominic McHenry   Cover Art
Gabriella Seemann   Design
Max Gaertner   Engineer
Meredith Moore   Engineer
Dan-Iulian Drutac   Engineer
Julian Brink   Orchestration,Producer,Engineer,Composer
Joshua Frey   Design
Hanna Rabe   Engineer
Nick Revel   Engineer
Juliane Gralle   Engineer
Joe Zeitlin   Engineer
Gabe Noel   Engineer
Tyler Neidermayer   Engineer
Brian Losch   Mixing
Joe Auckland   Engineer
Matt DeMerritt   Engineer
Daniel Shores   Mastering