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simplified: intrigue
LC 12350
:
2021-04-29
:
2022-11-07
Smaller, simpler - but still smart. The seventh release in our sub-series SIMPLIFIED: features a collection of mysterious and suspenseful cuts ranging from neutral to tense. Good for news, documentaries, podcasts, investigations, espionage, ads, branding and image spots.
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VH009501
2:25
Mystery Noir. Constant pulsing and ticking by various instruments suggest a gritty black and white detective story where a triple murder is the only feel-good part of the film. Sultry, breathy saxophones (or a goose with bronchitis) create a throbbing rhythm that morphs into pizzicato strings and glockenspiels suggesting the passage of time or suspenseful waiting. The cut gets dramatic and slightly violent @1:40, with screeching atmospherics and drums, building in complexity and intensity. Good for murders, creating tension or sexy mysteries.
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VH009502
2:17
Sophisticated, Street mystery, perfect for discovering that someone has brutally murdered your entire family and replaced them with a tuxedoed string quartet. A call/answer theme played by a solo violin starts the piece, adding more complexity @:09 as cello and viola join in, adding organ-like synths and a Hip Hop-tinged drum machine. The cut does some other stuff, but I'm sure you've stopped reading by now. Features plenty of stops/starts for dramatic effect and a sense that Professor Plum will hang for this. Good for royal intrigue and highbrow suspense, but that's probably due to the facelifts.
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VH009503
1:39
Thoughtful, dramatic pulsing/shifting tension that works for courtroom dramas, tough decisions or letting Larry know that if he squeals, they'll never find his body. Pulsing percussive thumps (actually a muted/processed toy xylophone), ostinato acoustic piano, swelling tremolando strings and woodwind pads suggest intelligent complexity until a pause @1:01 ushers in a heavier, more dramatic and larger-scale problem, signaled by bellowing low brass/synths and more strident violin arpeggios. Good for news, international conflict, documentaries, environmental issues and keeping Larry quiet.
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VH009504
1:37
From curiosity to concern. Progress and information delivered by sophisticated, elegant-sounding and uptempo staccato chamber strings and tinkly piano that suggest growing tension, like the news being delivered by on-air talent dressed in high-explosive vests. Episodic drums and gothic choir vocal bursts are mixed in, giving the second half of the cut a more driving, imperative feel. @1:07 the cut gets most dramatic with low brass pads, more aggressive drums and choir. Good for suggesting evolution, conflict, important events, world politics or when we finally realize that waging a war on drugs is a horrible idea, because our troops will just get hungry and wander off.
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VH009505
1:41
Semi-dark procedural Mystery Noir. This low-key, laid-back Jazz-tinged, time-is-passing and overly-hyphenated track is perfect for murder mysteries, investigations and exploring a city's seedy underbelly. All the expected elements: pizzicato acoustic upright bass, brushed drums, hesitant acoustic piano, bongos, delayed synthetic percussion and bassoon all create a stop/start sense of intrigue and curiosity.
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VH009506
2:07
Synthetic Hip Hop-tinged technological mystery and internet conspiracy,. A neutral-feeling solo ostinato synth multiplies into more ostinato synths (remember: spay/neuter your synths) with electronic drum machine-like percussion, swirling synth pads and a processed cello suggesting light investigations and robotic progress/evolution combined with human curiosity. The mood intensifies @1:34 when a distorted synth bassline suggests conflict and discomfort.
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VH009507
1:55
Sneaky, inquisitive and almost offensively stereotypical espionage/spy music, which explains the composer's mysterious ricin-related death. This Jazz-tinged track built around laconic 50s-style slapback reverbed electric guitars and a delayed staccato flute line creates a lightly dramatic sense of intrigue while a subtle bed of brushed drums creates forward momentum. @:32 the flute takes a back seat (making me wish I had never offered it a ride) to the Spaghetti Western-like guitar. @1:02 the staccato flute motif returns with the electric guitar getting more strident, suggesting light danger, subtle conflict or even comic mischief. Good for satire/parodies, investigations or heavy-handed subterfuge.
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VH009508
1:45
Neutral-to-positive, glitzy, ultra futuristic/artificial, videogame-esque EDM/Techno Pop that starts with a questioning feel but ends anthemic and uplifting like a really short documentary. This cut starts each of its two sections with arpeggiated synths and harp-like glissandos, getting more propulsive and driving @:15 and @:49 by adding pulsing synth pads, synth bass, four-on-the-floor kick drum, finger snaps, ticking drum machines and (@1:05) a synthetic string lead melody. Good for fashion, glamorous nightlife, celebrations, optimistic technology and having your tiny handbag stolen by an adorably tiny purse snatcher.
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VH009509
3:16
Gentle organic tension. Neutral, serious-minded music for thinking, making decisions or watching grass grow, but be careful as marijuana is still illegal in your state and the last time your cat ate your weed it meowed with a British accent for two weeks. Matter-of-fact, simple and informational, this cut creates a variety of movement-laden beds featuring tuned metal/glass tubes, muted xylophone, electronic drums, processed metal scrapes, cymbals and vocal-like synth accents. @1:27 the beds get more complex and flowing, suggesting progress/forward movement. Good for ecological disasters, news, science/technology and being so high you're disappointed ribbed condoms don't taste like ribs. Crap, the police are here. That was fast.
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VH009510
2:28
Pretty and heartbreakingly delicate, like a moderately depressed gossamer spider web. Neutral to introspectively sad, this acoustic piano-driven track builds from simple to complex, suggesting loss, soft-focus montages, hazy memories, thanks to increased security at his home. Starting with simple delayed acoustic piano and electric bass, the cut grows in tenor adding shimmering synthetic textures, metallic swells and bell-like synths. The mood becomes more hopeful/complicated @1:49 with intertwining electric guitars and electric pianos, suggesting a cure has been found or the problem has gotten worse. Hard to tell.
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VH009511
2:21
The slow dawning of hope. Inquisitive, expectant and investigative cut built around a muted guitar riff originally played by a 6-year old. Starts dark and foreboding with a spare, slightly arrhythmic muted guitar figure, periodic, distant drum hits, and a simple but unhappy piano melody, while an ostinato string noise provides forward motion @:31. The movement stops @:50 while low shifting atmospheric pads and a low-frequency thudding heartbeat-like rhythm create suspense, quiet and the feeling that someone has stolen our pants. The insistent feel returns @1:15 as the pizzicato strings, synth pads and the piano melody all build up to an important-sounding, dramatic, soul-redeeming conclusion. Good for solving mysteries, scientific discoveries and exploring space or one's own belly button, preferably an "innie."
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VH009512
1:45
Dignity meets darkness. Stately and somber chamber strings are modernized and made more dramatic by the addition of electronic kick drum and ticking, tension-provoking drum machines @:28. Good for creating a sense of wealth, sadness or both. A creepier section @1:04 with animalistic distorted electric guitar caterwauls suggests murders, mysteries and a growing feeling that the walls are closing in as the drums get busier and more driving @1:23.
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VH009513
1:37
Gentle environmental concern meets dream-like world/news music, but dream-like as in "I was being chased by a giant banana." A busy, shifting complex carnival of musical ideas that suggests important decisions, intricate plans and that we've been listening to a lot of Peruvian music. The first section is a remix-y but organic collection of phrases from a gas can guitar, processed piano, synths and tuned wooden percussion, creating an uptempo, rolling rhythmic bed. A second section @:30 breaks for a percolating bed of gentle wonder @:30 with delayed marimbas and celeste, suggesting childlike innocence that progressively gets tainted by reality as synth stabs start @:38. The final section of the cut @1:19 combines both, adding driving drums ramping up the tension and movement.
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VH009514
2:11
Soft spoken, slightly threatening and suspenseful Trip Hop-esque passage of time, suggesting you're watching your plans slowly unravel, timelapse footage of a city crumbling to dust or realizing too late that Groupon is no way to pick a brain surgeon (slogan: "I put the "see you!" in ICU!"). Heartbeat-like kick drum and clock-like viola pizzicatos provide the rhythm as elegiac string sound design, piano, bass and distant bells create a winding, harmonically complex dirge that suggests both progress and decay. The mix gets minimal @:28 again, featuring reverbed finger snaps and an expectant feeling of dread. @1:32 a full mix crashes in with a wailing synth siren, giving the impression of either triumph or disaster. Good for tough decisions, ecological disasters or waiting for something bad to happen, like a BOGO craniotomy.
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VH009515
1:54
Even computers get depressed. Dispassionate and cold (although working it out in couple's therapy), this Bach-like cut contrasts a rigidly metered, inflexible, computer-esque synth arpeggio with organic, spare chamber strings that seem like they don't like to cuddle, either. The chiptune-esque, organ-like synths start the cut, adding strings @:08 which create a dreary/bleak mood while string pizzicatos evoke a feeling of time passing and stabby high strings suggest being poked in the eye repeatedly while swelling, scratchy string chords add drama and minor aural dyspepsia. Low bass @:59 amplifies the feeling of discord. Good for dark dystopian settings, environmental collapse, loneliness and technological despair, especially if autocorrect keeps changing the word "collywobbles" to "collywobbles." Dammit.
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VH009516
1:49
Classy, understated suspenseful passage of time. Plans are being made and schemes are being hatched (unless they're warm blooded) all with a low-key sense of progress/expectancy. Pizzicato acoustic bass, electric/acoustic pianos, throbbing delayed synths and an insistent electronic kick drum provide gentle forward momentum as bowed cello/bass swells create tension. A quieter section starting @:32 suggests an almost forlorn sense of isolation and intrigue/sneakiness, with the mood picking up @1:23 when the main mix returns. Good for espionage, suspicious behavior, investigations and mysteries.
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VH009517
2:34
Modern crime story Noir. Gritty, street-smart 70s-tinged Soul-meets-Trip Hop and radio-like sound design create a sense of slick dishonesty and unlawful activities. The cut features a simple electric bass riff, dissonant high frequency sound design, synths, Jungle-like drums, hand claps and electric guitar/organ stabs that suggest someone is planning a heist, smuggling drugs or has started a Passive-Aggressive Fight Club. A haunting, humming vocal starting @:47 brings to mind smoky back rooms, abandoned warehouses and forgotten lyrics. Good for investigations, seedy nightlife and crimes.
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VH009518
1:47
Folk-tinged curiosity/mystery with a modern documentary feel. Intimate and earthy sounds (detuned ukulele, tambourine and accordion) are juxtaposed against decidedly synthetic sounds (a pulsing synth bass, buzzy synths and electronic drums) that combine into a unique, unified sound @1:14 that suggests family/small-town secrets, unexplained phenomena, environmental crises, sneaking/espionage or a spate of murdered goat herders.
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VH009519
2:33
Hopefulness dies a slow and uncomfortable death. Organic, acoustic beauty that begins to deteriorate and fade as dissonance and doubt seep in, like wondering if "things can always get worse" means you're an optimist or a pessimist. A trilling violin and electric guitar suggest sunrise-like positivity until darker-sounding acoustic guitar and string pads @:16 remind you things will not be alright. A banjo-like resonator guitar arpeggio @:31 suggests the sad passage of time as strings, woodwinds and click-like pizzicatos (@1:11) remind us we're doomed for a life of sadness and disappointment. Good for suspicious activity, environmental decay, crimes, small-town mystery and watching our dreams get flushed down the toilet and ultimately clog our pipes.