Blue Foundation – In My Mind I Am Free
Dead People’s Choice
May 22, 2012

Blue Foundation  = Tobias Wilner and Bo Rande.

Tobias Wilner and Bo Rande = Art House Musical Composers (According to their biography)

Art House Musical Composers = A bad omen for the listener.

A bad omen for the listener = This duo is gonna think they’re way too cool for you.

Blue Foundation certainly try to channel that space in our brains that process dreams, just as many art house films would attempt to do.  This music is atmospheric.  It floats.  Turn the lights off, light some candles, and close your eyes.  For half of you, In My Mind I Am Free is going to do just that; set your free.  Free to relax, meditate, and possibly come to a self realization of, simply put, yourself.

The other half of us will either be 1) already asleep, or 2) begging to turn the lights on to get some energy up in this joint!  You already know which side I would be falling on.  Hey, where’s my Drive Like Jehu record?  I know it’s around here somewhere.  I suddenly have a hankerin’ for it.  Wait, I can’t find it.  Um, I need it now….NOW!

Alright, let’s get real here.  It’s not all bad.  Certainly not.

It’s worth noting that if you’re reading this and thinking, “Blue Foundation…why does that sound familiar?”, there is one reason in particular you may know them.  How about a song called Eyes On Fire?  How about a little movie franchise called…Twilight?  No, I haven’t seen the films, but this song was featured on the soundtrack, and I certainly was a fan.  We won’t find Eyes On Fire here, but it’s worth seeking out with it’s dreamy vocals and signature bluesy guitar work.  It’s simple.  It’s memorable.

You won’t find that type of guitar work anywhere on this 2012 release, which is a shame.  Blue Foundation’s brand of dream pop and synth-heavy songwriting has many ups and downs.  There are moments of awe to really admire, but to outnumber them, there are simply more moments of longevity where the instrumentation simply drones on, without doing anything to draw us in.  It’s the neverending cycle with synthy-dream-pop bands.  How do you make a record that can make you feel totally relaxed, but not put you down for the count?

It’s not necessary to point out individual songs here, besides the “two track” recommendation that is at the bottom of each of my reviews.  Most of these songs will rest with you the same way.  An example:  Imagine a pendulum swinging back and forth, but only in slow motion.  When it alines over the equilibrium position, the music is sonically perfect to your ear.  Blue Foundation accomplishes this.  Most of these songs have some great sonic soundscapes.  However, the pendulum may hover over the equilibrium for a couple moments, but then it slowly starts to creep to the outer banks, becoming lost in some overextended idea that tends to forget why it went there in the first place.  Seven out of the eleven songs here are five minutes plus, and with that, Blue Foundation can’t help but get lost in their own heads sometimes.  They have good ideas, but they need to be condensed.  The peak of the swing is simply too high.  The amplitude needs to be decreased so they can hover around their better ideas, instead of drifting off into some uncharted (and uninteresting) territory.

Like you music louder?  I think you’ll probably pass on this.  Like your music softer?  I think you may be into it – maybe.

5/10

If you had to listen to two tracks:  Ground Control / Lost