1 Mile North - Glass Wars
(Old Colony)
Mellow music comes in two varieties. Some can totally bring you down, changing your mood from pure stress to pure relaxation, while other types, while still being equally great, will only accentuate mellowness.
My first experience listening to Glass Wars, 1 Mile North's debut release was on my headphones while taking the bus home from work. After a long day's work filled with stress, I thought something mellow might really help me slow down. Instead, as I listened to their beautiful mix of clean, slow picked guitar, quiet humming keyboards, and subtle, almost subconscious use of samples and field recordings, I got more and more frustrated and impatient. Sitting uncomfortably on the bus bench, I skipped from one song to the next, letting each play for only a few moments before skipping forward again. The bus ride seemed to take forever, and I was even more high-strung by the time I got home.
A few weeks later, I gave myself another chance to listen to Glass Wars, and I was pleasantly shocked by how differently the music affected me. The patient, repetitive guitar and keyboard melodies, interlocking and flowing together so beautifully, were breathtaking and mesmerizing. Lying in bed, I listened to the album over and over; perfectly relaxed, absorbing each guitar note, keyboard sound, and all of the atmospheric spaces within the songs.
Ever since my second experience with Glass Wars, it has stayed in my CD changer and gets played on an almost daily basis. And while it's not the type of album you want to hear when you are trying to relax after a stressful day on the job, it's the perfect album to listen to when you've already relaxed and enjoying the rest of the day.
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