Music review: the fantasy soundtracks of Baumarius Remastered

by Patch O'Furr

A review request came in from Lucas Masoch:

My new album Baumarius Remastered is an 85-track, 5-hour-long compilation of my work over the years, featuring music that falls within the realm of avant-garde, psychedelic, orchestral soundtrack, epic trailer, post-rock, and world music; often a combination of these. You can listen to the album here on Youtube.

As a confirmed night owl, most of my work happens between midnight and dawn. This is the chilly season for Northern California fog, so I work with a lit fireplace and dogs lounging on fluffy covers nearby. When I put Baumarius on, the cozy level was off the charts.

5 hours of music is great for immersion, but a lot to review. So I used it as background for working with occasional extra attention.

Baumarius Remastered is packed with arboreal, pagan, and fairytale vibes to summon furry creativity. For more than personal listening, it would also be good for a chillout or cuddle space at a party, an art exhibit, a moody video game, or a group art making session. Another Youtube mix of it is labeled: Calming Fantasy & Adventure Music for Writing, Sleep, & Emotional Inspiration.

Art by RavenGearProduction / SheilaGrace

Even with 85 tracks to pick from, the whole album is very consistent — all of them are a few minutes long, using a familiar palette of smooth, digitally-perfect orchestral sounds. I could slide in like a warm pool and never get distracted while soaking it up.

What can I say about it critically? Don’t expect anything like pop singles. The transitions from piece to piece are seamless and the whole experience meanders, but it’s like playing hooky to wander in the woods because you want to. Between overly pompous or trivially whimsical extremes, I think it hits the right balance without overstaying its welcome. I like some avant-garde music (Cabaret Voltaire is one of my forever favorites) and I would classify this as more like comfort food than experiments with itchy dissonance and sound collage, or signature production style. Not that I’d expect it to be what it isn’t; it’s the opposite of funky, but sometimes your ass needs to settle down so you can think. As a non-musician, all I could ask for in future work is to go beyond playing with a nice palette of sounds, and emphazise compositions with direction and solid motifs that your ears can grab. There’s a lot of forest, but can we see the trees?

Notes on a few tracks:

  • 59. Finding Self. A dissonant ending.
  • 61. Dreaming Together. Hiccup strings.
  • 62. Losing Paradise. Nervous energy and clock chimes in a speedup tempo.
  • 66. Mindhacker. Slippy slidy whistle and cello.
  • 68. Ghostwing. Stormy weather.
  • 69. In Control. A bit all over the place actually, with a piano crash thrown in.
  • 73. Into the Heart of the Beast. Arresting opening like a slightly ominous chorus of swamp creatures at night.
  • 77. The Escape. The echoey string layers give it extra space.
  • 80. Thunderstruck. Electricity buzzes, crackles and surges.

Try making art with this on and share it to the musician, I’m sure it would get a great response!

Artist bio and links:

Lucas Masoch is a Puerto Rican multimedia artist and synesthete who specializes in creating avant-garde orchestral soundtracks and music-based synesthetic visual effects. He has two musical acts, known as Baumarius and Syamori, which have influences from genres such as trailer and soundtrack music, psychedelic music, trip hop, and EDM. He began his creative journey in self-isolation at the age of 14, exploring mediums such as writing, inking, digital art, 3D modeling, and virtual reality in an effort to find ways to express himself. That journey eventually brought him the courage and opportunity to leave his family at 19, ditching their doomsday cult to live among strangers halfway across the United States. Recovering from the environmental and social deprivation the cult provided was no easy feat, but now he thrives among friends and resides in Pennsylvania with his partner Marroh.

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