Frequency Drift - Letters To Maro (2017)
Frequency Drift - Letters To Maro (2017)
EAC | Flac(Image) + Cue + Log & MP3 CBR 320Kbps
2018 | Gentle Art Of Music, GAOM 056 | RU | ~ 357 or 145 Mb | Scans(jpg) -> 4.11 Mb
Progressive Rock | Unofficial Release
EAC | Flac(Image) + Cue + Log & MP3 CBR 320Kbps
2018 | Gentle Art Of Music, GAOM 056 | RU | ~ 357 or 145 Mb | Scans(jpg) -> 4.11 Mb
Progressive Rock | Unofficial Release
“This is interesting” is a phrase that can easily go two ways. Oftentimes we say it in order to acknowledge that something is unlike anything we’ve heard, but with the subtext that we’re really not hoping to hear it again. Such is not the case with Letters to Maro, the new album from Frequency Drift. With this album the listener will be treated to a fresh approach that, while often restrained and atmospheric, never fails to actively ensnare the eavesdropper. This “trap” is frequently achieved through clever songwriting with interesting arrangements, providing hooks more often than your typical chorus. I think through the opening title track and follow up “Underground” you’ll already hear what I’m talking about.
The album doesn’t feature any overly amazing feats on one particular instrument yet excels in how well it weaves instrumentation together in each track. Along with keys, guitars, and bass, Andreas Hack also plays mandolin. Nerissa Schwarz handles the electric harp and mellotron in addition to more common synthesizers. Drummer Wolfgang Ostermann, aside from a normal kit plays something called a wavedrum. I’ll admit, I had no clue what that was until watching an instructional video, but in any case, it’s another gun in the arsenal of a band with a slim three instrumentalists. Because of the interplay of these folks it’s no surprise that Irini Alexa is the star of this album, simply because every bit of the beautiful singing heard can easily be attributed to her. Though the vocals are often layered in a way that would be impossible to pull off live without backing tracks or other technological trickery, I don’t have to worry about that when listening to the album. She matches the music well at all times, and with a variety of different approaches, never failing to be haunting and clear. It’ll take many more spins before the swinging section in the song “Electricity” fails to enchant me, primarily because of her work. This would also be the one major departure from my chorus comment earlier, but the song still has plenty to back up its amazing refrain, and as such is sure to be a fan favorite.
A little more dense than some of the other tacks, “Izanami” is a great example through its first half of lead and background sounds weaved together as bass, drums, and vocals break through out front while other instruments subtly fill in behind to give the song a special sound. The latter half shifts focus and features several of the before mentioned instruments, including a lovely use of the harp. You’ll find this kind of work all over the smoothly paced landscape that is Letters to Maro. Near the end of the album “Who’s Master?”, which again features Irini’s vocals and is another favorite, also happens to have the longest run time on the album at over nine minutes. With most of the album featuring mid-length pieces it’s great to hear the band’s style applied to this longer form.
The sound of this album is very warm and modern, with things so precise and clear if there was any complaint it’s that it runs the risk of being overproduced to the point of sounding processed. With the often instrumentally thinner style of the album this production does help filling in the space that might otherwise sound a little vacant. While I’d say that the album may lack standout tracks, aside from the aforementioned “Electricity”, it’s more due to the entire album being an enthralling cohesive listen than anything being subpar. One could say that perhaps that aforementioned track breaks the flow of the album just as easily as they could say it’s a star song.
I know prog isn’t pop, but you’re still going to have to forego some of the regular hooks and dig a bit deeper to enjoy this album. That said I think it’s certainly worth the effort and the more attentive listening to experience one of the better “interesting” albums that we’ll get this year.By NICK ANDREAS
Frequency Drift - Letters To Maro (2017):
Frequency Drift - Letters To Maro (2017)
Tracklist:
01. Dear Maro 06:22
02. Underground 05:02
03. Electricity 04:53
04. Neon 06:10
05. Deprivation 03:36
06. Izanami 05:09
07. Nine 06:10
08. Escalator 04:27
09. Sleep Paralysis 06:04
10. Who's Master 09:17
11. Ghosts When It Rains 03:05
Musicians:
Irini Alexia - vocals
Andreas Hack - keys, synths, guitar, bass, mandolin
Nerissa Schwarz - electric harp, mellotron, synths
Wolfgang Ostermann - drums, wavedrum
Michael Bauer - guitar on tracks 1,10
Converted to Image (CUETools 2.1.4)
Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015
EAC extraction logfile from 26. June 2018, 20:31
Frequency Drift / Letters To Maro
Used drive : TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-224DB Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\win64\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 6:22.30 | 0 | 28679
2 | 6:22.30 | 5:02.31 | 28680 | 51360
3 | 11:24.61 | 4:52.74 | 51361 | 73334
4 | 16:17.60 | 6:09.39 | 73335 | 101048
5 | 22:27.24 | 3:35.67 | 101049 | 117240
6 | 26:03.16 | 5:09.06 | 117241 | 140421
7 | 31:12.22 | 6:10.17 | 140422 | 168188
8 | 37:22.39 | 4:26.61 | 168189 | 188199
9 | 41:49.25 | 6:03.40 | 188200 | 215464
10 | 47:52.65 | 9:16.40 | 215465 | 257204
11 | 57:09.30 | 3:05.04 | 257205 | 271083
Track 1
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\01 Dear Maro.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B56635D0
Copy CRC B56635D0
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [1DB32D87], AccurateRip returned [763383DA] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\02 Underground.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.0 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 7AE5A175
Copy CRC 7AE5A175
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [BF78F107], AccurateRip returned [CFDD21CD] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\03 Electricity.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 02427710
Copy CRC 02427710
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [85BB3E36], AccurateRip returned [E0C33280] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\04 Neon.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.4 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 73AAFFFD
Copy CRC 73AAFFFD
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [80D104D2], AccurateRip returned [B878B254] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\05 Deprivation.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC DE88EAFD
Copy CRC DE88EAFD
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [E38168F9], AccurateRip returned [1A0BA895] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\06 Izanami.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.5 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 77727AF2
Copy CRC 77727AF2
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [B63C5B88], AccurateRip returned [DA196FB9] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\07 Nine.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1989CF87
Copy CRC 1989CF87
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [958B5E13], AccurateRip returned [1EC34020] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\08 Escalator.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B4068895
Copy CRC B4068895
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [D6A2C8BA], AccurateRip returned [EF00A7AC] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\09 Sleep Paralysis.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.9 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC C9358A35
Copy CRC C9358A35
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [EA426028], AccurateRip returned [EC06313D] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\10 Who's Master.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 852853EB
Copy CRC 852853EB
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [B5A2B1D2], AccurateRip returned [114F6DC6] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\11 Ghosts When It Rains.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C66C89E3
Copy CRC C66C89E3
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [1528ED34], AccurateRip returned [33E4F0C0] (AR v2)
Copy OK
No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
No errors occurred
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: HdX5wshU5dPmugNslNCYsoo0ttE-] found
Submit result: HdX5wshU5dPmugNslNCYsoo0ttE- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
2 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
3 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
4 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
5 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
6 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
7 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
8 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
9 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
10 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
11 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum E4B6B09FC30DC1DF58265D07C3B44BC0CE188A41A421C623B7C8C3A6DC26D585 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 26. June 2018, 20:31
Frequency Drift / Letters To Maro
Used drive : TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-224DB Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\win64\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 6:22.30 | 0 | 28679
2 | 6:22.30 | 5:02.31 | 28680 | 51360
3 | 11:24.61 | 4:52.74 | 51361 | 73334
4 | 16:17.60 | 6:09.39 | 73335 | 101048
5 | 22:27.24 | 3:35.67 | 101049 | 117240
6 | 26:03.16 | 5:09.06 | 117241 | 140421
7 | 31:12.22 | 6:10.17 | 140422 | 168188
8 | 37:22.39 | 4:26.61 | 168189 | 188199
9 | 41:49.25 | 6:03.40 | 188200 | 215464
10 | 47:52.65 | 9:16.40 | 215465 | 257204
11 | 57:09.30 | 3:05.04 | 257205 | 271083
Track 1
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\01 Dear Maro.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B56635D0
Copy CRC B56635D0
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [1DB32D87], AccurateRip returned [763383DA] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\02 Underground.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.0 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 7AE5A175
Copy CRC 7AE5A175
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [BF78F107], AccurateRip returned [CFDD21CD] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\03 Electricity.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 02427710
Copy CRC 02427710
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [85BB3E36], AccurateRip returned [E0C33280] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\04 Neon.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.4 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 73AAFFFD
Copy CRC 73AAFFFD
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [80D104D2], AccurateRip returned [B878B254] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\05 Deprivation.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC DE88EAFD
Copy CRC DE88EAFD
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [E38168F9], AccurateRip returned [1A0BA895] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\06 Izanami.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.5 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 77727AF2
Copy CRC 77727AF2
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [B63C5B88], AccurateRip returned [DA196FB9] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\07 Nine.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1989CF87
Copy CRC 1989CF87
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [958B5E13], AccurateRip returned [1EC34020] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\08 Escalator.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B4068895
Copy CRC B4068895
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [D6A2C8BA], AccurateRip returned [EF00A7AC] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\09 Sleep Paralysis.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 2.9 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC C9358A35
Copy CRC C9358A35
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [EA426028], AccurateRip returned [EC06313D] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\10 Who's Master.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 852853EB
Copy CRC 852853EB
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [B5A2B1D2], AccurateRip returned [114F6DC6] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename F:\Sket4er\Frequency Drift – Letters To Maro 2018\11 Ghosts When It Rains.wav
Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 3.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C66C89E3
Copy CRC C66C89E3
Cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 1) [1528ED34], AccurateRip returned [33E4F0C0] (AR v2)
Copy OK
No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
No errors occurred
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: HdX5wshU5dPmugNslNCYsoo0ttE-] found
Submit result: HdX5wshU5dPmugNslNCYsoo0ttE- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
2 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
3 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
4 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
5 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
6 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
7 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
8 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
9 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
10 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
11 | (4/4) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum E4B6B09FC30DC1DF58265D07C3B44BC0CE188A41A421C623B7C8C3A6DC26D585 ====
[CUETools log; Date: 04.07.2018 16:34:56; Version: 2.1.5]
[AccurateRip ID: 001899c7-00d534ae-a90e1e0b] found.
Track [ CRC | V2 ] Status
01 [93c1499e|1db32d87] (0+0/1) No match
02 [4935bfa6|bf78f107] (0+0/1) No match
03 [784ca8c2|85bb3e36] (0+0/1) No match
04 [44926a6b|80d104d2] (0+0/1) No match
05 [b299e24b|e38168f9] (0+0/1) No match
06 [21f61747|b63c5b88] (0+0/1) No match
07 [f524a149|958b5e13] (0+0/1) No match
08 [4fdc8289|d6a2c8ba] (0+0/1) No match
09 [ce7ea87c|ea426028] (0+0/1) No match
10 [fde62259|b5a2b1d2] (0+0/1) No match
11 [4c8fc27c|1528ed34] (0+0/1) No match
Offsetted by 6:
01 [ef4a8f8c] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
02 [5bfc84fe] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
03 [d59d68ea] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
04 [7f1f0a39] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
05 [ead58291] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
06 [4842bb73] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
07 [81472e03] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
08 [6a5626cd] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
09 [d320d3d4] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
10 [5df714a1] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
11 [6cbdf06c] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
Track Peak [ CRC32 ] [W/O NULL] [ LOG ]
– 96,5 [19E75622] [BB916DD8]
01 96,5 [B56635D0] [C182CFC4] CRC32
02 96,5 [7AE5A175] [235602A2] CRC32
03 96,5 [02427710] [3CB14265] CRC32
04 96,5 [73AAFFFD] [36AD4157] CRC32
05 96,5 [DE88EAFD] [6AA6F029] CRC32
06 96,5 [77727AF2] [0C99CAB7] CRC32
07 96,5 [1989CF87] [9FCFEEB6] CRC32
08 96,5 [B4068895] [8C6EC410] CRC32
09 96,5 [C9358A35] [50CF870E] CRC32
10 96,5 [852853EB] [14219ADB] CRC32
11 96,5 [C66C89E3] [D928E23C] CRC32
[AccurateRip ID: 001899c7-00d534ae-a90e1e0b] found.
Track [ CRC | V2 ] Status
01 [93c1499e|1db32d87] (0+0/1) No match
02 [4935bfa6|bf78f107] (0+0/1) No match
03 [784ca8c2|85bb3e36] (0+0/1) No match
04 [44926a6b|80d104d2] (0+0/1) No match
05 [b299e24b|e38168f9] (0+0/1) No match
06 [21f61747|b63c5b88] (0+0/1) No match
07 [f524a149|958b5e13] (0+0/1) No match
08 [4fdc8289|d6a2c8ba] (0+0/1) No match
09 [ce7ea87c|ea426028] (0+0/1) No match
10 [fde62259|b5a2b1d2] (0+0/1) No match
11 [4c8fc27c|1528ed34] (0+0/1) No match
Offsetted by 6:
01 [ef4a8f8c] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
02 [5bfc84fe] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
03 [d59d68ea] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
04 [7f1f0a39] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
05 [ead58291] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
06 [4842bb73] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
07 [81472e03] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
08 [6a5626cd] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
09 [d320d3d4] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
10 [5df714a1] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
11 [6cbdf06c] (0/1) No match (V2 was not tested)
Track Peak [ CRC32 ] [W/O NULL] [ LOG ]
– 96,5 [19E75622] [BB916DD8]
01 96,5 [B56635D0] [C182CFC4] CRC32
02 96,5 [7AE5A175] [235602A2] CRC32
03 96,5 [02427710] [3CB14265] CRC32
04 96,5 [73AAFFFD] [36AD4157] CRC32
05 96,5 [DE88EAFD] [6AA6F029] CRC32
06 96,5 [77727AF2] [0C99CAB7] CRC32
07 96,5 [1989CF87] [9FCFEEB6] CRC32
08 96,5 [B4068895] [8C6EC410] CRC32
09 96,5 [C9358A35] [50CF870E] CRC32
10 96,5 [852853EB] [14219ADB] CRC32
11 96,5 [C66C89E3] [D928E23C] CRC32
Frequency Drift - Letters To Maro (2017)
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