Panabrite: The Baroque Atrium

Looking for a soundtrack while you’re reading A Game of Thrones? Have I got the thing for you. Seattle-based Panabrite’s sophomore album The Baroque Atrium might be electronica, but it combines elements of birdsong, dripping water, eerily processed vocoder, folksy classical guitar and elements of New Age and prog along the lines of Tangerine Dream meeting early Genesis. Panabrite being essentially the brainchild of one Norm Chambers, The Baroque Atrium is the kind of thing that sounds like it could have been easily plucked from the mind of George R. R. Martin. It is simply fantastic (in both the literal and figurative senses of the word), and is full of earthly, warm, full-bodied sounds in all of its electronic glory. The bad news is that it is only being produced in a limited edition batch of 300 copies on compact disc, so you’ll want to act fast to get your mitts on this.

However, those who do manage to get their hands on The Baroque Atrium will be treated to a sonic collage of ‘70s-inspired analog electronic music that still manages to seem pixilated in its rendering. Comprised of sonic hues that alternate towards darkness and the light, The Baroque Atrium neatly virtually culminates in the penultimate track “Suite (For Winnie and Roxy)”, which runs an ambitious 17 and a half minutes, and shape-shifts beautifully throughout the runtime – making it seem almost shorter than it actually is. Full of alternating droning and pulsating keyboards and arpeggiated acoustic guitar lines, The Baroque Atrium is both background soundtrack and something that commands rapt attention. With its progressive touches and arty flourishes, maybe someone should get HBO on the horn and get portions of this album used to track a certain series. Winter is coming, indeed.