Soundtrack to a Vacant Life

Infobox Album
Name = Soundtrack to a Vacant Life
Type = studio
Artist = The Flashbulb


Released = Start date|2008|1|29
Recorded =
Genre = IDM
Length = 70:37
Label = Alphabasic
Producer = Benn Jordan
Reviews =
* [http://www.headphonecommute.com/exclusive/conversations_with_benn_jordan.htm Headphone Commute]
Last album = "Flexing Habitual"
(2006)
This album = "Soundtrack to a Vacant Life"
(2008)
Next album =

"Soundtrack to a Vacant Life" is the eighth studio album by The Flashbulb (Benn Jordan), released in 2008.

The track "Suspended in a Sunbeam" contains an excerpt from Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot", which may serve as a prelude to Jordan's following album of the same name.

Track listing

# "Prelude" – 1:09
# "Kirlian Voyager" – 2:24
# "Steel for Pappa" – 1:16
# "Dirt Bikes and Street Vendors" – 1:55
# "Bodies in the House Next Door" – 1:17
# "Forbidden Tracks" – 3:15
# "Sunset Dept." – 1:17
# "Someone" – 2:27
# "La Tristesse Durera Toujours" – 2:00
# "That Missing Week" – 3:52
# "Remember Tomorrow" – 3:14
# "The First Rain and You" – 2:38
# "Warm Hands in Cold Fog" – 2:43
# "Near the Woods" – 2:19
# "Sunshine" – 3:21
# "No Running Water" – 1:59
# "Leaving Georgia" – 2:04
# "Severed" – 2:06
# "Vicious Circle" – 2:23
# "Swollen Trees" – 2:28
# "Submerged Renewed" – 3:05
# "Hello Mr. Tree" – 2:05
# "I Believed in God" – 2:19
# "Pine Ridge, SD" – 1:05
# "That Final Week" – 2:25
# "Returning Flight Theme" – 1:56
# "Floating Through Time" – 1:48
# "Highway One" – 2:28
# "Hello, I'm Benn" – 2:01
# "Suspended in a Sunbeam" – 2:19
# "When the Sky Ends" – 2:59

Online distribution

As of February 1, 2008, the album has also been released in MP3 and FLAC formats on several private trackers with the following message:

Hello listener...downloader...pirate...pseudo-criminal...
If you can read this, then you've more than likely downloaded this album from a peer to peer network or torrent.
You probably expect the rest of this message to tell you that you're hurting musicians and breaking just about every copyright law in the book. Well, it won't tell you that.

What I would like to tell you is that my record label understands that a large portion of people pirate music because it is easier than buying it. CDs scratch easily, most pay-per-download sites have poor quality and shitty DRM protection, and vinyl is near impossible to find or ship without hassle.
In many cases I wonder why people buy CDs at all anymore. A few like the tangible artwork, some haven't adapted to MP3s yet, but most do it because they have a profound love for music and want to support the artists making it. Kind of restores your faith in humanity for a moment eh?

So, now what?
Like the album? About to go "support the artist" on iTunes?
Well, don't.
Alphabasic is currently in a legal battle against Apple because NONE of our material (Sublight Records included) receives a dime of royalty from the vast amount of sales iTunes has generated using our material.

Want to buy a CD just to show your support?
If you don't particularly like CDs, don't bother.
Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon spike the price so high that their cut is often 8 times higher than the artist's. Besides, most CDs are made out of unrecyclable plastic and leave a nasty footprint in your environment.

If you do particularly like CDs, buy them from the label (in our case, alphabasic.com). After manufacturing costs are recuperated, our artists usually receive over 90% of the actual money coming out of your wallet.
In addition, all of our physical products are made out of 100% recycled material.

Want to show your support?
Go here and browse our library of lossless, DRM-free downloads.
Already have that?
Then feel free to donate whatever you want to your favorite artist. 100% will go directly to them.
Hell, you can even donate a penny just to thank the artist.

If you really like 'The Flashbulb - Soundtrack To A Vacant Life' and want to show your support without it going to greedy retailers, distributors, and coked-up label reps, then click the button below.
[http://www.alphabasic.com/index2.htm http://www.alphabasic.com/index2.htm]
If you send us your mailing address, Alphabasic may occasionally send you various goodies (overstocks, stickers, even rare CDs) in appreciation and encouragement for your support.
Thanks for reading.
Who knows if my little business plan here will work to fund new releases, but even failure is better than the crappy label/distributor/retailer system musicians have suffered from for over 50 years.
We hope you enjoy the music as much as we do releasing it.
Finally, if you plan on sharing this release, please include this file. The only reason it is here is to show the listener where he can support his favorite artists!

Benn Jordan
CEO - Alphabasic Records

References

* http://www.discogs.com/release/1218041