A Review of the Album ``Always Be Running II: A Netrunner Album'' by Tripp Mirror

Under review is another album of music I've heard, available for listening and purchase on Bandcamp:
https://trippmirror.bandcamp.com/album/always-be-running-ii-a-netrunner-album

I recall not how I noticed this album, based on a card game by the name ``Android: Netrunner'' about
a dystopian future, but I've enjoyed the music this artist has made about those different syndicates
in the game.  I couldn't bring myself to review that first album in this series, because this second
is so much better and the songs with much more variety.  I'll choose to review the third afterwards.

The album entries follow ordered by my preference, their names, their durations, and album ordering:

                           Special Report [NBN] 03:29 3
> Ice Carver [Anarch] (feat. Alpha Chrome Yayo) 03:22 5
>                  Armed Intimidation [Weyland] 03:25 4
>                  Bifrost Array [Haas Bioroid] 02:52 1
>                         Lotus Field [Jinteki] 03:36 2
=                            Legwork [Criminal] 04:16 6
=                      Analog Dreamers [Shaper] 06:33 7
=                          The Source [Neutral] 03:54 8

The first track begins with strange instruments, and vocals meant to sound computer-generated.  This
track begins the album as if by telling a short story about the album itself.  Regardless, the track
is mechanically simple, building up in its first quarter and staying rather the same until its last.

The second track is slow, with an instrument that echoes.  It adds more instruments around the echo,
and becomes more complex in tune at around the halfway point.  The final third adds a new instrument
that speeds up the song, before it returns to its slow beat.  I find anything else hard to describe.

The third track is meant to resemble a news station, with a ticker and everything else, and contains
the most noticeable vocals of the album, belonging to the announcer.  The slogan and other qualities
tell me the NBN syndicate specializes in controlling the populace through news; other details reveal
it to be a slight exaggeration of modern news broadcast organizations.  The track maintains a fairly
consistent tune throughout, once it starts.  The vocals alone have made this track my favourite, and
the song wouldn't measure nearly so well without them.  Instruments are added between announcements,
and they place a touch the other tracks simply can't match; they make up for my lack of familiarity.

The fourth track concerns some manner of construction company.  This track slowly builds up over its
first minute with a foreboding tune before staying consistent with a darker theme.  I'd like to make
the claim that some of the instruments are meant to resemble simple construction sounds, such as the
layering of metals, but I simply may be trying to read too deeply into this relatively simple track.

The fifth track is a song that feels to be slowly building up itself to the end, constantly adding a
new instrument as it then backs down a tad before resuming; I find this track difficult to describe.

The sixth track also slowly builds itself up, as the fifth track, but without ever backing down sans
once in the middle, perhaps.  It has more instrumental variety than the fifth track, but those which
it uses are more conventional, such as a guitar.  I struggle to describe this track adequately also.

The seventh track is a slow song that falls into itself and becomes indistinguishable as it goes on.
The tune is broken up with some different instruments and sounds, including static, but it gives off
a serene feeling as if the listener be waiting for something; it would make for good elevator music.

The eighth track is another slow song, and feels appropriate as the final track.  It begins with two
instruments and layers complexity on top of them, like most other tracks in the album do.  After the
first minute, it abandons the first two instruments, but brings them back after another minute, then
keeping them in the background for the remainder of the song.  The song dies down in the last minute
and dies completely in the echo of one of the starting instruments; the instrument choice is simple.

My main problem with this album, and that which preceded it, is that I listen to them mostly for the
NBN tracks, and otherwise have difficulty distinguishing between the songs, most of which are rather
simple.  The third album is the best of this set, with the most variety and vocals inside each song.
Even simple vocals give can each song very distinct feelings which an instrumental track could lack.
It's an experimental album, and I can't help but feel that many of the experiments aren't very neat.
I suppose the album's primary issue is the fact that most tracks have similar underlying structures.
.