Hello everyone out there who enjoys music! My name is Todd and I am The Ideal Setback. I've been playing music in some way ever since I was four years old (from piano to trumpet to bass and guitar), and in early 2006 I decided I wanted to start recording and making music. To be honest, I originally wanted The Ideal Setback to be a pop-punk band, because most if not all of my influences up to that point had been made up of pop-punk bands (Blink-182, Green Day, The Offspring, etc.). I tried for several months to get a band together to make this happen, but in the end, no one who was available was interested. I really had no clue what I wanted to do at that point. In mid 2007, a good friend of mine introduced me to Ambient music. The very first of this I heard was Sigur Ros, which would then be followed by bands and artists such as The Album Leaf, Eluvium, Hammock, and so on. I had finally found music that I really liked and that I could make by myself. The thoughts of using electronic elements had never really entered my mind. I was focused on guitars, bass, and drums. After spending a very brief time in the now disbanded post rock band, Mosi , I decided to work with what instruments and technology I had, and in late September of 2007, I finished my first "demo". It was 6 songs, 15 minutes, and it was only composed of guitar and keyboard synth. (The demo is available for free download on my myspace page.) I was pleased with what it came out to be, given the short amount of time it took to record and mix, and also because I was still very new to listening and making ambient music. Eventually, I got better recording equipment, and a better understanding of ambient music (finding that Minimalism could play a very big part) and in October I started recording again, recording and mixing the songs which now are to be released on the album "Dream Dialogue". It's a very dark album, but with some sense of beauty in it (at least to me). The cd is currently out now via Cdbaby, Itunes, etc. (see link(s) below).
Looking back on Dream Dialogue, I realize what kind of cd it was. I went in with little ambient experience under my belt, and wrote a record that I didn't have a direction for. I didn't have an audience in mind, and I wrote what I felt like writing. All of the songs came naturally, and most of them ended up being dissonant. Not to say I'm not proud of it, though. I just know what I needed to change. When I started to record Window Seat, I had an audience in mind. I had an idea of what kind of ambient record I wanted to make. I went in with the intention of making a more uplifting (or "happier") type of ambient record, with still incorporating some minimal aspects. For more information on the release of Window Seat and Dream Dialogue, read my blog on The Time Element . Overall, I feel Window Seat is a much more solid record. It is out now via Cdbaby and Amazon, and soon many other digital distributors. (links will be posted below).
“How We Spend Our Days Is How We Spend Our Lives†is a representation of my personal emotions over the past year of my life. I feel it is the most truthful record I have ever written. Each song is intended to be it’s own separate entity (meaning the songs don’t flow together as one), and is intended to represent how I was feeling at that point in time.
I am currently looking to put together shows as well. If you are interested please contact me. It would be appreciated.
So enjoy! And Comment! Please and Thank You!
Also, if you are interested in using my music for TV or Films, or would like me to write music specifically for TV or Films, I am DEFINITELY interested. Please contact me about it and we will work out something.
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"A Measure Of Missing Information"
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"Proxemics/Propinquity" + "(And) We Will Lose Ourselves" Live at Odessa 6/5/09
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Dream Dialogue
Released : February 07, 2008
Genre : Ambient/Minimal
TRACKLISTING :
1. For Once
2. Everything In This Room (Is Indifferent)
3. Reflections We Didn't Expect To Find
4. A Home Of Walls
5. Look To The Past And Remember A Smile
6. ... And This Room Became A Hill
7. Sleep Came Like Static In The Folds
8. Your Old Haunts
9. Gestalt
10. Shadows Tossed Into The Corners
11. The Things We Left Were Not Our Own
"...the album is calm, measured, and enlightened. Somewhere, half way between nothingness and dissociated bliss, the distortion slowly creeps in, takes a bow, and steps aside for bass, only to drop you into a reverb saturated oblivion once again. Chappell is definitely crafting some of the exemplary pieces where "less" is always "more". Dream Dialogue is a perfect soundtrack for your meditations..." - Headphone Commute
"...the album is ambitious and memorable..." - Hoofless Horses
Click Here To Read A Short Interview About Dream Dialogue
LINKS TO BUY THE ALBUM :
Hard Copy :
* Cd Baby
Digital :
* Cd Baby
* Itunes
* Amazon
* Napster (search "the ideal setback")
* Rhapsody
All artwork for Dream Dialogue done by s3vendays .
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Window Seat
Released : June 11, 2008
Genre : Ambient
TRACKLISITNG :
1. In A Manner Of Returning To Familiar Things
2. Procul
3. Destination : City Lights
4. Clouds (Part I)
5. Window Seat
6. Clouds (Part II)
7. A Novel Response
Click Here To Read An Interview About Window Seat
LINKS TO BUY THE ALBUM
Hard Copy
* CdBaby
Digital
* Itunes
* Amazon
"From start to finish, Window Seat is a pleasant listen...." - The Silent Ballet .
"In Window Seat, Chappell attempts to touch the essence within Brian Eno's words: "Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." These words were printed back in 1978, within the liner notes of Eno's Music for Airports - one of my all-time favorite ambient pieces till this day. Thirty years later, Chappell keeps these ideas going. Recommended for super early mornings, when you haven't slept all night, and your mind is overly tired, but still awake." - Headphone Commute .
All artwork for Window Seat done by Gardner Mounce.
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How We Spend Our Days Is How We Spend Our Lives
Released : April 13, 2009
Genre : Ambient
Tracklisting :
1. When We Were
2. Ascent To Simulaton
3. A Measure Of Missing Information
4. On Shore Remain
5. Proxemics/Propinquity
6. The Slow Drip Of Years
7. (And) We Will Lose Ourselves
LINKS TO BUY THE ALBUM
Amazon
Cdbaby
Itunes
Napster
"How We Spend Our Days is How We Spend Our Lives is an all-around great record by an up-and-comer who clearly has the potential to be an ambient great." - The Silent Ballet
All artwork for How We Spend Our Days Is How We Spend Our Lives done by Christy Romanick.
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