(January 2026) Episode 702 is THE CARETAKER, a project by UK electronic artist LEYLAND KIRBY who also released under the name THE STRANGER. The Caretaker is the name under which Kirby released a series of recordings exploring memory and its deterioration, sparked by the fact that music is one of the last things that triggers recognition in dementia sufferers. This effort was most fully explored in the evocative six-part Everywhere at the End of Time, featuring manipulation of ballroom music from the 1920s-30s, the kind of songs that would linger most deeply in the mind of an Alzheimers patient. This flowed from an earlier work, the first issued as The Caretaker, called Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom based on that iconic scene from The Shining. Beyond The Caretaker, Kirby also released works of a more ambient or drone nature, including the 4-hour Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was and the 10-hour The Death of Rave – excellent background music for studying or reading.
Favourite work: An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
Master work: Everywhere at the End of Time (1-6)
Best ambient music to chill by: Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: All of this is good background music even if much is melancholic. Try Everywhere for the quality of its art because I find it conveys what is intended.
Opus Project 