![\"\"](\"https:\/\/acloserlisten.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/a2122119559_10.jpg?w=300\")
<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a German word for everything, and today\u2019s example is Gebrauchsmusik \u2013 meaning \u2018utility music\u2019. This is music that exists not only for its own sake, but was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose. It\u2019s a word that springs to mind when reading the subtitle of just like any other day (\uc5b4\ub290\ub0a0): background music for your mundane activities<\/em>. Whereas some of Okkyung Lee<\/strong>\u2019s earlier works have been strident and in your face \u2013 and require utterly focused listening \u2013 this album is a gentler and more playful work.<\/p>\n Perhaps the only way to judge the success of an album designed to soundtrack mundane activities is to encounter it while performing some of them. Please note: this is not a comprehensive list of mundane activities. I\u2019m sure you have your own.<\/p>\n Mundane activity one: housework.<\/em> The opening pairing of \u201cthis is a never ending story (you just need to close it)\u201d and \u201chidden road (for yoo jae-ha)\u201d certainly provided me with some momentum to clean the kitchen floor, worktops and the sink. It was a bit of a struggle when I cleaned the bathroom, as the stereo is in a different room and running water is quite loud. The album happily burbled away in the background. On the whole, though, a successful experiment.<\/p>\n Mundane activity two: going for a stroll.<\/em> \u201clet\u2019s walk down to the swamp together\u201d felt quite apt for this, although I wasn\u2019t going to any marshy area but the local riverside, which is still parched after a dry summer. Volume turned down, so as not to compete with the birds, this made just like any other day<\/em> actual background music, and while I felt a bit guilty about this initially, the repetitive patterns in the music fitted in with the sound of the flowing river on a warm day. It\u2019s good music for walking to, but next time I will stick with the sounds of nature on their own.<\/p>\n Mundane activity three: reading. No vocals and nothing to disrupt some quality time with a book. Having the music playing at a sympathetic volume (ie not too loud) helped, and I managed a chapter before the eyes began drooping. The \u2018alarm\u2019 that rings at the end of \u201cdear oddie, today rainbows are falling from the sky\u201d shook me out of my stupor. So we can add \u2018nodding off in a comfy chair\u2019 to the list of mundane activities.<\/p>\n Overall, then, a success. Okkyung Lee composed this album with minimal tools \u2013 keyboard, computer and cassette recorder \u2013 and the simple, unfussy nature of these pieces work their charm on the listener. The idea of positioning just like any other day<\/em> as passive listening gives it a small but important nudge to make it more prominent in a crowded field of ambient music. It might be a diversion before Lee makes a fresh, electrifying work with the cello, but if homemade ambient is a direction she\u2019s planning on continuing, this is a strong start. The activities might be mundane, but the music certainly isn\u2019t. (Jeremy Bye)<\/strong><\/p>\n