I uploaded a new track to SoundCloud today, about 6’36” of difficult listening called Crosstalk. Check it out here.
New track on SoundCloud
Play the Hits
Hot on the heels of A Robot… comes Play the Hits, a newly remixed and remastered collection of archival manipulations from previous years. This release includes final versions of Death of the Planet and Bureaucracy, which were previewed here recently. You can also purchase all BandCamp releases to date, including the 2015 EP An Evening at Jay’s for just $14.25 CAD. Have a listen, and if you like them, take them all home!
A robot doesn’t talk back and argue
I’m very excited to announce the first full-length recording by elettronica sperimentale! A Robot Doesn’t Talk Back and Argue is now available for purchase on BandCamp. You can preview it in its entirety below.
Bureaucracy (Has Committed Murder)
Here’s one more preview track from the upcoming retrospective BandCamp release Play the Hits. This was recorded in 2005 under a pseudonym for a songwriting contest – which I didn’t win, due in part perhaps to the fact that it contains no actual singing.
Musically it owes a clear debt to Motown and Stevie Wonder in particular, its stereo interlocking clavinet parts and wandering bass line inspired by tracks like Higher Ground and Boogie On, Reggae Woman. The sample content speaks for itself. I think of it as a tiny musical documentary.
New track: Death of the Planet
The 90-minute lecture “The Fate of the Earth,” by Sister Miriam MacGillis, was originally recorded in 1986 and distributed widely through a grassroots network of environmental activists. I recorded two versions of this piece in the late nineties, after having heard an excerpt of it on the radio.
The original recordings are lost to the sands of time. The first version was recorded on an Akai MG1214 recording console, a strange beast with a built-in proprietary (possibly Beta-compatible?) cassette tape drive. The backing sequence was composed on an Akai ME20a Sequence Arpeggiator, and consists of a 64-note pattern that is mapped onto a cycle of four chords. The ME20a, in turn, drove a stack of Yamaha DX7 voices in the form of a TX816 rackmount – a true eighties-style synth stack.
The current version is stripped down a bit compared to the earlier incarnations, but I did tip my hat a bit to its FM origins with the introduction of Native Instruments’ FM8.
Sister Miriam’s mission is ongoing. You can learn more about her eco-activism and philosophy in this short interview.
More remixed/remastered tracks are coming soon on BandCamp, including never-before heard material. Be sure to follow on Twitter or Instagram for news about the latest releases!