Music, Musings & Miscellany
Here’s another excellent freebie. Solipsism is an alter-ego of Scot Craig Murphy whose Alien Genome Project I reviewed back in July. Billed as an EP, the four originals and five remixes that make up Reinteprism actually run to over 50 minutes making it an album in my book.
This is downtempo, home-listening electronica, but with an edge. Lead track “Bastardism”, a collaboration with Kingbastard, is all steam-punk beats and abstract, cosmic synths. The ENV(itre) and Victer Manderline remixes are cooler, mellower affairs, whereas the charmingly named “Raped by a Woman” remix by Psychotronic is an uncomfortable, glitchy treatment.
“Organicism” comes in two versions. The Pleq remix is the stronger, chugging and spluttering along like an eccentric piece of machinery. The naive Casiotone melody of the original is absent, giving a darker, more solemn piece. “Crabs” harks back to peak period Future Sound of London with abstract washes of spacey sound overlaying a complex rhythm. The Salz remix doesn’t really change that much, merely adding a few tweaks and glitches here and there. The final track, “At The Beach”, is a fittingly summery, optimistic piece to finish with. Its deep beats and engaging melody a dreamily lethargic reminder of lazy days of sunshine (if you have a long enough memory to remember those).
This excellent release is available as a free download from the German electronica label Envizagae Records.
Tracks
1. Bastardism feat. Kingbastard 5:32
2. Bastardism (ENV(itre) remix) 4:09
3. Bastardism (Victer Manderline remix) 6:06
4. Organicism 5:58
5. Organicism (Pleq remix) 4:35
6. Bastardism (raped by a woman mix by Psychotronic) 8:18
7. Crabs 5:06
8. Crabs (remix by Salz) 6:37
9. At the Beach (2007 Remaster) 5:19
Website
http://www.envizagae.de/
Solipsism
Showing posts with label music miscellany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music miscellany. Show all posts
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Friday, 4 July 2008
Alien Genome Project Review
Music Miscellany
I'm old enough to remember Erich Von Daniken and his potty theories about how earth's civilizations were brought about through alien contact. There was quite a hoo-ha about it all when I was a kid, and his books flew off the shelves. I've just glanced at Wikipedia and was surprised to learn that he's still with us, and only the same age as Leonard Cohen! Bizarre. Panspermia is the hypothesis that the seeds of life exist all over the universe, and that life on earth is nothing unique, nor even originally from here. Nice theory, but it hasn't a whiff of evidence to support it (nor to discount it – it's one of those hypotheses which are simply acts of faith). Exogenesis is something else entirely – the theory that life originated elsewhere and came to earth during the asteroid bombardment of the Pre-Cambrian era, before the planet had an adequate atmospheric shield. Anyway I digress. The reason I brought the topic up at all was that the panspermia theory is the inspiration behind Alien Genome Project, a self-released album by Craig Murphy (whose band Shoosh are featured on the Phantom Channel compilation) under the moniker ch.pm.
The album consists of drones, cosmic synth chords, and disembodied, distorted vocal samples. It has echoes of Kosmische Musik acts like (early) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as their spiritual descendants such as Pete Namlook. But there are equally nods to Stars of the Lid, Brian Eno's Apollo and Murcof's Cosmos projects. The eight tracks unfold slowly. Some are short and fragile; others, like the title track, have a suitably cosmic grandeur. "Hybrid", the closing section, has a slowed down echoing voice that has the rhythm of whale song, and sounds like the last, fading sounds of a dying civilization. It's quite a spooky end to a seriously trippy suite of music. Only it isn't quite the end. There is also a bonus 36 minute mix of the album entitled "Alien Genome Project (Full Blown)". The album is available from Musiczeit at the address below.
Tracks
Part One:
1 Source Of Light 1:33
2 Junk Code 7:20
3 Transference 5:19
Part Two:
4 Replicate 1:36
5 Mystic Structure 6:33
Part Three:
6 Source of Light (Reprise) 1:52
7 Alien Genome Project 10:18
8 Hybrid 6:29
Bonus Track:
9 Alien Genome Project (Full Blown) 36:07
Websites
http://www.musiczeit.com/directory.php?artist=439&title=ch.pm
www.myspace.com/solipsism
Solipsism
I'm old enough to remember Erich Von Daniken and his potty theories about how earth's civilizations were brought about through alien contact. There was quite a hoo-ha about it all when I was a kid, and his books flew off the shelves. I've just glanced at Wikipedia and was surprised to learn that he's still with us, and only the same age as Leonard Cohen! Bizarre. Panspermia is the hypothesis that the seeds of life exist all over the universe, and that life on earth is nothing unique, nor even originally from here. Nice theory, but it hasn't a whiff of evidence to support it (nor to discount it – it's one of those hypotheses which are simply acts of faith). Exogenesis is something else entirely – the theory that life originated elsewhere and came to earth during the asteroid bombardment of the Pre-Cambrian era, before the planet had an adequate atmospheric shield. Anyway I digress. The reason I brought the topic up at all was that the panspermia theory is the inspiration behind Alien Genome Project, a self-released album by Craig Murphy (whose band Shoosh are featured on the Phantom Channel compilation) under the moniker ch.pm.
The album consists of drones, cosmic synth chords, and disembodied, distorted vocal samples. It has echoes of Kosmische Musik acts like (early) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as their spiritual descendants such as Pete Namlook. But there are equally nods to Stars of the Lid, Brian Eno's Apollo and Murcof's Cosmos projects. The eight tracks unfold slowly. Some are short and fragile; others, like the title track, have a suitably cosmic grandeur. "Hybrid", the closing section, has a slowed down echoing voice that has the rhythm of whale song, and sounds like the last, fading sounds of a dying civilization. It's quite a spooky end to a seriously trippy suite of music. Only it isn't quite the end. There is also a bonus 36 minute mix of the album entitled "Alien Genome Project (Full Blown)". The album is available from Musiczeit at the address below.
Tracks
Part One:
1 Source Of Light 1:33
2 Junk Code 7:20
3 Transference 5:19
Part Two:
4 Replicate 1:36
5 Mystic Structure 6:33
Part Three:
6 Source of Light (Reprise) 1:52
7 Alien Genome Project 10:18
8 Hybrid 6:29
Bonus Track:
9 Alien Genome Project (Full Blown) 36:07
Websites
http://www.musiczeit.com/directory.php?artist=439&title=ch.pm
www.myspace.com/solipsism
Solipsism
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