THE MUSIC PAGE
(WHere TO find mY STUFF)
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After I finished editing (essentially rewriting) my novel Heavenly Mystery, I turned my attention back to music. I knew I wanted to create a homogenous, downtempo psychill album, and I also knew there needed to be a theme, something to tie all the tracks together, like rock operas do. Referencing my previous album Habitable Moons, I thought another space-inspired venture would be in order. Maybe tracks named after constellations? Planets? (I didn't because Holst beat me to that). Then, astrological signs came into play.
Yes, astrology. I'd, of course, need to create 12 tracks, and since I was aiming for an album-length outing, the songs needed to be roughly the same length, about 5 minutes or so. Thus, I set about creating Astrologicus. And it was no walk in the park. As an autistic person beset with anxiety and PTSD, sitting still to complete tasks prove difficult. As with Heavenly Mystery, there were the constant urges to stop what I was doing and move on to some different activity. I liken it to riding a bike to the market during a rain or snowstorm, the elements lashing at you as you pedaled pitifully to the store. Oy! Astrologicus was indeed a challenge, but here it is - live and in the flesh, so to speak.
Yes, astrology. I'd, of course, need to create 12 tracks, and since I was aiming for an album-length outing, the songs needed to be roughly the same length, about 5 minutes or so. Thus, I set about creating Astrologicus. And it was no walk in the park. As an autistic person beset with anxiety and PTSD, sitting still to complete tasks prove difficult. As with Heavenly Mystery, there were the constant urges to stop what I was doing and move on to some different activity. I liken it to riding a bike to the market during a rain or snowstorm, the elements lashing at you as you pedaled pitifully to the store. Oy! Astrologicus was indeed a challenge, but here it is - live and in the flesh, so to speak.
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Celestial Hopes [Nuit Blanche]
Celestial Hopes, like many of my releases, is a concept album. With this record, I looked at humankind's instability and hope there is a bright future in all this turmoil. Perhaps the answer lies within us, or it's out there somewhere. If don't find an answer, hope can fade into despair.
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MONDAY MORNING
Here is a one-track 50-minute tribute to Brian Eno's album Thursday Afternoon. Yes, he's a huge influence on my style of music. Carbon Based Lifeforms, Tangerine Dream, Suzanne Ciani, Klaus Schulze, Martin Sturtzer, and many others also influence my music.
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AMBIENT ABSTRACTIONS
I put ambient in the title of this album to help it get discovered on Bandcamp. The plethora of music available today just boggles the mind. I'm curious to know if any top-40 hits were actually produced in home studios like mine.
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HABITABLE MOONS
I have an affinity for concept albums. Pink Floyd's The Wall and Animals, and The Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia comes to mind. This album, also taking its cue from Holst's The Planets, is a tribute to moons where the possibility of life exists, or the possibility that they could sustain human life.
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THE DREAM MERCHANT
Continuing with my concept album theme, The Dream Merchant tells the story of an android. On his way to Jupiter on a cargo ship, he awakens with a new consciousness. He believes he's human. The captain tries to convince him otherwise, then stops because he fears the newly sentient being could destroy the cargo ship. The android believes he's human because he had dreams detailing his past "human" life. Wishing to continue where he left off after waking from cryosleep, he convinces the captain to put him back to sleep. The captain happily complies as the voyage must go on.