electronica

Bleached

A bit more dance-y than what i'd normally do but wanted to do something quick and dirty to try and get out of a creative logjam...

Made in Ableton Live

Minaret

Tentatively (Mello Manky Manilla Mix)

Fade In Bloodstream

Concept at Red Lodge

Disposable Man rants over Manilla Filters edgy electronica - sucks butter nut squash milkshake

Monkey Mind Rough Mix (Manilla Filters feat. Disposable Man)

For anyone whose had the unscratchable itch in socially awkward situations and small children and adults who find bums amusing.

Itchy Bum

This is one of the earliest electronic tracks i wrote and was inspired by by Erik Satie's Gymnopedies.  I loved the dreamy feel and simplicity of these piano pieces.  Erik Satie was a maverick, his music was widely criticised and scorned by criticsat the time, with some even daring to suggest he could not compose.  Yet to me and indeed many others over the 150 odd years since there is a graceful beauty and simplicity in his Gymnopedies. He can arguably be called the father of Minimalism as one can see a direct link between his compositions and the work of 20th century minimalist composers such as Terry Riley and Phillip Glass and the amibient works of Brien Eno and Aphex Twin.

Lullaby For Erik

Final arrangement of Wonky Thoughts, a song about depression and what Cognitve Behavioual Therapists term 'Common Thinking Errors', hence Wonky Thinking.  My thanks to Debbie for inspiring me to write this. Lyrics below.

Wonky thougts
Washing over me
Eyes cast down
I walk so small

Too tired to sleep
Too crushed to try
Overwhelmed
I'm paralysed

Wonky thoughts
Increase their hold
Fear and doubt
Cripple heart and soul

Stumble on
I can't decide
Undermined
Nothing is right

Wonky thoughts
Now in control
See no light
Anxiety grows

Darker thoughts
Exact their toll
Feeling numb
I want to end it all

Wonky Thoughts

Inspired by the bleakness of winter and the decay around me.

Act Of Worship (v4)

suffocate

Sliced

Exotica

I find inspiration for music all around me.  For ‘Peace be Upon You” this started out as a search for a bass sound to use in my attempt at remixing John Topley’s tune “The Things I Could Say” (https://soundcloud.com/johntopley/the-things-i-could-say), a work that is still in progress. 
 
I was introduced to Indian classical music by a friend via Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan’s recording of the duet for sitar and sarod “Raga Mishra Piloo”.  I was deeply moved by its scale, harmonics, drones and complex rhythmic patterns, it gave me a deep sense of inner peace.  As I grew older I realised that inner peace, or to put it in a more western way, peace of mind, is the truest measure of happiness.  

A couple of years ago I discovered that Electroharmonix had created a sitar simulator guitar pedal, the Ravish Sitar.  It was this that I used to create the drone sound that runs throughout the track.

In my late 20s. I was fortunate enough to see Ravi Shankar in concert at the Barbican in London, a venue with gorgeous acoustics that befitted the music.  I also got to see Dave Brubeck play there years later, another musician and composer who searched beyond the boundaries of his own culture for musical inspiration (Check out his Time Out and Time Further Out albums), as did his contemporary, the Jazz composer, musician and educator, Yusef Lateef (his Eastern Sounds album should be heard by everyone before they die). 

I came across Yusef Lateef after hearing his composition “Syn-Anthesia” played by the Cannonball Adderley Sextet, of which he was then a member and on which he switched from tenor sax to oboe on the ‘Cannonball Adderley Sextet in New York’ album.  It is an intriguing piece and a testament to the generosity of Cannonball Adderley, who regularly featured compositions from the many musicians that passed through his band.

Sadly, Yusef is no longer with us, but his music lives on as and inspires today.  In recent years the UK has seen a huge renaissance in Jazz, one of my favourite artists is the Clarinettist, Arun Ghosh who infuses many of his compositions with influences from his Indian cultural heritage along with many other contemporary western musical styles, just listen to his “Lal Qil'ah (The Red Fort)”, or “Gypsies of Rajasthan” (on his “Primal Odyssey” and “A South Asian Suite” albums).  

It was thinking of the Moslem expression “peace be unto him” when reflecting on Yusef Lateef’s music that led to the name of this track.  “Peace be upon you” is a phrase that appears in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and has many associated forms, all of which emphasise a wish for the recipient of the greeting/prayer to experience peace.

For the middle section of the tune I wanted to create the kind of groove that when I hear it I want it to just go on for longer, for example, the middle section in Kraftwerk’s 1978 track “Neon Lights”, Chic’s break in their 1978 12-inch disco classic “Le Freak” and the bass line in War’s 1975 classic “Low Rider”.  I wanted something that you could really lose yourself in in a hypnotic way for a couple of minutes and reflect on what peace means to you, a bit like Can’s 1973 “Future Days” track off the album of the same name.

Aside from the drone sound the rest of the tune was composed in the elegantly realised Nano Studio app.  I have Fergus, from Manilla Filters (https://soundcloud.com/manillafilters), to thank for introducing Nano Studio to me, if you have not tried it I can’t recommend it enough.  

The drum sound used in this track was Nano Studio’s Chip Tune pre-set and is highly reminiscent of the sounds from those 1980s 8-bit video games.  I have Stuart Maconie and his Sunday night Freak Zone show on BBC 6 Music to thank for introducing me to a whole sub-genre of electronic music where people still compose using just 8-bit samples.

Like I said at the beginning, I find inspiration for music all around me, I hope you enjoy the track.

Peace,

Marc

My Tunes

Peace Be Upon You

Waterlook

I wrote this track whilst in bed with a fractured ankle.  It is a reflection on living in the moment, taking the time to experience your existence at the point in time and environment you are in now, hence the title; You Are Here, wherever here is for you at this moment; take the time to enjoy it.

Sleep Now

Influenced by Radiohead's more glitchy stuff and recorded as much as possible "in the box" with Ableton Live. Version 2 has tweaked vocals and adjusted levels.

Lockstep (Version 2)

braile-0

I love all kinds of music and compose and play as often as I can, which is not as much as I'd like.  If you like what I do, or you think I'll like what you do let me know.

electronica

Marc Anthony Cattini