Back in 1814, when chemist, Humphrey Davey acquired an 18" lens and used it to focus the suns rays onto a small, uncut diamond, setting fire to it and leaving behind a somewhat unattractive, black crust in the process, he was not only demonstrating that diamonds are a form of carbon but also inadvertently laying down the inspirational foundation for this slightly odd piece of electronica that was to be produced some two centuries later by yours truly. One can never know of course but I'd like to think that HD would've approved of the experimental nature of this composition.

The artwork is by very talented collage artist, Harl Vind and is entitled "2.26".

A Form Of Carbon

The title of this piece is a homage to the short story of the same name by David Eagleman which forms part of his mind-boggling yet thoroughly endearing collection of 40 tales about the afterlife, entitled Sum. I've recently been re-reading this incredible little book and it's fair to say that it's had a considerable influence on my mental meanderings while I've been working on this tune.

The music itself is a chilled piece of electronica set against a landscape of bustling percussive activity which gradually takes form around a simple piano melody. It was produced entirely in Ableton Live 11 during Spring 2021.

Apostasy

Out of a somewhat sorry sounding musical milieu of half-started, half-baked and half-abandoned ingredients, this strange composition that you hear before you now, slowly yet determinedly, began to emerge and assume a structural form where, for a seemingly endless period during the early part of the production process, no such spark had seemed possible.

The notion of adopting a considerably accelerated tempo for this number had not been my intention from the outset - originally, this piece was expected to jog along at a steady 102 bpm - but then, out of nowhere, the idea of doubling the pace shuffled forward and suggested itself with a slightly self-conscious and apologetic shrug. After playing around with it for some time, I soon discovered that this had the potential to lock the entire, previous hotch-potch of uninspired themes into a much more cohesive musical whole, so I stuck with it and hey presto: the aforementioned structural form solidified.

So, there you have it, wonderful people: "His Very Words" was prepared, sliced, diced, boiled, cooked and baked during the late summer/early autumn of 2021, entirely in Ableton Live 11 and is served up here for your delectation and listening pleasure on this day, the 13th October 2021.

For this release, I'm delighted to welcome back on artwork duties the irrepressible collage exponent, Harl Vind. His incredible visual is entitled, "So Now I've Got No Mouth But I'm Still Screaming". I'm sure you'll concur that it's a fitting match for the music.

His Very Words

It was on 17th December 2020 when VPP and I first exchanged messages, discussing the possibility of a collaboration. Fast-forward precisely one year to 17th December 2021 and here we are, launching the fruits of our labour upon the unsuspecting masses. I've always been an admirer of VPP's "synth noir" productions with their unique lyrics full of European cultural reference points and I've always fancied having a crack at working with singer, Keith's trademark vocals. So, as you can imagine, I was delighted when the opportunity to do so presented itself but, if truth be told, I've surprised myself a bit with what I came up with (musically) to accompany the vocal he sent me... I think it's fair to say that the end product is neither a typical VPP track nor a typical Observatory track. I sincerely hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Hear more of VPP's brilliant output at: @through-the-square-window and https://voltagepoetryproject.bandcamp.com/

How Did It Get This Wrong?
Lyrics and vocal by Voltage Poetry Project;
Music and production by Observatory;
Photography by Voltage Poetry Project.

"I was high, as the flying eye
Looking down upon Teflon town -
A place that I just could not stick,
I could escape; I was well equipped.

Then one day, who knows when or why?
I became the disenfranchised,
Angry, young, at the kitchen sink
Though Amis or Osborne, I don’t think.

Tell me
How did it get this wrong?
Where did it go so wrong?

Now I walk, and there is this talk
Of redress against our progress,
Somewhere Hare and Mercurio
Warned that it all could go.

How did it get this wrong?
Where did it go so wrong?"

How Did It Get This Wrong? (feat. Voltage Poetry Project)

This is my collaboration with the incredible @Minimal_Drone_GRL. "MemoryMoon" is a tantalising trip into the unknown. I hope you can accompany us on this special journey.

Artwork: Minimal_Drone*GRL

Memory Moon

MemoryMoon (Collaboration with Minimal_Drone*GRL)

Taking its title from a fascinating book of the same name by writer, publisher and ultra-runner, Robin Harvie, this tune attempts to give musical expression to the reasons why I regularly lace up my running shoes and leave the house to pound the country lanes and footpaths near to where I live when there are arguably a thousand-and-one more "important" things I could be doing with my precious time.

Robin's book is both an intriguing study of his own personal journey to the start line of one of the toughest ultra races on earth: the Spartathlon, and a pleasingly detailed history of the act of distance running itself. This, my first electronic music release for several months, is much more modest in scale - very much like my running ambitions (at least when compared to Robin's) - but it could be said that it attempts to capture and articulate the same, natural urge.

Why We Run was made entirely in Ableton Live v11 using Spitfire Audio's LABS plug-in for some of the component sounds. It was composed and recorded during spring/summer 2022.

Why We Run

Castellic is an experimental (for me, at least) drum and bass influenced piece, inspired by visits to several different castles and other medieval sites throughout England, Scotland and Wales during 2022.

Musically, 2022 has been relatively quiet for me; this is only my third release of the year as I've been focusing on other priorities but I'm still around and I'm still full of ideas. Here's hoping 2023 will be a little more prolific.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this holiday offering. Wishing everyone lots of love and peaceful vibes...

Jeff

(Castellic was composed and recorded entirely in Ableton Live 11 during the autumn and early winter of 2022.)

Castellic

Watch the Biped video, produced by Rainbow Zemo, on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNv6x6-RY40

"Are we less kind than we were?" asks the man. No need to answer that right away but you'll be pleased to know I've slowed-down the tempo quite considerably on this, my first release of 2023, thereby giving you ample time and breathing space to ruminate on that particular conundrum. In doing so, I hope you discover something, not only about yourself but also about the collective mass of bipeds that make up the human race.

Massive thanks to Jason Ross for the very kind use of his photograph, "Das Eisen".

Biped was produced entirely in Ableton Live 11 during the winter of 2022/23.

Biped

This is a piece I recently put together with my son, Oscar. We were both reflecting on the mysteries of time after watching one too many episodes of Doctor Who when he suddenly announced, "Dad, time is atmospherical." This impressive statement kind of stopped me in my tracks and so, right there and then, we decided to fire up the laptop and began creating a song around it. Over the next few days, Oscar added a few avant-garde keyboard parts plus some live drums and Timeworks was born. We sincerely hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it...

Vocals, keyboard lines and live drums: Oscar
All other parts: Observatory
Photograph: Oscar

Timeworks

Timeworks (featuring Oscar)

The tune you hear before you now was inspired by warm summer mornings, spent catching up over cups of tea with a good friend in his enchanting garden against a backdrop of birdsong.

Hortus began life as an oddly-matched jumble of bleeps and quirky beats, and was given shape and clarity when I stumbled by chance upon the sitar sample that you'll hear clips of throughout the piece. From that point on, the track steadily came together over a period of several weeks but, as with all of my song ideas that I eventually see through to completion, the original vision that inspired it remained with me right throughout the creative process.

Hortus was written and recorded during the summer of 2023 and was made entirely in Ableton Live 11, running on a Windows 11 laptop.

The artwork is by another good friend, the very talented collage artist Karl Vint, and is entitled, Looking Out For You.

Hortus

Forget everything you know about how best to listen to audio. This useful and practical broadcast will demonstrate to you a whole new way of experiencing sound. It will explain the equipment you need in order to maximise your binaural enjoyment and, provided its instructions are followed meticulously, it will enable you to unlock sonic delights, the likes of which you never previously imagined possible. Prepare to be amazed...

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my good friend, Phil Pinder for allowing me to use his untitled artwork to accompany this recording.

A New Way of Listening was created in Ableton Live 11 during winter 2023/24.

A New Way Of Listening

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to present to you the man like RDT's fascinating deep house remix of my summer 2022 paean to the act of running, Why We Run.

@rdavidtyler, I'm beyond honoured that you chose to sprinkle your estimable magic dust over my third-rate noodling. In the process, you've transported it to a far higher plane than I could ever have imagined. Thank you, sir.

Folks, be sure to sample more of RDT's prodigious output, spanning just about every electronic genre you can put a name to (and even some you can't), over at https://soundcloud.com/rdavidtyler

Why We Run (RDT's Escape Remix)

"One Tree" is a joyous, up-tempo little ditty which features a field recording of a rusty, village churchyard gate as it's rhythmic cornerstone. Composed, performed and mixed by the artist during the spring and summer of 2018. Mastered at Steve Kitch Mastering.

Watch the "One Tree" video produced by Rainbow Zemo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUHtTn9YPnM

One Tree

Watch the Diversity And Solidarity video here: https://youtu.be/XhQnsj5b3yA

Diversity And Solidarity is a celebration of life in all of its wonderfully differing flavours. It's a little bit rustic, a little bit funky and more than a little bit electronic (and lo a new genre was born: Rustic Funktronica).

The artwork is from an original oil-on-canvas painting entitled "Giunchi" (Bullrushes) by the amazing artist Lillo Pisano. You can see more of his incredible work on Instagram: www.instagram.com/lillopisano/ and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Lillopisanoart/

Diversity And Solidarity was composed, recorded and mixed entirely in Ableton Live by me (Observatory) during autumn 2018. Mastering was by Steve Kitch at Steve Kitch Mastering in November 2018: https://www.audiomaster.co.uk/

Diversity And Solidarity

Apparently, sodium is the seventh most abundant element on Earth. It's also the name of this brand new ditty from yours truly. Consider it to be "a song of two halves": the first half is soft and silvery, like freshly cut sodium; the second half is when you chuck the sodium in some water and watch it fizz around. Artwork is by Lillo Pisano and is taken from an original oil-on-canvas painting entitled "Black Circuit". See more of his incredible work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillopisano/ and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Lillopisanoart/

Sodium was composed, recorded and mixed by Observatory during Winter 2018/19. Mastering was by Steve Kitch at Steve Kitch Mastering: www.audiomaster.co.uk

Sodium

The eagle-eared amongst you may recognise this little number as a re-imagining of my 2017 tune, Source Code. It's been remixed, remastered and generally rebooted to form an (almost) entirely new piece. Some might say that it's been mercifully shortened too.

The artwork is a picture of Unusual Balance, a wood-turning sculpture by the brilliant artist and all-round ace craftsman, Lillo Pisano. See more of his incredible work on Instagram: www.instagram.com/lillopisano/ and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Lillopisanoart/

Return To The Source was created during Spring 2019.

Return To The Source

"Imagine yourself inside a micro-computer....." Listen to this remastered version of my 2018 tune, "Micro" and allow it to shrink you down in size, transport you back in time to the early 1980s and deposit you deep inside the beating heart of a micro-computer. Back in the day, these fantastical devices would threaten to take over our world and transform our simple, carefree lives for ever.
The artwork is a screenshot from the 1982 game, "ZX Galaxians" written for the Sinclair ZX81 by the long-since defunct Artic Computing. Credit to www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk for sharing the image.
Micro 2.0 was created during early-autumn 2019.

Micro 2.0

At the farthest extremities of the electromagnetic spectrum, way beyond the realm of visible light, further even than the mysterious infra-red frequencies, lurk countless, unheard communications from distant worlds.....

"Radio And Microwave" was composed and recorded by Observatory using Ableton Live during the summer and autumn of 2019.

The artwork is an original collage by the incredible Harl Vind, entitled "The Sinister Art of Dexterity".

Radio And Microwave

Greetings, space cadets. It gives me great pleasure to unleash upon you the MadmoJoe remix of my 2017 tune, Critical Vehicle Functions. MJ has not only brought a somewhat tired sounding original bang up-to-date, he's cranked the warp factor up to eleven and blasted it off into hyperspace. Better take those protein pills, put that helmet on, check ignition and prepare for lift-off.....

You can hear more of MadmoJoe's amazing solo work and collaborations at https://soundcloud.com/madmojoe-1

Critical Vehicle Functions (MadmoJoe Remix)

Enceladus was one of the Gigantes from Greek mythology, a son of Gaea and Uranus, who is said to be buried under Mount Etna. More recently, he gave his name to Saturn's sixth-largest moon, discovered by Herschel in 1879 and thought by many to be the only other body in our solar-system that might harbour life. Could this be true? Why not join me on an inter-planetary mission to explore its icy depths and we can find out for ourselves...

Artwork is by the inspired collage artist, Harl Vind and is entitled "Gigantomaniacs".

Enceladus

Often described as the most esoteric of crafts, Light Modelling has been practised by arcane societies throughout the known universe since the dawn of time. Dismissed by doubters as mere hocus, this mysterious art form had all but died out during the dark epoch, until more recent times witnessed a pleasing resurgence in its popularity. Despite this, reliable apprentice guidance can be hard to come by... that is, until now. Assembling the collective wisdom of the ancients, handed down across countless millennia, this brand new edition aims to prepare the novice practitioner for their first steps into this most rewarding of magical disciplines. Open your minds, students of the Light and prepare to be initiated...

Artwork is by the very talented collage artist and accomplished Light Modeller, @harl-vind. It is entitled "Dancing The Light Fantastic".

Modelling With Light - A Beginner's Guide

"canal (noun) - a long, thin stretch of water that is artificially made either for boats to travel along or for taking water from one area to another"

This track was inspired by permitted-exercise-during-lockdown wanderings and was produced entirely in Ableton Live during Spring 2020.

Massive thanks to Oscar Pullen for the use of his wonderful photograph.

Canal

This is my contribution to @minimal_drone_grl's stunning remix album, Origins Remixed, released in September 2020. The full elpee, containing 15 remixes by 15 different artists of the tracks on her earlier long-player, Ancestral Origins - itself a completely mesmerising listen - can be found here:
https://minimaldronegrl.bandcamp.com/album/origins-remixed
I'm dedicating this number to the memory of my great friend of many years standing, Steve Finch, who tragically died during the period while I was working on this. Steve was a unique and special soul who will never be forgotten. Rest in peace, great mate. #hcafc #yccc

Retrospection Reimagined

Minimal_Drone*GRL - Retrospection (Observatory's Retrospection Reimagined Remix)

This brand new piece from yours truly was created during summer 2020 and takes its influences from many different directions but I'm particularly indebted to Jason Ross who has provided much of the inspiration with his insightful recommendations for listening, viewing and reading material, and through our many conversations over the past year; big respect, mate - you've influenced this tune more than you could imagine. Thanks also go to Jason for sourcing the untitled photograph by Sara Gossett on flickr.com.

Acid Folk

Apparently, sodium is the seventh most abundant element on Earth. It's also the name of a modest little electronica tune that I first released back in Feb 2019. 

Fast-forward some twenty months to Oct 2020 and I'm delighted to report that my humble offering has been stunningly reimagined and given a sultry, late-night feel by the expert hand of @rdavidtyler a.k.a. RDT. I have to say that I'm completely thrilled with the treatment he's given it and I hereby invite you to bask in its decidedly warm glow.

RDT's own SoundCloud page is a treasure trove of fantastically produced house music, laid-back tech and electronica where you can spend many a happy hour, losing yourself in the incredible vibes on offer. Do pay him a visit - you won't regret it.

Sodium (RDT After Dark Remix)

Inspired by late-night conversations and assembled over many months from disparate musical fragments, Love! Love! Peace! Beauty! is an ode to freedom, tolerance and bliss.

I owe massive credit to Mike B for providing the wonderful electric guitar stylings on this piece and to Jason Ross for sourcing the spoken word sample and the photo image. Brilliant work, gents - I owe you both, big time.

Love! Love! Peace! Beauty!

The evocatively named Cold Wold is an area of arable high ground, located roughly between the villages of Millington and Warter in the East Riding of Yorkshire. This relatively unspoilt chalkland region is great for walking, running or whatever else takes your fancy at pretty much any time of the year. I'm constantly inspired by the quiet, gentle landscapes of the Yorkshire Wolds and I only hope I've been able to do them some sort of justice with this relaxed piece of electronica.

The photograph is by Peter Church.

Cold Wold

I make lo-fi, melodic, instrumental electronica, conceived, composed and recorded using only a laptop and a digital audio workstation (currently Ableton Live 11).

Due to domestic constraints, I work entirely on headphones so it probably follows that my recordings are best appreciated via the same medium.

When you've finished here, why not take a look at my videos on YouTube or head over to Twitter to see if I've uttered anything profound recently? (I probably haven't but you never know...)

Many thanks for visiting. Please come back again soon.

Observatory

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks