Phantom Island

AI is getting better and better, but this was not AI generated.
Inspired by the BabyAudio BA-1 chiptune collection and humanoid.

artificial dreams

This is all about chance encounters and a bit of randomness. From having drum patterns of different lengths, heavily modulated bass and keyboard parts and, get this, euclidean sequences. It shouldn't make any kind of sense and yet... it does. 

Sequencer strategies

Thinks

'Sea of Simulation (Dubliminal Mix)' is on the new EP 'Wayfaring Stranger' from Valley Forge. This is an alternative version to the mix which will be included on the soon-to-be-released debut album 'Artificial Heart' from Valley Forge.

Freeman Lowell from Valley Forge speaks here about the track 'Sea of Simulation':
"Upshifting gears here, we have a track that appeared in many different guises over the years the album has been in production - from superslow to just plain nuts. This version represents a shift towards glossy electro-groove in a very-much-inspired-by-TRON way. But this track was created waaaay before Disney thought about turning TRON into a franchise. I've always been fascinated with the miniature landscapes of printed circuit boards, imagining what manner of beings inhabited these tiny hi-tech worlds. Amongst the names given to the 47 individual track beds that make up this song are gems such as "Electrosquelch", "Nutcase Synth", "Weirdvox", and "LickMyBass". See if you can guess which one is which."

The title track 'Wayfaring Stranger' from the EP features guest vocals from the legendary Australian singer Kamahl.


The legendary Kamahl teams up with Sydney producer of cinematic electronica Valley Forge for a haunting down-tempo updating of the 18th century spiritual ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ on the newest release from Clan Analogue. In perhaps his most personal musical statement yet, Kamahl is the ‘Wayfaring Stranger’, journeying through cyberspace on an endless search for refuge from existential isolation. Valley Forge and Kamahl channel Tron and Scot Walker in equal measure, exploring the quest for human connection within our modern technological dystopia.

‘Wayfaring Stranger’ is the second single from Valley Forge’s forthcoming album Artificial Heart. The Wayfaring Stranger EP includes a remix by Itch-E & Scratch-E's Andy Rantzen and follows the release of Follow Suit which featured remixes by iconic dance acts Boxcar and Single Gun Theory. 


Valley Forge - Sea Of Simulation [Dubliminal Mix]

Following on from 2016’s “plastic ambient” album The Month Machine, Melbourne’s microsynth virtuoso Kable54 has turned his hand to creating an album of acid-tinted krautrock jams with electric circuitry and voltage, the superb Volca Galaxies.

Volca Galaxies evolved over 12 months of live performances and improvisational jams around Melbourne using a minimal setup of small portable analogue Korg Volca synths. Kable54 took those jams, polished them up and fed them a diet of East German steroids and West German psychedelics before piecing the whole thing back together again. The record sounds like an energetic, emotional journey through the hypercolour enormity of the Milky Way galaxy. For once we elected to keep the hyperbole to a minimum and let the artist tell his only story….

“Last year, I was sick of making music by sitting in front of the computer, alone. I wanted to play live performances to real people. I wanted to move away from the computer” said Kable54 about his initial motivation. “Then I found out about Korg’s Volca synths when I stumbled on a random youtube clip. Realising this would be a way more intuitive and performative way to make music, I worked some extra shifts to raise some cash and soon had a great little setup sitting on my kitchen table. Then it was goodbye laptop!”

“The development of the album is more like a 70’s rock album than modern EDM thing... songs were written, then tested out by performing in a bar that night. They developed and changed as I roadtested them from gig to gig.  The weaker ones were kicked out of the set, new ones composed and ideas honed for maximum impact”.

“I was performing once a fortnight or so, at pubs, bars, cafes, festivals, wherever. Melbourne’s a great live electronic music scene if you know where to look. After six months or so, it really came together. Instead of individual songs, they started merging, becoming one hour-long piece”.  

When Kable committed his sounds to tape he focused on capturing the live improv spirit. “Recording the album, it was really important to stay true to the live performance... the limitations that live performance has, as well as the limitations of the Volca synths. I wanted to take my live set in its entirety, disassemble all the pieces, polish them up, feed them performance-enhancing drugs, then re-assemble the whole thing”. 

Volca Galaxies, the new album from Kable54, will be launched at Bar 303, 303 High St, Northcote on Saturday 16th of September at Analogue Coordinates, part of Clan Analogue’s 25 Anniversary Electronic Weekend in the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Tickets are available from www.melbournefringe.com.au

Volca Galaxies

Kable54 - Viper Live

Composed by Rick Bull in Hackney, London.

Mixed & mastered at Neu Music Studios, Sydney Australia.

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artificial dreams

Peter Burns