Jealousy and lies

The twelfth ie release.
A warm, sad yet hopefully uplifting piece of electronica. 
I tried to contrast a sparse verse with a warm and luminous bridge to chorus. I even used four part vocal harmonies!!
Written by R Cook / M Lewis. 2016.

Melancholia

128 BPM. The 13th International Electromatics single.
This song was on the original demo CD of backing tracks that I gave to Mark when we decided to work together as i.e. The lyrics are from that original batch of words.
I love the early Human League tracks where they used the System 100 to sequence rhythm tracks; tracks like Being Boiled, Austerity / Girl One and Dance Like A Star. Other than the busy, sequenced rhythm track and a few frills all that's on this song is a bass line and one lead line. The bass line is played on an Akai Timbre Wolf and SH101 with occasional support from the Alpha Juno 1. The lead is the Moog Little Phatty. For several years the bass line was realised on soft-synths but they never seemed to have the sound and presence I was looking for. That is the main reason that the song was left unfinished, I knew the sound I wanted, it just wasn't there. The little mono synths did the trick in the end. 
The rhythm track is built on a kick sound made on the ARP2600V and a sequence from the Moog ModularV. On top of these there are various sounds from the Zapkit, Leto (Jen Synthetone emulation) and DaHornet (EDP Wasp emulation). 
In tribute to Kraftwerk, And One and Die Krupps (amongst others) Mark used his German A-Level to write the chorus in German as well as English.
Written by Cook / Lewis 2016 (2011)

Tanz Der Einsamkeit - International Electromatics

140 BPM
Brand new track for 2017.
The 14th International Electromatics single.
This is the music that Mark and I love; Electronic Body Music.
This is a purer EBM track built on a solid sequence from the SH101.
Hardware - SH101, Timbre Wolf, Dark Energy, Matrix 1000, Pulse Plus, Little Phatty, RX11.
Written by R Cook / M Lewis 2016.

Another Earth? - International Electromatics

The 15th ie single. 122BPM.
The backing track was completed just before Tanz Der Einsamkeit and Another Earth were released. This song has a complex and multi-layered production with 24 separate tracks of synthesizers and drums. 
Mark's inspiration came from Fred Jane's illustrations that he completed for the Pall Mall Gazette in 1895. The future was meant to be so bright...
I was very pleased to use my Casio CZ-1000 again after a long spell for it in my cupboard...
Hardware - Little Phatty, R8m, Matrix 1000, Microwave, JP8000, DW8000, MS2000B, SH101, Pulse Plus, Timbre Wolf, K Station, CZ-1000, Minilogue.
Written by R Cook / M Lewis 2017.

Guesses At Futurity

The 16th ie single. 132 BPM.
The lyrics are Mark's most unashamedly Sci-Fi inspired ones to date. Maybe as contrast to this, the music has ended up as the most commercial sounding release we have produced. 
Joe Haldeman's brilliant book 'The Forever War' is a favourite of both of us; it provided some of the inspiration for the lyrics along with Robert Heinlein's 'Starship Troopers'. We get to combine our love for Sci-Fi and EBM... perfect!
Hardware - Microwave, Dark Energy, Juno 106, Nord Lead, Z1, R8m, RX11, SH101, Matrix 1000, Little Phatty, Minilogue, CZ-1000, Timbre Wolf.
Software - ARP2600v.
Written By - R Cook / M Lewis 2017.

The Loneliness Of The Starship Trooper

132 BPM - 
The B-Side of the 17th International Electromatics single.
The original track was on the initial CD of music that I gave to Mark when we decided to work together in 2010. 
It was nice coming back to the song after 8 or 9 years; I replaced some of the original synths with different ones and programmed a few new parts. Mark's lyrics speak for themselves and seem very prescient. 
Written by R Cook / M Lewis 2018

The Human Virus - International Electomatics

126 BPM
The 17th International Electromatics single.
I think that the lyrics are well matched with those of its b-side 'The Human Virus'.
This is a bit of a Minilogue 'tour de force'; it ptovides 6 different parts including the big rhythmic bassline. Also, in honour of its anniversary, the Microkorg, which was the first synthesizer I bought, provides the big buzzy bass.
Written by R Cook / M Lewis 2018

Into The Water - International Electromatics

128BPM
The 18th International Electromatics single. 
This song is built on a solid rhythmic base and features some big synthesizer sounds. 
Hardware - Yamaha RX11, Korg DW8000, Korg Minilogue, ARP Odyssey, Roland R8m, Waldorf Microwave, Yamaha TX81Z.
Written by R Cook and M Lewis 2019.

The Factory Made You - International Electromatics

A delicate, nostalgic and gentle piece of music in 7/8.
All sounds are from the Roland SH-101.
Written and recorded on 30/3/20.
Written by R Cook 2020.

SH101 EP 1

Saskatchewan (SH6) - Stars of the SIlver Age

This track was released a few years ago as one of the tracks on  Autocommunication alongside Sin-Eater. 
This remix corrects some 'timing malfunctions' that would have worried even Sylvester McCoy and replaces the original Korg DW8000 bass with some Moog. The whole track was then given a spring clean and the arrangement changed. This isn't the finished version as my temporarily RAM-Depleted computer glitched a few times running this rather PCU heavy track but I'm still more pleased with it than the original!!
Performed and Produced by R Cook.
Written by R Cook / M Lewis.

Autocommunication

Clickbait 2020 Remix - International Electromatics

All tracks recorded using just a Roland SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats. 
Stars of the Silver Age was my analogue synthesizer project from 2011 that I completed alongside recording in International Electromatics and Art City Glimmer. Inspired by getting my Roland SH-101 back from it's first service in the 13 years I've owned it, I reactivated the name for these recordings I completed using just my SH-101 and a Korg Volca Beats drum machine. All the tracks were written from scratch, recorded and mixed in no more than a single day each with 4 being finished on the 28th March alone. I found it liberating to make music so spontaneously and quickly - some of the Art City Glimmer and i.e. songs I'm currently working on started life up to 10 years ago in some cases... I set myself some basic rules for this project - I would only use the two pieces of equipment and each piece would be in a different key - to make sure I didn't fall back on familiar 'safe' patterns in favourite keys. It was a real pleasure using the SH-101 to get all of these sounds. I controlled it using a Doepfer MCV-4 and recorded all the tracks into Cubase. The SH-101 is a popular synth and as such seems to attract as many detractors as supporters. I think it's great; it's been a staple in my setup since I bought it in EMIS but I was guilty of using it mainly for sequenced bass-lines and arpeggio parts. I hope I've balanced the record now and done this great little synth proud. I love the way it's perfect for the dance-based tracks as well as taking the ambient tracks to another place altogether. I love my SH!