Systems Theory - Four Piece Suit

In a perfect world all players in the game of life benefit, but in the 21st century as resources become scarcer and populations larger, hungrier, and more desperate, and wealth devolves into fewer and fewer controlling hands, the future looks to be a dangerous zero sum equation in which everyone loses.

"Zero Sum Equation" is the 7th track on "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies". It was one of four tunes prototyped by Steven Davies-Morris and Greg Amov in December 2002, released on the "Bah Humbug, PRC" EP through the Progressive Rock Collectors forum. Nothing further happened to it for the best part of a year, when Mike Dickson added the mellotrons. Violins and lead electric guitar being added in the last couple of months before the album was put to bed.

Systems Theory - Zero Sum Equation

This was a tongue-in reference to the idea that some foods are impossible to find in different parts of the world. Picking classic Jewish deli cold-cuts and the city of Delhi was a nice play on words.

Systems Theory - No Deli In Delhi

Systems Theory - Riverrun (Harmelodythm)

"Crashing came from afar, like the massed roar of a hundred armies. Except this was no ordered battalion or marching sequence of troops. This was anguish. This was torture. This was the sound of the primal fear of the dark and the unknown and of something too terrible to look upon because your most basic and fundamental terrors would just eat you alive from within your ribs. And it was coming at you fast, in the dull light of dusk under the yawing orange haze cast by the dropping pitch of the sun in an autumnal sky. The ground moved. The trees barked and split. The lights died as it brushed through the upper leaves and stood towering above you, eclipsing the skies like a mountain on legs. The noise of that army returned, this time more horrifying than ever because what lived in your imagination before was not equal to the sight of the creature before you, at which point all instinct and bravery lost you as you knew your life was being telescoped down into minutes if not seconds.

It saw you and thought of you as prey.

You saw it and thought of God and forgiveness" (Howarth)

Systems Theory - Spamivore

SO-CAH-TOE-AH is a way of remembering how to compute the sine, cosine, and tangent of an angle. Or how to determine the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. Think of it as a hyperactive 21st century update of Can's approach to moterik. The mid-section is Mike Dickson's adaptation of melodies from "Tail Wags Dog" a Greg Amov tune from "Gecko Highway" that originally was intended as a Systems Theory tune. This went through several rearrangements including one that was 10 minutes long before the right length was found.

Systems Theory - Sohcahtoa

Manic sequencer-driven techno-influenced space-rock with some lovely mellotron filling in the sound.

Systems Theory - One Step To Freefall

A hasty rough mix of one of the tunes for "overfulnoisecascade". Still a lot to do to get parts dropped to make room for Mike's additions.

We've all done it -- gone on one of those pub crawls, party-to-party hops, etc winding up sometime close to dawn with that incredibly stretched several-to-many feeling.  Then we either crash (to wake later with the most infernal hangover) or we go and get caffeinated to the gills, eat breakfast, and face the morning, running on fumes (breathing them everywhere too).

Systems Theory - All Night Bender 20110429 veryroughmix

A rough mix from after Mike Dickson added his keyboards.A lot of the guitars which previously carried the tune have been muted or mixed down.That will change and a balance found before the album comes out. The extended ending will probably go away.I prefer the tune to end with the riffing guitars carrying it into the dark night. One of the last tunes written for "overfulnoisecascade", "LND" sat in limbo for a long-time waiting for a violin part for Greg Amov. Which sadly never materialized before his death.We have tried with several other violinists but none have managed to get what I wanted, so I expect the final arrangement will never quite match what was in my head when writing it.


Systems Theory - Lost Nation Dreamtime 20090516 roughmix

In the platinum room the man who has everything has all his treasures hoarded. Money, jewels, art, women. Some nights, bored, he goes to another platinum room to watch the gyrating of women who are his as long as he spends money. And then, when no longer entertained, he goes home to contemplate the extraordinary riches he keeps locked away behind guarded walls.

"In The Platinum Room" started life based upon the Platinum Room at a club called Diva's in San Juan, a place I had visited when on a consulting assignment in Puerto Rico in the late 1990s.  It was our attempt to approach the creation of a pulsating piece of trancey IDM from the perspective of proggy space-rock. How to join the two concepts and have it be interesting to us musically while unleashing a rocket onto the dance floor? How would Can have approached progressive-rock thinking and instrumentation while fusing it to the idea of propulsive motion-in-music? Along the way the tune evolved to become more about the trappings of wealth and the mindless pursuit of money and what it can buy.

As the tune evolved more and more things got taken out of it, except for fun sound bites that Mike Dickson added. This is pretty close to the final mix.  Other than what we decide needs spot tweaking.

Systems Theory - In The Platinum Room 20110507 closetofinalmix

"No Exit" was inspired by the Jean-Paul Sartre play about three damned souls trapped together forever in a room in hell.

A complex and brooding tune originally demoed at the end of 2003, "No Exit" somehow got lost in the shuffle, it could have been on either "SFIM" or "Codetalkers". It nicely showcases two sides of Systems Theory, the dark ambient electronica of the opening (aka "Last Call At Inquisition Bar & Grill") and the progressive-rock which follows, growing out of the dark ambience.  This might have been the first tune on which Mike Dickson deployed the impressive "Russian Choir" Mellotron tape frame.

While this is an older mix, other than some tweaking, and possibly letting the ending fadeout continue for another 10-15 seconds, it's very close to how it will appear on "overfulnoisecasade".

Systems Theory No Exit 20040121 close to final mix

About Systems Theory: a long-distance internet music project formed through the usenet rec.music.progressive newsgroup in 1999 by ex-pat Brit in California Steven Davies-Morris, his long-time American friend Greg Amov and Scotsman Mike Dickson.

Some influences: Can, Eno, Eric Satie, Gong, Hawkwind, Jade Warrior, King Crimson, Kraftwerk, Mike Oldfield, Philip Glass, Tangerine Dream, musique concrète, 20th Century atonal classical music and sampling (not necessarily in that order).

We might remind you of (tongue in cheek): Can meets Jade Warrior and Tangerine Dream in a bar for a few beers while listening to Harold Budd, Ozric Tentacles and William Orbit. Then they head off to an after-hours club to drink single malt whisky while Steve Tibbetts and Steve Roach fire-up odd percussion and old-school electronics for a jam with Hawkwind and King Crimson refugees.

The official Systems Theory website is here: http://www.systemstheory.net/

First efforts resulted in two demos CDs:
"Demos 1999-2000", 5 tracks (2000)
"Demos 2001-2002", 6 tracks (2002)
 
Two official albums have been released on Independent Records, USA:
"Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies" (2004)
"Codetalkers" (2007)

A 3rd official Systems Theory CD will be available soon:
"overfulnoisecascade" (2011)

None of the tunes on the first demos set have appeared anywhere else. Four of the six tunes on the second set have been reworked and appeared elsewhere.

At some point after the release of "overfulnoisecascade" the original demos, alternate versions of released tunes, and previously unreleased compositions will be revisited.  They will be assembled into two CDs that represent where Systems Theory came from, while filling in the gaps for the listener who has to have everything the band recorded that wasn't so awful it was executed or locked up in a dungeon.  

Artwork for the released Systems Theory CDs is here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=1039520131&aid=103226

Greg Amov (born Nov 6th 1959, died Nov 3rd 2009) released three solo CDs on Independent Records:
"The Dark Within The Dark" (2001)
"Gecko Highway" (2005)
"The Noble Gases" (2009)

A 4th and possibly a 5th Greg Amov solo CD will be released in 2011-2012 from tracks "in the vault".

Greg's obituary can be read here: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/greg/

Liner notes to Greg's 3rd CD shed some light on Greg's health issues. Go here: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/noblegases/

An article about Greg's music published in the San Diego Troubadour can be read here: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/greg/std.html

Artwork for the released Greg Amov CDs is here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=1039520131&aid=103226

Mike Dickson has released six solo CDs and several internet-only streaming projects:
"Six Consequences" (2007)
"Domus" (2007)
"Honfleur" (2008)
"In Excelsis" (2008)
"mellotronworks" (2008)
"Oddzial" (2009) [internet-streaming only]
"Basilica" (2011)

There is also a sampler CD of tunes from Mike's output.

The official web-site for Mike Dickson is here: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/

Mike serves as the keeper of the Streetly Electronics Mellotron tape library sample demo page: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/tron/index.htm

Cyndee Lee Rule has played Viper violin for a lot of progressive and space-rock projects. She has contributed Viper violin to tunes on both "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies" and "Codetalkers" ("The Cool Vibe Of Asia C.", "Zero Sum Equation", "No Deli In Delhi", "Berlin Night Express"). She has released one solo CD, produced and engineered by Steven Davies-Morris, with the compositional and musical involvement of Greg Amov and Steven Davies-Morris:
"UFOsmosis" (2005)

A 2nd Cyndee Lee Rule CD will be available in the second half of 2011.

The official Cyndee Lee Rule website is here: http://www.cyndeeleerule.com/

Dun Strummin records under the project name Visible Breath. He contributed electric lead and harmony guitars to "Zero Sum Equation" on "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies" and acoustic guitars to "No Deli In Delhi" and "Car Crash Messiah" on "Codetalkers".

The official Visible Breath website is here: http://www.visiblebreath.com/

Michael Futreal is part of The Offramps with his brother Andy and the trio Twang Darkly. The make modern electrified and traditional Americana with a strong Appalachian feel. Michael contributed the dulcimer that sounds like balalaika on "Last Letters From Stalingrad", the closing number on "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies".

The official website for the Futreal brothers is here: http://www.futreal.com/

Brian Daly is a multi-instrumentalist and engineer/producer. He contributed electric lead and harmony guitars to "Green Miata Baja Bound" and slide guitar to "Zero Sum Equation" on "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies".

Paul Beecham (ex-Thieves Kitchen) provided bass samples programmed by Steven Davies-Morris on "Car Crash Messiah", the 4th tune on "Codetalkers". He has also contributed bass samples to several as-yet-unreleased compositions.

Diane Amov contributed wood flute samples programmed by Steven Davies-Morris on "The Cool Vibe Of Asia C.", the 2nd tune on "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies".  She also contributed flute samples used in some of the early Systems Theory demos.

If you go Mike Dickson's site http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/ you can download for free the first Systems Theory demos set, both Systems Theory albums, all of Mike's solo works and the releases by our late band-mate Greg Amov.

Systems Theory

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