'Technical Difficulties' - 1998

We all stand in line
Upload our minds
Sys-op grows each time
Just like man-kind
Disks just store your lives
We don't down-size
No-one lives or dies
No smiles, no cries
I just watch the sky
Blue fills my eyes
Space-man on your ship
Take me with you

Technical Difficulties - 1998

A CYBER’S WORLD?

Collaborated with Sinem as she played keyboard lines and got behind mic in a freestyle jam.  I did the beats, bass, arranging, and editing; she did everything else.

Haunted Echo - With The Kidz (featuring Sinem Rana)

'The sound is urban, the growl of people and traffic, of machinery and life.  Suddenly you turn a corner and the noise is dimmed.  You look through a window to see a ballet lesson, or a choir rehearsing, the growl of the city still audible.  Turning another corner, you are back in the noise and the heat and the energy.' - Scobi

A collection of remixes hosted by Sony Creative via their Acidplanet community.  Jen Semrau's Wow Jones Mix was the grand prize winner, showcasing solid production and orchestration chops.  Saab's Retro Mix was the runner up because it reminded me of Haujobb in how it was completely rethought and sung in German and Russian.  The Lthrboots and Scobi mixes caught my ear so I felt I'd be doing a disservice by not including them.  


Delivered by <a href='http://www.label-worx.com'>Label Worx</a> on behalf of <a href='http://www.haloaskewent.com'>Halo Askew Entertainment</a>

ShapeTracer: Mixed The F#*% Up

Haunted Echo - ShapeTracer (Saab Retro Mix)

Dichotomy is the first single from the highly anticipated Rein[Forced] album X Amount of Stab Wounds in the Back. This digital only single features 6 versions of the title track including mixes by Stiff Valentine, Sensuous Enemy, Ego Likeness, Deathproof and The Dark Clan plus a special b-side. If this is any indication, then the album is going to be stellar. 

Rein[Forcded] Dichotomy (Single Version)

This is one of those happy accidents of the recording and mixing process. The original music tracks were recorded by Scott in early 1987 using a Korg DW-6000, a Casio SK-1 (on loan from the Fiber family), and recorded onto a Fostex X-15 Multitracker 4-Track Cassette Recorder.

Later in 1987, the infamous DSL sessions were recorded. For these mind altering sessions, Scott and I ended up using the other side of the cassette from the Idea H-2-12 recording.

Now, jump forward 2 years to the Summer of 1989 when I was mixing tracks for final release of The Secret Society project. Though most of the songs for The Secret Society release were recorded during the Summer of 1988 at Horse &amp; Buggy Highway Studios, I was looking for additional material to include on the final master. This is when I stumbled upon the cassette with Idea H-2-12. I popped the cassette in the X-15 and hit play.

Here's where the happy accident occurred...

The previous song that I had been mixing was a 4-track song and had all the levels wide open so, as the 2-tracks for Idea H-2-12 started to play, the 2-tracks from the other side of the tape were also audible. However, those 2-tracks from the DSL sessions were playing backwards! I thought it sounded "so cool" that I mixed it all together and we created our first (and only) backwards masking song.

Now you can be the judge of whether or not this song is as "cool" as I thought it was at the time and you'll also get bonus points if you can decipher the backwards masking vocals and sounds from the DSL sessions. But be warned, you may not want to know what the backwards masking vocals and sounds are!

The Secret Society

Idea H-2-12

In honor of Dirk Frey's birthday yesterday, I'd like to share a song that he recorded back in 1988(?). This gem from the FFS Vaults features Dirk on guitar and playing a Roland SH-09.

Dirk and I have both come a long way since playing air guitar to our favorite Heavy Metal records (Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Saxon, Accept, and many others) in his parent's basement while we were in 7th Grade. It was during one of those sessions that we decided to buy real instruments and form a band.

The rest, as they say, is history!

Dirk Frey - Experimental 1

Rising from the fog enshrouded pyramids of OBO, the original Obomatic infiltration unit formed a new collective named Zero Müsik Research. This experimental consortium of audiologists included ZeroTroll - Electric Bass, ZeroP4 - Electric Guitar, and ZeroO - Electronic Drums.

As the name suggests, the musical experiments that we conducted were completely improvised. We literally did Zero Müsik Research before attempting them.

The experiment, titled Angst, that I'm going to share with you today was recorded using live room mics at O Control Studios in Philadelphia, PA on 02/29/04. This song represents a complete departure from the usual brand of electronic music that we produced together as Obomatic and as our other current and past projects, Any Questions? and Punch Drunk. Stripped of all of our electronic gadgetry, we composed organic, nearly human music with only a bass, guitar, and drums.

The Zero Müsik Research collective was short lived and only existed for a few months in early 2004 but luckily left us a recorded history of its existence. Here is Zero Müsik Research - Angst...

Zero Müsik Research - Angst

This previously unreleased audio recording of Any Questions? - Dance For The Future is the original 10+ minute improvised version which was taken from the final day of recording at 1 Gold Street (otherwise known as Der Palast des Goldes) in the Summer of 1990. A reworked final version appeared on our Illegitimate Release 1990 product.

As with the other music recorded that day, MC2P4 and I were in almost perfect sync and pushed our digital synths to their sonic limits while sometimes overdriving our Fostex X-15 Multitracker 4-Track Cassette Recorder during the process.

MC2P4 laid the groundwork for this song by playing a sparse but deliberate synth bass line and contrapuntal synth string melody to accompany the drum rhythm I programmed. Meanwhile, I had free reign to solo endlessly over the progressions he played. I started with an improvised electric bass part which I quickly abandoned for an all out digital synth assault. The Korg DW-8000 and DW-6000 were my synths of choice for the session and I very liberally mutated every patch I encountered.

As if all of that wasn't enough, MC2P4 provides a vocal performance to accompany the sonic experiment. His lyrics warn us not to squander our present lives by living in the past or dreaming of the future. A struggle that we all battle with every day!

Any Questions? - Dance For The Future

Music written and produced by Kris "Halo" Pierce and Elaine Benavides
Vocals and lyrics by Claus Larsen
Addt'l vocals by Elaine Benavides

Resident51 was started as a challenge: create a set to open for Psychic TV in 2006. Elaine and Kris fall down the rabbit hole of experimental, yet danceable, electronic music for fans of Download, Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key. They have placements at MTV, Hot Topic, Tencent Music Entertainment (China), Rehegoo Music, Yandex (Russia), and retail in-store radio in Spain, France, Russia, and the USA.  www.HaloAskewEnt.com

Resident51 - Haunted Sharp Things (feat. Claus Larsen)

Damaged: The Remixes

Age of Urges

First mutant to ascend from the plasma pool after the Cy-Tech Wars. Skilled in cybernetics and data manipulation. Exhibits an extreme appetite for blood and kills for his own pleasure.

Dirk Frey - Experimental 1

Ttam Troll