This is the third version of GPS that I’ve done over the last six or seven years. The first and second versions of this were made under the notion that I was homaging a jungle track called ‘The Navigator’ by Aphrodite. Much to my embarrassment, it turns out that the operative part of his track was in fact sampled from a piece of excellent prog rock stoner music by Ozric Tentacles called ‘White Rhino Tea’. It only took me 25 years or so to find that out - not bad, eh? My lack of basic general musical knowledge never ceases to astonish. 

So, huge respect to Ozric Tentacles and a big thumbs up to Aphrodite, who, in all honesty, did some beautiful work with that sample.

My apologies for the unavoidable wall of sound toward the finish, but I just couldn’t find another way to do it without taking part of the track’s soul away. Hope you’ll forgive my ineptitude!

If you like this track, please give it a ‘like’, a comment and a repost. Massive thanks in advance. 

If you don’t like it, then simply roll your eyes and move on to another track, making this just another wasted and forgotten experience.

GPS (Orphic Groove Mix)

Made with deepest respect to both Bernard Herrmann and Elmer Bernstein.

A re-edit of a track I completed a while ago, posted, then deleted; the reason being that it was a little long-winded in its original form.

This version relies less on the theme that relates to the title, that being a simplistic recreation of a snippet taken from the soundtrack to the movie/s ‘Cape Fear’.

This version is more centred on the finale, which goes almost unchanged, except for a couple of important level adjustments. 

I feel that my original attempt (apart from being too long) was bordering on self-indulgence, trying to be bigger than it was - kind of like putting a suit on a chimpanzee, which was something I didn’t absorb until I’d posted it.

This is still a bit of an overly bold track, but I hope this edit manages to retain the spirit of the first version whilst being a little less up itself.

Your feedback, positive or otherwise, would be highly appreciated, and I hope you’ll ‘like’, comment and repost. Massive thanks in advance.

Cape Fear (Positive Edit)

“Try looking into that place where you dare not look. You’ll find me there staring out at you.” - Paul Muad’Dib

This one has been uploaded before, but it was far from perfect. This version is a complete redesign and while it’s certainly not flawless, it’s greatly improved and hopefully ready for your measured discernment.

Its inception is partially thanks to an unbelievable free synth called Synth One by AudioKit, a self-modified preset of which (Synthwave 1974) gave me the pattern of the arpeggio that forms the basis of this track.

If you enjoy this then please click the heart, comment and repost. As always, massive thanks in advance.

Usul No Longer Needs The Module

Many years ago, a scientist called John B Calhoun conducted a series of experiments relating to overpopulation, using rodents as his test subjects. Each iteration was initialised with the manufactured creation of a “utopian” society, one of which was ‘Universe 25’, inhabited by some of my most cherished kindred-spirits - a group of innocent little mice.

This track attempts to reflect the good intention and excitement behind this experiment, as opposed to the actual outcome, which was nothing short of horrific.

Your ‘likes’, comments and reposts are, as always, most welcome and deeply appreciated. Massive thanks in advance.

This is Universe 25

Back in the day, almost everything associated with Star Wars bubbled with excitement, adventure and a certain sense of grandeur (delusional or not), along with the mystique of the philosophical and theological aspects of the saga. Sometime in the early ‘90s, AFX did a track which he initially called ‘Jedi’ and it was simply amazing. Later on it was renamed ‘On The Romance Tip’ and honestly, that change took away a little of the magic gifted to it by its original title.

Nowadays Star Wars is, at the very least, a deeply divisive franchise and so I don’t expect everybody to appreciate the title, but please, please - when you think of a Jedi, try to picture Luke as a young man with the world at his feet and a cyborg for a dad, or Obi-Wan as a silver-haired proponent of deep mysticism and the ways of a lone warrior. You get my drift?

So on to the music! I was fairly happy with the original mix of this track (currently out of stock), but I felt that some of the initial themes could be extended and modified, with some new chords introduced toward the end, giving it a heavily remixed feel. In fact, other than most of the original instruments staying the same it has gone through some serious alteration. It’s not really better or worse than the original - just different.

By the way, just to clarify, this track has literally nothing to do with Richard D. James.

If this track topples your walker, then please ‘like’, comment and repost. Many thanks in advance.

One More Jedi (Way Many Mix)

This one is a chilled, dreamy, yet somewhat exhilarating old school dubstep number. The initial version bounced was overly simplistic and it was okay, but the damn thing was screaming to be fleshed out - so here we are, with the addition of a few extra bells and whistles (not literally, of course). Having said that, you’re not about to witness any kind of mind-blowing technical wizardry - a simple man does simple things.

Originally, the track was abandoned purposefully before the cake was baked as a little experiment with the idea that sometimes less is more. It turns out, once in a while, that less is less and more is in fact more.

The first iteration was saved with the title ‘Oceanic (Dripping Cave Levels)’, due to the fact that it kept bringing to mind a weird mental image of a chubby little pre-shroom Mario scampering through his subterranean wonderland. I never lost sight of that peculiar vision, but the title was too clunky, so here we are with ‘Naica Mine’. If this strange title piques your interest, just Google it…

Should this piece of work cleanse your chakras, then please ‘like’, comment and repost. May your pot overflow with pleasure and abundance, and your seed find welcoming ground.

Naica Mine

As the summer is upon us, I present to you a track to accompany the much anticipated warmth and positivity of this long awaited season. 

There’s not much to it, really - just a chilled, friendly little number that should hopefully put you in a relaxed frame of mind.

If this track melts your cube, then please do ‘like’, comment and share.

Cucumber Vibes

A while ago, I completed a batch of tracks, most of which were purposefully underproduced. That is to say, they were intentionally finished early on in the production process. The idea was an experiment in technical minimalism, to see if my tracks might benefit from a leaner sound. I don’t mean strict minimalism, but I do mean less ear candy and a lower track count.

This track was part of that batch, but I just couldn’t leave it alone and so it’s the most worked-on of the bunch. It’s an uplifting, riff-driven track with dubstep leanings and a dark, simplistic bass line. The dubstep elements are strictly old, old school, ‘cause I’d had my fill by the time Skrillex came along.  

It kind of harkens back to the 90's in some respects, but then much of my work is like that, what with me having my formative musical experiences in that era. I do hope those vintage rave vibes keep it interesting.

If this one strokes your familiar, then please do ‘like’, comment and repost. I genuinely hope that you’ll let me know if you agree with the write-up, or whether you feel that it’s inaccurate - sometimes I get so absorbed in a piece that I lose the ability to see the wood for the trees… However you feel about it, thank you for listening.

Higher Magick

It’s an odd journey, life. Everything happens when you least expect it and nothing is quite as it initially appears. For those who have become aware, there are signposts everywhere, yet to the others, those messages are mere coincidences. This is the true folly of the sane person.

If this track peaks your frequencies, then please do click on the heart and maybe let me know what you think. Massive thanks in advance.

Life Hz (so release)

Build a sturdy foundation and the rest will naturally follow.

Search: Tree of Life

Welcome To Yesod

Many machines on Ix…

This piece was fairly challenging to produce and initially it just wasn’t working - that is until I introduced a deep bass drone, which keeps going throughout the vast majority of the track. Once I’d added that bass, the rest slid fairly easily into being.

Really hope you enjoy this one. If you do, please like, comment and repost. Much obliged.

Folding From Ix

A few years back I made a track called ‘Dreamwerk’ and this piece takes some ideas from it and dresses itself up dubstep fashion.

Not one for strict genre compliance, it is almost accidental that I’ve made anything even close to dubstep.

Had a bit of a nightmare with the wobble bass and some timing issues with the midsection of the arrangement, but the rest fell together fairly easily.

This was purposefully made with as few bells and whistles as possible, so as not to overcomplicate the mix, giving (with any luck) a more raw yet humble result. Hope it doesn’t come across as lazy…

If this stirs your cauldron, then your ‘like’, comment and repost would be most welcome. Massive thanks in advance!

The Craft (Nitewerk)

Based on the true story of an acid-fuelled breakdown one summer in the mid 1990’s. 

He never did fully recover and continues to ask the eternal question…

Messiah (Soundtrack to a Psychotic Break)

A few years ago, I discovered a great old tune by Sneaker Pimps. Following the usual trail of breadcrumbs on YouTube, from a garage version of ‘Spin Spin Sugar’ (the Armand Van Helden remix), then on to the original, I eventually came across ‘Post-Modern Sleaze’. Highly impressed, my inevitable need to do something with it’s ideas popped up once again and I began production of this track.

As you may or may not know, I really don’t like to sample other people’s work - it started off as a phobia and it’s now just habitual. It probably weakens the quality of my work, but at least I can say “I’ve done it myself”. So, there are no vocals and I cherrypicked my favourite compositional elements, leading to a typically repetitive and fairly limited electronic adventure.

The reason that I didn’t call this track a remix is because of the enormous difference in sound and feel between itself and ‘Post-Modern Sleaze’, however, I have signposted its roots clearly with the title.

I really hope that you don’t consider me a musical thief and I’d hope that if you do, then you’ll think of me as a well intentioned Robin Hood type - it’s all done out of love.

So, enormous respect/admiration/apologies to Sneaker Pimps, who I believe are back on the scene with some relatively newish material on SoundCloud. If you have a spare few minutes, why not go over there and give some love?

Oh, I must mention the title again and assure you that the ‘LA’ reference is purely coincidental (if you believe in coincidences) and the track was already bounced and titled before I knew that Sneaker Pimps are now apparently LA based… weird.

I hope this track spins your sugar. If it does, please ‘like’, comment and repost. Massive thanks in advance.

LA Sleaze

Born into battle of The Water of Life, this unholy Sister of the crysknife.

Enter: Alia

This offering means very little in the grand scheme of things, but I urge you to investigate the word ‘theosis’ - it might be more important than you think…

If this track transubstantiates your wafer, then please ‘like’, repost and follow me for more of the same.

Theotic Flux

Bless the Maker and His water.
Bless the coming and going of Him.
May His passage cleanse the world.
May He keep the world for His people.

Maker

This mix was created for my dear wife, who can’t bare all the energetic beats that I usually litter my tracks with. So this is a stripped down, slowed down version with a little more work put in on the spiritual side of things, with atmospherics being emphasised.

I’ve got to be honest and say that I probably prefer this mix to my original, but it’s horses for courses as they say. Please give the original version a listen and let me know what you think - I’d be genuinely interested in your honest opinion.

Naica Mine (Skin Mix)

This track was made with sincere respect and the deepest admiration to Kraftwerk, some of the greatest pioneers of electronic music, without whom the modern musical landscape would have been very different.

Tour De France is without a doubt one of my favourite tracks of all time. At the age of 9 or 10, I bore sole responsibility for wrecking our VHS copy of Breakin’ (or ‘Breakdance - The Movie’ to give it its UK title), as I became transfixed and obsessed with Boogaloo Shrimp’s legendary broom scene and the astonishing music that accompanied it. Seriously, I rewound the shit out of that tape!

So, many years later, I still love it and have finally worked up the courage to attempt a re-imagining. Remixing such a classic proved to be an intimidating task, to the point that I barely used the original for reference for fear of being put off the job altogether.

I am aware that my version is in a different key and rather slow when compared to the original, but I just worked from my heart outwards and this is the result.

If you like this track, please hit the appropriate icons, leave a comment and maybe even share it with other likeminded electronic music enthusiasts.

Kraftwerk - Tour De France (Usul's retinax 5 remix)

This one is a homage to the sublime ‘Sirius’ by The Alan Parsons Project. I’ve been obsessed with the intro to that track for much of my life. It has been featured in tv and film countless times over decades, so if you’ve never heard it, I’d assume you’ve been taking a long holiday somewhere up the road from Canis Major.

The ‘51’ in the title refers to a shameless yet undeniably outstanding rip-off created by Area 51 called ‘Let It Move You’. It was made in the early ‘90s and was strongly connected to rave/club culture back in the day. If you enjoy that sort of thing and have never heard it, I highly recommend you seek it out.

Like Area 51, I only approximated the intricacies of the main riff, ‘cause in all honesty my listening and musical skills are simply not up to the job of recreating it in its entirety. Despite that fact, I reckon there’s enough going on to keep your ears happy and I’m also fairly proud of the final section.

I understand that this is not strictly drum and bass and it was never intended to be - for a start, it’s a bit too slow. I simply found that the beats hit where they did and they ended up following a typical dnb pattern.

I’d love to know what you think of this, good or bad (we’re always learning), so whatever you reckon, please do let me know. If you like it, don’t be shy and just click the heart. If you’re feeling adventurous and want your page sullied by someone else’s inferior work, then why not repost it, too? Thanks in advance.

Sirius 51

Happy New Year, you lovely people! We made it through 2020!!!

If you’ve searched for a specific track by The Dream Academy, you’d best move on - unless, however, you’re looking for something a little different, interesting and uplifting...

Is it house? Not quite. Is it garage? Not really. Maybe old school rave? Mmm, no. Trance? Well, I guess it’s a strange amalgamation of all of the above and more.

I’m not one for attempting to make genre-specific music, so it’s best to just go with what works on a track to track basis, for me at least. To be quite honest, what goes on in my feeble little brain rarely makes it as far as my DAW anyway, so my initial intentions often become irrelevant. I’m not criticising artists do who follow strict genre rules, I have a great deal of respect for those with the expertise to do so - it is a fine art!

Talking of expertise (or the lack of it), this is the second time I’ve uploaded this track, ‘cause I completely cocked up the first mix, which I uploaded on New Years Day. In the first version, the bass was almost undetectable on mobile speakers and the beats were way too loud, amongst other things. But, typical me, I got all excited about uploading on the 1st day of 2021, threw caution to the wind and now, here we are. Better late than never, I suppose. Hope it’s sorted this time. Let me know what you think...

If you get some enjoyment from this, please do click the heart, give me a comment and, if you think it’s good enough, please repost it. Many thanks in advance.

Edge of Forever

Not a huge deal to say about this, other than it’s pretty much as dark as I like to get. Straying much further from the light would likely cause me considerable emotional trauma.

Please let me know what you think by dropping in a comment. If you enjoy it, then your ‘likes’ and reposts are most welcome. Thanks in advance.

Mr. Pink

Update - 18/06/23

After being on this platform for over 12 years, SoundCloud has suddenly decided that I’m a bot and for the last month or so it has been severely restricting my ability to comment on your tracks. In the interests of fairness I am stopping commenting altogether for now. Sincere apologies to those of you who value this particular part of the experience as much as myself. I will continue to ‘like’ and repost (the latter on my sister profile) as normal, with the hope that this issue will be resolved at some point in the future.

Love and peace,

Rob.

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