An album of electronic soundscapes from an imagined score inspired by scenes from the amazing novel Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
The eight tracks attempt to depict specific events and locations in the novel:
The First Vestibule – The Arrival of the Albatrosses – Out From the Clouds – Room of the Giant Statues – The Drowned Halls – Room of the Gulls – The Ninth Vestibule – The Day of the Flood
‘Veering between the darkly ambient and the classically grandiose, the album certainly recreates the twists and turns of its namesake’ – Electronic Sound
Inspired by the stories by H P Lovecraft it began by one of my favourites – The Shadow Over Innsmouth where I adapted lines from the story as narrated by the visitor with dark synths.
What The Moon Brings was supposedly inspired by a dream that Lovecraft himself experienced – again very dark!
Finally I couldn’t complete the project without the completely OTT story of The Music of Erik Zann!
The Cutty Wren is a very old folk song said to go back to the Peasants’ Revolt. I had the tune running round my head for years before recording this version. Although it started out as an instrumental, I was fortunate to meet Helen McCookerybook to add the vocals. This in turn led me to work on two of her songs, Emerald Leaves and Fatberg. There is an excellent video of Fatberg on YouTube
‘An eight minute version of the traditional song The Cutty Wren is set to what sounds like very well upholstered vintage Jean-Michel Jarre . . . . ‘ – The Wire
An electronic odyssey and homage to the pioneering aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, inspired by the captivating story of his years flying with Aero Postale – Wind, Sand and Stars.
Almost all done on my Eurorack modular synth and a couple of other hardware synths. Tracks are:
Wind, Sand and Stars – Dawn Flight – Cap Juby – Black Pebbles on a White Plateau – July ’44
‘Evocative os the likes of Tangerine Dream, Harold Grosskopf . . . . . The crisp modular whirrs and shimmering arpeggiating tones of Saint-Ex are for any fan of electronic music proper’ – Electronic Sound
‘Lovers of electronic music and soundscapes will find much to delight in on Saint-Ex’ – Penny Black
My first serious foray into the world of Eurorack modular synths. A re-working of the ever popular Il Quattro Stagione Op.8 – better known as The Four Seasons. Here given the ‘classitronic’ treatment.
Baroque musicians synths seems to go together so well – I am sure Vivaldi and most Baroque composers would have taken to the world os synthesizers!