moody alien: Harm'sBrightSmile.Civilization.InTheForest
[TLM002]
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"Harm's Bright Smile" sprang out of an OuLiPo-inspired exercise on limited sound sources and would have been entirely made out of a 1' long harmonica recording -if it wasn't for a human voice, a guitar drone & the resulting snare drum vibration and a ride cymbal sample.
"Civilization" & "In The Forest" contain improvisational sound pieces for peculiar moods and were made out of a large number of instrument, field & miscellaneous recordings. ............................................... Ultra-Limited Edition of 50 CDs in a specially designed hand-made & numbered 3-panel paper gatefold +/or High-Quality Download in any format (FLAC recommended) ............................................... CREDITS & THANKS TO: -all n4tural (live coding of harmonica treatments for #1 & 2, words & voice for #2). -Aris Tegos (baritone electric guitar improvisation) & Angelos Bournas (recording engineer for additional sounds) for #2. -special thanks to: reinsamba, ECUT & Vasilis Bacharidis for additional sounds used in #4, as well as Jaime Rguez for the Erato & Melpomene videos included in the DL. editing, processing, mixing, mastering & artwork by moody alien. released March 2, 2015. ℗ & © Thirsty Leaves Music Also available as 2 separate Digital Albums @ moodyalien.bandcamp.com
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REVIEWS.
"[...] The album opens with “Harm’s Bright Smile” itself, a three track movement built around a one minute harmonica sample, with added textures of voice, guitar drone, cymbal and snare drum vibration. It’s quite sublime and transporting. [...] Next up is “Civilisation”, which emerges from looped and rather demented birdsong and collapses some 20 minutes later in science-fiction bleeps and pulsations. Just like the real thing. Finally, we have “In The Forest”, nine short tracks detailing an arboreal encounter with the Nine Muses of Greek mythology, in their industrial-Gothic Tank Girl aspect. It shows a certain sense of humour to have a track called “Terpsichore” that is so resolutely undanceable.
On the whole, this meets nearly all of my subjective standards of excellence, and I hope it meets yours too."
Ian Sherred for The Sound Projector
thesoundprojector.com/2016/08/04/alien-contact/
. . .
"[...] Although the instrumentation includes harmonica, acoustic guitar, baritone electric guitar, snare drum and ride cymbal, it is often difficult to tell what the sound source actually is. “Look Ma, No Arms” sounds like analogue synth from the space/rock days of the mid-seventies. I am reminded of Pink Floyd (circa ‘Meddle’) or Krautrock, with somber, shimmering electronics clouding our senses. Moody Alien does a great job of carefully manipulating his sounds, weaving in bits of random static, disembodied voices, ethereal and ghost-like… he is a subtle sonic manipulator who is able to change the mood or vibe by altering the way his sounds unfold, float and drift from space to space. This disc is very long (73 minutes) so some patience is required to take it all in. I am impressed with the way he creates assorted alien worlds for us to inhabit for different lengths of time. [...]"
Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery
www.downtownmusicgallery.com
. . .
"[...] These are nine sound pieces for special moods created largely from field recordings, taken by Alien, and sounds from free software databases. The author experiments with form here, works densely with long tones or chords.
[...] He approaches the music in a similar way on the EP Harm´s Bright Smile. However, here it draws natural sounds only from the Soundcloud archive (all n4tural). In the song "(Waiting For) A Lull in the Noise" with Alien, Aris Tegos with a baritone electric guitar is also waiting for a quiet noise."
Jan Hocek for JazzPort.cz
"[...] The album opens with “Harm’s Bright Smile” itself, a three track movement built around a one minute harmonica sample, with added textures of voice, guitar drone, cymbal and snare drum vibration. It’s quite sublime and transporting. [...] Next up is “Civilisation”, which emerges from looped and rather demented birdsong and collapses some 20 minutes later in science-fiction bleeps and pulsations. Just like the real thing. Finally, we have “In The Forest”, nine short tracks detailing an arboreal encounter with the Nine Muses of Greek mythology, in their industrial-Gothic Tank Girl aspect. It shows a certain sense of humour to have a track called “Terpsichore” that is so resolutely undanceable.
On the whole, this meets nearly all of my subjective standards of excellence, and I hope it meets yours too."
Ian Sherred for The Sound Projector
thesoundprojector.com/2016/08/04/alien-contact/
. . .
"[...] Although the instrumentation includes harmonica, acoustic guitar, baritone electric guitar, snare drum and ride cymbal, it is often difficult to tell what the sound source actually is. “Look Ma, No Arms” sounds like analogue synth from the space/rock days of the mid-seventies. I am reminded of Pink Floyd (circa ‘Meddle’) or Krautrock, with somber, shimmering electronics clouding our senses. Moody Alien does a great job of carefully manipulating his sounds, weaving in bits of random static, disembodied voices, ethereal and ghost-like… he is a subtle sonic manipulator who is able to change the mood or vibe by altering the way his sounds unfold, float and drift from space to space. This disc is very long (73 minutes) so some patience is required to take it all in. I am impressed with the way he creates assorted alien worlds for us to inhabit for different lengths of time. [...]"
Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery
www.downtownmusicgallery.com
. . .
"[...] These are nine sound pieces for special moods created largely from field recordings, taken by Alien, and sounds from free software databases. The author experiments with form here, works densely with long tones or chords.
[...] He approaches the music in a similar way on the EP Harm´s Bright Smile. However, here it draws natural sounds only from the Soundcloud archive (all n4tural). In the song "(Waiting For) A Lull in the Noise" with Alien, Aris Tegos with a baritone electric guitar is also waiting for a quiet noise."
Jan Hocek for JazzPort.cz