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cyborg needs no redemption, major arcana #8 and winter solstice '23

Animated GIF

The Backstairs Tone
⎋/~

The week went past with various distractions from returning to working on the album. I already mentioned I feel resistance to get back to it. I'm struggling but I really want to finish, those last kilometers, they say, are quite often the hardest. I shared the current list of tracks and how far they are done in the last letter, and that's where the whole thing still stands.

cyborg needs no redemption

So, this was a last-minute urgent comission from people from Linz and I was happy to move some SuperCollider code for an improvisation session with granular synthesis, recording everything, creating about 15 few-minutes-long clips for preview and feedback, and then collaging final composition and 'gently' syncing it to the video.

Here's an excerpt from the concept of the video work by artist Sofia Talanti:

3D animation explores the intersection of biotechnology and spiritual transcendence, inspired by the classical themes of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and the visual power of Gustave Doré's engravings. The work reimagines these ancient narratives through a contemporary lens, where a cyborg, representing a biblically accurate angel, embarks on a profound journey of self-discovery and redemption. Constructed from hyper-detailed 3D models derived from medical scans of cancerous tissues and neural structures, the cyborg angel embodies the fusion of organic life and artificial technology.

I think the final sound turned out quite well, and is somehow 'listenable' also without the video. Check it out:

winter solstice toplap '23 release

When browsing around my Bandcamp I stumbled upon a small release I prepared in early days of 2024 with 10 minutes of a TOPLAP Winter Solstice 2024 streamed session. It just felt a pretty good one and since the webcover was already prepared I decided to publish it.

This one feels special, because it's one of best ones so far, for me - it's simply a slow exploration of ambiental textures derived from a simple live recording of few notes from a kalimba. It sits right on the top together with the from-scratch session with Strudel web port of Tidal as satisfactory execution that does not feel too basic or repetitive in musical sense while being pretty interesting in programming sense - at least that's how I feel.

play & download:

I have found a very interesting passage in Elisabeth Grosz's book 'Chaos, Territory, Art' and it felt right to use it as some kind of liner notes:

"... there is indeed a common force shared by all the arts and the living bodies that generate sensations out of material forms that derives from the universe itself. This is a precisely vibratory force—perhaps the vibratory structure of subatomic particles themselves?—that constructs sensations as neural reactions to inhuman forces. Perhaps it is the consequence of vibration and its resonating effects that generates a universe in which living beings are impelled to become, to change from within, to seek sensations, affects, and percepts that intensify and extend them to further transformations. And perhaps such resonance creates the very means by which the arts undertake their compositional activity: to create rhythm, the ordering and structuring of resonance, the meeting of different vibratory forces.

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As “more profound” than vision or hearing, rhythm (which we must understand, along with vibration, as another name for difference) is what runs from objects to organs, from organs to the objects that captivate them, and from their relations to the art objects that carry sensations. It is rhythm that is transmitted directly from universe to artwork to body and back; it is rhythm that intensifies and complicates itself the more it circulates."

major arcana #8

Organized and promoted another tiny genre-queer FLINTA* clubnight Major Arcana at Klub MONOKEL where I played together with amazing Estera and newcomer DIZASTR (Dana). It was quite some work, it was painful (my feet in high heels!), but also very joyful. Whenever I have at least something prepared I can enjoy playing so much. And dancing too! I share with you an exclusive early access to my one-hour mix that was a bit darker and more dubstep inflected. Click on the image to get to the whole video recording of the set:

prince lucija behind the mixer - click for video at vid.pretok.tv

That's all for this week. I'll write again very soon!

As always, thank you for your generous support, patience, and being part of The Backstairs Tone journey. I hope next week treats you well! 💚

§backstairs
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