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Volume 1 - Ages
Jurassic – was it like this, then …
Cryptozoic – the puzzle, the answer
Carboniferous – hot, steamy, rich
Cretaceous – limestone and water
Triassic – that golden age
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Tracks
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1. Jurassic
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11:13
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2. Cryptozoic
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17:47
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3.
Carboniferous
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10:30
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4.
Cretaceous
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19:01
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5.
Triassic
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12:23
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Volume 2 - Cage
(2 CD)
The Cage album is a homage to John Cage of course.
The Monolith
track is inspired by the film 2001.
Also here is the first appearance of the wonderful
and tinkly Atomsphere track
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Download here
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1 |
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1.
Cage
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20:41
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2.
Monolith
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25:18
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3.
Atomsphere
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25:46
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CD 2
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1,
Cage (2k1 version)
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13:26
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2.
Monolith (9x4x1 version)
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22:36
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3.
Cage (very long version)
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43:21
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Volume 3 - Seasons
(4 CD)
A 4 disc set inspired by the changing of the Seasons.
Each season was recorded during the actual season of the year.
Together they paint a huge picture of the changes in our world.
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| CD
1 - Spring |
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1.
Seeds
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8:50
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2.
Spring
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11:47
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3.
Spring Gardens
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21:05
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4.
Spring Waters
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20:44
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CD2
- Summer
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1.
Summer Heat
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20:30
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2.
Summer
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15:24
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3.
Summer Rain
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23:04
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CD3
- Autumn
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1.
Autumn
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8:52
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3.
Autumn Winds
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10:24
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3. Autumn Leaves
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8:12
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4. Autumn Winds Forever
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25:05
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CD4
- Winter
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1.
Winter
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13:46
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2.
Ice Crystals
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11:50
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3.
Footprints in the Snow
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14:03
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4.
Distant Snowstorms
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23:10
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Volume 4 - Evolution
(2 CD)
"Evolution" was recorded in July 2003 at Dog
Kennel Studio.
All the tracks were played live, some of them are first-take.
This album covers the early stages of evolution, where tiny
microbes are just starting to change and develop into more
complex life-forms
"Evolution 2" follows on from "Evolution" and covers the stages
from fish and tiny sea creatures up to the point where land
creatures begin to exist. A celebration of the beginnings
of life on this planet.
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| CD
1 - Evolution I |
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1.
Inside the Egg
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4:21
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2.
Evolution
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4:28
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3. Microbes
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15:09
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4. Chaos Theory
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12:13
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5.
Mutations
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16:26
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6.
The March of Evolution
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8:45
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CD 2 - Evolution II
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1,
Now We Are Fish
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6:28
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2. Where Life Is (1)
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1:00
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3. Chaos Evolves
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13:11
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4. Where Life Is (2)
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1:41
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5. Cosmic rays Bombard the Seas
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3:05
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6.
The Presence
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3:19
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7.
Where Life Is (3)
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1:04
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8. Evolution II
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16:48
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9. Where Life Is (4)
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1:09
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10.
That First Step
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11:13
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Volume 5 - Three Masters
This album is a homage to the three musicians who inspired
JS to actually get started in this genre. The tracks are "in the
style of" these three people ...
Riley is Terry
Riley (Poppy Nogood era)
Schulze is Klaus Schulze
Reich is Steve Reich
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Download here
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| Tracks |
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1. Riley
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21:48
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2. Schulze
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27:27
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3. Reich
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24:25
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Volume 6 - AL2K1
This is the live set that John did at the famous gig AL2K1.
Starting out initially spacey and tinkly, it gets more beaty and
intense as time passes, culminating in a great version of Daliesque
Also includes an extended version of 'Seeds' as a bonus track.
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Download here
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| Tracks |
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1. AL2K1 Live set continuous mix
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46:17
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Neptune / Plasmastreams
/ Sphere /
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Telephone / Neuronium /
Aircraft /
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Rubycon / Avantgarde /
Daliesque
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2. Seeds II (bonus track)
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20:52
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Volume 7 - Dark/light
The ambient excursion into spacey mystery and sci-fi imagination.
Mainly recorded first-take, this album travels into the realms of where
the future may hold some explanation, or is that the expectation of
something amazing being revealed.
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Download here
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| Tracks |
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1. Then Time Stopped
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2:56
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2. Marsh-wisps Scatter at Dawn
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2:55
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3.Waves
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2:53
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4. Spirits Dancing
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3:03
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5. Trance
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6:13
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6. Krell Power
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4:37
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7. Krell Machine
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5:44
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8. Creatures of Light and Darkness
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3:31
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9. The Spring of Solaris
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19:09
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10. The Power of the Atom
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5:26
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11. The Gateway to Forever
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7:13
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Volume 8 - Silent Radio
This album was recorded during a live Internet radio broadcast
on 22 December 2003. Here JS runs through his favourite tracks
from that period..
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Download here
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| Tracks |
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1. Atomsphere
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18:43
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2. Cage
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13:39
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3. Seeds
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9:41
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4. Spring Gardens
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10:45
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5. Winter
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8:05
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6. Summer Rain
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14:04
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Volume 9 - Live in Lutton
Recorded live in the Dog Kennel studio, John plays some of his
best tracks "one last time" before moving on the the
"Ritual era"
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Download here
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| Tracks |
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1. Beyond Andromeda
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6:08
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2. Then Time Stopped
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2:07
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3. Inside the Egg
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5:04
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4. Seeds
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8:07
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5. That First Step
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9:35
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6. Winter
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8:21
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7. Chaos Evolves
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10:29
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8. Time Machines
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5:09
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9. March of Evolution
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6:33
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10. Summer Rain
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15:34
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Volume 10 - Rarities
(3 CD)
A collection of all the "bits and pieces" that didn't fit
sensibly
onto an album at the time, and various alternative versions of
well-known tracks
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Download here
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| CD
1 |
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1.
All the Orb Tracks
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0:03
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2.
Alien Fly-By
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2:51
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3.
Sphere
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3:01
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4. The IDM Experiment
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4:01
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5. Comet
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2:54
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6.
46% Defragmented
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1:41
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7. Alien Fly-By II
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10:50
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8.
Trance (AL2K2 version)
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9:32
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9.
Monolith 4 (My God It's Full of Stars)
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35:19
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CD 2
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1,
Three Shadows
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7:32
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2.
Sunrise on Cyderia
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3:22
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3. Alien Fly-By III
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8:26
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4. Atomsphere
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18:22
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5. Darkness is Falling (part 1)
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2:52
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6. Darkness is Falling (part 2)
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9:04
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7. Darkness is Falling (part 3)
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5:06
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8. Summer Rain
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15;30
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CD 3
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1. After the Flood
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1:26
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2. Elegy for a Forgotten Hero
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8:57
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3. Aliens Flew By
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5:34
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4. Scattered Marsh-wisps
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5:04
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5. BIO (Biologically Imploding Organism)
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2:38
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6. Six Pains
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6:28
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7. SL3
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5:34
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8. Picoseconds
Elegy
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15:41
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Volume 11 - Classical
Experience
(3 CD)
Three famous composers re-interpreted in
synths.
Favourite pieces loving created.
This might surprise.
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Download here
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| CD
1 - Beethoven |
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Symphony
#6 Pastoral
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1.
First movement
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2.
Second movement
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3.
Third movement
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4. Fourth movement
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5. Fifth movement
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6.
Moonlight Sonata
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CD 2 - Tchaikovsky
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Symphony
#6 Pathetique
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1
to 6. First movement parts 1 to 6
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7
to 8. Second movement parts 1 to 2
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9 to 10. Third movement parts 1 to 2
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11 to 12. Fourth movement parts 1 to 2
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1812 Overture
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13 to 22 parts 1 to 10
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CD 3 - Moussorgsky
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1 to 3. Pictures at an Exhibition parts
1 to 3
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4. Dawn on the Mockva River
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5. St John's Night on the Bald Mountain
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6. Album Leaves
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REVIEWS
Evolution
Describing the first steps of life on planet Earth, these two albums are typically conceptual music from
JS.
John Sherwood does an excellent job of painting aural
pictures throughout the disc, such as opener Inside The
Egg, with its creeping synthesised gurgles sounding
thoroughly organic. Most of the music on the double album
is performed live, first-take, so stark sound improvisation
is the order of the day, over lush, orchestrated soundscapes, but this also matches
the theme well.
Many tracks are formed around single, droning chords,
from which sequences and melodies bubble up and swirl
around, in typical JS style.
After initial ambience and experimentation, Chaos Theory
and The March of Evolution bring in primitive rhythms,
echoing evolution's increasing pace from simple microbes
towards recognisible signs of life.
Evolution 2 begins in a similar manner, but with a slightly
faster pace and with a little more activity on Now We Are
Fish. This second album, however, is punctuated by a
series of four short ambient interludes called Where Life
Is (1-4), each of which is desolate and/or spooky,
suggestive of the pre-historic period
in reference on the album. Elsewhere, we revist the more
literal, gurgly organic sound on Cosmic Rays Bombard
the Seas, and pulsating sequences on Evolution 2,
the longest and strongest of the rhythmic droning pieces.
The album concludes on That First Step, a nervous piece
with a hesitant beat behind it; we leave the record behind
on a fittingly descriptive track that keeps the concept as
strong as it began.
The two Evolution albums are experimental works, and
while only the Where Life Is tracks contain the more
melodic work that would come to the fore on later JS
albums, the dronier pieces will be of serious interest
to anybody who delights in experimental synth music.
Ross Baker
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