Album #7


Although this is an electronic album, it's also an electric guitar album.

With the creative part of my brain waking up at exactly the wrong time, musical ideas race through my mind in the middle of the night. With recording sessions happening on a monthly basis, a lot of gestation took place, with parts and arrangements whizzing through my mind and fueling my insomnia.

The track's themes in general are about the states between sleeping and waking, memory and false memory, and how what we think is real is often tenuous.

I had it in my head that the word contabulation meant the sound that bells or metal objects being struck made. It turns out that no such word exists. However, the word 'confabulation' does exist - and it means a false or distorted memory. Perfect. Hence, Cascading Confabulations.

Cryptomnesia is when we recall a "memory" that did not actually happen. Hypnopompic is the state just before waking, when what is real and what is dream isn't always that clear.

Elsewhere, there's my usual title style - puns and funny little phrases that I read or hear and jot down. Nipparty Noppit means perky. Holy Mustang Extract relates to the band Horse Lords and the album "Juice" by Rio Kawasaki. And the fact that I use Fender Mustang guitars.


One evening in February 2023, the band I was in at the time had a rehearsal cancelled at the last moment. So instead, I stayed home and turned the synths on. 2 hours later, I'd written most of the tracks for this album. Over the next 2 months, I wrote some more pieces and worked on all the arrangements.

Taking a similar approach to 'Hidden Camera Syndrome' and 'Open All Ears' (both 2023), the basic tracks were all recorded in one session live in the studio in May 2023 using a mix of DI, mic'd up valve amps and room mics. There were usually 3 synths hooked up with MIDI and based on a sequencer pattern and manipulated in real time by reverb, delay and modulation effects. In some cases, drum machines were also involved at that stage.

After this initial session, a series of overdubs were added over several months including various guitars, guitar synth, other synths, electronic and acoustic percussion, bass guitar and bass synth. In some cases, and an overdub might only be one or two judiciously placed notes.



For the gear geeks:

Synths: Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Monologue, Korg microkorg, Yamaha PS2, Early Learning Centre keyboard, Casio VL-Tone, Waddingtons Compute-a-Tune, Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm Machine.

Drum Machines: Korg Volca Beats, Korg Monotribe, Yamaha DD5, Mattel Synsonics, Stylophone Beats, Yamaha RX21L. MPC the Tymp, Boss Dr Pad.

Guitars: 2 x Fender Mustangs.

Bass: Fender Musicmaster.

Amps: Fender Twin, Fender Champion 600, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Vox AC30, Laney Bass amp.

Other: Various homemade coffee tin percussion, various effects pedals, test oscillator, bowl of water and tube.