Marble Skull might come across as a darker track from all three members of Phrygia, but that's far from the actual meaning. This track is a dedication to the infinite inspiration that two certain individuals have had in our music - Muslimgauze, and Spies in the Wires. If you were to maybe mix the infectious grooves laid down by Spies with a tinge of the Middle Eastern inflections spawned by Muslimgauze, you'd have a close facsimile likened to Marble Skull. Whether that statement holds water or not remains to be seen. Dedicated to Uncle Pete Fatellah, RIP. Enjoy. Marble Skull is dedicated to the loving memory of Peter Grey Fattelah (1981-2002). This track took a considerable amount of work, due to the many directions that the song actually wanted to go, as opposed to where I wanted it to go. Thus, we have ended up with another track that blatantly changes course right before your ears. Dedicated to Muslimgauze and Spies in the Wires for the best gift anyone could offer - inspiration.
With the advent of the cut-up, mainly attributed to William S. Burroughs and Byron Gysin, the music of the beat era became at once something that meant more than simple words flowing into a coherent whole. All of a sudden, the fractured rants of Wild Bill gave a new meaning to poetic stream of consciousness. William S. Burroughs is everywhere in this track, excerpts from "Ah, Pook the Destroyer", "Agent K-9 was in contact with the alien mindscreen", and "Twilight's Last Gleaming" I guess the props should also go to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, John Cale, and Sonic Youth. This song makes you want to move. It's so strange in the intro that you are basically riveted to the track, waiting for it to unfold. Listen to the whole thing, or you just won't get it. A collaboration between all three members of Phrygia.
The name "Perforated Envelope C" was derived from the fact that this track was set against an ocsillating envelope, and the chordal synths were derived from the root of C-4 (or middle C). Bright and cheerful synths comp to a beefy drum backbone, and the interplay between the various digital and acoustic timbres are pretty damn good, if we can be so brave to say. A solo endeavor by myself, along the lines of Aphex Twin and A Small Good Thing. Mellow vibes weave in and out of the chunky dnb fabric, causing some real sweet effects. I doubled the loop, but brought it back from the second chorus to include some really nice bongo work. The interesting juxtaposed rhythms seemed to write themselves in, and this track was actually more of a blessing than a curse now that it is looked back at in retrospect. For those of you who actually have surround capabilities on your system or stereo, this utilizes the full field. This track has special meaning to me, because it has managed to pull me through some really emotional times, where I thought my music was nothing but circus music. I'm glad to report that I have since lost that feeling, and I am much better now.
Looking back in retrospect, this track has a very humble origin, meaning the samples used were basically all we had to work with at that time, and we are fully aware now that a lot of those samples are becoming redundantly overused in the music arena. So, we could either revamp the sample list, or go with the flow. We chose to go with the flow, as the song suggests. This is one of the coolest tracks I think Phrygia has created. Because to us, its timelessness, and the incredibly obtuse adaptations of tribal drumming pull together a track with the utmost clarity. It wishes to support you in your little trip you might take when you shut your eyes and let the thoughts flow. I was thinking Crash Worship ADRV and Z'ev when we created this, so there you go with familiars. A bit infantile maybe with the native voice, but it was stretched to give it that flair of the ether. Enjoy.
This track is dedicated to the people that REALLY suffer in the Middle East conflicts... Not the just Israelis, nor the Palestinians, but the people that are directly affected by division of mind and state. Phrygia is opposed to keeping people apart simply because one thinks that the ground they walk on is theirs and theirs only. This track is meant to promote a positive feeling, which we feel brings people together. Interesting notes to this track - listen to the breathing sounds incorporated and you will get an idea of what it is like to heave a final breath. Hope you get it. Enjoy.
Perhaps the least likely thing Phrygia aspires to is genre allocation. With that, we bound into the realm of funky dance with Voluminous Crest, which is exactly that - a crest at 1:00 promotes maximum dance pleasure while still recognizing the fact that we are totally focusing on the filters and beat. This has to be the most accessible track from Phrygia to date, although that yet remains to be ascertained. A collaboration between Jared and myself. Enjoy.
Vertebrate takes its place upon the eventual 60+ minute soundtrack aptly titled "The Autonomous Front". This would play as Act III of the total effort, but that's subject to change. The amount of concentration on this track is relative to the depth in which we wish to take within each of these collective tracks. All we can relate this to is a very small portion of the track, which takes on suctioned tabla that reverbs something close to what Deutsch Nepal created on "Flogging Satan Alive". Incredible acute turns are managed in this track, a collaboration between all three members of Phrygia, but especially positioned around Ryan Keane's mastery of melody. Vertebrate begins as a trip up the primordial ladder, its syncopative qualities tend to portray to the listener a stepped, or segmented scale that runs from the coccyx, up to between the scapulas, otherwise known as the shoulder blades. From that point, the energy of the track falls to the coccyx once again, and travels the reverse route, the route of Chi. Most proponents of Asian religious and philosophical ideologies that point in the direction of maintaining the human body from within will agree that Chi running in the opposite direction from its universal path (from the groin up the front, or the stomach, then chest, head, over the top, and down the spine, to only keep revolving in that fashion) is not a good thing. The ancient deadly art of Dim Muk has yet to be demonstrated to us, although we really don't want to see it. This is what we are talking about. Try this to some Tai' Chi Chuan (or short form), or any Kata, and let us know what results you have.
This took one Friday afternoon on a gloriously robust Arizona weekend to produce, and was finished within a few hours due to Jared coming in and setting his infinite drum wisdom into the mix. The reason we chose the Fight Club theme is because there are few movies or even audio clips that have such a profound effect upon you that you must either react or enact. We chose to re-enact a more intense version of the backing soundtrack to this volatile movie, yet if you think about it, in retrospect, it would be a re-enactment of things already set in place. You serve as judge. The track involves tightly clipped audio events from the actual movie "Fight Club", yet encompasses a plethora of different found sounds and a strange melody pervades the entire track. Where it came from, only David knows.
NGC 281 is a busy workshop of star formation. Prominent features include a small open cluster of stars, a diffuse red-glowing emission nebula, large lanes of obscuring gas and dust, and dense knots of dust and gas in which stars may still be forming. This has nothing to do with this track, because this track is based on the Challenger reaching the moon, and the final 17 feet of descent to the lunar surface. We incorporated the dialogue between the Challenger and Mission Control to bring you closer to that historic event. From there, we go off on tangents featuring once again Kammie Tabrizi and his insight into nothing in particular. This track was developed around hand triggered beats and looped backbone, all Phrygian. A solo effort by myself. Enjoy. A setting of uncertainty spawned this track, which started out strange enough, yet I felt it needed to go into the realm of beat laden verve, thus the many twists and turns in order to achieve that goal. The presentation of the Challenger landing on the moon is the focal point, and I've long wanted to get this audio clip out for others to hear, although I have manipulated it quite a bit.
Because we have taken such a long hiatus from producing music, we are at once struck with the idea that "Abstinence" is exactly that... We haven't put anything out in a while, and then all of a sudden, in two days, comes out a track that defines where we are at this point in time. Heavy drumming, swirling verve, and a Spies in the Wires kind of hypnotc effect. Enjoy this one.
