GYRE - All Albums & EP's (Electronic Music)

Not entirely as i had planned, but still a massive achievement. I would have loved to have released the true final version of this album and all the track included, but shit happens and people loose all there work.

Lessons learnt aside, (backup up! all your work, and use better virus protection.) I would like to think that you will all fall in love with the music on this album as much as i have, i have tried my best to convey my varied styles and lack of restraint when it comes to making electronic music.

My album covers many sub genres of electronic music, including; breakbeat, house, ambient, chillout, experimental breaks, progressive, trance, electro, funk, bassline, and dub.

Rather than try and break new ground in a specific style, i have chosen instead to convey the subtle elegance of electronic music, getting back to what i used to love about music - variety, indifference, imperfection, expression, progressive structures, deep music with emotion and feeling, which in my honest opinion is becoming harder to find these days.

I have put 4 years of myself into this album, and at many times never thought it would see the light of day. But through persistance and through the rough times and the good i have managed to keep faith in what i do, and i hope you all see this throughout the album.

For a bit of insight to the album, here is the first review - this should give you some idea of what you are paying for, big thanks to 'Justin' for taking the time to review the album.

"Review

I’ve been looking forward to listening to this album. But I wanted to play it when I wouldn’t have any distractions… you know, give it my full attention (which it really deserves considering this has been 4 years in the making). Each track is a separate entity and yet they all contain an underlying vibe of flowing beats and soundscapes.

Let me break it down a bit:

“Attuned To Another” starts out with an infectious beat decorated with sublime synth work and imaginative sound-sculpting. The melody is both uplifting and somber at the same time. I get a very similar emotional response when I listen to Sasha’s “Xpander” or “Belfunk”. Everything is nicely balanced and all of the different elements come together to form a very cohesive track.

“Infinity” starts out with some interesting digital foreplay before the narrative begins. The drum programming has a great sense of swing and complexity. I can tell a lot of effort went into this production. Some of the raw, distorted drum loops sound as though they were recorded really hot to analog tape, then overdriven to saturate the mix. This sounds very warm and analog. Even if this was all done “in the box” with plug-ins, the result is something to be admired.

“Let Me Go” starts out very smooth and atmospheric. I love these kind of haunting, dreamy melodies. The vocal phrases are well-treated and sound very exotic. With the introduction of the strings and pads, this quickly becomes moody yet elegant, and pushes itself into the cinematic category. I would really love to hear a version of this with a strong 4-to-the-floor kick drum pattern, which would put this track firmly into dance floor-friendly territory. I like this track the way it is, but I would be thrilled to hear it on a very sophisticated, high-quality sound system installation. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind hearing that as well!!

“Mars Synthphony” (great title by the way), is ornamented with well-developed sounds and is treated with effects with great efficiency. The bass synth sounds extremely analog and rubbery. At times, it sounds as though it’s being doubled with a real electric bass. I really enjoy the filter/EQ sweeps applied to the background pads. I could totally see Deadmau5 dropping this record on an unsuspecting crowd, with a genuine hands-in-the-air response. Maybe you should hit him up about it, or give him the opportunity to remix this track… just an idea.

“New Life” sounds similar to the better, classic tracks produced by Way Out West and Charlie May (aka Spooky). You’ve created some great rolling, syncopated rhythms and synth parts. I like the fact that the bass line is punchier and more in-your-face, which meshes well with the kick drum pattern. It provides a well-defined musical foundation on which to build upon, driving the track forward with it’s pulsation.

“Off The Wall”, which is also the title of one of Michael Jackson’s classic albums, yet again includes some very juicy, rubbery-sounding bass lines. These seem to twist and turn with the help of some frequency modulation, filtering, and a touch of ring modulation or perhaps some bitcrushing nastiness. I love it!! This has some great atmospheric, melodic sound placement. I feel this track blurs the line between Breakbeat and IDM territory.

“We Are Nowhere” starts out with some reversed audio and sets the mood and the tone right off the start. I dig the vocal samples and the way they have been edited and processed. This is a fairly laid back affair, and as such, the quantizing sounds a bit rigid. And although it works just fine the way it is, I’m wondering what kind of difference it would make if it had a little more swing (or humanizing) quantization applied.

“We’ve Left Paradise” is an interesting venture into left field Breakbeat experimentation. You have used a lot of delay/echo processing applied to several different elements, most notably the vocal samples and some of the soundscapes you have arranged in the background. At first, I thought it was a little excessive. But now I enjoy the smearing effect that it causes. What helps is the fact that the delay/echo taps seem to be filtered or are treated with some highpass EQ. This degenerating, harsh wall of granular-sounding distortion is edgy, which I thoroughly enjoy. This type of processing reminds me of some of the techniques that older industrial bands put into use.

I would like to thank you for making this album available for download, free of charge. I’m very impressed with your imagination and creativity. In one of your previous posts about the state of electronic music today, you shared your disgust about the amount of unoriginal, soulless, copy cat tracks that are being produced by the masses. You have proved to me that there are people out there with a unique vision and passion for making quality music that can’t be placed into one genre.

You have also displayed your sharp production skills. You make it sound easy, and as a musician myself, I know that is a hard thing to pull off. Especially because your tracks are very full of different sounds that need their own EQ frequency to inhabit. Mixing that many elements is VERY TRICKY and requires a serious amount of time, concentration, and most of all, patience.

I can only imagine the amount of work you’ve put into this during the last four years. In fact, it’s mind-boggling. I sincerely hope that you are proud of the accomplishment you’ve made. One of the hardest parts of putting together an album (or single tracks for that matter), is knowing when to stop. Personally, I’m such a perfectionist that I rarely finish things in the amount of time I set aside. I get side-tracked with more and more ideas.

You know, change this beat here or add some more effects there, etc. So I know the discipline that it takes to complete a project like this. I think you have really hit gold with some of these tracks. If “Attack Of The Sustained Decay” was on iTunes or Beatport, I have no doubt that I would be interested enough to buy it and recommend it to several friends that are into different styles of experimental music. In fact, two of my friends sent me an email this weekend explaining how they were inspired by the music you have posted on SoundCloud. I’m happy to spread the word and they are also. Let’s hope that you get much more deserved exposure in the near future. Awesome effort!!!

- Justin"
credits
released 20 March 2010
Mike McGuire - Friends & Family - and anyone who listens follows my music