Musebots & Arne Eigenfeldt
A Walk To Meryton

Out: March 1st, 2024 on Redshift Records (TK 533  —2xLP/DL)
Genres: Generative, Ambient, Jazz, Modern Composition
RIYL: “Blue” Gene Tyranny, David Behrman,  Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom, Jon Hassell, Prefab Sprout’s I Trawl The Megahertz

ARNE EIGENFELDT — WEB
REDSHIFT RECORDS — WEB |  BANDCAMP

North Vancouver-based composer Arne Eigenfeldt provides a compelling contrast to the all-too-pervasive narrative of “encroachment” around artificial intelligence in music. Having designed and employed his own generative/ real-time interactive music software since the 1980’s, he’s a veteran in this field and that’s the key to his more charitable outlook. The Double LP set A Walk to Meryton employs an an open-ended, modular AI scheme that he began developing around 2013, Musebots. Framed as a sort of ensemble, this multi-agent network of “bots” is capable of generating full-fledged compositions. The recording takes compositions generated in this manner as its foundation and the electronic parts are interwoven with contributions from an ensemble of musicians drawn Vancouver’s improvised music community. John Korsrud  (trumpet & flugelhorn), Meredith Bates (violin), and Jon Bentley (soprano & tenor saxophones) are joined by multidisciplinary artist  Barbara Adler, who provides spoken texts throughout. Each musician is an expert colourist and their playing dovetail elegantly with the warm electronic sonorities, whether they’re blending in or assuming a more foreground position. The introverted character of the music ensures that the performances maintain a certain serenity and pacing, however each of the artists has great facility within that register, calling upon a rich array of hues that imbue the music with depth, intrigue, and variation. Adler’s voice is crystalline and melodious, matching the placid temperament of the music. The texts themselves also echo the music’s orientation, deftly balancing the linearity of prose and the impressionism of poetry to complement its atmospheric dynamism.

COVERAGE:
List — Upcoming Releases, Tinnitist
List — Upcoming Releases, V13
News/ Round-up — Zenith Wolfe, La Scena Musicale
News/ List — Kerry Doole, New And Upcoming Canadian Albums: Corb Lund, Daniel Romano’s Outfit, Neil Young, Billboard
News/ List — Kerry Doole, Upcoming Canadian Album Releases: Spencer Burton, MacKenzie Porter & More, Billboard
News/ List — Darryl Sterdan, Next Week in Music | Feb. 26 – March 3 • The Long List: 430+ Releases On The Way, Tinnitist
List/ Video — UPCOMING ALBUMS MARCH 2024, Holy Noise
Interview — Emilea Semancik, Five Minutes With: Vancouver Ambient Jazz Band Musebots, Vancouver Guardian
Review — Ivan Rod, IvanRod.DK
Review — René Van Peer, Musicworks
Review — Daniel Barbiero, Avant Music News
Review — Tiina Kiik, The WholeNote
Review — Jan Granlie, salt-peanuts*
Review — Revue et Corrigée
Review — Tom Haugen, Take Effect Reviews
Review — nitestylez.de
Review/ Round-up — Tomáš S. Polívka, Uloveno na síti: Jazzová pylová sezóna je tu, Jazz-Český rozhlas
Round-up — Frank P. Eckert, Motherboard: März 2024, Groove.de
Round-up — Dragoș Rusu & Victor Stutz, Staff Picks—March 2024, The Attic
Round-up — Listen Up, Beatsville
Podcast — In Memory of John Peel (Episode 937)
Podcast — Different Noises (Ep. 27)
Playlist — Stir
Radio/ Chart — Top 5 Classical Albums, CFBX (October 17, 2024)
Radio/ Chart — CJSW Experimental/ Contemporary Classical Top 10 (May 2, 2024)
Radio/ Chart — Experimental/ Contemporary Classical Top 10, CJSW (April 9, 2024)
Radio/ Chart — Top 10 Experimental/ Contemporary Classical, CJSW (March 14, 2024)
Radio — Music For A While, CKCU (July 8, 2024)
Radio — Night Bird, CFMU (June 25, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (June 9, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (June 2, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (May 26, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (May 19, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (May 12, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (May 5, 2024)
Radio — Currents with Brian D, WFMU (May 4, 2024)
Radio — Icarus FM (April 30, 2024)
Radio — Vocal Cords, CJSW (April 29, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (April 28, 2024)
Radio — This Is Not A Disco, Random Jukebox Productions (April 27, 2024)
Radio — Four Two Four Two Four Twofer, KWVA (April 24, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (April 21, 2024)
Radio — Liminal Scores, CJSW (April 17, 2024)
Radio — The Morning Fog, WVUD (April 14, 2024)
Radio — Currents with Brian D, WFMU (April 13, 2024)
Radio — Vocal Cords, CJSW (April 8, 2024)
Radio — (((TONE.BENDER))), Horads 88.6 (April 7, 14, 21, 28, 2024)
Radio — Liminal Scores, CJSW (March 27, 2024)
Radio — Nightbird, CFMU (March 26, 2024)
Radio — Vocal Cords, CJSW (March 25, 2024)
Radio — This Is Not A Disco, Eternal Fusion Radio (March 23, 2024)
Radio — KBOO Sub Show, KBOO (March 21, 2024)
Radio — Liminal Scores, CJSW (March 20, 2024)
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