Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Sun is the Same in a Relative Way


... but you're older! One year older today.

Let's see... 10 years ago I was watching "Eyes Wide Shut" in theatre... 20 years ago I was playing "North&South" on Atari STE... 30 years ago... well, all right I don't really remember what I was doing 30 years ago...

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Chasing Ghosts Preview : Juno Time


Final synth selection from the work-in-progress "Chasing Ghosts" EP, some Roland Juno-1 multitracking extracted from the closing song.

End of Words (Roland Juno1)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Chasing Ghosts Preview : Prophet Time


Yet another synth demo extracted from the upcoming "Chasing Ghosts" EP, this time a selection of Prophet 08 and Korg Poly-800 tracks from the the third song.

Ghosts of my Enemies (Prophet 08 and Poly800)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Chasing Ghosts Preview : Korg Time


Another work-in-progress selection from the upcoming "Chasing Ghosts" EP, this time a combination of Korg Poly-800 and Gforce Virtual String Machine.

The Great Lost Sorrow Tune (Korg Poly-800 and Gforce VSM

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Chasing Ghosts Preview : Moog Time

Still working on the upcoming "Chasing Ghosts" side-project, starring Miss Roxanne as lead singer.

Here's the opening song's artwork, and a selection of Moog Little Phatty parts extracted from the complete mix.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Strawberry Blonde preview


I've set up a page where you can stream all tracks from the new "Strawberry Blonde" album.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

New Kid in Town : Korg Poly-800


This synth addict just got himself a new toy... Korg Poly-800, polyphonic analog, plastic looking and soooo retro sounding.
I'll post tunes and samples and review later on, but I've already begun to pour it down everywhere on the upcoming "Chasing Ghosts" side-project, and it sounds excellent...
Too thin to shake the foundations of your house, but great for warm, smooth pads with a lovely retro eighties vibe.
Oh, and it works on batteries too.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Single du Jour : Who the Fuck are You

Ahoy, hoy!
I had a very good session with singer Roxanne on tuesday for the "Chasing Ghosts" EP (remember this post) (and she's the one who also sings on the "Strawberry Blonde" album, including this song).

Now, in between projects, here's a new song that don't fit anywhere musically, so let's just say it's a single.


This is an amnesiac tune.


Moog Little Phatty, Prophet 08, Roland Juno-1, Gforce VSM and M-Tron.

UPDATE : Mmmh, I have second thoughts about it... it's a bit slower than I had envisioned at first, I just might record a second version next week! Something faster, more intense, like George would say.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Yamaha QY70

It's been a while, so here's a little review...

When Yamaha released its first QY product, back in 1990, I thought it was the coolest thing in the whole wide world : a hand-held music workstation that you could carry everywhere to make music. It might seem trivial in this age of music applications for Nintendo DS and iPhone, but back then, boy did it seem awesome, especially since it was a luxury the teen I was couldn’t afford. The sounds were crude, and the interface quite limited, but you wouldn’t really buy a QY10 to produce a professional piece of music or even to control more advanced instruments. The QY10 was meant to be an electronic sketchpad. A self-contained, easy-to-use station that you would take on the train or anywhere in order to write music, which you would later on record properly with “real” instruments.

The QY70 is the 1997 incarnation of the concept. Again, you won’t use it to make a proper, final song (I’ve seen at least one band on the web use it as their main production tool, but that’s pointless gimmickry). At heart, the QY70 is a compositional tool, whether you want a small, battery-powered device to work out song ideas on the road, or just change your method of writing.

It’s broadly the size of a VCR tape, a bit heavy with the 6 batteries, but still very convenient to carry around.


The little thing can store 20 songs with 16 tracks each. The onboard sounds are pretty good. Of course, the acoustic sounds (XG format) won’t fool anyone, and the synthetic ones don’t exactly match those of a Moog, but that’s beside the point. The point, I can’t stress this enough, is to work out the blueprints for a song. The QY70 sounds a bit sterile and MIDI, but it’s all inspiring enough, and mind you, there’s even a nice little analogue-style editing mode (ADSR/Cut-off/Resonance) to make things a bit more personal.

The Farewell Song II (QY70 demo)

You can program step-by-step, but might find it difficult on this little LCD screen, compared to computer work. I myself would rather perform all the parts live on the tiny tiny buttons, track after track. Tricky to hit the notes right, but more satisfying in the end, if like me you dislike sequencing zillion of notes.

Aegian (QY70 demo)

The QY70 also comes with pre-programmed automatic arrangements, like you may find on a home keyboard. While I don’t find them as inspiring as building tunes from scratch, they’re surprisingly good, cover all major styles and there’s even some basic chord progressions to choose from and improvise melodies on.

Seasong (QY70 demo, using the onboard arrangements)

All in all, the QY series might still be a kind of luxury, but a good buy if you like fun miniature workstations to bring on the beach or in the mountains and write some tunes.

Monday, September 7, 2009

600


Checking out on the "Broken Sails" EP, and it's been downloaded over 600 times now...
So, if you haven't got it, it's a free 5-tracks EP, lush electronic pop, and it's HERE

And don't forget the new album, "Strawberry Blonde", it's 12 songs of outstanding funky electro-pop, and it's on iTUNES

Friday, September 4, 2009

Back to Work, Scumbag


I haven't done too much new music these days, being busy with the release of "Strawberry Blonde" and other projects.

So, back to the kitchen with a little analogue, Numan-esque improvisation.
Apart from the big beat that comes in halfway through, everything was done with the Prophet 08, including the opening groove.

Fading Fast

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Oh, I Forgot

There's another project in my drawers...

V - "Up the River"
This is a finished album, but I decided to release the poppier and funkier "Strawberry Blonde" first. I'm mentioning it now for the sake of being complete, but most likely it'll be released a year from now.
"Up the River" is a more intimate, accoustic album, in the vein of Beck's "Sea Change" or Dennis Wilson's "Pacific Ocean Blue".

The tracklist :