Field recordings, found sound, tape manipulation, noise and effects units in the ninth release on Wood And Wire.
Tracklisting.
1. Alpha Wave 00:51
2. Neuronal Response 02:19
3. Rosetta Stone 02:42
4. Hypnagogia 02:55
5. EEG Test 01:35
6. Beta Wave 00:27
7. Lucid Dreaming 01:32
8. Acoustic Encoding 09:26
9. PET Scan 06:10
10. Delta Wave 01:11
11. Voices of the Dead 06:32
12. Emotional Transference 01:45
13. Repetition Compulsion 02:09
14. Gamma Wave 02:03
15. Hypnopompia 06:49
16. Synaptic Transmission 08:06
17. Projection 03:05
18. Theta Wave 02:01
Released September 2012.
Notes.
Originally conceived as a demonstrative show reel for various psychoacoustic techniques as a form of data delivery and an approach to a philosophical understanding of the world; the accumulation of material began to imply that the initial focus became an investigation of sleep-states, hypnagogia and hypnopompia. Still, the main thrust of the initial proposal – to make sense of the world – remains valid. While there is still no agreed-upon scientific explanation as to why we need to sleep, a popular theory is that it’s the time required for our unconscious to unpack the experiences from the day and transfer them into memory. The stream of false sensory information we experience as both sleeping and waking dreams may well be a side-effect of this.
Here then, is the mind’s process working in reverse. The vast majority of sounds present here stem from real documented experiences, however much cut and treated. The representation of the material now closely resembles that of dreams, with their loops, confused narratives, and seemingly unrelated material that nonetheless makes sense while we are experiencing it; it is only later, upon waking, that confusion, puzzlement, or trepidation sets in when we attempt to analyse them.
Headphones are preferable, then a proper stereo setup (ie, left and right speakers forming an equilateral triangle with the head) with flat response monitors. Laptop/computer speakers are not desirous. The work is designed to be listened to as a whole, however track markers have been inserted for convenience. Some dreams are better than others.
“18 bits of avant-garde goodness specifically designed to tickle your primary auditory cortex … listening to this album is like getting your brain picked by the most expert of audiophiles — and it’s a blast.”
Tiny Mix Tapes
“a time-lapsed trip through chromatic, emphatically dodgy hyper-futurist smog. Your ship is weaving through a canopy of Emirates high-rises several centuries after Our Death. So what the hell are you doing there, in your ship? Nice stuff, anyway.”
Crawlspace
“The end result of Somnambulist is the interior score to a technologically-obsessed paranoiac. I honestly found myself going a little crazy whilst listening to it, it invades the skull so completely. This, combined with vivid imagery due to the inventive use of the field recordings, paints a garish vista of modern societal nightmares akin to Todd Haynes’ Safe or Darren Aronofsky’s Pi.”
Sonic Masala
“By far their best release. An excellent example of raw musique concrete, philosophical thought and fine execution through minimal means.”
Vital Weekly
Biography.
Automating is Sasha from Melbourne, Australia. Sifting through the sonic waste and discarded technology left by the roadside of a world speeding too fast into the future. Field recordings, found sound, tape manipulation, noise and effects units. Currently pursuing live and studio created binaural soundscapes and archaic tape based drones.
automating on Bandcamp
Second Language Records on Bandcamp
New Clothes For The New World on Tumblr
