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Xylem - Dark Corridors (Dark Star DSC16 CDR) CDR
  £5.00 + p&p
THE DREAMING CITY 20'10"
1. a) Approaching The City Gates 5'25"
2. b) The Secret Tunnel 4'40"
3. c) The Labyrinth 5'40"
4. d) Obelisk 2'09"
5. e) A Way Out? 2'23"
THE SANCTUM 13'17"
6. a) Mesmer 7'39"
7. b) Vision 5'18"
8. SHAFTS OF LIGHT 3'05"
9. PLASMA 3'26"
Original cover notes...
DARK CORRIDORS is my second solo synthesizer tape, and is dedicated to the pioneering work of numerous German musicians in the early 1970's. I also work in the bands Alto Stratus & ZBB, both on Dark Star.
Composed, performed, recorded and mixed by Alan Freeman at home.
Recorded October 1985-March 1986.
Mixed February-March 1986.
Cover art and layout by Alan Freeman.
MC (Dark Star DSC16) c45 © 1986
This reissue: Dark Star DSC16-CDR © 2009 «39'59"»
XYLEM (Alan Freeman) uses the following equipment...
Moog Source (synth/sequencer), Moog Rogue (triggered by Source),
SIEL Orchestra *, Casio MT-68 *, Korg MS-20
* modulation via: Evans Echopet EP-50, Yamaha CS-5 (LFO & filter)
DARK CORRIDORS was inspired by hours upon hours of getting lost in playing games on the Sinclair Spectrum, especially those by Gargoyle Games and Ultimate "Play The Game" - fascinating puzzle and labyrinth games, the likes of which seem to have disappeared since. With DARK CORRIDORS I tried to emulate that spookiness and surreal atmosphere, although I did too much layering and filtering it seems, which resulted in quite a bit of tape hiss. I've tried to rectify that here, and get rid some crackle and a few glitches. Apart from that, this is true to the original tape with no actual remix.
After that almost everything computer game wise seemed to move shoot 'em ups and the likes, I lost interest. I've rarely ever played a computer game since!
Only a 5 minute extract from "The Deaming City" appears on the Xylem Auricle Archive CD (titled "The Secret Tunnel" but a different mix and not quite the same as what is featured here) whereas all the rest is previously undocumented on CD. |
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Xylem (Auricle Archive AMACDR 006) CDR
 £7.00 + p&p
PHASE 1: ELECTROACOUSTIC EXPERIMENTS
HYDROSPHERE extract 4'56"
MELISH POULAUDY 1'08"
ELEVATED PSYCHE FACTOR #1 extract 8'07"
OPENING UP AGITANT ON TITAN 5 2'33"
KNOWN, BUT NOT FOUND part 1 4'14"
IMAGERY extract 3'40"
MACHTE DREI 1'37"
ELEVATED PSYCHE FACTOR #2 extract 2'45"
CLOSURE INSIDE 2'48"
PHASE 2: AMBIENT SYNTHESIS
DEPART 1'36"
TRANSFIX 7'25"
PURSUIT 4'33"
XYLEM 23'10"
THE SECRET TUNNEL 5'00"
Recorded at home & at Tachyon Studio (January 1983-March 1986).
Taken from A.C.F. TIME SHIFT (Musiques Nouvelles MN 010),
Xylem: XYLEM (Syzygy ZC 60.013), REVISION (Syzygy ZC 60.017),
PREDATOR (Dark Star DS 210), ELEPHANTS PURSUED BY FLYING MEN (Dark Star DSC 07) & DARK CORRIDORS (Dark Star DSC 16).
Compilation, remix & digital transfer by Alan at Tachyon Studio (March 2001).
Alan Freeman: home made electronics, turntable, collage, loops, voice, synths (Yamaha CS5, Moog Rogue, Octave Cat), keys (Casio PT30 & MT68, Siel Orchestra 2). |
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Mezzosphere + 2 bonus tracks (Auricle AMCDR 001) CDR
 £7.00 + p&p
1. THE NETHERWORLD 5'45"
2. SPECTRAL FLIGHT 3'44"
3. IMHOTEP (version 1) 1'50"
4. LIQUID VISION 2'33"
5. INVOCATION 6'50"
6. IMHOTEP (version 2) 1'20"
7. MEZZOSPHERE (part 1) 6'50"
8. MAGIC MIRROR 1'36"
9. WILL-O'-THE-WISP 12'45"
10. SOFT EARTH 4'40"
11. THE RIVER OF LIFE 2'25"
12. MEZZOSPHERE (part 2) 7'33"
13. IMHOTEP (version 3) 2'22"
14. ELEVATOR SHAFT 4'32"
Recorded at Tachyon Studio (May/July 1988 & February 1990).
Tracks 1-12: reissue of MEZZOSPHERE (Auricle AMC 030).
Track 13 from ESCAPE FROM THE CAGE, VOL. 1 (Auricle AMC 040) sampler.
Track 14 from ESCAPE FROM THE CAGE, VOL. 2 (Auricle AMC 041) sampler.
Digital transfer at Tachyon Studio (January 2001).
Alan Freeman: keys, synths, effects, tapes, sounds.
"Hello Alan, I recently purchased a copy of your 'Mezzosphere' CD from Ultima. I wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying it. Really superb! Its just right for these long winter nights and dark mornings. Scary stuff and all the better for it!" |
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Melting Phase (Auricle AMCDR 006) CDR
 £7.00 + p&p
1. DARK 8'35"
2. NEBULA 7'20"
3. SUN SPOT 2'22"
4. RADIO 4'40"
5. SOUNDSTORM I 2'42"
6. DIALOGUE 3'40"
7. ENTANGLED 3'50"
8. MELTED 7'05"
9. THROATS 1'50"
10. DISSOLVE 4'50"
11. SOUNDSTORM II 2'45"
12. CRYSTALLISE 8'25"
13. SOLIDIFY 1'36"
14. SHATTER 2'20"
15. CODA 0'36"
Recorded at Tachyon Studio (January 1997-May 2001).
Compilation, remix & digital transfer by Alan at Tachyon Studio (April-May 2001).
Alan Freeman: synths (Moog Rogue & Source, Octave Cat, Doepfer MS-404, Korg Poly 800), tapes, loops, feedback, voice, computer, Air FX, MAM Warp 9, echo & effects devices. |
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Captured Flux (Auricle AMCDR 011) CDR
 £7.00 + p&p
1. THREE PHASES OF INVENTION 9'00"
2. PERPLEXED BY THE MIRAGE 2'37"
3. CAPTURED FLUX 20'07"
4. QUAGMIRE 4'43"
5. ELEMENTAL PSYCHOSIS 5'49"
6. SYSTEM MALFUNCTION 1'21"
7. BASE METALS 16'10"
8. RELEASE 1'52"
9. EXISTENTIAL ENTROPY 4'38"
Recorded at Tachyon Studio: 2 & 3 (16 July 2001), all other tracks (23 July 2001).
"Quagmire" is a live stereo recording. "Base Metals" is 4 digital loop-tracks with additional mixdown effects. All other tracks are dual stereo improvisations recorded direct to 4 track. Mixdown (19 August 2001).
Alan Freeman: guitar (played with: fingers, metal, plastic, & violin bow). |
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Sketchbook (Auricle AMCDR 041) CDR
 £7.00 + p&p
1. SENSE 4'49"
2. HAEMOGLOBIN 2'14"
3. INDUSTRY 1'33"
4. MARE WISH TO 6'25"
5. WRITHE 1'44"
6. SKI RAN NUMB 6'03"
7. UNDERWORLD 6'06"
8. EX AR CHIESO 14'20"
9. BOUNCY CONCRETE 0'24"
10. FERAL TOXIN 10'39"
11. GHOSTS 4'10"
12. HELIUM HORSES 0'50"
13. WRETCHED TURMOIL 3'12"
14. SUBMERGENCE 7'24"
15. ESCAPE 1'20"
Recorded and mixed at Tachyon Studio: 1 (January-May 2002), 3 (1 January 2002),
2 (2 January 2002); 9+11 (7 January 2002), 7 (11 January 2002), 4 (1 February 2002), 1+5 (15 April 2002), 6 (23-28 April 2002), 10 (21 April+2 May 2002),
8+12+13+14 (20 May 2002).
Alan Freeman: guitar (controlling Roland GR-33 guitar synth, Doepfer MS-404 analogue synth, Zoom GFX-707 effects), voice, Alesis AirFX, digital composition & looping (Fostex FD-4 & Digital Systems multimedia PC), analogue looping with delay line (T.C.Electronic M-One), plus other processing & effects. |
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Elemental Meditation (Auricle AMCDR 143) CDR
 £5.00 + p&p
1. MIST 17'02"
2. CRYSTAL 13'08"
3. CARBON 4'01"
4. FIRE 18'01"
5. SLATE 4'53"
6. ETHER 20'00"
Recorded live at Tachyon Studio, 2 December 2001 in real time to cassette tape, with the intention of it being used for concert backing tapes yet it never was!
Rediscovered in a box of session tapes and loops in February 2009.
Repaired and edited with Sound Forge, 6-8 April 2009.
Alan Freeman: guitar (controlling Roland GR-33 guitar synth, Doepfer MS-404 analogue synth, Zoom GFX-707 effects), Alesis AirFX, MAM RS3 Resonator
I never ever intended to do a new-age album, but if I ever have done one this is it, being largely atmospheric and drone/tone based, with long drawn-out developments. It's all pretty unconventional stuff though, showcasing how you can do music on a guitar synth that is unlike anything else on earth. Some subtle Midi control directed to an analogue synth makes for some weird chunky stuff on a couple of tracks, and I added crackle and modulation effects using the Alesis AirFX. Only rarely do you hear actual guitar! |
