As I’ve previously explained, we would use different names for different styles. Coming up with these names would sometimes be considered very important, and sometimes we’d just grab anything. It’s the same with song titles. Sometimes it’s hard and annoying and sometimes you’d grab a book and pick a title from a random word. If you have any kind of lyrics or a vocal sample, then it’s a no-brainer, but with instrumental tunes it’s a little trickier. (At some point I will release a record by the band FUCK called FUCK where every tune is called FUCK. They will all be the exact same length and each be on their separate side of a vinyl named SIDE A.)
Adage is the name of my ambient stuff that came after I started ripping off Aphex Twins Selected Ambient Works (both of them). (For my Swedish readers, “adage” means “ordspråk”.)
In 1994, I had borrowed Jan’s Roland Juno-106, and a midi interface. I wrote and recorded four tunes really quietly because someone was sleeping in the next room, and decided to add atmospheric sounds by putting a microphone out through the window.
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Non-Interesting Swing Thing isn’t very interesting. It’s just a simple arpeggio chord progression and drums without bass on them. It goes on for far too long.
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I Spy A Chinese Guy is based on the idea of having nothing in the same beat measure. The melody, bass and drums all share the same tempo but something is in 9/8 measure and something in 13/16 or whatever. It worked out pretty well but it’s actually pretty random.
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Rain, Dear goes plip plip plip and has a completely random bass line. I like it.
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In 1997, I decided to test my theory that by using only sine waves, you could play any notes and they’d fit together somehow. I wrote Vincent Price (because the tune reminded me of an old horror movie) which is pretty much a complete rip-off of Aphex tune Curtains (SAW2, CD1, track 06).
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Using some string-patches from the Gravis Ultrasound soundcard installation I wrote a tune called Obsessive Behaviour. I never got it quite to sound the way I wanted it, and have tried numerous times since to find just the right sounds for it but have so far failed miserably. This is the original version which I’ve not managed to surpass in 12 years. How’s that for progress?