Elemental Fusion is an album of collaborations with instrumentalists. In most cases, I asked friends to record a few minutes of improv or pseudo-improv to use as a springboard for writing a piece of music. The tracks would then be built around whatever they sent me, often chopped up and manipulated. The result is serendipitous; these works were pushed in unique, unexpected directions by my collaborators' performances. The compositional challenge was thrilling.
This album also interprets the word "fusion" in other senses - it is a spiritual successor to the similarly-named pair of diametrically opposed EPs I released in 2022, Elemental Harmony & Elemental Chaos, combining their respective styles of "melodic chiptune" and "ambient glitch" into one work that lives on a spectrum between them. It is a blend of acoustic warmth and digital processing. It is also a synthesis of many different styles, sounds and techniques that I've come to enjoy employing in my writing.
Elemental Fusion is perhaps my most challenging and varied work to date, and I think about it as a recital of sorts for the classical concert stage, a statement of purpose. To that end, detailed program notes are included with the album!
--HVB
released April 6, 2024
https://iiiypad.bandcamp.com/album/elemental-fusion
sparklecats2009 & Loni, album artwork
www.instagram.com/sparklecats2009/
loni.neocities.org
rewitkin, piano arrangement & performance on "four seasonal offerings" (tracks 1-4)
www.youtube.com/@rewitkin
october williamson, guitar performance on "the forest is for the trees" (tracks 5-8)
linktr.ee/october_stereo
ZBW, flute performance on "plate tectonics" (tracks 9-11)
soundcloud.com/ZBWMusic
twitter.com/ZBWMusic
Dorkus64, saxophone performance on "yukimarimo" (tracks 12-13)
dorkus64.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/dorkus-64
petet, violin performance on "it rained after the fire" (track 14)
soundcloud.com/retropetet
Cryptovolans, drumset performance on "blue whirl" (track 15)
cryptovolans.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/cryptovolans
www.youtube.com/@Corruptovolans
Hunter Van Brocklin, all other music & manipulation of recordings
h-v-b.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/damifortune
www.youtube.com/@damifortune
Written with a ROLI Seaboard, soundchips from some very old machines, a piano, a field recorder, and some excellent instrumental recordings from friends.
all rights reserved