Jessy Mach - Anime legends reborn

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Jessy Mach’s Anime legends reborn reinterprets classic anime themes with vivacity and instrumental flair. Jessy Mach has wrapped up some of his favorite anime themes and covered them with verve, incorporating his unique guitar sounds and sense for aurally intriguing synth tones and textures. He carries the superb melodies and thrilling sense of adventure with skillful musicality and an obvious love for the material. The resulting album is highly entertaining and full of fun as it unfolds.

At the heart of Anime legends reborn are Jessy Mach’s guitar skills. He’s one of the finest guitar players on the synth scene and he demonstrates sparkling talent and a fine sense of what sounds good. His solos are expressive and emotive with real life to them he carries the melodies with aplomb and an easily flowing sensibility. The end result is a joy to listen to and adds depth to the overall experience.

The way in which Jessy Mach chooses synth sounds and brings them together deepens Anime legends reborn’s production quality. I enjoy the way in which he showcases different moods through the tones that he uses, along with soloistic moments that paint impressionistic imagery throughout. The music is lively and colorful as he interprets the original compositions with a fresh pair of ears.

I also enjoy the choice of tracks that Jessy Mach covers on Anime legends reborn. There’s a nice mix of interesting sounds and enjoyable melodies that convey all of the pleasure of watching first-rate anime movies and television series. In the end, I feel drawn towards these themes for the way in which they reach out with feeling and life.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Masked for freedom” comes into being as hollow but luminous notes wriggle in steady motion. The rhythm explodes into active speed as the arpeggios leap with encouraging life. The drums are forceful and accelerative as the glimmering tones carry a melody radiant with dynamic energy while the beat grows more insistent.

Jessy Mach’s guitar slices with irrepressible strength, carrying a melody celebratory and joyful. Victory fills every note of the guitar as it unfurls with sensations of flying and triumph above the unstoppably jamming rhythm. Jessy Mach captures me with his absolutely skillful performance as the melody conveys feelings of success.

As the rhythm pumps, the guitar cries out with passionate power, infusing the music with images of fighting and winning. The slowly undulating synth blazes from behind the guitar as it flames out with a sense of freedom. The rhythm continues to batter as the guitar notes shine like sunlight and the solo rips into the music, intertwining with wild energy, carrying me along with it. Jessy Mach’s solo unfolds with intricacy and feral power before the track ends.

Snarling synth and explosive guitar fall downward to commence “Ulysses at the edge of the universe.” The pounding beat launches as hollow tones echo and the main melody calls out on a razor-sharp synth, full of exciting strength and adventurous motion. The supporting bass undulates as the main melody blazes with heat.

The drums pulse out a heavy tattoo as the guitar adds weight and the bending notes mingle with airy tones to create dynamic power. Jessy Mach’s guitar cries with impassioned sound while the pumping low end slams forward. I feel compelled by the main melody’s thrilling sense of starbound adventure.

The guitar is full of heart and unbound freedom while the foundation throbs. Jessy Mach plays a solo that is fiercely technical and exudes total thrill as it carries the track to its end.

“The Strength of the sword” opens as raging, pounding drums move with ragged bass and slowly twinkling notes. The punchy drum retort and growling bass are joined by brassy notes that glow with stirring luminosity. A sound sweeps through as the huge drums bounce off the dense bass and the main melody erupts majestically, exuding a sense of hard-won success.

The strings sing with uplifting positivity, flooding me with adrenaline, while the rockets with indomitable power. Once again, the rousing theme skirls with images of warriors fighting against the odds to secure victory and defeat their deadly foe. The bottom end surges as the main melody leaps one last time to fly out with honorable, victorious emotion.

Captain Harlock is asked why he wants to defend the Earth as “Black flag” begins. The slowly undulating underpinnings throb with ominous strength before the main melody calls out on a jagged, gleaming synth that fills the music with mystery and strength.

Rebounding percussion joins with the heavy bottom pulse to create steady motion as a violin cries out repeatedly. The swashbuckling main melody radiates purpose. The angular synth slices with shadowy muscle as the percussion and bass interlock. Bright notes flash and fade as the main melody exudes a sense of mission, filling me with resolve.

The minor key melody drifts with a haunting feeling as supporting sounds rumble and the tense violin shifts. Heavy bass underpins the melody which takes on fervent ferocity while the percussion rolls into silence.

“Eyes of the thunder” starts with a brass fanfare, creating excitement before the charging beat rockets with irrepressible power. Quickly tripping synth echoes with growing luminosity as the urgent rhythm slams forward. The brassy melody calls out with thrill and galvanizing power, filling me with a sensation of soaring optimism.

The pounding heartbeat is sliced by Jessy Mach’s guitar as it twirls with freedom and clarity while the trumpets fill the music with joyous escape. Jessy Mach’s guitar is deployed in a free-flowing solo that expresses release and an unconquerable spirit. As usual, the playing is talented and full of life while the low end continues to bounce.

Once again, the leading melody flies out with encouragement while the guitar cuts in between with madly driven energy, intricate and muscled before the track comes to an end.

Deeply underpinning weight moves with sweeping, breathy sounds before the guitar somersaults with feral force to open “Jayce and Forcair.” The guitar rips through the music with razor claws as the hammering beat launches and the synth blasts out radiance while the melody soars with a mingled sensation of strength and memory.

The melodic pattern is full of remembrance and triumphant sensations while the battering bottom line punches in. The drums flourish and Jessy Mach’s guitar cries out, ardent and hopeful, slicing with intricate precision as the bass rises. Metallic sounds ring out as the drums charge and the guitar wriggles with unbound drama before the track drifts into a segment in which the chugging guitar is contrasted with serene synth, creating balance before the strength grows again and my heart soars with it.

As the guitar rumbles, the lead synth fills the music with rising strength and positivity before the guitar unfurls and carries me away on a tide of brilliance. As the track comes to an end, the low end smacks hard and the molten guitar explodes.

“Heart of the Sunken Worlds” starts with rebounding, scintillating synth and slowly pulsing drums as the strutting bass moves in an angular tide. The elevated synth exudes with aquatic light, dancing like filtering beams through water. The rhythmic shimmy has a funky quality while the raised notes exude luminescence above it.

Broad waves of hard-edged synth slide like heavy currents as the main melody cries with ancient majesty, filling me with sensations of nobility. The vocals cut through, helping to tell the story, while the rebounding tones flash and the main melody climbs with aspiring dynamism, lighting the dark places with positive emotion.

Massively growling synth tones descend while the lead melody holds a quality of honorable strength. Twisting tones slice through the music with ghostly, minor key sensations before the colossally rumbling low end moves again. The track ends on intricately interwoven notes tumbling into silence.

Slowly shimmering notes undulate to kick off “Galactic sheriff.” Ragged bass growls with intimidating strength and the beat pounds with unabated power, propelling the synth pattern into hypnotic motion. The slicing sounds move past and acquire weight as the synth cries out and the main melody vaults into the music with an adventurous feeling, calling to mind justice beating out against a background of starlit skies.

Bursting notes shine with a feeling of unstoppable force while robotic voices move and the main melody captures me with its dynamism and bold enthusiasm. The synth solo is a flying thing, alive and wild as it breaks the bounds of gravity, while the pumping rhythm pushes forward. Clapping percussion moves as the main melody imbues the music with a sense of writing across the sky, ready to aid all in danger across the galaxy, before the track comes to an end.

Conclusion

Anime legends reborn surges with dynamism and a sense of wild excitement. All of the fantasy worlds and far-flung journeys that fill the music are brought vividly to life and make for a truly engaging listening experience.

Blackpoole - Midnight in L.A.

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Blackpoole’s Midnight in L.A. unfolds the story of the overwhelming connection between two people and the way in which their lives interact as love grows. Blackpoole tells this story through narration and music, seamlessly combining the two elements into one extensive exploration of how a relationship can become powerfully intimate when the connection is right. All of the guest artists bring their talents to bear on the storytelling while Blackpoole composes a musical backdrop that weaves together affection, emotional depth, and living dynamism. The end result is an atmospheric journey from meeting to eventual connection, painted by synth sounds.

At Midnight in L.A.’s core are the guest performances. Jon White brings his expressive voice to the spoken word parts of the album, helping to tell the story with richness and depth. Wassim Rahmani works instrumental sorcery on the guitar, carrying the musical moments which define the story and contributing blazing solos. Luci Rivas has a hushed, soulful vocal style which captures the emotion within the story. She also contributes an earnest spoken word performance as Kate. Each of the contributors add important pieces to the overall sonic puzzle.

Blackpoole has a knack for composing beautifully melodic tracks with gorgeous harmonies and well-crafted sonic imagery. He uses the wide-ranging synth palette to paint streets glistening with rain, the soft caresses of lovers, and the electric buzz of L.A. at night. His melodies are full of sincere emotion and sensations that further illustrate the love story between Chris and Kate. There’s an honesty within his music that compels me, making me feel a connection to the characters in the story as it expands and elaborates.

I enjoy Midnight in L.A.’s concept as I’ve long been interested in the combination of spoken word with musical segments to tell an album’s story. I think that the way in which this project has been approached has resulted in a well-thought-out bond between the two elements that keeps me listening.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Beach Sunset” starts off as oceanic waves wash above an aquatically serene synth which grows in aquamarine strength. Wassim Rahmani weaves a melody full of expressive intensity, his guitar growling with freedom and strength. The drums add energy while the chugging guitar gives the music muscled weight.

As a guitar solo rings out, the music is permeated with tender but strong emotion, as chiming notes sparkle like seafoam. I enjoy the way in which Wassim Rahmani’s guitar fills me with liberation and lightness. The beat is smooth and the guitar carries the feeling of the slowly setting sun, echoing with deep feeling. The lilting pattern throbs as the guitarist unleashes another affecting solo, demonstrating his skill emphatically and beautifully, before the music stops.

An illuminating synth carries a tautly undulating melodic pattern that volleys back and forth to commence “Cityscapes.” As it moves, melancholy suffuses the bright notes and a kick drum punches out steadily. A hypnotic quality fills the main melody, creating a sense of drifting through bright city lights.

The rhythm is compelling as Wassim Rahmani adds a blues melody that calls to mind a car sliding down midnight pavement, caught in the phosphorescent glow of street lights. The oscillating pattern is trance-like while Wassim Rahmani unleashes a nocturnal dream, his guitar painting imagery in my mind.

As the yellow lines roll under my wheels, the city throbs around me, full of love and pain. The drums are smooth while the distant synth flashes light on skyscrapers and the guitar evokes the mingled sensations which define a city at night before the track comes to a stop.

“The Promise” begins with Wassim Rahmani’s fat-toned guitar calling out with uplifting energy as swelling sounds are joined by glistening tones which glow brightly. The synth sings with positivity as the guitar carries a sensation of joyful hope, moving me along with it.

Wassim Rahmani unleashes a tide of energizing sound as the synth doubles it, adding further sunlight. A tinge of melancholy touches the otherwise celebratory guitar melody, adding balance. The drums and bass lock into a steady heartbeat while the guitar sings out with warming happiness.

Solar luminosity supports the guitar as it unfolds in lines full of encouragement. Wassim Rahmani’s playing is full of heart and soul, embodying the overall tenor of the track. As the ticking cadence shapes the music, the intricate guitar draws pictures of a blue sky day before the music ends.

Broadly swelling, slowly undulating synth joins bright chimes to open “Neon Dream.” Luci Rivas captures the lyrics with whispering tenderness, carrying the dreamy melody above luminous tones that glimmer. Percussion moves gently like a heartbeat as her voice seizes my soul with its vulnerability. The rebounding percussive pulse adds shape while a cascade of streetlight luminosity drifts in the distance.

The chorus glides with ethereal lightness as city-skyline glow rises in synth shimmering around it. Wordless vocals wrap me with soothing sensations while lightly shimmering tones ascend with the graceful lyrics. As the song closes, the background casts a spell and Luci Rivas conveys every ounce of emotion before silence falls.

“Beneath the neon glow, where the colors dance,” our storyteller saw the subject “like fate’s last chance.” As their eyes met, time froze with “a touch of magic, a love so real.”

Now that person departs, and she clings “to the memory of you in the neon light.” Each step away cuts into her soul. She admits, “I’m lost in this love, I’m losing control.” She waits in “this neon dream where the world fades away, and it’s just you and me.”

The night is quiet, but warmth lingers: “The city hums, I hear your voice, call me back to the sweetest choice.” Tracing a name in the rain’s mist, she feels love whisper like “an echo in vain.” Despite absence, they remain together: “In this neon world, we will never be apart.”

“Face to Face” begins with warm tones rippling like a summer breeze as the guitar unfurls with silky elegance. Echoing lines flow with a liquid grace, while drums give a firm edge beneath the jazz-inflected patterns. A distant synth adds delicacy as the guitar glows with golden radiance.

The bottom end pulses smoothly under the elevated guitar, sliding like the sun into an endless sky, celebrating life with youthful exuberance. Drums rebound as refulgent tones shine like morning light. The guitarist demonstrates masterful touch, transmitting the music’s essence with fidelity and passion. The main melody flickers with tenderness before the track gently closes.

Pure, soothing emotion radiates from the heartwarming synth to start “Midnight in LA.” undulation cruises with dense weight as the electric piano covers the track in gentling emotion, like the phosphorescent glow of streetlights.

The saxophone carries a jazz-inflected melodic motif, full of dreamy clouds and half-seen points of city light. The percussive pattern brushes softly while the bass oscillates, and the elevated synth glows like the pink of a city night, silhouetted against distant stars.

Shining notes, like violins, slip with the surreal float of passing neon in car windows. A gossamer synth trails through the music in peaceful expression before the saxophone captures my heart with its lush tones, speaking of overlooking the flickering firmament of a city at night.

Chiming notes drift with unmitigated softness, like a lover’s hand in mine as we watch the night unfold above the city far below. The electric piano glides with laid-back simplicity, conjuring images of cruising down night streets and feeling peace permeate every pore. Once again, the saxophone sobs with touching emotion before the track finishes.

“Do You Remember?” begins as colours spill from iridescent synth, while Luci Rivas’ breaths are full of warming emotion. The drums and bass unfold with velvety smoothness as the vocal melody swirls like clouds above a rainy city.

As Luci Rivas’ reaches out with her whisper-warm voice, my heart is touched by the sincerity of her feelings. In the distance, sparkling notes slide through the music with tender luminosity, reflecting like pools of water after the clouds have parted.

The vocals are filled with such deep gentleness as they imbue the song with trembling affection. A steady pulse throbs, while the delicate performance captures the lyrics with truthful care.

The chorus caresses and glides as the background flickers like mid-afternoon sun piercing a cloudy sky. Luci Rivas’ lets her voice slip out with calm love as the drums pulsate and the vocals glide like golden light across office towers before the music grows quiet.

As urban lights “paint the sky in pink and blue,” the narrator thinks of the song’s subject at midnight. She sees “neon colors in the rain” and realizes nothing will ever be the same again. Walking down the boulevard, she can “still see us dancing through the night, in a dream we swore would never end.” The other person remains in her heart and is “heaven-sent.”

Our storyteller asks if the song’s subject remembers the promises they made and kept, along with the deep kisses they shared. She wonders if the other person still remembers her. As neon signs glowed, “your shadow slowly danced with mine, your soft whisper is still in my ear,” radiating a luminous vision of love.

The two of them “wrote our names in clouds of steam” as their hearts were alive inside a never-ending dream. Their fingers were “locked in secret lines, like magic leaving all sad behind.”

Oscillating bass moves with gossamer notes trembling through the music to kick off “Traces Of You.” Pattering percussion moves with a shiny melody that radiates hope and remembrance with equal affection, while the low tones move in steady motion. As the melody unfolds, hints of sadness tinge it, despite the sensation of caring within it.

Below the other elements, dense weight moves forward while the higher notes trace like fingers across skin. A sensation of delicate illumination pours from the higher tones and a feeling of being held close moves past. The track evokes feelings of absence and caring, fading away into twilight. Radiant notes shine with tenderness while the percussion breaks and the heavy sounds below add shape before the track ends with dreamily gliding tones slipping into silence.

Story Summary

Malibu Beach, July 1986: Chris, an introvert who spends his days composing music and watching life from the sidelines, leaves the coast for The Skyline, a neon-drenched rooftop club. As the lights strobe and synths sing, he sees the radiant Kate and their first meeting makes a palpable impression. The next morning, they share a sincere phone call, before deciding to meet again, away from the club. After meeting at an intimate café, they talk for hours and eventually kiss. The romantic evening evaporates Chris’ reserve and they realize they’re falling deeply for one another. The relationship that started with a chance meeting blossomed into an all encompassing relationship.

Conclusion

Through words and music, Midnight in L.A. carries listeners on a journey through loneliness to love. The way in which the guest performers and Blackpoole weave the tale is charming and full of uplifting emotion. In this dark world, this album creates a little light.

Bad Guys Get Dead -Space Cadet: Galaxy Edition

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Bad Guys Get Dead’s Space Cadet: Galaxy Edition revivifies the original Space Cadet 3D Pinball game and acts as an homage to the Visual Pinball X recreation as well. Bad Guys Get Dead reimagines the music for the game as an exciting journey across the universe, encompassing a galactic battlefield vast and deep. The mixture of classic hardware synth sounds with complex tonal and timbral interactions, along with Bad Guys Get Dead’s unique balance of musical styles, creates a listening experience that fills me with intergalactic thrills.

My first observation on Space Cadet: Galaxy Edition is that Bad Guys Get Dead evokes all of the danger, victory and emotion of a war across the cosmos. His atmospheric combination of different synth textures with intriguing sonic profiles and melodies that convey the story results in music that is immensely engaging. I feel compelled by the imagery of a battle for survival amongst the stars, complete with lurking threat and pulse-pounding action. As the tracks unfold, I am pulled deeper into the tale and find myself full of intense enjoyment.

Bad Guys Get Dead composes tracks which tell the story of Space Cadet: Galaxy Edition through well-crafted melodic imagery. Each melody captures some part of the tale that unfolds—from the initial contact with the enemy to pulse-pounding combat, and from a sense of deep fear to victorious energy. Each melody adds to the storytelling and propels the music forward with dynamism and deep respect for the original feeling that permeates the pinball game upon which this album is based.

The way in which the different synth music styles with which Bad Guys Get Dead is conversant combine on Space Cadet: Galaxy Edition adds to the complexity and completeness of the sound. He can move from thrilling cinematic-style tracks to portentous, terror-drenched dark synth with ease, and as he does so, the album gains from his skill and familiarity with the different genres of synth-based music.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Intro” comes to life as a narrator lays out the story of the game with drama as a raging synth lacerates and quickly twirling notes move above thick bass. The wildly twirling tones only add to the tense stress while subterranean sound pulsates. Intensely spinning notes move with the sound of a space launch, upping the sense of danger as the narrator unfolds the dystopian tale of terror. The slicing notes cut and the echoing vocals move.

A colossal low pulse and a laser zap open “Launch Training.” A mysterious, reverberating synth oscillates in a rapidly shifting pattern while round-sounding notes bubble and the beat seethes. Tripping notes bounce while a sense of intense concentration permeates the minor key, wobbling notes. The percussive pulse is ferocious while a snare drum leaps above it.

Now the wandering melody is joined by a dark choir, only increasing the sense of fearful emotion while the bass tears with sharp claws. The drums smoothly throb as the descending notes are rejoined by the open-sounding, disembodied synth which carries a portentous sensation and compels me as it does so. The track ends on crashing drums.

“Target Practice” commences as a fulminating rumble charges with unremitting force and a chopped-up melodic pattern ups the sense of rushing speed. The entire track accelerates with overbearing danger, creating a feeling of imperative action. The choppy synth trembles with barely contained power while the rhythm attacks. Elevated notes echo with worried concentration while the computerized-sounding synth moves in robotic lines.

The percussion-heavy track fills me with excitement, while the medium-high notes compel me to imagine a thousand alien threats. As a functional piece of game music, this creates incredible sensations of the need to act. It paints a vision of deep space combat with a deadly artificial intelligence entity.

Raging, cavernous sound slices with razor edges and distant sounds ring like a glockenspiel to kick off “Re-entry Training.” The propulsion is relentless as massive drums explode and the angry bass growls heavily. Tightly wound, bleeping notes flash as the grounding pulse propels the track forcefully. Glockenspiel-like tones echo as a hissing sound patterns through.

A feeling of being battered by gigantic forces permeates the music while the creaking synth rapidly rotates to contribute a sense of approaching challenges. I enjoy the way in which this track evokes the rough ride of planetary re-entry while the wandering, randomized synth slashes and fades.

“Satellite Deployment” opens as deeply undulating bass moves along with terror-laden synth, radiating dark menace. In contrast, the broadly waving synth pours out brighter tones, shaped by a surging undercurrent. As the bending notes catch with distorted light, they carry arpeggios which arc and slide with intense motion.

The tripping drums create a powerful pulsation while the piercing luminosity of the lead synth pours out light like a distant supernova. Tension radiates through the music while rippling synth shines with the brightness of a sun in the firmament of space. The heaving rhythmic pattern thunders as the ghostly synth drifts with peaceful but ferocious illumination and a reverent sound rises in the background before the track ends.

“Bug Hunt” starts with an oppressive sublayer pulsation and seething notes trembling above it. A sense of anticipatory threat permeates the music as the foundation bubbles dangerously, creating the sensation of approaching combat. The drums are massive as they punch flatly, and the angular note pattern vibrates with barely contained readiness. Smoothly rippling synth slides above the dark foundation while the drumbeat hits hard.

I’m drawn to the feeling of constant, creeping evil as the heaviness below batters. Fragile notes trickle while the attacking drums create a contrasting pulse. An impression of seeking out targets and striking them down fills the music before it ends.

Imperative, lacerating synth moves with assaulting drums to open “Rescue Mission.” The tonal pulse adds urgency to the colossal undercurrent, while the bass cadence locks in with razor-sharp notes rippling through, heightening the sense of danger. A guitar echoes, drifting into space.

After a trembling, computerized tonal pattern tumbles, the deep tones continue to slash and the drums guide with angry strength. A sense of palpable rushing grabs me as an elevated minor-key melody squelches and snarls. The main line has a determined quality as it presses forward, infusing the track with a mission-driven energy before it ends.

“Nexus Probe” begins with a juddering weight as a ringing xylophone joins broadly trembling 8-bit tones drifting with smooth, ghostly grace. Warm notes levitate like starlight while the jumping bassline and drums lock into a steady heartbeat.

A wistful emotional touch fills the music, flowing with encouragement and positive energy. I feel compelled by the melodic content as it jumps with a laser-like edge. Oscillating tones move beneath happily singing bells that exude crystalline light. The underpinning shifts as springy synth ripples between stereo channels, flooding the track with radiant energy. Sharply flashing sounds glimmer like light from a planet’s edge while contrasting chords add a faint shadow before the piece ends.

Thundering, thumping drums join a wildly flashing synth that creaks and tumbles to commence “Andromeda.” The main melody twists while the sonic bedrock rumbles with dramatic authority beneath pulsing drums.

Bending synth rapidly wriggles as the low end heaves ferociously. Computerized tones rebound with spaced-out energy, shaping a strange atmosphere against the muscle below. I enjoy the steady swing of the bottom end as flaring, slicing tones rove through the track and the drums explode.

After a brief pause, bizarrely twisted synth echoes as the drums slap hard. The piece is imbued with oddity and an otherworldly strangeness as percussion throbs with steady force. Above it, alien synth leaps and writhes before silence falls.

“Xara Multiball” comes into being as typing sounds move with harsh digital grating and a slightly broken supporting framework. A violent launching sound begins as vocal cuts move with the galactically churning synth that slices cleanly above massively hitting drums and thick bass.

The bright synth scuds past with choppy energy, radiating light as orchestral hits jump with barely contained force. Jittery dynamism fills the throbbing music as the drumbeat pounds. Angular notes jam through the track while the shifting architecture explodes with massive motion. Computerized notes with a blue-screen glow glimmer as heavily cascading underpinnings growl. Weight and muscle define the bottom tones while the cascading percussion bursts onward. A palpable gut punch hits me as the track slams to an end.

A warning message starts “Black Hole Threat” as surging sounds fill the track with dark import. Twirling arpeggios contribute to a sense of ever-growing danger as the bass adds forceful fear.

Churning notes scream with horrified tension as the rippling synth entangles with another layer of terror. The low sonic fabric is steeped in cosmic horror while the continually spinning arpeggios heighten the sense of approaching menace.

The way this piece exudes pure darkness draws me in and fills me with unease. A tightly wound synth deepens the dread, while flatly shivering notes add palm-sweating anxiety. Guitar notes churn and growl as the screaming synth howls with unmitigated fear, low sound creeping like shadowy fingers to grip the listener before the music finishes.

“Escape Destroyer” opens as rapidly speeding bass is joined by calling sounds that float into the void. The seismic pulsation steadies and drums strike with punk rock energy.

Urgent notes shift in tremulous lines, creating a sense of dramatic acceleration. Synth chords are impatient and powerful as the tumbling meter repeats. A sensation of fending off relentless attackers radiates through the music as the drums smash.

Slowly drifting tones roam with haunting sensations while the broadly vibrating bass locks in with an endlessly repeating, alarm-like motif. The track shatters to an end with unbelievably ferocious energy.

Reverberant drums move with a cascading, slashing synth and sharp-angled bass to kick off “Recon Mission (Alien Menace).” The synth slices with razor-sharp anger as a quickly churning root vibration presses forward.

Lurking enemies loom out of the darkness while ferocious, raging notes cut deep. The track seethes with anger and shadow. Beneath it all, I feel myself filled with nervous energy as the unwinding synth shivers and gashes, radiating pure menace before silence falls.

“Security Breach” opens as rushing metallic noises clash into the void. The drums bounce as the underpinnings reverberate with Stygian heaviness and raised notes wriggle uncomfortably. As the bottom-end pattern rumbles and throbs, a twisting guitar howls with nervous emotion and a spinning synth weaves together distinctly unsettled sensations.

The percussion wells up as the cascading synth is joined by blinding notes that exude terror as they smear through the music. The deep low tones throw up as the synth slashes angrily and the guitar roams with spectral sensations, filling me with worried anticipation. The raised notes shatter like glass as the beat smashes and the guitar churns with barely contained horror before the track ends.

Shimmering notes join the charging guitar with aspirational dynamism to flicker like a ship’s hull in the light of a distant sun to commence “Maelstrom (Triumph).” The xylophone radiates victorious luminosity, shining like the hull of a spaceship as the glistening guitar flashes with uplifting positivity.

The percussive throb presses hard while the guitar cuts through the music cleanly, carrying me along with a feeling of triumph and successful battling. As the shards of light splinter like refractive starlight above the heaving support structure, open-voiced notes vibrate and the track leaps to an end with uplift.

Conclusion

Space Cadet: Galaxy Edition soars across vast galactic structures in a ferocious space battle. I am drawn into the tale and injected with an adrenalin rush as the album unfolds.

The Quiet Decay: A Meditation on Creativity in the Age of AI (Part 1 & 2)

Written by Chris Magdalenski

The Quiet Decay:
A Meditation on Creativity in the Age of AI From an Unreliable Narrator Pt. 1

I love technology. From as far back as I can remember being utterly fascinated with even the most basic tech gadgets. Be it my Little Professor Calculator, my Speak and Spell or my first interaction with a Radio Shack TRS-80 computer, (I am truly dating myself here) I spent a lot of time pushing buttons and mashing keys in pursuit of… Something.

Now the keys push back.
Offering it little more than a few sentences, the machine hums in response,  hours of potential work eliminated with a handful of keystrokes.
And suddenly the line between tool and creator begins to blur.

AI art is astonishing. Terrifying. Beautiful in the way a collapsing star is beautiful — incandescent, destructive, impossible to ignore. What once took months of painstaking craft can now be summoned in seconds, called forth from a void of algorithms and memories - some say borrowed… Others say stolen.

But in this speed there is loss.
The messy frustrations of practice.
The painful imperfection of trying and failing.
The soul, or at least the illusion of one.

I find myself staring into these machine-made visions with awe and unease. They feel like echoes of something familiar, yet uncanny in their precision — like seeing a dream I didn’t know I had, painted for me by something that has never truly dreamed.

Is this creativity, or its simulation?
Does it matter?

Perhaps art has always been a dialogue with ghosts. We borrow, we remix, we imitate, we evolve. AI is simply the newest ghost in the room, louder and more insistent than the rest.

And yet…
There is still something quietly decaying at the edges of it all.
The patience of brushstrokes.
The sacredness of mistakes.
The slow burn of mastery.

Maybe the real question is not what AI can create, but what we will let wither away in exchange for the spectacle.

        •     •     •

Now, for the sake of this experiment, some honesty… A sizable chunk of the text above was generated using ChatGPT. As someone who has recently added “AI Ethicist In Training” to the about section of their LinkedIn it would be downright egregious not to mention this. The ethical consideration of AI has become a subject of great interest to me, most likely due to the fact that I’ve had to deal with it in both my day job as a UX designer and as a longtime visual artist and musician. Over the course of the past year a large part of my job involved designing software that integrated artificial intelligence into the products my company sold. The work was both interesting and challenging, providing not only valuable career experience, but also an entry into understanding how this technology works at a rudimentary level.

However, while I enjoyed the work I couldn’t ignore the discourse coming from those opposed to humanity’s latest achievement. Watching the reactions from my artist communities on social media made it plain that any technology that so blatantly took the humanity out of the creative process, all while stealing from flesh and blood artists’ work was not going to be received with open arms… It was a tide of voices that I wholeheartedly agreed with.

But at the same time being the fan of technology that I am, artificial intelligence still intrigued me. It’s newly developed ability to push pixels together to create fully formed pieces of “art”, to shape sound into complete songs, to thread words into what became the first half of the article was fascinating and terrifying.

Because just as much as I see potential in what can be done with AI, I also see the massive amounts of damage it could do, both to ourselves and to society as a whole.  

I have more thoughts on this to be sure, and the goal with this piece was not subterfuge, not to create easy content just for the sake of views, but rather as a way to more deeply investigate my own feelings about this new tool and the its ramifications on not just my own creative pursuits, but of humanity’s in general. To push myself, (and possibly others) to question these technologies from all angles in the hopes of having a clearer view of the future that is barreling towards us at breakneck speed.

All of which is to come in part two.

The Quiet Decay:
A Meditation on Creativity in the Age of AI From an Unreliable Narrator Pt. 2

I assure you that no Artificial Intelligence was used in writing this part of the post.

If you’re here I’m going to assume that my previous article didn’t annoy you enough to give up reading and put my name on a list of traitors to both art and humanity. The irony of having a machine give its “thoughts” about what its place should be, (if any) in pursuing creative endeavors is not lost on me, however the experience did help to refine some of my own thoughts around this issue.

In the process of creating part one, I fed ChatGPT the first paragraph, a few sparse notes on voice, tone and theme, as well as a couple of previous articles I had written for further reference on writing style. Upon reading what it gave back to me  I was hit with a tidal wave of rather complex emotions with all the force that one would expect when coming face to face with potential obsolesce. But while I’d love to say that revulsion was top of the list of those feelings, that wasn’t quite the case. 

Yes, as someone who was recently laid off from his tech job in no small part due to the somewhat dubious promises AI makes to desperate C-suite executives, there was plenty of revulsion involved, right alongside fear and resentment, but I’d be lying if I said those were the only feelings I had. Even though what it gave me wasn’t going to come close to winning a Pulitzer, and was undoubtedly just an amalgamation of sentiments stitched together from the work of better writers, I couldn’t help but to feel that the possibilities of this technology as a tool in a creative’s toolbox were there.

As someone who considers themselves an artist, the fact that I even entertained the idea of experimenting more with AI as a creative tool was, to quote Darth Vader… Disturbing. Especially when I could make a solid case that one of the reasons I lost my job was because someone felt that using “tools” like this could save their company some money.

After finishing part one of this piece I took a short break, collected my thoughts, and mulled some things over. It didn’t take long before I came to some conclusions around how I was going to proceed in using AI in creative endeavors going forward. It starts with a simple premise…

Our creativity makes us uniquely human. Once we cede too much of the process to the machine, we run the risk of losing part of ourselves.

I realize that this is not a new idea. And with how much machines have already become an integral part of creative workflows, it’s going to be something of an ever shifting line that’s always up for debate. But I believe that line and those debates are going to become as important a part of the process as someone sitting down to write a novel, paint a portrait, or craft a song. 

Because now that all of those things can be done to some extent with a few keystrokes, part of the creative process could well become the ability to avoid the temptation of letting the machine do the difficult parts for you. For some this will be easy. Maybe for others not so much. I’m not here to cast judgment on that, or to start to delineate the line between genuine human creativity and something else. But as time goes on, and these “tools” get better and better I think that temptation to use them for more and more is going to become harder to resist. We’re already see it playing out now, and while that’s certainly not unexpected it should give us pause to think about what state humanity will be in ten, twenty or fifty years down the road.

Will we have found a balance between the creative of man and the utility of machine. Or will that part of us have decayed so much that it is barely functional?