Alexander Berne & the Abandoned Orchestra

The sand-swept journey of Self Referentials Vol. 1 begins with a field recording of Arabian music; it's a fragment that establishes a sense of place and aural landscape. This quickly gives way to "Pulsationism (The Long Tick)," as this source material is carved into a sub-stratum of processed sounds marked by the regular pulse of an oscillating signal. The journey that flows from this point on is astonishing in its breadth and rewarding for its attention to detail. Mining the spectral content of microscopic snapshots of sound has been fertile territory for composers, but few have achieved something so richly orchestrated. Each movement is crafted with exquisite precision. The Abandoned Orchestra deliver the sense of scale of two major symphonic works while also retaining the personal immediacy of music engineered for headphones. Self Referentials Vol. 2 takes this sense of exploring inner space a step further, with snippets of text regarding dream states and how one communicates outwardly about the active life of the subconscious mind. One can only envy a dreamscape rendered in such vivid, lush textures. Put these on your headphones and bliss out.