Various Artists: Compiled By Klis – ‘Sequential Music: An Alternative Approach For Experimental Minds’
These 10 compositions featured on the Micro Spiral Recordings compilation album, Various Artists: Compiled By Klis – ‘Sequential Music: An Alternative Approach For Experimental Minds’ – available via the Micro Spiral Store – is an experimental and avant-garde electronic compilation of tracks created using the ‘Sequential Music’ method – ‘a musical composition where the instruments are played one after the other in a serial fashion’.
‘Sequential Music’ showcases the creative talents of artists such as Freethos, Glass Ark Maniac, Kin;Aesthetic, Kills, Delta, The Unknown Stuntman, Scaling As Karma, Delicasession and Klis, as they delve in the processes of sampling, programming and performance, injecting a genre-defying spectrum of influences into the music.
It was during 2011, that Edward De Bono’s book ‘Po’ and Steve Spacek’s album ‘Black Pocket’, inspired the experimental musician, Klis, to create a new and alternative method for writing songs. According to its inventor, Klis, the Sequential Music Method has 10 predominant composing guidelines, of which I will only mention the 3 which most aroused my curiosity, and radically distinguishes itself from conventional music composition:
- An instrument must fully conclude playing (including any effects such as a delay) before the next instrument is employed.
- Elements of a drum kit are considered to be individual instruments in this instance. This would mean that a snare would be one instrument as would a kick drum.
- Elements such as harmony, chord progression, verse / chorus do not need to be adhered to in this context.
It was with these elements in mind that I proceeded, rather timidly, to listen to the works contained within the album – fearing the absolute worst; incoherent and boring, dissonant computer-generated noise. I was rather surprised, though to be honest, it took me a while to warm up to ‘Sequential Music: An Alternative Approach For Experimental Minds’. It bursts with color and controlled energy as the compositions perfectly resist the urge to build themselves into traditional song structures but get far enough to where you are left with an impression of a song, and know that it could be, but the artists don’t want it to be! The elements are all there, the rhythm, the sounds, the machinery we are so familiar with but instead we are given music that we immediately connect with but are absolutely certain we have never experienced before. At least I have not!
I will not mention standout tracks or personal favorites as this is an unconventional album you will need to experience first-hand, for yourself. Suffice to say that it’s engaging and yet perplexing at the same time, but never ignorable, as well as being quite emotional in some parts.
And that is what any piece of valid art is primarily meant to do in my book – emote, regardless of how that sentiment is propagated. I couldn’t care less if one instrument is played after another, or if each piece of the drum-kit is treated as an individual instrument! Does it move me? Does it inspire me? Does it challenge me? Yes, yes…and yes!
The 10 tracks on this album certainly present an eclectic listen for the uninitiated, but everything is so well-spliced together and thought provoking that you cannot help but enjoy it.
Like most, I come from a conventional music background and found the approach to music making on this album incredibly unique and totally beguiling. Prior to this experience I was not aware of the methods behind how this music was actually being made, and I think that was part of its appeal. After listening to Various Artists: Compiled By Klis – ‘Sequential Music: An Alternative Approach For Experimental Minds’, I just felt completely immersed in its abstract psyche-penetrating ambience. Much the same will probably happen to you…
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