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Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Smoke and Origination by Christopher
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fave it World Fusion | Gothic Metal
12 tracks | 68 minutes
Released Nov 2006
on Christopher
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 01:26 The Summoning Vector lyrics BUY MP3 01:26 The Summoning Vector lyrics "GIFT MP3" 01:26 The Summoning Vector
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 06:44 This Is Your Plague lyrics BUY MP3 06:44 This Is Your Plague lyrics "GIFT MP3" 06:44 This Is Your Plague
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:12 Sunday Is Falling Apart lyrics BUY MP3 04:12 Sunday Is Falling Apart lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:12 Sunday Is Falling Apart
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:42 The Following Visual Was Staged lyrics BUY MP3 03:42 The Following Visual Was Staged lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:42 The Following Visual Was Staged
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 10:57 Spaghetti Terrorist lyrics BUY MP3 10:57 Spaghetti Terrorist lyrics "GIFT MP3" 10:57 Spaghetti Terrorist
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 10:00 Sharp Knives lyrics BUY MP3 10:00 Sharp Knives lyrics "GIFT MP3" 10:00 Sharp Knives
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:54 Frailty Scan lyrics BUY MP3 05:54 Frailty Scan lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:54 Frailty Scan
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 00:54 Purpose? lyrics BUY MP3 00:54 Purpose? lyrics "GIFT MP3" 00:54 Purpose?
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 06:45 An Addendum lyrics BUY MP3 06:45 An Addendum lyrics "GIFT MP3" 06:45 An Addendum
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 08:41 The Wraith's Progress lyrics BUY MP3 08:41 The Wraith's Progress lyrics "GIFT MP3" 08:41 The Wraith's Progress
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:14 Derivative Hearts lyrics FREE 05:14 Derivative Hearts lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:14 Derivative Hearts
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:07 Again lyrics BUY MP3 04:07 Again lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:07 Again
Mixing the avant garde, world music and metal, Christopher's "Smoke and Origination" documents urban sprawl and the cannibalistic homogenization of western life. One of the most innovative records in the past few years.
Bio / Background
Hailing from Toronto Canada, Christopher, who found most conventions and current musical climates quite disagreeable, is a 3rd generation student drop out of Bela Bartok. Originally a classically trained guitarist, Christopher transmuted into a multi-ethnic dual gender vocal firestorm and fringe composer. The first incarnation was the 2001 release "wer Next Projekt" which according to writer Garry Sharpe-Young was "A truly remarkable piece of work."
According to wikipedia.org, "'wer Next Projekt' is a genre-defying album released in 2001. It includes a mix of exotica, classical, metal, and electronica. `This record is impossible to describe' (was) often associated with this release. The contents of `wer Next Projekt' ended up being licensed heavily to independent films, interpretive choreographers, and other media artists due to it's unique sound and adaptive characteristics to visual media.
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Fast forward 5 years of relocating, reinventing, whimsical auditions for Finnish metal bands, studio fires and floods, "Smoke and Origination" is released; a 68 minute opus that shares some of the same discordant ambitions Brian Wilson laid down in "Pet Sounds" back in the 60's. Unlike the sunny disposition of Brian Wilson's opus, "Smoke and Origination" documents urban sprawl and the cannibalistic homogenization of western life.
The fact the album is in one key is possibly a metaphor for the horrific redundancy of new development, corporate borne communities, and how these environs decimate the psyche; rendering it unable to properly articulate, emote, leaving the protagonist a frustrated immature consumer. The environment is never directly assaulted in the album, in favour of documenting situations and emotions that happen to exist within that environment.
Instead of channeling the usual spiritual calm that westerners perceive in world music, Christopher amplifies the dark, jarring aspects of the music from Arabia to Africa; a raw cabal of bloody nerves flailing against a beaten back. While the west searches elsewhere for consumable peace, Christopher's re-invention of world beat serves to remind that they will never find peace; no matter how sweet Starbucks makes the flavour.
Despite Christopher's contempt for retro chic, each composition on `Smoke and Origination' is built around motifs JS Bach composed centuries before. Examples of this include the mangling of Bach's "Air" motif in the vignette "Purpose?." As for the use of Bach's work, not even Christopher knows. "I attribute that to a higher meddling power of sorts."
What is apparent throughout the record is a vicious reconstruction of pop/rock formulas; using approaches found in the avant garde and often reviled progressive rock and metal subgenres. Christopher's unaffected 'au naturale' gender bending vocals glues all the seemingly disjointed pieces together to create an innovative concept record we here at Ikonowerk believe defies any comparison.
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