25HUNDRED is an collection of albums only available through an online interactive catalog: the album track list, including the audio files themselves, are constantly being replaced such that every listening experience is unique.
Essentially 10 albums of correlated music in one compendium, this project has a runtime of 7 hours. These seven hours are spread throughout the course of a year in a curated, interactive social listening experiment.
HOW IT WORKS:
For one year, an album with ten tracks is presented online on Bandcamp.
These tracks come from a pool of 100 related musical recordings, which are replaced randomly, every so often.
Users come back to download new tracks several times as listings change, driving interest, seeking tracks they missed from other users. This is how an interactive album is fundamentally different from a regular one; it is a listening experience, social stunt/campaign, and digital space at once, driving interest for long periods of time.
After a year, the period of interactivity ends and the album goes dormant (until a physical+streaming release). Users will be able to listen to the album from start to finish by this point.
25HUNDRED
SELECTED ALBUM DEMOS
NOTICE! THESE DEMOS ARE PRIVATE. These previews are working copies and are not to be shared with anyone. Doing so will destroy the integrity of the interactive nature of this work and, as such, will result in (legally pursuable) damages under US DMCA. If you want to be considered for early access, however, use the contact form.
!
THEMES
And it is the same thing in us that is quick and dead, awake and asleep, young and old. (Heraclitus, fragments)
In B, un—rationed kissing on a night second to last
Finding both your hands as second sun came past the glass
And oh, I know it felt right and I had you in my grasp
Oh then, how we gonna cry?
Cause it once might not mean something?
And love at second glance, it is not something that we'll need… (Bon Iver, 22 A Million)
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! (John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn)
SELECTED LYRICS
we gutted each other from a distance
I didn’t need you to touch me for true commitment
I call for you and you’re never there
festered lies we’d never dare confess
the truth too much to bear
Chest to chest, yes, death of sex
I apologize ever and ever more at the sight of your great ungrace
I miss your mal-intent/-ed face
Fuckified, you’e’re my disgrace
Lyke ringers my failed fate
have you ever seen fate slip from your hands?
I’ve been there and back, ‘round the bends
where fences mend everything our lack of courage killed.
your(e) back dead on arrival, still borne of friends-
ships sailed and left our anchors in the sands, a current stilled
bubbling thoughts:
my concealed carri-on;
melting dreams in a smoke filled room
and an effervescent hue,
a moiety, a greypinkblue.
a stew of words and feelings emulsified in a thick cloud
high steps and hijinks prickle and putresce
the otherwise jovial air;
moments once enjoyable seem to
turn and slip into dark reminders,
petrifying past tokens –
horrifying auguries of
what must soon be coming.
WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO LONG?
To offer a great listening experience, we need lots of tracks that people can download online all year, as each track is updated and swapped at random using track listings on Bandcamp. Having fewer tracks would give people less reason to search for them, while presenting more tracks will encourage users to gather and ask each other for songs they don't have or didn't download in time, creating a positive cycle of interaction.
More tracks means more curated experiences where a user might listen to a completely different set of pieces than another user.
Delivering brief songs has the same effect as delivering fewer tracks. Having more content and excitement makes users eager to keep returning for more. (it’s for this same reason –excitement, hype – that the 10th and final album is delayed until after album release)
A long collection of music needs time to be fully appreciated. Since there are many different things happening in each track, they need to be a bit long (at least 4-5 minutes) because everything moves slowly at this level.
The album is not just a singular sonic object, but also an assortment of discrete sonic components.
Meant to be 1.) listened to by fans of experimental, ambient, jungle, jazz, and classical genres, and; 2.) sampled by musicians and producers of all genres.
This collection is crafted to offer ample sampling potential, ensuring a wide array of variations for artists to explore. The more content provided, the greater the opportunities for sampling and innovation.
IDENITITY
AESTHETIC CONCERNS
Adobe Futura PT, Arial (outline), Jetsmax Stretch Pro OR Y2K-style fonts (case study I)
Angular, eclectic clash between angles + curves (case study II)
Deep, muted primary colors (case study III). The above colors are the cornerstone of this album’s visual identity.
LISTENER DEMOGRAPHIC I: online and are typically fine with digging around for music, will not mind listening through a 5-hour album they got through asking around on the internet. Nondescript leftist, young, smoker, lives in big cities, likes Yoko Ono, thinks Tarkovsky’s Stalker is the best film ever made, and just got reeeally into Thomas Pynchon, Agnes Varda, or Adam Curtis. Likes minimalism but hates Reich, likes Aphex Twin, Bon Iver, Caroline Shaw, and JS Bach.
LISTENER DEMOGRAPHIC II: similarly online. Musician, beatmaker, or producer looking to sample new material for their work.
Case Study I: Type Choices
Question: What kind of balance makes these effective?
Case Study II: Angles + Curves
Question: How can curves and straight lines come together in eclectic harmony?
Florence Baptistery, rosette, 1128
Piet Mondrian, Composition in Color B, 1917
Case Study III: Godard’s Primary Colors + Aesthetic
Question: How can a still image capture the same
analytic of motion that Godard’s cinema does?
SONIC REFERENCES
classical
ambient
breakcore
"Mercury", Laurel Halo, Raw Silk Uncut Wood
"Sensations", "ਸੰਤਹੁ ਮਨ ਪਵਨੈ ਸੁਖੁ ਬਨਿਆ (Unstruck Sound)" Ami Dang, The Living World's Demands
Various Artists, Jungle Frenzy Vol. I
Andy Akiho, Seven Pillars
Miles Davis, The Complete On the Corner Sessions
"Four Violins" Tony Conrad, Early Minimalism: April 1965
Aphex Twin, SAW 85-92
Ari Hoenig, Lines of Oppression
Kobla Ladzekpo
"715 - CRΣΣKS" Bon Iver, 22, A Million
Glenn Gould, The Goldberg Variations (1981)
Maximillian Marcoll, Amproprification #6.1
Wendy Carlos, Switched-On Bach
Conlon Nancarrow, Complete Studies for Player Piano
Simón Díaz, sus grandes éxitos
Peter Brötzmann, Machine Gun
VISUAL REFERENCES
color
contrast
curve
prime example, colors, type, spacing, that quote in italian at the top (minus the track list).
Great use of texture and color. Bit cliche, don't like the font. Octopus image is fun.
industry vs. nature, the cool light, the impossibility of the room.
This minus the text and its amazing.
Primary colors are great, if not a but too much chroma. I like the contrast between the black lines and the colors, but this is way too simple for me.
Contrast in the shadow + abstract collagework are great. Great use of color.
Talking Heads, True Stories. Big day for Futura-esque fonts.
Barnett Newmann, Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue I
Talkings Heads, 77. This is so disgusting it works and I hate that it does. Magnificent cover.
Peter Gabriel, III
Chris Cairns
Peter Gabriel, II
colors. the fields of color colliding with spider-like wisps of black ink are similar to that angular feeling described above.
Chris Cairns. The curvature, demeanor, and transfixion of it all.
wondrous, illuminative.
strong, evocative, emotional. distant and somehow personal.
subject matter + colors. landscape
Mark Rothko, White Center
that an album cover can be so unappealing is interesting to me.
futura again. curvilinear, with a heavy sacred vs. profane vibe i like.
Bon Iver, 22 A Million. i included this purely for its sonic content. give it a listen.
TIMELINE
RECORDING
Session artists
we are here!
POST-PRODUCTION
Mix engineers
Mastering engineer
Video team
Photographer/Set/Makeup
Album artwork
Graphic design
Writer
REVIEW
PRESS
Social Media, press
Social Eng./Word of Mouth
RELEASE
Event planner
Social Media, press
Recording Q1
6 out of 10 albums recorded and ready for final mixdown. 3 albums ready to record – STILL LOOKING FOR:
Jazz combo – horns of any kind, guitar, upright bass, drums
Vox – no gender preference, rap, improv vocals preferred
Brass
The 10th and final album is to be recorded after release (as a special release of extras, remixes, etc…) and is currently open for any recording proposals. If you have an idea you think fits with the scope of this record project, reach out.
in chronological order
PROGRESS (as of Jan 8, 2024)
Post-Production Q1-Q3
Post-production is set to start in the last two weeks of January. Looking for mix engineers to conduct guided mixing sessions throughout Q1-Q2 2024. 1-2 albums per mix engineer over the course of the project (mixing albums with like instrumentation so as to keep a coherent sound throughout the length of the work).
Mastering engineer, or mastering team, will be needed to master the entire work throughout Q2-Q3 2024.
Video pre-production begins (writing, direction, film tests, storyboarding, etc.). LOOKING FOR:
Director of Photography
Cinematographers (3)
Actors/Dancers (2-3)
Writer
Lighting/Grip (2)
Make-up
Set Design
Film Editors (2)
Colorist (1)
Photographer
Review Q2-Q3
Private early demo access for consultants and layperson feedback.
Photographer needed for promotional photos. Video team begins production on album supercut video. (SAME SET)
Writer/critic needed for liner notes.
Final mix delivered. Final cut delivered. No changes to color grading after this point.
Graphic designer needed for album artwork and b-side tracklist artwork.
Graphic designer needed for poster design and liner notes.
Press Q2-Q4
Early access for media influencers and press.
Press needed for promotion, blurbs.
People needed for social engineering/social engagement.
Release Jan 1, 2025
Event planner needed for album release party.
Further promotion, feedback.
CONTACT
special thanks to Laurel Halo, Amy Knoles, Tim Feeney, Andrew McIntosh
music, 0-9: amy knoles, samples/presets; sebastian suarez-solis, synthesizer, sampler, kagan, conga, percussion, body percussion, production; santiago suarez-solis, moog patch; 10-19: vinny gollia, saxophone; exodus moreno, voice; sebastian suarez-solis, congas, gongs, drums, percussion, synthesizer, sampler; rory glassford, guitar; andrew chanover, drums; 30-39: exodus moreno, voice; sebastian suarez-solis, drums, moog; 40-49: sebastian suarez-solis, prepared vibraphone, gongs, metals, percussion, synthesizer, space echo deck; andrew chanover, drums; 50-59: andrew mcintosh, viola; sebastian suarez-solis, prepared violin, prepared bass viol; 60-69: sebastian suarez-solis, 5-limit disklavier, piano; trevor treglia, temperament; alan eder, piano tuning; 70-79: sebastian suarez-solis, marimba, percussion; 80-89: sebastian suarez-solis, room tone, outboard gear/equalizer, percussion; ENTIRE ALBUM recorded at the Dizzy Gillespie Digital Recording Studio at CalArts between October 2023 and June 2024.
credits