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mass object (2019)

Album art // Ian McQue

Sequencing assistance // Peter van Cooten

Creative assistance // Gene Williams

released on Bandcamp on July 26, 2019

bonus

   " ... a subdued collection of balanced soundscapes, triggering your imagination in the way true ambient music is supposed to do ...""


reviews
Peter van Cooten
ambientblog.net

Matthew Florianz may very well be one of the best-kept secrets of the (Dutch) ambient music scene. His work was well recognised and well-received especially in his productive early years (say 2001-2010), when he released his work on the H/S Recordings label, partly under the great alias Electronic ForestLiquid Morphine. Titles like Electronic ForestMolenstraat, Grijsgebied, Three, Niemandsland, Maalbeek found their way to a dedicated audience.

After 2010, Florianz kept releasing a steady flow of albums (Koude Handen, Los, Sprook, Tauern, Wasteland Signals, Onontgonnen). But he found his true destination in the world of game sound design, for games such as font>Spellborn, Defense, Tearaway, Star Defense, Elite: Dangerous and Planet Coaster (two mixes of The Chronicles of Spellborn from 2009 can still be found on this blog). For his work as a senior (game) sound designer, he moved to the UK where he currently resides.

Knowing this background, it is no surprise that, on Mass Object, Matthew Florianz remains true to his (ambient) roots but also shows his experience as a (game) sound designer. Mass Object is a highly cinematic (or programmatic, if you want) work firmly rooted in sci-fi environments.

Capsule, the opening track, feels like a lift-off of this trip into outer space. The seamlessly sequenced tracks following it consequently take you deeper and deeper into unknown territory. Once you have passed the Mass Object from the title track, the 22-minute Spectrum Burst is like entering a black hole, full of static distortion - massive disruptive powers tearing at your spaceship (or whatever you're travelling with). It's unnerving - but in a quiet, peaceful, and inescapable way. After this auditive floating tank experience, Orbital Decay slowly brings the listener back to reality again.

Originally, the track Spectrum Burst was more than double its current length - with 45 minutes it could take up an entire album in itself. It was shortened to 21 minutes to balance the album - but for those who want to experience the total immersive trip, it is added as a bonus track to the album download as Spectrum Burst (debug)! The long version of Spectrum Burst will become available separately later. (Speaking of 'debug': it is also worth trying to 'debug' the code on the album front cover (and on the Bandcamp page)

If, by now, you have the impression that this is a 'dark' album: it is not! After all, travelling into space is not necessarily 'dark', it is being surrounded by beauty and mystery. Mass Object is a subdued collection of balanced soundscapes, triggering your imagination in the way true ambient music is supposed to do.

media


release notes
			^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        ^ FUNCTION: CAPSULE
                        ^ INPUT: ELEV
                        ^ OUTPUT: 426
                        ^ CALLS: INITREC
                        
C010    A0  AA  F1      CMD     PWR         #SET$CAPS
C011    A0              SET     INIT        #DEPLOY_$DATA
C013    A0  BE          LOAD    GET_POS     #CAPS_CMD
C014    BE              SCAN    FEEDBACK    #GENE_WILLIAMS


                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        ^ FUNCTION: VECTORS 
                        ^ INPUT: CAPS_TELE
                        ^ OUTPUT: LOG_ATN
                        ^ CALLS: CAPS_TRJ
                        
C020    A0  D1          CMD     PWR_VECT
C022    C1  A0  IM      ART     SCAN_ORB    #IAN_MQQUE
C023    A0  BE          EXE     TRNS_VECT   #VECT_REPORT_$DATE
C0AE    BE              WRT     TRNS_VECT   #MASS_LOG


                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        ^ FUNCTION: CONTOUR_MAPPING
                        ^ INPUT: CAPS_DATA
                        ^ OUTPUT: 3.14159
                        ^ CALLS: INIT_LOAD
                        
C032    A0              LOAD    TRNS_VECT   #ARRAY_$MAP
C034    A2  FF          SORT    SEQ_ARRANGE #PETER_VAN_COOTEN
C038    A0              SCAN    DATA        #ARRAY_LOG


                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        ^ FUNCTION: MASS_OBJECT 
                        ^ INPUT: CNTR_MAP   
                        ^ OUTPUT: VECTORFIELD
                        ^ CALLS: DRAW_CONSOLE
                        
C042    A0              LOAD    TRNS_VECT   #ARRAY_$MAP
C044    A2  FF          SET     ARRAY_$MAP      
C048    A0              SCAN    DATA        #ARRAY_LOG
C04E    MF              AUDIO   SCAN_ORB    #MATTHEW_FLORIANZ


                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        ^ FUNCTION: SPECTRUM_BURST
                        ^ INPUT: UNKNOWN
                        ^ OUTPUT: BURST
                        ^ CALLS: REC_CAP$OVERFLOW
                        
                        
C050    D1  E0          REQ     COMPUTE
C051    A0  D1          PRIO    OVERRIDE
C052    A0  BE          WRT     RECSTART    #SCANREPORT_$DATE
C057    BE              PRIO    EXTREME     #LOG$DISABLE_REPORTING


                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                        ^ FUNCTION: ORBITAL DECAY 
                        ^ INPUT: CO%$P*#TED 
                        ^ OUTPUT: DIV-0
                        ^ CALLS: DIV-0
                        
C060    FF  FF  FF      C#D     SC$*
C061    FF  F1          @#T     IN^%IT
C062    A0  FF          EXE     L**_ATN     #CORRUPTED_FILE_ERROR
C067    BE              WRT     EMPTY       #EMPTY_FILE


C1FD    00              END

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