Jerechoes by John Christian
I've been trying to find a sweet spot where the things that make Berlin School style sequencing so good combine with more contempory rhythms. I love the hypnotic power of music that repeats but is always moving, shifting your reference points all the time. There's a lot of people out there who are used to a music (or DJ) playing without keys, without conventional melodies, so why not bring them some of the goodies that they missed out on in the 70s?
This music was created for the Oxford EMOM event in May 2023. I played again at the Aldershot Modcaf a week later. I really think this is the best attempt I've made at capturing the style I have in mind (although maybe edging closer to Berlin than Ibiza!). The two performances have similar feel, but are quite different in the details and evolution so I wanted to use them both (as I've done before).
I also had good recordings of three full takes rehearsing before the Oxford event. I love them all, so I've included them as bonus tracks. That means another hour (almost) of music. By the time you've listened to all five, the common elements might become more prominent but hopefully you won't get bored of them. And if you do... you can just pick a different one every time.
Gear: Nord Modular G2, Roland MC 101
The G2 makes it possible to build a complex device, and then to customise its control surface to play it without an attached computer. Jerechoes is based around this approach, with multiple layers of sequencers and generative systems all available for hands-on control. The Roland provides drums and a couple of static sequencer layers (it's also there so I can change G2 patches while the Roland covers the pause while it rearranges itself. I'm not doing that yet).
Credits
License
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John Christian is a UK based electronic musician. Since 1995 he has been a member of airsculpture who play improvised electronica broadly in the "Berlin School" style.
As a solo artist, John's music presents more composed, structured soundscapes, often featuring his signature of carefully crafted, shifting sequencer layers.