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Alienation

by The Electric Nature

/
1.
Intro 02:02
2.
Alienation I 03:48
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Outro 04:02

about

Recorded in various places and on various devices in Athens and Carrollton, GA between 2013 and 2015, except track 3 - half of which was recorded in 2003.

credits

released September 1, 2015

Josh Lamar - Drums (track 4)
Patrick Lowe - Bass (tracks 4, 5)
Michael Pierce - Synth (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
Thom Strickland - Electric Guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
John Fernandes - Clarinet (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6), Violin (track 6)
Sean Dunlap - Synth (track 3)
Nick Stinson - Electric Guitar (track 3)
John Spiegel - Electric Guitar (track 6)
Zack Hann - Electric Guitar (track 4)
Jake Merrick - Alto and Soprano Saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6)
Paul Warren - Drums (track 3)
Thomas Valadez - Electric Guitar (track 7)
Michael Potter - Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboard, Synth, Vocals, Noises, Field Recordings

Artwork by Jeremy Kiran Fernandes

Many thanks to everyone who played on and contributed to the album - Chris White - Cult of Riggonia - Future Ape Tapes - Easily Suede - Wet Garden - Jade Poppyfield - Frank Hurricayne - Narrator - Corner Coronah - Louie Larceny - Alec Livaditis - Scott Vinosky - Fresh Produce Records - Tom and the Go Bar - Scott Crossman the Genetic Outcast - Brandon Locher - Sean Hartman and Joshua Tabbia at Already Dead Records

Watch the Broken Machine Films video for "Alienaton I":

vimeo.com/134213551

"When the Electric Nature made the transition from a one-man project building stark, experimental drones and noise-encrusted soundscapes to a psychedelic guitar rock trio, it was an impressive feat in no small part because the band, without any formal introduction, arrived fully formed, sounding tighter and more accomplished than many of their peers. If the music was any indication, group mastermind Michael Potter seemed to relish letting go his lone wolf approach and working in a more collaborative unit; compared to the stark, frayed-edge compositions he consistently churned out on his own, the trio’s Sunspot EP sounded positively radiant.

Whether or not that record was a one-off experiment remains to be seen, but judging from the severe soundscapes that appear on the Electric Nature’s new EP, Alienation, Potter has returned definitively to his sound collage roots. “Alienation I,” the first single and video to be released off the new project, takes us down a dark and menacing path with Potter channeling Swans at their bleakest and most abrasive. The aptly-titled composition is 3 minutes and 48 seconds of corrosive tension and claustrophobic anxiety. This is the sound of the noose drawing tighter, of howling demons approaching in the distance, of the hand in the dark reaching for your throat. The atmosphere here is suffocating, a relentless parade of foreboding drones and blown-out industrial noise.

The video, created by Joshua Rogers of Broken Machine Films, is no more inviting. Using Tachyons+ video synthesizers, Rogers pummels the viewer with gyrating pulses of static interspersed by occasional glimpses of random, highly-pixelated imagery. It’s a disturbing, disorienting production, one which, according to a recent post on the group’s Facebook page, “quite appropriately complements the music’s intended theme of a person’s descent into madness.” Sounds about right. Watch and listen with caution."

Moe Castro, Immersive Atlanta

"Once again, the inescapable Illuminated Paths is coming after your soul with The Electric Nature’s newest (Broken Machine Films) video for “Alienation I.” Recommendations for viewing:

— Around 5:30 AM, having gone to sleep around 12:30 AM, on the largest screen, in the darkest of light you can make it.
— On your phone standing at the bathroom sink during work-hours, just gazing into the smear, volume at max.
— Working out, stream-hacked into the gym’s wifi-system, portraying the image on all televisions, and continue sweating, whilst everyone scrambles to figure out what’s going on.
— During execution, for sure.
— When someone is trying to sound like their “Cool,” but is just being loud and obnoxious next to you at work.
— Innertubing off the coast of Atlantic City beach, viewing on a PSP sealed in a Zip-Lock baggie, smoking out an apple pipe, with the East Coast casino-resort hotel skyline crumbling into the Earth in the background.

Feel the void of The Electric Nature’s newest release Alienation on Illuminated Paths today!"

C Monster, Tiny Mix Tapes

"Athens-based project The Electric Nature's fourth proper album is about as Southern-psychedelic as you can get, which is saying a lot given the album's birthplace. The six-track effort, released on cassette by Cape Canaveral, FL imprint Illuminated Paths, starts with a subdued field recording of a cricket symphony—perhaps the ultimate in aural Southern naturalism—before imploding into a series of blinding highs and lethargic lows that crash into organic waves of possessed guitars and distant drones that riff into oblivion.

To tackle the album's fried sprawl, Michael Potter, the project's ringleader, corralled a stunning array of 12 musicians and noisemakers. While the presence of so many hired hands might make for a disorganized din of electrified noodling, Potter selected the perfect assortment of players, including Thom Strickland and Thomas Valadez of Future Ape Tapes, Elephant 6's John Fernandes and Leisure Service's Michael Pierce.

"Alienation I," "The Death of July" and "The Ghost of August” drift through spacious, Acid Mothers-style guitar jams, while the bright, optimistic "Alienation Jam" could be a Bardo Pond demo. The 13-minute closer "Alienation II/Outro" meanders through a scorched Earth littered with castaway amplifiers broadcasting tectonic sheets of feedback into the air. It's an obliterated scene that haunts and seduces at the same time."

Bobby Power, Flagpole Magazine

"The coolest thing about the new video from The Electric Nature is that it was made using “tachyons+ analog glitch video synthesizers and VHS equipment.” Now, I have no idea where a body even goes to purchase tachyons—a particle that is reputedly able to travel faster than the speed of light—but dammit if Michael Potter and the crew at Broken Machine Films didn't figure it out. The track is “Alienation I,” from The Electric Nature's new six-track album Alienation. Joking aside, the record—another exciting entry in the Athens/Atlanta experimental noise scene—is a monster of a thing. Its release marks the arrival of the first headphone record of the fall, and composer Potter should feel really good about it. Most impressive is the list of collaborators, which numbers no less than 12. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wrangle 12 people and make them work towards a sole cause? I mean, I guess Jesus did it, but still. We live in exciting times."

Gordon Lamb, Flagpole Magazine

"The raucous, rocking Alienation stands out even in a diverse roster, more rock-oriented than most of the music on the label. It’s no surprise that “Alienation | 1” is the first video single, as it’s a compact 3:48 of what seems like saxophone squall lying atop a bed of battling guitars dancing hotfooted over a fire of dueling drums. “Alienation Jam” reaches a similar density but is more sprawling in nature, while “Alienation II” begins with a pounding before taking a deep breath and plunging into the abyss. By the midsection of the 13-minute jam, it seems like an entire symphony of rockers has gathered in a single room, some to tune their instruments and others to improvise. It’s a celebration of volume that would likely kill in concert, if only the artist were able to find enough volunteers to replicate the magic. At 9:15, everyone collapses in a gigantic heap, and then the crickets come out ~ an amusing conclusion to a fun release. These crickets may be deaf, but they’re still chirping."

Richard Allen, A Closer Listen

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The Electric Nature Athens, Georgia

Noise/psych/improv group from Athens, GA

Plastic Mind coming April 5 on Already Dead Tapes & Records - alreadydeadtapes.bandcamp.com/album/plastic-mind

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