Clockseed

Clockseed
Studio album by Vampire Rodents
Released April 14, 1995
Recorded 1994
Genre Modern classical, Industrial
Length 67:29
Label Re-Constriction Records
Producer Joan McAninch
Vampire Rodents chronology
Lullaby Land
(1993)		 Clockseed
(1994)		 Gravity's Rim
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Piero Scaruffi [2]

Clockseed is the fourth studio album by the American experimental music band Vampire Rodents, released on April 14, 1995 through Re-Constriction Records.

Contents

Music and lyrics

Clockseed offers a more linear, rational and focused approach to its music compared to Lullaby Land, emphasizing the use of orchestral samples and drum-machines.[3] It also has a larger number of guest vocalists than its predecessor, with Daniel handling vocal duties on only four out of twenty-two tracks. All the vocalists involved were known through Chase, who sent out tapes to anyone who could lend their lyrics and vocals to a track. Daniel has noted that they all wrote their parts completely without his direction and called it a great fortune to receive such incredible results from people he had never met.[4][5]

Jason Bazinet of Sounds of Mass Production has voiced his displeasure with his and Sean's work on "Revisioned", noting that they may have rushed the lyrics.[6] Written by Chemlab vocalist Jared Hendrickson, "Low Orbit" is about two of his deceased friend appearing to him in his sleep, in a sense "haunting the orbits of his dreams".[7]

Release and reception

Despite being out of print, the album can still be bought through the Vampire Rodents ebay page.

Aiding & Abetting gave it a positive review, saying that "while a little more accessible than Lullaby Land, Clockseed is still a compendium of discord and sonic discrepancies."[8] Piero Scaruffi gave it a 8 out of 10, calling it a "symphony of chaos and multitude, that, indirectly, harked back to composers of urban cacophony such as Charles Ives and Edgard Varèse." He selected it as the seventh best album of the year.[9]

Track listing

All music composed by Daniel Vahnke.

No. Title Lyrics/Vocals Length
1. "Dowager's Egg"   Christian Void 2:56
2. "Skin Walker"   Sarah Folkman 2:44
3. "Low Orbit"   Jared Hendrickson 3:42
4. "Downwind"   Daniel Vahnke 2:41
5. "Mother Tongue"   Tony Lash & Eric Powell 3:07
6. "Heliopause"   Dee Madden 3:39
7. "Floater"   Daniel Vahnke 3:31
8. "Scatter"   Jim Coursey & Mark Edwards 2:36
9. "Zygote"   Dan Gatto 3:58
10. "Revisioned"   Jason Bazinet & Sean Ivy 2:42
11. "Unmoved"   Rey Osburn 2:47
12. "Cocked, Loaded and Ready"   Mel Hammond 3:40
13. "Another Planet"   Daniel Vahnke 3:45
14. "Saturation"   Seibold 2:48
15. "Clockseed"   Dave Creadeau & Boom chr Paige 4:19
16. "Terra Amata"   Linda LeSabre 5:32
17. "Tattoo Me"   Daniel Vahnke 4:02
18. "Ravages of Ease"   Maria Azevedo 2:41
19. "Teapot"   Su Oh 2:36
20. "Iron Clad"   Blake Barnes 2:46
21. "Tenochtitlan II"   Pall Jenkins 1:42
22. "Little Canoe"   Betty 0:15

Accolades

Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
1995 CMJ New Music Monthly United States "Dance" 22 [10]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Personnel

Vampire Rodents
Additional musicians and production
  • Maria Azevedo – vocals (Track 18)
  • Blake Barnes – vocals (Track 20)
  • Jason Bazinet – vocals (Track 10)
  • Betty – vocals (Track 22)
  • Chase – percussion, artwork
  • Jim Coursey – vocals (Track 8)
  • Dave Creadeau – vocals (Track 15)
  • Mark Edwards – vocals (Track 8)
  • Sarah Folkman – vocals (Track 2)
  • Dan Gatto – vocals (Track 9)
  • Mel Hammond – vocals (Track 12)
  • Jared Hendrickson – vocals (Track 3)
  • Sean Ivy – vocals (Track 10)
  • Pall Jenkins – vocals (Track 21)
  • Tony Lash – vocals (Track 5)
  • Linda LeSabre – vocals (Track 16)
  • Dee Madden – vocals (Track 6)
  • Joan McAninch – production, engineering
  • Su Oh – vocals (Track 19)
  • Rey Osburn – vocals (Track 11)
  • Boom chr Paige – vocals (Track 15)
  • Eric Powell – vocals (Track 5)
  • Seibold – vocals (Track 14)
  • Christian Void – vocals (Track 1)

References

  1. ^ Bush, Josh. "allmusic ((( Clockseed - Review )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r217744. Retrieved April 23, 2010. 
  2. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Vampire Rodents". pieroscaruffi.com (Italian). Retrieved on April 23, 2010.
  3. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Montage". A History of Rock Music: 1951 - 2000. October 2003. pg. 502, cited August 26, 2010
  4. ^ Vampire Rodents/Ether Bunny Interview 2007!. Daniel Vahnke interview. Retrieved on July 22, 2010.
  5. ^ Gariboldi, Marco. Vampire Rodents (Daniel Vahnke) (2009). e-mail interview, retrieved on August 26, 2010.
  6. ^ Jester. Interview with Jason Bazinet of SMP. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.
  7. ^ pHil. Chemlab - Teaching you how to bleed. Jared Louche interview, Retrieved on August 26, 2010.
  8. ^ "Vampire Rodents: Clockseed". Aiding & Abetting. April 1995. Issue #74, cited August 26, 2010
  9. ^ Piero Scaruffi's "The Best Rock Albums of 1995" Piero Scaruffi list, cited August 26, 2010
  10. ^ "CMJ - Rock Dance". CMJ New Music Monthly. http://books.google.com/books?id=5iwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT47&lpg=PT47&dq=%22clockseed%22+site:books.google.com/&source=bl&ots=YIWX2I3rB8&sig=Rvp62AqR_LR_XWy4sjnoQ18Qy6c&hl=en&ei=RwgqTfGyAo_ksQPJt_mBBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22clockseed%22%20site%3Abooks.google.com%2F&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
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