A new single, “Scene 1 on Modes 4 and 6”, arrives Feb. 28, 2025 on Bandcamp and streaming services.
Using the modes of limited transposition described by composer Olivier Messiaen, this new track seeks the familiar in harmonic terrain rarely explored outside classical music circles. It should sound just a little weird.
Bandcamp pre-orders are now available.
“Silver Sting” by Eponymous 4 returns to streaming services on Jan. 31, 2025 with new mixes.
The three-track maxi single was originally released in 2015 as part of a multi-month campaign preceding the release of Retrograde Songs, a compilation of b-side tracks. Eponymous 4 had released only albums and EPs up to that point, but the tracks on Retrograde Songs didn’t feel cohesive enough to justify being called an album.
“Silver Sting” was the second of six singles released in 2015, with Retrograde Songs following later that year.
Does this mean we might see a reissue of Retrograde Songs in the future? It does indeed.
Penzias and Wilson releases their debut EP titled Low Modes on October 25, 2024.
The seven-track EP centers around the A-flat major scale and the modes derived from each note in the scale. “Sonata Agita” starts things off on G Locrian, a mode often described as dark and unstable. The hip-hop beats and electronic dance bass try to offset that inherent instability.
“Tantalus Sunset” follows, turning the often bright D-Flat Lydian into something more contemplative. Other tracks seek new facets of a mode’s reputation. “Wildfire Sunset” skirts the more exotic tendencies of C Phrygian, and “Rescue the Fly,” which starts on F Aeolian (a.k.a. F minor), doesn’t stay there for long.
The “low” in Low Modes refers to solfege systems where the note A-flat is represented by the syllable “lo”. In other systems, the title of this EP could have been called Le Modes.
But why center an entire set of songs around A-flat? The first track completed for Low Modes was “Rescue the Fly,” which started out as a solo piano piece before being arranged for string quartet on the Empty Ensemble album 「弦楽四重奏曲其の一」 (Gengaku Shijuusou Kyoku Sono Ichi). The track was essentially a token pop song among a suite of short classical pieces, so it made sense to turn it into an actual pop song. The rest of the EP took shape around that single track.
Low Modes will be released on streaming service and on Bandcamp for high-fidelity downloads.
Two singles from the 「新曲モラトリアム」 (Shinkyoku Moratoirum) albums have been reissued with new mixes on Bandcamp. Digital releases follow in July and September 2024.
“Be My Last” arrives on streaming services July 26, with “Hurt So Bad” arriving September 27.
Both songs have been remixed and remastered for inclusion on a forthcoming Eponymous 4 compilation scheduled for release in 2025.
Service Pack Three continues the enigmatics makeover with a reissue of “enigmatics IV”, scheduled for release in August 2024.
In addition to updated mixes, Service Pack Three revamps the title track and the b-side “Acid Vogue.”
“Acid Vogue” was an attempt to make acid house music without actually listening to any acid house. Service Pack Three turns the track into the quasi-industrial track it was meant to be.
Mine Da Gap makes his debut with a single based on a friend’s post on the site formerly known as Twitter.
“LeVar Burton Springs” takes inspiration from a voice dictation app mishap, substituting a well known intersection in Austin, Texas for a Hollywood actor.
Propelled by artificial singers, drum loops and the 12-bar blues, “LeVar Burton Springs” introduces the latest project in a series of Facebook shitposts, where Mine Da Gap’s Greg creates a band name, then tries to figure out what kind of music that band plays. In this case, it’s instrumental hip-hop.