Originally from the pastoral setting of Vermont, Greg Davis channels that placid vibe into the experimental electronica pieces that he composes and produces. Since the late 1990s, Davis has directed his multiple musical talents at computer-generated music, studying it carefully and using his vast skills to move the genre forward with innovative thinking.
Electronic drone music such as the kind Greg Davis delves into aren’t conceived the way other kinds of music are. One approach explored by Davis involves achieving just intonations using prime number sets. Creating this music often requires technological know-how, too; Davis had to program his own software that converts these prime number sequences into music, music that is trance-inducing.
Over time, Davis has fine-tuned this approach and in 2020, he endeavored to record a new set of pieces boiled down from a 2019 performance. New Primes is the resultant album.
The half dozen pieces of New Primes spread out over thirty-nine minutes don’t offer a whole lot of variation or transition. Nor rhythm or song structure. Improvisation doesn’t exist here. But the sounds Davis is able to produce is a deep harmonic bath that uses your ears to transport your mind. The drones slowly expand, making wave-like motions. The sounds evolve but not explicitly because this is music directed at the subconscious, not the conscious. That fits the description of every one of these cuts, with the concluding “Euclid” possessing a bit more density and complexity than the others, particularly as it progresses to its ending.
In truth, these tracks are just snippets of his conceptions. Davis explains, “The pieces you hear on the finished record are snapshots of an endless generative music that could last for hours, days, or even longer.” Together with Joseph Branciforte, Davis produced, recorded and mixed the music live to 2-track, carefully edited it and gave it a finish geared toward home listening (ideal for headphones, of course).
Greg Davis has had wide experience as a musician, a multi-instrumentalist who has dabbled in hip-hop, jazz, field recordings and free improv. But he’s found his true calling in using technology in summoning sounds alien to human ears. Alien, but also perfect for them.
New Primes will be available on September 23, 2022 from Branciforte’s Greyfade label. Pre-order/order New Primes from Bandcamp.
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