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Text File | 1994-10-30 | 13KB | 282 lines

Violet Arcana reviews
Last updated 10/28/94
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===Permission Magazine===
A vibrant splash much like Georgia O'Keefe set against stark
black dons the cover; within, a small tri-fold insert introduces
Violet Arcana by way of a poem:

"I am consumed by a depth that is bottomless
I will resolve to push that shriveled core deep,
And plant myself within fertile ground..."

Attached, an envelope of violet seeds and a perforated card,
addressed for return mailing, requesting from those interested
not only the usual name, address, etc., but computer type E-mail
addresses and space for welcomed comments.

Essentially this alone says a great deal about Violet Arcana.
Creative effort beyond the call of duty, a kinship with nature, a
sincere regard for their audience...And these qualities come to
life on In the Scene of the Mind.

By and large, Violet Arcana is tender, seraphic techno.
Certainly, a novel approach far off the beaten path of the
current bandwagon preference for quirky, oftimes anesthetic
technics over the heart and soul of art. Oregon's clean air,
clean water and abundant greenery; its latent remains of tie-dye
and beads; and the Pacific Northwest's slower pace have
manifested onto this release; and onto these two artists Jeremy
Wells and David Duddleston.

In the Scene of the Mind is a fluid assembly of eleven pieces
baring such titles as "Within," "Consciousness (in the Well),"
"The World inside," "Inward Sight," and its title track allude to
a bold-spirited examination to the psyche. Wells and Duddleston
effectively lure the recipient to join them on their beguiling
journey through internal regions.

Particularly powerful is "Broken Apart" with its whispered loop
that sounds as if their saying "god," yet its so subtle its
difficult to be certain; and the repeated line "I need to wake
up." Commensurate is the album's 12 minute epic "Facade,"
melancholy in its lightness of being, confessing "I got carried
away..." Violet Arcana's In the Scene of the Mind never ceases to
amaze, as repeated listening again and again raise to the level
consciousness lyrics piquant and universal revelations. And
though we tend to fear the unknown, Wells and Duddleston offer
solace as they take you deeper into the endless depths of the
perplexities of human existence.

--Rene' Walczak for Permission Magazine, Issue 5.


===i/e===
Comprised of Jeremy Wells (whose 68000 is one of the better bands
on the U.S. techno scene) and Dave Duddleston, Violet Arcana
offer eleven attractive and luxurious tracks of percolating,
mid-tempo synth rock, bereft of 68000's harder rhythmic pulse.
Though these cushiony works sound far from dated, if this were
1982, Violet Arcana would intersect and complement The Passage,
Torch Song, Ultravox and other proponents of the
unfairly-maligned Euro-synth movement. With its gently prodding
sequencers, whispery voices, and various electronic colors, In
the Scene of the Mind is perfect for those moods when the
systemic beats of techno are too much and ambient's hazy drift
threatens to dissipate too quickly.

--i/e, Summer 1994


===Alternative Press===
On Violet Arcana's _In the Scene of the Mind_, Jeremy Wells and
David Duddleston opted to not limit themselves to an established
niche, but rather create elements from industrial, trance, and
the beaten bath. As a result, the title track is a delightful
blend of lightly spaced trance-dance, utilizing gently distorted,
often whispered, vocals arranged in a Depeche Mode style. The
resulting crossover can appeal to fans of space, trance, and
electropop. Obvious influences are Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk,
especially on "The World Inside" and "Consciousness (in the
Well)." Much of their material is mechanical and sparse, with the
keyboards often supplying percussive rhythms rather than
melodies. Songs such as "Broken Apart" consisted of whispers and
spare stellar percolations, with the emptiness between the notes
taking on as much importance in the song's construction as the
music itself.

--Alternative Press, July 1994


===Sonic-Boom===
Ambient trance dub, the music that you could sway your body too
all night long, or just slowly drift off to sleep invoking erotic dreams. I
was most impressed by the way the band could keep each track alive
and vibrant. My previous experiences with trance is that it all tends to
mull together, and VA  is the total opposite, striving to keep the listener
totally sucked into their own personal wonderland. The power and the
cohesiveness reminded me of  ClockDVA's _Buried Dreams_ in the
way all the programming flowed together perfectly, yet was very much
alive. VA has a far different message than the Adi Newton and
ClockDVA, but the musical comparisons were astounding.
For such a cohesive work to be put together as a first group
effort (both members have been around in the music industry for years)
is remarkable. I highly recommend this album, a must have for 1994.

---Sonic-Boom, May 1994


===The Rocket===
"There is an impression that music composed on computers is cold
and lifeless," explains 68000.  "I want to show how mistaken that
notion is."

The choice of 68000 as a numerical pseudonym was a simple one for
Jeremy Wells.  It is the number of the processor used in
Macintosh computers.  He composed the bulk of his 1992 Kraftwerk
drenched Silent Records debut _TechnoColor_ on his Mac, as well
as the song "Disillusion," which appeared on Silent's _50 Years
of Sunshine_ compilation last summer. Fellow computer wizard Dave
Duddleston and 68000 call themselves Violet Arcana, and their
collaboration _In the Scene of the Mind_ has just been released.

"It began as the follow-up to _TechnoColor_, which Dave helped on
in a sound design and production capacity.  But this time he took
such an active role that the entire project changed.  There was
no way it should have been released as a 68000 record.  It is
actually a return to what I was doing before I was trying to be
played on dance floors, low BPMs and lots of atmospherics."

_In the Scene of the Mind_ could be placed in the ambient-techno
category, but it has very little in common with what the genre
has become known for.  The intent was to make a more "organic"
disc this time around, but the results are fairly chilling.  The
vast open spaces of "A Cause of This," or "Inward Sight" suggest
infinite possibilities.  During a tale of lost love titled "Two
Lives" the detachment reaches a nearly perfect plateau.  The
choice of distance over pain is reflected musically and lyrically
on it.

_In the Scene of the Mind_ has been released on 68000's own
EinProdukt label.  To market it the duo are putting considerable
faith in the information highway.  Through America Online,
Compuserve, Delphi, and the Internet computer networks, anyone
with a modem can download audio and video samples of the disc,
complete with ordering details.

Option magazine recently profiled 68000 as part of a larger piece
titled "The New Psychedelia."  And on the _50 Years of Sunshine_
collection, which celebrates the 50 year anniversary of the
discovery of LSD, 68000 appear next to such venerable
psychedelians as Dr. Timothy Leary, Hawkwind, and Harvey
Bainbridge.  With a title like _In the Scene of the Mind_, we
wondered if Violet Arcana really do represent something as large
and ill defined as a new psychedelic movement.

"I like the idea of people using music to alter the way they
feel, as an alternative to drugs.  I think the [title] song could
be considered psychedelic in some ways, but there is a lot on the
record that is not.  Ultimately I think what they are using the
[psychedelic] term to describe is the alternative lifestyles and
communications networks that have sprung up.  For some it is a
rave culture, for others it is the world of cyber-space.  The
common ground is that each community is virtually
self-sufficient, and the older generation cannot fathom them."

--The Rocket, March 16th to 31st 1994.


===XLR8R===
"This Portland Oregon release is semi-pop, semi-ambient,
semi-industrial, very electronic with very lush soundscapes.
Within this CD reside many bizarre yet surprisingly warm
frequencies and noises.  Poetic vocals emerge every now and again
usually panning from left to right, resonating away from the
listener's conscious mind.  This is a very unique and interesting
expression of electronic pop.  I get a strong feeling that a lot
of heart went into this project, and the really cool thing about
this CD is that Violet Arcana included a packet of violet seeds
for the listener to plant.  So if everyone who buys this disk
plants their seeds we could have a pretty dense purple NW coast!
I can almost see the monarchs coming home, flying home"

 --XLR8R, Issue #10 (April '94)


===Discourse===
"Do you take a lot of acid and play with computers? If you do
you'll love this! I like to trip out myself but I keep picturing
these scenes from Battlestar Galactica with two people dancing
around hanging onto tube filled with lights and passing 'em
around and stuff. I don't know why, but I always end up dancing
like a robot to this stuff, you know, if Spock could dance?
Really though, I've heard a lot of techno music in my time, and
this disk is pretty damn good. It's not too repetitive, yet still
entices a trance state. The sound quality is good too. If you're
into techno music check it out. It's the latest from Ein Produkt,
out of Portland."

 --Discourse Magazine, March '94


===DJs in Sync===
"From an Option interview with Jeremy Wells to a house party with
Dave Duddleston (who are better known as 68000); we've seen them
mature into techno gurus for the internet generation.  We are
assaulted with Dave's subtle vocal harmonizations and Jeremy's
Kling Klangings on the effects board that would impress Dr. Alex
Patterson who I personally don't feel is as danceable as Violet
Arcana are."

--DJs In Sync--DJ Nikadeemas


===Pandemonium===
What's this? A total, professionally produced CD from the NW with
tons of  ethereal rave tracks to please the surreal music lover in you.

"In the Scene of the Mind" is a mind-altering, 13 song CD from
Portland  that combines all the advances of today's technical edge
with a fine example of quality song writing.  A swill of blurring
samples and synthesized quirks on "Within" start off this disc.
The song builds slowly with a cool monotone vocal effect that
has a perfect mix. "In the Scene of the Mind" has trance-like
melodies with creative vocal hooks all over the place.  "The World
Inside" perfectly displays the talent of Violet Arcana and the
technical expertise.

A fantastic debut from Portland which is sure to be sound near the
top of today's club and dance charts.

--Review from Pandemonium magazine, March 1994.


=====Henry Schneider [e-mail]=============
Violet Arcana IN THE SCENE OF THE MIND
(Ein Produkt EIN9402) CD: 68:31

Violet Arcana is the electronic duo of Jeremy Wells and David
Duddleston with In the Scene of the Mind being their first
release.  They are in the fast lane of the "information highway".
 I first discovered the band from a posting Jeremy made to the
Internet.  With today's technology you can send e-mail to the
band at either [e-mail] or [e-mail].
Violet Arcana has made an innovative use of the Internet for
marketing their music.  By anonymously logging into their FTP
site on ftp.netcom.com in the directory /pub/arcana you can
download pictures and short sound samples of this release and
other related material to your computer.  If you have a sound
card you can preview the music and decide if you want to buy the
CD.

  The CD packaging also contains some treats and surprises.
First, they include a package of violet seeds along with a
mail-in registration card to join their network of Internet fans.
 Second, the part of the CD case that holds the disk normally
only has outward facing graphics on the back.  In this case you
can see some words appearing through the central hole.  When you
carefully remove the black plastic you will uncover some lyrics
and artwork.  Last but not least is the puzzling final song
Facade.  Facade clocks in on your CD player at about 12 minutes.
Yet after about the first 2 minutes there is a 10 minute gap of
silence after which the music begins again.  So there is only
about 2 1/2 minutes of music on this track.  I contacted Jeremy
about this puzzle.  Jeremy said they recorded Facade this way
intentionally because the music is a facade for the silence.
John Cage would have loved this song!

 The music on this disk is quite good.  There are elements such
as the whispered vocals that remind me of Skinny Puppy.  Yet I
would not classify this music as cyber punk even though they are
using the net to promote their music.  The music is a marriage of
New Wave and the German school of e-music without becoming Trance
music.  The tunes and timbres are catchy.  I find myself running
some of the songs through my head hours later.  In the Scene of
the Mind is an excellent debut release.  Look for this CD and if
you are on the Internet, drop them an e-mail.  They will answer
you.

-- Henry Schneider (independent reviewer)