Jupiter 8

The Jupiter 8 story so far:
The first real synthesizer a ever touched was a Roland Jupiter 8, I can't quite remember when it was, probably sometime between 81 and 83. My friend whose house I was in at the time was in a fortunate position to have a Dad who worked for Roland, and so Roland things would appear in his house and then without warning disappear again.
But I did not go to see his Jupiter 8, I went to play with his Atari 800 computer which at the time had some of the best video games around (particularly Defender). Although I did we did fiddle with the Jupiter for about five minutes or so with some kind of spacey wind noises. And then the Jupiter 8 and I parted company. I have not touched one since...
Sadly Atari are no longer with us, and the same could be said for that Jupiter 8 which may be gathering dust somewhere or be in unusable pieces. But in that room all those years ago were my two main interests computers and music. And for a long time, these two interests never met. I got a job in computers and played guitar and bass in various rock and pop bands.
Only in 1999 did I start combining these two interests when I bought sequencing and hard disk recording software and got a computer powerful enough to take it.
Since then I have been experimenting with electronic music and the process of making electronic music the goal being to make the creation of it as enjoyable and interesting as the end result. I found just programming with a software sequencer a bit like er programming a computer and as I spend most of the day doing this it made it less enjoyable. At the other end of the spectrum, recording improvised guitar or bass was enjoyable to do but did not amount to anything that would be enjoyable to listen to.
So I set about creating a 'live' set up using modular synths, samplers and guitars which gave me the best of both worlds. And then the toughest part came, I had to find a band name. But as luck would have it, I saw the planet Jupiter shining brightly in the sky after attending a gig in may 2002 and then for some reason thought about that Jupiter 8 all those years ago and how I had come full circle from that moment. The name has stuck since then, but I still have not got a Jupiter 8. My first track was produced shortly after this brief moment of inspiration and I named it Fifth Blob from the Sun as a kind of dedication to the great celestial salad dodger itself. This kind of morphed into my next track which I called sea of tranquillity as it conjured up images in my mind of Apollo 11 drifting over the surface of the moon as it approached its landing spot.
And somehow as my constantly in flux live set up developed, the epic (and my longest track so far) Red Spot appeared which was originally was supposed to be a more angry track based on the most volatile part of Jupiter but somehow became a deep sprawling journey. Anyway, that's the story so far
There's not 8 of us and we don't come from Jupiter
Welcome to The Jupiter 8.
Jupiter 8
Jupiter 8 - Songs from the Engine Room Part 1

Artist: Jupiter 8
P: 2005
The bio in the liner notes and on his webpage gives little information on who the mysterious Jupiter 8 is, but I can say that I certainly enjoy this CD, featuring three lengthy sonic excursions in what he calls a "short jaunt around our solar system." It is one of the coolest hybrids of retro and modern electronica and rock that I've heard in some time. Hypnotic sequencing asserts itself right away to start "Fifth Blob From The Sun" (love that title!), a 17-minute journey where both the beat and the bass line sound much more rock-oriented than I anticipated, but it totally works along with the space music synthesizers going on around it. Layer upon layer builds in a mesmerizing manner, setting up a strong groove that moves things along at just the right clip. "Sea of Tranquility" has an even cooler rhythm line, sort of mechanical or industrial sounding, like a slowly chugging steam engine. Warbling synths float over the top, then a stuttering bass line takes up residence
as well. Once again the combination proves unique and irresistible. This one is more laid back than the first but no less enjoyable. As if that isn't enough, "Red Spot" provides the 24-minute piece de resistance. Simple chords are played sparsely over spacey electronics, and then the beat asserts itself strongly once again, this time with crisp, brisk percussion. The bass line is active, almost jazz-like, an unexpected twist that works. Later on, the percussion moves forward as the other elements drop out, leaving it to subtly shift as it pans back and forth, before the bass and beats return. Later on the percussion gives way and the bass takes its turn, doubling up on itself in a somewhat spastic manner but at this point I'm hooked and willing to go about anywhere The Jupiter 8 wants to take me. This is a 2005 release, where's the follow up, I want it now.

© 2007 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

13,90 EUR
 
incl. 19% tax excl. Shipping costs
Jupiter 8 - Songs from the Engine Room Part 2

Artist: Jupiter 8
P: 2010
Songs from the Engine Room (Part I) saw The Jupiter 8 experimenting with the improvisational methods of early 70s electronic artists and bringing these into the 21st Century. With Songs from the Engine Room (Part II), The Jupiter 8 takes the experiment further by mixing the improvisation with structure and meta-structure.
Like its predecessor Songs from the Engine Room (Part II) takes us on a journey, this time through the highs and lows of life in the 21st Century. Each of the six tracks reflects a different mood drawing in feelings of mystery, reconciliation, dream-states, waking, despair and then euphoria.
Musically, Songs from the Engine Room (Part II) explores a wider sonic palette, hoovering up influences from electro, krautrock, psychedelia, new wave and early synth pop and then juxtaposing them in seemingly impossible ways the produce a sound which is timeless, undefinable and out there in its own space!
Songs from the Engine Room (Part II) is lovingly packaged in the usual A-Frame Media style DVD box.

13,90 EUR
 
incl. 19% tax excl. Shipping costs
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